"Have you picked one yet?" Iori asks, poking his head into the living area. He didn't usually care for lavish spaces– a bed and bathroom was more than enough for him– but he had to admit, Chizuru had gotten them a rather nice suite at the hotel. He appreciated how much room there was for… activities.

Out of boredom, Chizuru had invited herself over to Kyo and Iori's room. Mai and King were busy discussing things with their teams, so their gossiping session would have to wait. Iori didn't mind, of course. Benimaru had begged Kyo to go shopping with him earlier, and Kyo couldn't say no to his best friend. Iori didn't like being without his partner these days, so Chizuru's company was very much welcome.

Well… normally it is. Chizuru had asked for his collection of nail polish, so Iori brought out all of his bottles and arranged them neatly on the coffee table. Chizuru, however, was taking an awfully long time to pick one. He had decided to start his evening skincare routine while she took her time.

Iori emerges from the bathroom with a face mask on, giving Chizuru a glare as she giggles at him.

"These are all the same," she says, pushing several shades of red towards him. "And why did you bring so many? I'm surprised they allowed this much nail polish on the plane."

"They are not the same, and I put them in my check-in bag." He picks up one of the reds. "This one is scarlet, and this is crimson… and this one is maroon–"

"I didn't ask for a lesson on color theory." Chizuru tries to stifle her laughter as Iori glares at her again.

"Hurry up and pick one already," he mumbles. Iori sits back on the sofa and closes his eyes. He isn't looking forward to this particular edition of the King of Fighters tournament, and tries to savor what little time they have before Orochi inevitably shows up again.

The god had been eerily silent in his head as of late. Of course, he still popped up every now and then to pick on him and Kyo. It seems to be his favorite hobby these days.

His thoughts turn to Kyo. The brunette had sent him a text an hour ago that said "help," and instead of being sympathetic, Iori sent a picture of his smug face with his middle finger up.

Asshole. What if I was actually in
danger or something?

What if I died and that was the last
thing I ever saw from you

Iori had replied with another image of not only his smug face, but Chizuru's as well. He didn't receive any more messages from Kyo after that. Benimaru had probably turned the brunette into his pack mule, and the thought amused Iori greatly.

"You should wear your hair like that more often." Iori opens an eye and looks at Chizuru. She smiles innocently at him, but Iori knows she's anything but.

"No."

"Why not? Kyo went with a new hairstyle at the last tournament. Maybe you should change it up for this one." She finally picked a color– light pink, one that Iori rarely uses.

"The world isn't ready to see my face." As far as Iori knew, Kyo and Chizuru were two of the only people who had ever seen his whole face. And Iori wasn't about to go out of his way to change that.

"Pfft," Chizuru laughs, "perhaps you're right. It would be too powerful."

Iori smiles to himself and closes his eyes again. Chizuru turns on the TV, keeping it as background noise while her nails dry. The timer on Iori's phone starts beeping, so he goes to the bathroom to wash his face off and finish his skincare routine. Chizuru is applying another coat of nail polish when he returns.

"Isn't it strange how the three of us have gone from not acknowledging each other to… this?" Chizuru gestures vaguely with the brush.

"This?" Iori's voice is laced with confusion. He's left his hair pinned back. Chizuru's gaze lingers on him a bit longer than necessary.

"The first time we met, you and Kyo refused to help me because you were too full of yourselves. And now I'm in your hotel room, using your nail polish and terrorizing you." Iori huffs out a laugh.

"Guess it is strange." Iori didn't think too much of it. He didn't care much for Chizuru until Ash came along and took her powers. The depression she fell into was familiar to him. It wasn't an ideal circumstance to bond under, but it brought them closer regardless.

Iori's relationship with Kyo, on the other hand, was ever changing. He'd spent more time around the brunette than anyone else, and even if they spent most of that time hating each other, it was still time spent together. Iori and Kyo knew each other like the backs of their hands.

Though… there were still some things they were exploring. Knowing someone as a rival wasn't the same as knowing them as a lover. And as lovers, Kyo and Iori were still ever changing.

"Speaking of how much we've changed, there's something I'd like to ask you. About you and Kyo, specifically." Chizuru tries to push her hair back, but ends up catching a few strands on her wet nails. She clicks her tongue in annoyance. Iori maneuvers the hair tie off her wrist and ties her hair back.

"Yeah?" He says, once he's finished.

"I know you two have been together as… lovers for almost a year now," Chizuru begins, "but I just wanted to know…" her expression goes from pensive, to unsure, to slightly amused. She takes a deep breath.

"Why does Kyo call you 'babygirl?'"

Iori nearly falls off the sofa.

"H-huh?" Is the only intelligible thing he can say. Iori ignores the way his voice has risen several octaves.

"You heard me." The look on Chizuru's face is diabolical, despite her sweet smile. Mai had clearly been a terrible influence on her.

After a few moments of silence, in which Chizuru's smile grows wider, and her eyes become more mischievous, Iori finally formulates a response. He blinks a few times and clears his throat.

"He doesn't," Iori is looking anywhere but Chizuru, "I have no idea what you're talking about."

The door swings open.

"Hey, babygirl! I'm back!"

Chizuru turns from Kyo– whose smile falters as he sees her– to Iori, who has his face buried in his hands. He's turned several shades of red within the span of a few minutes. Kyo himself feels a bit warm, but mostly perplexed. Clearly, he'd missed something.

"Uh, hi, Chi. Didn't realize you were still here."

Chizuru ignores him in favor of teasing Iori. "So you have no idea what I'm talking about, huh?"

Iori responds by swatting her away and cursing. Chizuru snickers and ruffles his hair a bit. She turns back to Kyo.

"Hi, Kyo. Did you enjoy your shopping trip?"

"Benimaru made me carry all his bags and complained when I asked him to buy me an iced coffee." Kyo glances over at Iori worriedly. "Did I miss something?"

"Don't worry about it." The mischievous glint has returned to her eyes. "I'm going to the bathroom. Try not to burn the place down while I'm gone."

"It started as a joke," Iori says through his hands. "I swear, if you tell your friends–"

"I make no promises!" Chizuru yells.

Kyo takes a seat next to Iori and touches his arm. "Did she do something?"

"Both of you did something," Iori grumbles, jerking away from Kyo's touch. He lets his head flop onto the armrest. "She asked me why you call me–" Iori spends a few minutes trying to figure out how to say the word, but it won't form on his lips without him feeling humiliated, so he chooses not to say it. "She asked why you call me that, and I have no fucking clue how she knows that, so I denied it. And then you fucking walked in and said it, and–" he lets out a frustrated sigh. "I think I'm going to jump out the window."

Iori lifts his head slightly to look at Kyo, who seems even more confused than before. His rambling wasn't exactly coherent, but Iori has no desire to re-explain himself.

"Well, don't jump out the window, 'cause I'd have to jump after you and then we'd both be dead," Kyo offers him a small smile, but Iori only scowls harder, "and um… she asked why I call you… what?"

"Don't make me say it." Kyo's eyebrows furrow. Normally, Iori finds his puzzled face cute. But not today. "You said it when you walked in, idiot!"

A look of realization flashes over Kyo's face. "Oh! Babygirl!" Iori fights the urge to scream.

"Don't say it!"

"Sorry, sorry." The confused look returns. "Where did she hear that?"

"I have no idea! I don't fucking know how she knows that. She's a witch, that's the only explanation."

Chizuru returns to the living room, though her expression is less jovial than it was earlier. And maybe… a little panicked?

"Um, boys, I'd love to stay and talk more, but I um…" Chizuru fidgets with her hair, looking anywhere but Iori and Kyo, "I just remembered that I have to… make an important call. Yes. I have business to discuss." Chizuru's face turns pink as she briefly looks at Iori and Kyo, then immediately looks away. "B-because, I uh… run a company. Yeah. Bye!"

"Bye…?" Kyo says, as Chizuru bolts out the door. "What was that all about?" Iori shrugs. He's still trying to mentally recover from earlier, but he's not even sure it's possible.

Kyo stares at the door for a few more minutes before getting up. "I'm gonna take a piss." While he's gone, Iori starts dissociating.

Kyo returns quicker than expected. "I think I figured out why she was acting like that."

"Yeah?" Iori snaps out of his dissociative state, having given up on mentally recovering.

Kyo is holding… a pair of lacy underwear. Iori's lacy underwear. It's not a bad piece– deep red, stands out against his pale skin, and if Kyo's reaction from last night was anything to go by, it obviously looked great on him. But his face contorts in confusion.

"It was in the bathroom."

Iori's eyes widen.

"No," he says, "she didn't…"

"I think she did."

Iori blinks in bewilderment. He wants to be horrified, but…

"Serves her right for making fun of me."

Kyo barks out a laugh. "You think so?"

"Absolutely."

"Think she might be traumatized, but… whatever you say, babygirl."

"Stop calling me that, you bastard!"