Chapter Text
Semi slammed their alarm clock and rolled out of bed. They were so tired, they really shouldn’t have stayed up all night making sure the photos would come out correctly. They stood up, stretching their back before walking to the second bedroom they made into a dark room. Making sure the light was off and the light wasn’t going to get into the room, they slipped in, checking to see if their photo’s developed correctly. They smiled, carefully taking them down to look at them.
“Perfect!” They exclaimed, taking down the rest. They set the photos in their binder before getting ready for their job. Semi ran out of their house, trying to see if they could catch the train on time. Thankfully, when they arrived, the train did as well.
“Oh thank the gods,” They mumbled. They pulled out their phone and started texting Tsutomu.
Tsu-Chan: I am not about 2 hear my teach talk about how much gay fanfiction she consumes
Tsu-Chan: holy shit, she fetishes the fuck out of us!
E: I’m enby
Tsu-Chan: yeah, and I’m a demi boy
Tsu-Chan: plans?
E: work, eat, and go to sleep.
Tsu-Chan: sounds like you’ve got plans
E: Did you wanna do something?
Tsu-Chan:nah, wanted to see who was busy
Tsu-Chan: so far it’s just you and Akinori
E: Wakatoshi hasn’t confirmed or anything?
Tsu-Chan: Nah
Tsu-Chan: He hasn’t really said much all day.
E: Weird
E: Gotta go, entering work
Tsu-Chan: ttyl, semi
Semi put their phone away and went into the elevator.
“Hold up, Semi!”
Semi looked up and saw Yamagata running towards them. The older held the elevator open, letting him in.
“Thanks, man.”
“No problem.”
They stood in the elevator in mostly silence. This, thankfully, didn’t last long as they both got off on the same floor soon. Semi made a beeline for their boss’ office.
“Come in, Semi!”
Semi walked into their office, smiling at the owner, Akinori.
“Got the pics?”
Semi held up their binder, handing it to Akinori. The older cheered and looked through the photos.
“Oh-ho-ho, this is great! Thank you Semi, you’re amazing with photography!”
Semi nodded and left the office before hearing a shout.
“One more thing!”
Semi looked back into their office, “Hm?”
“Party! My place! Two days from now! You down?”
Semi crossed their arms and thought about it. Chance are, they were most likely going to editing pictures and the magazine. However, they could use a break from the work.
“Sure. I’ll go.”
---
Tsutomu sighed, his back hurt so fucking much. He shuffled out of the classroom, ready to leave the teacher who made him uncomfortable.
“Tsutomu.”
The student jumped, looking at his brother, “Yeah?”
“Uh… let me take you out for lunch.”
Tsutomu narrowed his eyes at his brother. He wasn’t one to offer something like this out of the blue, there had to be an ulterior motive.
“Yeah, I’ll go.”
Tsutomu lead his brother to a cafe he frequented. When they got there, however, there was no one inside, despite the cafe having supposed to be opened 10 minutes prior.
“Shoot, I love this place.”
“Really?”
“Yeah, I’m a regular here and they have amazing coffee. Not watered-down Starbucks type bs, coffee I love, and most students here love.”
“We should probably go somewhere-”
“Sorry, Tsutomu! Was a little late!”
The brothers turned to see a young man speeding on his skateboard. He was on his way to running into a barrier but nimbly jumped over it, landing back on his board. Tsutomu noticed the sight made Wakatoshi scrunch his nose, and snorted at the fact.
“Hey, Motoya. How’re you doing?”
The man stopped and unlocked the cafe, “I’d be doing better if my younger brother didn’t take my motorcycle, I actually like getting into work early. So, he took my motorcycle, and I had to look for my skateboard which was basically hidden in the garage.”
“You skate a lot?”
“Yep! Learned when I was a teenager!”
“Would you ever go pro?”
Motoya snorted, “With those scary guys? Hell no. I wouldn’t compete like that. I do enjoy unofficial racing.”
Tsutomu made a knowing look while nudging his older brother, signaling him to stop glaring at the barista. They walked in, basking in the air conditioning.
“My regular, Motoya, and Wakatoshi..?”
“Black coffee.”
Tsutomu stuck his tongue out and watched his brother swipe his debit card. They sat down, waiting for their drinks to be finished. Tsutomu nibbled on a piece of lemon bread.
“So, what’s this all about?”
“Can I not take you out as being a nice decent brother?”
“You can… but there’s something, I can sense it.”
Wakatoshi sighed at his younger brother, “Akinori invited me to a party.”
Tsutomu stared at him for a second, “I assume there’s more, people don’t usually… come to their younger siblings about this.”
“And, he didn’t only invite ice skaters.”
“How do you know?”
“I saw some street skaters talking about going and how he invited them.”
Tsutomu got the memo. That meant there were going to be ice and street skaters in the same house. That was most likely not going to end well without the use of a lot of alcohol. He still didn’t quite get his brother’s worries and when he came back with their drinks, he voiced his confusion.
“I just… don’t want to see skaters.”
Tsutomu was silent, “Holy shit, you’re a fucking pussy.”
Wakatoshi glared at them, “What.”
“You’re a goddamn pussy, just go to the party, no one’s telling you to talk to people. Go there, get drunk, have fun, and come back home. It’s not rocket science!”
“But-”
“Do you want to go?”
“Yes-”
“Then go. Fuck the street skaters there. Not literally, of course, but you know!”
Wakatoshi nodded before speaking again, “Akinori also wanted me to invite you as well. Do you think you’ll go?”
“Maybe. If I can, I will, if I can’t then sorry.”
“It’ll be no problem, don’t worry.”
Tsutomu smiled at his brother, happy with their agreement.
---
Satori Tendou was… an interesting character. He was called “self-deprecating” and “sardonic” which he wore with pride. People called him “creepy”, “weird”, and “a monster”. When he was a kid, these words made deep cuts in him, but as he got older he… didn’t care. He really stopped caring when he was in junior high. One might see this as… sad or depressing, but Tendou was just used to it.
“Hey, Satori, were you listening?”
Tendou looked up at Akinori, who was leaning against the bleachers. Tendou gave him his signature smile and shook his head.
“Sorry, Aki! Was zoning out!”
Akinori sighed, “I was inviting you to a party on Thursday,” he handed him an envelope, “Be there or be square, my dude.”
Tendou smiled even brighter, “Yeah! I will go!”
“Thanks! Now time to ask everyone else!”
“Who else are you inviting?”
“Inviting all street and ice skaters and just waiting to see what everyone says!”
“Cool. Yeah, course I’ll go!”
Tendou gave him one last smile before skating away. He skated down to his small apartment, petting the stray dog that lived outside there. He walked up to his apartment, greeting the cute lady down in the lobby.
“Unh!” Tendou fell down on his bed with a grunt. He smiled to himself. He may have lost, but at least he saw someone cute. That’s what his reasoning was. He saw today as a… win.
---
Motoya skated down the sidewalk, trying to see if he could catch his younger brother before he got home. When he entered the rink, he saw Kiyoomi was finishing his stretches, which was perfect.
“You!”
Kiyoomi stopped what he was doing and turned to his older brother who was breathing heavily at the door. He quietly cursed to himself before standing up.
“Moto-”
“You took my motorcycle this morning and thought I would just be cool with it?! I was 10 minutes late, Kiyoomi!”
“Maybe you should hide your keys better.”
Motoya glared daggers at him before stomping over to him, “You owe me big time.”
“Oh yeah? What do I owe you?”
“You’ll see. You done here?”
“Yeah.”
“Good. Get changed and grab the helmet, I’m driving this time.”
Kiyoomi narrowed his eyes at him but went to the locker room to change from his practice clothes to casual ones. He walked back out, clicking on the helmet and mounting the motorcycle. Motoya started it up and drove out of the parking lot and down the street. Kiyoomi looked behind him and saw that his older brother attached his skateboard to the motorcycle. It made Kiyoomi snicker knowing his brother had to ride that ridiculous thing to work and here.
“Where are we going? You passed the apartment.”
“You’ll see.”
Kiyoomi narrowed his eyes at him again, this time more suspicious. Motoya turned into a wooded area, but thankfully, the trees weren’t low enough to smack them. Kiyoomi looked around, becoming slightly more scared. His brother wasn’t a scary person, but he didn’t like the silence and lack of an answer.
“Moto-”
Motoya pulled into a dirt parking lot before getting off the bike and grabbing his skateboard. He dropped his helmet on a handlebar and looked at his brother expectantly.
“Come on, this is how you’re repaying me.”
“What are you going to do.”
Motoya then realized how anxious his little brother was. He was curled up on himself and he had worry in his eyes.
“Skate race,” Motoya gave him a thumbs up, “Not many people know about them, and people place a lot of bets. I wanted you to watch me.”
Kiyoomi relaxed, “How long have you been… racing?”
“About two years.”
“Why didn’t I know about this.”
“Cause you despise street skaters except for me. I didn’t want to hear you badmouth my friends with whom I’ve made here.”
“You have friends here?”
“Yep. And it’s those comments that I was specifically trying to avoid.”
Kiyoomi followed his older brother to a place where a medium-sized group of people there. Much smaller than those professional competitions for skaters, which makes sense. Kiyoomi went and sat in the bleachers, avoiding people and pulling his mask over his face.
Motoya went to a table, and wrote his name down, solidifying his participation in the race. He went to the start with the other racers and waited for them to tell them all to get ready.
---
Kenjiro scribbled down notes from the textbook his teacher assigned them when his phone began buzzing. He looked at the contact and snorted.
“Hey, Tsutomu.”
“Hey.”
“There’s usually a reason you call me. What’s up?”
“...Kogane broke up with me.”
“And…?”
“And… I want an appointment.”
Kenjiro kinda guessed it was that kind of call. He smirked to himself and nodded to himself, silently hoping this could be… more. More than sex with no feelings… He needed that win, in his mind.
“Yeah, I can have one. You free right now?”
“I will be in 35 minutes.”
“You should be glad I had nothing planned after my classes were done. Come here in an hour.”
“Yes- okay, thank you.”
“Of course.”
Shirabu hung up and smirked. He couldn’t want to see him again.