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It had been a while since IDOLiSH7 had last ordered a nice dinner for themselves. The delivery man—who looked incredibly similar to Gaku Yaotome—placed their order on the table, then looked at them with a friendly smile.
“You look in high spirits,” he said. “Are you celebrating something?”
Nagi grinned, pleased by the question. “We’re celebrating…” He made a dramatic pause, placing a hand over his chest, using the other one to gesture toward his companions. “The power of our friendship!”
Tamaki tilted his head. “Uh? I thought it was something about our new song.”
Riku chuckled, absentmindedly scratching his cheek with a finger. “Actually, it’s because our newest song reached first place in this week’s charts.”
The soba man widened his eyes. “Ah, that’s amazing!” He offered the group a wide smile. “Congratulations!”
“Thank you!”
While Iori guided the soba man to the door, Nagi took a brief look around the place. He had been so distracted with everything else that it took him a while to notice that Yamato and Mitsuki weren’t around anymore. “Where are Mitsuki and Yamato?”
“They’re drinking in Yamato’s bedroom,” said Sogo.
Tamaki stared at Sogo, narrowing his eyes. “You’re not going to join them, Sou.”
Sogo showed an awkward smile “I said I won’t.”
Tamaki had become incredibly strict with how much alcohol Sogo was allowed to drink since the last time they went out with TRIGGER, after a joint live show. That night, Sogo and Ryunosuke drank a little too much, and became overly affectionate toward Tamaki and each other. Nagi thought it was endearing to watch, but Tamaki wasn’t amused by it.
“I’ll go call them!” Nagi walked to Yamato’s bedroom with slightly bouncy steps, looking inside with a wide smile. “Mitsuki! Yamato! Our food has arrived!”
Yamato and Mitsuki were sitting on the floor, with quite a few cans of beer next to them. They interrupted what seemed to be a passionate argument to look at Nagi.
“Ah, Nagi!” said Mitsuki.
“Great timing!” said Yamato.
Nagi could smell the alcohol from the door. “It seems like you two are drunk already…”
The other two ignored his comment.
“Hey, Nagi…” said Mitsuki. “Who do you like the best?”
“What?”
“Mitsu or me?” Yamato clarified. “Who do you like the most?”
Nagi furrowed his brow. He looked from Yamato to Mitsuki, expecting them to say it was a terrible joke—but, of course, they didn’t. “I refuse to answer such a question!”
“Come on, Nagi…” said Mitsuki. “We’re besties, aren’t we?”
“No way…” Yamato frowned at Mitsuki, gesturing toward Nagi. “He likes me much more than you.”
“I doubt it.” Mitsuki scowled at Yamato, then faced Nagi with a smile. “Right, Nagi? Come here!”
“No, come here!”
They patted their own thighs, as if calling a puppy. Nagi sighed, lowering his head. “Why are you treating me like a pet?”
Before any of them could say anything else, the sound of someone approaching caught Nagi’s attention.
“Hey…” said Riku. “Is everything alright? You were taking forever to—”
“Ah, Riku!” Mitsuki’s expression brightened. “Go call the others, we have something important to ask you.”
“Ah…” Riku seemed slightly taken aback. “Sure!”
Nagi was taken by a bad premonition. “Riku, wait!”
But it was already too late.
“Guys!” called Riku. “Come here for a minute!”
Oh my God… This is going to be a catastrophe! In a moment, everyone else had gathered in the bedroom, their expressions varying between concern and curiosity.
“Is something wrong?” asked Sogo.
“Ah, they’re drunk…” Tamaki covered his nose with a hand. “This whole room stinks!”
“What is it?” Iori crossed his arms. “Just say what you want before our food gets cold.”
The grin on Yamato and Mitsuki’s faces widened.
“Which of us do you like the most?” asked Mitsuki.
Riku blinked, confused. “Huh…?”
“You can only choose one,” said Yamato.
This is terrible… If any of them made a choice between Yamato and Mitsuki, the other one would certainly be hurt—and this could affect IDOLiSH7’s strong sense of companionship. No… I can’t let something like this happen!
“No!” Nagi yelled, placing himself between the drunk ones and the others. “You must not listen to them!”
“That’s…” Sogo lowered his head. “We can’t choose something like that.”
Nagi smiled, relieved. “That’s right! That’s what I’ve been—”
Iori walked toward Mitsuki, sitting by his side. “Of course I’ll choose my brother.”
For a moment, silence filled the entire room.
“Iori, no!” Nagi brought both hands to his head. “You did something terrible!”
Mitsuki giggled, gently patting Iori’s head. “I knew you’d make the right choice! You’re such a good boy, Iori…”
Yamato looked at them with a devastated expression. “Ichi…”
Oh, shit… Just as Nagi expected.
“Ah, no…” Riku quickly approached Yamato, sitting beside him. “If that’s the case, then I’ll choose Yamato!”
In a second, Yamato’s sad expression gave place to a wide, almost scary grin. He looked at Mitsuki with a victorious expression. “Look, Mitsu! I got our center on my side… His choice carries double the value!”
Mitsuki’s jaw dropped. Yamato let out a loud, villainous laugh.
“Ah, seriously…” Tamaki sighed, walking to Mitsuki. “Fine, I’ll choose Mikki, then… so you two can stop fighting.”
It was Mitsuki’s turn to laugh ominously. The grin left Yamato’s face.
“See, Yamato?” Mitsuki placed his hands on Iori and Tamaki’s shoulders. “You may have two points, but I have two members on my side. Do you really think I’m not winning?”
“You…” muttered Yamato.
Tamaki looked from one of them to the other in a mild panic, then turned his face to Sogo. “Sou… Help.”
Sogo hesitated, but Tamaki’s expression soon broke his will. “Ah… Alright!” He sat beside Yamato. “I’ll take Yamato’s side, so we can end this dispute on a tie.”
That could have been a peaceful solution to the problem… But, of course, Yamato and Mitsuki weren’t willing to make things easy for them.
“We can’t let it end on a tie,” said Yamato.
“That’s right,” Mitsuki agreed, “we have to decide it now!”
They turned their eyes toward Nagi.
“You’re the last one, Nagi,” said Yamato. “Who do you choose?”
Nagi scowled, lowering his gaze. “I don’t want to.”
“But you have to!” insisted Mitsuki.
“Your choice will decide everything!” said Yamato.
Nagi gritted his teeth, raising his head to meet their gazes. “I refuse!” His loud tone seemed to catch the others by surprise. “I won’t choose between my two friends, and I can’t believe you want me to do it!” Nagi gestured toward them. “Can’t you understand that you’re both important to me?” He brought his hand to his chest, shaking his head. “Everyone in IDOLiSH7 is, and I could never choose one over the other!”
Everyone looked at him in silence for a moment.
“Nagi…” murmured Sogo.
Yamato and Mitsuki exchanged a brief look, then faced Nagi with displeased expressions.
“No, that won’t do!” said Yamato.
“Yeah…” agreed Mitsuki. “You have to choose!”
Nagi let out an exasperated sigh. Before he could say anything, however, someone approached him, peeking inside the bedroom.
“Excuse me…” said Tsumugi. “What are you all doing here? Won’t your food get cold if you wait too long to eat?”
“Manager!” said Nagi.
She smiled, showing them a box from a well-known patisserie. “I brought a cake for you. We can share it after—”
“I’ve made my choice!” Nagi placed his hands on Tsumugi’s shoulders, looking at Yamato and Mitsuki. “I’ll choose our manager!”
Tsumugi looked at him, surprised. “What…?”
“Unlike you,” Nagi continued, “she would never make me do something as painful as choosing between my precious friends! Right, manager?”
“I…” Tsumugi glanced at the others, struggling to understand the situation. “Of course not. Why would I do something like that?”
Silence filled the bedroom.
“That’s true.” Riku stood up, walking toward Nagi and Tsumugi. “Our manager would never make us choose!”
Yamato looked at him, shocked. “Wait, no…”
Tamaki stood up as well. “Yeah, I’ll choose manager too!”
Mitsuki widened his eyes. “Ah, you can’t—”
“Me too,” said Sogo in an exhausted tone.
Yamato and Mitsuki watched as, one by one, they stood beside Tsumugi. Mitsuki looked at Iori, still close to him, with a hopeful expression. “Iori…”
Iori sighed, standing up. “I’m sorry, nii-san… But I shouldn’t have indulged you, to begin with.”
Mitsuki watched in shocked disbelief as Iori finally joined the others.
“Uh… What is going on here?” asked Tsumugi in a low voice.
Tamaki shrugged. “The adults are just being stupid again.”
“Tamaki…” said Sogo. “Don’t say it like that.”
“No,” said Nagi, “they deserve it this time.”
“I see…” Tsumugi still seemed confused, but chose not to insist on the subject.
Riku stretched his arms, showing an excited smile. “So, let’s eat!”
“Yeah, I’m hungry,” said Tamaki.
“I hope our food isn’t cold by now…” said Iori.
The group walked away from the bedroom. Nagi stayed behind, looking at his two drunk companions. “Aren’t you coming?”
“No…” Mitsuki lied on his side. “We don’t want food.”
Yamato fell on his back. “No one wants us, so why bother?”
Nagi sighed. “But you are the ones who started this…”
They pretended not to hear Nagi’s words.
“Yamato…” Mitsuki whined, reaching for Yamato. “No one loves us…”
“I know…” Yamato felt the air until he found Mitsuki’s hand. “We only have each other, Mitsu…”
Unbelievable. Nagi considered reassuring them, but… They were probably too drunk to be reasoned with. It would be much easier to let them deal with their self-inflicted grief together, and save their portions of food for when they were in a more functional state.
He should probably follow Tamaki’s example and become more strict with those two…
When Mitsuki and Yamato arrived at the kitchen the next morning, they looked like a pair of undead creatures.
“Good morning…” muttered Mitsuki in a lifeless voice.
“My head hurts…” Yamato groaned.
Nagi stood up, looking at them with a serious expression. “You two, come here.”
Yamato and Mitsuki exchanged a glance, then did as he said. Nagi opened his arms, pulling both of them into a tight hug.
“Nagi…?” said Mitsuki.
“I love both of you!” said Nagi. “So, if you ask me to choose a favorite again, I’ll cry.”
“Ah…” Yamato let out an awkward chuckle. “Of course.”
“I’m sorry for yesterday,” said Mitsuki.
“Me too.” Yamato thought for a second. “I don’t remember much of what happened, though…”
“Me neither…” Mitsuki admitted, sounding slightly nervous.
Nagi moved away, looking at them. “I forgive you.” He made a pause. “But only if you watch the new episode of Magical Cocona with me tonight.”
Yamato and Mitsuki looked at Nagi for a moment, their expressions slowly taken by relief.
“Sure,” said Mitsuki.
“That’s fair,” said Yamato.
“Amazing!” Nagi opened a wide smile, hugging them a second time. “We should make a bucket of popcorn!”
Mitsuki laughed, patting Nagi’s arm. “Yes, yes…”
“You get happy with so little,” commented Yamato.
Nagi hummed to himself as they took their seats by the table, already excited with the idea of spending the night with his closest friends.