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It was raining, and that meant Kohaku had a good excuse to stay inside and play video games with his roommate. They were already settled with snacks, blankets, and a “do not disturb” sign taped to the door. It was sheer luck that Hiyori had plans to return home and couldn't drag Jun around wherever he pleased, leaving bjn available to hang out with Kohaku for the entire day.
So why the hell did Rinne have to call a unit meeting, of all days?
Jun wasn't too bothered when Kohaku told him he probably had to go. So he arrived at Rinne’s empty dorm with a bag of chips and a second bag of chips so Niki wouldn't steal his. The others were already there, with Niki snacking on what he assumed to be leftovers Rinne had lying around, HiMERU standing in the corner on his phone—he still had a bunch of work to do, Kohaku felt bad—and their leader sprawled out on his bed.
Without looking up from his phone, HiMERU cleared his throat. “Oukawa is here.”
Rinne shot up, his face beaming with that same stupid grin as always. “Let's get this thing started!”
“Don't waste our time, Rinne-han,” Kohaku warned.
To this, the older man pouted. “I never waste my precious bees’ time!”
“Bullshit,” HiMERU muttered.
“Remember last time?”
Niki groaned. “Don't remind me…”
Rinne's pout turned to a full-on frown, and he stood on his bed to make himself taller. Not like he wasn't taller than all of them, anyways. "Hey, hey, this is not like last time! Starting today…” He pulled out his phone and spent an excessive amount of time scrolling through his phone, leaving the rest of them waiting with bated breath. After a few moments he showed his screen to the rest of them.
Kohaku’s face paled.
”... we're learning Spanish!”
A fluffy green owl with wide, cheery eyes waved at them on the screen. Niki and HiMERU were confused, but Kohaku knew better than to fall for that little bird's schemes. “Rinne-han, that bird will kidnap otouto-han and we'll never see him again.”
Everyone looked at him like he grew another head. Then, Rinne burst into laughter. It took him a full minute to calm down enough to speak, all while the remaining three just stood there quietly, praying the meeting would end soon.
“Wha- What're ya going on about?”
“You haven't seen the memes?” The others might have thought he was joking if not for his deadpan expression. He sighed. “Really? None of you?”
Niki shook his head. “Nope.”
“HiMERU does not know what you are talking about, either. He believes you need to see a psychiatrist.” That comment got Niki laughing, too.
“Listen, I'm not the crazy guy trying to get us all to learn Spanish!” He gestured dramatically at the redhead in the room.
“You have something against Spanish-speaking people?” Niki raised an eyebrow.
Kohaku's cheeks flushed from embarrassment. “Wha- No! Of course not! I just don't-”
“C’mon, Kohaku-chan.” Rinne wrapped an arm around his neck, though it felt like an attempt on his life. “What's wrong with learnin’ a new language?”
“Nothing, but when are any of us gonna need to know Spanish? I'd rather learn a language I'm actually going to use.”
Rinne scoffed. “Ahem, when I seduce Niki-kyun, obviously! Then we'll move across the world and I can marry my wifey in Spanish~” He grabbed the man in question by his ponytail and threw his free arm around his neck just as he had done with Kohaku. The two trapped idols gave HiMERU, who was hiding a smirk, pleading looks. HiMERU, as expected, made no move to help them. He seemed content to remain on the other side of the room out of Rinne's grasp.
“Amagi?” HiMERU locked eyes with the other. “Name one Spanish-speaking country.”
“…Huh?”
There was a moment of silence, and when Rinne gave no answer, Kohaku snorted. “You do know which countries speak Spanish, right?”
“Yeah, ‘course I do!” He pushed Kohaku and a startled Niki forward.
None of the bees were impressed.“ Rinne-kun ..” Niki sighed.
“Rinne-han, you can't be serious right now.”
Again, there was silence as they waited for an answer Rinne clearly didn't have.
“Amagi.”
“What?” he hissed.
“Spain. Mexico. Peru. Argentina. Columbia. Ven-”
“Alright, alright, I get it!”
“...Even I could have said Spain” Niki mumbled with a defeated shake of his head.
They let out a collective sigh. As off topic as the conversation went, Kohaku wasn't even surprised. For him, it was just another clusterfuck of a group meeting. He sat on someone's bed, resisting the urge to lay down because it was probably Hiyori’s bed and he did not want to be caught laying on his bed if the way Jun described him was accurate.
“Okay, are we seriously gonna learn Spanish together?” Kohaku's eyes started between each of his unit mates. Rinne's playful annoyed frown, HiMERU’s contemplative gaze directed at the floor, Niki's furrowed brows as he stuffed his face with chips- wait, weren't those his chips?
They had made their decision, Kohaku knew it. Because even if this is ridiculous, it was Rinne's ridiculous excuse for them to do something together. He’d noticed how much less time they had to spend together in recent months.
HiMERU was on his phone again. “Amagi, what is the app called?”
Rinne's face lit up, but he tried to hide it with one of his obnoxious cackles. “Duolingo! The one with the green bird, ya can't miss it.”
Almost in sync, Kohaku and Niki pulled their phones out as well. Although the Duo Bird and the vaguely threatening memes he'd seen left him with an unsettling feeling in his stomach, he forced those irrational nerves into the back of his mind and downloaded the app.
The rest of the day was spent going through Spanish lessons together. Seeing the smiles on everyone's faces made him forget the plans he had. He wouldn't admit it, but he would much rather spend his time doing Duolingo lessons with his annoying, idiotic, but well-meaning friends than anyone else.