Clover's Fanfic Blog!

Name: 智博 (Tomohiro) Gender: Male Race: Human Height: 175 cm Weight: 63 kg Sexuality: Gay, versatile Hair Color: White, cool undertones Eye Color: Rose, but usually covered up by a blindfold to mitigate sensitivity to visible light.  If lighting is low enough, he can go without his blindfold. Typical Attire: Black speedo or pants and no shirt.  Black blindfold or some form of eyewear with white feather earrings.  Intricate tattoos going around his shoulders, hips, and legs.  For more formal events, he wears a Japanese-style uniform (pictures filed under Alternate costumes). Ship: 2 - Ur Class: Br/Hu or Bo/Hu Battle Style: Class-dependent

Equipment Main Weapon: Astra Reap/Fornis Esvia or Glycina Keyless/Cleasis Batadia Mag: Cygnus

Units Rear: Brisa Aeri Arm: Brisa Oggi Leg: Brisa Magni

Personality: He has a deadpan serious outer shell that is completely off-set by his appearance.  Taciturn and unassuming at first glance, but a bit of a goofball underneath.  Hardworking, yet equally committed to his work and self-care.  Does not suffer fools.  Completely unbothered by nudity, whether his own or someone else's.  Embodies the turn of phrase "Kouhai on the streets, senpai in the sheets".  Adventurous in sexual exploits, but not at all stupid or reckless.  A loving, yet kinky bed partner.

Likes: Training, money, low lighting, being doted on by multiple men, skimpy underwear and swimsuits. Dislikes: Having to actually wear clothes, monogamy, bright flashing lights, jerkish dom tops, Luther, Ardem, people taking pity on his sight impediments. Fears: Betrayal, getting stuck in a relationship with someone he doesn't love, losing his friends.

History: Tomohiro remembers little of what life was like before the ARKS.  Records of the conditions of his birth are virtually nonexistent.  The only thing known about him is that his eyes developed not only increased sensitivity to visible light, but also the ability to see and detect various other forms of energy like photons.  He started training with the ARKS as a child, and many of his fellow trainees didn't take him seriously because of his photosensitivity.  They regularly played tricks on him by using flash grenades or Photon Arts and Techniques that produced large flashes of light to blind him, then playing various pranks while he was still recovering his vision.  After consulting with his instructors, they all unanimously agreed that he needed some kind of protective eyewear.  One of them wove him a multilayered black cloth to be worn like a blindfold out of fibers synthesized from polarized lenses and other materials used to filter visible light to mitigate his condition.  While it did significantly reduce Tomohiro’s eyestrain from being around bright flashing lights, the blindfold itself was only built for filtering visible light on the electromagnetic spectrum.  Therefore, from having a good portion of visible light filtered out by his blindfold, he learned that he could more acutely see photons and other forms of energy comfortably.  This determination to overcome his problems, combined with his overall diligence throughout the entire process of training, was what ended up setting him apart from his fellow trainees and earning him additional recognition by his instructors.  His days in training hammered in a strict regimen for not only combat training, but also health and fitness.  Those aspects of his lifestyle carried over even after he finished his training and became an official member of the ARKS, and they continue on to the present.  Following the successful completion of his training, Tomohiro completely dedicated himself to further refining his combat skills and vision.  Though he was initially taken on as a Bouncer, he was convinced to give Braver a try, and he enjoyed the experience.  After being a Braver for a while, he returned to Bouncer and picked up from where he left off.  Presently, he juggles Braver and Bouncer, switching as he sees fit.

Throughout his time with the ARKS, Tomohiro knew early on that he liked men.  He got along with most of the guys on the ARKS ship, and he was generally well liked among most people.  However, when asked about the prospect of dating, he was never sure how to answer it properly.  For a time, he was confused as to what he really wanted out of his love life.  He started sleeping around with the intent to find Mr. Right, but as he kept engaging in more and more flings and inviting past partners to bed with a new catch, he realized that he found more of a thrill in being more free rather than committed.  However, the idea of open relationships was unknown to him at that point, so he wasn't sure whether he could be committed while still keeping his sex life interesting.  At the recommendation of a close friend, he decided to try staying committed with Klotho for a while.  Tomohiro had been infatuated with Klotho since their first meeting, only developing the courage to confess his feelings later on when he was more established.  Though the endeavor turned out to be fruitless, Klotho remained supportive of him and offered to keep the relationship open so they both could enjoy other bed partners.  Since then, the two of them have become more like friends with benefits than lovers, which was undoubtedly a more comfortable arrangement.

Relationships (* indicates other characters created and played by me in PSO2): Zeno (Former training instructor) Klotho (First love, currently FWB) Minako* (Fellow trainee, close friend) Shunsei* (Fellow trainee, former bully, currently acquaintances) Afin (Close friend) Matoi (Close friend) Azanami (Teacher) Saga (Teacher for Jet Boots, friend) Katori (Teacher for Dual Blades) Io (Junior, friend) Ohza (Teacher) Huey (Superior) Lubert (Friend)

Alternate costumes:

Read Part 1 here.

This is Part 2.

Part 3 is in progress.

As the train pulled into the stop at Tokyo station, Ryuji stirred.  It seemed that he had fallen asleep a few minutes after Yusuke.  It wasn't even nighttime yet, and he still felt like he had gone through a full day.  Maybe it was because Yusuke rushed him through the packing process, but Yusuke was always a little pushy when it came to organization.  In times like that, Ryuji felt more comfortable just letting Yusuke handle things.  The more things went his way, the more agreeable he'd be and the less he'd argue about changing small details.  Among all of the details of this trip, it still didn't sit well with Ryuji that Yusuke was paying for it himself.  After all, he knew how much Yusuke detested the commercial side of art.  Having Madarame plagiarize his work to publically fund Shido's campaign had left a deep mental scar on him.  Having his skills taken advantage of for other people's gains was the last thing he wanted for his craft.  Getting him to take commissions at all was a feat in itself.  Before then, he fully trusted that his scholarship would carry him, even though he didn't get a full ride.  But after two late payments of his rent and threats of eviction looming on the horizon, he relented and began doing paintings and digital work to make money.  Ryuji was there for most of the set-up process, helping him put together pages outlining what he did and how much he charged.  Once he saw the money rolling in and his economic troubles leaving, his stance on doing art for money softened considerably.  If Ryuji had had his way, Yusuke would've kept the money to spend on more important things like rent and his own personal expenses.  They would share the cost like they would in any other date.  But since the tickets had already been booked before he could negotiate splitting the costs, Ryuji had no choice but to just roll with it.  Hopefully, the inn wasn't too high-end for them.  Then again, Ryuji knew that Yusuke was the economist of their trio.  He always knew how to be frugal with necessary expenditures, so if he was going to pay for an entire week at an inn himself, he would've researched the most cost-effective one for their purposes in going.  By contrast, if it had been Akira, he would've not only paid for all three of them, but also picked the most extravagant inn with the most lavish amenities.  Though Ryuji was regularly concerned with Akira's expenditures, it didn't seem to affect his bespectacled lover much.  Maybe he had gotten a really good job already or was still going through the massive cut of Sae's profits from prosecuting Shido's case that she insisted on giving to Akira for no clear reason.  Remembering that Yusuke was directing this production, Ryuji did manage to put his mind at ease.  Be that as it may, part of Ryuji's conscience still felt that this was a little out-of-character for him.  As people started leaving the train, Ryuji gently nudged Yusuke.

"Hey, man.  Wake up.  We're here." Ryuji spoke softly.  Yusuke rolled over, turning away.  Ryuji tried to stifle a chuckle, but it came out anyway.

"Yo, our room isn't gonna check itself in.  Wake up!" Ryuji tried again.  Yusuke swatted at him this time.  A little more annoyed, Ryuji raised his voice a little.

"Hey, this isn't funny!  Are you pretending to be asleep?!" Ryuji shook Yusuke a little harder this time and Yusuke laughed, confirming Ryuji's suspicions.  "Aw, dude!  You were faking!  What the fuck, man?!"

"S-sorry." Yusuke stammered a little.  "I had been awake since your second attempt, but I wanted to see what you'd do if I hadn't woken up.  Apparently, you would've made a scene, so I guess I won't be falling asleep in public anytime soon."

"C'mon, man!  I'm not mad.  You were just so intent on rushing me when I was packing up that I thought you wanted to get to the inn as quickly as you could." Ryuji frowned.  "Talk about mixed messages, huh."

"I said I was sorry, Ryuji.  I was trying to play around with you, but I guess I still have much to learn about the execution of humor." Yusuke gently turned Ryuji's head to face him directly and pecked him on the lips.  "You know I'd never disrespect your sensitivities intentionally."

"Fine.  I forgive you." Ryuji pouted ever so slightly, letting Yusuke kiss him.  "Anyway, you should lead the way since you booked the room yourself."

"I'm way ahead of you." Yusuke had already pulled the inn's address up on his phone's GPS app.  They would have to get on the local trains and go a few stops on the Keiyou Line to get to where they needed to be.  Thankfully, it was fairly close to Tokyo station in comparison to the other places Yusuke had in mind, some of which were in the neighboring Chiba and Kawasaki prefectures.  After all, they would have to find their own living arrangements after their hot spring date was over.  While Yusuke's wallet wasn't opposed to capsule hotels, his body needed extra space, so those weren't viable.  However, the specifics of where they were going to go could be determined later.  After the navigation was set up, Ryuji let Yusuke go in front of him, following him close behind.  It took a little effort, but they finally found the right line and got on the train going in the correct direction.  A few minutes later, they were at Hatchobori station.  Following the remainder of the navigation instructions, Yusuke found the hotel and got them checked in.  After following one of the employees up to their room, they went in.  Ryuji's mouth opened in awe.  The inn seemed to be on the more modern side, the most notable aspects of this modernity being the presence of a bed rather than two futons.  Not only that, but the room itself was designed more in the style of a western hotel over a traditional inn, taking on a futuristic, yet minimalist approach to its interior design.  Nevertheless, it was quite beautiful and looked awfully expensive to Ryuji.

“Dude,” Ryuji began, struggling to find the words to express his disbelief.  “I hope you didn’t have to pay more than a week of commissions for that.”

“Of course not.  This was the cheapest option of all the optimal inns I researched.” Yusuke stated.  “If there were a cheaper option that didn’t require me to sacrifice quality, I would’ve found it and booked our week there.”

“What should we do first?  Wanna have dinner?” Ryuji put his bag down, tossing it to the foot of the bed.

“Why not?  I’m fairly hungry myself.” Yusuke gently set his bag at the foot of the bed.  “Shall we eat, then bathe?”

“Sure!  I’m pretty sore from all that track practice we had before the meet with Tokyo University.” Ryuji stretched his body out, looking around for where the yukatas and towels were kept.  Before either of them could find it, the employee serving them gently motioned to the drawer to Yusuke’s left.  He opened it and found the yukata and towel sets.  After a short thank you, Yusuke handed one yukata to Ryuji, who immediately stripped to his underwear and wrapped the robe around him.  He fumbled a little with the obi, but he got it on somewhat neatly.  Yusuke changed in the bathroom, much to Ryuji’s disappointment.  But once Yusuke came out, Ryuji’s face heated up a little.  The yukata looked a little large on his boyfriend’s slender frame, but he still looked quite dashing, like he stepped out of a historical drama.  He had the piercing gaze of a samurai staring down his enemy, ready for battle.  All he needed was a decorative sword at his hip, and he’d really look like a warrior.

“See something you like?” Yusuke asked.

“I-it suits you!  Really well!” Ryuji sputtered out his words, making a complete ass of himself.

“Well, I’m flattered.  You’re quite the specimen yourself, Ryuji~” Yusuke got closer, nibbling a little on Ryuji’s neck before pulling away to see his reaction.  Ryuji’s face was now the shade of a tomato.  Yusuke laughed.

“Why don’t we go eat now?  You wouldn’t want to get lightheaded in the bath, would you?” Yusuke took Ryuji’s hand, and they walked together to the restaurant.  After a bountiful, traditional-style meal, they returned to their room to retrieve their towels.  Then, they followed the signs to the men’s changing room.  Once there, Ryuji was the first to disrobe, clumsily trying to fold the yukata before shedding his underwear and shoving everything into a storage box.  Yusuke was next.  Ryuji’s mouth went dry as Yusuke shed his clothing.  He had always been thin, but Ryuji was never entirely sure whether this was because of nature or because of his eating habits.  As Yusuke was folding his yukata and putting all of his clothes in a box, some of the older men seemed to be watching him.  Ryuji glared in their direction, making sure they knew that that that slender beauty wasn’t free for the taking.  Yusuke’s cheeks reddened a little, secretly glad about how overprotective Ryuji could be sometimes.  Hand in hand, they entered the bathing area and went to the washing area to clean up.  

Yusuke came prepared with vials of his own preferred hair products in hand, and Ryuji just used what the inn had in stock.  Once they got to their bodies, Yusuke sat down in front of Ryuji as he helped him get his back.  Ryuji’s hands were nimble, yet rough all at the same time.  They weren’t perfectly manicured and immaculately maintained like Akira’s were, but they had a certain softness to their touch.  Eventually, Ryuji’s fingers pressed in a little harder, turning from a back-washing session into a back massage.  According to Makoto and Ann, Ryuji’s hands were “magical” when it came to giving massages.  Yusuke was lucky to be his lover since he got a lot of massages after spending entire afternoons hunched over a painting to do minute detail work, much to the blonde boy’s chagrin.  As Ryuji worked out each knot in his back, Yusuke let out a breathy, contented moan, sometimes getting louder if the knot was tougher to undo.  Once he sensed that Yusuke had relaxed into the massage, Ryuji’s hand started moving to the front of Yusuke’s torso, as if to fondle his nonexistent breasts.  Yusuke playfully swatted him away before rinsing himself off and switching positions.  Where Ryuji’s hands were rougher and wider, Yusuke’s hands were delicate, almost like a woman’s or Akira’s.  Between the three of them, Yusuke’s hands were certainly the smallest.  He wasn’t as avid about skincare as Akira, but it was obvious that he took care of his hands so he could continue to paint.  The way his hands moved over the expanses of Ryuji’s back felt like he was fingerpainting the soap onto him.  For all Ryuji knew, Yusuke was recreating old ukiyoe pictures on his back.  After they finished washing each other, they went into the bath, folding their towels and resting them on their heads as they sank into the piping hot water.  Ryuji let out a long sigh, feeling his body almost deflate like a balloon.

“Dude, you really weren’t fucking around when you were planning this, huh?” Ryuji gently rubbed Yusuke’s shoulder.

“You deserve nothing but the best.” Yusuke said.  “Well, the best my money can get you anyway.”

Ryuji laughed.

“Wouldn’t it be nice if we could do this all the time?” Ryuji sat up a little.

“I suppose.  But wouldn’t you get bored with nothing to do?” Yusuke raised an eyebrow.

“Then let Akira plan every trip from now on.” Ryuji chuckled.

“Imagine if Akira had planned this trip.  We would’ve been at a place with a luxurious spa along with a natural hot spring bath.  On top of that, he would’ve paid for the whole ordeal.” Yusuke looked out the window thoughtfully.

“Oh, Akira.  Always livin’ the high life.” Ryuji chuckled.  “I’m just glad he lets other people into his world, y’know what I mean?  Like, he doesn’t let fancy livin' get to his head.”

“That’s our leader, after all.” Yusuke said.  “Who’d have thought that he’d get all seven of us to Hokkaido for the Snow Festival?”

“You can’t forget when he took the three of us to Kumamoto and booked us at 5 different inns either.  That was a fucking blast.” Ryuji thought fondly on all the different excursions Akira took not only his two lovers, but also the rest of the Phantom Thieves on.  He was truly a kind, giving individual, but Ryuji and Yusuke both agreed that he sometimes had too much time on his hands.

“Are you excited to see him again?” Yusuke asked, working out a kink in his neck.

“Yeah.  I’ve wanted to see him for ages.  I thought he would’ve broken up with us by now.” Ryuji wrapped an arm behind Yusuke’s waist and eased him in closer.

“He’s not that kind of person, Ryuji.  I thought you would know, since you’ve been with him since the beginning.” Yusuke remarked dryly.

“I guess I should’ve known, huh.” Ryuji sighed.  “But the one thing that Akira being gone has let us do is get to know each other better.”

“Really?  Do explain.” Yusuke got closer to Ryuji, a mysterious expression on his face.

“Do I really have to spell it out for you?” Ryuji asked, his hands moving to Yusuke’s hips.  Soon enough, Yusuke was sitting in Ryuji’s lap.  Any onlooker would think they were about to engage in all sorts of PDA.  Thankfully, it seemed like those older men were leaving for their rooms, since nobody else had come into the bathing area up until now.  Yusuke tensed up when he felt something fleshy, but slightly rigid against his lower back.  Ryuji was already half-mast.

“Ryuji, don’t do this here...!  We’re going to get in trouble if we dirty the water!” Yusuke hissed, trying to lower his voice in case someone was listening in.

“We’ve already gotten so close~  Wanna close the gap entirely?” Ryuji whispered.  Yusuke didn’t expect Ryuji to be this quiet or this smooth.  The image seemed to be getting to him more than he expected.

“F-fine, but take me back to the room.  Please.” Yusuke relented.

“Can’t wait for that.  We’re goin’ to the sauna.” Ryuji picked Yusuke up bridal style and followed the signs to the steam room.  He checked around to see if anyone was there and went in after confirming that they were alone.  He set Yusuke down on the wooden bench and climbed up on top of his boyfriend, giving him a deep, passionate kiss.  Yusuke whimpered and moaned into Ryuji’s mouth, creating tantalizing vibrations between them.  When they separated for air, Ryuji started leaving bites down Yusuke’s neck, making him cry out a little every time he left a mark.  Eventually, Ryuji returned his gaze to his lover’s beautiful blushing face.

“Yusuke...  Fuck...  I’ve wanted to do this for a goddamn long time.” Ryuji panted, the steamy room making him draw deeper breaths and drip a combination of sweat and condensed water vapor onto Yusuke.  Under normal circumstances, Yusuke wouldn’t have allowed any lover of his to sweat on him, but right now, he was too horny to care.  He had wanted to make Ryuji his for a long time, and now that Akira connected them, his dream was about to come true.  From the piercing, lustful look in Ryuji’s eyes, it seemed like he had caught on too.

“Ryuji...  Please.  I want you.  I’ve wanted you ever since I first laid eyes on you.  I know it’s selfish, but please...  Grant me this one wish, and I won’t ask for anything more.  Please...” Yusuke’s face took on a pained expression, as if he were about to burst into tears.  Ryuji pulled away, worried that Yusuke didn’t actually want it, but when Yusuke pulled him closer, that was all the confirmation he needed to know that these were his true feelings.

“I’ve wanted you too, Yusuke.  Ever since I first saw you, I was livin’ in a dream.  But I never thought that Akira would give me his blessing.  Now that the three of us are together like this, let’s live it up while we can~” Ryuji went in for another shorter kiss.  When they parted, Yusuke could see that Ryuji was fully hard.  Yusuke was too, but he said nothing about it.  Unfortunately, Ryuji caught it immediately.

“Excited, aren’tcha?” He smirked.  “Why don’t you help me out a little?  Help me, say, relieve a little tension?  I massaged your back earlier, so consider this as paying me back for it.”

Yusuke said nothing, eagerly dropping to his knees and turning his attention to Ryuji’s massive length.  He was certainly the thickest of the three of them, but not the longest.  Akira was longest and only by a half-inch or so.  Yusuke’s lips wrapped around the head of Ryuji’s dick, slowly moving down until he needed to stop and get used to the feeling.  Ryuji didn’t force him down, as much as his hormones were telling him how good of an idea that would be.  He didn’t want to break Yusuke and bend him over himself like a pretzel.  He just wanted to take their connection beyond what it already was, and he didn’t need to be rough for that.  When Yusuke was comfortable moving again, he went the rest of the way down, the tip of his nose resting at the base of his shaft.  The smell of musk was overwhelming, but at the same time, exhilarating.  He started moving more constantly, establishing a rhythm.  Occasionally, he stopped to breathe before starting right back up.  Ryuji clenched his jaw a little, the pleasure building quickly and coursing intensely through his veins.  His hand naturally went to Yusuke’s head, as if to guide him up an down his cock.  However, since Yusuke was already moving at a reasonable pace on his own, Ryuji wasn’t really doing much with that hand.

“F-fuck...  Yusuke...  Shit, you’re good at this...” Ryuji whispered huskily.  Yusuke’s moans vibrated around his cock, sending a pleasurable sensation throughout his body.  Before Ryuji could finish, he stopped Yusuke.  Before he could ask why he was being stopped, Ryuji pulled Yusuke up onto the bench he was sitting on and set him down on his back, kneeling down so his face was level with Yusuke’s entrance.  He slowly dragged his tongue over the hole, relishing in the needy sounds that Yusuke made.  As Ryuji continued to eat him out, Yusuke’s hands instinctively went to his head, tangling in his wet blonde locks.  After Ryuji pulled away, both of them took a minute to catch their breaths.  Doing it in the sauna was more tiring than they had anticipated.  Then, Ryuji licked his fingers and slid one into Yusuke’s entrance.  Yusuke winced at the sudden intrusion, but gradually, he got used to the finger being inside him.  With a shaky nod, he let Ryuji know that he was ready for another finger.    Ryuji pushed the second finger in, using a scissoring motion to stretch Yusuke out before putting in a third.  Yusuke was handling the stretching surprisingly well for it being his first time, since the addition of a third finger didn’t hurt as much as the addition of the second.  After about a minute more dedicated to stretching Yusuke out, Ryuji backed away to admire his creation.  Yusuke’s hole already was beginning to get sloppy from the rimjob and foreplay.  He was excited for what was next.

“Put your hands against the wall.” Ryuji commanded.  Yusuke slowly got up from his kneeling position, leaning against the wall and naturally arching his back from that position.  Ryuji wished he had his phone so he could take a picture of Yusuke like this.  This was the Yusuke that only he (and soon Akira) would ever get to see.  Ryuji got up, carefully positioning himself behind Yusuke.  His dick rubbed against Yusuke’s entrance, nestled in between his ass cheeks.

“You sure you wanna go through with it?   I can’t stop myself once I start.” Ryuji got close to Yusuke’s ear, asked his question, and nibbled on the ear he was speaking to, eliciting a small yelp out of Yusuke.

“Y-yeah...  Please, Ryuji... Take me already...” Yusuke was reduced to a begging mess at this point.  The steam seemed to cloud not only his vision, but also his mind and his senses.  Ryuji adjusted his hips so that the head of his cock was at Yusuke’s waiting entrance, then gently pushed inward, stopping once the head was in.  Yusuke let out a gasp, biting down on his towel as Ryuji entered him.  Ryuji’s hands snaked up the sides of his slender frame, playing with his nipples to see if that would distract him from the unfamiliar sensation of penetration, and Yusuke reacted with a restrained moan.

“Don’t hold it back.  We’re all alone in here, babe~” Ryuji tried to reassure Yusuke, but it didn’t seem to reach him.  He looked down at where they were connected and saw Yusuke’s legs shaking, as if they would buckle at any moment.  Concerned, Ryuji pulled out and sat down, guiding Yusuke to his lap.  He figured this new position would help make Yusuke feel more secure.

“You wanna face me or face forward?” he asked, a look of concern still on his face.

“I want to see you, Ryuji.  I want you to break through the ice that once bound me and set me free from the chains of my past.  Please...” Yusuke pleaded, his eyes filling with tears from emotional overflow.  Before he did anything else, Ryuji took Yusuke into his arms, worried he might have done something wrong.

“You okay?” he gently rubbed Yusuke’s back as he let his emotions out.

“Y-yes...  I...  I’m so happy.” Yusuke sobbed.  “I-I’ve never wanted anything more than to be loved.  Under Madarame, I thought I w-was unworthy.  But you...  Y-you and Akira...  You complete me.  You love and appreciate me for myself.  T-thank you...”

Ryuji continued to hold Yusuke as he continued to let his emotions flow.  Being under Madarame’s thumb couldn’t have been good for his mental development, and Ryuji finally understood the true nature of that time.  Though he and Yusuke discussed it occasionally when reminiscing about the past, he never really went into detail about how he felt under Madarame other than a lingering feeling of something being “not right”.  Taking Madarame’s plagiarism into consideration, it finally made sense.  Because Madarame kept taking from Yusuke and claiming what he took was his own, Yusuke never felt like his teacher actually cared about his development as either an artist or a person.  To Madarame, art was a business, and he had to keep churning out new paintings to support Shido’s rise to the top.  Yusuke loved art for art’s sake, not for money or recognition.  That also connected to his aversion to commission culture on the internet and even in person as well.  Because art had become so commodified, it lost its intrinsic beauty derived from art existing as such.  It seemed that Yusuke hadn’t completely recovered from the damage Madarame did to him in the past.  Even in the relationship with Ryuji and Akira, he still held the secrets of his past within.  In the release of his true feelings, Yusuke felt that a massive burden had been lifted from his person.  The dark clouds of his past were finally breaking up and letting the light in now that he was able to face what had happened head-on with the support of his two boyfriends.  Slowly, but surely, Yusuke’s sobs began to calm.  He finally looked into Ryuji’s eyes with a new-found passion burning inside him.

“Ryuji...  I want you to show me the true nature of love.  And I want you to do it by leaving a permanent mark on my soul.  Please, don’t hold back.  I’ll be fine.” Yusuke punctuated the moment by grinding his butt against Ryuji’s half-flaccid cock, gradually restoring it to full hardness.  A sultry expression crossed Ryuji’s features.

“I thought you’d never fucking ask~” Ryuji said, a devilish grin on his face.  “Get on your back.”

Yusuke obeyed, rolling over and spreading his legs.  Ryuji positioned himself in between Yusuke’s legs, burying his cock all the way to the hilt in one thrust.  Yusuke cried out, partially from shock, but partially from euphoria as well.  Ryuji rested Yusuke’s legs on his shoulders, instinctively stopping to let him adjust before Yusuke spoke up again.

“I told you not to hold back.”

That was the only command Ryuji needed to release the last holds of his self-control.  He set a ruthless pace, pounding into Yusuke with tremendous force.  Yusuke held onto the edge of the bench above him as best as he could, even though his wet fingers made it hard to hold on well.  He looked up into Ryuji’s face to see that he was concentrating hard.  A look of pure determination and passion was in his eyes.  It was quite similar to the way he looked when he was running.  When Yusuke shifted himself back a little after the slippery film of sweat and condensation on the bench kept him going forward, Ryuji’s next thrust was angled differently, hitting Yusuke’s prostate directly.  Yusuke let out a louder cry, feeling as if his insides were exploding with pleasure.

“A-again!  That spot!” he managed to shout.  But Ryuji had something else in mind.  Knowing that the bench Yusuke was laying on was slippery, he turned the slender boy over so that he was on his stomach, temporarily pulling out to move him more efficiently.  Now that his legs were anchored on the floor, Ryuji thrust back in, earning another moan from Yusuke.  He picked up speed again, relishing in the tightness of Yusuke’s insides.

“R-Ryuji!  Aah!  I’m so close!” Yusuke cried out.  “H-harder!”

Ryuji responded with a grunt as he went even faster.  Yusuke braced himself against the bench, awed at the pure power that went into Ryuji’s thrusts.  A few more accidental scrapes of the prostate later, and he was nearly ready to burst.

“Y-yusuke...  Fuck!  Gonna cum...!” Ryuji growled before pushing in one final time.  Yusuke screamed to the heavens, completely forgetting that they were doing it in a public sauna.  He sprayed ribbons of cum all over the bench below him.  When he felt Yusuke tighten around him considerably, Ryuji released all of his hot, thick seed into his lover’s ass.  After a little bit, Ryuji pulled out, stepping back to admire his work.  He could see his cum starting to drip out of Yusuke.  After catching his breath, he leaned over to gently kiss Yusuke on the lips, but he only got to his cheek.

“Yusuke?” Ryuji gently nudged the smaller boy.  No response.  Immediately going into panic mode, Ryuji checked for a pulse.  Thankfully, Yusuke’s heart was still beating.  He had just passed out.  Chuckling to himself, Ryuji picked up his lover, wiped the cum off of the bench with his towel, and returned to the washing area near the bath.  He cleaned both of them off, sticking some fingers inside Yusuke to get the rest of the cum out of him before leaving the bathing area and going back to the changing rooms.  Ryuji dried them both off, wrapped Yusuke in their towels before dressing himself, and carried him off to their room.  When they got back, he tucked Yusuke into bed and used the cups provided for them in the bathroom to get some water for him to drink upon waking up.  After a few minutes, Yusuke stirred, slowly pulling himself upright.

“Ugh...  My head.” he mumbled.  “What happened?”

“You passed out after I came in your ass~” Ryuji held no information back.  Yusuke smiled faintly.

“S-sorry for breaking down like that while we were doing it.  I let the gravity of the situation get to me.” Yusuke sighed.   “I thought you were just going to stop, but...  I didn’t want you to, and you didn’t.  Thank you.”

“It’s okay, Yusuke.” Ryuji sat down next to him, offering a glass of water.  Yusuke accepted, taking the glass from him and gulping it down.  “After what you’ve been through in life, you deserve to have a moment like that where you know someone loves you and will never use you for their own gains.”

“Ryuji...” Yusuke choked up a little, but shook the emotion away.  “I guess you’ve learned a lot from being with Akira, huh?”

“That’s right!  I learned from the best.” Ryuji grinned proudly.  “What drew me to him was that he made me feel like I was wanted when the whole world was my enemy, and when I met you, I wanted you to feel wanted too.”

Yusuke looked up lovingly into Ryuji’s eyes.  Oh, how he had grown since they first met.  He felt so proud that this man was his lover that he couldn’t help but smile at his words.

“I love you, Ryuji.” Yusuke gave his lover a tender kiss on the lips.

Suga stared at his laptop screen, the rest of the internet cafe buzzing around him with activity.  From an outsider perspective, he looked like he was doing homework, but in actuality, he was stumped on figuring out a present for Daichi’s birthday, which was coming up soon.  For the past few years, he usually took Daichi out for a dinner date at a restaurant they both loved, but this year, he wanted to do something different.  After all, it was their first year living away from Miyagi and all the restaurants they knew.  On top of that, today was also the day that Daichi first brought up the idea of bringing sex into their relationship several years ago.  Suga knew from the start that Daichi enjoyed physical contact.  He had always been that way, even when they were friends in their first year of high school.  In the mornings, they met with a hug.  In tough times, Daichi would lay his head across Suga’s lap and complain.  They would study together with Suga in Daichi’s lap and sometimes nap in the same bed if one of them stayed too late.  It was only after they became official that Daichi’s touches started wandering to other places.  Sometimes during a hug, Daichi’s hands would slide further down below Suga’s waist.  He started holding Suga tighter when he sat in his lap, his hands occasionally fiddling with the hem of Suga’s shirt as if to go under it.  In recent times, Daichi had taken to gently tapping Suga’s butt after a well-fought point for their team.  While Suga generally met these new touches with grace, it planted the seed of worry in his head.  Was the physical contact they were engaging in no longer enough?  Suga knew that even before the relationship officially began, they were much more physically intimate than any other boys they knew in their class.  What more could they do without crossing into potentially sexual territory?  Suga wasn’t a stranger to sex acts.  As a hormonal teenage boy in high school, he quickly learned of the existence of gay porn and knew exactly where to go if he was feeling a little needy.  Wasn’t that enough for anyone?  Towards the end of their third year, Suga found out that that wasn’t necessarily the case.

—

“Suga,” Daichi began, his face slightly flushed.  "When you’re done with Hinata and Kageyama, could you come to the storage room?  I want to ask you something.“

"Of course, honey.” Suga replied in his usually cheerful manner, breaking his stern mother character just to address Daichi before returning to scolding Hinata and Kageyama for their bickering.

“Y-yeah.  Thanks.” Daichi said, unsure of what to make of Suga’s response.  He toweled the sweat off of his forehead and made his way to the storage room while Suga finished up with Hinata and Kageyama.  Suga then caught up with Daichi, closing the storage room’s door behind them and turning on the light.

“What’s up, Daichi?  You said you had to ask me something.” Suga said, a look of concern furrowing his brow.

“Well…  I just wanted to–um…  I just wanted to ask you about…  A-about the relationship.” Daichi slowly explained, his nerves clearly getting the better of him.

“What about it?  I’m enjoying what we’ve got going on so far.” Suga got closer, his arms resting on Daichi’s waist, causing the larger man to tense up.  If Suga had gone for a hug, he would’ve felt something poking him, and Daichi knew he’d never hear the end of something like that from Suga.

“W-what about it?” Daichi repeated the question to stall his answer.  "Umm…  Well… Y'know…“

"What do I know?” Suga continued to pry.

“‘That’ kind of stuff.” Daichi tried to skirt around the issue as much as he could, trying not to go too deep, but also trying not to show his cards immediately.

“What kind of stuff?” Suga didn’t seem to understand, to Daichi’s dismay.  The larger man gently began easing Suga closer and closer to him.  As the time had gone on in the relationship, Daichi had been finding it harder and harder to keep his hormones intact around someone like Suga who did something cute or saucy every other minute.  It also didn’t help that Suga acted unaware of any double entendres he made, as if to preserve his motherly image with the kids.  At first, Suga’s words would stay with him into the night and slowly disappear in the randomness of dreams.  However, after a while, images of Suga started invading his dreams.  Images of the pale-haired boy naked, tied up, panting, and begging like a model in one of the porn videos that Tanaka and Nishinoya loved to send people as gags soon became a regular staple of Daichi’s dreams.  Defiling someone as pure and innocent as Suga was bad enough.  Being a person who wanted to defile Suga felt even worse, especially since Asahi probably wouldn’t understand what he was going through.  It felt disgusting, sick, and wrong.  How could this perfect specimen of a pure-hearted man ever let himself be dirtied in the slightest?  Daichi initially considered it unthinkable, but once the wet dreams started repeating themselves, Daichi knew he wouldn’t be able to hold back any longer.

“Y'know…  The stuff that Tanaka and Nishinoya love to send into the group chat?” Daichi gave another clue, hoping Suga would pick up on it, but simultaneously hoping that he wouldn’t as well.

“You mean sex things?” Suga said.  Daichi almost wanted to make a break for it and run, never to look at Suga again, but the fear of hurting Suga kept him from doing so.  He had gone too far to turn back now, so he figured he would just be honest.

“Y-yeah.  I’ve been really interested in trying some things to see what it’s like.  I mean, porn isn’t realistic at all.  So, I want to figure out what that kind of stuff really feels like, y'know what I mean?” Daichi responded.  "How about you?“

Suga paused to think for a moment.  Now that he thought about it, Daichi had been acting weird for a while.  He’d end practice uncharacteristically early to start on homework, wait for everyone to leave before taking his shower, and even refuse dates because of homework or something his parents asked him to do more than usual.  If it took this much energy to get Daichi to admit that he wanted to start experimenting sexually, it spoke volumes about how uncomfortable Daichi himself was with the idea of sex.  He didn’t think it would be healthy for them to go forward like that.  But how could he leave Daichi like this without at least trying to help?  Suga thought long and hard before responding.

"Well…  Aren’t we all a little interested?  Especially at this age with hormones and all?” Suga tried to move away from the topic to see if Daichi would follow, but he only seemed to get closer.

“But this is different from just hormonal bullshit.  I’ve only ever felt like that… b-because of you, Suga!” Daichi blurted out.  Suga’s eyes widened.  He didn’t expect the conversation to take that kind of turn.  Things were getting awkward and fast.  Sure, Suga had thought of Daichi while masturbating or using sex toys on himself a couple times, but he didn’t necessarily need a fantasy to get off all the time.  Daichi’s utter fixation on him was comforting, yet discomforting at the same time.

“W-well…  I-I’m flattered that you don’t think about anyone else like that, but…  I don’t know if I’m personally ready to take that kind of step.  I mean, you know I love you with all my heart.  We don’t have to be joined at the hip for other people to know that.  It’s just…  I don’t like it when you feel uncomfortable.  And if your tone tells me you’re not ready, then I won’t feel like I’m ready either.  Sorry, but we’ll have to hold off on that until later when we’ve learned more about ourselves in this relationship setting.  I’m not saying I want to break up.  I just don’t want to go that far yet.  I hope you understand, Daichi.” Suga steeled his nerves for what was to come next.  Whether it was a break-up or an incredibly awkward walk home, he was ready.

“O-oh…” Daichi managed to say.  His face was redder than a pomegranate.  “I-I gotta go.  See you tomorrow, Suga.”

He then promptly excused himself and left Suga in the storage room to go shower and change back into his street clothes.  Suga sat for a while, pensive.  The moment had ended rather anticlimactically, but it seemed like they were still together.  It was going to be a tough time helping Daichi through something like this, but Suga was prepared to be there for him every step of the way.

—

Suga could still remember how awkward Daichi felt asking him about sex.  It made him feel awkward too.  But it had been a while since then.  They were now in college, living together in a spacious apartment that Daichi’s family helped them find and buy through their connections into the city.  It had been a rough start, with classes keeping them apart until they started going through their schedules together.  They’d had several years to think about it, and throughout that time, Suga had asked around some of his friends about how to get Daichi to be more honest about what he wanted.  His thoughts immediately went to Tsukishima, Oikawa, and Hinata, the three people he asked the most.  Oikawa stated the obvious about the importance of open communication, which he described as tough for himself due to his boyfriend Kise living in Kanagawa for a long time before living together.  Hinata reminded Suga of how important he was to Daichi and encouraged him to make the first move if Daichi wouldn’t.  Tsukishima had the most interesting comments, though.  He spoke largely about the idea that most changes in a relationship had to be finalized on an internal level before external change could be seen.  However, he made the concession that changes in the sexual aspects of a relationship were more of a matter of trial and error.  Therefore, just as Hinata had said before, Tsukishima recommended that Suga make the first move.  That was when Suga felt as though he had figured it out.  Though they had been doing the right things for the most part, they were so focused on each other that they forgot about themselves.  With that thought in mind, Suga closed the Amazon, eBay, and Men’s Wearhouse tabs that were open on his laptop and pulled out his phone.  He promptly dialed Hinata’s number and waited for a response.  What he got was completely different from what he expected.

“Hey.  Wait, is that Suga?” the voice on the other end didn’t sound like Hinata’s but it was too energetic to be most of his other teammates.  Only one person came to mind.

“Nishinoya?!  What’re you doing with Hinata’s phone?!” Suga almost reflexively went into scolding mode, but tried to control himself.

“We’re visiting Nekoma to do a joint practice, and Hinata dropped his phone at a 7-11 before we left.  He still thinks Kageyama took it, and he’s been yelling at him the entire day.  I had to get one of them to go shower after practice to separate them.  Anyway, it’s been too long since I last heard from you, man!  How are you and Dad doing?” Nishinoya sounded as energetic as ever.  He also seemed to be intent on perpetuating the joke that Suga and Daichi were like the mom and dad of the volleyball club, even after they had graduated.  Suga found it endearing, and they ended up playing along with it more often than not.

“I’m doing well, and Daichi is doing fine too.  I just needed to ask Hinata for a favor.  It’s for Daichi’s birthday.” Suga explained.

“Oh?  Well, lay it on me.” Nishinoya said.

“I would, but I’m in an internet cafe right now.  I’m not sure if it would be a good idea to say it here.” Suga said, hoping Nishinoya would piece his intentions together.

“Then get your ass over here right now!” Nishinoya shouted.  “Sounds like it’s real juicy if you can’t talk about it in public!”

"You could say that~” Suga laughed.  "Just tell me where you’re staying, and I’ll be over in a couple minutes.“

"Great!  I’ll text our hotel’s address to you.  See you in a bit!” Nishinoya promptly hung up before Suga could say anything more.  Shaking his head, Suga closed his laptop and returned his cappucino cup and saucer to the front to be washed before exiting and walking a couple blocks down to the train station, where he awaited Nishinoya’s text.

~~~

One short train ride and a brisk stroll later, Suga found himself at a hotel in Shibuya.  According to Nishinoya, Karasuno was staying there for a couple days to play with Nekoma before the Interhigh season started.  He waited at the lobby for a little before Coach Ukai arrived at the ground floor to greet Suga.  His hair had grown out a little, but it was still recognizable from last year.  True to form, Ukai held a lit cigarette in his right hand.

“Hey, it’s been a while.” Ukai said.  "The kids really miss you, Asahi, and Daichi, but I think they’re doing fine on their own with Ennoshita, Nishinoya, and Tanaka at the helm.“

"Really?” Suga chuckled.  "I can’t wait to see how they’ve grown.  Also, thanks for letting me speak to them again on such short notice.  There’s something that I need them to help me with.“

"What’s that?” Ukai took a drag from his cigarette and slowly breathed out a cloud of smoke.

“It’s for Daichi’s birthday.” Suga said.  Though he had gotten along with Coach Ukai, he still hadn’t come to terms with the idea that they were no longer coach and student to each other.

“Mmh.  I figured you’d do something special like that.  You always go that extra mile for everyone, and I’m glad to see that that hasn’t changed with college.” Ukai gently patted Suga on the back before putting some distance between them, remembering that he was still smoking.

“Hey, don’t thank me.  Thank yourself and Takeda-sensei for teaching me how to be that person for everyone.” Suga chuckled, pressing the up button for the elevator while Ukai put out his cigarette.  The elevator arrived surprisingly quickly, and he let Ukai input the floor number for the students’ rooms before pushing the floor above, which Suga assumed was for his own room.  When they reached the 9th floor, Suga started to walk out, but Ukai grabbed the sleeve of his jacket.

“Wait.  Before you go, I need to say something that I should’ve told you and Daichi while you were still around.” Ukai said, holding the doors open.

“Yes?” Suga waited for his response.

“Takeda-sensei and I knew about you two for a while.  I would’ve expressed my support if you hadn’t done such a good job of keeping it to yourselves.” Ukai smiled.  "Also, tell Daichi I said hello and wish him a happy birthday.“

"Of course.  Thanks, Coach.” Suga kept walking as soon as Ukai let go of him.

“You don’t have to call me that anymore.  Ukai is fine.” Ukai reminded him.

“Oh, okay then!  See you later, Ukai-san!” Suga said as the elevator door closed.  His phone vibrated with a text from Hinata.  He checked the message and all the message read was 908.  Suga assumed that that was either Nishinoya’s or Hinata’s room number and made his way over.  When he knocked on the door, someone opened it from inside.  Suga walked in, barely getting the chance to close the door before he had the surprise of a lifetime.

“Suga!” Nishinoya practically sprang out of a seated position on his bed to tackle Suga into the ground.  

“H-hey!  Don’t do that!  I could’ve hit my head on the doorknob!” Suga shouted through his laughter.  "It’s been too long, Nishinoya!“  

It was at that point that Hinata appeared from the bathroom, his hair still dripping onto his shoulders from what Suga could only assume was a shower.

"Suga!  Sorry I couldn’t get the door in time.  What did you need?” Hinata asked.

“You’re getting straight to the point, aren’t you?  Well, once Nishinoya gets off of me, I can explain.” Suga said while wrestling Nishinoya off of him.  The four of them made their way to Nishinoya’s bed, sitting across the side.

“So, why d'you need to talk about it here?  Was it really that hard to say something over the phone?” Nishinoya joked.

“Well, it’s about me and Daichi, and sometimes, I don’t think the world needs to know what we’re doing.” Suga responded, half-joking, but half-serious.  "Anyway, remember that one week in high school when Daichi didn’t want to talk to me after he took me aside in the supply room?“

Nishinoya, Tanaka, and Hinata thought about it for a moment before Tanaka said something.

"I think I know what you mean!  Daichi was being weird for a while, especially whenever he was around you!  It was kinda creeping me out.” Tanaka commented.

“Wait, didn’t you scold me and Kageyama that day?!” Hinata suddenly remembered what Suga had been doing that day, to his own embarrassment.

“I did, as a matter of fact.  That day was when Daichi asked me about going further in our relationship.” Suga explained.  It took a while for the people present to take it in, but after Nishinoya and Tanaka exchanged knowing glances, Suga knew that it wouldn’t be long before the pieces would fall into place.

“So you’re thinking about that kind of gift, huh~?” Nishinoya raised an eyebrow.  "Never thought you had it in you.  Guess you’re not the angel you made us think you were~“

"Wait, what do you mean?” Hinata asked, confused.

“I’ve got a little something special planned for Daichi~  It’ll be a night he’ll never forget~” Suga tried to give more hints with his tone of voice, hoping Hinata could put two and two together.  Tanaka and Nishinoya giggled in the background.

“W-what’s so funny?!” Hinata pouted.

“Really?  You don’t get it?!” Tanaka laughed.  "Are you gonna make Suga spell it out for you?“

"Spell out what?!” Hinata asked, but paused for a moment.  "Wait, are you and Daichi in that kind of relationship?!“

"You didn’t know?  People didn’t start calling us mom and dad for nothing.” Suga chuckled.  "Yes, we are in a relationship, but we haven’t had sex yet.  That’s what Daichi wanted to talk to me about that day.“

"You guys never told me!” Hinata whined.

“We didn’t feel like we needed to.  You saw how we were while we were in high school.  Other than that awkward discussion, we were practically joined at the hip, so I didn’t think I had to explain anything.” Suga said.

“Well, I just thought you guys were really good friends or something!” Hinata said, followed by an uproar of laughter from Tanaka.

“Seriously, that’s the funniest shit I’ve ever heard!  'Really good friends’.  C'mon, Hinata!  Those two were more in love than any couple in the school!” Tanaka calmed down, remembering that there were other people in the rooms around theirs.

“Then again, you and Kageyama are both still kinda slow.” Nishinoya added.  Hinata continued to pout.

“Anyway, I’ve been wanting to take our relationship further for a while now.  It’s been a year since the question and a little more than three years since we started dating.  After we had that talk, I started thinking, and I realized that we’re not going to be young forever.  Hell, Daichi’s going to be nineteen soon.  It would be dumb for us to just keep doing the same thing that we had been doing in the relationship when we were in high school.” Suga looked out of the window, a thoughtful expression on his face.

The other three quietly listened to Suga, taking everything in.  Suddenly, Hinata spoke.

“Hearing this is nice and all, but weren’t you going to explain why you came here?” Hinata asked.

“Oh, wait.  I completely forgot that.” Suga was taken out of his thoughts.  "Anyway, before I say anything, I want you to tell everyone who was on the team last year about this.  Are you going to be free around tomorrow evening?  I need you to come to our house to help me set something up.“

"Yeah, we are.” Nishinoya said.  "Practice ends at five tomorrow and dinner’s at six.  If you don’t live too far from here, we can sneak out during our free time and come to your house at seven.“

"But what do you need our help with?” Hinata asked.

“I want to throw a surprise party for Daichi, but I also want you guys to help me set up his gift from me.  I’d give more details, but since it’s late now, just worry about getting ready for tomorrow’s practice.  I’m not vice-captain anymore, but I’m still counting on you to carry on Karasuno’s legacy.” Suga got up, ruffling Nishinoya’s hair.  "I should probably go back now.  It was great to see you again.“

"Nice to see you too!  We’ll see you at seven tomorrow!” Nishinoya said.  The others waved while Suga left.  Once he was outside, Suga started to text Daichi.

“Going to be home late today.  The kids were staying in Shibuya to practice with Nekoma, so I stopped by to say hello.  Don’t you dare start dinner without me!”

Suga sent the message.  Moments later, Daichi replied.

“The kids were in Shibuya?  How’s the team looking?”

“Nishinoya and Tanaka are handling themselves pretty well.  They’ve got Ennoshita’s help too, so they’ll be fine.  Hinata and Kageyama are still the same as ever, and Coach Ukai is doing well.  Still smokes, though.”

“Did you see anyone else?”

“No.  I only had time to visit Nishinoya’s room.  What’re you making tonight?”

“Mapo tofu.  I know how much you love it~”

“You’re too sweet, babe.”

“See you at home.”

“Keep it warm for me.”

Suga hadn’t even been paying much attention while he was texting Daichi, and he was already at the train station in Shibuya.  He got on one of the Yamanote trains and left Shibuya homeward bound.

~~~

The next day, Suga sat outside of Ochanomizu station, waiting for the boys to arrive.  He had already messaged Nishinoya, and he said they were running a little late since Tanaka pulled a muscle and had to go back to the hotel early from practice to deal with that.  Suga slowly ate some sushi he had bought from the nearby 7-11 as he waited.  He knew Daichi was going to have a late night because he was studying for an economics test with a friend.  It was the perfect set-up for the surprise party and Suga’s own personal surprise he had planned for his lover.  He heard a train pull in and looked down at his phone, wondering if it was his former teammates.  Surely enough, he heard the one telltale sign that it had to be Karasuno: Hinata and Kageyama arguing.

“But I didn’t know that train went that way!” Hinata complained.

“Well, you should’ve, you dumbass!  That side goes counterclockwise, and the other side goes clockwise!” Kageyama fired back.

“Neither of us live here!  How the fuck would you know that?!” Hinata shouted.

“Because I actually thought to ask some of the kids from Nekoma about it instead of figuring it out as we go!  You fucking dumb shit.” Kageyama pouted, not wanting to hear Hinata anymore.  Hinata pouted too, and some of the other boys laughed awkwardly.

“You’re here!” Suga said, making his way over to the group that had assembled.  There was Nishinoya and Tanaka, Hinata and Kageyama, and Tsukishima and Yamaguchi.  "Where’s Ennoshita and the first-years?“

"Ennoshita-san said he had work to do, so he couldn’t come with us.  He did want to wish you and Daichi well.” Tsukishima explained.  "As for the first years, they weren’t allowed to leave.  Coach wouldn’t let them.“

"That explains it.” Suga said.  "Anyway, follow me.  I’ll take you to our house.“

Suga started walking, and the group of six boys followed him.  Hinata and Kageyama avoided all eye contact for a good five minutes before giving up on not looking at each other for the whole walk.  Tanaka and Nishinoya were busy in their own little corner, talking about what Suga’s gift was going to be.  Tsukishima was second in line behind Suga, quietly guiding Yamaguchi as they walked.  In a couple minutes, they arrived at a duplex near a pastry shop.  Suga walked up the left staircase and unlocked the door, letting the other boys in first.  Suga had gotten very lucky when choosing apartments, since the owners of the duplex, who were close friends with Daichi’s family, had to kick out some tenants who were making too much noise just as he had decided to start looking for apartments.  The price also wasn’t too bad.  It was still a lot, but Suga managed to push it down a little so that he and Daichi could manage the monthly rent easier.  It was extremely spacious, especially for a Japanese apartment.  There weren’t many duplexes in the city, which made it a truly lucky find.  The front door automatically led into the family room and kitchen, with stairs going up to the second floor for guest rooms, the master bedroom, and the bathrooms as well as stairs going down to a game room in the basement.  Everyone stopped to look around.  Even Hinata and Kageyama stopped their usual bickering to explore.

"Wow!  This is fucking awesome!” Nishinoya sprang onto the couch in front of the TV.  "How’d you get a place like this?“

"Daichi had some family friends who own the entire duplex, and there was an opening literally days before I started looking for apartments.  They knew and liked both of us, so we got it at a reduced rate.” Suga explained.

“So, Nishinoya said you needed help for a surprise party or something?” Kageyama asked.

“Oh, Kageyama.  Getting straight to business, huh?  You must’ve listened well on your way over.  I have decorations sitting on the kitchen table, ingredients for tonight’s dinner in the fridge and near the sink, and the cake in the freezer.  Tsukishima, if you and Yamaguchi could help with the cooking, that would be great.  Everyone else, decorate the area and come help with setting the table once the food’s done.  Daichi’s going to be home at ten tonight, and it’s seven right now, so we have three hours.  Let’s not waste any more time, okay?” Suga started going back into vice-captain mode, handing streamers, balloons, and other decorations to Hinata, Kageyama, Nishinoya, and Tanaka.  Tsukishima picked up the recipe that was sitting by the stove and read it carefully.

“Shoyu ramen?  Can’t say I’ve made that before, but I’ll give it a try.” Tsukishima handed the recipe to Suga, and everyone got to work.

~~~

At the two-hour mark, a lot of the preparations had been finished.  Though the ramen was still a work in progress after a couple failed attempts at hand-making noodles, this batch of noodles was looking to be the most usable one.  After they put the noodles in the pot with the broth, Suga wiped the sweat off of his brow.  The preparations had finally been made.  All that was left was for his special surprise to be set up.

“Hinata, Nishinoya, could you come upstairs with me?  Everyone else, make sure the table is set and the lights are off by 8:30.” Suga said.  Hinata straightened up as if he did something wrong, but Nishinoya gently reassured him that it was all right.  They followed Suga upstairs and into the master bedroom while the others got to work on the finishing touches for the party.  The bedroom looked impeccably neat, even if the sheets were a little wrinkled.  There were no clothes on the floor, no stains on any of the linens, and not a single element of the room out of place.  Suga reached under the bed and pulled out a couple spools of pink satin ribbons, handing one to Nishinoya and one to Hinata.

“So, what I want you to do is tie me up with these ribbons.” Suga said plainly.

“S-so your gift to Daichi is…” Hinata began.

“My body.” Suga finished the sentence, punctuating the moment by taking off his shirt.  Hinata’s face turned red.  Though he had seen Suga shirtless and even naked before in the locker room, it still blew his mind that someone who acted as sweet and innocent as Suga did could have the capacity to act like this.  Soon enough, the pants and briefs came off, and Suga was naked.

“Whoa, Suga.  You got fit since you graduated!” Nishinoya said.

“And I wasn’t before?” Suga playfully retorted.  Nishinoya only laughed in response.

“Anyway, where do you want us to wrap the ribbons?” Nishinoya asked.

“Anywhere you want.  Just let me wash up first, then I’ll be ready for you.” Suga went into the bathroom.  Now that he was alone, he began to gather all the courage he had to go through with this.  He knew someone like Daichi would never intentionally hurt him, and especially not during sex, he figured.  Even though he had seen Daichi naked before, he’d never seen him as aroused as he was on the day he first brought up sex in the relationship.  Suga knew in the back of his mind as Daichi was getting closer and closer to him in the supply room that he wanted him to feel how hard he was.  From what he had seen in the locker room, Daichi was pretty big already without having to be erect.  That bore the question: how would it fit in him?  Was he going to bleed if it was too big?  What if he did bleed out even after preparation?  Just when that line of questioning finished, another one began.  What if Daichi felt that Suga wasn’t good enough?  What would that mean for the relationship then?  Would they have to break up?  Could they stay boyfriends, but just not have sex?  The idea of anything going wrong was truly terrifying, but Suga was willing to run all those risks to show Daichi how much he’d been thinking about that discussion from a year ago.  He wanted to let him know that they could finally go to the next level.  After cleaning up in the shower and trying to figure out how to douche for the first time, Suga dried himself off and returned to the bedroom.

“All right, I’m ready.  Go nuts.” Suga laid back down on the bed.  Nishinoya and Hinata got to work, binding his arms together, then his legs together at the ankles.  Soon enough, ribbons were wrapping around his legs, traveling all sorts of ways around his body before culminating in a large bow that Nishinoya helped Hinata to tie around Suga’s chest.  Suga found it difficult to not get aroused just from the sensation of the satin on his skin, his dick already hard by the time they were trying to finish up the wrapping job.  Nishinoya and Hinata then rolled Suga over so his front side was facing upward, and Nishinoya took a black marker that the boys had used to write a birthday card for Daichi with and left a little note on Suga’s arm.

“How’s that?” Nishinoya grinned, proud of his and Hinata’s creation.

“I love it.” Suga said, trying to scratch his nose with his bound hands.  "Try to keep Daichi entertained for as long as you can.“

"Got it.  Have fun~” Nishinoya then turned to leave.  "Call me later and tell me how he is in bed~“

"Ha ha.  Sure thing.” Suga chuckled.  He looked to Hinata, slightly concerned.  "You all right?“

"Yeah.  I just didn’t think I’d see you like this.” Hinata said, embarrassed.  "You’re really cute…“

"Thanks.” Suga smiled.  "You helped with that, you know.“

"R-right.” Hinata said, trying to smile while hiding the fact that he found the sight erotic.  He wrote a message on Suga’s other arm.  "Have fun with Daichi!  We’ll try to keep him down as long as we can!“

"Thanks again.  See you in a bit!” Suga said, listening as Hinata closed the door behind him.  Now was the waiting game.  It was 9:58, and Daichi was going to be home any minute now.  Sure enough, Suga heard the front door and the shouts of “SURPRISE!” and “Happy birthday!” rising from the main floor.  The anticipation was building, and it wasn’t letting up on Suga’s conscience as he remained on the bed, tied up in satin ribbons, waiting for his lover to take him.  However, this time, he didn’t feel much fear.  He was excited at the possibility of giving his virginity to the man he wanted to spend the rest of his life with.  It was like the first night of a honeymoon, except they weren’t married.  If everything went well, this was going to be a new chapter in their life together.  They would finally be able to move away from the awkwardness of last year and go forward more together than they ever had been.  Coming off of that line of thought was how Daichi would be in bed.  Suga had never really seen how Daichi treated sex and things like that, so it left a lot of mystery.  Would he be gentle and loving?  Would he be rough and intense?  Did he have any strange kinks?  Erogenous spots?  Eventually, all the questions melted away suddenly when Suga heard footsteps going up to the master bedroom.  Daichi was saying something about looking for Suga before he opened the door.  Once the light hit him, Suga had to squint a little to see Daichi’s face.  Once his eyes got adjusted, he could see that Daichi was holding his phone and dropped it in shock.  His eyes were wide, like he had seen a ghost, but not for long.  As he walked closer and closer, shutting the door behind him and locking it, Suga wiggled in anticipation, not able to go any longer without saying something.

“B-babe…” Suga whispered.

“S-suga, what’s this?” Daichi asked, clearly shocked.

“Remember a year ago?  You asked me about having sex, but you never actually asked it that way, right?” Suga said, trying to roll over so Daichi could read Nishinoya’s message on his arm.  Daichi was about to respond, but then he began to read the text on Suga’s arm.

Daichi!   Who would’ve thought Mom had this kind of side?  You’re one lucky son of a bitch to be with Suga, and I hope you have an awesome birthday!   Nishinoya

Daichi finished reading and looked at his lover again.  This was completely new to him.  Though he had seen Suga getting undressed before, he never saw him naked for longer than five minutes while they showered in the locker rooms.  On top of that, the erotic expression on Suga’s face was absolutely tantalizing.  The way his eyes hung half-lidded with lust, the way his mouth was ever so slightly open to let shallow breaths in and out, everything looked so perfect and so delicate.  His attention was drawn to Hinata’s message next.

Daichi, Happy birthday!  I hope you and Suga will get even closer than before this year! Best, Hinata

Daichi smiled when reading Hinata’s message.  The boy was always the little kid of the group, and he acted the part as much as he looked the part.  It was odd to see a softer side to him in this message, considering how much of his first year was spent bickering with Kageyama or rough-housing with Nishinoya and Tanaka, but Daichi’s attention wasn’t there for long when he heard Suga let out a shaky breath.

“Suga?  What’s the matter?” Daichi laid down next to Suga, their eyes locking.

“I-I’m just nervous.” Suga said, trying to hide his embarrassment.  "I didn’t think about giving you my virginity until yesterday.  I wanted to do something different this year.  Something… special.“

Daichi moved closer to Suga, his hand gently touching Suga’s cheek.  The mere sight of a naked Suga in his bed wrapped in ribbons was shocking enough.  To see him this scared was something different.  It almost hurt Daichi to see Suga this scared.  His hand moved from Suga’s cheek to behind his head, and he pulled his boyfriend in for a gentle, chaste kiss.  Suga could taste an awkward mix of cake and ramen on Daichi’s mouth from the party downstairs, but he was too caught up in the moment to react to it or care about it.  They separated after about two minutes of silence.

"Suga.  Just being with you is special to me.  You know that.  I was willing to wait as long as you needed to get more comfortable with the idea of bringing sex into the relationship.  If you really don’t want to do this, we can just stop right now, get you dressed, and join everyone else.  But if you want to keep going…  I might not be able to stop myself.  But if that’s what you really want, I’d be more than happy to be your first.  On top of that, I’d be more than honored for you to be my first.” Daichi held Suga in his arms, rubbing up and down his back gently while waiting for Suga to calm down.  After laying in silence for a few minutes, Suga finally responded.

“Y-yes.  I want this, Daichi.  I want you.  I’ve known that I wanted you ever since we first met.  Please… be gentle.” Suga whispered.  Daichi sat up, helping Suga up with him.

“All right.  We’ll only go as far as you want to, so let me know when you want to stop.” Daichi said before kissing Suga again.  This time, the kiss was more passionate than the last.  Suga yelped a little when he suddenly felt Daichi’s mouth crash against his.  He kissed back with equal passion, their tongues dancing around each other.  As they kept going, Daichi slowly began to push himself on top of Suga, his kisses becoming more and more intense.  When they stopped for a minute to take a break, Suga looked into Daichi’s eyes.  He could see them glowing with a combination of love and lust, and it was driving him insane.  Suga fiddled with his arm bindings for a little before Daichi untied the bows keeping his hands together.

“Thanks.  Now let’s get some of these clothes off of you~” Suga said, his voice dropping to a lower, quieter tone.  His hands went to the hem of Daichi’s shirt and pulled it up, helping him out of the garment and throwing it to the side.  Suga’s mouth went dry as Daichi’s bare chest was made visible to him.  His muscles were large and fairly well-defined, like a hot young action star.  Suga’s newly freed fingers began to trace the patterns of lines that Daichi’s muscles made, causing the other man’s breath to hitch ever so slightly.  Suga’s fingers were lithe and smooth, and the sensations were going directly to Daichi’s groin.  As Suga’s fingers proceeded from his arms to his pecs and finally to his abs, Suga stopped just above Daichi’s waistline, his finger resting in between his v-lines and above his belt buckle.  Without saying a word, Suga undid the belt and unzipped Daichi’s pants, revealing the shape of his massive member pressing against his underwear.

“You’ve gotten bigger since high school, and I didn’t think that was possible~  Oh, fuck~  I dunno how that’s going to get in my mouth, but I do know one thing.  You’d be popular in the porn industry with a dick like that~” Suga teased.  Daichi’s face turned beet red.  How could his Suga use that kind of language?  Up until now, Suga basically never cursed, even if someone was getting on his nerves.  It felt so dirty.  It felt so wrong.  But at the same time, it felt amazing since nobody else got to see this side of him.  This Suga, who could get down and dirty like that, was for his eyes only.

“You won’t know how until you try, right?” Daichi played along, his hand resting on Suga’s head.  "So go ahead.  Suck.“

Suga didn’t say anything.  He simply pulled Daichi’s pants and underwear down to his ankles, helping him discard the unneeded clothes before getting to work.  Suga’s tongue gently teased the head of Daichi’s thick cock, causing sparks to fly throughout Daichi’s body.  He tried to hold back a moan as Suga’s mouth slowly began to descend on him.  He was finally learning what that mouth that haunted his wet dreams was like around his dick.  It was moist, slimy, and a little bumpy from the tongue, but it wasn’t gross.  In fact, Suga’s mouth felt really hot on the inside.  Before Daichi could command him to do so, Suga started to bob his head up and down on his erection.  The moans came more easily out of Daichi’s mouth.  He gripped the sheets tightly, his body not entirely used to that kind of sensation yet.  Eventually, Suga’s motions started to adhere to a medium pace, remaining like that for quite a while.  After a good, long while of Suga sucking him off, Daichi felt a powerful sensation building within.  He didn’t expect the feeling to hit him before he was ready for it to be over.  Before he could warn Suga, he came, spraying his seed into Suga’s mouth and onto his face.  Daichi suddenly became really scared.  Had he messed up?  The videos spent more time on that, didn’t they?  All sorts of questions buzzed inside his mind as he tried to think of something to say to Suga.

"S-sorry!  I-I didn’t think it would be this soon…” Daichi finally managed to say.  Suga didn’t seem displeased.  Instead, he licked the cum off of his lips and went in for another kiss.  Daichi tasted something salty on his tongue.  Was that what he tasted like?  It wasn’t quite so disgusting as some porn videos made it out to be.  When Suga pulled away, he finally spoke up.

“It was great, though~  But it’s unfair that you got all the attention first, so why don’t you work on me, now~?” Suga moved his bound legs in front of Daichi so he could undo them.  After freeing Suga’s legs, Daichi crawled up in between them and reciprocated Suga’s actions.  Suga wasn’t nearly as big as Daichi, but it still felt like something substantial was in his mouth.  Suga let out a moan, his fingers tangling into Daichi’s hair as his head bobbed up and down on him.  After a couple minutes of sucking interrupted by the occasional pause for air, Daichi stopped.  His hands went to the inside of Suga’s thighs and spread his legs apart, revealing his puckered entrance.  Daichi looked confused for a moment.  The hole looked much smaller in person than it did in most porn videos.  Then again, Suga was a virgin, so that could explain why it looked so tight.

“What’s up?  Other than the obvious~” Suga seemed to be aware that Daichi had gotten hard all over again despite the fact that he came already just from being sucked off.  When Daichi realized what Suga was talking about, he chuckled.

“You just love playing that game, don’t you~?” Daichi said, his attention returning to Suga’s entrance.

“Anything to keep you on your toes.  The last thing I want is a big lug like you falling asleep on me while you’re still inside.” Suga joked.

“A-anyway, I want to try something I saw in one of those videos that Nishinoya sent to the group.” Daichi stated matter-of-factly.  "I hope you don’t mind if I don’t get the lube immediately.“

"Do what you want~  I’m your present tonight, babe~” Suga’s voice drawled.  Before he could think about what Daichi wanted, he felt something slippery and rough against his hole.  Daichi’s face was in his ass, licking and sucking around his hole all while gently massaging his ass cheeks.

“F-fuck!  Aah!  Shit!” Suga cursed loudly.  Daichi stopped what he was doing immediately.  Again, Suga was cursing.  Even though he heard Suga say something of the same nature a couple minutes prior, it felt different when it was just curses.  The feelings of guilt and disgust temporarily rushed back.  How could he allow himself to taint Suga like he was?  Daichi felt like an old pervert, irrevocably ruining Suga’s innocence like that.  However, Daichi reminded himself that he had gotten this far, so there was no point in turning back.  His face then returned to its spot in between Suga’s legs.  

“Oh, yeah~  Don’t fucking stop!” Suga moaned.  Daichi could feel Suga’s hole convulsing under his tongue, and though the sensation was small, it felt much greater than it actually was.  After a while, Daichi decided that he couldn’t wait for the main event any longer.  He grabbed the bottle of lube from the nightstand, slicked up a finger, and slowly rubbed it against Suga’s entrance before sliding it in.

“Ah!  Fuck!” Suga shouted.  Daichi would’ve normally quieted him down if he hadn’t been so aroused, but since he was too horny, he didn’t care.  He paused, giving Suga time to adjust before moving the finger inside him.  After a while, Daichi added another finger, eliciting more swears from Suga.  At this point, the disgust was all but gone.  All that was left was the burning desire to mark Suga as his and his alone.  Suga looked into Daichi’s eyes.  His face was shiny from sweat, and his eyes were full of longing.  Daichi added a third finger.

“H-how long are you gonna keep doing this?” Suga managed to say through labored breaths.  “I just can’t wait anymore~”

Daichi was finding it harder and harder to keep his composure.  Seeing Suga slowly come undone before his eyes was the most erotic sight he had ever seen.  On top of that, what was under that innocent mask was a being that oozed cheeky sensuality and loved to play with the mind as much as the body.  Finally, Daichi removed his fingers, hoping three would be enough preparation for Suga.  Suga whined at the loss, but felt something else rubbing against his hole.

"Suga…  I want you to look me in the eye and tell me what you want me to do.” Daichi’s face turned serious.  This was more than what Suga felt like he could handle.  Daichi’s awkwardness seemed to be completely gone, and all that was left was what Suga was hoping to be a beast inside waiting to be let loose.  If Daichi’s eyes were glowing softly before, they were now a massive conflagration from passion.

“Daichi…  I love you so much.” Suga began.  It took all of his strength to keep the sultry expression on his face.  "And since you asked, allow me to explain.“

Suga took a breath and gathered himself.  There was only one more thing to do, and he wanted to make sure it would be a night neither of them would forget anytime soon.

"I want you to fuck me into this mattress.  I want you to fuck me so hard that I won’t be able to walk for weeks.  I want you to make me miss classes from how hard you fucked me.  And Daichi, don’t let me catch you being gentle, otherwise, I will push you down and fuck myself on your dick until I fucking pass out.” The sweet tones of Suga’s shameless dirty talk was the last thing Daichi needed to completely lose control.  He positioned the head of his cock at Suga’s entrance.

“You want it rough?  I can give it to you rough~  And I’ll be sure to make you pass out from how hard I fuck you.  I hope that cute little ass of yours is ready, because you’re not getting off easy tonight~” Daichi responded.  With that, he pushed past the pucker of Suga’s entrance, going all the way to the base in one thrust.  Suga screamed out in pleasure.  He only had a chance to take a couple breaths before Daichi started moving.  Daichi let loose a string of curses under his breath.  Suga’s insides were clinging around him so tightly, so needily.  It was the hottest thing he had ever experienced in his life.  Suga’s hands were practically tearing holes in the sheets as Daichi’s rhythm started to normalize.  He wasn’t only big, but also really long too.  One slow thrust felt like it took a long time, and Suga enjoyed every second of the contact.

“Daichi!” Suga screamed his lover’s name.  He didn’t care if the boys downstairs could hear him.  He wanted the world to know who was giving him all this pleasure.  He wanted to burn that memory forever into his mind.  Daichi grinned, leaning forward to look at Suga’s face.  His features were scrunched up such that a stranger would think he was in pain.  However, Suga felt that him being in pain from Daichi was far from the truth.  Sure, it was a little uncomfortable going in, but that was always how it went, even if the first time was always the worst.

“Yeah, that’s it, babe~  Keep screaming my name like that~” Daichi growled.  He slowly started to pick up the pace.  Suga’s moans also got louder and more frequent.  His legs were clamped around Daichi’s waist for support as the ride got rougher.  When Daichi angled one of his thrusts differently, he felt his dick rubbing against something in Suga.  On the other end, Suga suddenly experienced a rush of sensation all around his body, but focusing inside of him.  Daichi almost stopped, but kept going, trying to figure out the best angle.

“T-there…!  That spot!  P-please, hit it again!” Suga begged.  His pleas were music to Daichi’s ears.  Just after he asked, Daichi found the angle.  The next thrust hit Suga’s prostate more directly, sending a bigger wave of sensation and eliciting a louder scream.  Soon, every thrust was made to either hit or rub against Suga’s prostate, turning the waves of sensation into a constant flow.  Half of Suga’s sentences were borderline incoherent from all the pleasure Daichi was giving him.  If he couldn’t feel himself unraveling before during foreplay, he certainly felt that way now.

“D-daichi!  I’m so close…!  M-more!  Harder!” Suga’s voice started to get weak from all the screaming he had been doing.  "P-please, daddy…“

That final utterance from Suga awoke something in Daichi.  Just when he felt like he was about to get tired, he suddenly had newfound energy.  Daichi propped Suga’s legs onto his shoulders and started slamming into him at a ruthless pace.  Between the tightness of Suga’s insides, the utterly sinful sight of Suga taking his cock inside him, and the dulcet tones of him moaning like a whore, Daichi felt like he could explode.  

“S-say that again.  Please.  Say it again!” Daichi demanded, trying to go even harder than before.

“D-daddy…?” Suga asked, and he got his answer quickly.  He felt Daichi slam into his prostate with even more force than before and screamed again.  As Suga got closer and closer with each thrust, Daichi could feel him tightening more and more.

“S-so… close…!  Aah!  Fuck!” Suga cried out, his desperation for release too great for him to ignore.  As if he knew what he wanted, one of Daichi’s hands wrapping around Suga’s neglected cock and starting to pump him.  

"T-together…!” was all Daichi could say in the moment.

“I-I love you!  Daichi!” Suga cried out.

“Suga!” Daichi pushed in one final time as hard as he could, and both of them came at the same time.  Suga’s insides were like a vicegrip around his cock, keeping him locked in place as he shot his seed inside Suga.  The last thing Suga saw was his stomach completely covered in his own cum before he fell backwards, letting the exhaustion claim him.  His breaths began to slow down as Daichi slowly pulled out of him, a trail of a viscous white fluid leaving his hole.  Once Daichi finally caught his breath, he took Suga into his arms, laying down behind him in a spooning position.

“Suga…  That was… amazing.” Daichi said.  No response.

“Suga?” Daichi was confused.  He looked to Suga’s face, and it seemed that he really did pass out.  Daichi chuckled softly, kissing Suga’s forehead before grabbing a tissue to clean them both up.  He pulled the covers over them and returned to his position behind Suga.

“I love you so much.” Daichi said, not even caring that he didn’t get a response.  "Good night, babe.“

It wasn’t long before sleep gripped Daichi’s senses, sending him into a blissful slumber within minutes holding the love of his life in his arms.

~~~

The next morning, Suga woke up first.  He felt something huge and fleshy attached to him.  Had they fallen asleep while Daichi was still inside him?  He checked, and thankfully, that was not the case.  He felt a sticky, wet sensation between his legs as he moved around.  Remembering what had happened last night, Suga realized that they didn’t get a chance to shower before going to bed.  At least Daichi had the energy to wipe the cum off of his stomach.  Suga turned to face Daichi, who was still sleeping, and smiled.  It was rare that the first time was ever that good, and Suga felt lucky that this man was the one that took his virginity in the way that he did.  Suga’s eyes lit up as Daichi began to stir.

"Good morning, sleepyhead.” Suga said, his voice slightly hoarse.

“G'morning, Suga.” Daichi said, grinning.

“Last night was… unbelievable.” Suga couldn’t find a better word to describe it.

“I’m glad.  I thought so too.” Daichi gently kissed Suga on the nose.  "Sorry I didn’t clean you up more before we went to sleep.“

"Hey, it’s fine.  I wouldn’t have wanted you to be troubled with moving my unconscious body into the bath.  Especially not after how hard you plowed my ass~” Suga gently rubbed up against Daichi, who laughed and put an arm around him.  “You know, I wasn’t kidding when I said that you’d be a popular porn star.  A lot of guys talk a big game about sex and their bodies, but to actually have the goods to show is something totally different.  It would make paying this damn rent easier.”

Daichi could only laugh in response.

“I couldn’t do that, even if you asked me to.  It wouldn’t be the same if it’s not with you, Suga.” Daichi nuzzled into Suga’s neck.  Suga gently ran his fingers through his boyfriend’s hair, relishing in the warmth they shared.

“I’m glad that this hunk of man meat is only mine for the taking~” Suga whispered.  “Though, if we’re going by what happened last night, I felt most comfortable with you taking me~”

“Speaking of last night, did you say something weird?  Just before you passed out, you said something, and I forgot about how exhausted I was.” Daichi said.  Suga looked confused initially, but he quickly figured out what he meant.

“So you’re saying you have a daddy kink now?” Suga teased.  Daichi turned red again.  “I didn’t take you to be that type, but I guess I was wrong, huh~?”

“N-no!  It’s not what it looks like!” Daichi tried to avoid the question.

“Well, your face says it all, you doofus.” Suga smiled.  Daichi almost felt ashamed that Suga could see right through him so easily, his expression becoming slightly sullen.

“S-sorry, Suga.  You were just so hot.  I couldn’t control myself.” Daichi began to apologize, but Suga cut him off before he could go further.

“Hey, if you ever want to roleplay in the bedroom, let me know~” Suga went in for a kiss on the lips.  “How in the hell did you get through high school with the kids calling us mom and dad all the time?”

“It was different with them.” Daichi sighed.  “I enjoyed the affection, the love that they all gave me.  I knew that it was nothing but a cute joke to them.  But when you did it, it was totally different.  I...  I heard you in a dream once.  You were begging for me just like you were last night.  Maybe later I can show you a video similar to that dream.  I-Is that okay?”

"Sure.  Anything for you, babe.  Now, why don’t we get showered up and see if I can actually get to class today?“ Suga fluffed up Daichi’s hair, worsening his already bad bed hair.

"Sounds like a plan.” Daichi said, getting up out of bed.  Suga tried to stand, but the pain in his ass wouldn’t let him do so for too long.  Daichi picked him up bridal style and carried him into the bathroom, where they got started on their day.

Epilogue:

Meanwhile, the Karasuno boys had been asleep in the family room.  Hinata, Kageyama, and Nishinoya were crammed onto one couch, and the other three were on the carpeted floor using their jackets as blankets.  Hinata was the first to wake up, carefully moving a leg out of his face that he assumed belonged to Kageyama.  Then, Nishinoya, Yamaguchi, Tanaka, Tsukishima, and Kageyama followed.

“Ugh…  How long were we here?” Hinata asked.  The decorations for Daichi’s surprise party were still up, and the food apparently was still out.  He sleepily made his way to the freezer, and there was a meager three slices of the cake left.

“We were here overnight, it seems.” Tsukishima stated.

“Oh yeah!  I remember hearing Suga and Daichi throughout the night!” Nishinoya said.  "Suga was getting it really hard~  Lucky bastard.“

"That’s what those noises were?” Kageyama yawned.  "I thought it was the neighbors on the other side of the duplex, and I would’ve shouted at them if it weren’t for Yamaguchi trying to stop me.“

"Nah, it wasn’t.  It was definitely Daichi and Suga fucking like rabbits upstairs.” Tanaka said.  "Speaking of Yamaguchi, is he all right?  He was kind of silent yesterday.“

Tsukishima looked to the brown haired boy, who was in the kitchen heating up some of the leftover food.

"Were you worried about me?” Yamaguchi asked, nearly about to take a bite of the ramen from the night before.  "Sorry.  I was just kind of tired.  I had a really bad night with homework, and I’ve been struggling to get back on the right schedule ever since.“

"What do I keep telling you, Yamaguchi?” Tsukishima looked annoyed.  "Don’t work yourself to the bone like that.  Pretty soon, you’ll turn to dust.“

"S-sorry, Tsukki.” Yamaguchi said.  "Well, you think Daichi had a great time?“

"Were you listening to him all night?  I’d say he had more than a great time~” Nishinoya wiggled his eyebrows suggestively.

“Maybe we can have breakfast with them before practice.” Hinata suggested.  When Nishinoya looked at the time, he nearly jumped.

“Fuck!  There’s no time!  Practice starts in less than an hour, and we’re several train stations away!  Quick!  Get your shit and go!  We can leave a note for them on the kitchen table!” Nishinoya said, taking the marker he wrote on Suga with and a paper plate and writing a short message before ushering all the boys out and on the way to Nekoma for practice.

Meanwhile, Daichi and Suga had finished with their morning routines and were making their way down the stairs to the kitchen to evaluate the damage from the party.  Surprisingly, things looked pretty good.  There was a note from Nishinoya on the table.  Daichi picked it up and read it.

Suga! Thanks for letting us help with Daichi’s surprise party!  We had a great time, but I’m sure you two had it even better~  Anyway, we had to go to practice with Nekoma, so we couldn’t stick around for too long.  Hopefully, we didn’t make too much of a mess. See you later! Nishinoya

Suga smiled softly.  Nishinoya was growing up to be a true leader.  He felt proud of the legacy he left behind, but he felt even prouder that Nishinoya was trying his hardest to continue that legacy.

“I miss the kids.” Suga said, moving Nishinoya’s note elsewhere.

“Me too.” Daichi replied.  "Since we have a light day today, do you want to go to their practice this afternoon?  They said they were playing at Nekoma today.“

"Sure.  It’s the most we can do for their assistance yesterday.” Suga put a lid on the pot with the ramen in it and stored it away in the fridge.  "When you’re done with that pesky economics test, come and find me.“

"Sounds good.” Daichi hoisted Suga up into his arms.  "I love you, Suga.“

This is Part 1.

Read Part 2 here.

The train was packed full, like usual.  People were squished together like sardines, and even the seats intended for pregnant women and handicapped people were taken by those who were perfectly able to stand on their own.  Yusuke was wedged in between a fat businessman snoring away for the past five stops and a hypersensitive woman who chastised him every time he accidentally bumped into her.  She also looked to be 80, so Yusuke felt more sorry for her having to be in a situation like this than anything.  He had a small duffel bag wedged in between his legs.  It was initially in the seat next to him, but he had moved it out of respect for the woman next to him.  Normally, Yusuke would be homeward bound at this time, but the past few months had brought on special circumstances.  He was going to visit his boyfriend from Shujin Academy, Ryuji Sakamoto.  They had been brought together initially as partners in crime, but they eventually graduated into a love triangle with their currently absent leader, Akira Kurusu.  Ever since they felled Yaldabaoth and freed humanity from impending disaster at the hands of a heartless, controlling god, the nation’s image of the Phantom Thieves flipped around completely.  From what Yusuke could tell from visiting Shujin, most of the students talked about the Phantom Thieves like they were the next Power Rangers.  Multitudes of fansites and blogs opened after Mishima’s own page rocketed into the stratosphere and became an officially authorized source of knowledge about the group and its members.  The community was thriving like a near-utopian metropolis, only suffering from the occasional troll or misanthrope throwing a wrench into what were usually robust online discussions.  Similar to the people outside of the circle, good things came to those within the Phantom Thieves’ circle as well.  Futaba was now an up-and-coming Youtube gamer and Twitch streamer with a fruitful side job in programming and beta testing software along with her favorite pastimes of hacking and scrolling through 4chan.  After months of intensive therapy, Futaba finally worked up the courage to enroll in Shujin Academy, kicking her agoraphobia onset from the psychological trauma of being blamed for her mother’s death to the curb.  Makoto was paving her own path towards law school, studying to become a defense lawyer.  Haru’s family business had picked up the pieces left from her father’s destructive ways, bringing her to the top of the corporate ladder and fundamentally changing the way Okumura Foods presented itself to the world.  Ann became a regular jetsetter, flying from Paris to Rome to New York City as a high-flying fashion designer and writer, taking after her role models of Coco Chanel and Diana Vreeland.  However, Akira, Ryuji, and Yusuke found themselves with the greatest happiness of all.  First, Akira was finally cleared of the crime that sent him into Tokyo and Shujin in the first place.  Unburdened by the demons of the past, he was able to throw everything he had into finishing up his time at Shujin.  Next, Ryuji got his act together, made a complete recovery from his injury, and picked his dreams of being a track star back up after Shujin and Kamoshida nearly destroyed them.  As it turned out, not being able to use Shujin’s space and equipment was more of a blessing than a curse, since Kousei High School’s small track team was willing to let him practice with them, even as an outsider.  Finally, Yusuke’s art career was set to soar after some staff members of Kyoto Seika University attended one of his latest exhibitions and offered praise for what he had to offer.  Additionally, they informed him of internship and scholarship opportunities to help pay his way through university, should he choose to attend.  Not only had all three of them started to see their individual dreams coming into fruition, but they also found themselves in a loving, healthy relationship.  

The idea was first proposed by Akira after he and Ryuji had been dating for several months.  When he first met the two of them, Yusuke saw no need to meddle with what they had going on.  After all, he wasn’t there to make friends.  He needed a model for his newest work and saw potential in their friend Ann.  But as he joined up with them and helped them change the hearts of Madarame, Kaneshiro, Futaba, Haru’s father, and eventually Shido, Yusuke took a liking to Ryuji.  He envied the freedom that Ryuji conducted his life with, especially desiring the courage he had to pave that path for himself.  Instead of letting that envy control and corrupt him, he used Ryuji as a goal to aspire to, getting closer with him to get into his head and learn what made him tic.  However, even in blocking out that destructive envy, lust flowed in to take its place.  As he got closer to Ryuji, Yusuke found himself wanting to spend more and more time with him.  As the months went by, that desire for Ryuji’s time slowly turned into a desire for his heart, which culminated in a desire for his body.  Eventually, Yusuke started making subtle advances on him, starting with stony-faced compliments and eventually graduating to prolonged physical contact.  Makoto was the first to point out that he was acting on his lust for Ryuji negatively, comparing his actions to Kamoshida’s sexual advances on Shiho.  Even his friends at Kousei started expressing concern about his behavior, had he let it go on unchecked.  Thankfully, Ryuji’s dense skull and Akira’s supreme diplomacy prevented the blonde boy from ever catching onto the truth, which saved Yusuke’s ass and threw him from the frying pan into the fire all at once.  Though he had considerably improved his image within the Thieves themselves by recognizing what Makoto said as truth and acting on her suggestions for how to manage his lust, the acknowledgement of that truth made it impossible for him to be candid with Ryuji.  That was, until Akira stepped in.  He had taken notice of Yusuke’s infatuation with Ryuji early on and offered him a deal.  He could freely act on those feelings if and only if he would join the relationship as not a third wheel, but a legitimate member and extend his attention to Akira himself along with Ryuji.  Though talks of opening the relationship to him had halted with the Christmas Eve investigation and the struggle to take down the Holy Grail, the idea remained on Akira’s mind.  After Shido’s proceedings had been seen through, Akira revealed to the other Thieves that on Valentine’s Day, he was going to surprise Ryuji by getting him a new boyfriend.  Though some of them were skeptical of his logic at first, they all eventually came to support his decision.  After they returned home from a trip to the coast during their winter holiday, Akira brought Ryuji on a long date that ended at LeBlanc, where he had Yusuke come down from the attic as a surprise.  In that moment, both Yusuke and Akira were mentally preparing for Ryuji to sock both of them in the jaw and run off, never to speak to them again.  However, they were both surprised when Ryuji was utterly ecstatic at the reveal, giving Yusuke a bone-crushing hug.  It would go down as a night they would never forget and a moment that proved their relationship’s staying ability.  …Or so the others thought.

Akira’s new-found freedom, along with granting him the freedom of expressing his love for Ryuji and Yusuke as candidly as he wanted, eventually inspired his decision to leave Tokyo and return home to offer his parents closure on what had happened to him.  At first, Ryuji and Yusuke opposed the idea, but they eventually allowed him to act as he desired.  He was the leader of the Phantom Thieves, after all, and he had a knack for knowing what was for the best.  While the separation from Akira and Morgana was fairly quick since Akira’s parents were outside, anticipating his arrival, the loneliness that set in from that brief moment of farewell never truly left.  Every time Ann and Ryuji argued, someone else had to awkwardly break them up without Akira to give a cold stare to both of them.  Futaba had to target her dry humor at other Thieves now that her typical straight man was gone.  However, between all of the Thieves, Yusuke and Ryuji were the most profoundly affected.  Ryuji fell into a depression days after they dropped Akira off.  He started skipping classes and almost got himself expelled had it not been for Yusuke stepping in and forcing Ryuji to work hard again for Akira’s sake.  Especially troubling was the fact that the group had all physically separated to follow their dreams.  While Futaba was still in Tokyo to finish high school, she was still caught up with her work as an internet personality.  Haru was hard at work as assistant CEO of her father’s company.  Everyone else had gone abroad, whether to attend a fashion show in Ann’s case or to go to Harvard Law School in Makoto’s case.  Ryuji and Yusuke had stayed relatively close, with Yusuke at Kyoto Seika University and Ryuji a few subway stops away at Kyoto University.  Even so, the physical separation of their main group made the emotional separation from Akira all the more unbearable for Ryuji and Yusuke.  However, much like in battle, when one of them faltered, the other had to be stronger to support him.  Ryuji was in a time of need, and naturally, Yusuke had to step up to make sure he was still taking care of himself and getting all of his work done.  They’d had some bumps in maintaining their emotional connection considering Ryuji’s longer history with Akira, but the two of them were able to maintain peace at home and into the foreseeable future until Akira decided he wanted to come back or break up with them after the long distance tore them apart.

Today had been like any other day for Yusuke.  After his classes at Kyoto Seika, he went into the city to crash at Ryuji’s apartment and try to fill the void in their hearts as much as he could.  Usually, they’d usually play half-baked video games, since Ryuji’s money situation wouldn’t allow him to buy many of the bigger titles.  However, Yusuke wanted to do something different today since it was the first day of their winter holidays that coincided.  Instead of staying at home and staring at a TV for most of the day, he had planned a short excursion to a Tokyo hot spring behind Ryuji’s back.  Thanks to the money Yusuke had made from taking commissions, he was able to pay for it himself.  He had been planning on asking Ryuji if he wanted to go back to Tokyo for the break anyway, but the hot spring trip formalized these plans.  When the train stopped at Shijo station, Yusuke got up, finally able to leave his uncomfortable spot.  Once he made his way to the street level, he texted Ryuji.

“I just got off the train.  I’m coming over in a bit.  Want me to bring food?”

A few short seconds after Yusuke’s message was delivered, Ryuji sent a reply.

“Sure!  They just let me outta my last final, and I’m starving, dammit!”  

And then another text came immediately after that.

“Wanna play Mario Kart again or do something else today?”

Yusuke couldn’t help but laugh at the suggestion of Mario Kart.  Neither of them were that good at the game, and it was only because Futaba came over and showed them how to unlock the other characters that they were able to do it themselves.  Nonetheless, it was a fun experience, with Ryuji constantly trying to make good use of Bowser when he was clearly inept with heavy characters and Yusuke always managing to get ahead of him only to be pushed off of the course by Ryuji or some other heavy character behind both of them.  As fun as the collective race for second-to-last was, Yusuke had to stick to his plan.

“I’ve got something else in mind since it’s the first day that our winter breaks overlap.  What do you want me to get?”

There was a slight pause before Ryuji started typing again on the other end.  His next message followed shortly.

“Could you get some more ramen?  I haven’t had much time to go out lately because of track practice.”

Yusuke smiled.  He was so happy that Ryuji hadn’t given up on his dream.  Though there had been rough patches with the rehab process, it was at Akira’s insistence that he obey the doctor’s orders without question.  Now that he was fully recovered and given the green light to start running again, Ryuji had become much happier and more easygoing.  However, his tastes in food never changed.  Though he had been forced to eat packaged ramen instead of fresh ramen like he did at Shujin, he seemed to be getting along quite well on his own.  Making note of Ryuji’s request for more ramen, Yusuke stopped off at a Circle K near Ryuji’s apartment to grab several packages.  After he paid for the food, he reached his destination in a few more blocks.  He made a beeline for the elevator, catching an open one right before it closed and pressed the button for the 5th floor.  Once he arrived at the floor he chose, Yusuke walked to room 507 and knocked.  After waiting for a few minutes with no response, Yusuke knocked again.  This was unusual for Ryuji.  He was usually at the door to immediately answer when Yusuke made the trek from Kyoto Seika to Kyoto University.  After about six minutes more, Ryuji’s footsteps could be heard rushing to the door, followed by a huge thump.  Yusuke snickered.  He likely just came out of the shower and slipped on his own drippings.  A few steps later, the door opened.  Ryuji was clad in only a towel that was slipping down his waist by the second.

“Yusuke!  What’s up, dude?” Ryuji’s face lit up.  Yusuke wasn’t sure whether it was him or the ramen that Ryuji was excited for.  Nevertheless, he gave his boyfriend a knowing glance.

“What?  Is there something on my face?” Ryuji frowned.  “And why’d you bring a duffel bag?  Do you wanna stay the night?”

“I’d hug you, but you’d soak my nice clothes.” Yusuke deadpanned.  Ryuji simply chuckled, taking the bag of ramen from Yusuke before kissing him on the cheek.  “And about the bag…  I’ll tell you later.”

“Well, come in already!  I’m practically dripping with excitement!” Ryuji went back inside, the towel slipping all the way off.  Yusuke’s face flushed.  Even though he’d known Ryuji since high school, it still confounded him how he could walk around the house and answer the door completely nude.  Then again, it wasn’t like Ryuji had anything to hide.  He had a pretty great body, and it only got better with age.  His muscles had filled out a little more since high school now that he was regularly active again.  Not only that, but he looked as if he was glowing from within.  Though he wasn’t like a bodybuilder with pecs the size of his head, he was quite the looker and much more confident with his body after he started taking better care of himself.  And of all people to know that, Yusuke knew it best.  He had Ryuji model for him multiple times in varying states of undress over the period of a few years.  Back then, the farthest Ryuji was willing to go was to wear skimpy underwear, but since the end of third year and the beginning of his fitness journey, he’d grown more willing to be painted nude.  At first, he only did artistic and elegant poses, but as he kept modeling, he grew more adventurous to the point where every other pose had his dick out.  Maybe it was thanks to Yusuke that Ryuji became a nudist in his own home (though he did argue that Akira had a hand in it as well because he helped Ryuji with his mental health).  Regardless of how frequently he saw the blonde boy without clothes, Yusuke never seemed to get over just how hot he was.  Before Ryuji could joke about him staring again, Yusuke shut the door behind him and removed his shoes.  He sat on the couch as Ryuji dried and coiffed his hair.  Once the hair dryer noise died down, Ryuji came back out of the bathroom, still as nude as he had been before, and sat down next to him.

“How was school?” he asked, his arm wrapping behind Yusuke’s back and pulling him closer.

“I didn’t have school.  We finished our exams a few days before yours began, remember?” Yusuke leaned into Ryuji a little more.  “How were your exams?  Did you study like everyone urged you to?”

Ryuji paused.

“Define ‘study’.” He gave a sheepish grin.  Yusuke facepalmed.

“You winged it again, didn’t you?” Yusuke sighed.

“Hey, I wasn’t winging it!  I had track practice!  There was a big meet with Tokyo University two days ago!  You know that, because you were there!” Ryuji feigned annoyance.  Yusuke laughed.  He loved pushing Ryuji’s buttons like that.

“I was, and you did well.  You were very brave to do the long jump in Matsuda’s absence even though you’d never done it before.”

“We were all shocked when he called in sick.  He’s normally the first one to arrive and the last one to leave.  Track and field are his life.  His body probably caught up to him and made him pay.”

“Anyway, you did study after that, didn’t you?” Yusuke rested his head on Ryuji’s shoulder.  “But what you meant by that comment from earlier was that you rushed it again, no?”

“Well…” Ryuji started, but he realized that he’d painted himself into a corner.  He threw his hands up dismissively.  “Hey, you know they took me for track, not my smarts.”

“You are a brilliant young man.  I’m sure that admissions officials at Kyoto University saw more in you than just your athleticism and dedication to your sport.  Why do you keep selling yourself short like that?” Yusuke asked.

“You sound just like my mom, man.” Ryuji laughed.  Yusuke’s cheeks puffed in slight annoyance, but he laughed along with him.  “Anyway, you said you had a plan for today now that we’re both out of school for the winter.  Let me in on it, dude!”

“Well…  I wanted to go to Tokyo to check up on Futaba, Haru, and Sojiro.  I was going to go alone, but I wanted to know if you wanted to go with me.” Yusuke turned to face Ryuji more directly.  “I have my clothes in this bag, in case you were wondering from before.”

“Tokyo?  I’d love to, man!  I haven’t seen those guys in ages!” Ryuji’s eyes sparkled.  “But where are we staying?  I’ve never met your parents as your boyfriend, and my mom doesn’t have enough room with the guest room being rented out to local Tokyo University students and whatnot.”

“Well…  I saved up some money from taking commissions and booked us a week at a hot spring inn.” Yusuke said calmly.  Ryuji’s jaw hit the floor.  The last time he went to a hot spring was when it was the entire group of Phantom Thieves, and they all paid their share of the costs separately.  This wasn’t okay.  Ryuji couldn’t see how any one person would pay for two out of his own pocket.  It didn’t feel right or fair.  When Yusuke looked over at Ryuji’s worried expression, he simply chuckled.

“You do remember how much I charge, don’t you?  I also work in both traditional and digital media, so I will always have a robust commission schedule.  Don’t worry yourself over this.  We’ll figure out what to do once the week is up later.  For now, just be glad that we’re off for the holiday season and take some much needed rest.” Yusuke traced a finger across Ryuji’s jawline.  “After all, you can’t overwork yourself again, otherwise you might pull a muscle or tear a ligament this time.”

The worry didn’t fully leave Ryuji’s face immediately.  He always reacted like this whenever someone did something like that for him.  It was the same for when Akira stood up for him so many times throughout their friendship and their eventual relationship.  He was so used to being the eternal giver that he never really knew how to receive.  However, at Yusuke’s reassurance, the smile returned to Ryuji’s face.  He gently stroked Yusuke’s head as he snuggled up to him.

“All right, if you say so, dude.  I’m game for this hot spring surprise.” Ryuji gave him a peck on the nose.  “The rest can wait until we’re there.”

The two of them sat together in silence, Yusuke in Ryuji’s arms.  It was ever so slightly weird for Yusuke since he was fully clothed and Ryuji was still naked, but his skin felt warm and surprisingly soft.  Eventually, their phones rumbled to break the silence.  Yusuke felt his in his pocket and checked what it was.  It was Haru.  Strangely enough, she posted in the old group chat from when they were all still in Tokyo together rather than just calling one of them directly and starting a conference call.  It was the first message in the group chat in a very long time.

“Hey guys!  I’m back from my last business trip to South Korea.  I wanted to know if you were going to be around Tokyo this holiday season.  I want to have a reunion!”

Yusuke almost stood up, but remembering that Ryuji was still holding him, he quickly calmed himself.  Ryuji looked over Yusuke’s shoulder then to Yusuke himself with an even bigger grin on his face.  That expression could mean many different things, but Yusuke had hope that it wasn’t something mischievous.

“Looks like we’ve got options already.” Ryuji said.  Moments later, Makoto replied to Haru’s question.

“Ann will be back in Cambridge from an Armani winter fashion show in a few days, probably by this Thursday.  We’ll be able to come during the week of Christmas if that’ll work for you.”

Yusuke glanced at Ryuji.  He still seemed to be fairly content, but he knew all too well about what had happened between him and Ann while they were in high school.  Ryuji had been crushing on her since middle school and was devastated to find out that she didn’t feel the same way.  It was through that uncomfortable exchange that he learned that she was dating Makoto.  For a while, Ryuji was awkward around both of them, but after Akira coddled him enough, he was back to his old self again, playfully bickering with Ann every other day.  Their relationship was truly special since they really did grow from each other.  Ann taught Makoto how to be strong and look out for herself, and Makoto taught Ann how to pull back and know when to best spend her energy.  Their love came straight out of a textbook as a shining example of two life-long partners, and Ryuji couldn’t fault either of them for being so perfect for each other.  It was almost sickeningly sweet to see them be so in love with each other, but at the same time, it made the other Thieves more than happy to support their continued growth together.  Yusuke’s phone vibrated once more.  This time, Futaba replied.

“I have to batch record some Overwatch online matchmaking videos and the rest of Clear’s route (the good end) for Dramatical Murder this weekend.  I’ll be available once this weekend’s out, since I’ve announced that I’m going on break via Twitter.  I’m sure my old man won’t mind some extra guests this season.”

“Why don’t we tell them what we’re up to?” Ryuji suggested.  Yusuke nodded in response, getting to work on a reply.

“Ryuji and I will be at a hot spring inn for the week before Christmas, and we’ll probably be able to come over once we’re done checking out of the inn.  If any of you have a place for us to stay, we’d greatly appreciate it.”

Yusuke hit send, and the message was delivered to everyone in the group.  The flashing ellipses icon at the bottom showed many different people typing at once.  Then, the typing stopped when Akira sent a reply.

“I’ll be there too.  My parents are going to be gone for a while for business.  I also have some loose ends to tie up.”

It was Ryuji’s turn to almost stand up but stop before injuring Yusuke.  Both of them had been wondering if Akira would ever return, and now was the perfect opportunity to reunite.  But what did he mean by “loose ends”?  Was Kaneshiro still after him, even after being convicted and thrown into prison?  Did Sae contact him again for more info about dealing with Shido?  Did it potentially have to do with Akechi, if he even survived the destruction of Shido’s palace?  Running through every potential scenario in his head, Yusuke finally got up from the couch, walking the floor and almost slipping where Ryuji had dripped all over the floor.

“Wipe this up before we go.  If this is what I think it might be, I want us to be there to make sure Akira won’t get hurt.  He’s done his part for us, so now it’s time we step up to the plate for him.” Yusuke’s tone turned serious.  Ryuji gave him a concerned look in response.  Part of him was worried that Yusuke was taking Akira too seriously again.  Ryuji was more used to the bespectacled boy’s cryptic and mysterious methods of self-expression, so he had a feeling that Akira had something up his sleeve, but wasn’t going to reveal his cards until they were too far in to go back.

“Dude…  It’s not like he’s facing the Holy Grail again by himself.  He’s always been this way.  Just trust him, and he’ll be all right in the end.  You saw how Akechi betrayed him at Sae’s palace, and he still escaped prison fine.” Ryuji tried to offer some reassurance.  He then got up and returned to the bathroom, coming back with a dry towel to sop up the wet mess left on the floor.

“I suppose you’re not wrong.  Akira is good at following through when people believe in him.  But still, I can’t help but think there’s something about this that feels unsettling.” Yusuke walked into the kitchen area.  “Let’s get you packed up.  We leave at 1 and arrive around 4.  We’ll check in as soon as we arrive at the inn and eat dinner there.  I haven’t had a chance to eat, so would you mind if I looked for something?”

“Go ahead.”

Yusuke started rummaging through Ryuji’s fridge, looking for something simple to make before turning back to his boyfriend.

“Oh, and put some damn clothes on!  You’ll catch a cold if you stay like that.” Yusuke said.  Ryuji laughed in response.

“If the heater’s on, I’m gonna be fine, man.  I’ll get changed before we leave.  I swear, you and my mom sound exactly alike.” Ryuji put the soggy towel in the laundry bin with his other white clothes before going to the dinner table.  “See anything you like in there?”

Yusuke paused.

“Well…  Not exactly.  I think it would be easier for me to find something while we’re out, so get your clothes on and your stuff packed.  Don’t forget your phone.” Yusuke closed the refrigerator.  Ryuji nodded in understanding, going to his room to find some clothes.  He returned to Yusuke in a red Sekai no Owari t-shirt with black skinny jeans and a deep blue hoodie.  He brought a blue duffel bag with Kyoto University’s name and insignia on it along with him.  His phone was in hand, reading through the new messages that came in while they were getting ready.  The last one was from Haru.

“Wonderful!  I’ll arrange to be in town for Christmas, and we’ll all go out and have fun!  Should we do a secret santa?”

The next reply was almost immediate.  It was from Futaba.

“No.  Remember what happened last time?  Ryuji accidentally revealed who he had.”

Offended at Futaba’s comment, Ryuji replied in the group thread immediately.

“At least I remembered to mind the spending limit!  You went and bought Haru a new laptop!”

“A new laptop off of Craigslist.  Not from Amazon, you doofus.  You know I was well within the limit from that deal, and the product itself was in great condition.”

“Well, everyone makes mistakes sometimes.  Give the guy a break!”

Ryuji was filled with happiness at Ann’s swift reply.  He was a little shocked that she was only texting them now rather than before when Makoto spoke on her behalf.  Akira was the next to put in his two cents.

“I agree.  Ryuji’s been working on that for a while, and I’d say from the perspective of his lover that he’s come a long way.”

Ryuji’s face went red.  This freedom thing was driving Akira to levels of boldness that people usually expected out of Ryuji himself.  Nevertheless, the support was greatly appreciated.

“Thanks, babe~♡”

“Ugh, get a room you two.”  Appended at the end of Futaba’s response was an emoji with a disgusted expression.

“I would if he hadn’t fucking moved back!”  Ryuji added a sad emoji at the end of his sentence.

“Stop it already.”

Akira’s reply promptly ended that argument, resulting in awkward silence.  Haru sent a message to break it.

“So, are we doing this or not?”

It took a while for anyone to reply.  Then, Makoto sent a reply.

“I want a do-over.  I don’t think that blaming Ryuji for everything that goes wrong is fair or logical.  I think a reorganization of the rules and a system for enforcing those rules would help more, since we made up our own loopholes as we proceeded last year.”

“I want to do it again too!  Last year, my gift went bad in a week!”  An angry emoji appeared at the end of Ann’s response.

“Please forgive the lapse in my judgement.  I bought that contour palette from an unauthorized seller at a heavily discounted rate.  I should have known better.”  Yusuke remembered how angry Ann had gotten when the expired make-up he bought her gave her skin a rash.  Even a year later, he was apologizing profusely as if she had gotten angry at him recently.  He bought her a jar of La Mer face cream as a last-ditch plea for forgiveness on New Year’s Eve, and the legendary Miracle Broth ended up saving him from further torment.

“…Fine.  Only if he promises to keep his mouth shut about who he gets.”

“Great!  Let’s raise the spending limit to 7000 yen this year.  This time, let’s challenge ourselves to pick more than one item if possible.  You’re still allowed to buy a single item, but I’d much rather that we try for multiple cheaper items.  In addition, you’re now required to buy from authorized merchants.  No craigslist or bootleg sellers!  I want all of us to see how far we can stretch our money!  Futaba, please have Sojiro set up the RNG and tell us who we’ve got.  Good luck!”

Yusuke put his phone away, thoroughly amused.  He was hopeful that things wouldn’t go off the rails like they did last year.  Considering how much time Ryuji had had to grow up, he was likely not going to make the same mistake again, especially considering how angry it made Futaba.  Yusuke’s focus then returned to getting Ryuji ready for departure, and he gave his boyfriend the once-over.

“You sure you brought everything?  Do you have underwear and toiletries?”

“Didn’t forget this time.  I brought some of your favorites~” Ryuji winked.  “What about you?”

“You might be…  surprised about what I have.” Yusuke blushed.

“Looking forward to it, babe~” Ryuji gave Yusuke a quick peck on the lips.  “Now are we going or not?”

“R-right…  Let’s go to the train station.” Yusuke put his phone in his pocket and opened the door, letting Ryuji out first.  After a few subway stops and some walking, they made it to the Shinkansen platform at Kyoto station with some freshly prepared bento boxes in tow at Ryuji’s suggestion.  Once their train arrived, they boarded and got to work on their lunches.  Yusuke bought a bento with varying types of sushi and sashimi with rice and wasabi, and Ryuji had one with tonkatsu over rice with some dipping sauce.  As the ride went on, Yusuke quickly fell asleep, leaning on Ryuji’s shoulder.  As Ryuji gently stroked Yusuke’s silky, fragrant hair, his mind was full of excitement and hope for what was going to become of this holiday season.  Just when things couldn’t possibly get more exciting, his phone buzzed.  It was Sojiro, saying that his target for the secret santa event was Yusuke.  It took all of his self-control to quell the inevitable spike in his energy.  Yusuke was fairly easy to buy for considering his profession, but many of the materials he preferred were well over the 7000 yen limit.  Deciding to think of a present he could buy later, Ryuji returned his focus to his sleeping beauty of a lover.  He could only wonder whose name Sojiro sent him.

Ryuji never fully got used to being called an idiot, since he doesn’t believe himself to be idiotic.  It doesn’t necessarily hurt a lot, but makes him wonder about what people really think about him.

Ryuji first tried toning down the expletives he used to make people think he wasn’t as bad as they initially thought, but he gave up on that after a while.

Ryuji’s bravado and machismo comes from him having to be his own support system.  It wasn’t until he met Akira that he started showing more vulnerable and sensitive sides of his personality.

Ryuji prefers to be upfront with people rather than waiting until nobody’s watching to talk shit.  This unapologetic view made the accusations of Morgana’s disappearance brought on by the other Phantom Thieves all the more unbearable.

Akira was the only one who didn’t immediately blame Ryuji when Morgana ran away.  He eventually got them to sit down and discuss boundaries that their banter should never cross.

Since that incident, Ryuji and Morgana are cordial, but they still make jabs at each other when they can.  Akira chastises Morgana whenever he goes too deep, since Morgana doesn’t always keep himself in check.

Ryuji first thought Akechi was fucked up for betraying Akira, but seeing Shido’s cognitive version of Akechi had him second-guessing his hatred.

Ryuji felt incomplete when Akira went back home after his criminal record was wiped.  However, he didn’t stay permanently, returning within a few months to move to Tokyo for the long term.  Rumors say that his parents knew that his true home was with his fellow Thieves.

Though Yusuke was helpful in comforting Ryuji, they both missed Akira sorely, which made it difficult for him to support Ryuji while he was hurting.

He had been interested in Akira before they went to Kamoshida’s palace, but because Akira was so quiet, Ryuji never acted on his interest until after that.

Ryuji and Yusuke were into each other upon the first meeting, but at that time, Ryuji was in the mindset that he could only have one significant other, so he tried to suppress his feelings.  It wasn’t until after defeating Madarame’s shadow that Yusuke started openly flirting with Ryuji.

Ryuji was at first embarrassed by Yusuke’s advances, but he slowly started playing along.  Whenever he found himself wanting to touch Yusuke, he’d always hold back thinking Akira wouldn’t like it.

Unbeknownst to Ryuji, Akira was aware of Yusuke’s interest from the beginning and encouraged him to keep up the flirting to get Ryuji used to him being around them.

Ryuji and Akira started dating first, then when Yusuke started flirting with Ryuji, Akira decided to add him to the relationship as a surprise for Ryuji on Valentine’s Day.

Ryuji only stopped doing track while he was injured.  He realized that he didn’t need the track club’s approval to do something that he loved, so he started training on his own time with Kousei’s track team once he fully recovered.  He didn’t run at their meets, but he was always allowed to attend.  

After a year with Kousei’s track team, he started training for distance running on an individual basis with the team’s captain.

Ryuji eventually branched out into parkour and break dancing.  He started a street dancing troupe at Shujin as well.

Ryuji is the kind of person to push himself too hard without noticing until it’s too late.  Akira started to take him out to eat basically unannounced to distract him from overworking himself.

Ryuji started taking better care of himself once Akira started noticing the days that he was overworking himself.  He first did it to stop Akira from spending money on him by taking him out, but he kept it up because he gained a greater sense of body confidence from being healthy.

Ryuji likes posting memes and shitposts on his social media.  He usually responds to Ann or Yusuke in memes to get a rise out of them.  He tried it on Makoto and Akira, but it never worked.  Futaba usually fires back with another meme and starts meme wars between them.  Haru doesn’t understand half of the memes she gets from him.

Ryuji is a big fan of punk rock.  He especially likes Blink-182 and Finger 11.  He also has a particular liking for EDM and hip-hop when dancing or doing parkour.

Shortly after Akira moved back home, Futaba caught Ryuji getting emotional to Dreaming of You by Selena.  He gave the classic “dust-caught-in-the-eye” excuse, but she knew that he missed Akira right from the get-go.

Ryuji prefers headphones over earbuds because he thinks headphones make a stronger aesthetic statement.

Akira once brought Ryuji and Yusuke to a performance of Phantom of the Opera.  Ryuji was moved by the end because he was able to relate to the Phantom’s loneliness.

Ryuji was reluctant to model for Yusuke at the beginning, but he warmed up to it when he realized that not all modeling was nude modeling.

Ryuji used to not like being forced to wear something, but after modeling for Yusuke so many times, he’s gotten used to it to an extent.

One time, Yusuke had Ryuji wear a multicolored Andrew Christian jockstrap for a painting.  Since then, the various artistic clubs at Kousei have wanted Ryuij in exotic underwear for their own purposes.  The fashion club even offered to sew him sexy underwear to model in.

One of the things that concerns Ryuji about Yusuke was the fact that he could see the outlines of his ribs faintly against the skin of his torso.  Although Yusuke insisted that he was taking care of himself, Ryuji was never quite able to believe it.  Out of this concern, he asked Haru to help him improve his cooking skills so he could bring meals to Yusuke after school.

Ryuji once enlisted his fellow Thieves’ help for an art project he was doing for class.  He gave them all a laundry list of all the horrible insults he had ever heard about him and asked them to paint them all over the back side of his body.  Then, he asked them to paint supportive and uplifting messages to him on the front side of his body.  He didn’t get to see the nice messages they left him with until he had the photos of himself printed to poster size, and seeing what they came up with made him tear up.

Once his project was put on display, other students began to add their own nice messages to the picture of his front side.

Ryuji had a crush on Ann for a while, but she let him down gently after she started dating Makoto.

Akira was Ryuji’s first kiss with a guy, and it happened after he closed the book on the Shujin track club.  

Ryuji’s first kiss with Yusuke was a little after Futaba joined the team.  They were studying together, and Ryuji accidentally let it slip that he had admired Yusuke from afar multiple times, which led to Yusuke initiating the kiss.  Yusuke later claimed the experience was for the purpose of gaining a greater sense of how to artistically express love, but Ryuji constantly teases him about there being an ulterior motive to his actions.

Between the two, Ryuji thinks Akira is gentler and Yusuke is a little more possessive.

Ryuji enjoys physical intimacy.  He loves cuddling, especially when sandwiched between Yusuke and Akira.

Ryuji called himself bicurious for a while.  It took some time for him to fully embrace being bisexual.

Ryuji still calls Akira and Yusuke “dude”, “man”, and the like, but after they got together, he started calling them “babe” and other cute pet names more often.  Usually, he’d switch over when he wanted to be a little more romantic.

Despite his interest in Akira and Yusuke, Ryuji still likes girls and big boobs.  He got jealous of Makoto ever since she and Ann became exclusive.

Ryuji’s favorite parts of Akira are his waist and hips.  He likes seeing Akira wear slimmer clothes that bring out the shape of his body.  He occasionally wraps his arms around Akira’s waist when they’re together.

Ryuji also likes Yusuke’s hands, especially when they are in action.  He’s always mesmerized by the way Yusuke’s hands move when he paints or sketches, and he really enjoys watching Yusuke in the midst of creating his art.

Ryuji once bought a gay magazine he saw in Nichome because the model on the front cover looked like Akira.

Ryuji’s first wet dream about a guy had both Akira and Yusuke in it.  They were fighting over him, and it was slowly becoming a huge threeway.  He came when they both penetrated him at once, and he woke up with sticky underwear and sheets.

Ryuji is a switch hitter.  The sexual roles within his relationship with Akira and Yusuke are never really set in stone.

Ryuji has the highest libido between himself, Akira, and Yusuke.

One of Ryuji’s biggest fantasies is a threeway with Akira and Yusuke in a public place.

Ryuji’s favorite sex toys are fleshlights and bullet vibrators.  He bought several different toys along with the magazine from Nichome and went to town for a day.

Ryuji’s ears and ass are very sensitive.  He loves getting spanked too.

Ryuji loves giving massages.  He put his skill to great use during a hot spring trip, but Akira and Yusuke got the most out of it.

Ryuji is the kind of guy to lounge around his room naked or just in underwear.  He’s even answered the door for his friends in varying states of undress.

Ryuji sleeps in either just his underwear or no clothes at all.