It took me a while to figure out how Team Egoistic would interact, but I feel like this is how it would go.

A little warning for spoopy elements ahead in movie choices.

-----

"Yay! Thanks for having us over at your home, Eiichi-kun."

"It's no problem. Both of you are welcome over here at any time."

They had spent most of the day rehearsing for their Shuffle Unit song 'Egoistic'. By the time they were satisfied with the final recording, it was past midnight, and most of the trains home were gone. Eiichi offered his home to them, considering that it was dangerous for them to be out so late at night. They ended up at the Otori mansion after one quick limo ride.

It felt so empty when they entered, such a large living space for only the Otori brothers. With all the lights off, it felt entirely like a horror movie, where something could jump out from the dark corners. "Where's Eiji-kun?" Natsuki asked, looking around.

"He's with Shion and Nagi today. They're having a sleepover party at the HEAVENS main house." There was a hint of bitterness in his voice. Natsuki guessed that he hadn't been invited. He wanted to ask Eiichi about it, but it would have been rude, not to mention that his feelings would be hurt.

"They didn't invite you?" Ranmaru asked bluntly.

Eiichi gave him an affronted look. "They did, but unfortunately, work ran a little too long today. It's all right," he added, when Natsuki apologised. "Both of you are here with me tonight. Make yourselves at home. As your gracious host, I'll prepare anything that you need!"

"How about a movie night?" Natsuki suggested.

"Sounds great!" Eiichi grinned, waiting for Ranmaru’s reply. When he shrugged, Eiichi’s grin grew wider. "I'll go set up everything."

They found themselves in piles upon piles of cushions in front of the large flat-screen, deciding on which kind of movie they wanted to watch. Ranmaru wanted to watch an action movie, but Eiichi insisted on a drama series. They decided to let Natsuki pick, which in hindsight, had been a terrible idea. They hadn't expected him to beam at them brightly and fish out a horror movie from the pile of DVDs stacked to the side. (”It belongs to Nagi,” Eiichi said. “How terrifying could it be?”)

It started out with an opening scene into the woods, showing two girls walking through the foliage wielding only flashlights. Their feet crunched on the forest floor as they wandered around aimlessly, looking for something. "Why are they even out there?" Ranmaru asked no one in particular, crunching on the popcorn noisily. "They have no common sense, I swear."

"I know what you're doing, Ranmaru. By making fun of everything on the screen, you won't feel the tenseness of the quiet scenes. It’s quite the good strategy you have there." Eiichi smirked at Ranmaru, dodging the pillow that got thrown his way.

"Oi, what the hell are you trying to say?"

"Shush, you're spoiling the atmosphere," Natsuki whispered, waving for them to be quiet.

A bloody scream suddenly rang out from the surrounding speakers. Eiichi swore under his breath at the sudden jump-scare. It was a cheap shot at being spooky, but man, was he spooked. He saw Ranmaru jump out of his skin from the corner of his eye, the popcorn bowl falling from his hands with a clatter. They locked eyes, with Eiichi grinning triumphantly at his point proven. Ranmaru turned away with his face red, scowling to hide his embarrassment. "I'll let you hold my hand if you want," Eiichi offered, stretching his hand out in front of Ranmaru.

"Peh, who needs that?"

"Eiji's always been scared of horror movies, so-"

Another sudden burst of thriller music had Ranmaru clutching at his arm instinctively, grip tight, though his face was an absolute blank, lips pursed. He could almost rival his emotionless robot friend, though both Eiichi and Natsuki knew that it was just him putting up a brave front. It reminded Eiichi of one of the 'funny cat memes' that Yamato showed him once.

"Maru-chan-sempai, we can change the movie if you like."

"No! There's no need to!" Ranmaru snapped. "Just shut up and keep watching."

They made themselves more comfortable, with Ranmaru sandwiched in the middle of their trio. He had protested heavily to that, though Natsuki just shoved a pillow into his hands. He took it with a muttered word of 'thanks', to which Natsuki replied with a bright smile.

The movie had proceeded on to another scene, though they had missed a lot with their earlier distraction. "Wait, where did the other girl go?" Natsuki asked, confused. "Oh no, did the killer get her?"

"We would have heard her screaming."

"Shit, she's gone. She ain't coming back," Ranmaru muttered under his breath.

It was all silent now, with the remaining girl discovering the rest of the movie's plot by exploring around the abandoned mansion in the middle of the woods. There had been a group of her friends that she met up with at some point, who seemed to have the same bad idea of splitting up to search the mansion.

The next few scenes were a rollercoaster ride of tense silence and loud jump-scares. One by one, the characters that they barely had known for ten minutes had their heads rolling on the ground, eyes bulging out of their sockets. There was only one left, the girl from the beginning.

Natsuki pulled himself out from the pile, excusing himself to go to the washroom. Both Eiichi and Ranmaru were too focused on the scene ahead of them to notice, eyes wide as the remaining lone survivor crept through the dark corridor, the low tones of the piano creeping up in volume along with her.

"No! Don't go there!" Ranmaru yelled, sitting upright.

"The killer is right there!" Eiichi pointed vigorously at the dark spot where there was clearly a shadowy figure waiting with a glinting knife. "Be a good girl and turn around. Run and never look back!"

"Did you mean... me?"

Both of them let out simultaneous screams of true fear when they felt a bony hand clamping down on their shoulders. Both of them leaped forward to scramble away from the monster behind them, rendered speechless when it was only Natsuki waving a skeleton model's hand at them. Did he really make that deep voice they heard just now?

"I found it on the way back, so I thought it would add to the atmosphere," he said, laughing.

Eiichi rubbed at his forehead. "That belongs to Van. Please treat Madam Bones with respect," he added, when Natsuki swayed on the spot with it in his arms, humming a waltz.

"Why do you have that just laying around in your house!?"

"It was the Halloween party last week. He grew attached to it, so we allowed her to stay. She has been the most gracious guest."

The movie had ended without them noticing, but none of them had really minded. Now it was in the early hours of the morning, but none of them were tired enough to sleep, their minds too preoccupied by the flashes of the creepy grin of the murderer, their hearts racing from Natsuki’s scare.

"Hey, what do you say to watching cat videos until dawn?"

Sorry this took so long! I hope you like this!

-----

If it had been anyone else, Tokiya would have told them no to their face and resumed his sleeping routine. But Otoya had a way of making him give in to his ridiculous requests at two in the morning. (Tokiya had a suspicion that he honed his puppy-eyes skill to perfection for this very reason, but maybe it was the never-ending amount of affection he had for the redhead.)

There wasn't a pancake place anywhere near their shared apartment that was open at this hour, and Tokiya wasn't going to call a cab that would take them there. So making some from scratch it was. It wasn't too hard to find a recipe online, and they had some ingredients left over from baking last week.

"Were you watching food videos again?" Tokiya asked, rolling up his sleeves.

"I can't help it! The ones that Rei-chan sent have this effect that makes you want to watch more!" Otoya said, pulling out the flour from the top shelf. Tokiya made a mental note to have a good talk with their senior about night-time messages.

He sighed. "All right. How many do you want?"

Otoya put a finger to his chin. "Maybe five?"

"So many? It's not good for your health and digestion to eat so many this late at night." He picked up his phone, opening up a recipe he had found earlier. "I'll let you have two maximum."

"Four?" Otoya wilted under Tokiya's stern gaze, which eventually softened. He supposed Otoya had looked stressed lately, and he deserved a little reward for his hard work. Tokiya leaned over to kiss Otoya's forehead.

"All right, I'll let you have three, but that's it."

He brightened up instantly. "Yay! Thanks, Tokiya!"

They set to work at once, with Otoya doing the mixing and Tokiya cooking it on a pan. Soon, they had three fluffy pancakes steaming on a plate, topped off with honey and blueberries. Otoya snapped a photo of it, typing away on his phone.

"Let's dig in! Here's a fork for you."

"Otoya, I'm not having any. It's all for you," he said, clearing up the bowls and pans to wash. Tokiya was arms deep in soapy water when Otoya pressed a piece to his lips. "Stop that!"

"Come on, I feel bad if I'm the only one eating!" There was a small struggle by the sink, with Otoya trying to feed Tokiya the bite-sized pancake chunk and Tokiya dodging his efforts. Eventually, Otoya won, but not without a few soap stains on his shirt.

All right, the pancakes were deliciously sweet. He had made it, after all. "Let me finish cleaning up first," Tokiya said. Otoya nodded, heading out to the couch, fork in his mouth, humming a happy tune.

Otoya had put a sports channel on, watching the people on screen dashing around, chasing after a ball as he nibbled on his food. Tokiya slipped into the seat next to him, wrapping his arm around Otoya's shoulder when he felt his head lean against him. "Thank you," Otoya said, mouth full of pancakes.

Tokiya leaned in to give him a peck on the lips. He tasted like honey, sweet like the grin he gave him. "Anything for you," he replied.

Sure thing, bud! One NatsuRen for you here, I hope you like it~

-----

Ren had received a LINE message from Natsuki earlier in the night (along with a series of cute bunny stickers) requesting for help on a certain project he was working on for their upcoming Halloween party. He wondered why he hadn't dragged Syo into his plans until he heard what it was about. Natsuki had been planning on making some spooky Halloween cookies, and knowing Syo, he would have done everything in his power to stop it.

Unfortunately for him, Ren liked how experimental Natsuki was with his baking, so he agreed on his quest for ingredients at their local supermarket. He had a little time to spare before going to bed with nothing much to do. (But truthfully, he wanted to spend time together with the blond.)

The store was empty, save for the occasional businessmen shopping for their daily necessities after work. It was almost nine, an hour until closing time.

Natsuki met up with him with his basket already half-full of cookie decorations, including but not limited to: a box of candy sprinkles, a tub of icing, bottles of food colouring and tubes of edible glitter. Well, he hoped that Natsuki had picked the edible ones.

"Shinomi, what about the main ingredients?"

"Well, I was thinking of taking a twist with the flavour. Like how Halloween is always about the 'Trick-or-Treat', right? So I thought that maybe I could put in a few with a stronger flavour as a 'Trick', then the usual ones as a 'Treat'."

So, like a Russian roulette. The party was going to be interesting if he managed to pull it off. "Sounds great," Ren said, picking up the glitter, inspecting the label. It was edible, so he put it back. "Any idea on what to use for the flavouring?"

Natsuki nodded, pulling out a packet of orange and red powder. "Curry and spice powder," he beamed. "The spicy kind. It'll blend in well with the cookie dough, so they won't be able to tell which ones will be the 'Trick' cookies."

Ren glanced over to the side, suddenly inspired. "How about adding a more spice to the mix?" he asked, throwing him a wink. "Whole black peppers would look enough like chocolate chips to fool anyone."

His face brightened up at the suggestion. "Oh, that's a good idea!"

And that was how the next half-hour went, with both of them going through the different shelves and picking out what would suit the theme that Natsuki chose for his 'Treat' cookies. Werewolf cookies were going to be dog-like, so dog food went into the mix. Swamp monster? A can of sardines. Vampires were a little harder to think of, so Ren had suggested tomato juice as a substitute for blood. Fairies were going to be one hundred percent sugar.

At the end of it all, after they had paid for everything, they had at least four bags full. Ren was going to accompany Natsuki back to his apartment, but the bespectacled blond had shook his head, face flushed from the cold October night.

"No, it's all right. Thank you for accompanying me today, Ren-kun!" Without warning, he pulled Ren into his embrace, squeezing him tight.

Ren couldn't help the smile on his face as he hugged back. The blond gave the best hugs, warm and full of love. But it ended a little too soon for his liking, when Natsuki let him go. "I guess I'll see you tomorrow," he said, scooping up the bags in his arms, waving to him. "I'll text you the time and place, all right?"

"Sure thing," he replied. It was a shame for him to leave so soon. Ren had enjoyed his company, even with the mundane task of grocery shopping.

Natsuki nodded. He took a few steps before he paused, turning back and dashing towards Ren, surprising the strawberry-blond man. The plastic bags rustled on his arm as he grabbed both of Ren's hands, his eyes shining brightly like the stars above. "If it's not too much trouble, would you like to come over to have a cup of cocoa?"

Truly a rarepair that deserves some softness, I hope you like it!

—–

“Mikaze-sempai, I’m sorry that I’m late. Have you been waiting long?” Masato asked, sliding into the seat opposite Ai’s. The morning’s work had gone on longer than he had expected, so he ended up running ten minutes late for their lunch appointment. He didn’t get a chance to send Ai a text message, wondering if the senior (who was very particular about punctuality, according to Syo) was mad.

Furthermore, the cafe in particular was hard to find, with only Ai’s directions to go on. It was tucked away in a corner of a side road, a little rustic shop that was reminiscent of those in Europe.

Said man only turned to him, face blank. It was hard to tell what was on his mind. Was he mad? “No, it’s fine. I’ve been catching up on my reading,” he said, tucking the Kindle back into his bag. He was dressed casual in a large navy coat complemented by a pale lavender scarf, the one that Masato had knitted for his birthday. His bright hair was mostly hidden under a beanie, probably to avoid the fans from recognising him on the streets. “I’ve already ordered something for us to share, and one of it is especially interesting. Do you want any drinks?”

Masato looked up from the colourful menu. “A pot of tea sounds nice.”

The waitress returned to their table with a tray of sandwiches. “Reiji said they were good,” Ai said offhandedly, peering down at the sandwiches. He almost looked like he was disappointed by how ordinary they were.

Masato couldn’t help but to chuckle. “There’s some things that you can’t judge by the cover alone,” he said, gesturing for Ai to take one. “Maybe the taste will change your mind.”

Ai complied, nibbling at the bread. He blinked, then took another bite. Masato watched as he practically finished the sandwich in three bites, taking one for himself. It was good, with how the flavours melded together. The crunch of the lettuce was satisfying, the juiciness of the tomatoes leaving a sweet taste on his tongue. Masato wondered if he could find the recipes for these sandwiches, only because Ai seemed to like it a lot. Rarely did Masato see Ai eat with such vigour.

But he hadn’t expected Ai’s eyes to light up entirely when it came to the dessert. When he had said it was interesting, he hadn’t expected it to be a completely round, clear ball of…something, laying in a plate of syrup and powder. “What is it, exactly?” Masato asked. He had the compulsion to poke it with his spoon, but he was afraid to disturb its current shape.

“A raindrop cake,” Ai said, as if it explained anything. He took a picture of it with his phone, then scooped up some of it up and held the spoon out to Masato, waiting.

At first, Masato didn’t understand what he wanted until Ai shook the spoon gently, the jelly wobbling on the curved surface. “No,” Masato said, face burning. To be fed with a spoon by his senior was no less than embarrassing, not to mention that Ai looked earnest in his endevour.

“Masato,” he said in that soft, sweet voice of his. “Try it. If it helps, you can close your eyes.”

Heeding his advice, Masato leaned forward, eyes squeezed shut. It felt so awkward after a few seconds. Masato wondered what Ai was doing until something soft touched his lips, something that wasn’t a spoon. His eyes snapped open to see Ai already pulling back, a rare smile on his face. Masato was at a loss for words, his thoughts jumbling up as his face burned.

My favorite metal band and my recommendation for you as a new listener of this genre is Ne Obliviscaris. That’s where I started too :). Try these albums:

Portal of I 🦋

Self-shipping's always nice, I like to indulge every now and then ( ꈍᴗꈍ)

There are quite a lot of others out there with self ships too that I know of (you can look at the main tag too, that's where I see most of it)

Hhjalellflfa thank you very much!! ( ꈨຶ ˙̫̮ ꈨຶ )