#sanoism

takemichi's nervous. he's so nervous he feels like his breakfast is going to end up a pile of bile on the floor and ruin the cleaning staff's day. he's so nervous he almost wants to call the whole thing off and tell the entire production to go home.

all these peopleㅤ───ㅤthey're all here for him. they're all here because they believe he has something worthwhile to say, something worthwhile to show, and he has to get it together or he'll be wasting all their time and effort.

he steels himself to fake at least some part of the composed film director he's supposed to be, but instead of another team member asking for his opinionㅤ( his opinion! ),ㅤhe finds the star of the show behind him. takemichi opens his mouth to ask if everything's alrightㅤ( wasn't he supposed to be getting ready for shooting? ),ㅤthen abruptly closes it. opens it again and laughs.

ㅤㅤㅤ‘ㅤwhoa, the makeup team really did a number on you!ㅤ’ㅤㅤhe says, almost out of breath, leaning in to examine his eyes. they're darker now around the edges, sharper, and takemichi can't help but laugh again, delighted in his disbelief.ㅤㅤ‘ㅤis that eyeliner?ㅤhow did they getcha to sit still long enough for that?ㅤ’

𝐢𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐥𝐢𝐟𝐞, 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐚 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐢𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐝𝐢𝐠 𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐰𝐧 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐯𝐞.ㅤdespite his love for the dramatic and penchant for unnecessary flairs, ran likes to go back home at the end of the day with the satisfaction of a job well done; what his arrogance spoke, his actions could —and did— easily back up, and to summon him for a mission was synonymous of no traces being left behind at the scene of the crimeㅤ───ㅤusually.

the sound of koko's voice giving a report of the police raid at one of his illicit businesses from last week is almost drowned out by the tapping of ran's fingers against the mahogany of the table. it's a light rhythm, using the pads of his fingers rather than the nails, gentle enough it's imperceptible to most... but to ran it's drumming loudly against his ears, much like the frantic heartbeat of a hare about to be outran by a wolfㅤ───ㅤbut as far as his legs could take him, ran cannot outrun his thoughts.

rindou keeps sending him glances. ran does not look back at him.

it's a disposable facility, useful only for tax write-offs, and ultimately led the police back to square one in their never-ending journey to find one of bonten's headquarters, but it did weight on his mind. none of them knew what had gone wrong, but ran cares less for the reasons and more for the fact that he was the one who caused a mess. the talking is more buzz than conversation as he replays the scene in his head, remembering the littlest details, trying to decipher where he went wrong—

—and he gasps, eyes widening, when a pair of arms lifting him off his seat snap him out of his own mind. bewildered, he looks down at the culprit, surprised at being caught unaware and the audacity of the action itself ... but who else could it have been, if not the one living person who could do with ran haitani as he pleased? there's barely any time between being picked up and being carried away, but there's just enough to take one single look at the faces of the rest of the men at the meeting watching them part without a word.

ran laughs. it echoes pleasantly all around his chest.

ㅤㅤㅤ‘ㅤyou know, mr. kidnapper,ㅤ’ㅤㅤhe drawls, index finger slowly sliding down the column of his captor's neck, past the curve of his adam's apple to the dip between his collarbones, suggestively hooking the collar of his black shirt on his nail and dragging it down slightly to reveal the swell of his chest.ㅤㅤ‘ㅤi happen to be married to a very powerful and scary, scary man... are you sure you want to take me? it will not end very well for you~ㅤ’

chuckling, he rests his head against mikey's, eyes slipping closed for a moment. the meeting is not forgotten, but it is neatly tucked away in the back of his mind for later inspection; truly, there was no space for boring things when mikey was around.

ran then bats his eyelashes playfully, leaning down to whisper next to his husband's ear, arms loosely wrapping around his neck. he kisses the space behind his ear, white strands of hair tickling his nose. he laughs again, even though he's trying to keep his voice sultry.

he wants a cool sword too

. . .

. . .

. . .

"You two wanna come with me before the idiot puts this into law and I punch Takemichi for it?" Baji will take Chifuyu and Kazutora with him.

how ironic that the very thing that initially placed this wall between seishu and mikey is also the very thing that breaks it down.

for all seishu believes mikey to be unreasonably selfish and at times terribly entitled, he cannot blame him for the very human desire of wanting shinichiro's attention. wishing for a big brother like him to pat you on the head, to grin down at you and ask how your day's been, sitting down next to him from dawn to dusk watching him work on his bikes while talking about whatever comes to mind   it's all an instinct as natural as breathing, and a routine seishu has been following religiously for years now, with and without mikey's interference.

so natural, of course, that it's to be expected for others to want to join in. outsiders. seishu is in no position to allow or disallow mikey to do anything because he's shinichiro's brother in blood and heart, but people outside of his family have no excusable reasons other than greed and a lack of consideration for the ones who were already there in the first place before shinichiro's reputation began to preceed him. like this, it's hard to figure out whether those who approach him are after something honorable or something nefarious, and seishu won't let potential danger approach him.

...and, truth be told, seishu doesn't care if they want to approach shinichiro for honorable reasons or not. the simple fact is that he doesn't want to share his hero and big brother figure with any more people than absolutely necessary, because that means shinichiro will have less time to spend with him.

in the end, seishu's just as selfish as he accuses mikey to be, and that's precisely why they work well together now. the enemy of your enemy is a friend, after all, even if it's your own personal enemy the other 364 days of the year.

a year back, takemichi would have thought one of two things: mikey was putting some kind of obscure, deceptively innocent mark on him as a way of saying "no one else come near this loser, he's my prey to beat up!" or something completely opposite but equally horrifying, like an elementary school bully who sought out to ridicule him by making it look like takemichi was the kind of guy who wanted to look tough but enjoyed cute girly things, prompting mocking laughter from his peers.

today, takemichi understands that mikey loves taiyaki like a child loves birthday presents, and handing them out, even in sticker form, was a little bit like giving out said presents, too. takemichi treats it like one, smoothing out his uniform to avoid the sticker getting wrinkled.

well, he wasn't so far off about the possessiveness back then, but he's always relieved when certain things stay the same in one way or another.

it’s not every day that mikey does this. unless you’re draken, and mitsuya has seen them together like a mother hen and his little blond chick — not that he’ll tell draken, not any time soon. mitsuya takes the document with a curious raised eyebrow, reading carefully the folder paper to understand what mikey wants, how and when will it happen. it’s a mission he trusts mitsuya with: to make takemichi into the first human-size shaped taiyaki.

will there be complaints? oh, there will be. most likely from said fish-shaped treat but takemichi has a big heart and he’ll understand.

after he stops crying from the sudden attack on his personal space.

@sanoism @indebte

"Is there ever going to be a day that the two of you will learn to get along?..."