Around the gate of the main campus, Hokuto is so busy regretting the choice of his overly sweet coffee from the vending machine that he almost misses Shintaro and Taiga until they come right to him, and Shintaro pokes him on his arm. It's 7:50 in the morning, and there's a steady flow of students arriving at the campus area.
"Morning!" Shintaro calls out, sounding a bit too cheerful for a man who rarely makes it to his first class on time. His hair still looks damp from a shower, and his backpack hangs half-open from one shoulder.
Taiga waves lazily beside him.
"Morning."
Hokuto looks at them. Then at his coffee. Then back at them again.
"Why are you both so awake?"
"We're not," Taiga mumbles and yawns. "At least I could fall asleep after that huge breakfast."
Shintaro snorts.
"Huge? It was just rice, miso soup, and eggs. You wanted seconds."
"There was just too much food, and I didn't want to throw leftovers away," Taiga says, shoving his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie.
"Oh, you two had breakfast together somewhere?" Hokuto asks.
"Yeah," Shintaro shrugs like it's nothing. "Figured I'd cook something warm and simple for us before we left."
For us. Before we left.
Hokuto's brain stalls for a moment. Then reboots. Oh, he realizes, they must have had a sleepover at Shintaro's place. Gaming. A movie marathon. Sometimes those two do that.
…but wait. Why are those two also suddenly smiling like they know something Hokuto doesn't? And did he just catch a glimpse of Shintaro's finger brushing Taiga's wrist a little too naturally?
Hokuto shakes his head. Nope. No. It's normal. Totally normal. Taiga and Shintaro are just being best bros. Like always.
They start walking toward the lecture building together, Shintaro teasingly talking about how they missed the early train because "someone wouldn't wake up", and Taiga mumbling back something about "someone taking forever in the shower" while shoving Shintaro's arm.
Hokuto pays attention to the conversation sounding oddly flirtatious between those two while sipping his tragic coffee, but he quickly dismisses the weird thought because that can't be right. This is Shintaro and Taiga after all. The same two idiots who have known each other forever. If there were anything remotely romantic going on between them, the universe would have exploded from the sheer improbability years ago.
He takes a gulp of his offensive drink, grimaces, and decides that whatever is going on, it's still less concerning than this drink.
Suddenly, something even more interesting catches his attention.
He squints.
"Isn't that Shintaro's hoodie?" he asks, gesturing towards Taiga and his oversized sweatshirt. It's a hoodie Hokuto has seen countless times on Shintaro - the one with the frayed cuff and the mysterious paint stain on the sleeve. It's a bit too big on Taiga, hanging off his shoulder.
Taiga glances down.
"Oh. Yeah. I borrowed it."
Shintaro grins.
"He was cold this morning," he says, like that'd explain anything.
Hokuto chews on those words for a second before his brain calmly deletes all weird romantic implications again and replaces them with logic.
He nods with conviction.
"Of course. Classic bro behavior."
"What?" Taiga asks.
"You know," Hokuto says, getting into it now. "Like, if Juri were cold, I’d totally give him my hoodie too. That's what bros do."
Shintaro presses his lips together, trying his best not to laugh.
"Yeah," he then says, stretching the words as he repeats what Hokuto just said: "That's what bros do indeed."
Taiga sighs. "Sure."
Hokuto grins, proud of himself for being so understanding.
"I like seeing good friendship in action," he says.
Hokuto heads up the stairs first, sipping the last of his coffee. Behind him, Shintaro leans close to Taiga.
"Think about his reaction if we swapped whole outfits next time," he murmurs.
Taiga hums amusedly.
Hokuto doesn't hear a thing. He's too busy feeling warmed by the sight of such cute brotherly love.
Jesse is halfway through his curry rice, mostly just zoning out and stirring the sauce while Juri explains something that involves a group project and at least three eye-rolls. He spots two familiar figures between the tables.
"Yo! Over here!" Jesse calls out to them, waving. He waits until Shintaro and Taiga walk to their table.
"How was morning class?" he asks them.
"Long," Shintaro says, putting his tray on the table and sliding into the seat across from him.
Taiga sits close beside Shintaro. So close that Jesse pays quick attention to it. Not that it's weird or unusual or anything. Shintaro and Taiga are friends. Friends sit close all the time.
The lunch goes by all normally. It's not until Juri is already gone and Taiga lifts his dessert cup that something shiny catches the light (and Jesse's attention); there's a small silver ring on his finger. And then, when Shintaro reaches up to push his hair back, there's an identical one on his finger.
Jesse grins.
"Hey," he says, nodding toward their hands. "Nice rings. You guys start a friendship club or something?"
"What?" Taiga asks.
"Like matching rings for best friends?"
Shintaro's mouth twitches weirdly before he answers.
"Sure. Let’s go with that."
"That's so adorable!" Jesse says, sincerely impressed. "You two really take friendship to the next level. You even made it fashion!"
Taiga suddenly looks like he's trying not to laugh. Which is a little weird, since Jesse didn't say anything too funny, in his opinion.
"Yeah," Taiga says finally, sipping his soft drink. "We're all about friendship fashion."
Jesse nods enthusiastically. "Man, I should get such rings with Kochi, too."
Shintaro chokes on his food, and Taiga leans back, patting his shoulder.
"You okay there, bro?" Taiga asks.
"Never better," Shintaro wheezes.
Jesse beams at them. He can't help thinking about how awesome it is that two of his best friends are closer than ever. He knows himself; it's nice having that kind of good friend in one's life.
He makes a mental note to text Kochi later about their ring sizes.
The night finds them all squeezed into a corner booth of a noisy izakaya.
Shintaro clinks his third beer glass against Jesse's, Kochi's already halfway into his second highball, Taiga's trying to fish the ice cube out of his glass with his chopsticks, and Hokuto's lecturing Juri about "hydration balance" while eating edamame.
At some point, Shintaro gets up.
"I'll hit the bathroom, be right back!"
"Again?" Kochi asks after him.
"Beer's fast," Shintaro says, shrugging, and he's gone quickly.
Barely two minutes later, Taiga sighs and gets up too.
"Guess I'll go too before I burst."
Juri doesn't really think much of it because it happens all the time. Bathroom train, it's classic. Then, it takes maybe only ten more minutes until his own bladder decides to make itself known. He stands up.
"Alright, my turn," he mutters, asking Kochi to scoot so he can crawl from his seat by the wall. He steps down from the wooden stand and puts on the sandals placed on the floor. He pads along the corridor towards the bathroom.
Yet, as he rounds the corner, he slows down. There, in the narrow space by the bathroom doors, are Shintaro and Taiga.
They're standing close. Really close. Taiga is half turned toward the wall while Shintaro is in front of him, one arm braced against the paneling beside his head.
Juri stops.
Huh. Okay. That's... weird.
The whole scene looks like it could be mid-argument, or maybe mid-something-else entirely.
Shintaro notices him first, straightening up a little too quickly.
"Oh—hey."
"Hey," Juri says slowly, glancing between them. "Everything okay?"
"Yeah," Taiga says, tucking a stray strand of hair behind his ear. His voice sounds almost normal but not quite. "Shintaro was just—uh, helping me with something."
"His collar," Shintaro says instantly. He reaches up to gesture vaguely at Taiga's shoulder, as if it proves his point.
"Yes, right. Thanks, Shintaro," Taiga adds quickly.
There's a pause. A weird kind of pause. Juri stares at them for another second, Shintaro's hand still sort of gliding near Taiga's neck, both of them red-faced in a way that definitely looks like more than just beer. But Juri's brain is pleasantly fuzzy from alcohol, so he decides this is totally normal.
Maybe Taiga indeed spilled something on himself earlier. Maybe Shintaro is just being his usual overly helpful self. Maybe people really do need this much proximity to fix a collar. It actually makes sense as he thinks about it.
"Oh. Okay. Yeah. You two are so considerate towards each other," Juri eventually says.
Shintaro laughs.
"Guess so."
Juri is satisfied with his logic and pushes open the bathroom door.
"Well, carry on with your collar stuff then," he tells them.
Inside, he can't help feeling a little bit amused and shakes his head. Bros, man. Always looking out for each other.
They've been talking about a weekend trip forever ever since Jesse once mentioned he'd love to travel somewhere as a group of six. It took months of "we should really do it sometime" messages, and even longer to find a date that actually worked for everyone. But right before the spring semester ends, they finally settle on one.
Kochi ends up promising that he'd arrange the accommodation for them, so that's why he spends his Tuesday evening scrolling through various hotel sites and rental listings.
The next day, he bumps into Taiga in the corridor before the sociology class.
"Did you find a place for us yet?" Taiga asks.
Kochi nods.
"Almost. There's one beachside house with a short walk from the station and a private yard with a grill."
Taiga looks impressed. "Sounds good so far."
"Right? It also has a big kitchen, nice living room, three bedrooms, fits six people,” Kochi lists. "But the problem is one bedroom because it's kind of... um..."
"Kind of what?"
Kochi scratches his neck.
"Well, it has got one bed. But like, fitting two. A big one. It's probably meant for couples or whatever."
Taiga raises an eyebrow. "Oh?"
"Yeah," Kochi shrugs. "The rest of the rooms would have two singles each, but I don't know..."
"Shintaro and I can take that bed," Taiga cuts him off in the middle of the sentence.
Kochi freezes mid-nod.
"You mean that couple bed?"
"Yeah. If no one else wants it," Taiga says easily. "The place sounds amazing otherwise, and, you know, we're more than okay sharing."
"Oh," Kochi says. He tries to look normal, although he didn't expect such a suggestion at all. "Alright then?"
"Great, it's settled then!"
There's a brief silence. Taiga checks the time on his phone.
"Anyway, I should go grab something before class. You'll book the place?"
"Yeah, I'll book it," Kochi says, already pulling out his phone.
As Taiga walks off, Kochi stays standing for a moment, staring at the hallway where he disappeared.
We're more than okay sharing.
He frowns faintly, then shrugs.
"Hmmh."
It wasn't the kind of thing he expected Taiga to say, exactly, but then again, Taiga and Shintaro have always been... well, kind of their own duo. They hang out all the time, and they've known each other for so many years. Maybe at this point, they just don't care about stuff like whether they sleep next to each other or not.
Kochi thinks about it for all of three seconds more before nodding to himself.
"Yeah. Makes sense," he mutters.
He pulls out his phone and taps 'Book now' as he walks toward the classroom.
By the time he's halfway down the hall, the weird thoughts are already gone, replaced with the far more serious question of whether the house comes with a coffee maker or not.
It starts when Hokuto places his chopsticks down and clears his throat. Everyone looks up.
"Okay guys, seriously— are Kyomoto and Shintaro, like, a thing?" he asks.
Kochi blinks in confusion. "What?"
"Like, are they dating or something?" Hokuto goes on, lowering his voice but not really lowering it at all.
"No way!" Juri says instantly.
"No, but I've been thinking about it too," Jesse says, and he leans forward like a gossiping aunt. "They're always together! They've got matching rings! They keep sneaking out to make out! And Kochi told me they’re sharing that couple bed at the beach house!"
Juri looks at him.
"Wait, what couple bed?"
Kochi sighs. "One room has one big bed. Taiga said they'd take it. Said they're 'more than okay sharing'. And I told Jesse about it."
Juri narrows his eyes.
"Kyomo actually said that?"
"Yup," Kochi says.
Jesse smacks the table.
"SEE?"
Kochi doesn't look too convinced.
"They're just close," he says. "They've known each other forever."
"Right?" Juri says and nods along. "Totally normal thing for brothers."
Hokuto raises an eyebrow. "Do you share a bed or have matching rings with your brothers, Juri?"
Juri scoffs. "That's different."
Jesse grins. "Face it. There's something."
"We should probably ask them," Hokuto says.
"Ask?" Kochi yelps.
"Yeah," Hokuto continues seriously. "If they're dating, they'll say 'yes'. If not, they'll say 'no'."
"Or," Jesse says, "they’ll say 'no' in that suspicious 'yes' kind of way."
"Please don't start an interrogation," Kochi says.
Right then, Taiga and Shintaro walk in, laughing and their shoulders brushing. Jesse raises his brows at the others and mouths "see?" as they make room for them to sit down.
They all start talking, and the topic goes into the trip planning.
At some point, Taiga wipes a crumb of food from the corner of Shintaro's mouth with a napkin, and the gentle gesture doesn't go unnoticed by others.
"Admit it, that's kind of couple-y!" Jesse whispers to Kochi.
Kochi shakes his head.
"Could also just be friendship."
Jesse smirks. "Yeah, the kind of friendship that ends with someone's pants off, I tell you."
Kochi groans.
A few days later, Hokuto spots Shintaro and Taiga in the break room area. Taiga's got a band-aid in his hand while Shintaro sits on the bench.
"Stay still," Taiga says, crouching to stick the band-aid on Shintaro's knee.
"It's not even bleeding," Shintaro complains.
"Doesn't matter. You'll make it worse if you keep moving."
"It's a scratch, not a war wound," Shintaro mutters, but obeys and doesn't move.
When Taiga is done, he pats the bandage on Shintaro's knee once like he's proud of his work.
"There. All better."
Shintaro grins at him. "You’re way too caring, you know that?"
"Sure, just don't tell anyone. I'll see you later after the class," Taiga says with a small smile and walks off.
Hokuto stares after them. For a moment, he tries to rationalize it again. Because patching up a friend's hurt knee is a normal thing, right? Bros look out for each other. Bros share inside jokes, wipe crumbs off each other's mouths, fix collars, have matching couple rings, sleep in the same bed—
Okay, maybe not everything can be counted as a bromance thing.
When Shintaro stands up, still smiling at the tiny band-aid on his knee, Hokuto decides he's done and marches over.
"Hey, are you and Kyomoto dating?" he asks.
Shintaro nearly drops his water bottle in his hand.
"Wow. Good morning to you, too."
"Well?" Hokuto presses.
Shintaro grins. "What do you think?"
"I think that's not an answer."
"You're right, because that's the answer," Shintaro says, taking a sip of his water with a content smile on his face, like this is an interview he's enjoying.
"So... you're not denying it?"
Shintaro just laughs.
Hokuto sighs. "You are hopeless."
"Thanks," Shintaro says. "We are happy to be like that."
Hokuto watches him suspiciously.
"You just said we."
Shintaro smiles again.
"Did I?"
He pats Hokuto's shoulder before walking off.
Hokuto stares after him, confused whether he's just been trolled, actually got a confirmation, or somehow both.