Ichirou’s week had been quite calm, all things considered. His parents didn’t bring up Masahiro coming over, his sister didn’t bother him too much to consider actually dating Masahiro, and it seemed as though Yuuhei was no longer panicking about Takeru. Ichirou had tried to bring up his shop idea with his father again, but his father had insisted he was still working on it, as he had since Ichirou was twenty one. There was no drama or negativity.

Ichirou posted several of the photos that they took from Harajuku, the ones with him spreading the rainbow grilled cheese and the selfie he took while drinking his rainbow soda. There was not a lot of mention of Masahiro on this post, but a couple of people did ask who took his photos. For the most part, however, his comments had gone back to business as usual. He had zero plans to share the photo of him taking a bite of the crepe that Masahiro had held, or any pictures from his upcoming hang out with Masahiro.

Ichirou had thought long and hard about what happened at the sweet lolita shop, Pretty Angel. The weird moment where Masahiro had pinned him up against the wall by his wrists that caused his brain to break for a moment. The weird moment where his heart seemed to pound louder than a gong, the weird moment where he couldn’t stop looking at Masahiro’s lips… yeah, that weird moment. Ichirou had made the decision that it had to have been the pheromones. He had heard that an alpha’s scent could make you freeze up and be unable to move, but he had never experienced it up until then. He wondered if Masahiro even knew that he used it that way. After all, what could the other answers be for that weird experience?

Yuuhei, although no longer in a full panic, had texted him a fair bit. He asked a lot of things about… being submissive, in a sexual way, Ichirou supposed. Although he knew it was different for beta males, Ichirou had explained everything as best as he could. He was a virgin, however, so there really was only so much he could properly tell. Yuuhei didn’t seem to mind, just so long as he was getting more information.

If Ichirou was being honest, he hadn’t fully expected Takeru to still be interested nearly three weeks later, but they were still texting on a daily basis, just like Ichirou and Masahiro were. Not that their relationship was the same at all, after all, Takeru and Yuuhei’s seemed to be inherently sexual, while Ichirou and Masahiro’s was one just based on friendship.

Ichirou’s outfit of the night was the sweet lolita dress he had bought last week. He was much too embarrassed to wear it on the street, but going up to a friend’s place wouldn’t be too bad. He wore it with the frilly shirt and headbow he had got as well to match. However, that wasn’t the end of the outfit. He wore red mary janes with some bows, a large amount of petticoats, some strawberry patterned tights, the bracelet Masahiro had got him from China, his strawberry bag, and a strawberry hair clip. He wore his hair down, having loosely curled it. His makeup was even softer than normal, with a lot of pink blush. All together, he thought that he looked berry cute.

As Ichirou’s chauffeur pulled into the neighborhood, Ichirou noted that it was the sort of ritzy area for those more loud with their money. Ichirou’s family lived in a quiet neighborhood, attempting to stay away from the press. This area had quite a few nightclubs, restaurants, and bars. Ichirou could not see Masahiro going to those places, but they did pass by a robot themed park for kids that Ichirou could imagine Masahiro studying in.

Ichirou’s chauffeur came to a stop in front of a pair of red and white high rise buildings. Ichirou hopped out, careful to brush off his skirt. He pulled out his phone, noting that Masahiro’s apartment was on the thirty second floor in the C building. He walked into the building from the drop off point. Ichirou carefully followed the signs to the elevator. He stepped in and pressed the button labeled “32,” and waited quietly as the elevator slowly moved him up the building. After a soft ding sounded out, Ichirou exited the elevator and made his way over to the number that Masahiro had sent him via text. If he was correct that this was the place, he ought to be the last one arriving.

Somewhat shyly, Ichirou pressed on the doorbell. He heard some shuffling on the other side before Masahiro opened the door with a grin on his face. Ichirou, in the back of his mind, was very grateful to see that it was Masahiro here and not some other random person.

“Hey, welcome! Come on in, Ichirou-san,” Masahiro said, stepping to the side to allow Ichirou to come in.

Masahiro was dressed in a well ironed, vertical lined short sleeve button up that was, once again, unbuttoned a bit further than Ichirou would expect for most situations. He wore some pleated shorts and socks, as well as that necklace that Ichirou had given him. His hair wasn’t as well kept as it normally was, falling in his face a little bit. Overall, he looked ready for summer and happy to see Ichirou.

Ichirou walked in and put his cute shoes in the shoe closet. He noticed that behind there was a bathroom, mentally noting it. Masahiro guided Ichirou into the living and dining room, which was surprisingly well furnished. The room had a modern, minimalist style to it, with the three colors throughout being black, white, and deep blue. The flooring was a desaturated brown, and the walls a pale beige. A large table sat closer to Ichirou, and against the wall, under some windows, was a long couch with a couple of side tables. 

To Ichirou’s immediate right, there was a kitchen. As Ichirou walked a bit further into the room, he was able to see a somewhat chaotic prep station. It looked like he had gotten the rice into the bowls, but not anything else, so the counters ended up being filled with various ingredients. Between the kitchen and the windows, there was a hallway that probably led to Masahiro’s bedroom. Closer to the windows, there was a large opening that seemed to lead to a den. Because the lights were off in that area and dimmed in the dining room, Ichirou couldn’t really see what was happening in that room besides some dark couches.

Ichirou was really overwhelmed with the smell of Masahiro that laid in this apartment, if he was being honest. He could smell that wonderful, woody scent no matter where he walked. It called to him in a strange way, begging him to relax and enjoy his stay, and possibly not leave. Ichirou almost wanted to go find Masahiro’s bed and curl himself up in it and go to sleep, he felt so comfortable.

From the den, Yuuhei popped his head out from behind the corner and grinned, waving to Ichirou. Huh. He seemed to be in a good mood.

“You go into the den and hang out with Takeru and Yuuhei-san. I’m almost done cooking,” Masahiro said, patting his shoulder.

Ichirou nodded and went into the next room. The den was much smaller than the living room, with softer looking, plush, dark couches. A large television hosting a multiplayer game that was paused on the wall. Along the other sides of the television, several glass cabinets lined the walls. There were a few robot figurines, but also plenty of books on a variety of subjects.

As Yuuhei plopped back down, and Ichirou noted that Yuuhei was wearing a long, brightly colored, baggy t-shirt with some character that Ichirou didn’t recognize, what seemed to be black leather pants, and a red beanie. Takeru, meanwhile, was wearing a black t-shirt with a white logo that Ichirou was pretty sure was for a band. It was tucked into his pants, sitting under a black, silver studded belt. He also was wearing black and gray plaid pants with several silver chains connected to the belt loops. 

Yuuhei was sitting next to Takeru on the comfy looking couch, and Ichirou couldn’t help but note that Takeru’s hand was now on Yuuhei’s thigh. No, not only that, while Yuuhei was looking up with a goofy smile on his face, inviting Ichirou to sit next to him, Takeru’s eyes were glued to Yuuhei with a self satisfied smile on his lips. He didn’t even recognize that Ichirou had come into the room.

“So,” Ichirou said carefully as he sat down next to Yuuhei. “Are you two gonna fuck?”

Yuuhei stared at him blankly, his smile suddenly freezing on his face, so Takeru answered, his tone smug. “Yeah, he agreed to meet up with me tomorrow at my place. We’re doing vanilla for his first time, but we’ll see where it goes from there.”

Yuuhei’s face burst into a red shade, similar to what Ichirou’s usually did. “I- I- I just- I’m curious, and so- I- uh- I just–”

“You don’t have to justify it to me,” Ichirou said, rolling his eyes. “You’re an adult, Yuuhei, you can have sex with whoever you want.”

Yuuhei looked down, obviously embarrassed. “I know! I just. I haven’t ever done it like this, so…”

“Like what?” Ichirou asked.

“Well, uh, you know! Outside of a romantic relationship, and… my positioning in this,” Yuuhei said with a cough.

“He’s scared about bottoming,” Takeru said, grinning.

“Shut up, oh my god,” Yuuhei groaned.

Ichirou could understand why Yuuhei was afraid of bottoming, as a beta. Unlike Ichirou, he produced absolutely no slick, and his insides didn’t stretch out the same way. A beta would need lots of lube and time to be properly stretched, or that shit would surely hurt. Luckily, both male and beta omegas had their prostates, a perfect spot to increase pleasure. Considering how experienced Takeru seemed, Ichirou was fairly certain that Takeru was already aware of all of this.

“When are you gonna do it with Masahiro?” Takeru asked Ichirou, a playful grin on his face.

Ichirou’s face turned bright red. “Wh- what?! We’re not like– I’m not going to! You know that!”

“You say that, but you two have real chemistry. I’m pretty certain that you two are gonna end up together,” Takeru purred, that same smug grin on his face.

Before Ichirou could splutter out another answer, Masahiro walked into the room, an annoyed smile on his face. “If I knew you were gonna gossip, I wouldn’t have let you come, you bastard.”

“Oops, sorry!” Takeru said in a sing-songy voice, leaning back. “I’m just saying, it could be fun to add some dimension to your relationship!”

“I’m fairly certain that Ichirou-san would not like to do something like that. He’s never been with anyone, and if he’s going to be with someone, it should be a rich, dominant alpha who loves Ichirou for everything he is, and who has a ring on his finger. It’s the least he deserves,” Masahiro said with a huff. “Anyway, besides that, dinner is ready.”

The three men got up and walked over to the dining table. Ichirou, as he sat down, couldn’t help but be a little bit bothered by the statement that Masahiro just made. Somehow, the way Masahiro put it, it almost sounded like he was putting himself down for not being good enough. That wasn’t how Ichirou viewed him at all. He didn’t want to have sex with Masahiro because they were friends, not because he wasn’t good enough. It was as simple as that.

In front of them were bowls of seasoned rice, filled to the top with edamame beans, seaweed, carrot, daikon radish, thin slices of tuna, salmon roe, shrimp, shiitake mushrooms, cucumber, and omelet. Several leafy garnishes, wasabi, pickled ginger, scallions, sesame seeds, and lotus roots. Miso soup, sunomono, and glasses of white wine surrounded the bowls. All in all, it was a lot more than Ichirou expected Masahiro to be able to make, but it turned out beautifully.

“Holy crap, when you said you could cook, I didn’t think you actually meant it,” Yuuhei said, sitting down to the right of Ichirou. Across the table from Ichirou was Masahiro, and Takeru was to his left.

“Yeah, it really does look good,” Ichirou said, grabbing the chopsticks from their holders.

After a round of “thank you for the food,” they began eating. For just a moment, they all ate in silence, enjoying the good food. Ichirou sipped on his miso soup, enjoying the umami flavoring. He picked at the sour seaweed, ginger, and cucumber salad, savoring every bite. And finally, he enjoyed the varied flavors of the chirashizushi, gobbling it down.

Ichirou looked up to Masahiro seriously, swallowing a mushroom. “I think I’ve changed my mind. Masahiro-san, let’s start seriously dating and get married so you can cook for me every day.”

Masahiro’s cheeks flushed and he looked off to the side. “It’s not that good…”

“It is!” Yuuhei announced. “Takeru-san, sorry, I think I’m going after Masahiro-san instead.”

“Ah, so we’ll make it a foursome, then,” Takeru said with a wicked grin.

“Good god, none of you try to date me,” Masahiro said, rolling his eyes. “Just eat the damn food.”

Takeru let out a boisterous, somewhat evil laugh. “Always so afraid. I promise you, I’d take your virginity nicely, Masahiro…”

Ichirou felt his eyebrows raise at that. “Virginity? I thought you had a girlfriend, Masahiro-san.”

Masahiro coughed awkwardly. “We never went all the way. We broke up before anything could happen.”

“You see, you two should have sex! You should take each other’s virginity. It’s nice to do it with a friend, there’s usually not any romantic feelings that can complicate things, and you trust each other. Plus fucking is always a good time,” Takeru said flippantly.

Masahiro glowered at him. “We’re not going to. Cut that out. Our relationship isn’t like that.”

“Th- that’s right. We’re just friends,” Ichirou said with a huff, his cheeks red.

“A- anyway, tonight we’re gonna get Ichirou to try out video games, right?” Yuuhei asked, scooting forward a little.

Ichirou, grateful that Yuuhei had changed the subject, nodded. “Yeah, you’ve wanted me to for a long time, but you also won’t let me into your apartment, so it’s hard for me to play games with you.”

“Yeah, I was thinking that we could play some games, like Nario Party or Nario Kart. Nothing too serious,” Masahiro said, smiling.

“Oh, god, we’re gonna play Nario Party? You know how I get when I play that game,” Takeru groaned, folding his arms and leaning back in his chair.

“Oh, I didn’t say you could play,” Masahiro snorted.

“What- you dick! I’m totally gonna play! And I’m gonna win!” Takeru growled.

“He never wins,” Masahiro said.

“This time is different! I’m up against a noob, so I can’t possibly be the loser,” Takeru said with a huff, gesturing towards Ichirou.

“I’m gonna beat you just for that,” Ichirou said, glowering at the blond haired man.

“What! No, I’m gonna beat you!” Takeru exclaimed.

Ichirou knew that he had no idea how to play games, but he felt the fires of competitiveness lighting under his ass. He knew that he wouldn’t be able to beat Pro Gamers™ like Masahiro and Yuuhei, but he could at least destroy the hopes and dreams of Takeru. He had a single goal for tonight: don’t lose to Takeru.

“Hey, Yuuhei-san, are you really gonna be okay shacking up with this loser? He’s so annoying, I don’t know how you’ll be able to stand it,” Masahiro said, sighing slightly.

Yuuhei seemed to be embarrassed by simply the mention that he was going to be having sex with Takeru. His face turned red and he cleared his throat. Before he started speaking, Ichirou couldn’t help but note that Takeru’s expression changed from one of desperation and anxiety to one of a flirtatious and cocky nature. He really did only have two modes: loser and horny.

“I’m gonna be fine, probably. I, uh, can always shut him up if I need to,” Yuuhei said, averting his gaze awkwardly from Takeru.

“You’re saying you know how to shut him up?” Masahiro’s eyebrows rose at that. “Tell me, I’ve been dying to know for the past seven years.”

Yuuhei looked at him with a pained expression. “You… will not want to do it.”

Even Ichirou understood at this point, but it seemed like Masahiro was not getting it. “What? Why not?”

“I can demonstrate on you, if you’d like,” Takeru offered, turning to his friend.

“He really won’t be happy if you do. He might even smack you, and I wouldn’t blame him,” Ichirou warned.

“Fine, I’ll demonstrate on Yuuhei-san. He’ll want to,” Takeru said with a slight pout before getting out of his seat. 

Almost instantly, Yuuhei’s face turned bright red and he began to panic. “N- no, there’s no need for us t- to demonstrate! There are other people around, so there’s no need! We can just tell him! That’s right, the way to shut him up is-”

As though stalking his prey, Takeru walked around the table. As Yuuhei babbled, Takeru put one hand on the back of Yuuhei’s chair and the other on the purple haired man’s thigh to steady himself. Yuuhei held up his hands defensively, simultaneously trying to create a border while also not actually doing anything to keep the other man away from him. Embarrassed, Ichirou looked away, although, by the sudden stop in words, he knew that Takeru had kissed Yuuhei. 

Ichirou glanced over to Masahiro, who hadn’t looked away, but now seemed to be absolutely disgusted with what he was seeing. He seemed to feel Ichirou’s stare and he looked over to the pink haired man. He mouthed the words, “it’s gross” to Ichirou. Ichirou nodded, his face red. Although, admittedly, he didn’t think it was gross, just embarrassing to do that with your friends in the room.

“So that’s how you shut someone up!” Takeru announced drawing the other’s eyes back to him. He walked back over to his chair, seeming quite pleased with himself. Yuuhei, on the other hand, was slumped into his chair with his hands covering his eyes, as though that would somehow make the whole rest of the world disappear.

“You could have made it a chaste kiss at the least,” Masahiro said, looking absolutely repulsed. “You used tongue in my house, and I don’t think I can forgive you for that.”

Takeru shrugged, shoveling in another spoonful. “You win some, you lose some. I feel like it was worth it.”

“I swear to god, if you both need to go to the bathroom at the same time and somehow magically end up in the guest room, you’ll never be allowed to come to my house again,” Masahiro warned, glaring daggers at Takeru but motioning to both him and Yuuhei.

“Damn, there goes that idea,” he said.

“OhmygodstoptalkingIhateyouwhydoIwannafuckyoushutuuup,” Yuuhei said, his words running into each other with how quick he said them. 

“Can we talk about something else?” Ichirou begged, almost as embarrassed about this whole as Yuuhei was.

“Yes, please. Ichirou-san, you mentioned to me that you were going to talk to your dad about that business you want to start. How did that go?” Masahiro asked.

Ichirou felt a pit in his stomach and he slumped down a bit in his chair. “Oh, um, you know. Not great.”

“What’s going on?” Takeru asked, his face finally smoothing out from that smug one that had dominated his expression.

Yuuhei stepped up, knowing this was a bit of a tough spot for Ichirou. “Ichirou’s been trying to get his dad to help him start a Kimura Cosmetics and Fashion branch, but because his dad’s old fashioned, he keeps putting it off and pretending that he’s working on it. He just wants Ichirou to get married and have babies.”

“Jeez, I knew you were faking this relationship for your families, but I didn’t realize that was how bad it was,” Takeru muttered, popping some more rice into his mouth.

“Yeah. I love them to pieces, but I’m only twenty two, and I also want to do more with my life than just be a baby maker,” Ichirou said, looking down at his bowl that was very close to being closed.

“That’s part of why I’m helping him out so much,” Masahiro said, his gaze towards Ichirou piercing. “I know it’s not the worst thing a parent can put their child through, but it doesn’t change that it’s messed up and completely outdated. He deserves to have some freedom, and I can give him some. In return, my aunt has stopped calling me, and lord knows that’s payment in itself.”

“It seems like you’ve been a lot happier since this whole thing began, too, Masahiro. I always told you that you hole yourself up in your studies for way too long and it was making you depressed, but you didn’t believe me. Now that you’re getting out at least once or twice a week, look at you now. You’ve been so happy,” Takeru said with a grin.

Ichirou looked up to Masahiro at that. He was happier now that Ichirou had entered his life? That was good. Ichirou’s parents had noticed that Ichirou was happier now that he had started hanging out with Masahiro, but Ichirou hadn’t been sure if Masahiro felt the same way or not. As much as he was using the blue haired man, he also really enjoyed his company. He was glad they were on the same page, at least with this much.

“Anyway, is everyone done eating? I’ve got beers in the fridge and ice cream in the freezer. I’ll put the dishes in the dishwasher,” Masahiro said, standing up. “Takeru, can you go get Nario Party started up? I’ll take care of everything else.”

“I’ll help too,” Ichirou said, refusing to hand over his bowls and plate to the taller man.

“Okay, okay,” Masahiro said with a chuckle.

Yuuhei ran into the kitchen while Ichirou and Masahiro picked up the dishes, grabbing a couple of beers and ice cream bars for him and Takeru. Ichirou and Masahiro brought the dishes over to the kitchen sink, and Masahiro began to rinse them while Ichirou put them into the washing machine. With that done, Ichirou grabbed a beer and a popsicle that was shaped like a slice of watermelon. Masahiro grabbed a beer and a fruit flavored popsicle as well, and they headed into the den, where Yuuhei and Takeru were waiting, thankfully with their hands off each other.

Masahiro grabbed one of the controllers, showing it to Ichirou. “So, this is the confirm button. This is the cancel button. You use this joystick to move. These two are the triggers, and these buttons you’re probably not going to need to use. If you have trouble remembering, look down at it. There’s little inscriptions, see?”

“Okay, how do I do this to beat Oda-san?” Ichirou asked, determination glinting in his eyes.

“Hey!” Takeru called, looking offended.

“The secret to beating Takeru is to just get as many coins as you can, or to just get one star. He never can actually get to the star, he just ends up collecting a lot of coins. So, as long as you can handle that much, you should be good,” Masahiro said.

“How do you get stars and coins?” Ichirou asked.

“Here, let’s allow the game to explain. Go ahead and pick out your character, and we’ll go from there,” Masahiro said.

Ichirou, upon finding out there was a pink princess, had to go with her. Masahiro chose the green dinosaur, Yuuhei chose a purple hatted man, and Takeru went with a giant ape. After choosing a fruit covered board, Ichirou learned the rules. The rules basically went as follows: get coins from either stepping on the board or minigames, use those coins to get items to help you or hurt others, and also buy stars. Every time someone would buy a star, the location of where to buy a star would move.

Ichirou, admittedly, did not do great on the minigames. They would always practice beforehand, but Ichirou would forget which buttons to push, or how to move. However, he managed to not be in last many times, which was enough for him to get a couple coins here and there. Takeru and Ichirou were vying for third place, but Yuuhei and Masahiro seemed to be in an all out war. They were both good at timing the dice rolls to see how far they would move, and they were both good at the minigames. It seemed as though Masahiro had played on his own a lot, and Yuuhei played with his sisters.

Masahiro got the first star, Yuuhei got the second, then Masahiro got the third, then Yuuhei got the fourth. Ichirou managed to build up some coins, so when the star vendor flew over to near him and Takeru, he got determined. He was going to get a star, damn it, and he would not be in last place. However, Takeru rolled first, and with that roll… he got two spaces away. If Ichirou could manage to roll above a five, he would probably win against Takeru, as there were only a few more rounds before the game would come to a close.

In the end, Ichirou rolled a four, leaving him on the same space as Takeru. Takeru laughed boastfully, knowing this meant he would almost certainly win. After a stressful minigame where they did jump rope with fire, Masahiro and Yuuhei went, each of them getting some useful items from a shop and an item space. Takeru just had to get a two or above, now, in order to get into third place. Easy enough, right?

Takeru rolled a one. Ichirou felt the somewhat mean competitive spirit rush over him, and he laughed wickedly as he rolled and got a six. With this, Ichirou had all but settled this match between him and Takeru. Anything beyond this would just be extra treats. Takeru sulked, falling back onto the couch, having effectively been beaten.

Masahiro and Yuuhei both dashed for the final star to make either of them the winner, but the game ran out of turns before they could get to it. At the end, the game gave out bonus stars to people for completing various challenges. Masahiro and Yuuhei both got one, and almost as a little “fuck you” to Takeru, Ichirou got one. 

“This game sucksss,” Takeru whined, flopping himself down. “Why can’t we play something actually good?!”

“You’re just sore because you lost,” Ichirou said smugly.

“Yes, and?! I lost to somebody who’s never even held a controller before! This game hates me,” Takeru wailed.

“Oh, stop whining. Besides, we’ve got to go another round, Yuuhei-san and I haven’t figured out who’s better yet,” Masahiro said, bristling up with excitement.

“I can’t believe we tied. I’m gonna beat you this next game,” Yuuhei said with an excited grin of his own.

“You all suck,” was Takeru’s reply.

“Anyone want to change characters? If not, we’re going to the next game,” Masahiro said.

“I don’t wanna play…” Takeru said sullenly.

“Aww, come on…” Yuuhei said, before somewhat hesitantly continuing. “If you stop whining and beat Ichirou, I’ll let you do one not so vanilla thing to me.”

As though a switch had flipped, Takeru sat up, his eyes glowing with fierce determination. Ichirou suddenly worried whether or not he would be able to win against Takeru. It was true that he had beginner’s luck on his side, but Takeru had the power of horniness. This was a man who ran on nothing, it seemed, besides a desire for sex, especially of the kinky variety. 

Everyone kept their same characters, and they went into the next round. This time, they played atop a cake. The rules were slightly changed, but the main objective seemed to be the same: get as many stars and coins as they possibly could. Unlike last time, Ichirou was now often losing to Takeru in the minigames and in the dice rolls. It seemed that pure desire had upped Takeru’s skills by a rather wide margin, and he was now steamrolling Ichirou. Ichirou was landing on “lose three coins” spaces, and failing at every minigame. He actually got to the star shop first at one point, but he didn’t have enough coins to buy anything. It seemed that, just as the luck gods had blessed him in the past game, they cursed him now.

The second round ended with Takeru and Masahiro getting two stars, and Yuuhei getting three. Ichirou, who was quite disappointed, hadn’t got a single one. The bonus stars laid their blessings down, with Yuuhei getting one, and Masahiro getting two. Because Masahiro had more coins this time, it meant that he was, indeed, the winner. And because Ichirou got last place, that meant that Takeru was also a winner, although in a different way.

“So,” Takeru said, tossing his controller to the side and leaning over to a nervous looking Yuuhei. “How non vanilla can I go? And what do you consider non vanilla? I could see me using a paddle, or maybe tying you up a little, or–”

“Not right now!” Yuuhei cried, covering Takeru's mouth. “We can decide this sort of thing over text!”

“How on earth do you use a paddle for sex? Isn’t that just something you use with boats?” Ichirou asked, confusion apparent on his face.

Takeru pulled Yuuhei’s hands down. “Well-!”

Before Takeru could get any further, Masahiro had clasped his hands over Ichirou’s ears. Ichirou looked up at him in confusion, and could see that Masahiro was saying something to the other two, but he couldn’t hear what it was. However, when he looked at the other two men, Takeru was pouting and Yuuhei was covering his eyes in embarrassment again. After a moment or so, Masahiro released Ichirou’s ears.

“What just happened?” Ichirou asked.

“We got told off for being too perverted around you,” Takeru grumbled, taking a swig of his beer. “I’m supposed to try to hold it in. I don’t get how I’m supposed to do that, though, since the guy I wanna have sex with is sitting right next to me!”

“Takeru-san, you’re not going to get sex if you can’t control yourself,” Yuuhei said, folding his arms and glowering at Takeru. It was not a very effective glare, but it was a glare nonetheless.

“I’m sorry, baby,” Takeru said, wrapping his arms around Yuuhei’s hips and pulling him closer. He rested his chin on Yuuhei’s shoulder. “I’ll try harder for you. Not for Masahiro, though. He can suck it.”

If Ichirou was being honest, part of him was grateful that Masahiro had covered his ears, while another part of him was kind of mad. Ichirou was a twenty two year old man, he could handle talks about sex. Granted, he wasn’t interested in BDSM whatsoever, and some part of him was worried about whether Yuuhei would be able to handle it or not, but that didn’t mean that he should have his ears covered like that! If it got to be too much, he could always cover his own ears.

Still… it was just Masahiro’s way of looking out for him. Ichirou was kind of grateful that Masahiro cared about him so much. Although he did try to be an adult, sometimes sexual things were a bit too much for him. He was, after all, a virgin. Not even that, he was beyond a virgin. He never even had his first kiss. At this age, it was actually a bit embarrassing. He hadn’t even gotten close to where Takeru and Yuuhei had easily taken it just about an hour ago in the dining room.

“Do we want to switch to Nario Kart?” Masahiro asked, going to the homescreen of the console. “I don’t have a lot of other multiplayer games, though, so if you want something else, I’d probably have to buy it.”

“I’ll play Nario Kart!” Takeru said, raising one hand while keeping the other wrapped tightly around Yuuhei.

“Uh, me too,” Yuuhei said, obviously super aware of Takeru’s blatant skinship.

“I don’t know what it is, but I’ll try,” Ichirou said.

Masahiro started up the next game, and Yuuhei excused himself to grab another beer, and also to have a reason not to be held so close to Takeru so openly. Ichirou chose the princess once more, Masahiro chose a character that was all bones, Takeru chose a man in a long, green hat, and, once Yuuhei returned, he chose the man in the purple hat. They then chose their vehicles. Masahiro explained how to see the stats, but Ichirou ended up just going with whatever was pink and cute.

They raced on several tracks, which had wildly different themes from an actual normal circuit to a land made entirely out of cheese. Ichirou found the game wildly difficult, but still somehow fun. He was pleased whenever he made it out of last place, and got especially excited when he made it to the top ten. Masahiro was extremely willing to cheer for him, even putting his rank in the game lower to congratulate Ichirou when he managed to finally turn around a particularly tricky corner.

Yuuhei and Masahiro were not as evenly matched at this game, with Masahiro being clearly superior. Takeru and Yuuhei, however, were more evenly matched and would do their best to beat the other. It didn’t seem like there was any incentive to really beat each other beyond the ability to hold it over the other’s head. Yuuhei would win a round, then Takeru would win a round, then Yuuhei would win a round, then Takeru would win a round, and so on and so forth.

Between rounds, Yuuhei announced he needed to take a bathroom break, and he took off towards the shoe closet. Ichirou stretched, before deciding that he wanted some more ice cream. He informed the two alphas, and walked over to the kitchen. He had only had a glass of wine and a beer, so he didn’t get drunk, but he still stumbled a little bit going towards the kitchen. Maybe it was just that sleepy feeling he was still getting from Masahiro’s scent surrounding him.

Ichirou opened the freezer and looked inside, carefully going over the frozen treats that Masahiro had available. He could get another watermelon flavored popsicle, but there was something he noticed that he hadn’t seen the first time around. A strawberry flavored ice cream, with little chunks of strawberry in it. He snatched it up quickly, an almost gremlin-like pleased smile growing on his face.

“I figured you’d want that one.”

Ichirou jumped, seeing that Masahiro was there. “O- oh, Masahiro-san, sorry. I didn’t see you there.”

“It’s fine,” Masahiro said, walking over to beside Ichirou. “I decided I wanted some ice cream too.”

Masahiro pulled out a coffee flavored ice cream, and then closed the freezer. Masahiro leaned against the counter, and Ichirou wondered if he had something to say. Masahiro stayed quiet for a moment, opening up his ice cream and taking a small bite of it. Ichirou decided to follow suit. 

“I’m just… glad you came over,” Masahiro said quietly.

Ichirou blinked at that. “You are? Why?”

“I’ve been worried about whether you viewed me as a friend or just someone who can help you,” Masahiro admitted. “I felt like you thought of me as a friend, but I had no way to be sure, you know? When you asked to come over, it felt like… ‘Ah, he really does think of me as more than just a fake boyfriend. He wants to be my friend, too.’ I was really happy.”

Ichirou flushed and looked down, nibbling on his ice cream for a moment before he spoke. “Well, you and I just get along so well… it was only natural that we would become friends, don’t you think?”

Masahiro smiled gently. “I thought so, but it’s hard to tell what the other person is thinking, you know?”

Ichirou looked up at him. “I guess I need to try telling you such things, then.”

“Don’t force yourself. I’m fine with you the way that you are,” Masahiro said mildly.

Masahiro was always such a sweetheart, he never pushed Ichirou out of his comfort zone or pried too deeply into him. Ichirou wasn’t fully used to having someone who cared for him, point blank. There were no strings attached to Masahiro’s friendship, just pure, unadulterated kindness. It was really nice.

Yuuhei came out of the bathroom then, yawning. He walked over to the den, then, seeing Ichirou and Masahiro in the kitchen, turned so all of the men could hear him. “Hey, it’s getting late. I think I need to head home.”

“Ohh, no way,” Takeru cried, coming out of the den. “I don’t want to have to wait to see you until tomorrow!”

“Sorry, I gotta make sure I don’t miss the last train,” was Yuuhei’s calm response.

“Fine, but then I’m going to head out, too! No offense, Masahiro, Kimura-san, you two are grand, but damn it, I gotta get everything ready for tomorrow,” Takeru said with a sigh and a stretch.

“Guess you better call your chauffeur,” Masahiro said.

“Oh, yeah, I guess I better,” Ichirou replied, pulling his phone out of the strawberry bag.

“Did I mention that you look positively adorable, by the way?” Masahiro asked.

Ichirou paused and looked up at him, red faced. “S- sorry, what?”

“He’s right, you look like a cute cupcake,” Takeru called as he followed Yuuhei over to the shoe closet.

Ichirou shyly looked away. “Th- thanks. I, um, I wanted to wear this since you told me to, and, uhm, you know…”

“Yeah, I know. And you’re also wearing the bracelet I gave you,” Masahiro noted.

Ichirou suddenly felt very embarrassed and self conscious about his entire outfit. The whole thing had “Masahiro” written all over it. Masahiro helped him get this dress, the headbow, and the shirt, and Masahiro got him the cute gold bracelet with pink crystal hearts on it. If he didn’t know any better, it felt like he really was dating Masahiro, and Masahiro had inserted himself into his life to the point that Ichirou wore an entire outfit that was basically from him.

“Hey, we’re heading out!” Takeru called. 

“Oh, let me see them out,” Masahiro said, following them to the door. “Be right back, okay?”

Masahiro followed them out, determined to at least see them down to the lobby. Ichirou pulled out his phone and dumbly texted his chauffeur. His chauffeur responded that he would be there in about ten minutes. He had apparently been on his way to wait for Ichirou outside anyway, since it was past eleven at night. Ichirou finished off his ice cream, tossing the stick in the trash bin.

With that taken care of, Ichirou took in a deep breath, smelling the pheromones that Masahiro had tracked everywhere. Ichirou, once again, felt a need to go find Masahiro’s bed and wrap himself in the blankets. Something about the whole thing seemed as though it would be incredibly comforting.

Ichirou wandered over to the modern looking couch that was under the windows in the dining room, and sat down. He looked out of the window over his shoulder, amazed at the glowing lights of Tokyo. He grabbed one of the couch cushions and hugged it to his stomach, feeling strangely lonely. Being in this apartment without anyone else felt wrong, it felt bad.

Soon, however, Masahiro came back up. They only chatted for a moment before Ichirou’s phone rang, informing him that his driver was here to pick him up. Just as he had done for the others, Masahiro walked Ichirou down to the elevator, stood with him on said elevator, and then walked him through the lobby. Masahiro watched as Ichirou got into the car, the chauffeur closing the door for Ichirou before getting into the front seat. Just like that, the fun night was over.

As Ichirou began to be driven away, he found himself missing the warm scent that Masahiro gave off.