Chapter 16

Jun woke up to someone nudging his shoulder. He was warm, almost sweaty but not uncomfortably so, but he was tired. His head and throat hurt like all hell, and with a foggy brain he turned his head to look at Fubuki. Oh, right, he’d called him and then he’d helped him clean up and calm down. That explained why he didn’t feel so gross anymore after puking his guts out.

 

“Hey sleepyhead, how’re you doing? Daichi’s making dinner, it’ll be done in about 10 minutes.” Slowly, Jun peeled the layers of his cocoon off with some help from the brunette. “Juudai’s joining us for dinner and staying the night since I gotta go.”

 

The confusion was obvious in Jun’s eyes. “What does you leaving have to do with Juudai staying over?” The gears still turned too slowly when he was so freshly awake after such a draining day, he couldn’t come up with a reason.

 

“You’ve been traumatised so much Jun-kun, the state you’re in mentally now that you’re here in Tokyo is tearing you apart.” Fubuki could see that Jun wanted to protest, but he shut his mouth again, because in the end he knew that Fubuki was right. Otherwise he wouldn’t have reacted the way he did when trying to just open the goddamn front door. “And company obviously made you feel better, so while Ryo helps you find a therapist you can trust, we’ll be there for you, as much as you need.”

 

“He’s looking for a therapist for me? I, uh, he’d do that for me?” They’d never been close either, it felt strange to think that Ryo would go out of his way to help him find a therapist. He’d never been to one, his older brothers thinking therapy was a proof of weakness. He’d never even seen a school counselor before about any of the issues he’d had through his life, out of fear that they would find out. He needed to have a spotless record, he couldn’t tarnish the Manjoume name in case someone found out he’d needed <i>help</i> with something. And so, he’d just stayed away from mental health professionals entirely.

 

“Of course. Ryo’s had a lot of experience with therapists himself, he’ll find someone you can trust to talk to even before we get everything sorted and your brothers aren’t a danger to you anymore.”

 

“If I use my real name on anything with a database they might find me, I can’t just… do that.”

 

“That’s why we’re gonna find a way around it. I’m sure Ryo has some ideas about that.”

 

Their conversation tapered out after that, Fubuki brushing through the mess that was Jun’s bedhead with his fingers when the doorbell rang. They heard Misawa open the door and him and Juudai talking, so finally Jun got out of bed. Before even going to greet Juudai, he felt like he needed to brush his teeth.

 

Fubuki told him to join them in the living room when he was ready, and left Jun on his own for the time being. When he closed the bathroom door behind himself he stared into the mirror. He looked terrible, he could see why Fubuki would think he was falling apart even if he hadn’t been there to witness most of it firsthand. And since he had seen what happened, he knew his mind was in turmoil. He felt stupid, but tried to tell himself it was just his brain being terrible. He hurried his toothbrushing to avoid thinking about it before he started panicking again, and moved toward the living room. He met Cheeseburger on the way there, and she let him take her in his arms.

 

He was greeted by a happy “hi” from Juudai as he entered the room. He slid into the seat on the couch next to his friend. “Uh, hey. You’re gonna stay tonight?”

 

“Yep! I’d share a bed with you anytime you need me to.”

 

Jun felt his cheeks burn, and pointedly ignored the amused looks Misawa and Fubuki exchanged. Asuka already knew something was going on between him and Juudai, it was only a matter of time before the others did too. Especially with how loose lipped Juudai seemed to be. For a few seconds, everyone was silent, until Misawa got up and asked Juudai to help him set the table for dinner.

 

It was obvious right away that Fubuki had something to tell him.

 

“Asuka found a lawyer that’s gonna help you. You don’t have to worry about the fees or anything, it’s someone who works for Pegasus. Hayato knows her. She’s coming to Tokyo tomorrow. I know we’re moving fast with this and you can tell me if you’re not ready yet and want to push it, she was coming to town anyway, so it’s okay if you don’t want to do it so soon.”

 

“Al...already?”

 

“The longer you wait the more unsafe you’re gonna feel, most likely. Asuka will be there, and me or Juudai can come with you if you want. Or any of us, whoever would make you the most comfortable. But Asuka will be with you every meeting unless you want her to wait outside or the lawyer needs it for something. But we’ll help you all the way with this, as much as you need, okay?”

 

Jun buried his fingers in Cheeseburger’s fur, scratching her back as he took a couple of deep breaths. “Can I… think about it?”

 

“Of course. Just let me know til tomorrow afternoon, okay? The meeting’s at three, so you’ve got a little while to decide.”

 

“Thanks.”

 

“Don’t worry about it. We won’t just leave you to deal with this alone, I promise.”

 

Soon after that they were called into the kitchen for dinner, and Jun set Cheeseburger down on a pillow on the couch. Can’t have her in his arms and eat at the same time, at least not when he wasn’t alone. When he was alone and felt like shit, he sometimes let her be there though.

 

Once they were all seated, Juudai was the first to dig in, because of course he was. He’d never been able to help himself when it came to a good meal, and it smelled delicious. In less than a minute they were all eating, Juudai and Fubuki helping with keeping the flow of the conversation easy. By the end of dinner nothing was left and Fubuki had to leave. He gave all of them hugs, Jun’s lasting a couple of extra beats. Misawa decided to do the dishes and kicked them out of the kitchen so he could listen to some science podcast. Jun saw just enough of his face to pick up that he wanted the two of them to be alone, too, and it wasn’t just the podcast.

 

Some people didn’t know how to be subtle.

 

Well, he didn’t use to know that either, so who was he to talk.

 

They migrated to what was now Jun’s bedroom, since that’s where Cheeseburger had decided to move to, and Juudai sat down on the bed, flopping down next to the cat. Jun remained sitting, running his fingers through orange fur. 

 

“Tenjouin-san told me that a lawyer’s coming tomorrow. Apparently it’s someone Maeda knows. Asuka-kun is taking me there.”

 

“Oh, cool. I’m glad they found someone who can help you so quickly.”

 

“Yeah, uh… I’m not sure if I can do it yet.”

 

Juudai placed his hand over his, Cheeseburger letting out a small chirp as the weight on her side increased. “I’m sure she won’t be mad if you need more time.”

 

“Tenjouin-san said so too.”

 

“But you’re nervous?” Jun nodded, making a face. He felt pathetic again.

 

“I’ve got to do it eventually, but it’s just… a lot is happening so fast. Marufuji-sempai is finding me a therapist, too.” Juudai was about to speak again when Jun came to think of something else. “Did either of them take each other’s names? It didn’t say on their instagrams, and I didn’t really check anywhere else.”

 

“Yeah, Ryo’s a Tenjouin too now. Apparently their dad was kinda shit, so he was happy to take Fubuki’s.”

 

“Does… Sho think the same?”

 

“I don’t think so, apparently he doesn’t remember that much about their dad. Him, Ryo and their mum saw a family therapist for a while, and most of the stuff they talked about he had no idea about.”

 

He didn’t go into more detail than that, but Jun understood why. If Sho wanted him to know more about it he’d tell him himself. He knew all about that kind of stuff. If he was smart he would ask Sho what therapy was like, but asking him when they’d never gotten along felt too awkward. He’d think about it.

 

“Even though he had only woken up an hour or so ago, Jun’s body decided that right then was prime time to yawn right in Juudai’s face. Juudai laughed. “It’s getting pretty late, let’s go to bed. You can sleep on what you wanna do tomorrow.”

 

“Fine. Let’s go sleep if you’re so tired.” Juudai stuck out his tongue at him and proceeded to go to the bathroom to brush his teeth. In the meantime, Jun changed into sleepwear, a small smile on his face. It changed into a blush when Juudai showed back up in nothing but his underwear.

 

“I know you own pajamas, Juudai.” The brunette gave him a sheepish grin and rubbed the back of his neck.

 

“Oh! Yeah, I forgot my stuff at Sho and Kenzan’s place. You okay with me sleeping like this?”

 

Jun waved him off, pretending to be nonchalant about the whole thing. “It’s just sleeping.”

 

“Yep. I’m not gonna do anything you’re not comfortable with.”

 

Jun rolled his eyes and crawled under the covers, Juudai following suit on the other side.

 

“Good night Juudai.”

 

“Sweet dreams, Jun.”

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