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sometimes, tsukasa really did wonder if the universe simply enjoyed testing him on a day to day basis.
it started off with phone call from home. the suou family situation had always been a tricky one to navigate well, knowing the slightest slip up would not only cost him but his treasured family. they’d been on his back a lot more than usual since MDM, rumors about him being a ‘pawn’ of sorts for leo due to their money being thrown about online too casually for his family’s liking. even if he himself knew the rumor mill was as far as could be from the truth, it still came as a point of debate with him and his other family members. there was also the issue of kohaku...but that was something he’d resigned to never see eye to eye with the heads of the suou family on.
the phone call was to inform him about a meeting he was scheduled to attend in the upcoming days - something in regards to meeting another family with a lot of influence and setting up a mutually beneficial relationship with them. it was a task designated to him quite often, aiming to make sure he was truly fit to succeed as a suou - being able to forge relationships was one of the most important things, after all. he trusted himself to do well, yet that didn’t stop his mind from having to continually practice the lines he’d be using in his head. failure wasn’t an option in a situation like that, not at all.
simultaneously, as he hung up that phone call, an email from one of their managers at new dimension came in. one glance at the email preview had the question of can this day get any worse hitting him. he opened it up regardless, eyes skimming over the text. it was short, snappy and brief, telling him that the job offer he’d gotten for the junior members of knights had been abruptly cancelled. a part of him wanted to respond back, fingers desperately trying to explain how much those kids were looking forward to performing, how hard they’d worked under his and his fellow senpais supervision.
he shoved his phone back in his pocket instead, frustration building up. he was going to have to tell all of those junior knights that the performance was off; tsukasa could already picture their faces, crest-fallen, wondering if this is what their hard work amounted to in the end. it was a painful thought that all the comforting in the world from his part wouldn’t entirely alleviate that. getting their morale up again wouldn’t be easy. it would be up to him to scout out a new job as soon as possible, and if not...take the brunt of those kids’ aching expressions.
sometimes, just sometimes, it crossed his mind that he was under too much stress for a 17 year old boy.
he repressed thoughts like that as soon as they came though - he was thankful for his place in life, leader of knights and future successor of the suou family. it wouldn’t do him any good to complain.
tsukasa let out a sigh, trying not to let any of his worries carry over to his expression. he was scheduled to practice with ritsu and arashi today - knights had an upcoming live in a month, however it was up to the three of them to practice together in leo and izumi’s stead.
walking into their usual room always felt nostalgic to him. it was a room he’d come to associate fond memories with - sitting under the kotatsu with his senpais, celebrating their lives by eating cake either bought by izumi on impulse (or so he claimed) or made by ritsu (after being taste-tested to prove its edibility, of course.) they’d spend hours upon hours chatting away, losing themselves so much in conversation that it would only register to tsukasa how long they’d been there when his phone would light up, message from the suou chauffeur asking him where he was.
without the sound of leo’s boisterous laughter and izumi’s motherly scolding, one would think he’d feel lonelier here. it was impossible for him to feel truly alone though, he thought, knowing ritsu and arashi were still here with him. their senior members were only a phone call away, 10 hours on a plane he’d easily take if his sense of impulsiveness was any stronger. knights might’ve been a group of individualists, but tsukasa knew they would always be there for him.
in saying that, as he entered the room, it quickly became apparent that neither ritsu or arashi had shown up yet.
“how shameful of them to be late…” he muttered to himself, albeit used to it by now. it’d freak him out moreso if his senpais were earlier than him. his role as 'ou-sama' would probably be in jeopardy then...plus the others likely wouldn't let him live it down.
being left alone like this, tsukasa wasn't quite sure what to do. the unease and exhaustion still fluttering around in his body stopped him from slotting himself under the kotatsu. he felt like he needed to do something, shifting his weight between his legs as he stood in place.
he resigned himself to checking the uniform rack, 3 knights outfits hanging up there. he ran a hand over the fabric of his own uniform, the clothes feeling like so much more in his grasp. this wasn’t just an outfit to him, but a consolidation of his own identity. right now, he was merely suou tsukasa, exhausted teenage boy with far too much on his plate. when he put on that uniform, he was a king, wasn’t he? regal robes making a statement not only to other units but to their many fans - the king had arrived with his fellow knights, hellbent on protecting their throne and the place he called home.
tsukasa smiled to himself, wanting to hurry up and perform until-
“w-waah?!” tsukasa barely had much time to react, ability to stand up quickly escaping him as he was pulled downwards. whether his shout was due to the sudden feeling of what he swears had to be a hand wrapped around his ankle, or the fact he was rapidly falling to the floor, tsukasa couldn’t say. all he did know was that instead of his body hitting the wooden floor as painfully as he was expecting it to, he found himself being cushioned almost immediately.
he stilled in distinct shock, still trying to process what had just happened before hearing a mute chuckle behind him. “haha. as expected, suu-chan looks nice when he’s caught off-guard.” he’d recognise that soft, silky voice anywhere, body instinctively relaxing despite himself.
“[jesus christ], ritsu-senpai!” tsukasa pouted, although ritsu couldn’t see it from this angle, “if you’re going to drag me down so suddenly, some [warning] would be appreciated. i could’ve been seriously hurt, and then our live plans would have to be changed considerably-” his train of thought came to an abrupt stop as ritsu brought a hand up to pet his hair, the other one still wrapped securely around his junior’s waist.
“but you’re fine, see? you fuss too much.” ritsu smiled.
he let out a small huff. he supposed he was unharmed, and he couldn’t say he disliked being cushioned by ritsu’s warmth.
“ritsu-senpai?” a hum in acknowledgement, “it’s...i’m not [ungrateful] for your kindness, but why are you cuddling me like this? we have practice, no?”
“practice can wait. for now, i want suu-chan to be my personal pillow~” ritsu’s arm pulled the redhead slightly closer to him, enveloping tsukasa in a properly tight hug. the junior doubted he would be able to escape his senpai’s clutches anyway - years of judo lessons were nothing against the brute strength of a vampire, he’d learnt.
what he’d also learnt in his time as a member of knights is that sakuma ritsu was hardly honest. he was their strategist, wise beyond his years and more perceptive than tsukasa could ever wish to be. he’d never failed them before lives, analysing the battlefield and mapping out their plan of attack to ensure knights win; even if it ended it loss, tsukasa knew he could always trust the third year to make sure they played the part as the valiant knights they were supposed to be. that intuition didn’t just end when it came to lives however - ritsu knew his fellow knights like the back of his hand, able to read them in a way tsukasa couldn’t understand. if there was something off about any of them, a problem they’d been internalising or the like, it was even more likely for ritsu to suss it out the moment his glowing red eyes caught sight of their expressions, too spaced out or too downcast for him to ignore.
as courteous as ever, ritsu was never one to make his concern too obvious. tsukasa liked to think it was testament to how close they’d all become that he’d seen through his senpai’s motives.
he lent back into ritsu’s grasp, his back meeting ritsu’s chest.
“you’re a bad liar, ritsu-senpai.” was what ended up falling from his mouth, the words muttered softly enough to dispel any presumptions of malice. perhaps calling him a bad liar was incorrect - ritsu was a very good liar, the best when it came to knights. then again, that wasn’t too difficult of a crown to carry. knights ranged from painful honesty (read, tsukinaga leo) to harsh words spoken with fond gazes (something that izumi refused to admit in the moment, but tsukasa could tell. his senpai’s love, however misspoken, was love nonetheless.) he’d come to appreciate all of it, regardless of how difficult it was for some (every moment arashi seemed to be genuinely enjoying herself, freeing herself from complacency was a moment tsukasa would find his heart swelling in his chest.)
a beat of silence before, "secchan's right, you are a bit of a brat." ritsu laughed, low in his ear. "i'm not lying at all about wanting to lie here with you."
he supposed he wasn't.
"but...practice?"
"mhm, it's fine, it's fine. suu-chan doesn't need to think about that right now." the hand in his hair stilled, ritsu focusing his attention on speaking, "it's only the 3 of us anyways, and you know naru-chan won't mind."
he wanted to protest further, maybe mention how unsightly it'd be for their king to spend practice time asleep on the floor, but as ritsu's hand began stroking his hair again, words died in his throat. his rationale had faded, sleep sounding like a much more viable option than adjusting whatever new choreography they had to do.
it was easy to melt into the vampire’s touch. he claimed he was just using his junior as a pillow - how lucky it must be to be sakuma ritsu’s pillow then. there was a gentleness in the way ritsu held his waist, slender fingers occasionally tracing his junior’s sides. he held tsukasa tightly enough to hold him in place against his chest.
“ritsu-senpai…” he breathed out.
“shhhh. go to sleep, suu-chan.” ritsu pressed a chaste kiss to tsukasa’s ear lobe, “i’ll be here when you wake up, so sleep.” the hand in his hair was quickly lulling him to sleep, eyes fluttering closed whether he liked it or not. ritsu’s tender voice was undefeatable. he found himself falling asleep in ritsu’s grasp, feeling safe knowing his senpai was there.
...
...click! click!
he cracked an eye open, immediately coming face to face with a phone.
“...huh?” fell from his lips, lavender eyes blinking wildly as he tried to take in the scene in front of him, “narukami-senpai?”
arashi chuckled, snapping a few more photos on her phone, “morning tsukasa-chan~. you look well rested, i like that. it suits you far more than the zombie of a junior we’ve had recently, hmm?” at the further clicking noises, tsukasa forced himself to sit up, wriggling free from ritsu’s grasp. ritsu let out a groan from the floor, clearly unhappy with his own sleep being disturbed.
wiping the sleep out of his eyes, tsukasa found his cheeks flushed, “narukami-senpai, [delete] those photos at once!” all he received was another chuckle in response, manicured hand obscuring her mouth as to not laugh too hard.
“no can do, tsukasa-chan! this is the kind of content our fans live for, you know?” she scrolled through her phone, seemingly beginning to type something out, “the official knights twitter account is...a bit of a mess right now, so it’ll be nice to have a wholesome photo of you up there. plus, you and ritsu-chan will probably trend for a few hours too.”
he couldn’t deny the twitter comment. tsukasa considered themselves lucky for having such loving fans considering the mixed bag of content they’d all upload. how they hadn’t been cancelled yet for leo’s giant ”exposing thread on itsuki shu for calling me an earsore” or izumi’s posts critiquing the fanmade chocolate they were given...he had no clue. the photos of him sleeping must’ve looked beyond embarrassing, but if it was for their fans, he felt somewhat more at ease. it’d probably be a pain to see everyone responding back to their tweets with him as their profile photos, but he filed that concern away.
arashi’s hands found their way to his uniform, attempting to fix the creases made as he slept. “thank you, narukami-senpai. you...can post the photos if you want.”
“there’s no need to thank me at all, onee-chan’s just happy to see you well rested. i won’t post all of them, since there are some expressions only the king’s vessels should be allowed to see.” she gleamed, before turning her attention behind tsukasa, “ritsu-chan, come on, sit up! i want to praise you a little.”
on command, ritsu joined him in sitting up, small yawn leaving his mouth in the process. tsukasa noted that he seemed a little more awake than usual, though he couldn’t say for sure.
ritsu slumped to the side, leaning his body weight on tsukasa. the redhead cried out at the sudden weight, eliciting chuckles out of both of his senpais. it was a noise so undignified that he found his cheeks growing red again, likely matching the color of his hair.
“you’re so comfy, suu-chan~” ritsu hummed, “let me use you as a pillow more often?” he tried to avoid eye-contact with the vampire as he said that, not trusting himself not to spontaneously combust then and there. curse the sakuma bloodline and their unrivalled sultriness.
“t-that’s…” he sighed, pouting at no-one in particular, “i won’t pretend that i didn’t [enjoy] that experience, but how much of practice time have we neglected?”
arashi’s gaze flickered to the clock behind the duo, momentary grave expression on her face being enough of an answer for tsukasa. he was ready to put his head in his hands, perhaps dogeza in apology to arashi, although she quickly put an end to that train of thought. “it’s partially my fault too, tsukasa-chan. it’s not like i tried to wake either of you up, since you looked so peaceful. any maiden’s heart would flutter at such a scene, you know?” she smiled, bringing her hand to tsukasa’s hair to try and neaten that up too, “think of it as group relaxation time, right ritsu-chan?”
“yep.” ritsu easily agreed, “a much needed group bonding session is what that was.” of course, tsukasa knew they were both lying to him, but he appreciated the dishonesty nonetheless. he didn’t think he’d be able to keep up impressions if they suddenly started talking about their concerns for him directly. he let himself lean into arashi’s hand in his hair, her sole focus now being the opportunity to pat the usually fussy leader.
“oh...i see.” he nodded, choosing his next words carefully, “if...it is a [group relaxation] session, should we not be doing it as a group?”
arashi and ritsu looked up at him, both confused, “i don’t think leo-chan and izumi-chan will be able to fly back here until our live, sweetie.” ritsu let out a low chuckle, adding on, “you say that as if they wouldn’t drop everything to.”
“that’s not what i’m referring to.” although he certainly wouldn’t say no to a group cuddle session. his senpais all hugged him in such distinctly different ways to him, yet they all had the same effect on him: security. that was an idea for him to bring up when they were all reunited though, “narukami-senpai didn’t get to join us, right? i’d...like you to, if that’s alright with the both of you.”
catching narukami arashi off guard was a difficult thing to do, yet achieving it felt worth a lifetime of glory. her eyes widened, light pink dusting her cheeks. her hand movements stilled, if only for a brief moment, shiny lips quivering as her mouth formed a small “o”. it was such a genuine, yet beautiful expression to tsukasa. she recovered fairly quickly, coughing before she spoke.
“my my, you’ve gotten a lot bolder lately, haven’t you?” she laughed, hand dropping from his head, “you already know i wouldn’t say no to our precious king.”
“thank you. ritsu-senpai?”
ritsu’s laughter filled his ears, glowing red eyes piercing his gaze, “mhm, it’s cuddling, right? nacchan’s comfy too.” that was confirmation from his part, arashi taking this as opportunity to shuffle herself at tsukasa’s other side. she draped an arm around his shoulder, using her and ritsu’s combined strength to push him slowly back onto the floor.
ritsu was right - arashi was very comfortable. they both were, cushioning him from the wooden floor beneath him.
“it’s nice this, isn’t it? we don’t do skinship with each other nearly as much as i’d like to.” arashi smiled, her flowery perfume invading tsukasa’s scent. izumi must’ve brought it for her, he mused to himself, having visited enough flower gardens in his life to recognise the jasmine in the air. “are you comfortable, tsukasa-chan?”
he hummed in response, “mhm, i am.” being sandwiched between both ritsu and arashi’s chests was a warm, welcoming experience. whilst his previous exhaustion had mostly subsided, staying like this for a while, just lying down huddled in close proximity with each other sounded like a dream to him.
“that’s good. mhh…’kinda wanna feed now.”
arashi clicked her tongue, “do it to me later, ritsu-chan. it’d be bad to waste up all of that energy you just gave to tsukasa-chan, no?” ritsu seemed to think about this for a moment, mumbling out a “i’m holding you to that, nacchan~” in a clearly pleased tone. arashi’s light-hearted response of “i hope you do~” had his own cheeks heating up again, though it wasn’t unpleasant to hear their discussions like that.
“...ritsu-senpai, narukami-senpai?” he spoke up, getting their attention fairly easy. arashi’s gaze was kind as it met his, presuming ritsu’s expression behind him was similar, “thank you for this. i do not wish to be a selfish king but...i like this, a lot.”
ritsu brought up his chin to rest it on tsukasa’s shoulder, comfying himself in the fabric of the younger boy’s school uniform. his hand sat on tsukasa’s hip, pleased hum as arashi’s hand joined his, the third years interlocking digits like it was second nature. arashi lent her head upwards, just about able to kiss tsukasa’s forehead. he could feel the mark left by her lip balm, his first instinct not wanting to rub it off any time soon. following suit, ritsu pressed his lips to tsukasa’s visible cheek. they were both so close to him, holding him securely in his grasp. it might’ve been against the king’s rules to feel so pampered by his knights, yet the unspoken realisation of why neither of his senpais seemed fussed by it was delivered by the gentleness of ritsu and arashi’s actions - knights never quite did operate like other units or other kingdoms, did they?
“anytime, suu-chan.”