Chapter Text
The thing is, Koichi thinks as he stares at the wreckage of his living room, none of this is unexpected, and he really can’t get upset about something he knew was going to happen. In retrospect, Rohan asking if he could move into Koichi’s spare room was obviously something he should have said no to. Rohan is pushy and rude and weird and demanding, and if Koichi had actually thought about it, he would have realized it would be a disaster.
But — he’d missed Rohan. When Koichi had started college, classes and studying and generally being in college had eaten up most of his time, and he just hadn’t been around to get roped into whatever weird project Rohan had been starting on that took him out of Morioh for weeks at a time. Josuke and Okuyasu were always around via text or email, but Rohan mostly didn’t respond, except for the times he’d send indecipherable photos in the wee hours of the night. And, all else aside, it’s not like Koichi could let any of his friends be homeless, so when Rohan had showed up on his front door, asking to move in, with no real acknowledgment of not having seen Koichi in at least two years — well, of course Koichi said yes.
When you put it like that, Koichi really only has himself to blame for how thoroughly Rohan has moved in. That even takes a little bit the sting out of the new indignities wreaked upon Koichi’s living room — the Sailor Moon figures and poseable artist’s figurines have been there a while, he doesn’t mind them, but the balsawood-and-rice paper sculpture taking up most of the living room is both new and thoroughly unwanted. Even then, the sculpture wouldn’t be so bad on its own, but Rohan apparently hadn’t made even the slightest pretense of cleaning up, so there are scraps of paper and wood scattered across the room, and Koichi is in a crabby mood from being dragged out of bed at two in the morning to standing in the front yard holding a flashlight so Rohan could do some lighting studies.
…And, Koichi is having his boyfriend over tomorrow, and wants his place to look like nice, like it had yesterday, before the paper airplane section of a hobby store exploded in it.
He pinches the bridge of his nose and reminds himself that he’s known Rohan for a while, and that, considering how Rohan is all the time, this particular questionable behavior shouldn’t be a surprise. Besides, as annoying as Rohan can be, it's nice to see his friend regularly again. Rohan is good company, even when he’s being… well, Rohan, and Koichi does genuinely enjoy running around Morioh after whatever inspiration Rohan’s got his teeth in today. Even being roommates is usually nice; more often than not, Koichi spends his evenings sprawled out across Rohan’s bed with his homework while Rohan draws, both of them scratching away in companionable silence.
Well, Rohan made this mess, Rohan should clean this up. Besides, asking Rohan to tidy up a little is a great excuse for Koichi to stop dragging his feet and mention his boyfriend. Koichi hasn’t been hiding it, exactly, it hasn’t come up yet — Rohan is single, as far as Koichi can tell, and Koichi just — hasn’t figured out a way to work it into the conversation, is all. Not that he’s worried or embarrassed, of course! It’s just that Rohan is the last of his old friends to find out, and it’s just — making Koichi weirdly shy, is all.
As Koichi surveys the mess that used to be his living room, Rohan emerges from his room holding a pen and a multitude of dirty cups to make his biweekly dirty dish pilgrimage to the kitchen. Koichi follows him, casually perusing the refrigerator as he watches Rohan pile dirty dishes into the sink out of the corner of his eye.
"Hey," Koichi says casually. This isn’t weird, and it’s totally unnecessary to be shy about it. This is no weirder than if Koichi were having a girl over! He's known who he was since he was 16, and he's been out since he started college, and there have been a few hiccoughs, but never with anybody who actually mattered. ...Besides, Rohan licked a spider once, he's got no room to judge anybody on their own personal lives. “How’s it going?”
“The light studies turned out nicely,” Rohan says cheerfully as he loads up the dishwasher — he might hoard cups, but he isn’t even close to half as filthy as some of the roommates Koichi has had. “I need some from the other angle. Can you pick up a stronger flashlight? The one from last night was a little weak.”
“Yeah, I’ll stop by the hardware store after class.” Koichi fiddles with the salad dressing. He’s gonna do it, it’s gonna be fine. "So, just so you know, my boyfriend is coming over tomorrow — "
“Good! Tomorrow night, then, it should be cloudy enough around three — wait, what?”
Did — he not hear? Still keeping all his concentration on the fridge, Koichi says casually, “oh, my boyfriend! Right, I don’t think you know him, but I’ve been meaning to have him over — ”
He's startled out of his very casual coming out by a sharp CRACK; he whips around to see what it was to find Rohan staring at him, the remnants of a shattered pen leaking ink and — is that blood? — down his hand. "You're bleeding!" Koichi yelps, grabbing for the paper towels, leaving the door to the fridge open in his surprise.
Rohan doesn't seem to notice. "Your boyfriend?" He asks, just a little bit too loudly, still staring. He doesn’t look or sound cheerful anymore. "I thought you had a girlfriend."
"I — did," Koichi says, hand holding the wad of paper towels half-frozen between them. "The last time we hung out, I had a girlfriend. And now I've got a boyfriend, it's — I'm bi? Look, you’re bleeding — "
"You're bi?" Now it’s both too loud and too high; Koichi winces as Rohan makes a sweeping hand gesture out into the air, splattering blood across the cabinets. This... is not at all how Koichi thought thought this would go. Of all people to react like this, he wouldn’t have expected it from Rohan, who lived in Tokyo for a while, who is in a creative field and likes fashion and must know gay people!
"Rohan, you're —"
"Great!" Rohan interjects loudly. "Great, no, that's great! Really great! Good for you! When did this happen!"
Koichi had sort of suspected that Rohan was also maybe interested in men, but apparently he was so, so wrong. "Since I was sixteen, but —"
"Sixte— well that's just - that's FANTASTIC," Rohan borderline shrieks. "Well, that’s — I just am — does that mean he's not your first boyfriend??"
There is a timeline in which this goes a lot better, and Koichi admits that he had thought he was straight until he found himself in a sea of teenage hormones, jerking off over his hot older artist friend who insisted on wearing crop tops all the time, and then everyone has a good laugh about it, but never mind, that is now a secret Koichi will take to his grave. "No! And I didn't - I mean I didn't tell anyone for a while — not until Yukako—"
"You told Yukako?"
Koichi winces as Rohan’s voice cracks on the high point of that question. This was a mistake! "Well she's gay too," Koichi says, stopping when a squeaky hysterical laugh bubbles out of Rohan.
“She stalked you for two years.”
“I — she — I mean, denial will do that to you,” Koichi tries before Rohan cuts him off.
"Well! That's great, that’s just fantastic, I'm really happy for you, for you both, I remembered something I have to do," Rohan says, still too loudly and in a much higher voice than usual, as he shoves past Koichi.
"You're still bleeding," Koichi protests as the door to Rohan’s room slams shut behind him. “Rohan?” It occurs to Koichi suddenly that not only is Rohan still bleeding, but Rohan is still bleeding all over Koichi’s stuff. “Rohan!”
There’s no answer. Koichi almost opens the door; he hovers there, hand outstretched for a moment, before deciding against it. “You should put something on that,” he calls through the door. “...Please don’t bleed on my stuff.”
There’s a loud thump from inside, but Rohan doesn’t respond verbally.
...Anyway, Rohan is probably not going to clean tonight. Koichi sighs and heads into the living room to at least tidy up the worst of it.
That night, Yukako calls from San Francisco, as is their habit. She’s asked a girl in her literature class out for coffee, and, if the telltale clack of her knitting needles over the phone is any indication, Yukako is pursuing her with all her usual… Yukako-ness.
He feels bad for thinking it almost immediately. It’s been years since she did anything really weird — a perk of being platonic friends with Yukako is no longer being on the receiving ends of her more trying behaviors. Besides, she’s genuinely calmed down a good bit since her teenaged, deeply closeted, extremely hormonal years.
...Still, Koichi hopes whoever this girl is, she’s got really good boundaries.
Koichi should be asking Yukako about her date, but instead he’s complaining about Rohan — the field trips at all hours of the night, the mess, the constant need for attention, and now, the weirdest reaction to coming out Koichi has had yet. “And,” he says, as he winds down. “When he kicked me out, he was still bleeding. And he’s — I mean, you’ve met him, of everyone I know he’s the last person I’d expect — that from.”
“I bet I know. You won’t like it, though,” Yukako says.
“What, he’s a homophobe?”
“Tsch, no,” Yukako snaps the way she does whenever she thinks Koichi is being stupid. “He likes you, dummy. Likes you.”
Koichi is so startled he fumbles the phone. “What?” he yelps as it skitters across the floor. “Yukako, that’s crazy, he doesn’t — ”
He’s talking really loudly, and Rohan is home — Rohan hasn’t left his room since they talked. Well, “talked” is a little strong of a word — since Koichi came out. Koichi shuts his mouth until the phone is safely in his hands again. “Yukako, that’s crazy,” he says in a hushed tone, cupping one hand around the receiver. “He’s — I mean, he’s talented, and gorgeous, and he’s traveled all sorts of places, and he’s — like that, and I’m… me.”
“Well, he cannot be straight,” she says. “Hold on, I need my cable needle.”
He bites back what he was going to say and waits patiently until Yukako picks up the phone again. “He always was nicer to you than anyone else,” she says without preamble. “And you’re older and less ugly — you’re not weirdly short anymore, and your nose looks less like a pig’s. He’s probably into that.”
“Jeez, Yukako!”
“Well, what do you want? For me to lie? You look fine,” she says dismissively. “Besides, why do you care? You don’t want to date someone that pushy, rude, and mean.”
Koichi almost, almost says something. He likes Yukako, though, bad temper and complete lack of self-awareness and all, so he doesn’t. “Well — lots of people want to date him, probably,” he says instead.
Yukako snorts. “Sure, because they haven’t met him, I bet he’d clear THAT up in a hurry.” Koichi can hear her needles clicking away again. After a moment she adds, “why wouldn’t he like you, though? You’re nice, and smart — well, reasonably — and a good friend, and the only man I’ve ever met worth dating. And if you’re still confused, just corner him and make him admit it.”
Koichi feels a warm rush of affection toward her, even as he resolves to not follow that piece of advice. “Thanks, Yu. ...When’s your date?” he asks, a touch guiltily.
“Two,” she says. “Today! I should have made it next week, then I could have made a sweater. Now it’s just a hat.”
Koichi breathes out a (mercifully quiet) sigh of relief. A hat isn’t so bad; maybe Yukako can avoid another blowout incident like she had last year, which Koichi has privately labeled The Entrelac Sock Debacle. “A hat sounds nice!” he says.
“We’ll see,” Yukako mutters darkly. “I have to go if I’m going to finish this.”
“Oh, yes, of course,” Koichi says. “Good luck.”
Yukako snorts again. “I don’t need luck,” she says with the icy resolve of someone who knows what she’s about, and what she’s about is true love. “I have my hat. Bye.”
The line goes dead with a little chirp. Well, at least Yukako’s relationships seem to be rattling along just fine, Koichi thinks with a little huff. It still doesn’t tell Koichi what he should do.
Well, he’ll sort it out. In the meantime, he’s got to make sure his house is actually presentable.
Koichi was expecting Rohan to make himself scarce after that particular upsetting conversation. What he was not expecting was Rohan showing up, looking contrite, offering to make dinner.
Once again, he really, really shouldn’t have said yes.
“This is really good,” Takeshi says politely and completely inaccurately as he picks at the edible part of the chicken. The very small edible part of the chicken, which neatly contained by the raw inner part and the charcoaled outer part.
“He’s a lousy liar,” Rohan says to Koichi, like Takeshi isn’t literally right there listening to them. “Why are you dating him again?”
Poor Takeshi looks opens his mouth, then looks at Koichi, then closes his mouth again, picking at the food. Maybe Koichi should have introduced Rohan as his roommate instead of his childhood friend.
“Or,” Rohan pipes up again. Koichi kicks him under the table. Rohan shifts away, but persists. “Maybe he just has no taste. Although that should have been clear from those shoes. And his — ” Koichi kicks him again, much harder this time; Rohan glares at him, but shuts up.
There is a long, awkward pause, punctuated only by the sounds of eating.
“So, what do you do?” Takeshi asks, trying desperately to salvage things. Rohan just stares at him, then turns an insulted look to Koichi, before tsking and going back to sipping his coffee, disapproval radiating off of him. Rohan, Koichi notices sourly, isn’t even pretending to eat his own poorly made dinner.
“Rohan is a mangaka,” Koichi says. “Takeshi doesn’t really read manga.”
“I can see that,” Rohan mutters darkly; Takeshi closes his mouth and hunkers down over his food. “It just seems a little rude,” Rohan continues, voice getting louder, “to not know anything about your boyfriend’s best friend, I mean, did he even ask — ”
“He didn’t say much about you!” Takeshi says, pulled out of his attempts at polite silence by that. “He just said roommate and old friend, not best friend?”
Koichi’s stomach sinks as Rohan turns a look of deep betrayal upon him. “Thanks for making dinner,” Koichi says quickly, shoving an overlarge forkful of (plain) iceberg lettuce (with no dressing; thanks, Rohan.) into his mouth so he has an excuse to not talk.
Rohan heaves a put-upon sigh. “Anything for my best friend,” he says. “And his boyfriend, who I’ve heard so much about — ”
Takeshi looks wary. Koichi sinks lower into his chair and wishes he could flee.
“So,” Takeshi says afterwards, once they’re safely ensconced in Koichi’s room. “Your roommate.”
Koichi groans, flopping over backwards and pulling his pillow over his face. “God, sorry about him, I had no idea he’d be so — this.”
Takeshi laughs. “What’s the deal with him, anyway? He really doesn’t like me.”
Koichi shrugs. “I don’t know! We’ve known each other for years, I thought he’d be okay, but — I only told him about — all this yesterday, and I guess — I don’t know! He didn’t react well! I mean, does he hate gay people? I don’t get it!”
There’s no response. “Takeshi?” Koichi says after a second, pulling the pillow down so he can see.
Takeshi is looking at him with an odd expression. “You’re adorable, you know that?” he says, tugging at the pillow.
Koichi relinquishes it without a fight. “What’s that supposed to mean?”
Takeshi shakes his head. “Never mind.”
“What!”
“Never mind!” Takeshi still has that odd expression on his face; Koichi has the chance to be worried for a second before Takeshi relaxes. “Hey, listen — I don’t want to be forward here or anything, but — what are you doing later?”
Koichi sits up, grinning. “Not much, why?”
Takeshi ever-so-casually leans forward to rest a hand on Koichi’s knee. “Well, I mean, I had a few thoughts as to what we could do — ”
Things are progressing as things are wont to do; Takeshi’s misplaced his pants somewhere, and Koichi’s got his shirt off and is exploring the possibility of getting undressed even further. Abruptly, the mood is completely derailed by a CRASH sounding from somewhere outside the room.
“What the fuck!” Takeshi yelps, rolling off of Koichi and sitting upright in alarm. “Was that from inside somewhere?”
Koichi has a sinking suspicion it was. “I don’t know,” he says, pushing himself up onto his elbows. “Maybe something tipped over?”
There’s another crash of metal on metal, which sounds suspiciously like it came from the kitchen. Koichi closes his eyes and wishes he could just slide under the bed and disappear. “Is someone breaking into your house?” Takeshi hisses as he gets to his feet, tugging his pants on.
“God, I hope so,” Koichi mutters as he fumbles for his shirt.
“Huh?”
“Never mind. Stay here, I’ll go check.”
Predictably, Takeshi is right on his heels as he peers out into the dark hallway. Now that the door is open, Koichi can hear running water and someone humming a popular song from a few years ago, and — another crash, right on the downbeat. Koichi winces.
“...Is that your fucking roommate?” Takeshi asks, incredulous. “What the fuck.”
Koichi closes his eyes. “Look, I’ll deal with this — ” but Takeshi is already brushing past him and stalking down the hall.
The kitchen is the cleanest shambles Koichi has ever seen. Soap suds spill out of the sink, trailing across the small army of sponges and steel wool and dishrags that have been assembled. Dirty dishes, pots and pans, even the racks from the oven are stacked around the sink or soaking already. And in the middle is Rohan, looking as smug as can be, wearing festive orange gloves and a bandana, industriously scrubbing out a pot.
In fairness, the sludgy remnants of what should have been a pot of rice are solidly caked around the bottom of it, but Koichi feels pretty confident Rohan doesn’t really need to clean it that loudly, and he certainly doesn’t need to do it now.
“Oh, sorry,” Rohan trills in the tone of voice of someone who isn’t even a little bit sorry at all. “Was I interrupting something?”
“Rohan — ” Koichi starts, but Takeshi beats him to it.
“What the fuck?” Takeshi asks. “What the fuck do you think?”
“You swear a lot, don’t you?” Rohan’s gaze flicks down to Takeshi’s bare chest for the barest fraction of a second, then back up to his face. Rohan’s smug expression slips a little; Koichi kind of wants to die. “I think it’s important not to let these things sit,” Rohan sniffs, turning back to the sink. “Not that I’d expect you to understand, if your filthy sneakers are any indication of your housekeeping skills in general.”
“Takeshi,” Koichi starts, but Takeshi is already speaking over him.
“Look, man, I get you don’t like me — ”
“He likes you!” Koichi says. Nobody even looks at him.
“ — but it’s a little rude to your roommate, don’t you think?”
“Koichi is too nice,” Rohan replies, slamming the pot down onto the drying rack with a crash. Koichi winces. “He shouldn’t take in strays.”
“What, like you?” Takeshi snipes, and then Koichi has about had enough.
“Takeshi, cut it out,” Koichi starts.
Before he can start in on Rohan, Takeshi turns on him, looking shocked. “What, you’re siding with him?”
“I’m not siding with anybody,” Koichi says, ignoring Rohan’s smug expression. “I just think you’re being unfair! Don’t,” he adds, as Rohan takes a breath. “And it’s not like he’s going to change,” he says, jerking his thumb at Rohan.
Rohan looks hurt, but Takeshi looks furious. “What, so that’s okay? Your shitty roommate can pull whatever stunts he wants, but if I complain, I’m the bad guy?”
“No, that’s not what I’m saying at all,” Koichi protests.
“This guy’s a fucking asshole,” Takeshi continues. “He’s doing this just to be an ass! I don’t get why you’re so blind to his motivations, here!”
...Yes, okay, admittedly Rohan is being himself, but still! “Look, that’s not okay,” Koichi says firmly. “He’s my friend, you can’t treat him like that.”
Rohan looks positively delighted. Takeshi looks stricken. “So, what, it’s okay for him to call me a liar to my face, but I can’t call him an asshole?”
“No, it’s — just — he’s just like that!” Koichi says helplessly.
“That’s not an excuse!” Takeshi snaps.
“I know it’s not, but it’s — ”
Takeshi holds a hand up. “You know what? It’s fine. He’s been a dick to me all evening, and I haven’t said anything. You’ve done nothing to stop him! And I still haven’t said anything! But you’re gonna defend him? Well, fine! Fine, that’s fine, that’s great — you know, thanks,” he says to Rohan, who looks offended. “Thanks for that, at least I know how my boyfriend — excuse me, ex — thinks I should be treated!”
Koichi’s stomach flips over. “Takeshi, come on, I didn’t — I’m sorry, I was a jerk, it’s just — ”
Takeshi turns on his heel. “Don’t want to hear it! Thanks for dinner, it was just great!” he shouts over his shoulder.
“...Am I gonna see you on Monday?” Koichi calls after him, sounding pathetic even to his ears.
“Don’t count on it!”
Koichi watches him leave. “Fucking — fuck,” he hisses, pressing his hands against his eyes.
“Well — ” Rohan says, but Koichi cuts him off.
“Just — don’t even start, okay? Just leave me alone,” Koichi snaps. “You’re so — why are you like this! For one evening, why couldn’t you just be nice?” As he stalks back into the house he catches a glimpse of Rohan’s face, looking startled and a little bit hurt, and almost feels guilty for a second, but — no, for fuck’s sake, Rohan has always been an ass, but this is really just beyond the pale.
Thank goodness Yukako is online. She shouldn’t be, considering what time it is in San Francisco, but Koichi is grateful nonetheless.
“rohan is a dick and now i’m single,” he sends her.
“????”
“rohan was rohan and my boyfriend dumped me”
A series of messages arrive nearly on top of each other.
“he chased him off, then”
“rohan i mean”
“because he likes you”
“i’m right and you know it”
Koichi sticks his tongue out at the computer screen.
“you’re wrong but okay”
“anyway whatever i’ll deal with it tomorrow. how was the date.”
Koichi watches the little “...” at the bottom of the screen begin to flash as Yukako composes a long, long message — at least he’s got a friend’s romantic entanglements to distract him. He settles down and tries to put the whole evening out of his mind as Yukako starts to talk about US grading systems and other vitally important background information.