She nodded. A tear finally escaped, which she rushed to wipe away. “He does. As stupid as that sounds. Because there’s still a lot of fighting. Like I said, he can still be an asshole, but he’s a funny asshole. My asshole.”
It made me want to throw up a little, but I wouldn’t stand in the way of something she wanted for herself. And maybe it wasn’t the worst thing if he was being a little more cooperative with the band. As much as I despised Toshi, he took care of my sister. That made him a somewhat okay person in my book.
Instead of saying anything else, I pulled Reiko up from the table and pulled her into a tight hug. Itsuki and Ryosuke were hooting and laughing from across the cafe, and I tossed my middle finger up in their direction. At least I had them there for me for this because I might not have ever faced my sister had it not been for them.
Chapter 38
Ryosuke
Things sort of mellowed back out after Yasu worked stuff out with his sister.
It felt weird not to have him at my place every other night, but that left us to the last few hurdles. We still needed to tell Reiko about us, but I had a sneaky suspicion that she already knew.
She was in the studio almost every day. cast little curious glances at me and Itsuki every chance she got. Like she was trying to pinpoint what was different about the dynamic. The biggest was that we could get through an entire practice without an argument. We now played as if we’d been together since the very beginning.
Yasu and Itsuki were just as affectionate with each other as they’d always been. There were times when Itsuki would include me in a hug that would get everyone’s attention, but I’d done my best not to make a scene. We weren’t hiding it, but there was no way to gauge just how well everyone would take the news of the three of us being together.
“We should all go for drinks after we’re done.”
It was the first time Itsuki had suggested it since this whole thing had started between us. My cheeks heated because I thought back to that one time we went drinking and ended up back at his place. Even if we’d only gone for coffee initially.
“I don’t know, Itsu. Aya wanted to go to the arcade later.” Tatsuki explained. He never pulled the girlfriend card, but things had to be getting serious if he was starting to prioritize spending time with her.
Itsuki pouted, and it was a fail proof because Tatsuki folded faster than a house of cards. Before we knew it, we were all out in the cool evening making our way toward a small karaoke bar. I almost wished it had just been the band, but Reiko and Toshi were along for the event.
Since Yasu had made up with her, they’d been a lot more open about their relationship. It was also nice when Toshi tried to step out of line, Reiko was even faster to jump in to tell him to shut the fuck up.
We entered the loud bar and reserved a room. Itsuki was so excited that he grabbed the keys and the microphones they handed us before bounding back out into the cold to find the room we’d been assigned.
Bars like this were nice because the separate cubicles that opened to the outside gave it a better sense of privacy. It didn’t change the fact that the rooms were tiny and squeezing all seven of us was no small feat.
Once we were all settled, I grabbed the tablet from the table and placed an order for a round of beers that were quickly delivered by a chipper young waitress who recognized who we were right away. I’d never had that before with Tokyo Roadtrip. While we’d done okay, thanks to us being a little more niche, we weren’t as easily recognizable as bands like Pink Cherry thatyou can hear playing in TV commercials or were lucky enough to land the credits to the next big anime series.
We all sat around talking and looking through the music until Riku suddenly set down the tablet and leveled us all with a stare that said he meant business. I’d never seen the drummer look scarier. He’d always been a bit more on the intense side, but this was taking things to a new level.
The whole room fell silent, except for Itsuki, who seemed completely oblivious to the sudden shift in Riku’s mood. He picked up his beer and took a large sip of it before wiping the foam from his upper lip and looking around the room. It was as if the lights had finally clicked on and he realized everyone was now watching him.
“Did I miss something?” he asked, still not figuring it out.
Riku cleared his throat before he stood. In the tiny space, it made him seem even more intimidating, especially with that glare. I thought I was a scary guy, and Riku had me beat.
“Well, since we’re all here, anyway. I wanted to get something out into the open. When the hell are you going to tell all of us that you guys are fucking?” He motioned to the three of us.
My eyes widened in horror, but when I looked over at Yasu and Itsuki for guidance, neither of them seemed to be as bothered by the question as I was. Maybe we should have come up with a better game plan versus agreeing to handle it if and when it came up. Because now I was lost. A ship without its rudder, as the two of them just smiled as if nothing was amiss.
How the fuck were they so calm? Our goddamn manager was in the room!
And maybe I was panicking more than I needed to because when my gaze swung to Toshi, who had his arm wrapped over Reiko’s shoulder, he didn’t seem at all bothered by the question. Would that change depending on the answer? It could be good news for him. He’d been working hard to tear this band apart,and a relationship that wasn’t sanctioned by the label was a win that he was being hand delivered.
So why…
“We didn’t think we needed to make a big deal out of anything,” Yasu answered as he picked up his beer and took a swig. He set it back on the table, all cool as a cucumber, and I could only sit there and stare at him. Was this what they’d meant by crossing that bridge when we got there? If we didn’t make it seem like the world was ending, maybe everyone else would just fall in line?
Riku shook his head. “You know you guys didn’t have to worry about what we thought. Right? No one in this band is in a position to judge. Tatsuki is dating the girl he’s been in love with since he was two, and I don’t think I’ve ever hidden the fact that I’d sleep with anything that would breathe in my direction.”
Now I was the one who was surprised. I knew that Tatsuki had been with his girlfriend for a long time, but not that long. That was beyond crazy, but I was happy for him that it was working out. It also made me feel a little bad that we’d pulled him away from Aya for the evening to do this. Though it was good to get this all out in the open.
But that was when the room fell silent again because there was one person in the room who could make a huge difference on the direction things went.
