Chapter Text
Niragi sighed as he watched his phone ring and ring and ring with an incoming call from his mother. He couldn’t decline it early because then she would know that he was avoiding her, but he figured if he let it go to voicemail on its own time, he could pretend that he was away from his phone and didn’t notice the call coming in.
He had been in the middle of reading an interesting gaming news article about whether or not Elder Scrolls VI was ever going to happen when the call notification had taken over the screen, so he had no choice but to sit and wait it to clear before he could get back to reading. (And no, as far as he could tell there would not be a new Elder Scrolls game for a while, but he still wanted to see what bullshit this journalist was trying to spin into a story.)
He had been having a lovely lazy Saturday up until this point. He’d spent the night at his boyfriend’s place, woken up to fucking amazing morning sex, and hadn’t gotten out of bed except to go for round two in the shower.
Said boyfriend was curled up in his arms, naked except for his sinfully attractive briefs, reading a book and rubbing absent-minded patterns on Niragi’s thigh with his fingertips.
“Why are you ignoring your mother?” Chishiya asked. Of course that bastard had noticed.
“I’m not ignoring her,” he pouted. With the way Chishiya was lounging against his chest he couldn’t see his face, but he just knew one of his eyebrows had quirked up in his patented look of disbelief. He sighed. There was no hiding anything from him. “It’s my dad’s birthday next week and she’s probably calling to ask if I’m coming to family dinner.”
“Are you?”
“Not if I can avoid it,” Niragi grumbled. “It’ll be a bunch of bullshit about how I’m unmarried in my thirties and it’s all my fault. They’ll list out all the fucked-up decisions I’ve made in my life that have ruined all my chances of being happy and successful or whatever and I really don’t need to hear that shit.”
Niragi’s phone rang again.
He was ready to throw the stupid thing across the room but Chishiya was faster. He plucked the phone out of his hands and accepted the call in one smooth motion. He sat up as he did so, twisting around so he could look Niragi in the eye and watch his expressions.
Niragi felt himself tense all over. What the fuck kind of game was he playing?
Sensing his apprehension, Chishiya reached over and grasped his hand tightly. His eyes were saying trust me, and fuck if Niragi wouldn’t trust him with the fucking world. He nodded slowly.
“Hello Mrs. Niragi, this is Shuntarou,” he said with his most polite and formal voice. “Suguru is in the shower right now, but when I saw you call twice, I just had to make sure there wasn’t some kind of emergency. Do you want me to go get him?”
He could hear his mother’s voice faintly through the phone after a pause. “Oh… hello, I’m sorry… Who is this?”
“Chishiya Shuntarou,” he said brightly, as if she should know that. Niragi felt some of his tension deflate. His mother was no match for Chishiya’s sheer force of will.
There was another long pause.
“I’m sorry, how do you know my son?”
“I’m Suguru’s boyfriend.” It was really fucking nice to hear the word boyfriend dropped so casually. It wasn’t like it was anything new, but the excitement was far from wearing off. Niragi couldn’t stop the little smile that stretched across his lips.
“Has he not mentioned me?” Chishiya let his voice drip with surprise. His expression, however, was one of absolute mischief. “I suppose our relationship is still quite new. We’ve only been dating for five months. He must have been waiting until we were more established to tell you.”
Niragi squeezed Chishiya’s hand. That bastard knew that their five months was already the longest fucking relationship he’d ever had and that he didn’t give a shit about bringing people home to his parents. The twinkle in Chishiya’s eye told him that this was entirely for his mother’s benefit.
“Five months?” His mother repeated. If the long pause on the other end of the line was anything to go by, Chishiya’s scheme was working perfectly. He had caught her completely off-guard.
“What was it you needed Suguru for?” he prompted her.
“Oh… Nothing pressing. It’s just that his father’s birthday is coming up… I was wondering if he’d be joining the family for dinner.”
“That sounds wonderful!” Chishiya said enthusiastically. “What’s the date?”
Niragi stuck his tongue out. He knew he couldn’t stop his boyfriend once he’d gotten an idea into that pretty little head of his, but he could at least express his annoyance in the most childish way he knew.
Chishiya simply rolled his eyes and ignored him.
“Next Saturday?” Chishiya confirmed, “Yes, we’re both available. Well, we have a dinner reservation but it’s nothing that can’t be rescheduled.”
That was bullshit. They had absolutely no plans for that evening, but Niragi appreciated him lying to his mother to make them sound more interesting than they were.
“Oh, and will you both be joining us?” his mother’s voice was full of hesitation but Chishiya pretended not to notice.
“Yes of course! I’m so looking forward to meeting you, and I’m sure Suguru will be glad to celebrate such an important occasion with his family.”
Okay, that was laying it on a bit thick. His mom seemed to be eating it up, though.
“I’m looking forward to meeting you as well, Chishiya Shuntarou. I must admit… well, in any case…”
“Oh?”
“Well... you just sound like a very pleasant young man,” she finally said. Niragi rolled his eyes. Of course she had expected him to bag some foul-mouthed ruffian.
“Thank you,” Chishiya said smoothly, “you’ve raised such a wonderful son, I can’t wait to meet you properly. I’m looking forward to next Saturday.”
“Yes. Saturday. Right, see you then.” Then she hung up abruptly.
Chishiya handed the phone back to him.
They both looked at each other for a moment before Niragi burst into laughter.
“How much do you want to bet she’s having a crisis right now? She’s going through every fucking memory she has of me and trying to imagine her son having a fucking boyfriend.”
Chishiya smirked, “She seemed so surprised that I had basic manners. What kind of girls were you bringing home before me?”
“Fucking no one,” Niragi laughed. He still couldn’t get over how many circles Chishiya had run around his mother. “I told you my parents think I’m in the yakuza, right?”
“I thought that was a joke.”
“Nope! Their sweet little baby boy started getting crazy piercings and there’s no way I’d ever choose them on my own, right? So there’s gotta be gang involvement.”
Chishiya’s expression darkened. “But… your first piercing wasn’t your choice…”
Niragi waved a hand dismissively, “Eh, that’s just semantics.” He’d told Chishiya that story pretty early on in their relationship, along with all the other bullshit he’d been through in his childhood that he usually kept bottled up. He’d shared those stories as a warning, like: here’s the fucking baggage, if you don’t like it then you should leave. But Chishiya hadn’t left. And honestly Niragi felt a lot better about himself when he was able to own up to his past and focus on the growth he’d experienced since then.
Chishiya rolled his eyes. “You’re the biggest softie I know. Why the hell would they believe that you’re in any way cut out for that life?”
Niragi gasped in outrage. “Excuse you, I think I’d be great with a gun. I’d get on a rooftop and fucking snipe people—no need to get messy or put myself in any unnecessary danger.”
“Bullshit. You’d have a crisis about it and purposely miss the people you were supposed to be shooting at.”
Niragi rolled his eyes. Chishiya was probably right, but he’d never fucking admit it. He knew he had a violent streak within himself that used to make him a much better candidate for a job like that, but it had fizzled out of him recently.
It was like all the anger and shame he’d bottled up inside himself had festered and turned into white-hot rage at the world and now that he had been to therapy and shit and settled down with his hot-piece-of-ass boyfriend, he no longer felt the urge to knock out the teeth of anyone who looked at him funny. It was a positive change, undoubtedly, but he wasn’t sure he was ready to own up to the softie description Chishiya had thrown at him. Not yet, anyway.
“Hey, your parents can’t think that poorly of you—your mom still reaches out to invite you to family dinner.”
“Eh. It’s mostly a formality at this point. I don’t think she’s actually expecting me to show up. And it’s not like my parents hate me. Hell, I don’t even hate them. We’re just not close and anytime we’re together we end up fighting. I think we’ve all just decided it’s not worth trying anymore. I’m like… their ultimate disappointment.”
“Why would they be disappointed? You’re amazing.”
Niragi grabbed the back of Chishiya’s neck and pulled him in for a kiss.
“Baby, you’re probably the only person to think that about me,” he said, then went right back to making out with his boyfriend.
“That’s your self-doubt speaking,” Chishiya murmured between kisses. “You also have Kuina, Ann, Arisu, and Usagi. You have so many friends who care about you and enjoy spending time with you and think you’re funny and smart and hot.”
Niragi pulled away so Chishiya could see the amusement on his face. “They think I’m hot? Really?”
Chishiya groaned, “Okay I got a little distracted there, but my point is that you have lots of people who think highly of you and you shouldn’t let your parent’s unfounded opinions about your life cloud the way you see yourself.”
He was right, of course. For the first time in his life, Niragi actually had friends whose company he enjoyed. And the crazy thing was that they seemed to enjoy being around him, too.
They’d all come together following the meteor strike that had thrown them all in the same hospital. Arisu had insisted on forming a support group for people who were recovering from the accident and Niragi had let Chishiya drag him along to a couple meetings. The formal support group had died out after a few weeks as people settled back into their daily routines, but a smaller group of them had forged a friendship that was still going strong.
It helped that two new relationships came out of it, too—Niragi and Chishiya first, quickly followed by Ann and Kuina. They were all waiting for Arisu to get his shit together and ask Usagi out, then all six of them would be neatly paired off. (Niragi and Kuina absolutely had a bet going on how long it would fucking take. Kuina thought it would be within six months of the meteor. Niragi had his money on over a year after. So far, it was looking like he’d win.)
“Is it pathetic that I wish my parents saw me like that, too?” Niragi asked quietly. He loved his friends, he really did, but they just couldn’t fill that void for him.
Chishiya squeezed his hand gently and scooted closer until he was almost sitting in Niragi’s lap. “No, I think that’s perfectly reasonable.”
Niragi sighed and pulled Chishiya into his arms. He wanted physical support right now, and thankfully Chishiya seemed more than happy to be his personal teddy bear. He wrapped his arms around Niragi and tucked his head into the crook of his neck.
“Are you mad that I talked to your mother and agreed to make you to go to a family dinner you were trying to avoid?”
Niragi sighed. “No, I’m not mad. I don’t know what I’m feeling though.”
“Can you try to put it into words?”
“Ugh… I obviously love you and am so proud of you and can’t wait to show you off to my parents. But also… what if they’re rude to you because they don’t like me? Or worse, what if they like you more than me? What if they pull you aside and tell you that you’re too good for me and you actually believe them and leave me?”
“That’s bullshit,” Chishiya said fondly and pressed a kiss against Niragi’s shoulder. “You’re never getting rid of me. Are you worried they won’t like me?”
“Nah, they’d be idiots not to approve of you. You’re a hot young doctor who’s good with kids. What more could they ask for?”
“Do you think they’ll have a problem with you dating a man?”
Niragi shrugged. Once he’d worked through his own shit about his sexuality, he realized very quickly that he didn’t give a rat’s ass about homophobic idiots. He wasn’t sure if his parents fell in that category, but he could handle it if they did. And by handle it, he meant get up and walk out the door without once looking back. “If they do have an issue with it, expect lots of passive aggressive remarks. My family isn’t the type to start shit directly but they will absolutely make their displeasure known in the little ways.”
“It’s a good thing that’s my playground, too,” Chishiya said and Niragi grinned at the malicious glee in his voice. He’d love nothing more than to see Chishiya release the full power of his cunning brain on someone who deserved it.
“What are your parents like?” he asked, wondering (not for the first time) where Chishiya had gotten his uniquely calculating personality from.
“Oh, they’re apathetic bastards just like me,” Chishiya said, adjusting his position and turning around so he could lean his back against Niragi’s chest just like he had been before this whole family drama started playing out. Niragi let him fidget as much as he wanted, then when he’d settled into a comfortable position, he wrapped his arms back around Chishiya’s waist and held him tightly. “They both work in the medical field and arranged an extremely transactional marriage so as to guarantee success in their respective careers.”
“Shit,” Niragi said, “that’s pretty smart, actually. You gonna leave me for some top-paying surgeon who can advance your career too?”
Chishiya snorted. “As if I’d ever want to date another surgeon. Or anyone in medicine. I’d come home after a long day in the hospital and we’d have nothing to talk about but work. That’s my actual idea of hell. But it works for my parents because they’re soulless voids who have no interests outside of their own careers.”
“Damn, that’s harsh.”
“Harsh but true,” Chishiya agreed. “I similarly don’t hate my parents, nor do they hate me. We simply coexist in this world in a perpetual state of vague pleasantries and impersonal conversations.”
“Do you wish things were different between you?” Niragi asked because Chishiya didn’t sound upset about any of what he’d just shared.
“Not really. Perhaps I don’t know what I’m missing, but they provided for my needs adequately and I’ve never wished for anything more from them.”
“Damn,” Niragi whistled, “let me know if I ever slip to just adequately providing for your needs and I will step my fucking game up. My goal is to sweep you off your feet every damn day and if I’m not doing that, I want you to fucking tell me.”
“You’re sweet,” Chishiya said and Niragi knew his tones well enough to hear the pleased little smile hidden in his words. “And you have absolutely swept me off my feet. Many times have even been literal.”
Niragi smirked proudly. He would never actually admit it to Chishiya, but he’d started doing more weight-training just so he could pick his boyfriend up more easily and throw him around in the bedroom the way he loved so much.
It had been a fun five months.
They were probably still in the honeymoon phase where everything was easy and they had a lot of grace for each others’ bullshit. But even without that, things just felt natural with Chishiya.
Niragi had never felt so appreciated and like… respected by someone. And he made no secret of the fact that he was head-over-heels in love with Chishiya in turn. He just couldn’t imagine his life without this man in it, and by some odd bit of luck, Chishiya felt the same. They were in it for the long haul.
Niragi did wonder what his parents would think of that. He didn’t want anyone to question the sincerity of their relationship just because it was the first real one he’d ever had.
But he was a grown ass adult, and not even a twenty-year-old who was technically an adult but so immature that they were basically a teenager. He was thirty-one years old with his own damn apartment and career and therapist now.
He knew what he wanted, and Chishiya Shuntarou was it for him.
- - - - -
The topic of family dinner didn’t come up much during the week. There just wasn’t much to say about it beyond the fact that it would be taking up their Saturday night which could have been used for so many better things. Like an extended bdsm scene or even just a movie night.
Niragi did text his mom Shun told me about dad’s bday dinner and wants to know if we should bring anything to which his mom told him they just needed to show up. Chishiya had rolled his eyes at that and dug through his liquor cabinet for an unopened and undoubtedly expensive bottle of sake. “We have to at least bring a birthday gift, right?”
He couldn’t remember the last time he’d gotten either of his parents a gift. Maybe it was long overdue then, and maybe Chishiya was more concerned about making a good first impression than he let on.
On Wednesday, Niragi had a therapy appointment right after work which gave him the chance to talk through the mess of feelings he had about the whole thing—anxiety and anger and frustration and fear. Dr. Sato gave him some helpful tips to ground himself if he stared to feel overwhelmed at dinner.
He had been apprehensive to start therapy at first (who wasn’t?) but his problems were so big and so deeply rooted in his adolescence that he definitely needed a professional to help him weed them out. The weekly appointments had begun a little after he and Chishiya had officially gotten together and he was so grateful that his boyfriend had been supportive of the endeavor. Their whole group of post-meteor friends had actually been really encouraging of his choice. It was nice to have people in his life telling him that he was doing something right—it made the whole process less painful.
Niragi had tried a couple therapists before he settled on Dr. Sato. He appreciated her no-nonsense approach to his treatment. She let him swear and rage against the world but wouldn’t let him leave an appointment without articulating why he was feeling all those gross emotions and giving him tips on what he could do to make himself feel less shitty without taking it out on the people around him.
Useful stuff.
He texted Chishiya on his way out of her office at the end of this week’s session.
You up? he asked jokingly. There was nothing he’d like more than to face-plant into his boyfriend’s stomach and not move for at least two hours, but they hadn’t made any real plans ahead of time. He wouldn’t want to intrude on Chishiya’s evening if he had been looking forward to some quiet time.
Spa night with Kuina, Chishiya responded immediately.
Ah fuck that’s right, he’d definitely mentioned that before.
Okay have fun! he responded and pivoted on the sidewalk to start heading towards his apartment instead of Chishiya’s. Tell her I say hi
Come over!!!!!!!!! the next text read with a string of hearts and smiley faces and rainbow emojis. He smiled at his phone.
Hi Kuina
Seriously it’ll be so fun to hang out!!!! You promised to let me paint your nails sometime !!!!!!! This is our chance!!!!!!!!
He had done no such thing, but the thought of hanging out with his boyfriend and friend was so much better than his other plan of sitting alone in his apartment and eating cold leftovers out of the container because he didn’t have the energy to cook anything after the long day he’d had.
OK. Nothing that clashes with my color scheme tho. He responded, then pivoted again on the sidewalk and resumed his course towards Chishiya’s place.
As soon as he’d stepped through the door, Kuina squealed and threw her arms around his neck. Niragi laughed and hugged her tightly before stepping back and pulling Chishiya into a soft kiss.
“Hi baby,” he murmured against his lips.
“Hi,” Chishiya responded with a small smile.
“You two are so cute it’s actually disgusting. I hate you.”
“Ignore her,” Chishiya said, “Ann’s at a conference this week and she’s been in a mood about it. How was work?”
“Ugh,” Niragi groaned as he opened Chishiya’s fridge to scavenge for food. Just as he’d hoped, the leftovers he’d hidden behind some broccoli were still there for him. “Work was work. Therapy was… fine, I guess, but I’m fucking tired. I don’t want to bring down the mood of your spa night, though.”
“There’s no mood to bring down,” Chishiya assured him, “Kuina has spent the last hour telling me over and over how much she misses her girlfriend.”
“I don’t know what to do without her,” Kuina agreed.
Niragi didn’t even bother to heat up the stir fry. He just grabbed a clean pair of chopsticks and dug in. He was fucking hungry. “How’s your spa night?” he asked through a mouthful of rice and beef.
“Amazing!” Kuina said and showed him her hands. “We exfoliated our skin and buffed our nails and Chishiya painted mine for me.”
Her nails were a beautiful shade of light blue. Niragi inspected them carefully and nodded his approval. “It’s a nice color for you. Did Shun let you paint his nails?”
Kuina pouted. “No, he gave me some bullshit about hospital policy.”
“It’s a health concern,” he shrugged.
“Don’t you wear gloves and shit?” Niragi asked.
Chishiya sighed. “Long nails or chipped polish could harbor bacteria. Yes, we wear gloves and have an intense sterilization procedure before surgery, but it’s still not allowed for daily care.”
“So what about my nails?”
“Omg!” Kuina clapped her hands delightedly, “you’ll really let us paint them?”
“Sure,” Niragi said easily, “but I will only accept black or clear. I don’t fuck with bright colors.”
Kuina ran off to check the nail polishes she had brought over and Chishiya moved closer to Niragi, leaning against the counter next to him and bumping their hips together.
“How are you really doing?” He fixed him with one of his no-nonsense looks that demanded nothing less than complete honesty.
Niragi sighed. “I’ll be fine. Really. I’m just tired and stressed about this weekend. Dr. Sato and I spent pretty much the whole appointment talking about my parents and how I can regulate my emotions and shit if I start to feel like I’m gonna blow a goddamn fuse.
Kuina had returned to the kitchen but was hovering awkwardly like she wasn’t sure if she should intrude or not. Niragi smiled softly at her. “I don’t know if Shuntarou told you, but we’re going to my parents’ place for dinner this weekend and it’s probably going to be a shitshow.”
She nodded and stepped closer to join the conversation.
“I told her the basics,” Chishiya said. “She offered to help me pick out an outfit that will, and I quote, ‘knock your parents flat on their asses and make them question their sexuality three times over.’”
Niragi laughed at that. “I can’t imagine what kind of fit that would be but I would absolutely like to experience that for myself.”
Kuina had a mad scientist’s glint in her eye. “I’m imagining a button-up—or if we’re going for a more casual vibe, then a zip-up hoodie—but I want an aggressively deep plunge all the way down to his naval. Like if he had any tits to speak of, I’d want the cleavage on full display.”
Niragi let his eyes roam over Chishiya’s chest and waggled his eyebrows suggestively.
“I like the way you think,” he said, “and we can put him in those dress pants that make him look like he actually has an ass.”
“Oh you’re so right,” Kuina gasped, “I know exactly which pair you mean. They literally work miracles on his flat backside.”
“Okay, are you two done playing imaginary dress-up?” Chishiya rolled his eyes and crossed his arms over his chest.
“What? You don’t think my parents would love that look on you?” Niragi teased. “Maybe you could wear swim trunks and we could tell them that you’ve joined a cult with a beach-attire dress code.”
“Can you imagine Chishiya in a cult?” Kuina laughed, “He’d probably rise to the top of the ranks but not give a shit about any of it. He’d be on the executive board or something but only show up to meetings for the snacks.”
“Oh he’s such a snob about his biscuits,” Niragi grinned and looked at his boyfriend. Chishiya just rolled his eyes and let them continue on with their teasing. “The cult would have to have high-quality snacks if they want to keep him around. If I don’t buy the exact brand he put on the shopping list he refuses to eat them.”
“Is that true?” Kuina turned to Chishiya who just shrugged.
“I have so little time to eat during the work day that I don’t want to waste my time on dry, flavorless shit. There are so many better options.”
“Says the guy who always ate hospital cafeteria food until I started packing him lunches,” Niragi teased.
“Chishiya!” Kuina gasped. “You’d better appreciate your man or someone else is going to scoop him up! This asshole is a fucking keeper!”
“I’m going to ignore the irony in that last sentence and assure you that I absolutely make my appreciation known,” Chishiya smirked. Niragi grinned through the last few bites of his dinner.
Kuina rolled her eyes. “Men think with their stomachs and their dicks and absolutely nothing else.” They ignored her.
“Did you get enough to eat?” Chishiya asked as Niragi placed his dirty dishes in the sink. “I can get you something more if you’re still hungry.”
“Nah, I’m good. It’s time for spa night, isn’t that right?”
Kuina pumped her fist in the air and led him to the living room where she and Chishiya had set up all of their supplies. He sat down on the carpet and let her fuss over his cuticles.
Chishiya sat down next to him and leaned into his space, resting his head on Niragi’s shoulder.
“How are you feeling about introducing your parents to your man?” Kuina said as she shook the little bottle of black nail polish she’d be using.
“Like I’m gonna fucking puke,” Niragi laughed. Chishiya lifted his head to study him and Niragi met his gaze steadily. “I just had like… a whole conversation with my therapist about this shit. On one hand, I’m very secure in our relationship and I don’t have any doubts about us or where we’re headed. Like we’re rock-solid. But then I never know where I stand with my parents. They’re supposed to love me unconditionally but I’ve never felt supported by them or anything. All of my big life events have been my own—good and really fucking bad—so it’s weird to invite them to get to know the best thing that’s ever happened to me because I don’t feel like they’ve earned that. But also I desperately want their approval and shit and I’ll be fucking devastated if they don’t like Shuntarou as much as I do.”
In the middle of his monologue, Kuina had taken his hand and gently started to paint his nails with the glossy black polish she’d picked out. Her grip on his fingers was a reassuring, warm pressure. She nodded along, listening intently but not interrupting.
“It’s not like things have ever been horrible with my parents. It’s just like there’s been a rift between us and no one has known how to cross it. I think there’s definitely a chance that things could get better…” he trailed off, thinking hard. He didn’t want to start imagining what a happy family could look like. He didn’t want to be disappointed when it didn’t happen.
Chishiya put a supportive hand on his knee.
Niragi looked at him and sighed. “I haven’t decided what our strategy should be. The easiest route would definitely be being as petty as possible. We could make my parents regret ever inviting us into their home and burn that whole bridge on our way out, but I don’t know if I want to be that type of person. Is it stupid to say that I’ve grown a lot recently and I want to show off how cool I’ve become?”
“That’s not stupid at all,” Chishiya was quick to assure him.
“You are a really cool person,” Kuina agreed, “and you should absolutely hype yourself up.”
“That’s the hardest route, though, because what if my parents don’t agree? What if they’re still disappointed in me?”
“They’d be idiots not to see how in love you are, and even bigger idiots if they want you to be anything but happy. If you have the chance to patch things up with your parents… I think you should try. My dad’s been a storm cloud over so much of my life and I have no problem giving him the middle finger, but my mom’s support has been absolutely amazing. I can’t imagine where I’d be if I didn’t have her.” Kuina laughed self-deprecatingly. “I know this is totally unsolicited advice and you’re welcome to ignore it, but that’s just my perspective.”
Niragi nodded slowly. “No, I definitely appreciate your input. If you don’t mind me asking, what’s the story with your dad?”
Kuina frowned. “He gave me an ultimatum that I’d either be the person he wanted me to be or get out from under his roof.”
“Fucking hell, seriously?” he scowled. He felt like a bad friend for not having known. “Your mom didn’t allow that, right?”
“Oh I love my mom but she is extremely conflict-avoidant,” Kuina said easily. “I think she knew about me way before I told her because she kept making comments about being careful and keeping things hidden from my dad. It was her way of being supportive, I guess, and trying to keep me safe. She was absolutely no help when shit actually hit the fan.”
“Your dad was really that opposed to you dating women?”
Kuina laughed. “Oh no, he was fine with the women. He just didn’t like that I was one, too.”
“Huh?” Niragi didn’t follow that train of thought.
“He caught me putting on makeup one day and went on a tirade about how his perfect son was succumbing to insanity or whatever,” Kuina rolled her eyes, but the memory obviously upset her.
“Wait, are you… trans?” Niragi asked slowly. He couldn’t think of any other scenario in which that story made sense.
“...yes?” Kuina looked at him with obvious confusion. “Did you not know that?”
“No? Was I supposed to?” Niragi said, furrowing his brow and turning to Chishiya. “Did you know that?”
“Yes?” he smirked, “she’s very open about it. Has she not told you the story of how she got her breast implants?”
“No?” Niragi said again, even more confused than before.
“Seriously?” Kuina’s eyes lit up. “Okay, so I had the hottest nurse and the craziest doctor and I lost feeling in my nipples for like three weeks—”
“I don’t want to hear about this,” Niragi groaned. He would have hidden his face in his hands if they hadn’t been securely clasped in Kuina’s grip as she painted his nails.
“Okay, fine, I’ll save it,” Kuina pouted, “but it’s a good fucking story and you’ll hear it eventually. Chishiya, what’s your coming out story?”
Chishiya hummed. “I don’t think I’ve formally come out to anyone or defined my sexuality, for that matter. It’s never been that big of a deal for me. The first time I kissed a man was in college, though. We hooked up at a party.”
“And?” Niragi prompted. He loved his boyfriend, he really did, but he told the driest stories.
“And it was pretty bad,” Chishiya laughed. “I almost convinced myself that I wasn’t into men based on how little I cared about the blow job.”
“Damn,” Niragi whistled, “if I got a review like that I think I’d have to fake my death and start living a whole new fucking life on another goddamn continent to avoid that shame.”
“Don’t worry, babe, your blow jobs are fucking stellar.”
“Ew,” Kuina groaned, “I take back everything I’ve said about you two being cute. You’re fucking disgusting and have no sense of boundaries.”
“I guess I don’t need to come out to my parents,” Niragi said, shifting the conversation back to where it had been before their little detour. “I mean, Shuntarou just introduced himself as my boyfriend and that was that. I don’t think I need to say anything sappy to them or anything.”
Kuina nodded. “I stopped coming out to people a long time ago. I guess I just assumed my history was obvious enough and if anyone wanted to know the details, they’d just have to get to know me and become my friend along the way. I hadn’t realized you didn’t know, though.”
“Eh, it’s not like it makes a difference or anything,” Niragi said. “I don’t need to know what’s going on in your pants unless I’m tryna fuck you. And that’s absolutely not going to happen.”
Chishiya chuckled softly beside him. “I’m so glad to hear that—I was really starting to get worried about the extended hand-holding that is happening here.”
“You’ve caught us!” Kuina cried, “Spa night was just a ruse for me to make a move on your boyfriend.” She laughed long and hard at that. Although that does raise the question—Niragi, are you into women at all? I kinda thought you were bisexual and just figuring out the men side of things, but I shouldn’t assume.”
He shrugged. “Fuck if I know, and I haven’t really put a lot of effort into figuring it out. I definitely fucked a lot of women before Shun,” Chishiya rolled his eyes dramatically but Niragi knew he didn’t actually care, “and it was good and fun and whatever, but I think I mostly just liked that they were into me, you know? I never stuck around or wanted to get to know anyone better. Shun was the first person I’ve been into beyond just hookups or whatever. He wasn’t my gay awakening or anything—I definitely knew I was into dudes before him—he was just the first one I was like… fine with being into? Like hitting on him was an accident but I didn’t regret it once it had happened.”
“Ah yes, the joys of hospital-strength painkillers,” Chishiya said dryly. Kuina laughed. She knew the story of course, but it didn’t make it any less funny.
“So like I don’t know if I’m just not into women at all and it took me a long fucking time to accept it or if none of the women I was around were interesting enough for me to care. But it kinda doesn’t matter, you know? I’ve got my Shuntarou and I have no plans to shop around for anyone else. So who gives a shit who I could hypothetically be into?”
“Aww, baby,” Chishiya crooned and pressed a series of kisses to his cheek, “you’re a modern poet.”
“And you’re being mean,” Niragi stuck his tongue out childishly. He didn’t really care that Chishiya was laughing at him. He knew his ramblings were borderline incoherent. But he also trusted that Chishiya and Kuina were good enough friends that they’d listen to his stream of consciousness bullshit and not judge him for it.
The conversation naturally shifted to new topics from there. There was only so much they could talk in circles around the topic of his family before they exhausted themselves with the hypotheticals. His nails were painted a glossy black but spa night was far from over. They still had to do face masks and braid Chishiya’s long hair because he made the cutest face when he was annoyed (but he loved them both enough to put up with it).
This friendly banter was exactly what he was so proud of in his own life. He had friends who shared inside jokes and didn’t mind if he arrived fresh off his therapy appointment feeling maudlin. They were happy to talk him through it and he was happy to put his messy feelings into words.
He wanted to show his parents that he was capable of this. He wanted them to see him as a grown man with a healthy, stable life and not the scared and angry teenager they continued to think of him as. The question was whether or not he’d succeed.