Chapter Text
“Sit still...”
Hiori mutters thoughtfully, a frigid hand holding Otoya’s head in place. Otoya stiffens himself on the couch as his icy blue roommate puffs out a laugh, attempting to wipe residual paint flecks off his cheek—Karasu leans on the wall, watching, his leer ever so judgmental.
“Ya really should just make that dumb ass scrub it off himself.”
Hiori hums a mischievous tune to himself, “I’m thinkin’ there’s a jealous crow cawin’ in the room…okay, all done!”
“Rad, thanks bro.” Otoya jumps off the couch, shuffling to the kitchen for a Taiwanese beer; Karasu watches him open the fridge, sighing.
“Did ya not get enough at the bar? Ya ain’t gonna have a liver at this rate, ya damn alcoholic ninja.”
Otoya peeks his head out of the fridge, Karasu staring back as Hiori starts working away at the paint on the crow boy's cheek.
This is the typical sequence of events Otoya finds himself immersed in after the three of them return home from the annual giant colorful parade Hiori and Karasu call ‘pride’. Typically they return home from the drag bar Aryu and Barou work at, Hiori then, scrubs away the paint from their skin (most of which are flags Otoya still doesn’t really understand), and he pops open a beer which Karasu, naturally, judges him for. They then watch one of Hiori’s gay dramas until they pass out and Otoya wakes up with a mild hangover the next day; it’s their system, which he finds himself rather accustomed to at this point.
Otoya relaxes back onto the couch as Hiori drags Karasu over, and the three settle into whatever drama Hiori has selected for the evening.
At the age of fifteen, Eita Otoya was sent away from his home in Japan to the Golden state, California. He likes California—the food, the beach culture, the hot Irvine baddies—it’s nothing like Japan, but he finds he’s more than okay with that.
Since his time arriving in California all those years ago, he’s met plenty of cool guys; he met his best friend Tabito Karasu. He met his close friend and roommate, Yo Hiori, and he met all of their friends in the Blue Lock soccer program. While the days of playing intense soccer on the daily were largely behind them, the group still hung out, and many had moved in together for college—Otoya was no exception to this. For the past three years he’d been roommates with Karasu, and the past year and a half roommates with Hiori as well.
Initially, when Karasu brought up moving in with Hiori off campus, Otoya had naturally come to presume he’d be couch surfing at Sendou’s frat house while hunting for a new room arrangement; he didn’t expect to find himself spending his Saturday splitting a lease with the two instead of playing vodka pong with Aiku.
It was around the time they moved in together that Otoya grew to really notice Karasu and Hiori being in a relationship.
Previously, their status as a couple hadn’t had any drastic changes on how he viewed their relationship because he’d always just seen them while hanging out—but the added layer of home intimacy showed a facet of them on occasion Otoya wasn’t familiar with. It wasn’t really awkward, Otoya didn’t mind—he sat through it, teased them about it, and imitated them on occasion to be annoying, as any proper roommate should. Hiori always laughed at his antics while Karasu tried to smack him; it was fun.
Over the course of a year and a half their friendship has mellowed out into its own comfortable dynamic; Otoya almost never feels unwelcome or other-ed by the couple. When he’s scrolling Tiktok on the couch, more times than not he finds Hiori nosily looking over his shoulder on one side, and Karasu glancing over on the other, rolling his eyes at any thirst traps on his feed. He’s almost always invited when they go out somewhere, and they don’t complain (anymore) when he sits on them, flops an arm around their shoulders, or falls asleep on them mid episode of whatever drama they’ve been watching. Recently Hiori has taken to holding Otoya's hand in public, and Karasu has been patting him on the head for ‘listening well’; Otoya has chalked it all up to be…they’re really close friends. Living together just causes them to spend a lot of time bonding so they’re more affectionate than the average roommates.
Karasu leans back, idly slinging his arms across the back couch cushions—Hiori takes the opportunity to lean into his side, resting a lazy hand on Karasu's knee. Otoya considers copying the movement to annoy his spikey headed roommate, but a conversation from the drag bar slides into his mind before he can proceed in his hijinks.
The neon bar was just bustling after the parade, patrons dressed colorfully in paint and flags Otoya still didn’t really understand the meaning of. He knew the gay flag of course, but the rest remained a jumbled mystery to him—Hiori had tried explaining some of them to him once but he’d been distracted by how long Hiori's eyelashes were and how they glimmered in the sunlight of their apartment like snowflakes falling in the cool winter morning. All he really remembered was Hiori's soft laugh directed at Otoya’s distracted gaze—he was especially pretty that morning…objectively speaking.
To Otoya it all boiled down to two sexualities anyway—gay or not gay—how complicated did things really need to be? Not that it really mattered to him anyway—why should he, a heterosexual male, find that it’s any of his business what his bros do in bed? They were the same bros to him either way.
The current group at the bar consisted of Bachira, Isagi, Hiori, Karasu, and himself. Rin had stayed for ten minutes before deciding he was overstimulated and calling a Lyft. Bachira had whined for him to stay, but Isagi just kind of huffed and reasoned with Bachira that a pissy Rin would be a mood killer anyway. And so Rin had left, but not without a barrage of dramatic farewells by Bachira, and a disappointed sigh from Isagi—after a few shots Bachira recovered, turning the focus to Otoya.
“Sooo,” he started, clearly buzzed, “how’s it been with you three lovebirds lately????” He asked, staring directly and unmistakably at Otoya—Otoya had to blink to fully wrap his head around the question.
“Oh huh wait…” he thought, looking back at Karasu and Hiori before looking at Bachira again, “no wait…Two. You can’t count, broski.” Otoya snorts.
“Two????” Isagi and bachira both peeped out, tilting their heads in unison. They both looked past Otoya, targeting their stares at Karasu and Hiori—Hiori stared back blankly, while Karasu scrolled his Canvas schedule, clearly out of the loop, disinterested.
“Two???????” Isagi and bachira repeated to each other.
“Mn, yeah?”
Isagi squinted, “but…I thought you guys were—“
“Oh no,” Otoya piped up, “I like women—I’m straight. Relationships don’t work like that either? How do three people even kiss…?”
Bachira and isagi stared at otoya, jaws dropped.
“Yeah, I like women—so I can’t with men, you know? I’m Straight.”
“You’re what now, Eita?” Hiori chimed in, tapping back into the conversation.
“Still on that??? I’ve literally seen ya kiss a man before…” Karasu interjected, deadpan stare.
“I kissed him in a straight way—it’s not gay to touch lips with another dude.”
Karasu shook his head, annoyed.
“Wait so you’re not even like…together then?!” Bachira exclaimed, still jaw dropped.
“You…you’re sitting on Yo’s lap….” Isagi trailed off.
“Yeah? In a bro way—Obviously. It’s like I was saying about bros kissing bros without it being gay—I was affirming it. I still like women so…”
“Yo literally feeds you cinnamon rolls….and doesn’t Tabito do your taxes????” Isagi continued as Bachira stared at his tequila like it was showing him hallucinations.
“We’re just close, Y’know? Like you bros and Rin.”
“Um…Eita?” Hiori interrupted, “Rin is their boyfriend….”
Karasu started wheezing from behind Hiori. “Ya didn’t know who your own friend's BOYFRIEND is????”
Otoya stared at Bachira, dumbfounded. “How….huh???”
“In his defense, Meguru didn’t know his friend is single.” Hiori tactfully added.
“In Meguru’s defense you three don’t act like he’s single…” Isagi murmured, somewhat unconvinced and perplexed.
“But Eita…are you sure you’re necessarily….straight?” Hiori started before shaking his head “Let’s talk about it later actually.”
“I’ll drink to that!” Bachira exclaimed, taking a shot; Karasu sighed, patting Hiori on the shoulder as they exchanged looks.
Otoya shifts uncomfortably at the memory, choosing to man spread. Karasu looks over at him, unimpressed, before shaking his head, his laugh haughty .
“Stop man spreading dumb ass, ya look stupid.”
“I’m just being alpha like the guy in this drama.”
“Pft, ya really wanna compare yourself to him?” Hiori laughs, gesturing to the man on the screen—Otoya watches as the man pins his employee to a wall aggressively.
“Errrr…” he starts, gaze flicking between the alpha CEO and the secret omega employee as they start fervorously making out on the wall, “I don’t want to be pregnant…” he sips his beer, “...I don't want to be the pregnant one, sorry bros.”
“Okay so ya want to be the dingdong impregnating another guy then???” Karasu inquires before stealing a sip of Otoya’s beer despite his previous judgment.
“Well, I’d rather knock up some dude than have to hide my pregnancy from my boss yknow…?”
“Ya really thought this through, huh?” Hiori teases, leaning over Karasu to give the ninja a smug look.
“Welllll, it’s not like I'm saying I want to put a baby in another dude, but—”
“That’s what ya literally said five seconds ago, dumb ass.”
“Awww, Eita wants to be a responsible alpha father!”
“....you guys are putting words in my mouth.”
The episode end credits roll as Otoya finishes off his beer, ignoring the playful jeers of his roommates.
“Then…you guys wanna be pregnant???” he asks, raising a brow.
Hiori and Karasu stare at Otoya for a beat before Hiori’s voice erupts into muffled laughter—Karasu stares at the ninja like he’s an idiot.
“Personally, I wouldn’t choose to be in either of those situations.” Karasu responds wryly.
“I dunno’ Tabi, sounds an awful lot like Eita wants to pop a baby in ya.”
“Eugh, like I’d let him.” Karasu yips back, exasperated by his roommates.
Otoya purses his lips, “Aaaand the fudanshi guy strikes again.”
The triad settles down as the next episode starts.
Five minutes in, Hiori pauses it, turning back to Otoya.
“Hey, Eita?”
“Hmm?”
“Earlier ya said…ya ‘can’t’ with men because ya like women…what did ya mean by can’t?” Hiori asks, contemplative.
Karasu looks over at Otoya, making a face—Otoya, irritably, supplies to himself that he doesn’t care, blinking back at Hiori.
“Well, I think girls are attractive and dudes are the opposite of girls so like y’know, I can’t find both attractive, it wouldn’t really make sense so I like girls.”
Hiori squints at him, Karasu deadpanning.
“Hey…do ya remember when I told ya about bisexuals?”
“What do bicycles have to do with anything? They’re cool I guess.”
Karasu sighs, flicking otoya’s forehead, punitively, “He said BISEXUALS ya dimwit! Not bicycles!”
“Ohhhh,” Otoya responds, “sorry bro, I don’t know what that is.”
Hiori sighs, shuffling closer, “Pay attention this time ‘kay? A bisexual is a person who takes a likin’ to two or more genders.”
Otoya stares at Hiori, confusion evident on his face.
“For fuck’s sake,” Karasu bemoans, “Bi is two, add it with sex and ya get someone who—”
“..........Fucks both?”
“Is attracted to two…or more!” Hiori tacks on brightly.
“So like…like they think boobs and pecs are hot??? Both?”
Karasu clears his throat, “Well that’s sure an example.”
“It could also be just likin’ certain traits on multiple genders, like if ya find long eye lashes attractive on boys and girls both—it doesn't have to be a sexual organ.” Hiori clarifies.
“Sooo if Tabito got a hard on for voices but instead of just you, it was for baddies and bros both?”
Karasu smacks the back of Otoya’s head. “What kind of example is that ya dunderhead?!”
Hiori puffs out a soft laugh—Otoya feels…something warm in his chest. Probably indigestion. He responds to Otoya, bearing a slightly flustered smile, “That’s one way of puttin’ it.”
“See, Yo said I was spot on.” Otoya argues back.
Karasu aims to smack his head a second time—Otoya manages to dodge.
“Anywho,” Karasu starts, “basically, it’s plenty possible to wanna be with more than one gender, ya don’t have to pick one and stick to it—people of all kinda genders share traits so…just look at Yo, he’s got a damn cute face.”
Hiori flashes a bashful smile at the compliment. Otoya stares at the floor, contemplative as ever.
“Damn…so people who like more than one gender really exist…”
“There, ya finally seem to be gettin’ it.” Hiori cheers, happy his efforts have paid off. Karasu pats Otoya on the head, tenderness juxtaposing his typical rough attitude—Otoya feels that same feeling in his chest again…maybe he shouldn’t have had that beer.
They continue watching the drama soon after, thoughts of bisexuality drifting away from Otoya as he lets himself finally slump against Karasu, a wave of tiredness washing over him like a cool beach shore on a blazing summer afternoon. He distantly hears Hiori cooing as Karasu’s hand moves to massage the back of Otoya’s neck, releasing minimal pent up tension; it makes keeping his eyes open even more of a struggle. Before he knows it, he’s drifting away to the chattering of their omegaverse drama and his roommates' occasional exchange of words, warm hands easing him into a relaxed, well needed rest.