Twenty Four

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The inside of Spotlight Karaoke is just as humid as Giyu remembers it, and the same bored teenage employee sits at the front desk. Everything seems to be the same as it was months ago the first time he stepped foot into the building as Sabito dragged him in by the arm. Now the only thing that was different was the hand holding his, and the absence of his two very loud, very in love friends.

Instead, his soulmate stands next to him. He's speaking to the kid at the front, but Giyu isn't paying attention. The warm grip on his hand keeps him distracted from what's going on in front of him, and his heart flutters with pleasant anxiety and nerves. They've been dating for a few weeks and they'd gone much farther than hand holding, but somehow everytime Sanemi fit his calloused hand into Giyu's own it made his brain sing with pleasure.

He can't have imagined a few months ago, knowing that he'd be walking into the very building he met his soulmate in for the first time hand and hand with said man. He can still remember sitting outside on the curb under a street lamp, his heart in his throat as Sanemi road in on his motorcycle in the beginnings of the evening and the wild look in his eyes when they finally came face to face with the knowledge they were bound together by fate herself.

He's barely paying any attention as Sanemi practically hauls him away towards the different rooms in the back. He can hear muffled shouting and hollering even outside the soundproofed walls, and a blast of noise nearly knocks him to his feet when Nemi opens the door. Uzui is already on stage, half naked with a bandanna tied around his forehead. Rengoku hangs off his back, legs locked around his torso and leaning so far backwards Giyu is surprised gravity hasn't taken him to the floor. The night is young, but they both look absolutely sloshed, still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship.

Giyu remembers the day they told everyone that they were soulmates, having the brilliant idea to get matching tattoos seemingly a day after discovering it. Mitsuri and Sanemi had tried desperately to stop them, but by the time they all knew it was too late anyway. They got matching tramp stamps in the form of twin flames, something which Giyu found endlessly funny. He was sure Sanemi had lost a few hairs over it, but he couldn't help but think it was pretty comical.

From their place on stage, Giyu can see Uzui's tattoo, healed and on display for the entire room. Rengoku didn't seem to mind, or if he did he was too drunk to say anything, so he let them be.

Sanemi wasn't so merciful however, and he let go of Giyu's hand to stride right towards them, probably intent to make Uzui put his shirt back on.
Turning his attention to the couches in the room, he smiled as he saw Sabito curled up in Shinobu's lap with a beer. Shinobu for her part didn't seem so annoyed, nursing a drink of her own, and when she caught sight of him she waved. He waved back, noting the sparkle in her eyes, before he ultimately made his way towards Uzui's cooler where Mitsuri and Iguro were stationed.

"Giyu! You finally made it! We've been waiting for you!" She greeted him happily with a hug, bouncing on the balls of her feet to reach his height. He hugged her back, taking the beer Iguro offered him. Ever since him and Sanemi had worked out their situation, Iguro had been much nicer to him, and Giyu was learning not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Doesn't exactly seem like it." He replies, and Mitsuri giggles, shrugging. She doesn't seem to have a rebuttal, and Giyu doesn't exactly mind, taking a drink of his beer.
It bubbles and burns his throat, but he chokes it down, relishing in way his stomach begins to grow warm with each sip. He can hear Sanemi behind him wrestling Uzui, Rengoku slurring out words of encouragement to his boyfriend as the two fought. Looking over his shoulder, he sees Sanemi straddling Uzui, struggling to force his shirt over his head. Sabito is cackling at the scene, almost spilling his beer twice before Shinobu takes it from him and pushes him off her lap. Even from a distance Giyu can see him pouting, and he smiles as a warm feeling lights up his chest.

Shinobu laughs at Sabito, her smile lighting up the room. He seems enthralled by her smile, leaning into her every word and giggle. They look the happiest Giyu has seen them in years, and his eyes start to sting before he quickly wipes at them.

It's too early in the night to cry.

"Hey."

Looking up, he sees Sanemi standing in front of him. He can vaguely see Uzui on the background, taking his shirt off once again and throwing it to the floor before climbing back up on stage, but he ignores it in favor of the look his soulmate is giving him.

Giyu's beginning to learn one thing he really loves about Sanemi is his eyes. The way they crinkle when he smiles, and the intensity they hold within them. The way he looks at Giyu like he's something precious. And right now those eyes are looking at him with nothing but pure fondness.

"You alright?" He asks in a low tone as he takes Giyu's free hand, rubbing his thumb over his knuckles. Giyu nods, letting out a wet giggle.

"I'm perfect."

"Well you don't have to tell me twice."

Giyu can't help but roll his eyes, leaning up and kissing Sanemi. His lips taste like beer, or maybe that's his own. He can't tell, but it's not like it matters anyway.
He wonders what he would've said if he'd told himself from months ago this would be his life now, with more friends than he could ever have asked for and a man who cared for him so deeply he fell in love with him twice. With a life that seemed so worth living, people to get up for and a feeling so light it made him feel like he could fly.

He knows deep down what he would've thought then, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is the man in front of him, the man holding his hand with ink smudge on their arms. The past doesn't matter anymore, nor the time he wasted letting life pass him by. No what matters now is the future ahead of him, the road he chooses to walk everyday, hand in hand with the most wonderful person in the world.

"I love you." He says before he can think to stop himself, and he feels the hand in his squeeze. Sanemi kisses him again, nudging his nose with his own with a playful smile.

"I love you too."

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