Chapter Text
Hiori stared at his bathroom mirror, a distressed boy wearing sweat drenched clothes staring right back at him. He was shaking, trying to calm himself down with deep breaths but that was no use.
Hiori could still hear the phone call with his parents 10 minutes ago, how his mum had rang and started talking to him in a sweet voice dripped in honey and poison. Their conversation was short and involved his mum talking about some, “Hey Yo-chan, your mother is short on some cash. Do you mind lending me some?” before Hiori abruptly hung up the phone, not wanting to fall for whatever his parents were scheming.
After moving out for nearly 2 years now and barely keeping contact with his parents, Hiori would think that they wouldn’t bother him anymore but no, every now and then his parents would ring him up asking for a favour or two which then always ended up in Hiori having to lend a lot of money.
The worst part was that his parents never returned the borrowed money, instead they would tell him, “We are your parents Yo. After all we’ve done for you, you aren’t even going to give your parents some money? You ungrateful brat!” And every time that happened, Hiori would relapse and fall back into his old habits.
Hiori hated being this weak, how after one interaction with his parents would leave him in a state of depression and stress, having to resort to unhealthy behaviours and practices. He was glad that his friends were always there to support him in ways which they could—even if they didn’t know every detail.
The blade in his hand shook as Hiori tried stabilising himself to no success. He closed his eyes and let it overcome him in rhythmic red-hot slashes.
Laying on his back closed eyed, Hiori felt himself moving back into old patterns and it was disgusting, nauseating even. Why did he have to let his mother’s words affect him so deeply? It was the same old, but why can’t Hiori just move on and let go?
Well, it is done now. There’s no going back, not since he first picked up the blade at 14, the night after his parents had yelled at him for not getting perfect scores on his exams. Hiori could feel himself in another dissociative episode, he’s sure Karasu and the others would understand why he wasn’t present at class today. And if they didn’t, there wasn’t really anything Hiori could do about that.
The next day at university, Karasu noticed that Hiori wasn’t attending class as usual. He really worried for the cyan-haired boy because he knew about the issues Hiori had with his parents. Karasu always tried his best to comfort his friend in need but it always seems that Hiori grows more distant when he isn’t in the right mental state.
He knows Hiori probably wants some peace and isolation right now but it doesn't stop the need for checking up on his friend. Karasu opened his phone to the dms between him and Hiori.
Karasu: Hey
Karasu: Are you alright?
Karasu: I noticed you aren’t at school today
Almost instantly, Karasu had gotten a reply from Hiori.
Hiori: oh dw
Hiori: just not feeling the best, im a ok tho ;D
Karasu: Really?
Karasu: We can talk about it if you want
Hiori: oh ya know…
Hiori: just the usual business with my shitty parents
Karasu: I’m sorry about that
Karasu: Just know that I’m always here for you
Karasu: No matter what
Hiori: aww thanks karasu
Hiori: im fine, really
Karasu: Just looking out for my closest friend
Hiori: (˶˃ ᵕ ˂˶) .ᐟ.ᐟ
Karasu sighed, even if something was really going on with Hiori, he wouldn’t have told him anyway. He thought for a while, Rin Itoshi, was it? Since Hiori was so obsessed with him, maybe he would have told Rin what was up.
Searching up @itorinofficial on instagram, Karasu hit the follow button. He deduces that he would have to send Rin a convincing message that he was one of Hiori’s friends, after all, Rin does have a lot of followers so it wasn’t odd that he would receive messages from fans claiming to know him personally.
Karasu thinks it must be hard, being famous and all. Just imagine thousands of strangers wondering what you’re currently doing and being invested in your personal life.
Karasu: Hey, Rin. I just wanted to talk to you about Hiori. I’m his closest friend.
“This message is good enough.” Karasu thought to himself, wondering how long until Rin accepts the message, if he does. He decided to wait until the afternoon, Rin would probably also have classes during the day.
Everyday after school, Rin would take the bus home and check up on his phone. After that, Rin would change, meditate, and train like normally. Today, Rin was just absentmindedly scrolling through the direct messages from fans without much thought when one specific one caught his eye.
“I just wanted to talk to you about Hiori. I’m his closest friend.” Rin mumbled, reading the message with confusion. Who was this claiming to be Hiori’s closest friend? How did this person even know who Hiori is and that he and Rin were friends?
He clicked on the account named Karasu’s profile, it seemed this guy was just your normal popular and athletic student. Karasu actually had a few hundred followers himself. Observing Karasu’s top posts, it was clear that this guy was nonchalant, smart, and always knew what he was doing. The way he looked at the camera made you think that he knew something about you that you didn’t.
Rin was rather suspicious that Karasu really knew who Hiori was because they seemed so different. Karasu seemed sharp, calm, and kind of reassembled a crow whilst Hiori had sort of a soft and delicate aura around him.
It didn’t really seem believable to Rin that this Karasu guy and Hiori knew each other but when he was about to click off of Karasu’s profile, a word on his bio stood out.
Kyoto. That’s where Hiori said he was from, wasn’t it? Could this guy really be his friend? For now, Rin decided to trust Karasu on his words because so far it seemed like his words were adding up and also because he just didn’t look like the type who would lie without a proper or actual reason.
Rin: Karasu, is it? What do you want from me? How did you know that me and Hiori were friends?
Rin had to admit, his reply did seem too skeptical and distrustful, but he figures that he gets a pass because after all, Rin is extremely famous and probably has a lot of crazy and obsessed fans. He was mildly surprised to get a text back from Karasu after only a few minutes.
Karasu: I just want to talk about Hiori. You guys seem close.
Karasu: Also I know that you and him are friends because like I said, I’m his closest friend.
Rin: Oh, ok
Rin: Uh, what did you want to talk about
Karasu: Lol, you wouldn’t expect a social media star to be so awkward when texting
Rin: Shut up you lukewarm.
Rin: I’m Hiori’s friend, not yours.
Karasu: Ok chill
Karasu: Anyways back to the more serious topic
Karasu: I presume you and Hiori are close
Karasu: I mean he does seem to talk about you a whole lot
Rin: He does?
Rin: And yes, I like to think me and Hiori are close
Karasu: Then I’m taking that you know about his relationship with his parents
Rin: Umm, no?
Rin: Why is it really important
Karasu: Yeah, but if you don’t know then… I don’t think it’s okay for me to talk about it or tell you without Hiori’s permission first
Rin: Wait, but I want to know
Rin: I should know about this
Karasu: I’m sorry man, I don’t want to talk about my friend’s private issues behind his back
Rin: Why bring it up in the first place
Karasu: Oh
Karasu: Well I just kinda thought ya knew
Rin: I don’t, did you think Hiori already told me or something?
Karasu: Maybe…
Karasu: I’m not quite sure because even as his closest friend he doesn’t tell me everything
Karasu: But maybe one day he would
Rin: So aside from whatever this unknown thing is about, was there anything else you had to talk about
Rin: Kinda wasting my time here
Karasu: Ok mister popular emo I-don’t-have-time-for-unimportant-stuff-like-this
Karasu: Hiori didn’t come to class today and he’s feeling down, I was just wondering if you knew why
Karasu: I’m just assuming that it was related to the thing
Rin: Oh
Rin: Well I didn’t know
Rin: Is it related to his parents
Karasu: Can’t really tell ya anything because I don’t know myself.
Karasu: Try talking to him, maybe he’ll open up to you
Karasu: Don’t be too demanding or nosy though
Rin left Karasu on seen, how dare that crow try to lecture him about how to talk to Hiori. Rin was perfectly fine at texting thank you very much. He didn’t really like Karasu’s attitude either, how could this be Hiori’s closest friend?
By now the bus had arrived at Rin’s station so he quickly ran home to text Hiori. Back at home, Rin swiftly changed and opened Discord. There were already two messages from Hiori.
Hiori: heyy
Hiori: how was school today rinnie !
Rin decided to forget about his whole conversation with Karasu, and to act like they have never talked to each other.
Rin: It was uneventful, you?
Hiori: stayed at home sadly
Hiori: wasnt feeling too great :(
Rin: Oh
Rin: Well, wanna vc?
Rin: I’ll try making you feel better
Hiori weakly smiled, where did all this come from? It was very rare that Rin was the one who started their voice calls.
Rin: Hey so
Rin: I just wanted to let you know that you can trust me with completely anything
Hiori: Awhh Rinnie
Hiori: That’s so sweet of you
Hiori: Um
Hiori: Well
Rin: But you don’t have to tell me anything yet
Hiori: No, I will
Hiori: Um so
Hiori: I have a really bad relationship with my parents
Rin: Oh… I’m sorry
Rin: You can vent to me if you want
Hiori: Really?
Rin: Yeah
Hiori and Rin stayed up all night talking to each other on call. Hiori felt better after venting about everything to Rin—about his parents, his life, and his bad habits. Rin listened diligently throughout all this, and he even made an effort to try and (awkwardly) comfort Hiori.
Hiori didn’t even realize that they had talked through the whole night until he noticed the sun rising and looked over at the time on his alarm clock. Hiori has pulled plenty of all nighters before, but he didn’t know about Rin.
Hiori: Oh shit
Hiori: It’s nearly 6 in the morning already
Hiori: Sorry for keeping you up all night
Rin: No I’m glad you did
Rin: Plus it’s fine I’ve pulled all nighters before
Hiori: Oh ok good
Hiori: I really like talking to you
Rin: Same
Hiori: I have something I want to confess
Rin: Go on
Hiori: I really like our voice calls
Hiori: And how we’re really close even though we met online
Hiori: You make me feel special and comforted
Hiori: And loved in a way I’ve never felt before
Hiori: So…
Hiori: Would you want to be my boyfriend?
And with that Hiori hung up their call before waiting for an answer, too embarrassed after his confession. He was overjoyed though, that after a few seconds Rin had sent him several messages.
Rin: Yes, I would love to be your boyfriend
Rin: You’re really kind Hiori
Rin: And usually I hate people but I wouldn’t mind being with you
Hiori: yayy
Hiori:
/) /)
(˶•-•˶) - for u <3
/づ づ ~♡︎
Rin:
/)/)
( . .)
( づ♡
Hiori: lets match discord pfps rinniee
Rin: Ofc