Chapter 21

A week had passed since his first therapy session. In that time he’d had one more session and him and Asuka had just finished another meeting with the lawyer. In his book this one had gone a lot better, as he had managed to not empty his stomach, but he was still emotionally drained.

There was a knock on the door and Fubuki popped his head inside, beaming at the two people in the room. “Hey. I was wondering if you wanted to join me and Ryo for lunch. We’re getting a mani pedi after, I’ll treat you if you join.”

Asuka raised an eyebrow at her brother. “Ryo is getting a mani pedi?”

“Okay, he’s only getting a mani, he doesn’t like when people touch his feet. But still, he’s coming. So, how about you two? You can just come for the lunch part if you’d rather not.”

“Uhhh, I guess? I can come with you?” It was another thing his brothers hadn’t allowed him to indulge in since they thought it wasn’t fitting of someone in the Manjoume family, and they had thrown out his makeup when they’d found him out once. He’d stayed away from anything like that until he was alone in what he sometimes called his afterlife. Inaba-sensei had encouraged him to do things his brothers had forbidden him to do, so he had tried to do more of those things, and god knows there were a lot of things on that list. When Misawa heard of it he’d eagerly offered to help him make a physical list, but he had yet to take up on the offer. It made him remember that evening when Juudai painted his nails. “I’m gonna skip on the feet though.”

“That’s fine! What about you, Asuka?”

“Raincheck on the nails, but I’ll join you for lunch.” She gathered both her and Jun’s jackets off the coat rack and threw hers on while handing the other to Jun. You two go get Ryo and I’ll let our secretaries know we’ll be out for a while.”

“Aye aye, captain!”

They had lunch in a small restaurant, sitting in the back, away from the windows. It turned out that Asuka was going dress shopping for a little bit with Rei. The younger woman hadn’t decided what Asuka was going to wear yet, and since the wedding was coming up they had to choose one as soon as possible. Juudai was also a bridesmaid, and he was going to come along for the shopping so the two matched. Jun remembered that his boyfriend ( boyfriend!!! ) had mentioned he was hanging out with her today, but he hadn’t mentioned it was wedding related.

When Fubuki had brought up that Jun needed to make sure he dressed to the nines so he could see Juudai swoon he had to hide his face in his hands with how much he was blushing. Asuka was laughing and Ryo was hiding a grin behind his juice glass. He even commented how endearing they had been together during D&D night, making his cheeks grow even hotter. Even Ryo was teasing him!

The whole lunch was nice, and he was in a great mood once Asuka had to go to meet up with Rei and Juudai at a bridal shop a few blocks away. He felt the anxiety bubble inside him again when they exited the restaurant, but Ryo gave him an encouraging smile and Fubuki hooked his arm with Jun’s. “It’s really close and really low key. Ryo doesn’t really care for crowds so I make sure to go quiet places when I take him to stuff like this.”

Ryo hummed in agreement, a slight flush on his cheeks at the affection of an arm snaking around his waist. Jun thought they were adorable and made a note to ask to see more of their wedding pictures than the ones they’d posted on instagram soon. One of the most painful things to think about was how he missed when they got married.

Fubuki kept the conversation flowing all the way to the nail salon, talking mostly about the upcoming wedding and making them both flustered. It worked wonders to keep the anxiety from getting overwhelming, and before Jun knew it they were back inside, Fubuki giving the lady at the register his name and what time he had booked for the three of them.

They were seated and Fubuki went right back to talking, bringing both husband and friend into the conversation as often as he could. Jun found himself mesmerised by the process of the nail artist working, almost lulled into a meditative state where the only thing keeping him awake was when he had to put his hands under the UV lights.

He must have dozed off at some point after his nails were done, because when he became aware again Fubuki was done with both fingers and toes, and Jun was sitting in a different chair than he remembered. Ryo was looking lovingly at his husband where he was chatting with the woman who did his nails while paying the bill, and had not yet noticed that Jun was back to the waking world. He watched Ryo for a moment, the sight of pure adoration on the man’s face warming his heart. Seeing Fubuki be so loved made him happy.

Jun looked away before he could get caught staring, and looked out the window instead. Despite how terrible he’d felt during the meeting, he was feeling pretty content now, a comfortable sheet of satisfaction cushioning the anxiety in his brain and heart.

He could only hope it would last.

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