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The idea of a sharehouse, frankly, was a bit foolish. Or so Nanase Riku thought.
‘It can't be easy to manage a sharehouse, right?’
After all, Riku was already as busy dealing with his parent's house as it was—a relatively big house that was supposed to be connected with his family's club, right beside the house. But after it got closed down, his parents sold it and it became an empty lot halted from someone's project.
(It was a bit sad to think about, but on the bright side, Riku only had to clean one building instead of two. Especially after the departure of his late parents. He could only manage so much alone, after all.)
Riku looked at his aunt and uncle almost incredulously, his eyebrows pinched a bit tight. He tried to give them a neutral, polite expression. He truly tried, but their words simply didn't make any sense to Riku.
His aunt, the more stern of the two adults, finally opened her mouth. She reasoned, and in the end, Riku couldn't refute her.
“Riku-kun, your uncle is simply worried that your house is too big and lonely for yourself.”
Riku knew he could counter her with something , he just couldn't find the right words to put in his mouth. It was honestly foolish to suggest a teenager to manage a sharehouse on his own. He knew that, but he couldn't bring himself to say anything.
His lips parted, only to press back together frustratedly. They're already considerate enough to let him live alone with minimum supervision, and now that he's seventeen and definitely way more self-sufficient, they're worried that he'd end up as a loner. Probably.
Riku couldn't find anything to argue against their concern. ‘How could I? ’ He thought, and he conceded.
His sizeable house have a questionable amount of rooms. Perhaps his parents planned to make a dorm or something out of their house. Riku will never know.
There are three bedrooms on the second floor, his parent's master bedroom and two others for him and his brother. There are also two other bathrooms, alongside a study and the laundry room. Downstairs, there's the kitchen and dining room open to the living room, two bathrooms, and seven more rooms.
‘... Seven rooms.’
Riku wondered why he hadn't asked his parents about those rooms when he was younger.
‘Probably because I was too busy going in and out of the hospital.’ Gee. At least he's a lot better now.
Riku only used one room from the first floor for storage, leaving six rooms completely empty, but even that was honestly pushing it. He could just pull the two containers from that room to the laundry room, and he'd have seven perfectly empty rooms for spirits to ponder.
Right, having empty rooms for too long is really not good. Riku had to regularly talk those dead spirits out of residing in his house.
‘Maybe...it's not such a bad idea.’
At first, Riku naturally thought it'd be too much work. But now that summer break is starting and he couldn't kept bothering his aunt and uncle to help with summer cleaning.
So, by the end of the first week through summer break, his aunt had arranged the interviews dates for his new housemate candidates.
When Izumi Mitsuki received the recommendation of this specific sharehouse, he genuinely thought it was a scam.
It was almost too good to be true. The house is strategically near the train station and convenience store, the area is at a relatively quiet neighborhood but not too hidden to not have any life present, and it's not too far from commercial areas either.
‘Even with all of that in consideration, the rent is pretty cheap too!’
If even Mitsuki was wary of it being a scam, then it was natural for his younger brother, Izumi Iori, to be thrice as wary.
“Iori, you know you didn't need to come, right?”
“I know, but I want to see the house too, Nii-san.”
Scam or not, it was their mom who recommended the place. Apparently, the house sharing wasn't up for online advertisement, but it was something their mom was recommended to by a friend. If his mom trusted this friend that much, Mitsuki had no reason to fully refuse, even if his little brother remained suspicious of the whole deal.
’Well, even if it's a scam, I'll find out if I come to the interview, right?’
After he boarded the train, he reached the house after only ten minutes of walking from the station. It could've taken a pinch less of time had Mitsuki not messed up the directions halfway.
He may be a bit, only a bit , annoyed that Iori had insisted on coming with him, but he was also glad for his little brother's help on finding the right way through the unfamiliar streets. Had Mitsuki been alone, he would've gone forward until some random resident of the area would tell him otherwise.
“... Woah, it's...” ... huge .
Not in the sense of grand in size, but the house they found upon arriving at the right address really appeared spacious from the outside.
“I guess you'd have to have at least this big of a house to open a sharehouse, huh?“ Mitsuki chuckled as he observed the nice front yard of the house.
Iori only observed with knitted eyebrows, which simply unknotted once Mitsuki slinged his arm over the boy's shoulders and dragged him inside. “C'mon, Iori. You're the one who insisted on following me. Accompany me to the end, would you?“
“...Yes, Nii-san.” Mitsuki laughed at the red ear tips.
They reached the front door, but before he could even raise his knuckles to knock, the door was opened.
“....”
“...Cute.”
Mitsuki genuinely prayed that the presumably house owner, who had opened the door for them, didn't hear Iori's words. Although it'd be Iori's own embarrassment for the boy to deal with, Mitsuki couldn't truly disagree with Iori, frankly, which kind of pricked his conscience in a way.
“Uh, hi? Is this the Nanase Sharehouse?”
The house owner didn't seem to notice Iori's slip of word. Strands of crimson bouncing from the air as the owner, a boy who didn't look any older than Iori, nodded. From his body language, he seemed to be a bit timid, but he gave Mitsuki and Iori a polite smile regardless as he led them inside.
The inside of the house was clean. A bit aged, but clearly well taken care of. Everything looked ordely in a very pleasant, homey feel. Mitsuki could already imagine how his days would start if he live there.
The house owner led them to the living room, motioning for the both of them to sit down on the long sofa as he poured two cups of tea, which presumably was supposed to be for the owner himself and Mitsuki only, without the addition of Iori. It seemed that he had forgo the idea of drinking tea as he sat down after pouring two cups of tea.
He cleared his throat once, and both Mitsuki and Iori were graced by a voice soft and kind.
“Um, Izumi Mitsuki-san, right? Nice to meet you, my name is Nanase Riku. I'm the owner of this house.”
Nanase Riku gave a small bow to them. When he raised his head again, he looked to Iori with deep, knowing eyes. “And you're Izumi Iori, right?”
‘Oh, dear.’ Iori seemed to tense at Riku's adressal.
“... How did you know?”
Riku tilted his head and Iori seemed seemed to take a mental damage from it. “Your mother had called me just a while long ago. She apologized because both of you are coming instead of only Mitsuki-san. Ah...it's fine if I call you that, right?”
Mitsuki smiled, shaking his head. “Not at all. So you're the owner, huh? How old are you, Riku-san?”
“Ah...you can call me casually, Mitsuki-san. I just turned seventeen a bit over last week.”
“Woah, you're really young! You're only a year older than Iori.”
Riku hummed, and he smiled back. “It seems so. Iori-san, where do you go to school?”
“...Touo.”
“I see.” Riku nodded, and he flipped through a notebook he picked up from the coffee table. “Then, Mitsuki-san, may I ask a few questions about you?”
“Eh? Uh, yeah, sure.” Why was he getting nervous all of a sudden?
As Riku didn't notice Mitsuki's sudden tenseness, he gave a soft smile and asked a few questions. It wasn't anything burdensome, just a few inquires about Mitsuki's job, living habits, and how much was he able to compromise with housemates.
“Lastly, can I ask your reasons for moving here?”
Mitsuki paused, and he could almost feel Iori's frown from beside him.
‘Right, why did I want to move here again?’
Really, he could just say that his part-time jobs are closer here than back at his parent's house. That'd be acceptable as it is, but Riku's gaze told him that it wasn't the answer he's searching for.
Mitsuki sighed. Well, this was basically Tokyo, and it was rather close to the few agencies he'd been keeping an eye on. Agencies. Entertainment agencies.
“Because I want to become an idol, Riku.”
Mitsuki, lost in his thoughts, didn't notice the flinch from Riku's shoulders.
“... Is that your dream, Mitsuki-san?”
“Well, I suppose so?” Mitsuki chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. “Although I'm a bit too old for silly dreams, I still want to try my best on becoming an idol.”
“... I think that's admirable.” The way that soft voice spoke with the sweet smile that was given to Mitsuki almost brought him to tears. He turned his face away in hopes that he weren't showing an embarassing expression. Even Iori had a complicated expression on his face.
“Th-Thank you, Riku.”
Riku hummed, looking down to his notes again. “... Then, Iori-san, will you be moving in with Mitsuki-san too?”
“Eh?” “Huh?”
Riku blinked at their confusion. ”Ah, I mean, I thought that Iori-san wanted to move in too, since Touo High is only a station away from here....”
“Oh, no, Riku. Iori is—”
“—yes. I will be moving in with Nii-san.”
Mitsuki was sure he was giving a scandalized expression to his younger brother. “Iori? We haven't talk about this—”
“U-Um!”
This time, Riku stopped Mitsuki with his slightly high-pitched voice. None of them realized how Riku's face had contorted to a panicked expression the moment Mitsuki raised his voice.
“... I'm...sorry, but do you want to talk this out first? We can talk about the rent and security deposit on a later date....”
Mitsuki looked at Riku's face. The boy may seem timid at first glance, but behind that, he must be sensitive to other's emotions. ‘He's nice.’
“... No, I suppose this is fine too. Iori can convince our parents somehow when we get home.” Mitsuki could feel the flinch beside him, but he only focused on giving Riku his best smile. “So? How much will the rent be?”
Riku blinked, almost bewildered, before he quickly snapped back and pushed his notebook to Mitsuki
“Ri-Right! So here's the breakdown....”
‘Ah, he's an honest kid.’
By the time it was getting late, Mitsuki and Iori departed with the lease signed and the upfront payment paid.
It might look like a haste decision, but honestly, Mitsuki was more worried that they might lose the deal instead. Beside the pretty much unfurnished room, everything else in that house is perfect. Food and necessities are guaranteed stocked (unless the world is ending, so Riku said), and they might even get breakfast and dinner when Riku is cooking.
Sure, it might seem doubtful to trust everything to Riku. It didn't seem like the boy was managing the house with anyone else, and Mitsuki remembered how his mother mentioned that there's only one person in the sharehouse currently, which is the house owner.
Well, Riku seemed like he knew what he was doing, so everything might just go well.
Mitsuki walked in silence with Iori to the train station, but he knew there was a heavy air around his little brother, and their parents might not be happy if they bring this home. They had to convince their parents to let Iori move in too, after all.
“Iori—” “Nii-san!”
“Iori, can you not cut your Nii-san's words each time?”
Iori flinched, and Mitsuki almost couldn't bare his dejected look. Almost.
“... Iori, you know what it means to live in a sharehouse, right?” Mitsuki stopped on his tracks, nearly making Iori bump into him. He turned to his little brother to properly face him.
“... Yes, Nii-san.”
“You're smart, Iori, but take this as your Nii-san's simple concern, yeah? We might be the only residents on the sharehouse beside Riku, but there'll be more people to come. We'll have to share our living space with strangers, and it might not be comfortable for us.”
“... I understand, Nii-san.”
“Do you, now?” Mitsuki laughed, but Iori's face became downer by the second. He bit his lips, hands clutching the edges of his shirt, before he finally looked up to his older brother.
“Nii-san, I-I'm sorry!”
“Eh?! Why are you apologizing out of nowhere?!”
“I-It's just—!” Iori looked like he was going to cry. “I-I followed you without considering yourself, and I even pushed to move in with you too. I haven't been considerate with you, Nii-san—”
“Iori.”
‘Oh, Gods above.’ Mitsuki might truly come to hate his little brother, had Iori not been such a loving little kid. ‘What did I even do to deserve this much love?’
“Iori, won't you look at your Nii-san properly?”
Mitsuki rubbed his little brother's face to make him look up properly.
“Iori, believe me when I say that I truly don't mind you living with me. Sure, the idea was a bit annoying at first, but I guess I'm also concerned to leave you alone with our parents.” Mitsuki smiled playfully. “How could I leave you to bother them like that?”
He chuckled when his little brother started to protest. He reached his hand and up and nearly tip-toed (he will never admit this) to push Iori's head down and mess with his hair.
“Now, cheer up, would you? We'll have to face our Mom and Dad's wrath as soon as we get home, after all!”
In the end, their parents paid a separate room for Iori instead of the singular room they had first thought of to not burden their parents too much. Well, it was pretty funny to see Iori complain for once. “How could we let you bother your older brother like that?” “Father, I do not bother anyone.”