The Everlasting Bond

Chapter 12: Judgement

"Iori, do you want to go eat at a restaurant with me and Tenn-nii?" Riku looked up from his phone where he'd been messaging Tenn and focused on Iori instead, waiting for an answer.

The two of them were at Iori's place, recently finished with the request in Yokohama and are now sharing the money between them.

Iori sat on his chair in front of the table, organising the money they earned. He turned around and looked at Riku who was sitting on his bed. "With you and your brother?" He asked. "Did your brother say that you can bring a friend or something?"

It felt almost too suspicious for Riku's brother to ask for a friend to come, maybe it was because of how he's portrayed to be an overprotective brother or that it sounded more like Riku wanted him to come. His suspicions were correct with what Riku had said next.

"Well not exactly... but it's fine! Surely, my brother wouldn't mind me bringing a friend so let's go and you and Tenn-nii can meet for the first time!"

And here he was, sitting on a table directly in front of Tenn while Riku was sitting beside him.

Iori didn't think that it could get any more awkward. The fact that Tenn was staring at him with the exact same deadpan expression as his own and Riku smiling, oblivious to the whole situation.

Tenn's neutral expression towards Iori shifted to a polite smile, "So you're Riku's friend from work I see, it's a pleasure to finally meet you." He said.

"It's a pleasure to meet you too, Nanase- Oh." At first, Iori answered in a composed voice despite the awkwardness until he'd realised that it'll be confusing if he calls Tenn 'Nanase-san' too.

Hearing Iori stopped when he was about to say his name, Tenn knew the slight issue he was having. "You can call me 'Tenn-san' if that makes things easier and I'll call you by your first name as well." He suggested with ease.

"Hey! That's not fair at all!" Riku interrupted, "Iori knew me first so shouldn't he call me 'Riku' or at least 'Riku-san' and you 'Nanase-san'?! I've been urging him to call me by my first name but he refuses to."

"Okay, T-Tenn-san."

"What?!"

Speechless, Riku's mouth opened wide. Horrified by what came out of Iori's mouth.

Tenn simply acknowledged Riku's bitter face and gave an insouciant look at him, "Riku, you don't need to act so surprised. Iori-san probably feels more comfortable saying someone's first name who's mature like he is. I'm sorry for any trouble Riku had caused for you, Iori-san."

"That's not how honorifics works though!!"

As well as Tenn, Iori also ignores Riku's hopeless complaints. "It's quite alright, Tenn-san. Sometimes Nanase-san can be a hassle at times but I'm getting used to it. I feel like it's easier to call Tenn-san by his first name since we're both similar in a way and mature."

"Why am I the one getting bullied here... " Riku felt betrayed, betrayed by his own brother and betrayed by his own friend.

As Iori and Tenn happily got along and Riku pouted all alone, the waiter arrived asking for their orders.

"Are you ready to order, brat?"

Tenn stopped mid way with his conversation with Iori, a smile turning into a mischievous grin knowing all too well who the waiter was. "Now is that any way to treat your fellow customers like that?" He said, feigning his hurtful tone of voice as he looked up to see the familiar face.

The waiter merely looked down at Tenn and replied, "You're a special case."

Near the soon-to-be-heated discussion that Tenn and the waiter were having, Iori and Riku sat there questioning in their heads what was going on and if Tenn knew the waiter.