|| 𝗩𝗘𝗟𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗛𝗢𝗥 - various DODEU oneshots

you wouldn't want bad press, would you ? pt 4

guys im not just being a tozren fangirl i swear there's plot relevance 😭
and munchy im so sorry if tozen is too out of character in this </3 there's also plot relevance i promise

Ever since Tozen had returned from the Nightstalkers base, life in the House had pretty much returned to normal.

Nobody spoke of the brutal exchange of words that had occurred, even though tensions were laser-thin and constantly tested with provocative glares in the hallways. Kuma had slept long and hard and had woken up refreshed and in a considerably better mood, Azumi was much calmer now and hummed when she worked, and even Gou had let himself relax a little more now that Tozen was there to restore the natural order to things.

And Ren...well, 'ecstasy' wasn't strong enough to describe the mood that had suddenly possessed him. He practically hadn't left Tozen's side since he crossed the doorway, walking along with him through hallways and sitting shoulder-to-shoulder in the living room, as if Tozen would disintergrate without him. Or maybe it was the other way.

It's odd, Ismasu thought. Even before the whole Shuri-Ren fiasco occurred, Ren was never this clingy with Tozen. Sure, he and Tozen were close, ('friends', they said, but Ismasu knew otherwise), but not 'hold-onto-your-arm-wherever-you-go' close. Which was exactly what Ren had been doing as of late; clinging onto Tozen's sleeve when he read, holding Tozen's hand when he ate, elbow on the table, head in hand, gazing at Tozen like nothing else existed. It would've been cute if it wasn't so unlike him.

But what could she do? Ren was happy, uncharacteristically so, Tozen was safe, and the House's security had been upgraded times 10. She'd be out of place to nitpick when nothing was really amiss.

Haruto slid into the barstool to her left. In his hands he held a chipped pink bowl of fruit pulp with an oddly bent spoon sticking out of it. Ismasu made to comment on it, but stopped when he ducked his head sheepishly.

"I fell on the bowl," Haruto mumbled as if embarrassed, even though Ismasu never thought he should be ashamed of being clumsy. She thought it was funny, how catastrophic Haruto could unintentionally be, despite how gentle he was at heart. "And the spoon bent really weirdly. Do you think Kuma's gonna be upset? Apparently the silverware she got was really expensive..."

Ismasu plucked the spoon from Haruto's bowl and prised it back into shape. "I'm pretty sure she bought this silverware specifically so she could bend it! Have you seen her at the dinner table? Sometimes when she's deep in her thoughts, she breaks what she's holding. This one time, she squeezed her cup of juice so hard that it totally shattered! It's why Azumi got those shatterproof glasses for her." She dropped the spoon back into Haruto's bowl and set it on the table. "She won't mind."

Relieved, Haruto propped his elbows up on the table and rested his head in his hands. Ismasu's fingers danced along the edge of the table. Silence. Comfortable silence, warm and tingly like summer rays. She liked these moments of quietude, especially with Haruto, where she could reside in her thoughts with no pressure to hold up conversation.

"Ismasu," Haruto mumbled, pushing his spoon around the bowl. "Um, not to be weird, but do you think something feels off now that Tozen's back?"

Ismasu pressed her tongue against her cheek, unsure of how to answer. Something did feel off. Something felt uneasy, lik a ghostly presence in the House, sewing discord and disease through the air. The arguments from yesterday, Tozen's sudden reappearance, Ren's clinginess...

"Something definitely feels off. Tozen got kidnapped by Nightstalkers, and he's alive. Unharmed! It doesn't make sense. And," she beckoned Haruto to come closer, which he reluctantly did, "Ren's been acting totally weird."