［ house of cards. ］

[ to where thinking has brought us ]

❧

"Aah, Washi-san, Ira-san, you're back!"

Was what Hirotaka heard the moment he and Jirou stumbled into the house after making their way back from their not-so-relaxing conversation. The sentence came from a curious Oka, who had just exited the shower with a towel over his slightly floppy brown hair.

It was just sundown, so it meant showers and dinner for the most people. Jirou yawned, gave the younger's head a ruffle, to which he happily responded, and proceeded to walk towards the kitchen to make dinner for the other members. Hirotaka, on the other hand, went straight towards the couch, diving headfirst into it. He felt so tired, especially after wasting so much brain energy required for his work for half of the day.

Oka saw the whole thing and rushed over to the elder's side, bending down to reach his height.

"Ira-san, you should go shower too, or you'll be smelly!"

"Just let me sleep..." The other muttered, but his sentence was unclear since he was facing the couch.

"What?" Oka questioned, leaning closer -but not that close since he knew the elder hadn't showered yet- to the other in order to catch what he had said. "Ira-san, what did you just say?"

Hirotaka sighed under the couch. He felt that this child over here was too kind for someone like him. "I said just let me sleep.." He repeated, a bit louder than just now.

The younger blinked and shook his head, the little droplets hanging from the edges of his hair flying in all directions. "You can sleep later after you've showered, Ira-san. It'd be more cleaner that way."

The elder wanted to refuse and just get some precious sleep time, but he gave in in the end. He slowly rose up from his position, his hair all over the place.

"Fine, you win. But tell Washi that I'm gonna eat later than all of you guys. I'm really tired out today." The man mumbled. While doing so, he ruffled the latter's hair with his towel in a slightly rough manner, which almost made the towel fall from the younger's head.

Oka pouted while readjusting his towel. "Gee, everyone's been messing my hair up since just now. What's so good about it that makes people want to ruffle it?"

"I dunno." The elder said aloud while loosening the already out-of-place bun he had tied behind his head. "Maybe your hair's just too irresistible."

He smiled, then continued to walk to his room, leaving the confused younger at the couch, perplexed but also a bit content.

❧

"Heh~? Hirotaka's not joining us for dinner?" Yuusei asked after exiting his room to overhear the conversation between Jirou and Oka about Hirotaka's absence.

"Yeah, he said that he'll be sleeping for a while before eating." The younger said as he turned to face the elder.

"Guess he's always that exhausted, huh.." Jirou sighed as he scratched the back of his neck. "Alright, I'll prepare his meal only when he comes out. Thanks for telling me, Koda."

"Welcome!" Oka beamed, his dimples visible. The elder smiled helplessly as he watched the younger run towards the other rooms to rally them for dinner.

"He's so cute." Jirou confessed to Yuusei, who was on his phone next to him. "He's like the younger brother everyone wants."

"Can't relate." Yuusei sighed while looking towards the hallway, where they both saw Oka wrestling with Naruse while Naoyuki was busy narrating the fight. "I'm the only son in my family. But I don't think I would mind if I had a younger brother like him."