those who we protect [IDOLiSH7]

VII

Sogo opened the bathroom door and entered the first half of the room, which had a large, blurry glass door. Riku's clean clothes were still inside the basket he left him, and although the glass doors were blurry, Sogo was also able to make out that Riku was still inside the bathtub with his red hair making it obvious. "Riku-kun, don't stay in the bath for too long or you'll start feeling dizzy". Riku didn't respond. All that was heard was the sound of water droplets hitting a surface and water calmly moving. Riku-kun...?

"Hey... Sogo-san..." Riku calmly said, his tone sounding serious but also emotionless. "... yes?" Sogo replied. Riku on the other side lifted his head and stared off at the ceiling. "Am I... too much weight to carry for you all?" he asked. Sogo stayed silent for a moment and then proceeded to respond. "Of course not Riku-kun" he replied. "Why did it take you a moment to respond?" Riku then asked. Sogo, on the other side of the glass door, lowered his eyes and head. "It's just that I didn't think you would ask a question like that". Riku didn't respond. Sogo sat against the glass door. Just as he was about to continue on, Riku spoke up first.

"It's just that because of my weak body, I hold the group back sometimes and cause others to make mistakes, and it makes me feel like such a terrible person. Because he was concerned, I made Iori mess up during one of our older concerts, I couldn't perform the encore in the Zero Arena, affecting all of you, had Tenn-ni replace me during one of our recordings, and now because of me, we're behind schedule and... I dragged you along with me". Sogo lifted his head, also looking at the ceiling, he quietly sighed. "Riku-kun... we all - I'm pretty sure, have something that we carry with us that can and will potentially affect the group at some point. It may not be something that can be physically visible like your condition, it may be something internal; spiritual, mental, or emotional, that we deal with and makes it difficult for us to focus on what we are doing in the present. But the good thing about being in a group is that we can all help each other when in need. You don't have to deal with it alone. I worry for those who have issues that they are forced to deal with every single day and have no one to turn to for support or comfort. Riku-kun, you have us, we are here to help you in whatever way we can. Your health is the top priority, you get that, right?". Riku's eyes widened a bit, remembering that Yamato said that same sentence long ago, back at Zero Arena.

"You must remember, your illness does not define who you are, regardless of it being a part of your life..." Sogo added. He heard Riku get up from the bathtub and he stood up himself. Did I say too much? he thought to himself, worried. The glass door slid open, and out came Riku, wrapped in a towel, and having a smaller one over his head, his hair carrying water droplets. Sogo's worried face softened as he looked at Riku's warm expression. "Thank you Sogo-san" he said with a warm smile. Sogo chuckled and approached Riku. "No problem" he said as he dried Riku's hair.

"I'll let you get changed now" Sogo added. Riku nodded, but as Sogo was turning around to leave, the two heard a stomach growl. Sogo couldn't get but let out a small laugh as Riku's face was now filled with embarrassment. "I'll make you some Miso soup with a side of rice. How does that sound?". Followed by another growl coming from his stomach, Riku nodded. "Ah, Riku-kun, are you able to walk back to your bedroom?" Sogo asked. Riku reassured him that he can, and watched as Sogo left the bathroom. Riku got dressed and slowly made his way to his room. Upon getting back, he took a deep breath and went to lay on his bed. Riku noticed that there was a glass of water next to the pile of books he had and took a couple of sips from it. He then grabbed the first book that was from the pile sitting on his nightstand and opened it up to where he had the bookmark set.

It's night already?! Oh yeah... the sun sets earlier during this time of year... I wonder what everyone else is doing right now... he thought to himself as he looked outside the window to see the dark outside world. The only sources of light outside came from the street lampposts and the lights coming from inside building windows. After a moment, Riku took out his glasses and began to read from where he left off.

"It's this dark already?!" Nagi commented as the group headed out the front doors. "Brrr... and it's really cold too" Tamaki added, deepening his hands into his coat pockets. "I wanna eat something hot now..." Yamato commented. "You know what we should have?..."

While the group was having a full discussion about what they were going to eat, Tenn was in the back staring off at the floor. What if Riku was here? He would probably have a pretty bad coughing fit by now with this weather condition... I wonder if he's doing better right now, I hope so... has he eaten yet? 

"Kujou-san?" he heard someone call from a distance. Tenn looked to his side and saw Iori starting to walk beside him. "Is everything alright?" he asked him. Tenn didn't give an answer. His face was still full of concern. A moment of awkward silence between the two came about until Iori spoke up again. "You don't have to worry. Nanase-san is doing alright back home" Iori said. Tenn made eye contact with Iori for a brief second, and soon afterward continued to look at the ground. "Mhm" he replied. Iori got a bit annoyed by Tenn's vague response but was somewhat caught off guard by Tenn suddenly talking.

"Ne, Izumi-san. Can I ask you something?" Tenn asked.