The Golden Pear [YA - Featured]

♫~Notes 64~♫

Before the night came, they let Kagetsu forget about everything. They played board games, snacked, watched a movie, and had dinner outside, enjoying the slight coldness.

Only Aiyoku snuck away for a while, bringing a chocolate cake with chocolate cream, filling, decorations and whatnot. Rigaku's face sparkled with delight as he took a morsel after another one until he wolfed three pieces.

Freya spotted a sneaky smile on Aiyoku's face, suspecting the cake was just a decoy and camouflage for a bigger picture. Yet she remained silent, waiting for what he had in store.

When the sun was beyond the horizon, they returned into the complex, helping Rigaku and Kagetsu to walk as their legs still needed a lot of rest.

"I'm so tired." Kagetsu gasped, laying onto the bed. The sleepless nights caught up to him, and the excitement from being with his brothers and Freya didn't help him regain any energy.

"Don't fall asleep now." Aiyoku flashed him a big smile. "You are in for the biggest surprise of today."

His younger brother blinked, slow on the uptake. He climbed onto his elbows with a huff. "What?"

Aiyoku only air-zipped his lips, annoying his brother a bit. He knew how to tease Kagetsu since they were kids. Not to mention everybody loved surprises.

"Less posing, more moving," Rigaku's voice came from the hall.

Kagetsu's smile spread all over his face since that was aimed at Aiyoku to move his butt to give a helping hand. Karma had express delivery.

The youngest brother stretched his neck toward the door. 'What are they cooking up?' Standing on his shaky legs, he staggered toward the frame just in time to see Aiyoku walk into the living room.

The curiosity killed the cat, but Kagetsu had shivers running down his spine. Something big was coming his way, and he might not be ready for it. Sliding around the wall, he approached the door, peeking inside.

"What?" His jaw almost dislocated as he dropped it.

The living room changed, but not exactly. Only the furniture moved toward the walls, making a space in the middle where laid four, colorful, big, thick worms. He rubbed his eyes. The worms turned into sleeping bags.

Aiyoku patted his back. "So, what do you say for a sleepover?"

Kagetsu's eyes trailed from one sleeping bag to another. Without warning, Kagetsu leaped forward. "Dibs!" He grabbed the carrot sleeping bag and rolled like a hedgehog until he hit the wall.

Laughing upside-down, he hugged his price, snuggling with it. The room filled with another laughter as Aiyoku couldn't hold himself, bending in half.

Freya brought drinks and small snacks.

"Seriously, Ai?" Rigaku asked his brother as he saw his sleeping bag. Who else would have one with books, right?

"But"—Aiyoku lengthened the word—"it screamed your name."

'True.' The girl nodded, glancing over hers with raining sushi, nigiri, and sashimi of all kinds. 'Hope I won't eat it in my sleep.'

Kagetsu unrolled himself, setting his bag on its place before dashing to change into carrot pajamas. Before he returned, everybody changed as well, matching their sleeping bags.

Aiyoku snuggled into his bag with stars and horses first, and his younger brother followed soon enough. Too much had happened. They needed to rest well.

"Good night," Aiyoku said, noticing Kagetsu snored softly.

"Oyasuminasai."

Freya waved them, tucking her jester closer to her body. Hugging a plush toy always soothed her mind and nerves.

The room filled with periodical breaths, but after a few minutes, a figure stood up, sneaking outside. Following the wall, Rigaku moved to the main bedroom. Closing the door, he lit up his phone, squeezing his eyes.

With a few taps, he found the needed number. It rang and rang for painfully long seconds.

A drowsy voice came from the other side once the call connected, "State your name and address so I can kill you once my mind wakes up."

"Hai, Nihil-san."

Shuffles and struggle came from the other side. "What? Ri? What's the prob?"

Rigaku waited for Nihil to finish yawning. "Sumimasen for calling you this late. But I really need your help."

"Give me a second." A thud resonated from the other side as Nihil placed the phone down.

Rigaku paced back and forth, waiting for Nihil to return.

"Okay, I'm pumped by caffeine now and listening."

A sudden weakness washed over Rigaku's body, he stumbled forward, landing on all fours and dropping his phone.

"Hey, Ri! Speak to me!" Nihil shouted.

The oldest Kamini grabbed the phone. "I'm fine! Just a bit tired."

"More like tons of tired."

Rigaku weakly smiled, imagining the funny frown Nihil had when he disapproved of his overworking habits. "Sumimasen, but you are the only one I can count on now."

"I'm one ear," Nihil answered with a bit of growl at the end. "Nobody's gonna bully my sweet triplets."

"Nothing like that, but... I need you to find all you can about certain three women."

"Let me guess... it's not for a dating purpose, right?"

"No. I need their background check." Rigaku crawled to the bed, standing up. "You have a paper and pen?"

"Yeah, fill me in."

Rigaku let out as many details as he could remember, including what clothes they wore, in what time he had met them, what gestures he had noticed, and even estimated their age despite the make-up.

"That's a lot." Nihil finished writing everything down and slurped the coffee to refresh his brain. "Mind telling me why those three creep you so much?"

"Creep? What do you mean?"

"I would swear I heard you clattering your teeth."

Rigaku didn't answer. The short moment swirled inside of his head.

"Can you tell me?" Nihil interrupted the silence. "I'm not trying to pry into your life or tell you what to do, but you tend to overthink things. You live too serious life."

"I'm scared..." Rigaku breathed out, sobbing into his palm.

Oyasuminasai - Good night

Sumimasen - I'm sorry

Hai - yes