those who we protect [IDOLiSH7]

XII

Sogo opened his eyes and sat up, letting out a yawn. The sound of birds chirping outside gave him the indication that...

"... it's morning" he said to himself, still sounding tired. After rubbing his eyes and stretching his arms, Sogo got out of bed and left his bedroom. I should go check up on Riku-kun, see how he's doing. "Good morning" the Izumi brothers said from a distance. "Oh, good morning Iori-kun, Mitsuki-san" Sogo happily answered. Mitsuki was watching some television while Iori was by the kitchen area. "Are you two the only ones awake?" Sogo asked. "Hmn, no, Yamato-san, Tamaki, and Nagi went to head out. You know how Nagi is on days like today when we're all off. They said that they'll be back around 2 PM perhaps" Mitsuki replied, taking a sip of his warm drink. Sogo looked at the clock on the wall. Well, it's around 9am right now... Sogo started to head to Riku's bedroom. "Wait a minute Osaka-san" Iori called out. Caught off guard, Sogo turned around and saw Iori quickly finish up what he was doing in the kitchen. He poured some liquid into Riku's red and yellow mug, grabbed a coaster and handed both to Sogo. "Since you're going to Nanase-san's room, have him drink this, it'll help with the coughing fits he has in the early mornings" Iori said. Sogo held them, and smiled. "Thank you for making this, I'll give it to him" Sogo replied. He slowly opened Riku's door, in case he was still sleeping and entered it. Iori turned back to Mitsuki who was showing a smirk on his face. "What?" Iori, defensively said. "....nothing" Mitsuki replied, taking another sip.

"Riku-kun~... good morni-" Sogo suddenly was interrupted with the sound of a cough coming from the young one. The bedroom was somewhat dark; the light from outside shining through. Sogo approached Riku who was sleeping on his side, trying to sleep through his coughing. Sogo placed the coaster down and sat the mug on top of it. He brushed his hand through Riku's hair. Riku lifted his head and his ruby-red eyes fluttered opened. "oohhh... Sogo-san... cough... good morning" Riku said, his voice somewhat dry. "Good morning Riku-kun, how are you feeling?" he asked, placing his hand on Riku's forehead. "I'm feeling much better cough" he replied. Sogo's face grew with concern, and he picked up the mug. "Riku-kun, sit up so that you can drink this hot beverage Iori-kun made for you". Riku's face suddenly woke up and smiled with joy as he sat up. Sogo handed the mug to him. "Iori did!? Yay!" he happily replied. Riku quickly took a sip, trying not to burn himself. "It's delicious" he commented. "I'm sure Iori-kun would be happy to hear that" Sogo replied. "Sogo-san" Riku said. "Hmn? What is it Riku-kun?". After another cough, Riku spoke up. He tightened his grip on the mug. "I... I want to thank you for being here with me yesterday and nursing me back to health. So... thank you, I really appreciate it" he said. Sogo patted Riku's head. "No problem" he said smiling, watching Riku's eyes suddenly sparkle with purity.

Riku slowly got up from his bed, and placed on his slippers. Sogo followed him out his room. "Good morning Mitsuki! Iori!" Riku said, giving a small cough afterwards. "Woah, you seem to be much better now compared to yesterday" Mitsuki said. Riku nodded. "yeah, I feel a lot better too!". Riku and Sogo approached the dining room table where Mitsuki was. "So, what's the plan for today, well, mainly tonight?" Riku asked as the two took their seats. "Hmmm, well we could make Gyouzas like we did that one time, but we can add more variety to our menu" Mitsuki replied. "yeah, that sounds nice" Iori commented. "We don't know if TRIGGER would be able to come, but-" Mitsuki added before he was interrupted. "TRIGGER is coming here tonight?!" Riku said. Iori sighed. "Pay attention Nanase-san for once... geez"

"oh, sorry... wait, I do-"

Iori placed his hand up, interrupting Riku. "We don't know if they're going to come, but last night before Kujou-san left, Osaka-san invited him to come with Tsunashi-san and Yaotome-san to celebrate New Years with us" Iori answered. "Hmmm, hopefully they're free tonight, it would be nice to celebrate with TRIGGER....Momo-san and Yuki-san are currently in Hokkaido, but maybe next year we can all celebrate together" Riku said with a smile. "Yeah! That would be nice!" Mitsuki eagerly replied. Sogo smiled, but as he turned on his phone and stared at the time on his screen, his smile disappeared and became worried. "For now, let's wait till the others get back so that we can all make a detailed plan for tonight, right Osaka-san?" Iori said. Sogo suddenly lifted his head and put up a smile. "Unn!" He responded.

"No fair, I wanna come too~!" Riku whined.  "Nanase-san, you know why you can't be going out at this time" Iori said, getting his jacket. "Yeah Riku, we can't have your fever coming back now, you know?" Yamato added. "Hmnn" Riku replied, childishly. "You can help with the cooking Riku, don't worry" Mitsuki said. "Yeah, besides, we won't be gone for long" Sogo said. "Hmm, okay" Riku said with a smile. 

"Okay, so Nagi and I are going to get drinks while Tama, Ichi, and Sogo get what we need for tonight...?" Yamato recapped. Everyone nodded in agreement. "Jyaa, let's go... ittekimasu~" Tamaki said, leaving, and soon the others following them. 

"What's wrong Sou-chan?" Tamaki asked as the cashier rang up their items. Sogo shook his head. "Hmnm, just thinking" he replied. Tamaki and Iori looked at each other as Sogo went ahead and paid for the groceries. The three left the supermarket and as they made their way back to the dorms, Iori spoke up. "If there's anything that is bothering you, you can talk to us about it" he said. Sogo sighed. "I'm just wondering about how this day is going so far. Things so far are going great, but I'm thinking about how far will this go on for and so I'm expecting something to come up like TRIGGER not being able to make it" he replied. Iori and Tamaki stopped walking; Sogo turned around after noticing the two. "Sou-chan, if things are going great, don't think about the bad things that could happen in the future" Tamaki said. "Tamaki-kun..."

"Yotsuba-san is right. Just focus on the present. If TRIGGER can't come, we'll celebrate with just ourselves. If Nanase's fever comes back, we'll take care of him. If there is a problem, there is always a solution, so please don't stress about a problem that hasn't appeared yet" Iori said. Sogo's eyes widened. "You guys..." mumbled out, not knowing what to say. "hm?" he suddenly said as his phone started to ring. "It's Yamato-san"

Hey Sou

Hey Yamato-san, what's- ... why do you sound like you're in a hurry?

Oh, so Nagi and I currently headed to a different liquor store than the usual place because the other one closed early today... the thing is, it's a bit farther, and just like us, I suggest that you guys hurry and get back home to the dorms, cause just now I got a text from Yaotome, he said that they'll arrive around 20:30.

Oh, that's fine, I'm sure we'll have plenty of time-

Sogo took a look at a digital clock that was on a wall near a train station, it was reading 19:27. Sogo swallowed some saliva.

Uhhh... yeah... see you guys soon.

See you... bye. 

Sogo hanged up the phone. "Iori-kun, Tamaki-kun, let's go! We gotta hurry back!" Sogo said, all three started to quickly make their way home. "What's up? What happened?" Tamaki asked. Sogo's stressed face eased up and brightened with a smile as they ran home. 

"TRIGGER is coming" he replied.