The Everlasting Bond

Chapter 6: Their First Request

Sitting on the train, Iori and Riku were on their way to Saitama, to start with their first request.

The morning when Riku found out about their very first request, his initial intention of not wanting to wake Iori up was immensely overweighed by his newfound enthusiasm. Overjoyed about the fact that they'd gotten their first request in just under twenty four hours, Riku was ready to repeatedly thank Yamato for being able to spread their site across the media and also thank Iori for being able to finish everything so without thinking, he'd woken Iori up.

"So. Iori. You're not mad are you?" Riku asked hesitantly. "Are you sure you're not feeling tired? We could've done the request tomorrow right?" He looked away from the view of the window and peeked over at Iori who was browsing on his phone probably finding more information about Saitama or messaging the person who'd sent the request.

Riku couldn't help being worried for the other person, he did wake him up in a not-so-elegant way by vigorously shaking him until remembering his former self wanting Iori to get more sleep.

"I'm fine." Iori says, shutting his phone and placing it on top of his lap. "I had a drink of coffee after you went back to your apartment so I'm perfectly fine now. It's better for us to do this request right away, We need to be punctual. And besides, I have school tomorrow so I wouldn't be able to go."

"Ah, I completely forgot about you being a high-scholar. Is this all too much for you then? Having to study and accompany me even though you're a third year in high school, this must be really hard on you."

"Like I said, I'm fine. I only need to come to school on certain days for a couple of hours because of my final exams. I'm already a perfect high school student so I'll pass my exams with ease anyways." To be honest, Iori would prefer going to different places with Riku to do people's requests and not go to school, it's more thrilling and he doesn't need to hear the whispers of classmates talking about him.

Obviously, there was no way Iori could say anything true to his feelings so he changed the topic from him to Riku.

"Anyways, shouldn't you be more worried about yourself? It's a wonder how your brother allowed you to come after what I messaged him last night."

Being reminded about the message Iori sent and having to go back to his apartment scared for his life, Riku puffs out his cheeks. "I can't believe you messaged him saying that I overworked myself! That is exactly what Tenn-nii is worried about the most you know! I had to sit in seiza position for a good solid thirty minutes whilst he lectures me about how worried he was for me, I don't ever want to cause him any trouble or any ill feelings but I could even see tears starting to form!"

Although Riku wanted to shout from the top of his lungs about what Iori had done, his voice had to be quieter than if he wasn't on a train. "Tenn-nii only allowed me to go because I told him that I had to make up for 'overworking myself' and 'collapsing' before I might get fired. But then, when I mentioned about me getting fired, Tenn-nii then said that he should come and apologise to the person. Of course I said no though but still, I could've sworn after his lecture Tenn-nii was about to break down into tears all because of me."

All of Riku's rant about him being at fault was only half heard by Iori, around the end of what Riku said, Iori could see the frustration Riku had and almost felt some sympathy for the other person until he turned his head away like a child making Iori snap.

"I'm sorry but I don't think I'm the one at fault here. If your brother really seemed to be on the verge of tears then what would he do if I didn't message him back? I wanted you to sleep because I know you were tired but if I left it at that and ignored that message, He would've called the police making the whole situation bigger than what it meant to be wouldn't he? And to me, that seems more worse than getting a tedious fleeting lecture for thirty minutes."