As the time went on, Iori woke up together with Sogo. They ate a light breakfast together. Mitsuki was still caught on his observation earlier, staring at the far wall behind Sogo and his little brother.

Iori was worried.

His older brother has only acted like this in the past. Back when he came back home from one of his many auditions and got rejected. Or received the rejection a few days later with the mail.

He didn't react when Nagi came into the kitchen crying over the latest episode from his anime. He didn't complain when Yamato took and drank an early can of beer. And he hasn't gone and woke Tamaki up for school.

He was just... there.

"Brother, are you okay?"

Nothing. With a soft exhale, the younger stood up and walked around the table, gently shaking the other's shoulder.

"Brother..."

"A-ah, Iori?"

"Is everything alright, Brother? You are worrying me..."

"Yeah..." The young man sighed and then continued with hesitation. "Just thinking back to this morning... Something was off with Riku, I'm just not sure why..."

"'Why'? not what was off?" Now Iori was even more worried. Riku tended to keep his problems to himself, instead of seeking help from those around him.

As the sibling's conversation went on, the attention from their friends thrifted from their own thoughts to the current topic at hand.

"I know what... I think. Like he was usually up and about so early, his chat with his doctor was also weird, he faked his smile." The second oldest listed off, his gaze landing in his empty cup.

'What?'

______________________

Time went by slowly.

By the time Tamaki woke up, Iori decided for them both to stay home for the day and not go to school. There was something that worried him about his brother and the worry continued on to Riku. They explained the situation to the younger as he munched on his prepared lunchbox.

Their manager was also notified together with school with their absence for the day.

They waited and waited.

The tension in the room was increasing.

The worry for their friend was suffocating.

______________________

The front door to the dorm opened and everyone was on edge.

"I'm back." A soft voice could be heard.

Riku stripped off his shoes and coat at the front door. He streched shortly before walking in to the kitchen. Or more like to the doorway of the kitchen. As he stepped up to it, he stopped moving forward at seeing all six of his friends at the table, their gaze focused on him.

It was quite unsettling.

"Uhm... Is everything okay?"

The focus on him practically grew in intensity. It weirded him out.

"Riku, where have you been?"

"Didn't Mitsuki tell you? I had an early check up with my doctor." He was confused. He was pretty sure the other heard him talking on the phone and he still had his cup of coffee from this morning with him. The likeliness of him having left the area was close to zero. Mitsuki never left the kitchen with a cup.

"He did but- well..."

"You have been gone for several hours."

"Well after my check up I had to take a detour. There may or may not have been some fans who recognized me..." A sheepish smile made itself known on Riku's face.

"Making us worried for nothing, dummy."

"I'm not a dummy, Iori! Wait, shouldn't you be at school?"

"We stayed home because someone here decided to freak Mitsuki out with his act."

"Meanie..." A pout followed the comment. He walked by the table and up to the large fridge. Riku left the kitchen with a sandwich, the smile not coming back.

As soon as they heard the door close behind the redhead, the looked from the doorway back at each other. The others decided to stay quiet while Iori and Riku communicated with each other, keeping their focus on paying attention to the redhead.

There was something.

Just like Mitsuki mentioned earlier, they just couldn't pinpoint it.

"You were right, Mitsuki. Something is off." Sogo voiced out, the worry was clear in his voice.

"But Rikkun won't say it." Tamaki said before continuing with his fifth pudding.

"Tama is right, when has that boy ever openly talked to one of us about a problem?"

______________________

Riku sat down in his red beanbag in front of his TV.

His doctor appointment went fine, like usual. At least for the last maybe... three years.

He did breathing exercises, Doctor Yamazaki checked his lungs and blood pressure, they discussed his current medication and if changes had to be done.

The usual.

The check up itself actually didn't last very long, he was done in like 30 minutes. The trip by train itself took almost the same amount of time.

Staring at his reflection on his television, Riku thought back. He felt bad. He lied to his friends.

There were no fans. Not on his way to Doctor Yamazaki, not on his stay there, not on his way back to the dorm.

Doctor Yamazaki's office was located in his hometown. He walked through his old neighborhood and visited some of the few places he liked to visit whenever he was allowed out. His parents were quite protective of him because of his illness.

He loved his parents but sometimes they were too much.

He would've liked to go to school with his brother and join in on gym class.

He would've liked to have friends and spend time outside without having to worry about everything and worrying everyone.

But not everything can go as one would like it to go. Something Doctor Yamazaki used to say whenever his medication had to be changed.

He hated it.

But his mother liked his smile.

His brother liked his smile.

So Riku would smile whenever he had to spend Christmas or New Years in the hospital. He would hide his discomfort and dissatisfaction behind a soft smile. Why worry his family even more than he already did?

Blinking away the dark thoughts, he stood up, put in a TRIGGER concert DVD into his television and sat back down.

He liked watching his brother do what he always wanted. What they always wanted to do.

He moved smoothly, his voice stable.

Riku loved his brother.

Even when his twin decided to leave him behind.