Upon leaving school, before heading to the place Chuuya had mentioned, he went home to change clothes. He put on a tank top and shorts. According to what the redhead had told him, he had to wear comfortable clothing because it was a place to relieve stress.

Once changed, as he was about to leave the room, he came face to face with his brother.

"Where are you going dressed like that?" Shibusawa questioned, raising an eyebrow. "Are you going to the beach?"

"It's none of your business. Move aside."

"That's not the way to speak to your older brother."

"You're not my brother!"

He pushed him slightly, and headed for the exit. When Shibusawa regained his composure, Tatsuhiko shouted at him:

"Sigma Shibusawa!"

"Stoker!" the bicolor-haired one yelled. "I won't share your crappy last name! Just because Mom married your dad again doesn't change the fact that I was born as a Stoker!"

"And where is your father now, then?" the older one asked arrogantly. "You should be grateful my father let you live in this house with us; otherwise, you would've gone straight to the orphanage."

"Otherwise," Sigma retorted, "my father would have taken me with him to Ireland."

"Are you sure?"

He held back a sharp comment and turned his back. He wasn't going to play Shibusawa's game; all he needed now was something to hit without it being considered a crime and Chuuya to act as his emotional support. Tatsuhiko wasn't part of his plans.

"You fought with Fyodor, didn't you?"

He stopped in his tracks and clenched his fists.

"It's your fault. If you hadn't made up that lie that I sent you on a date with him..."

"But you wanted to do it anyway."

"But I didn't! Because I respect other people's opinions, and I knew Fyodor wouldn't agree!"

"If you stopped being so self-deprecating and had even a bit of self-esteem, maybe Nikolai would have preferred you."

In a fit of anger, Sigma turned around and grabbed Shibusawa by the collar of his shirt, pinning him against the wall. His brother didn't expect it and gasped, feeling choked by the pressure on his neck. Sigma might be younger, but they were the same height, and he was considerably stronger than the albino.

"Don't you dare use that argument against me," he threatened. "Preferring that Nikolai stays with Fyodor doesn't mean I have low self-esteem. And I'm not a pushover."

"But you still don't feel worthy of having Nikolai, do you?" Shibusawa smirked, though a drop of sweat slid down his forehead. "You feel so overshadowed by Fyodor, his intelligence, his beauty... that you think you're not good enough to deserve love and to be loved, right? You think he deserves Nikolai more than you do."

He breathed heavily. The voices in his head told him to kill him, but he decided it wasn't worth it and let go.

"Nikolai is not an object," he said. "Nor is he a university."

"... What?"

"Leave me alone, Shibusawa. Fyodor loves Nikolai, not you. And Nikolai feels something for Fyodor. It's not about deserving; it's about feelings. And it's clear that neither of them feels anything for us."

That felt like a punch in the stomach for the albino. He wanted to protest, but he couldn't find the arguments, so he shut his mouth. Sigma picked up his suitcase and water bottle and left the house without saying goodbye. Outside, Chuuya was waiting for him leaning against a wall.

"You were taking your time," he remarked, then stood on his tiptoes to give him a kiss on the forehead. "Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I just needed to settle some things with Tatsuhiko," Sigma replied with a grimace. "You said we're going to hit things, right?"

"Yes."

"Maybe I should go in and take a picture of Shibusawa to put on whatever I'm going to hit."

Chuuya laughed and took his hand.

"That won't be necessary, trust me," he said, and his smile spread to Sigma's face. "Let's go."

And they headed to the shopping center.

•

[♤♡◇♧]

•

Meanwhile, Fyodor was a bundle of nerves and conflicting emotions, while Nikolai walked cheerfully toward the arcade.

Now he was on familiar ground. Ivan used to tell him that the arcade was like his second home because he spent so much time there playing Space Invaders. But he felt a bit anxious being there with Nikolai. He usually went alone, or with... Sigma.

What if Nikolai was terrible at playing games? Would he feel bad if Fyodor beat him again and again? Would he have to pretend not to know how to play to avoid making him feel like a fool?

Fyodor could be a bit slow to pick up on some social cues, like when Sigma was being sarcastic and he had to explain what he meant because the Russian didn't get it.

He scolded himself mentally. He hated that everything that reminded him of Sigma caused him so much remorse.

"So, what do we play?" Nikolai said. "Shall we take turns playing Space Invaders? Do we go to the dance machine? Or do you want to play racing games?"

The Russian got excited.

"Do you come here often?" he asked.

"What do you mean? The arcade is my second home!"

"Mine too!"

They laughed, and then Fyodor blushed a little and turned his head. He cleared his throat.

"Do you want to play basketball?" he asked.

"My aim is terrible," Nikolai commented.

"Yes, mine too," Fyodor laughed.

"Well, then, let's see who's worse at it!"

And without warning, he took Nikolai's hand and dragged him to the basketball machine. Dostoyevsky blushed violently, but he let him. This was the second time Gogol had held his hand, and that was a victory for him, so he wasn't going to complain.

Both of them were so bad at aiming that it would be hard to define which one was worse. They couldn't get a single ball into the basket, and every time it bounced off, they burst into laughter. When they finished, neither of them had scored any points.

After playing that, they went to try Air Hockey, and they were both so good at it that whenever Fyodor scored a point, Nikolai immediately scored another, and in the end, they tied.

They spent a long time going from one game to another. They won several tickets that they kept because Nikolai wanted to buy the UFO-shaped keychain, and Fyodor wanted the small flashlight that illuminated purple like ultraviolet light.

Each game consumed a bit of the balance on their card, and in the end, they only had enough left to play the basketball machine again.

Neither of them managed to get a single ball into the basket, not one. But laughter was in no short supply. Until Fyodor threw the last ball and scored a point.

"It can't be!" he exclaimed and turned around to see Nikolai.

They high-fived and ended up with their hands together. For some reason, they didn't want to move from there. They were so close...

"It seems I'm worse than you at this game," Gogol whispered with a half-smile on his face.

Fyodor felt like he had swallowed a butterfly that was now fluttering in his heart.

"It was beginner's luck."

They smiled and then got closer... and closer...

For a moment, he had managed to forget about Sigma and his remorse. But when he remembered, he didn't have enough time to regret it because Nikolai leaned in further and kissed him.

He didn't do anything to stop it, though he was really surprised. He couldn't believe that Gogol would kiss him before confessing his feelings for him.

He closed his eyes and enjoyed the contact. The albino's lips were soft and tasted a bit like honey.

It was just a small, short kiss, but it felt like several minutes had passed. Nikolai smiled at him.

"Do you think we have enough tickets to get the rewards?" he asked.

"Eh? Oh... y-yes."

"Great! Let's go."

And once again, he took his hand and dragged him along.