#happy izuleo week

[canarymemories]

fever

rating: general audiences archive warning: no archive warnings apply relationship: sena izumi/tsukinaga leo additional tags: fluff, domestic, established relationship, sickfic, happy izuleo week, they're so cringe i love them date published: 2023-08-17 word count: 2,679

summary: leo knows there’s something off from the moment he wakes up and izumi is still in bed asleep next to him. it’s one of their break days, so there’s nothing izumi needs to be up for right now anyway and there’s been plenty of times leo’s woken up before him, yet he can’t help feeling that something is just a little off.

for izuleo week day 4: domestic/sick day

here on ao3

leo knows there’s something off from the moment he wakes up and izumi is still in bed asleep next to him. it’s one of their break days, so there’s nothing izumi needs to be up for right now anyway and there’s been plenty of times leo’s woken up before him, yet he can’t help feeling that something is just a little off.

when he shifts ever so slightly closer to izumi, he can see a light flush on izumi’s face in the dim light of the room. they’re not particularly close, within arm length of one another, but not quite touching, which is also a tiny bit weird given that izumi is super clingy when sleeping. it’s not hot in the apartment either.

leo’s hand crosses the small distance between them and presses against izumi’s forehead, brushing his hair away to do so. izumi leans into the touch as leo almost yanks his hand away with how warm his skin is.

leo frowns, leaving his hand there for another second or two. he can’t remember a single time that izumi’s ever been sick. he’s the one who’s always hyper aware of all things health wise between the two of them, so to say that leo is surprised is an understatement.

“mm, leo-kun?” izumi mumbles, eyes slowly blinking open as leo pushes izumi’s hair back from his face, some strands sticking to his forehead.

“you have a fever,” leo says as a good morning.

izumi closes his eyes and tries to press more into his pillow. “i can tell.” there’s an uneven timbre to his voice that isn’t present normally, there now because of congestion.

leo sits up abruptly, his hand jolting briefly before continuing to run his fingers through izumi’s slightly sweaty hair. “ah! i can take care of you!”

“not so loud.”

“oh, sorry, sena.” he leans down and presses a kiss to izumi’s forehead, doing his best to ignore the uncomfortable warmth against his lips. “i’ve taken care of ruka-tan when she got sick once, so i can take care of you too.”

izumi shifts slightly and looks up at leo, gaze slightly unfocused and  disbelieving. “don’t kiss me. you’re going to get sick too.”

“sena, we sleep in the same bed. i think i’ll get sick either way,” leo says, shrugging. “and if i get sick, then you’ll take care of me, right?

all he gets in response is a blank stare that makes him laugh. “just think of the inspiration i could get from being sick,” he says, a bit wistfully. “i could make the best song ever and it’ll be all because you took care of me.” leo pauses, twirling one of izumi’s curls around his fingers. “plus, i like kissing you so… too bad!” he adds, leaning down once again to plant a kiss on izumi’s cheek this time.

izumi makes a noise that’s somewhere between a groan and a whine as he tries to hide his face in his pillow. “you’re so embarrassing.”

leo snickers, gently ruffling izumi’s already messy bedhead. “love you too, sena.”

it doesn’t take him long to realize that he isn’t sure what to do first. taking care of ruka had been easy, more of watching over her than actively doing anything, but even then, everything he needed was in their house. their parents were prepared for any mishaps either of them could have, injuries or illnesses or whatever else they could get themselves into.

seeing that izumi is usually the one that prepares most of anything between them, leo asks, “do you want medicine?” leo is the type to avoid medicine at all costs, not liking the drowsiness or taste most of them bring, but izumi is probably less picky, so it doesn’t hurt to ask.

“neither of us have been sick since we came here, so there’s none in the apartment.” izumi sits up and leans back against his pillows and the headboard. “can you get me the cough drops, though?”

leo nods eagerly, glad to be given instruction. he at least knows where those are, having been the one who stored them away after buying them on a whim after the bright packaging had caught his eye in a store. sucking on one, he’d written a melody spurred on by the sweet citrusy flavor and then left the bag of them in his room. he finds them where he’d left them next to his computer.

with the bag of cough drops in hand, he returns to izumi’s room. “here you go.”

izumi’s mouth curves into a small but grateful smile. it doesn’t last for long, though, as he turns his head away to cough into the crook of his elbow. “thanks,” he says after a moment.

leo nods, wringing his hands as he has nothing else to do with them. seeing izumi sick is weird. he doesn’t think he can truly remember a time izumi’s ever been sick — maybe a few times from the heat and sun, but that’s not the same — and it makes leo antsy.

he doesn’t like seeing izumi sick, sniffling through a stuffed nose and sounding unwell. leo will just have to take care of izumi so perfectly that he’ll get better in no time.

“do you want anything to eat?” leo is usually kicked out of the kitchen when izumi cooks, all too prone to laying on the floor to write songs and springing up unexpectedly. it’s also not that he can’t cook; there’s just not many things he’s good at making.

izumi balls up a cough drop wrapper in his hand once the lozenge is in his mouth. “maybe,” he says. “sit with me first?”

leo easily obliges, hopping back on the bed to sit next to izumi. it doesn’t take long for izumi’s head to find a home on leo’s shoulder. he’s always thought it was cute izumi would seek out comfort in him like this, in the simple act of sitting with each other. of course, leo doesn’t say that, just like how he doesn’t say anything when izumi reaches for his hand first or pulls him in for a hug or a kiss.

instead, his hand once again works through izumi’s hair, careful to untangle the more stubborn pieces. it’s not surprising that he’s still hot to the touch, but it’s just as unsettling as when leo first touched him. “i hope you feel better soon,” leo says, slightly muffled as he kisses the top of izumi’s head. his fingers trail down to izumi’s neck, settling at his nape. his thumb rubs small circles there and he hopes his hand is cool enough that it feels nice.

izumi’s arms loosely wrap around leo as izumi leans more heavily against him. “me too,” he mumbles. he settles once more, apparently comfortable for now.

leo rests his head against izumi’s seeing as he’s stuck there for now. he doesn’t mind, especially with izumi being the one who started it, but he does want to get him medicine or something sooner or later, which means going to the nearest store a few blocks over.

izumi must be reading leo’s mind as he says, “a few more minutes.”

leo’s free arm rests atop izumi’s. his hand moves slowly back up into izumi’s hair, lightly massaging by his temples as he’d taught leo to do if he had a migraine.

it must be helping as izumi nuzzles against his collarbone. 

leo isn’t sure how much time passes in the silence between them, but he doesn’t mind even if izumi is pumping out some major heat against his side. but, izumi does finally pull away, albeit relunctantly.

he once again coughs into the crook of his elbow. izumi sighs as he shifts back against the headboard.

“oh!” leo says suddenly in realization. he’s been doing this a little out of order. “where’s the thermometer?”

“in the bathroom,” izumi replies, eyes closed as he sits there. he sounds a little more miserable than he had before.

leo leaves a little kiss on izumi’s temple as if it’ll ward off from whatever he’s sick with then heads to the bathroom. it takes some searching, mostly being careful to not misplace any of izumi’s products, but he finds the thermometer hiding in the cabinet.

he triumphantly returns to izumi’s side and offers it to him once his eyes open at leo’s approach. izumi wordlessly takes the device from him, turning it on before placing it in his mouth and closing his eyes once more.

leo fidgets as he waits, not wanting to simply stand still when he could be doing things. thankfully, it doesn’t take long for it to beep. izumi hands it over, eyes closed.

“38.3,” leo reads. “that’s not good.”

“of course it’s not.”

leo looks between the thermometer and izumi. “i’ll go get you medicine,” he says. “do you want anything before i go?”

“water.”

leaving izumi there, leo first goes back to the bathroom and rinses the thermometer off before returning it to where he found it. izumi’s nagged him a few too many times about misplacing things, so he takes care to put it back. from there, he goes to the kitchen and fills up a glass with water.

he knows the trip to the store won’t take long at all, and with it being early morning, there shouldn’t be too many people there, but leo doesn’t like the thought of izumi alone when he clearly feels gross.

izumi’s eyes are open when he returns, and he takes the glass from leo. he takes a sip then sets it on his nightstand. turning his attention back to leo, izumi eyes him. “are you going in that?”

leo looks down. he doesn’t see an issue in his alien patterned pajama pants and graphic tshirt. “yes?”

izumi mutters what sounds like fashion disaster under his breath before shifting to lay down. “nevermind. don’t take long.”

“i won’t. text me if you need me?”

“leo-kun, i’ll be fine. it’s not like i’m going anywhere.” a weak cough punctuates his statement.

“i know.” leo rocks on his feet. “i’ll be back soon.”

leaving a kiss on izumi’s forehead, he gathers his things, namely his wallet and phone since he really can’t lose or forget either one of those, and exits the apartment.

as expected, the store is quiet for the most part, nowhere near as bustling as it is later in the day. running through a list of izumi’s symptoms in his head — fever, cough, congestion — he grabs the medicine that promises to alleviate those and then some. then another bag of cough drops to be on the safe side.

there’s a small line to cash out and normally he wouldn’t mind, simply putting together a song in his head as he observes the people around him, but with izumi waiting at home, he feels restless. fortunately, leo gets through the line quickly and heads back to the apartment.

wholly expecting izumi to be in bed, most likely asleep, leo nearly jumps when he walks into the apartment to see izumi in the kitchen standing by their toaster.

“that was fast,” izumi says, taking his toast when it pops up.

“it wasn’t busy.” leo sets the items on the counter and watches as izumi puts a light layer of butter on his toast.

“are you just going to stare?”

“i didn’t think you’d be out of bed.”

setting the butter knife in the sink, izumi says, “i figured i should eat something. i don’t want to push it, so this should be fine for now.” he sniffles a little, standing against the counter as he takes a bit.

it makes sense to leo. “i got medicine,” leo says as if that isn’t obvious.

“i see that. i’ll take some when i’m done.”

“i got more cough drops too ‘cause i didn’t know if you’ll need more.”

izumi smiles softly around his piece of toast. “you know,” izumi says once he’s swallowed, “it’s awfully sweet, everything you’re doing since i’m sick.”

“what’s that supposed to mean, sena? of course i’d look after you.”

“i know you would, but i wasn’t sure how serious to take you. i see you really meant it, though. i don’t think you’ve sat still this whole time.”

leo pouts, crossing his arms as he feels like he’s being made fun of. “i just want you to feel better already.”

izumi doesn’t reply, putting the last bite of toast in his mouth and walks closer to leo. he picks up the bottle of medicine to read it over. “wanna lay down with me after i take this?”

“of course!”

he looks over at leo, clearly amused. izumi seems at least more alert than he had been when leo left, which is a good thing. “so enthusiastic.”

leo’s cheeks warm. it’s not his fault that he likes cuddling with izumi whenever he can.

opening the medicine, izumi hands the plastic to leo to throw out. he gladly does so, happy to be of help. when he returns to izumi’s side, he’s rewarded with the barest brush of lips against his cheek. “thanks, leo-kun.”

leo latches himself to izumi, who doesn’t put up much of a fight. he nudges leo out of the way enough to pour the appropriate dosage. izumi eyes the liquid for a moment as he recaps the bottle. picking up the measuring cup once more, he downs the medicine only to grimace a second later.

“ew.”

“that bad?” leo asks, hold having loosened to let izumi move.”

“it’s medicine, i don’t think it’s supposed to taste good,” izumi points out. “let go so we can go back to bed.”

leo does as he’s asked, waiting patiently for izumi to rinse out the cup and glance at the clock. the two of them go back to izumi’s room, the bottle in izumi’s hand.

leo jumps back onto his side of the bed, glad he ended up wearing what he slept in rather than taking the time to change before he left. apparently bothered by the fact that his hair is a mess, izumi steps over to the mirror to brush it out.

as he does that, however, izumi sneezes once, then twice. and then quietly groans.

“bless you,” leo says, watching as izumi finishes brushing his hair and returns to his side of the bed to grab tissues to blow his nose.

with izumi being closer, leo can see the glassiness of his eyes, the slight flush on his face having returned, even the faint red rimming around his eyes. it doesn’t help that izumi blowing his nose is also a little gross, but leo isn’t going to bring that up. instead, he says, “you look like shit,” which is definitely not the right thing to say.

“wow, leo-kun, you really know how to make someone feel better,” izumi says, voice attempting a sarcastic monotone but the nasally version that comes out makes his point clear nonetheless.

“sorry, i mean you’re still pretty, of course,” leo says, trying to backtrack. “i just–”

“no, you’re probably right,” izumi says, sighing softly as he gets another tissue. “i feel like shit too.” he tosses the used tissues into the little garbage bin. izumi pauses for a second then moves the bin to his side of the bed. “i’ll be back to normal soon enough, though.”

leo hadn’t been expecting that kind of optimism from izumi. at least izumi is an easy patient, more than willing to take medicine on his own if only in exchange for cuddles, which leo can easily supply him with, so leo guesses izumi’s probably right. he’ll be feeling better soon.

leo settles against izumi’s back when he lays down. or well, not exactly against his back because izumi is hot and slightly sticky with sweat, so there’s a small gap between them as leo slides his arm across izumi’s side, hand resting by his chest.

(and if leo wakes up sick a few days later, he knows there’s someone there who will take care of him.)

end notes: actually posting on the day instead of being late for a ship week is so nice let me tell u alsdkgh i do have one other thing in the works for izlo week but idk if it'll be done before the end of it 😔 but we'll see

[hitsuyou-fukaketsu]

Girls in love are very greedy!

[harleysart]

[ izuleo || いずレオ ] 

  #izloweek Day 1 - domestic 

 Happy izuleo week! :> 

[airabuhan]

anon asked: coso r u doing anything for izuleo week ?

i’ll be participating!! not the full week because the dates conflicts with me moving and other irl stuff but i’m aiming to get 1-2 drawings done!! happy izuleo week soon [Smile or comment on the answer here](https://retrospring.net/@airabuhan/a/110849775009687159)

[enstaries]

AAAAAA TSUKKI, CAN YOU WRITE MORE ADULT IZULEO? PLEASE, THAT WAS JUST BEAUTIFUL AND AMAZING. I LOVE YOU

GOD I LOVE YOU TOO ANON AND I LOVE IZULEO SMSM THIS AU IS KILLING ME WITH ALL THE ANGST POTENTIAL :^D

 Drinking is not something Izumi indulges in often in spite of the free reigns of adulthood; there is a pack of beer or two in his fridge, but when the stress from a day of work balloons into one from a week of work and even a month or more of work, drinking at home like a miserable frog isn't an option.

  "Another one!" he cheers, heaving his empty mug into the air.

  "Coming right up."

  As the bartender busies himself preparing Izumi's drink, Izumi loosens his tie even further with a hiccup. "God, I'm such a mess, aren't I?"

  No one replies him, but his drink is pushed over to him and he seizes it as if it were his first.

  "Who the hell goes drinking in the middle of the night alone, huh?" Izumi hiccups again, and hides his face behind the mug. "Trying to drink away your sorrows like any other man, huh? Trying to forget about how damn hard you work and how much you love, but you're still so lonely? God, what a loser."

  The bar is silent, and, heated, Izumi chugs down the liquor. It flows down, hot in his belly, and some of the foam dribbles down his chin and onto his otherwise pristine suit.

  His mind is fuzzy now, and eyes so heavily lidded that if he shut down for a split second he might as well sink into a seemingly eternal slumber. 'How are you going to get home like this, idiot?'

  Izumi shakes away the thought. 'Maybe I don't want to go home. There's no one there anyway.'

  Yeah, there's going to be no one at home, as it always is. He stops resisting the pressing exhaustion, and lets go.

  Maybe it's his desperate imagination that makes him hear his name being called, and he smiles, seeking comfort in his dream world.

 He awakes to the soft sunlight warming his face, and the clattering of haphazard items. His first instinct, as ever, is to get up and find the source of that noise, yet the splitting pain in his head makes him wince, and fall back into his bed with a yell.

  "Ugh!"

  Suddenly there's pounding footsteps, and someone enters Izumi's field of view. His hair is long and messy, and his beam wide and shiny; with little to no regard for how hung-over Izumi is, Leo pounces on him, squealing.

  "Yay! Sena is finally awake! I'm so happy, wahaha!"

  "G-get off me." He's still in a blaze of pain and confusion; what happened? Why is Leo here? Wait, why is he here in the first place? The last he remembered, he was all alone, drinking like a sailor in a bar.

  "Eh? Don't be so cold, Sena!" grumbles Leo, pushing himself off Izumi as requested. "I finally get to see you, but you're dead asleep - now that you're awake, you want to deny me my much-needed Sena affection? Ah, my Sena meter is falling too low, I'm going to die!"

  Izumi groans. "Stop talking so loud and fast... can't you tell I'm not exactly in a great state?"

  "Oh, that's true." Leo inspects Izumi's flushed cheeks for a second, and stumbles out of his room. "I'll got get a glass of water and aspirin."

  "T-thanks."  This has to be some sort of alcohol-induced hallucination; Izumi pinches himself as Leo sits him up and delivers the usual hangover remedy. He doesn't wake up from it, so he tries to make sense of it. "Why are you here, Leo-kun?"

  "Why can't I be here?" Leo demands right back. "Because I want to, idiot! I haven't seen Sena for so so long because the stupid contract forced me to tour the whole of Europe with the artistes or whatever, but I'm back now!"

  "I see."

  "Good! Because I'll have you know I was super lonely waiting for you, Sena! You're such an inconsiderate jerk, you know? I was waiting for you all alone in your house, and you didn't come back - you went drinking, without me for God's sake! And then I have to go around the whole of Tokyo looking for you, and you're so stoned I have to carry you back all by myself? Jeez, what an asshole."

  "Excuse me?" Screw the headache right now, Izumi needs to talk back to that pompous little shit. "You're the one who disappeared without telling me a single thing; don't act as if you're the bigger person."

  "But I am the bigger person!" And no way in hell is Leo going to lose against Izumi in an argument. "Look, I was the one who fixed you up and put you in bed! At least thank me, you ungrateful slob!"

  "Are you stealing my insults?"

  "So what if I am? I didn't see your name on it!"

  Izumi burns; Leo is so childish it disgust him! But true enough, the rascal somehow managed to lug him to his bed, change him out of his suit and into his pyjamas. The only problem is...

  "Wow, so you call this fixing me up and putting me to bed?" taunts Izumi as he flings the covers off, revealing his shoes still intact on his feet. "Who goes to sleep with their shoes on? What a shit job!"

  Leo hesitates, visibly embarrassed. "W-well, at least I managed to-"

  "Shut up, shut up," Izumi orders, and he points to his pyjama top. "What the hell is this? The buttons aren't even aligned, do you even know how to button up clothes?"

  "I..."

  Leo's whole face is flushed now, and he squeezes his eyes shut, refusing to listen to Izumi. "Ungrateful, ungrateful, ungrateful! Lalala!"

  "And you're just annoying!"

  Their little squabble settles down, and Izumi sighs. He reaches forward, and takes Leo in his arms; Leo gasps.

  "W-well, thanks for taking care of me, I guess. And welcome home."

  There is no possible way Leo's face could get even more red, yet it does. He tightens his grip on Izumi, and presses his face on his shoulder blade.

  "I'm home."

[canarymemories]

izuleo for the ship ask game!

i fear i might write an essay on this one dshg

What made you ship it? a true question for the ages. i really wish i could remember what story was my izuleo awakening but they've been in my head for over a year now and it's been fantastic. there's just so much that draws me to them, i think. sometimes it's just things like they were each other's first friend and saw each other as equals and were apparently attached at the hip at near all times while at yumenosaki that a few characters bring it up. even outside of a romantic context, they mean so much to each other and love each other and that is so,, good.

What are your favorite things about the ship? obviously there's what i already said above with them meaning so much to each other. they are also unironically obsessed with each other and sometimes it's so funny (and sometimes it makes me a little sad like concerto where leo brings up izumi like. four times or smth and madara is like hey leo-san maybe you should go talk to izumi and leo is like hmm no, i'll just continue to write music and have him sing it as an idol without him ever knowing it's my music (to which madara points out that izumi will definitely know it's leo's music)). they wholeheartedly believe in each other's talents and they see each other as equals and there really is something about leo wanting to help izumi achieve his dream bc he sees izumi as having helped him achieve his own dream. do you ever think about how leo was perfectly fine with starting over with izumi in requiem, to have that space between them when izumi would be moving to italy post graduation, even says that they're destined to come back to each other (makoto standing there like 🧍‍♂️ the entire time as leo's saying all of this), but that seems to go completely out the window once izumi has his whole i loved your smile but the world took it away from you and i didn't know what to do to get it back and maybe i've been the idiot this whole time speech. like they spend so much of ! slowly getting back to each other and returning to what they had presumably in their first year, or even pre checkmate, but izumi is scared of hurting leo again while leo sort of tests the waters here and there, but ultimately does keep himself at a bit of a distance (ofc there are exceptions to them being a little unsure of where they stand with each other, that "i'm home, sena" part in horoharo, diner live as a whole, the part in starfes when they go to get shu and izumi ends up vaguing leo and calls him leo-kun there again). like part of the reason why leo is so upset in requiem is that izumi has apparently been planning to just,, leave the country after graduation and told eichi of all people before him (though it's not like izumi planned for that to happen, he said that all of the class sort of shared their plans i think), so he resigns himself to backing off and allowing for izumi to leave since they'll meet again and start over. yet by the end of requiem we learn that leo has effectively moved to florence only a few weeks later and lives in some shit apartment, but spends most of his time at izumi's like leo tsukinaga i know what you are. (and don't get me started on leo backing off again once him and izumi have that argument that's mentioned in reloaded, a dark night's passing, and next door about leo getting work for izumi and it bothering izumi bc he feels like it's undermining his own abilities to get work bc that's a whole other essay) anyway. i love them so much and it shows. i have more but we'll be here all day if i go on so i'll try to condense it. there's really just something about them that really is built different, their bond really is something else, platonic or romantic. i think they deserve to have a nice happy life together being silly, hopefully they get to act like the kids they didn't have the chance to be.

Is there an unpopular opinion you have on your ship? again, i really don't know what kind of opinions are out there abt them since i usually just stick to my little corner of the enstars fandom. i know i'm not the only one who thinks this so idk if it's unpopular but i really don't think they would pursue anything romantic until they're in italy. like sure there's pining and all of that in hs, but i don't think they would really do anything about it then, they're still angsting then sadghk also they're ace to me <33 if there's an opportunity to spread my ace izlo agenda, i will take it lmao

ship ask game

[enstaries]

Hi!! I read that one post where it was 3B on what they're doing after graduation, and is it to much trouble to ask for a small story on Leo's one? Like, him trashing Izumi's room? Thank you!

well, i dabbled a little more with the aftermath, sorry if you were looking something more of crack :0 hope you still appreciate the izuleo tho ,,

 Man is a creature of habit, and sadly the averagely average Sena Izumi is also a creature of habit; every day he comes home from his 9 to 5 job on the dot, hangs his coat on the rack and says to no one at all, "I'm home."

  Today is another one of those days. Izumi had rejected his colleagues' offer to go drinking together - "It's Friday after all, Sena-san. Let's drink away our worries!" - and headed straight home. He stretches his arms, sighing. It's been another tiring week, and he's looking forward to resting over the weekend.

  "I'm home," he calls out again, removing his coat. There is no reply - as expected, he lives an average and lonely life - but then a loud, abrupt snort erupts within the house, and Izumi jumps a little.

  "What the-"

  He collects himself when his gaze falls on the pair of shoes beside his, the pair that are so flashy there can only be one person who wears them. Izumi growls, and storms into his home.

  "Oi, Leo-kun!"

  What meets his eye is a tornado of destruction; in fact, it almost seemed as if Leo had meant for that to happen. His table and chairs are strewn over the floor, and cabinets ransacked, left open with food scattered about by some rampant, starving monster. Then, of course, Leo's signature move - paper flutter around the room and coats it a soft layer of white, in an illusion that winter has come early.  It's going to take at least an hour to fix this mess.

  "For God's sake," he groans. "I gave you the key here so that you have a place to stay, not for you to trash my goddamn house every few weeks as stress relief. I swear to God, if you do this one more time I'm really going to take the key away from you. You heard me, Leo-kun?"

  Leo doesn't reply, and a vein pops on Izumi's temple. "Oi, Leo-kun! Reply to me, dammit!"

  His reply is another loud snort, so Izumi turns to see Leo in his full glory. As taxing as it is to clean up Leo's mess, it must have been equally so to kick up such a mess; Leo is tuckered out, and snuggles comfortably in Izumi's futon with a blissful smile.

  "Are you kidding me."

  Sometimes, Izumi thinks he treats Leo too kindly. There's a murderous intent within him to reach out and strangle Leo while he's still asleep, yet there is this unspeakably vulnerable side of him that weakens him, and compels him to just stand there and look at - no, admire - Leo. This man has just torn his home to pieces for the umpteenth time, and yet... and yet...

  "Senaaaa..."  Izumi jolts a little. Did Leo notice Izumi's heavy stare?

  "Senaaaa," Leo whines, stirring in his spot. His eyes are still shut, and Izumi laughs: Leo is sleep-talking. "Sena, come home... I miss you..."

  "Tch." Izumi rolls his eyes. "I'm always here, idiot. You're the one flying all over the world and leaving me alone."

  Leo's face scrunches up. "Mmm... smells nice... smells just like Sena."

  "That's because it is 'Sena's' bed."

  Izumi's hand lurches forward out of instinct, and strokes Leo's cheek. He hasn't seen him for weeks, and he looks the same: youthful, happy and beautiful. Leo nuzzles against Izumi's hand. "Sena," he says. "I'm home."

  Izumi smiles. Maybe one day... one day he'll be able to change this habit of his.

  "Welcome home, Leo-kun."