A big smile was immediately plastered on Rio’s face after hearing nothing but good news from her best friend. She took the tickets given by Amu near her chest, nearly crumpling the envelope keeping them together, “I love your company, Amu! This will be the best weekend ever!”, she excitedly said after being invited to enjoy the whole weekend in one of the most famous hot spring destinations in Japan.

“Rio-chan, I haven’t seen you this excited. You like hot springs that much?” Daiki asked before pulling a chair next to Amu. He placed a cup of tea in front of his girlfriend, noting the girl’s soft smile as a sign of ‘thank you’.

“Are you kidding? I haven’t even been to one! This is what I need after months and months of on-call shifts from my hospital!”, Rio replied and refused to let the 5 tickets off her hands. For her, this is the perfect way to relieve the overbearing stress from work. Ryosuke, who was sitting next to her couldn’t help but smile at her reaction. He compared Rio to a kid on Christmas morning.

“We have 1 ticket left so I invited Chii to join”, Amu casually announced. Daiki regretted taking a sip from his own coffee and could’ve sworn some of it nearly came out from his nose after hearing the name of his rival.

Rio and Ryosuke chuckled at the distorted facial gesture he threw. “Is there a problem, Dai-chan?”, the younger boy teased before nudging Rio for support.

“Since he’s Amu-chan’s childhood friend, they could even share a room!”, Rio suggested. Daiki shot her the same look he gives Ryosuke whenever the topic of ‘Chinen’ comes to mind. He shivered at the thought that Rio and Ryosuke are so terrifyingly similar when it comes to torturing their own friends.

“Maybe I should just rip one of these tickets?” Daiki joked and messily scattered the tickets on the table. One of them coincidentally landed in front of Ryosuke and soon had his plastered on it.

Ryosuke squinted and felt himself turn pale when he saw the date printed on the ticket. This was not gone unnoticed by his own girlfriend, “Is something wrong?”, she asked in concern.

Ryosuke bit his lower lip and slowly lifted his head to fully face Rio, “Wait, is it this weekend?”, he tried to clarify, guilt evident on his face, “I… uhm… I have a shoot this weekend”, he hesitantly said, knowing well how disappointed the girl will be.

“EHH?!”, Rio’s face dropped by the sudden news, “But you said you don’t have anything for the next few days!”, she pouted before feeling Ryosuke’s hand over hers as if comforting the latter.

“I’m sorry”, he huffed a sharp exhale and was soon caught off-guard when Daiki spoke.

“Maa, since Yama can’t come, that means we have an extra ticket. We could invite Yuto”, Daiki did not waste the chance to get his revenge and didn’t sense any tint of guilt when Ryosuke threw piercing looks at him.

“Ah, that’s a good idea. We don’t want the ticket to go to waste”, it was Amu’s turn to tease the boy. She knows very well how irritated Ryosuke could be when the name ‘Yuto’ comes up. Yuto is the only person she knows who could make the Ace of Hey! Say! Jump feel intimidated.

“Maa, since Yuto is Rio-chan’s best friend, they could even share a room, ne?”, Daiki imitated the earlier tease and immediately knew that Ryosuke will never let Yuto anywhere near his Rio. This is his own cruel way of making the younger boy come to the trip.


 

The four of them continued with their usual banters and thought that this weekend will just be as chaotic as much as it is fun.

--

*Saturday*

Amu took a deep breath to allow the fresh autumn breeze to fill her lungs. She smiled admiringly at the peaceful scenery around and could not help but compare this with her buzzing work life in Tokyo. She stretched her legs and was soon accompanied by Rio who copied her ealier actions.

“Let me carry your bag, Amu”, Chinen took the initiative to take Amu’s luggage from her hands. She hesitated at first but soon, thanked her childhood friend who seem to not accept ‘no’ as an answer. Little did she know, this simple kind gesture from Chinen is something Daiki dreads - exceeding his hatred of pickled plums.

“Don’t mind, Dai-chan”, Rio poked Daiki’s puffed cheek before noticing Yuto offering to carry her bag as well. “Arigatou, Yuu-chan”, she smiled but at the back of her mind, she couldn’t help but think about Ryosuke who was unable to join them in this trip.

She slumped her shoulders, trying to keep her head occupied. “Just try to have some fun. I’m sure Yama-chan is missing you too”, Yuto reassured. The girl smiled and felt Yuto's arm cover her shoulders. He's always been like this, you see – he's always ready to cheer Rio up whenever she’s worried about something.

--

The five of them went straight to the hotel’s reception and gave their tickets to the old lady behind the counter. It wasn’t long when they were given two keys and were led to two adjacent rooms at the furthest part of the inn.

“Did they know there’s 5 of us?” Daiki questioned, hoping that this weekend will be as romantic as he wanted it to be even though his rival is present. He slowly slid the wooden door and was expecting it to be empty. However, to his surprise, Ryosuke was already there unpacking his own luggage.

“You guys took your time, huh?”, Ryosuke smirked as if proud of his little surprise.

“What are you doing here? I thought you have a shoot?”, Daiki asked in disbelief but could not hide a smile on his face upon seeing his best friend. It’s amazing what jealousy does to you, huh.

“If anyone asks, I’m sick”, the younger boy faked a cough, enough to earn a glare from Rio.

“Don’t even joke about getting sick, baka”, being the only one medically trained in the group, she was automatically in charge of everyone’s wellbeing. Instead of apologising for his reckless remark, Ryosuke took the girl's hand and glared at Yuto for standing too close to his girlfriend.

Daiki immediately noticed this, “Just admit you only came so Yuto won’t score on Rio-chan!”, he abruptly remarked. He had the intention to tease the younger boy, but instead of denying it, Ryosuke tilted his head before nodding once.

“I’m not even going to deny that. There’s no way I’ll let Yuto spend the whole weekend with Rio-chan”

“Oi! You say it like I’m going to eat her alive. Remember, before you became her boyfriend, I’m her best friend so I should be the one protecting her from you”, Yuto argued back. Amu, Daiki and Chinen gathered around both boys and couldn’t help but laugh at their usual childish banters. All of them found it amusing except for Rio who is now shaking her head in embarrassment.

Ryosuke and Yuto had a few more rounds of insults up their sleeves but Daiki decided to interfere, “We better hit the hot springs before they get busy… and before you two murder each other”, he  said before pushing Ryosuke to the opposite side of the room.

“The four of us will share this room. You girls can share the next one”, Chinen quickly slid the door shut for the two girls not to witness any more ruckus coming from the boys’ chambers.

Amu and Rio couldn’t help but smile upon hearing the continuous teasing coming from inside. “Thanks, Chii. We’ll just see you guys later”, Amu took her own bag from Chinen before entering their own room.

---------

Daiki and Ryosuke both felt their own figure melting into the relaxing hot bath enveloping their bodies. The temperature was just right to completely forget all the overbearing work load they left in Tokyo. “Ahh~”, their voices echoed each other’s as they simultaneously lowered their bodies further down into the bath.

“I really thought you won't come, you know”, Daiki started before noticing the young boy turn to him.

“Like I would miss you trying to get Amu’s attention while Chinen is around”, the boy uttered in response. He rested his head back after placing the warm towel on his nape, “Just out of curiosity, what would you do if Chii confesses to Amu?”, he randomly asked, making Daiki delve even deeper into his thoughts.

“Can you tone your questions down? At least ask me how my day was, or how I’m feeling – not jump to ‘what if one of your closest friends confesses to your girlfriend?’”, Daiki sarcastically said.

“Dude, I’ve known you for God-knows how many years now. I know how you’re feeling… heck, I even have your underwear in my closet... I just want you to be prepared if ever Chii finally tells Amu what he feels”, Ryosuke replied before hearing Daiki sigh for the nth time. Chinen does not have to confess his feelings to anyone because being part of the same band for 15 years, they knew very well what the latter feels about Amu.

“Sometimes I feel I only got lucky…”, Daiki looked ahead and like the fog covering the baths, his mind was also clouded, “... I can’t help but think that if Chinen confessed first, then Amu would’ve said 'yes' to him instead”.

Ryosuke grunted at the boy's response and preceeded to let the steam touch his face, “I feel the same way towards Yuto". All at once, images of his rival flashed in his mind. He could not help but think how similar his feelings are with Daiki, "That guy has no idea how much his best friend means to me.