Chapter Text
The rules of the world are thus: emotions can manifest physically in the universe, but only some are able to see them. They manifest as strings.
Pure white without stain is cotton. These are positive emotions: happiness, gratitude, love, friendship.
Black, rotting string is dust. Stained with feelings like jealousy, envy, hatred, these emotions are the deepest darkness in an intelligent life form.
There can be worlds without cotton.
But there can’t be worlds without dust.
Sometimes, Iori wonders how his life turned out this way.
He’s laying on the bean bag Riku had gifted him for his birthday, for once taking advantage of having a break. Most of the dorm is out for the morning and early afternoon: MEZZO” has an early recording of a new album, while his brother and Nagi have a talk show appearance. Riku also has an early recording for a commercial. Only Yamato and himself have the morning off, though he’s pretty certain the older man has a schedule later in the evening.
Iori’s finished all the work that has been assigned to him due two weeks from now, and the paper due in a few weeks has a rough draft laid out for his teacher to check. Now, he’s simply found himself laying down on the bed, letting the time pass. There is a schedule later in the day that he’s doing together with Mitsuki and Riku, but it’s early enough in the day that he doesn’t have to get up if he doesn’t want to. And right now, he doesn’t want to.
Iori can already hear Mitsuki wipe away a tear from his eye, proclaiming that, “my little brother is actually acting his age!”
Were he petty enough, he would snipe back that he at least doesn’t have to crack his back in his twenties unlike, ahem, certain people.
But he’s not that petty and he has plenty of respect for his elders.
Sometimes.
Iori sighs and reaches over to his drawer, just within reach of the bean bag. He starts idly flipping through a magazine Riku had given him. His bookworm of a boyfriend insisted he take it after his weekly foray inside the bookstore near Shibuya Station. He saw it on their displays and bought it immediately, handing it to him as soon as he got home while saying with that all endearing smile, “I think you’d really enjoy it, Iori!”
Iori had just blinked at the magazine printed with all the available and upcoming Usamimi Friends merch, as well as a limited edition pouch of Roppu that came with the magazine and mentally devoted his life to Riku’s eternal happiness for the third time that month.
He’s mid-flip through a particular page of the Usamimi Friends squad dressed in special spring outfits when he hears rustling next to him. His eyes flick to the top of his drawer, where the small cluster of soft blankets and crunchy newspaper bits starts to move. He shifts on the bean bag to get more comfortable before looking down at the magazine. The blankets and newspapers make more noise, but he pays them no heed. They’re just waking up, after all.
A high pitched croon comes from the pile. It’s making a particular “ii” sound like the beginning of Iori’s name. Smiling softly, Iori stops flipping his magazine as he watches his little friend begin to wake up.
What first pops out are a pair of tiny pink horns, nestled in blue fur that looks like cotton. Large eyes blink blearily as they yawn, their huge cat mouth contrasting sharply with the sharp teeth lining their mouth. They make another sleepy sound, rolling a little bit in their nest of blankets and newspapers. Iori tries his best not to coo, his heart pulling at how cute they are.
“Good morning, Iicchan,” he greets quietly. The cotton ball hums a little in response to their given nickname. They blink, before yawning again.
Iori mentally screams into the aether even while his face shows just a soft smile.
“Good morning, Iiiiiiiiori,” says the tiny, high pitched voice, stretching the first syllable of Iori’s name. They shuffle in their nest for a few seconds before beginning to float. The entire cotton ball-like creature, just big enough to comfortably hold in two hands, idly floats over to Iori. They blink sleepily as their mouth sets in its familiar cat’s shape.
Iicchan floats up to Iori’s head. Without a sound, they land on his head and bury themselves in his hair.
“Ii ii, still sleepy…” they mumble, shifting around.
Iori’s smile widens as he starts flipping through his magazine again.
“We’ll be alone for the next few hours before we have to get ready to meet with Nii-san and Nanase-san. You can rest up there for the time being,” he says. Iicchan hums. “I know yesterday was tiring. How are you feeling? Other than sleepy, of course.”
“I’m okay…” they mutter, curling into Iori’s hair. “...Used too much energy. But Iiiiiori and everyone else is really bright, so I’ll be fine.”
Iori can’t resist anymore and coos at Iicchan, leaning back against the bean bag and sinking into it.
“Iiiiori should sleep too,” they say softly.
“I’ve slept enough, it’s okay,” he replies.
“Okay…”
Before either of them can settle, a knock comes from the door. Iicchan whines, not wanting to be disturbed.
“Come in,” Iori calls.
His door opens and on the other side, Yamato peeks in, a smile on his face. He’s dressed to go out, unlike how he usually is when he’s on his day off. A little strange, Iori thinks, but Yuki or someone else might have “blackmailed” him to eat out before his upcoming schedule.
On his shoulder is another cotton-like creature like Iicchan, but his is light green with blue horns instead of pink. Their one eye blinks owlishly at Iori and Iicchan, their mouth stretched in a grin.
“Yo,” Yamato says, a hand up in greeting. His green cotton ball glows one horn in greeting as well. “Just checking up on you, Ichi. You’re usually out and about when it’s an off day. You okay?”
“I’m fine, Nikaido-san. Iicchan is still tired from yesterday, so I’ve decided to stay inside for the time being,” Iori replies.
“Iicchan still likes sleeping on your head? How cute,” Yamato laughs as he walks into Iori’s room. Iori flushes, looking down and away from the group leader.
“You know they like sleeping on my head, Nikaido-san. You don’t have to point it out,” he grouses.
“Shush, Yayamato,” Iicchan adds, grumbling as well.
“Iicchan is making Iiiiiori’s hair look like a nest,” giggles the green cotton ball on Yamato’s shoulder. They peek at the pair from between Yamato’s neck and his side bangs that hang down in front of his ear, grinning cheekily. “Is Iicchan a bird now?”
“I’d say he is, Yakkun,” Yamato replies. Iori shoves the magazine in his face, groaning. He only belatedly realizes the entire thing is covered in Usamimi Friends front and back after he does and yanks it off his face, his entire face burning. Humiliating, absolutely humiliating.
“Oh, it’s Ririku’s bunny magazine!”
“So that’s who he gave it to! You know you don’t have to hide it, Ichi.”
“Yayamato and Yakkun should shut up. Now Iiiori is all embarrassed and I can’t keep sleeping,” Iicchan snaps, floating up off of Iori’s head. Iori laments the loss of his friend’s softness, but reaches up to fix his hair.
“Iicchan sleeps too much, even after a busy job. We have to keep Iicchan up somehow,” Yakkun replies matter-of-factly. If they had shoulders, they would be shrugging. Fortunately for them, Yamato does the shrugging for them.
“But we did a lot yesterday! I deserve some sleep!”
“You knocked out as soon as we got home, Iicchan. We got home at 6 and you slept the entire time.”
“Um, well…”
“It’s 8 in the morning, Iicchan!”
“Ugh!” Iicchan huffs before flying back to Iori and pushing their way into the crook of Iori’s neck. Now both of them are disgruntled, both of them glaring at their greener counterparts. Yamato chuckles, raising his hands up in surrender.
“You know we’re just having fun, Ichi, Iicchan. And I’m fulfilled my promise to Mitsu and Mimi, which is to make sure you,” he points specifically to Iicchan, “don’t sleep too long and delay Ichi here.”
“I won’t…” Iicchan grumbles. Iori huffs, bringing his hand up to his friend and runs his fingers between their horns. Iicchan’s grumbling lessens as they settle.
“I would have made sure they got up at the right time, but I suppose Nii-san knows I spoil them a lot,” he says. Yamato and Yakkun nod.
“You’re really weak to cute things, Ichi,” Yamato replies.
“Kindly shut up.”
“Alright, alright, I know when my presence is unwanted,” he laughs. Yakkun giggles. “Also wanted to let you know Mitsu made breakfast for you and Iicchan. Iicchan, there’s a bowl of whipped cream in the fridge for you.”
Iicchan’s normally lidded eyes widen. “Whipped cream…”
“Got it, thank you, Nikaidou-san.”
“Any time.” Yamato walks back over to leave from Iori’s room, but just as he makes it through the door, he suddenly stops. “Oh, I almost forgot.” He peeks back into the room, face drawn into a frown. “Iicchan, condition?”
The smile on Iori’s face falls. Iicchan hums. The little fluff suddenly warms just a little. In the dim light of his room, a warm pink light starts to emit from their horns. Iori and Yamato feel the pulse of power their horn emits and patiently wait for an answer.
“City’s still a liiiiittle dirty today,” they reply. Iori hums, listening carefully. Yamato leans against the door frame. Even Yakkun is paying rapt attention to the previously complaining cotton.
“How dirty is dirty?” Yamato asks.
“The dust from the past few weeks has been taken care of yesterday, so there aren't any big worry spots.”
“So you think we’re free for a day?”
“Hmm, I think so. If all goes well, we should be majorly dust-free for another week.” Iori blinks, leaning back into his seat.
“Another week? That’s rare,” he comments. Iicchan nods.
“Ii ii. There are many little spots that don’t need our attention. Oh! But…” Iicchan pauses as their horns dim slightly.
“What’s the matter?” Yamato asks as Yakkun floats up from Yamato’s shoulder. They go over to Iicchan, staring at them.
“Iiiiori, Yayamato, check something for me?” Iicchan asks. Immediately, Iori pulls out his phone.
“Of course, what do you need?”
“A few blocks away from the studio, there’s a big spike of dust. Really big, probably needs a Mofu to take care of it,” Iicchan says, grimacing. Iori and Yamato blink, surprised. They both look through their phones for a little before Yamato suddenly remembers something.
“Weren’t Tama and Riku talking about a car crash and traffic jam that made them late to their jobs? Do you think that’s why there’s a spike?” Yamato asks. Iori perks up. He did remember Riku panic-texting the group chat that he was going to be late to his job, though he never specified why.
“Traffic must have been pretty backed up if that’s the case. That’s full of negative emotions prime for feeding off of,” Iori mutters, thinking.
“But it’s not there anymore. It got taken care of,” Iicchan says.
“Really? By who?” Iori asks.
“Mmmmm… Mimitsuki and Mimi. And Nanagi and Nana.”
“I didn’t know they were in the area,” Iori mutters.
“Well that’s good that they got rid of it, I guess,” Yamato sighs. “Ichi, I know your protective brother instincts are going to kick in. Other than that, are we all clear?”
“Yes, save for unforeseen circumstances.”
“Good then. Well, I’m going to head out. Ichi, check into the chat for me?”
“I’m doing that right now.”
The Seven Stars Extermination Crew! (name coined by Riku)
ichiicchan: Nii-san.
ririkurrin: Oh?
ririkurrin: Iori’s got that tone!
mimitsuki: Hahahaha;;;
mimitsuki: Hi Iori 👋
mimitsuki: Good morning?
tatamakin: uh oh mikki did something baaaaaad
mimitsuki: I didn’t do anything bad!
yayamakkun: He didn’t do anything bad, promise. We’re just worried.
nanagi: Worried about what, Yamato?
ichiicchan: Don’t think I’ve forgotten about you, Rokuya-san.
nanagi: Oh!
mimitsuki: Listen it wasn’t that bad
ichiicchan: Nii-san.
ririkurrin: ahaha;;; wow iori’s really worried!
sougocchin: What happened? Are you alright?
mimitsuki: We’re fine! there was a dust bunny we had to take care of earlier. it wasn’t too big, but it did cause a really bad traffic jam
tatamakin: oh nagicchi nana mikki and mimi were the ones who got rid of the traffic
tatamakin: thanks everyone
sougocchin: Thank you very much Nagi, Mitsuki! You did a great job!
nanagi: We are happy to help!
mimitsuki: we have to make the world as dust-free as possible!
ichiicchan: At least both of you are safe.
ichiicchan: Iicchan has given us the all-clear for a clean rest of the week, barring sudden changes.
nanagi: Wonderful!
mimitsuki: That sounds awesome! maybe we can finally get a day where all of us are well-rested.
sougocchin: I hope so. We have to record the MV for Party Time Together at the end of the week, right?
mimitsuki: oh crap you’re right!
ririkurrin: Oh man, please no incidents within the next few days…
yayamakkun: If we have to deal with an incident soon, I’m blaming you for jinxing it Riku
“What does jinxing mean?” Big beady eyes look up at Riku as both of them read the Rabbitchat messages. He sighs, closing the group chat to open his and Iori’s private messages.
Iori: Don’t forget, we’re meeting at the new bakery.
Rolling his eyes with a soft smile on his face, Riku types out his reply. The red cotton friend of his floats up from the phone, knowing it’s their private talk now. Their three little horns glow out a little melody as they wait for Riku’s answer.
“Ah, jinxing means foreshadowing something bad happening in the future. Like in our case, since I said I hoped we wouldn’t have an incident, I might just be saying it into existence,” Riku replies. The red cotton blinks, letting out a little “oh!” in surprise. Their mouth forms into a perfect o, making all of their round teeth visible.
“Understood! Then stop talking about it, Ririku!” they exclaim seriously. Riku bursts into laughter, pocketing his phone. He reaches his hands up to his friend and cups them. He brings them close to his face and nuzzles them close, their fur soft to the touch. They makes trilling “riiii” noises as they nuzzle back.
“I will, I will. How are you feeling, Rirrin? Are you still tired from yesterday?” he asks, pulling away from them. Rirrin smiles widely.
“Much better!” they say. “Ririku is a very bright friend! I always feel better when Ririku feels better!”
“That’s good! Are you good enough to float around? There’s always space in my hood for when you need to rest.”
“I want to stay out for now! I’ll tell you when I get tired,” Rirrin replies. Riku nods back. He leans down and hoists his bag onto his shoulder as Rirrin settles down on the bag strap. They both smile at each other quickly before Riku opens the door out of his green room.
It hasn’t been that long since the cotton entered IDOLiSH7’s lives. Riku never thought he’d be helping out an intergalactic species rid Earth of the same thing and overran and took over their planet while trying to make it as idols, but he supposes there could be stranger things happening to him.
Now, he can’t imagine his life without Rirrin and his friends. Riku giggles despite himself, feeling warm. He went from being alone in a hospital bed to having six new friends, then a few days after that, seven more new friends. Now, months later, he has more than a few precious bonds forged through intense practices, potentially group-ending arguments, and unforgettable performances.
Oh, and near-death experiences. Can’t forget about those!
And throughout it all, they’ve all managed to become top idols in Japan! Not to mention become close friends/rivals with TRIGGER and Re:vale.
Riku snorts. Tenn would probably have a heart attack if he ever finds out about IDOLiSH7’s… other side job. They barely manage to juggle everything normally, having to be idols on top of cleaning up dust in the city when conditions get serious enough is tough. It’s a miracle no one has collapsed from exhaustion, to be honest.
At least here, Riku can contribute just as much to the team as everyone else. Sure, it’s tiring, but it’s worth it for a safer world.
Rirrin yawns, landing on Riku’s shoulder. He chuckles.
“Hood’s open, Rirrin,” he says cheekily.
“No! I can still—”
“Oh! Riku-kun!”
Rirrin yelps and dives straight into Riku’s hood. He chokes in surprise just as the director of the commercial, Nakajima-san, comes closer to him. The tall man is grinning, waving at him.
“I’m glad I caught you before you left!” he exclaims, stopping in front of him. “Good job! It’s always a pleasure when we work with you, Riku-kun.”
Riku’s eyebrows fly up in his hair in surprise. He laughs sheepishly, scratching the back of his neck.
“Aw, thank you Nakajima-san! Thank you for accommodating me,” he replies. He bows slightly. “Again, I’m really sorry for starting late. I got caught up in something last minute.”
“It’s no problem. We ended up finishing early either way, so I’d say all’s well that ends well!” The two of them share a laugh. Riku’s hood makes a little jump in movement as Rirrin peaks out but does nothing else. “Let me guess, you got caught in that traffic from a few blocks down, yeah?”
Riku blinks. He supposes regular people would see that block in the road as traffic. Not for what it actually is.
“Yes, I did,” he replies after what probably would be considered a too-long pause. Nakajima continues, not bothered.
“A lot of people did, from what I heard. It took a while to clear up. It’s a good thing you got here at all!”
“Thank you! I did my best to get here despite it all!” he replies eagerly. He goes to continue his sentence, but his phone suddenly blares. Rirrin, still comfortably in Riku’s hoodie, jolts so hard they momentarily choke Riku. He flounders for his phone in his pocket, opening it up hurriedly.
Iori: Iicchan and I are out of the dorm now. We will be at the bakery within the next 20 minutes or so. If you get there early, please order a blueberry muffin for Iicchan.
“Oh!”
“Is something the matter?” Nakajima asks, an eyebrow raised.
“Oh! I’m sorry, I just remembered I had to meet up with Iori!” he replies, quickly pocketing his phone. He bows down at Nakajima. “I have to get going now!”
“Phew, I thought it was something more serious. You almost scared me, you know! It’s no problem! Get home safe, alright?
“I will!”
The director walks off as Riku hurries to the exit of the studio. He keeps his steps swift, nodding quickly to anyone passing by to greet him. He doesn’t mean to be rude to anyone, but he has to get out of the building now.
Riku comes out of the building with a soft wheeze in his breath and veers into a little back alley, as close to the studio as possible. Looking around for a second, he reaches back to poke at his hood.
“Rirrin, you can come out now,” he says softly. Rirrin’s soft hum vibrates his neck, making him chuckle a little. With a little wiggle, they break out of Riku’s hoodie.
“Freedom!” they cry. They shake themselves out before flying up to Riku’s face, grinning widely. “Hello again, friend!”
“Hello again, friend!” Riku parrots, laughing. Rirrin flies around Riku’s head once before settling back onto his shoulder.
“Was that Iiiiiori on the phone?” they ask. Riku pulls out his phone to open up his messages with Iori. He had sent him another text, asking to also order a hot chocolate with extra whipped cream that definitely isn’t for him or anything. He giggles. Iori is so cute sometimes.
“Yes it was! There’s a bakery near the studio that he wants to meet up at,” Riku says, showing his cotton Iori’s text.
“Hehe, Iicchan always likes blueberry muffins! Are there going to be tarts?” Rirrin asks.
“I guess we’ll find out when we get there.” Riku steps out of the alley, adjusting the strap of his bag. He walks onto the sidewalk with Rirrin floating merrily next to him. Riku gasps, suddenly remembering something. He reaches into his shoulder bag and pulls out his earphone case. He takes one out and puts it in his ear. Rirrin trills.
“Alright, we’re good to go! I’ll go let Iori know we’ll be at the bakery.”
“Rrrrriiii!” Rirrin exclaims before floating up to settle on Riku’s head. Feeling his friend’s familiar weight, Riku tugs on his mask and starts making his way down the street.
They don’t make it too far before something flickers at the edge of Riku’s vision.
Come here.
He stops, turning around to stare down another alleyway. The sensation of wrong wrong wrong tickles at the edge of Riku’s mind, goading him to go down the alleyway.
Had he been anyone else, he might have gone down there himself, just to see. Just a peek.
“Rirrin, assess?” he asks faintly. The blood pounds in his ears, his eyes glued onto the darkness of the alleyway.
“Not too big, not too strong, but there’s a lot of them,” Rirrin says. “It’s really stinky. I don’t like it.”
“Do we have to Join?” Riku asks.
“No, it’s not that big! Just Sharing should be fine!” Rirrin says. They float up to Riku’s head and sits on him. “I’ll protect you, Ririku! You know what to do!”
“I do,” Riku says.
Rirrin closes their eyes and their three horns start glowing bright red. Immediately, Riku feels energy pouring into him, warmth that he’s grown far too used to over the previous months. Breathing in and out, testing how well he can breathe, he walks straight into the alleyway.
The alleyway is littered with garbage and bits of trash. The buildings over it completely block any sort of light from coming through, protecting the things inside it.
Riku wrinkles his nose as he approaches the first floating mass he sees.
It’s a mangled ball of rotten, black string, and unidentifiable matter about the size of his fist, writhing and wriggling as it floats aimlessly in the alleyway. It pulses every so often like a heartbeat, beckoning for the unsuspecting traveler to come in.
Come here. Listen to me. Take me. Feed me.
Riku shudders, resisting the urge to throw up. So close to them, the call is difficult to ignore. He looks around.
…Especially if there are at least 15 in one place.
“So many…” Rirrin mutters, looking up at the floating balls of pulsing rot. “Ririku, we have to--”
“Got it.” Riku inhales and exhales.
He’s protected. They won’t be able to hurt him. Their calls are unable to reach his ears, they won’t be able to latch onto him if he ignores them.
He reaches out for the one directly in front of him. He closes his hand over the ball, simply just holding it. It feels slimy, with random sharp things poking out of the ball like sticks or nails. Black liquid drips out Riku’s hand, plopping to the floor with loud, wet drips. It has the same consistency as blood.
Riku starts closing his fingers around the ball. The writhing in the ball increases as if trying to escape, black liquid running down in streams as it squelches. The sharp points dig into his skin but never breaks it. The pressure just increases and increases, painfully so.
Riku grunts, and clenches his hand around it completely, making it burst like a balloon. Rot splatters onto the floor and the walls, before disappearing into nothing. The other balls don’t react at all.
Inhale, exhale. He can still breathe. The black liquid spilling down his fingers disappears with the rest of the burst ball.
“Ririku?” Rirrin asks quietly.
“I’m okay. Rirrin, you handle the ones I can’t reach, I’ll do the ones down here,” Riku says.
“Okay! You’re protected as long as you’re around me, Ririku! We’ll be okay!”
“Hehe, thank you, Rirrin.” Before he continues, he pulls out his phone.
Riku: Will be late!
Riku: Sorry, ran into a bunch of motes in one place.
Iori: All together? That’s odd. Aren’t they supposed to freely travel in the wind?
Riku: Rirrin says it’s bc they’re stuck in an alleyway and the wind doesn’t get to them.
Iori: How do you keep getting caught up in these situations, Nanase-san?
Iori: I’ll order ahead for you then. What do you want?
(A little speck floats on the wind. It floats and floats aimlessly until suddenly, it hits something.
A girl stares blankly at a window display showing a few televisions, all showing recently aired talk shows. The speck hit the girl's shoulder.
It begins to feed.)