Title: Reunion
Rating: G
Fandom: Tokyo Xanadu
Relationship: background Asuka/Mitsuki, Kou/Shio, Reika/Rion
Wordcount: 1945
Short summary: X.R.C. reunites 10 years later at Morimiya High one late Saturday in October 2025...
In a certain room on the second floor of a certain high school, a group of adults mostly in their late 20s sits around a square table, acting like they are back in school for a club activity. And it kind of is…
“Has it really been 10 years since we all got together last?”
“Well technically one person is missing, physically at least, but yes I think so.”
For some reason after Rion’s question and Asuka’s answer, it finally hits Kou that the X.R.C. reunion is real. It’s not just taping a piece of paper over the placard for the Morimiya Community Club, or just him and Towa reminiscing about the time he was a student and she had been his homeroom teacher and club advisor. It’s not just finding an old photo or getting a fun message out of the blue. It’s not just a group of friends chatting and sharing a meal. Yes, Kou and Mitsuki started organizing the event 6 months ago but still. Jun, sitting slightly diagonally left of Kou, has come all the way from the other side of the world for this moment. Sora, sitting at the end of the table, is up here from Kyushu, and Shiori, sitting directly across from Kou, is up from Osaka. Rion, sitting diagonal from Kou between Ryouta and Yuuki, is not far away on some film set. Yuuki, who is sitting between Rion and Sora, is outside of his base and Mitsuki, who is sitting two seats to Kou’s left, is outside of her office. Asuka, between Mitsuki and Kou, isn’t deep in the Eclipse and Ryouta, sitting between Rion and Jun, isn’t deep in shipment hell. And while Shio, sitting between Mitsuki and Sora, was a little late, he did arrive with dinner for all of them. All 11 of them here in this room.
“Speaking of which, Towa-san?” Mitsuki looks over at Towa, sitting at the head of the table and in charge of the projector. She stands up and moves to the computer.
“Of course.” The slideshow of photos from their high school and club days ends and is replaced by a video.
“Hello everybody. It’s been a while.” Gorou is the only member that couldn’t make it in person. It was going to be a longshot considering his work for the Japanese Self-Defense Force. “Obviously I can’t tell you where I am recording this message from, but I can say this. It’s unfortunate to miss out on the reunion, since I haven’t seen some of you since those days 10 years ago. I hope you all are doing well.”
There’s a pause in the speaking, a moment for Gorou to flash a wide smile. “Things are as good as they can be for me.” He chuckles. “Don’t worry, we have no intel about another incoming threat nor any secret plans related to that. That’s all I can say. Have a good time together and I’ll let you all know when I get back.”
The video ends and a moment of silence reigns until Ryouta knocks his left hand against the table.
“Hmph, he’s still as good-looking as ever,” Ryouta grumbles. Kou can’t help but laugh.
“Ryouta, you still got a crush on Gorou-san?” he teases.
Ryouta stands up, flustered. “Shut up! I’m more into…” He pauses, coughs, and sits back down. Everyone here knows Ryouta’s preferences, but Kou understands the desire to leave it unlabeled. Ryouta turns to Rion. “Uh, hey Rion, when’s your next single coming out?”
Rion raises an eyebrow. “Drama shooting starts next week you know… Reika would kill me if I snuck out to sing.”
That’s easy to imagine. Reika’s intensity has not decreased just because she’s gone from idol to manager. Kou hasn’t interacted with Reika much over the past 10 years, but since Rion still offers Kou and the others free tickets to her local performances, Reika makes sure that they know it is a unique gift, to not share it with someone else, and to never assume that these gifts will keep coming.
As for Ryouta’s devotion to the former SPiKA members… “As if you have time to go see her, Mr. Grocery Manager,” Kou ribs, knowing that Ryouta would still drop anything and everything to see any of them on stage.
“Shut up, Gorou-san replacement.” Ah yes, Ryouta’s favorite comeback. Just because Kou has become the English teacher at Morimiya High and has some popularity with high school girls as the ‘handsome teacher’...
Jun laughs and turns to Shiori. “They still fight the same as always.”
Shiori smiles in return. “Not much has changed.”
For those two, well…
“Well, it was a surprise to learn that Shiori moved down to Osaka,” Jun says with a chuckle. “But I’m glad you’re doing well there, Shiori. If I’m in Japan longer next time, I’ll stop by.”
If one were to say not much has changed, they would only be referring to Jun and Shiori’s looks. Otherwise those two made the biggest moves. Jun’s move wasn’t a surprise considering his occupation; he had even mentioned he might go to England again 10 years ago. Shiori, though, really took to traveling around Japan once she gained the freedom to do. She did go to university in Tokyo but afterwards, especially after meeting her husband…
“You’re welcome any time.” Shiori’s smile widens. “I’m in Morimiya every other month though, and Asuka comes down often enough that I’m not too disconnected.” She looks over at Kou. “Besides, Kou-chan is…”
“2-3 nights a week at the orphanage, right? With Shio-san?” Ryouta interrupts. Kou nods. It’s nothing he’s ashamed of. He glances over at Shio, whose quiet conversation with Mitsuki has been cut off due to the mention of his name. Shio gives Kou a raised eyebrow in response.
“At least Mitsuki-san and Asuka live together in one place,” Shiori continues.
“Which is good because I make sure Mitsuki takes every Saturday night and Sunday off from work.” This time Asuka interrupts, a smug look on her face. To be fair, Kou too would have that expression if he was as good as Asuka is at making Mitsuki take it easy. He already thought 10 years ago that they worked well together. They certainly became a power couple, the most powerful duo in their whole group.
“And bad when they both team up to make me do something for them,” Yuuki grumbles. Kou can sympathize somewhat. Although Yuuki sort of invites it upon himself, still getting lost in his games when he’s not lost in programming something. Sometimes some firepower is needed to get him to act…
Towa laughs. She’s probably the other person who has dealt with Yuuki the most in a work context, and Kou knows she occasionally assists on some small things for Asuka and Mitsuki. “Except if the Greed act up then.”
There’s another moment of silence. Kou can’t read minds, but he guesses everyone is likely thinking about “Greed acting up” brought them all together like this in the first place. Certainly Kou finds it hard to imagine crossing paths with Shio without those incidents, and considering how important Shio is to his life now… And not to mention how much Shiori’s existence was intertwined with…
Kou looks over at Shiori who maintains a smile, albeit a wavering one. He knows she isn’t bothered by the Eclipse, being Asuka’s eyes and ears down in Osaka, or the knowledge that she “died” that day 20 years ago. It’s more how Kou still worries…that he is the one who could never accept a reality where she died just like that.
Kou clears his throat. “Anyway, Shio and I make it work.” He shrugs, trying to act like this is a natural transition back to the topic of... “It’s hard when everyone wants a piece of him.”
Shio shakes his head. “It’s not like that…”
“But you still help out at the soba shop, right?” Sora pipes up. “I saw you there yesterday!”
Figures Sora had stopped by her usual haunts back when she was living here as a student. Even with Olympic success, Sora would always be Sora.
Shio scratches the back of his head. “Well, yeah, but…”
Shio’s clearly not equipped to go into deep conversation about this right now. Everyone can tell, knowing Shio’s strong sense of duty to those who have helped him, that there’s no obvious answer for him.
Mitsuki claps her hands together, breaking the awkward tension forcefully. “Speaking of which, thanks for bringing the food, Shio-san.”
“Between Shio’s connection to the soba shop and Asuka being a coffee shop manager, we got our meals and snacks covered!” Ryouta exclaims.
“Although Mitsuki is still the expert on tea here,” Asuka adds.
“And without Ibuki’s services we wouldn’t have the supplies to make these things,” Shio concludes.
Everyone laughs. Morimiya really is a special place… Just the way they’ve been able to stay connected, come back to this place even if they go somewhere else for a bit, and always find a place to call home…
Rion sighs. “You really are Morimiya lifers.”
“Says the person who does a charity concert at Acros Tower every year,” Kou rebuts, a rare moment of standing up for Ryouta. Although maybe it’s more for their hometown. If Kou wasn’t already the advisor of the Morimiya Community Club here, he’d probably, on the side, be…
“Yeah, yeah.” Rion shakes her head with a knowing smile.
“Most importantly…” Towa stands up, commanding everyone’s attention. “We are all doing great.” Everyone nods to Towa’s statement.
“It seems even with the 10th anniversary, things are still okay,” Asuka adds, looking over to Mitsuki who smiles in agreement. “Although we never know when he’ll start trouble again.” Asuka smiles. “You can always train with me if you have time and want to stay fresh.”
The offer is for everyone. Kou has taken Asuka up on it a few times a year over the past 10 years. He never officially joined Nemesis, but if it was the only way to keep protecting Morimiya with his Raging Gear, he probably would. Thankfully Asuka has never given him that ultimatum.
Mitsuki gives Asuka a heated look. “You already took Kou-san from me, Asuka.”
But Asuka is used to it. “Well, I found him first. And Yuuki—"
“Hey, I’m staying a freelancer,” Yuuki asserts, sitting up a bit straighter with arms crossed over his chest. “I’m not joining either of those groups.”
This time when silence reigns, Kou wonders if the others are letting it stretch out to see how long the heated looks between Asuka and Mitsuki will last. Although it seems Sora is the one who breaks first.
“Shall we eat the cake now? It looks so nice!”
“Let’s do that!” Rion shouts in enthusiastic agreement. Ryouta reaches for the cake knife but doesn’t manage to touch it before Rion stops him. “Oh, but photo first.”
Kou realizes that photo is a great idea. Yuuki switches places with Rion, and with Rion’s experience taking selfies for promotion, they all fit together in the photo armed with smiles and victory signs. Although later Kou would guess Towa had to stand on her chair to be visible, but anyway…
“Thanks everyone for a successful reunion!”
They share cake and more stories, more smiles and more laughs. It’s a wonderful night, an unforgettable night. And Kou could not ask for a better group of people to be connected with. He’s already thinking about, even if it might be difficult, trying to reunite like this again in another 5, another 10 years…
Because they mean the world to him, and he wouldn’t want it any other way.