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☆☆☆
Suwa Rei didn't understand people. If he didn't know any better, he probably would've believed he was an alien. Maybe that's why his father had so much disdain for him.
On the daily, he only ever interacted with one, two people tops, and even that was enough to wear him out.
Bringing a kid into it all threw a Choco Ring-sized wrench into everything.
Now that was years ago, and Miri was in fourth grade. They still lived in that apartment like gerbils, and Rei was getting fed up with the mundaneness of it all. He always seemed fine, tapping away on his controller as he honed in on the race, but pixels could only comfort him so much til his eyes started to hurt.
Rei had learned from a young age that emotions weren't for him, so when he went to pick up their daughter from school with a blank expression, she frowned.
“Papa Rei?”
“Yes, Miri?”
He didn't look up from the steering wheel. She was quiet for a bit, long enough for him to get curious and glance at her through the rearview mirror. She smiled when their eyes met.
“Nothing!"
Rei's eyes slid back to the console, a sigh escaping his lips. He let up on the break and they started off back home. Well, forward, at least. Rei just kinda kept driving. The kiss-and-ride was more or less empty, so getting out of there wasn't really a hassle. Lines of the pavement started to blur together as the school zone fed into a main road.
Miri stared out the window at the trees and houses passing by. He humored her when she pointed out a silly dog, pushing the button to roll down her window so she could wave as they drove past. It sucked in the warm air, causing Rei to shiver, but he knew that she loved it, so down it stayed.
He cleared his throat over the wind. “How was school today?”
“Awesome!”
Miri leaned forward close enough that he could feel her breath on his cheek. Her little fingers gripped the back of his seat. Rei kept his eyes on the road, but tilted his head slightly so she could bop hers against his. Her little noggin was warm.
Rei started to go through the mental checklist. “Did you turn in your homework?”
She had.
“Get into any fights?”
She hadn't.
The knock of knuckles against the doorframe made Kazuki look up from his phone. His partner stood there with a vacant expression.
“Miri's down,” Rei murmured. Closed the door nearly all the way- leaving just a crack in case a certain little one woke up in the middle of the night. Kazuki scooted over a little, watching the other man. He was standing in front of the closet, starting to rifle through his pajamas.
“Good.”
His gaze trailed over Rei's body as he got undressed. They'd gotten used to being seen in various states of undress over the years, but it never failed to cause Kazuki's chest to flutter.
“She's been…”
Rei turned around, raising an eyebrow.
“... Acting odd,” he finished, and Rei grunted.
“I haven't noticed.”
Kazuki listened quietly as his partner climbed into bed beside him. He tilted his head, frowning, but Rei still wouldn’t make eye contact.
“Probably a school thing.”
Kazuki squinted. Rei would normally worry about Miri way more than this. Thinking back about how he had been acting, whatever it was probably eating away at him longer than he thought. Kazuki wanted to reach out, tell him it was okay, even to just make Rei look at him.
Emotion jabbed at Kazuki's gut.
Just look at me.
Instead, the words that tumbled from Kazuki's mouth had nothing to do with it. He couldn't help but smirk. There was a playful lilt to his voice.
“You want a distraction?”
Rei stilled in his wiggling to get comfy, casting a sidelong look at him. “... Kazuki,” he murmured (Kazuki pretended not to hear how exasperated he sounded).
“Were you watching those videos again?”
“‘Those videos,’ puh-lease, Rei,” he chuckled, turning to prop himself up by his elbows. “It's called porn.”
Bluntness caused a flush to spread over Rei's cheeks. “I-I know what it's called! I'm not a child.”
“Really now?” A finger poked and ran up Rei's arm as Kazuki teased him. “Cause you're acting a little…”
“I'm twenty-nine, Kazuki.” He was deadpan. Kazuki snorted with laughter, flopping down against the bedsheets. “I know, I know.”
He blinked up at him, trying to connect gazes, but to no avail. Rei's eyes just barely grazed his face- it almost ticked Kazuki off. Was he not even worth looking at?
“Sooo…?”
It was quiet, the sound of nothing whining between their ears, before Rei ultimately shot him down. The goofy grin that’d spread across Kazuki’s face faded. He didn’t say anything for a while, but he respected it. If Rei wasn’t in the mood, then it wasn’t the time. Reaching to click off the lamp, he snuggled back under the covers, then quietly, reached out for Rei. There was just a little sound of acknowledgement. Kazuki gently rests his face against the back of his partner’s shoulder.
They stayed like that til he heard Rei’s breathing calm and even out, leaving Kazuki in silence and his own thoughts. It stirred in his gut like a fish making ripples. Like Miri playing with one of her bath toys. The way Rei seemed completely out of it, out of everything, it didn’t sit right with Kazuki.
Days would go by like this, gradually turning into weeks.
Kazuki was supposed to take care of him.
So Kazuki would figure this out.
☆☆☆
When Katzuki visited Yadorigi, he noticed the bartender's gaze lingering past the door, like he expected someone else to come in after. It almost made Katzuki twitch.
It was midday, so being alone was indeed odd, but Rei was at home. He’d been acting off recently and Kazuki just wanted him to get better.
“Wasn't expecting you today,” Kyu observed. The other man snorted and shook his head. No order had to be made- glasses clinked and Kazuki listened to the sound of pouring liquid as he stared into space. A tall glass of yellow was slid towards him. He raised an eyebrow at Kyu.
The bartender tapped the counter. “Tequila screwdriver.”
Kazuki took a long sip, biting down on the straw, then let his head bonk against varnished wood.
“I don't know what I'm doing, Kyu,” he said softly. The bartender tilted his head. This was the same man he’d known to down applesauce-like shots, who drove his daughter to school every morning, who’d convinced him to join his family in game night like he was important to them.
“Drinking?”
“Not that.”
Kyu made a sound of acknowledgement. “I know. But this type of thing is one you have to admit before you can mend it.”
“There's nothing to admit.”
“So then,” Kyu posed, “everything's fine?”
Kazuki shook his head again after a moment of silence. “No. No! Every time I think we're doing okay, one of us does something stupid, and then I'm back at square one.”
“You’ve been together for almost five years, Kazuki. Five years of the three of you.”
“I'm aware!”
“So let's figure this out,” Kyu said. He settled with his elbows on the counter to look levelly with the other man, who frowned.
“Why do you care?” and the simple answer actually surprised him:
“Because I care about my friends.”
The straw fell from Kazuki’s mouth and his apparent friend narrowed his eyes at it. It spattered droplets of orange juice and alcohol in a little circle on the counter. Kazuki flew to snatch it up, laughing nervously.
“Sorry!”
Kyu simply pushed up his glasses, regarding him with a thoughtful look. “Gross. Now come on, spill, Kurusu.”
☆☆☆
Thursday. Kazuki had something he had to go do earlier and had yet to come back, so Rei left to pick Miri up from school.
She’d turned in her homework, hadn’t gotten into any fights, he made sure.
Miri got in the car and they pulled out of the pick-up loop. Rei’s eyes were stuck on the road but he heard the tapping as she waved goodbye to her friends.
Miri went on talking about what her and friends were working on. She'd started drawing up a comic that Kotori and Taiga helped with, planning on giving it to Hinata, who was at home sick.
Rei smiled a little, remembering her drawings of him and Kazuki in their faux-professions.
It wasn’t like it was that far-fetched- not nearly as much as himself being an oil baron. He still thought the guy was funny, even if he wasn't actually a stand-up comedian. The trees kept moving and he couldn't help but see him there. Maybe if they were apple trees, he'd tug him by the hand, wanting to pick some. Climb up the trunk like kids. Although, Rei supposed, with Kazuki quaking in his boots looking up at a simple rock-climbing wall, he'd probably beg Rei to go up there for the both of them.
Rei was starting to zone out when he realized he'd driven past their road. There was the park that Miri loved. Fuck.
He pinched the bridge of his nose. It was right there, how on earth had he missed it? Great, now they were going to be late and Kazuki would be-
“Papa!!”
Light filling the car Rei jerked from his thoughts. Everything happened so fast- he yanked the steering wheel far right, straining his arm in the process.
The other car didn't even stop. He caught just a flash of baby blue in the corner of his vision before it was gone. A horn blared.
Trying to regain control, Rei struck out his other arm to grab hold of Miri in the backseat, keeping her in place. He barely felt her little arms wrap around his own. He suddenly wished he hadn't kept the window open- the screech of the tires assaulted his ears when he laid down on the breaks.
Everything jolted then the car was still. All of Rei's muscles felt frozen despite his chest heaving. White hot and ice cold all at once.
The world still moved outside his window.
It was a few moments before his jaw could even move to form words.
“... Miri?”
Amber eyes filled the rearview mirror again, wide and fixated on him. But she was grinning.
“You okay?”
“Can we do that again, Papa?”
Rei could only stare. How he managed to help raise such an oblivious ray of sunshine, he had no damn idea.
She didn't get it.
He was almost relieved. If Miri had been raised by someone like his father, she wouldn't have the luxury to live in her own little world. So Rei decided he wouldn't make it a big deal.
Don't tell your dad.
The words dried on Rei's tongue. Imagining the look on Kazuki's face when they got home turned his stomach. He couldn't bear to see it. The back door could work- just drop Miri off on the porch and sneak in undetected.
No. Kazuki wasn't stupid. He'd have to tell him.
Rei wasn't about to lie to his partner.
Looking back up at the console, Rei found he couldn’t push on the gas. Was he seriously shaking?? He tried to swallow around the lump in his throat, seizing the steering wheel with an iron grip.
“Miri,” he said again, a strain to his voice. “H-hey, Miri-” she paused in her daydreaming just long enough to actually key into what her dad was saying.
“Let's walk the rest of the way.”
The sidewalk here wasn't much of a sidewalk at all. Over the years, trucks rolled by and wrecked the pavement. Now it was so cracked that Rei couldn’t even count the number of plants sprouting up all over the place. Miri kept stopping to stoop over the cracks, amazed at the tiny little flowers. She picked some that she thought her other dad would like.
They were a pretty shade of orange, something that reminded Rei of a certain man's eyes.
Except not nearly as pretty.
“Come on, Miri,” he urged her, waving her on. She hurried along, stopping, of course, at least twenty more times to collect fistfuls of flowers and whatnot.
Rei pointed up ahead. It was the hill they'd sled on when winter came. At this point of the year, it was grassy and a bit muddy, risking fingernails caked with dirt if they let loose Miri to play there.
Knowing her, the kid's eyes went wide.
“Race?”
He nodded.
Rei hung back as Kazuki greeted them at the door, managing to slink around so he could lean against the wall. Only then did he realize his hands were trembling. He pressed them together tightly.
“Miriii!!” Kazuki practically cooed, smooshing his face against his daughter's. “How was school?”
“It was great!” She grinned as she bestowed upon him a bouquet of sidewalk flowers.
“We drawed and then Papa Rei drived really fast!”
He paused to puzzle at her. “He what?”
Only met with a child's whimsy, Kazuki glanced up to his partner. “I didn't hear the car pull up.”
“... We walked,” Rei explained. “Kinda.”
He didn't want to admit what he knew he should. Rei stared at the floor as Kazuki ushered Miri on to go take a bath. Her little footfalls retreated down the hall, leaving the two of them alone.
Rei didn't allow himself to look up.
Taking him by surprise, Kazuki grabbed and tugged on his arm (his good one, mind you), ever-so-gentle. He led his partner over to the couch, promptly throwing a blanket over his lap when he coaxed him to sit down. Rei grabbed a fistful of fluff and held it tightly.
Kazuki's voice was soft.
“What exactly happened?”
“I think I almost crashed.”
Met with silence, Rei finally found courage enough to sneak a glance up at him. The guy was starkly taken-aback and confused. He blinked once, twice before refocusing. “You almost crashed?”
Kazuki tried to reach out for his partner’s hand, but Rei wouldn’t budge. He didn’t deserve that right now. When Rei looked back, he was met with a look of dismay. God, Rei couldn’t keep that gaze.
“What happened? Are you okay?”
The voice that came from Rei he almost didn’t recognize- it was tiny.
“I got distracted.”
Weak. What was wrong with him?
“What do you mean? Did you drift? Was the other car on the wrong side or what??”
“No!”
Kazuki startled when Rei suddenly snapped, jerking away from any other attempt to reach out for him.
“I got distracted and didn't see them, it was my fault.”
Kazuki stared, stunned.
He tried to reach out, but once his fingers grazed the back of the palm, Rei snatched his hand away. As if it fucking burned.
Kazuki ended up sleeping on the couch that night. It wasn’t a matter of discussion- he just concluded that in Rei's situation, it would be best for him to rest in a familiar place, devoid of any distractions.
The living room was cold at night. His gaze slid over to the dining table where Miri’s proud bundle of buds sat where he’d just had another bouquet waiting there.
It still smelled like them.
Myosotis.
Forget-me-nots.
He couldn’t stop thinking as he slowly fell asleep. It hurt his brain just as much as Rei’s words stuck in his heart. In the morning, he’d walk to bring the car back, but for now, everything was just too quiet. He missed the soft sound of his partner’s breathing. The steady rise and fall of his chest, and how he fit perfectly in Kazuki's arms when they cuddled at night.
☆☆☆
Rei couldn’t believe it when he got the message.
The Yamaguchi family lived just down the street. Hiroshi. Miri had met him at the park at the edge of the neighborhood. He was a sweet kid- didn’t seem to have many friends, but got along well with the littles. His younger sister never did get along with Miri, despite being in the same grade.
Sometimes, he’d come over to babysit. Rei had a hunch it was him eating up his secret stash of sweets, but Kazuki always told him not to mind. In the end, Hiroshi was just a kid.
A kid in a baby blue sedan.
Rei hadn’t had enough time to recognize who it was.
Yamaguchi Hiroshi had barely been eighteen. He hadn’t had any driver’s training, and the highway was no place for an inexperienced driver.
It made the local news that day. Kazuki wasn’t home when it came on the television and Rei had to shut it off. He didn’t remember the last time he’d cried. His father had drilled it into him, “Suwa blood doesn’t show weakness.”
Rei could barely even breathe.
He rushed to the bathroom, propping himself over the sink. Couldn’t bear to look at himself in the mirror, drowning himself in metallic tap water. God, it tasted awful and he swore it stung. He coughed and ran it through his hair, shoving his head under the faucet so the water sprayed out against his scalp. It scratched and he thought he felt something warm.
Not only had he seen that car, but he'd gotten out. Which means he could've gone after Hiroshi, which means he would've never gotten to the highway, which means he'd still be okay.
It was too close to Miri. Someone who didn’t know any better, who snuck Choco-rings when they thought he couldn’t see and loved their little neighborhood park.
When Kazuki got home with Miri, he found Rei lying in the bathtub. It'd been years since he'd done that. All curled up. Barely responsive. Miri was old enough to notice. Kazuki sent her off while he sat with Rei, watching beside him quietly, but she knew something was wrong.
Kazuki nudged him gently once he started to blink his eyes.
“Come lay in bed, at least. Rei,” his eyes moved more at his name, blurry and glazed over. Kazuki propped him up by his shoulder, looping an arm around his waist.
“I'll help. Come on, legs. One, two, one, two…”
He kept murmuring despite Rei's ears barely registering any of it. It was quiet in their room. Kazuki took a breath against the doorframe before taking one last stride to settle Rei down onto their bed. He just kinda laid there, half-facedown.
Really, the car was in perfect condition. That off-yellow, little buggy Kazuki called his “fun mobile” (Rei begged him not to call it that). After everything that had happened, though, Rei couldn’t bring himself to get back in those fake-leather seats. Miri still needed picking up, so instead the two of them left down the cracked sidewalk. On their way, Rei caught sight of the flowers. He almost wanted to lean down to pluck a few- compare them to those golden pools.
He didn't.
When the elementary emerged from behind the suburbs, Kazuki left Rei outside the front. He pushed the doors open with a confidence that Rei didn't believe he could possess.
It felt like forever.
“Rei! Rei, you’ll never guess who I saw-”
Kazuki cut himself off upon looking down. There his partner was, knees to his chest. He tilted his head upwards in acknowledgement. Kazuki didn't waste a second sitting down beside him.
“What's going on in there?”
Rei didn't respond.
“... Too many thoughts,” Kazuki mused dryly, staring down at his hands. It was hesitant, but Rei’s reached out to rest on top of his own.
“I'm sorry.”
That made Kazuki look up, somewhat surprised. Rei rubbed at his eyes and pushed the hair out of his face. “Do you have too many in there too… too many for me?”
Kazuki swallowed around the lump in his throat, a smile quirking at his lips. “No, no, probably just below that line, you know?”
“Kazuki, you’re my favorite distraction. I want to make you grin like an idiot,” his eyes started to flick around as if grasping at thoughts that threatened flying away.
“I want to do dumb things with you. I want to feel you beside me when I wake up in the dark.”
Rei sucked in a breath. He really was trying his best here, and it wasn’t necessarily easy.
“I don’t want to let me feeling like… like how I’ve been feeling to get in the way of taking care of you and Miri.”
Kazuki's eyes grew rounded as he watched Rei.
“But when Hiroshi-” he had to cut himself off before his throat gave out. “... It made me realize that I can't keep going on like a robot and be able to keep you safe.”
“You're not a robot,” Kazuki murmured softly, rubbing Rei's hand with his thumb, but his partner shook his head.
“I need to say this. Please, let me-”
“Okay.”
“Let me say this… I feel like I've been lying,” Rei confessed.
“But you haven't?”
“I haven't, but I'm not telling you everything that goes on in here,” he countered, pointing to his head. “I'm scared, Kazuki. Of… of being a person. It's like I'm afraid you won't like me.”
“Rei…” a hand reached up to cup his cheek. Rei allowed it, pressing his face into his partner’s palm. Kazuki gazed at him lovingly.
“If I ever stop liking you, you'd know I got replaced with an alien. Cause I like you so much it hurts.”
They were like that for a while before either dared to break the silence.
“I spoke with Yamaguchi Kota inside.”
Any possible words dried in Rei's throat.
“Hiroshi's doing okay. Woke up, eating applesauce and ice. His mom said he's gonna have to miss graduation, but he's up and at it.”
He was okay. The kid was okay.
“You know what,” Kazuki cleared his throat, standing up. He reached down to Rei.
“You, me and Miri are gonna go home, I'm gonna make us dinner, we'll watch some random movie, then when we put her down, it'll be just you and me. Okay?”
☆☆☆
“Hey Reeeiii,” Kazuki hummed, propped up by his elbows. “You want a distraction?”
His partner smiled a little, a sight that was once unheard of in the Suwa department. He leaned forward to press a kiss to Kazuki's forehead.
“You know, yeah. A Kazu-straction would be nice.”
Kazuki giggled like a kid at his own pun. Sitting up, he pulled Rei in so they rested against each other like puzzle pieces. Kazuki couldn’t help but smile too. Rei bonked his head lightly against Kazuki's, a gesture that would kill him if anybody knew.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Kazuki sighed. “I just really like you. Or, dare I say, love?”
“If you did,” Rei huffed, “dare, I mean, then I might just dare back.”
“You would?”
“Yeah, dumbass.”
Kazuki grinned that goofy, lopsided grin and leaned back to bring Rei into his lap so he could straddle his thighs. Rei held around to the back of his shoulders.
“Careful, I have old bones.”
“I know,” Kazuki murmured, just enjoying holding him in his arms for a bit. It was when he shifted that a jolt of electricity shot through both of them. Kazuki couldn’t help but chuckle- Rei knew that he would.
“Don't you laugh at me,” Rei huffed. His fingers drifted to mess with the fuzz on the back of his partner’s neck.
“Acting like we've never done this before.”
“Well, it has been a while. I missed this.”
“Sex.”
Kazuki rolled his eyes. “I meant you… but also, yeah, that too. Now, what're imagining in that head?”
Rei hummed thoughtfully. “Can you hold me a little tighter?”
He did and Rei opted to rest his chin on his shoulder. He always liked how Kazuki pressed him close to his chest. It grounded him in a way that only he was capable of accomplishing. Rei let his eyes close and shifted his hips, earning a grunt. He paused, scootching his waist closer to the other man's.
“I'm imagining,” he murmured, grinding against Kazuki's thigh. “Your body, how warm you are...”
Kazuki pawed at Rei's hip, a pant escaping his lips as if he couldn’t breathe. Rei calmed it down again and pulled back enough to meet their gazes, a knowing smile growing on his lips. A shiver went up his spine at Kazuki's face. Letting their foreheads press together gently, Kazuki tilted his head so he could connect their lips.
Warm. Rei was right.
He smirked as he swallowed a groan between his jaws.
“Here, move for a second.”
Kazuki obeyed and rolled back with a theatrical sigh. Rei didn't give the satisfaction of an audience, rather focused on his own pants. Drew up on his knees. The problem with sweatpants is that they always tied too tight. Kazuki raised an eyebrow before asking, “Want some help?”
Rei moved his hands to be replaced with Kazuki's own. Fingers hooked between the ties and loosened them to tug past the hips. He winced slightly as the fabric dragged against his dick. Kazuki ran his fingertips down it experimentally, which earned a playful glare down at him.
“Ohh, Rei-kun's ticklish~”
“Like you said,” Rei rasped, holding a hand to his mouth self-consciously. “It's been a while.”
Kazuki shrugged, acknowledgement for him. He began to peel off his own clothes, tossing his shirt over towards the hamper. His shorts joined it in a pile on the floor below.
Both missed.
“Zero points,” Rei remarked, going back to sit with him. Kazuki tried to object, to say he nearly made the shot, but with the guy looking at him like that… it made him realize all over again how pretty Rei was.
And Rei remembered what it felt like to be graced with what was the sun to him.
Leaning in to kiss him, Kazuki pulled up a hand to his cheek. He felt Rei’s hand go to cover his own. Everything about him was warm. His skin, his lips, his breath- which wasn't the best right now, but Kazuki didn't mind. It tasted like him, and he was divine.
Kazuki moved to pepper kisses along his jaw, earning a sharp inhale. He felt Rei tense when his lips brushed his neck and he looked up at him, puzzled.
“Sorry, I'm just-”
“Don't apologize,” Kazuki murmured, pulling back. “Is it too much?”
Rei shook his head.
“... You can keep going.”
“Okay. Here uh, tap me on the shoulder if you want me to stop,” his partner said, placing Rei's hand on his upper arm. He watched as Kazuki trailed down his chest, paying some attention to a nipple. He smirked at Rei’s reaction when he grazed his teeth over it, glancing up at him.
He looks like such a gremlin, Rei groaned, covering his mouth. Kazuki thought that was so cute.
“Don't cover it,” he hummed. “Lean back on the pillows.”
Rei let his head rest, closing his eyes a moment. Feeling something soft drift at his sides, he looked up to see a blanket-covered Kazuki, who gazed up at him with the same little mischievous smile. Rei couldn’t help it. He cupped his partner’s face in his hand, rubbing the bit under his eye so that he almost had to squint. Pressing a kiss to his palm, Kazuki resumed and Rei felt his lips ghost over his stomach, a cool breath blown at his navel.
His lips slipped over him and Rei tensed.
“Just keeping you on your toes,” Kazuki purred, beginning to stroke the man's cock up and down with his fingers. Rei sucked in a breath. Every few moments, Kazuki looked back up to gauge his partner’s reaction. Gradually it turned into pumping his hands over the heated skin, rubbing around the head teasingly. Rei's chest rose and fell as Kazuki kept covering him in little kisses, massaging between his palms. A wet warmth drew over his skin again and Rei tensed as the wave of static engulfed him, hips bucking up into Kazuki's hands, whose head pulled back with a little grin.
Rei tried to cover his face, a blush crept down his neck as he swallowed. He wiped at the sweat collecting on his skin- Kazuki let out a breathy chuckle.
His partner propped himself up on an elbow, raising an eyebrow at him. “What's so funny, Kazu-chan?”
The blonde rested his cheek against Rei's thigh. “Nooothiiing~”
☆☆☆
“Does your arm still hurt?”
“Sometimes,” Rei admitted. He shifted on the porch step, bringing up his old wounded limb.
“It gets sore easy.”
Kazuki grunted and leaned in to look at it, touching his arm gently. The muscle felt tense. “Didn't hurt you earlier, did I?”
He shook his head. Gazing out at the clouds on the horizon, Rei was starting to lose himself to his thoughts. The sun was gone by this point, and the stats were beginning to emerge from the darkness.
“... I kinda wish you'd told me,” Kazuki said after a moment. He rubbed at the back of his neck.
“That you were gonna do that.”
“What do you mean?”
Kazuki's eyes rounded and he tugged at Rei's hand.
“Well- that you were planning on hurting yourself like that. I mean, I understand why you did, but- Rei, you shot yourself in the arm. What if you do something like it again?”
“I won't.”
“How am I supposed to believe that?”
Rei was silent a moment before drawing in a steadying breath.
“Because I want to be able to protect you. My father would've never let me leave if I could still shoot a gun. I… I'm sorry I didn't tell you. It was the easiest way to get back to you. You and Miri are what's important to me. I promise I won't do anything reckless like that anymore.”
“Thanks. I trust you."
Rei could feel Kazuki's short exhale along his cheek. “I can take Miri to school tomorrow.”
He turned to press a kiss to Rei's temple. “You wanna go to bed?”
Rei let his head test against his partner’s shoulder. “Can we stay here for a bit longer?”
Kazuki hummed in agreement, his fingers threading between Rei's own.
“Okay.”
☆☆☆