Title: A New Home
Author: Ashkah
Recipient: Kat8cha
Pairing/Characters: IbuKami
Rating: K+
Warnings(if any): fluffy, though only toward the end. WAFF and….. That's it?
Word Count: 1097

Disclaimer: Do not own. Konomi Takeshi-sensei does!
Author's notes: Written for Kat8cha for a Fudoumine exchange group. My only regret is that I couldn't make this longer. The writing style saw to that, unfortunately, and if I had tried to go longer with it, then the style would have changed half way through and made the whole reading awkward. If you are looking at this and the drabble submitted, yes they are connected, but only in the sense that they came out of the same fic-verse. I hope you enjoy this, kat8cha! 3 And many thanks to the super fast, last minute job my beta, lilwhitemage, did!

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Kamio Akira and Ibu Shinji moved in together during the summer of their second year of college. They had officially been dating since their freshman year of high school, and their relationship had progressed far enough during that time that it seemed only natural that moving in together would be the next step forward. In fact, many even wondered why it hadn't happened sooner.

If you asked Kamio, he'd tell you that they both wanted to try and live separately for awhile, in an attempt to learn how to support themselves, and leave it at that. The truth of the matter, however, was that Kamio had desired for long time before the end of high school to live on his own, and with sisters like his, anyone could understand why. Especially Shinji, who'd spent a great deal of his own time over at Kamio's house himself. So, he decided to indulge his boyfriend and allow him to do as he pleased, convincing himself that he could wait, even though he had been more than ready to find a place for the two of them right out of graduation.

The first few months of living as such would be Shinji's pick for the worst time in their relationship. Shinji had even entertained the idea of breaking up with his partner, not that Akira ever found out about it. The whole thing manifested in Shinji's mind, and he was able to talk himself out of the idea before he brought it up to the other. He determined that he would be worse off if he did so, and the thought of losing the redhead for good scared the hell out of him. Kamio, for his part, remained completely oblivious about it all, or if he did get some idea that something was going on with his boyfriend, he did well not to bring it up.

Separate living spaces weren't the only things keeping the two apart. With the responsibility of a place of one's own came the added responsibility of acquiring a job to maintain it. Shinji took a job at the public library situated between his apartment and the Private University whose tennis scholarship he had accepted. Akira, on the other hand, had submitted a demo tape and had been hired by one of the local night clubs to be a DJ. Working at the library meant long days, and working at the night club meant late nights. Their off days were hardly ever the same, and when they could make time to be together, it was never for very long.

After school started, the blue-haired tensai finally started to calm down, however. Since they each attended different colleges, it became understood that their time together would become even tighter, which why Shinji began to find ways of bringing up the subject of moving in more and more in their conversations. Unfortunately, Kamio always found things that would get in the way of them actually being able to, whether it was finals, or big projects at work, or family matters which needed to be attended to, such as Kamio's older sister's wedding, for one. There was always something, and in the end, Shinji always relented.

Suddenly, one bright summer day after their second year of college had passed, Akira took Shinji to his favorite smoothie shop on the street they grew up on, and brought the subject up himself. Shinji never did figure out what it was that changed his partner's mind about the idea, but all his years playing tennis taught him that you never let a free shot go to waste.

The apartment they found couldn't have been in a better spot, located right in the middle of the two schools they attended, pet friendly, and inexpensive on top of all that. They were lucky to find a place that attended to all their needs, which gave the blue-haired teen the sneaky suspicion that Akira had actually been looking long before without him knowing. He did seem a bit too friendly with the landlord, and the neighbors too, for that matter. But who was he to complain when he was finally getting his wish?

Their first few days in their new place were hectic between the both of them trying to unpack, and having arguments on where things would go, consisting mostly of Kamio placing one item in one spot, and Shinji coming up behind him and moving it someplace else. Akira finally gave up, and left everything besides his own room to Shinji's discretion.

Another thing they had to deal with were the cats; Kamio's cat Taki to be more precise, because Shinji's cat Rhythm was the image of a perfect angel, no matter how much Akira spoiled her. He finally understood why his lover kept threatening to throw little orange tabby out on the doorstep. Shinji had to say good-bye to his favorite pair of socks that week. Akira has still yet to buy him a replacement pair.

The housewarming was small, only consisting of a few really close friends: Tachibana-san and An-chan, and a couple of co-workers. Their parents even stopped by briefly to see the new place and to make sure they had everything properly sorted, even though they insisted time and again that they could handle everything on their own just fine. That still didn't stop them from making almost daily calls once their phone line had been set up to check up on the wayward couple.

It wasn't until after all the packing had finished, the boxes moved out of the way, and the guests had left, when they had finally the chance to enjoy their new home just the two of them, that the reality of the situation finally sunk in. This was their home. They'd finally started a new chapter in their relationship, in their lives. The thought filled him with euphoria at how right it seemed to be.

One night after they'd been living there for about two weeks, Shinji came the kitchen to see Kamio staring at the calendar hanging on the wall. He walked up behind his lover and wrapped his arms around him, resting his chin on the redhead's shoulder. "What are you looking at?"

Akira only pointed at the calendar, at the date circled in red. It was the next day's date, and Shinji had been wondering why Kamio had bothered to circle it. "Tomorrow's the 12th," he answered. Confused, Shinji gave him an odd look. The other just grinned and twisted in Shinji's embrace, giving the other a small kiss. "Happy Anniversary."