Home for the Holidays
By
Chibijem
Disclaimer: I do not own the characters herein and am making no financial gain from this work of fiction.
Ichinose Tokiya laid his slightly damp body against the sheets, bringing his lover with him. He smiled as he felt Nanami Haruka's tiny fingers trace patterns across his chest. His breath was uneven as his heartbeat pounded in the afterglow of the couple's lovemaking. He could feel the slight trembling in his companion's lithe body.
"Daijobu desu ka?" He asked, skimming his fingers down her slim back.
"Heki desu." Starish's composer answered, breathlessly. Haruka lifted her head from where she had laid it against her lover's chest; she studied Tokiya's striking features as he began to drift off to some much needed sleep. He had just finished a hectic recording and filming schedule. He had been so exhausted during the business dinner tonight that she had brought him to her apartment rather than have him travel the extra distance to his own. The other members of Starish were in similar states these past weeks. With the end of the year stretch approaching, everyone was working extra-long hours. She looked around her bedroom at the disorder reigning: her clothes was mixed with his, their personal items strewn about. "Ne, Tokiya?"
"Hmmmmm," was the rumbled response from the idol.
Haruka smiled to herself, she loved their quiet time together. "I was thinking….."
"About?" Tokiya opened one slate eye to meet sun-kissed ones.
"I need a bigger place." She told him.
Tokiya smiled inside, his love had just brought up something he had been thinking about for weeks. "I was thinking we should get a place together." He countered.
Haruka sat straight up, ignoring her nakedness. "What…? Are you…"
"Serious? Hai, I am." He sat up as well and took tiny hands into his own. "We spend a lot of time going to and from each other's apartments, leaving things behind. It would be easier for us to get a place together."
"But I thought you liked having a place of your own. That you needed solitude to recoup from everything." She turned her hand to clasp Tokiya's long fingers in her own.
"I do, did," he corrected. He closed his eyes and shook his head as if trying to get his thoughts in order. He opened his eyes and looked at his saving grace. "You are my place of solitude." He told her honestly. "You do that for me. You make the hardest day fade away, make all my frustrations and stress disappear." He leaned over to lay a kiss to soft lips.
"Tokiya," his name came out on a sigh. Starish's composer lifted glistening eyes to the singer's cherished face. "You do the same for me."
"So shall we find a place to call our own?" Tokiya gently captured a tear on his finger.
"Hai," Haruka leaned over and wrapped her arms around her lover's broad shoulders.
Several Days Later
Tokiya entered his kitchen carrying a sheaf of papers. He leaned against the counter next to the stove and watched Haruka stirring a pot. "Smells good." He bent to kiss a downy cheek. "You know you did not have to cook. We could have gone out, gotten delivery…."
"Iie, we both need a nourishing, home cooked meal. Not one filled with salt and who knows what. Besides, I like cooking."
"You are so good to me."
She set aside the spoon, covered the pot and turned to him. "What have you got there?" She inclined her head at the papers he held.
"Jinguji's property agent messengered over a list of apartments for us to look at." He sat the counter and smiled his thanks when Haruka set a cup of hot tea in front of him. "I took a quick glance at them and they all look good." He told her as she sat next to him.
They perused the papers all though dinner and afterwards, Tokiya searched the internet for information regarding locations and neighborhood information. By the end of the night, he and Haruka had whittled the choices down to four. Tokiya emailed the agent to schedule some time for them to personally tour each apartment.
Two days later, the couple was sitting in Haruka's home, eating take away as they were both too tired to cook. They had spent their free afternoon, looking at the four places they were interested in. "So we are down to these two?" Tokiya nodded his head to the papers on the two homes that were left after much discussion.
"Unless you want Miyama-san to suggest others?"
"I think he suggested good ones and so did Hijirikawa and Jinguji when I showed them what we had chosen to look at."
"Sou desu ka," the group's founder took a bite of chicken fried rice. "So which one?"
Tokiya looked up from the bowl he held. "This is not my decision alone," he told his love after swallowing. "This is going to be your home too."
"I know, but you've bought property before. You know more about these things."
"Haruka, to be honest, my place was preapproved by my last manager and president. Not to mention, I did not exactly spend a lot of time there. I was too busy being Hayato." The once and current idol revealed. "I want this new home to be ours."
Two Weeks Later
"Nanami? Where did you want this box?" Hijirikawa Masato called out from the entry of the new apartment the couple had purchased.
Starish's composer bounded down the stairs in one of Tokiya's shirts and rolled up denim pants, hair covered in a tour scarf. "Ano….over there." She indicated an empty corner of the room. She and Tokiya had enlisted the other members of the group to help them move, leaving the heavy lifting to a professional service.
"Kouhitsuji-chan? Do you want this one near the piano?" Jinguji Ren queried, lifting a box marked 'scores' in his arms.
"Hai," Haruka smiled and got teary-eyed once again. Her gaze fell on the new baby grand piano Tokiya had bought for her as a house warming gift. Their new home was much larger and she privately thought her lover had argued for it just so she could have the beautiful instrument.
"It is wonderful, Haru-chan." Shinomiya Natsuki commented from where he was unpacking dishware. He had noticed the numerous tender glances their composer had given the gift.
"Just like Tokiya." Kurusu Syo added.
"He is the sentimental type," Ittoki Otoya confirmed from the bookcase where he was placing volumes on the shelves.
"There is nothing wrong with that." Aijima Cecil interjected, setting down the box he carried.
"Absolutely nothing." Haruka agreed, wrapping an arm around the prince's own.
After feeding everyone and thanking them all for their help, Tokiya and Haruka sat on the new sofa they had purchased. They had decided to go ahead and buy several new pieces of furniture for their new home. Tokiya laid his dark head against the back cushions and sighed. "Still a lot of unpacking to do," he mused.
"Mmmmmm," Haruka replied from her love's shoulder where she rested her own head. "It can wait until tomorrow."
The unofficial leader of Starish turned his head and pressed a kiss to lightly scented, orange curls. "That will leave a lot to do then. We both have full schedules afterwards."
"I cannot wait for the new year. A week with nothing to do but be lazy." She sighed again. "I do not know what possessed us moving at this time of year."
"I think we both wanted to start the new year in a new home…our…home. And this was the only time we could get it done."
"Thanks to Saotome-sama for his help arranging for the movers, not to mention Jinguji-san's friend for the fast closing." Haruka supplemented.
"We will have to do something to thank them." Tokiya sat forward again and ran his long fingers through his thick, dark locks. "We should at least clear a path to the stairs. I, for one, do not want to trip on my way to coffee in the morning." He stood, stretched and held out a hand to help his love up.
He had moved several boxes when he reached for a sealed carton, "Koi? What is in this one?"
Haruka turned from where she was pushing two boxes full of linens to the side. Her heart did a little flip; she had specifically marked the one Tokiya currently held as 'Miscellaneous H' so as not to alert anyone as to the contents. "Just put it near the piano, I will deal with it tomorrow." She answered vaguely.
"You did not answer my question."
"It is just odds and ends."
One elegant eyebrow lifted in query. Silently, the vocalist set the box on a table and started pulling the tape off.
"Tokiya!?"
"What? I want to see what you are being so secretive about." He avoided his love's attempts to stop him from opening the box.
"I tell you, it is nothing important." She argued. She slammed her eyes shut when the box came open and her lover gasped. She opened one eye to chance a look. "Tokiya?"
"You certainly were a fan." He mused, lifting out a facsimile costume of Hayato. He turned his gaze to meet a golden one. "Why on earth…?"
"I like my mementos, besides it was you….I did not know that at the time, but…." She explained. "You are not mad, are you?"
"Iie, why should I be?" He reached out and cupped a soft cheek in his large hand. "I am rather flattered. Though I still have trouble with what I became." He replied, as he began to go through the contents of the container. He came across a signed photograph and remembered the event from which it came. "You stood in line?"
"I did." Was the emphatic answer. She took the photo and studied Tokiya as Hayato. "You look sad."
"I am smiling."
"But it does not reach your eyes." Haruka looked up into blue ones, blinking before her. "I know you now and this smile," she shook the picture. "This smile is so fake, no matter how it looks to everyone else. You were unhappy."
Tokiya set the costume he held, aside, "It was about that time I began to doubt everything that revolved around my so-called alter ego. I had just returned to my schedule after my accident…."
"I remember you telling me." Haruka rested a comforting hand on her love's trim waist.
Blue eyes focused again as the past faded away where it belonged. "Anyhow, I want to look through your Hayato stash." He teased with a true smile. "I want to know just how much of a fangirl you were." He laughed as he avoided his lover's grasping fingers.
Several Days Before Christmas
Tokiya entered their new home and took in the smell of dinner cooking and of the pine tree in the corner waiting to be decorated. He set several bags down next to the couch and made his way to the kitchen. Both he and Haruka had settled nicely into their new home though it had taken a few days getting used to each other's small habits. He came up behind his saving grace and wrapped his strong arms around her tiny figure. "Tadaima." He pressed a kiss to the side of her neck.
"Oooo! You are cold!" Haruka turned from the dinner she was preparing. She gasped when her lover took her hands in his and pressed them to his wind-chilled cheeks. "Tokiya!"
"It is December, koibito." He reminded her with a smile. He handed her a rolled up parcel. "I managed to save you one." He informed her, blowing into his cupped hands in an attempt to warm them before Haruka handed him a cup of coffee to use instead.
Haruka carefully unrolled the poster and smiled. "You all look terrific!" She exclaimed. The image staring back at her was of Starish posing with Santa caps and in Cecil's and Syo's cases, reindeer antlers. The poster was part of the promotional merchandise to go along with their newest single's release. Starish had been promoting a holiday song and had given performances the past week. The one today was at a children's ward at a local hospital and they had plans to visit Otoya's orphanage the following day.
Later that night, the two were decorating the tree with the ornaments Haruka had and Tokiya had bought. The composer had laughed at Tokiya's grumblings trying to untangle the many light strings just as he had watching Haruka attempts at hanging ornaments on the higher branches. He had finally brought out the small ladder he had purchased the day they had moved in.
"Haruka?" He held a box behind his back.
"Nani?" She turned her loving gaze on his tall figure. "What are you hiding?"
"I saw these…" He handed over the box. He took much delight in watching the emotions run across his love's beautiful face.
"Oh, Tokiya." She hugged him with all her strength, burying her head in his chest. "They are perfect." She held up the crystal piano, both of them enthralled with the lights being thrown off the piece. She hung it in the very front of the tree. She then took out the other, "You are such a sentimental man and I love you." She hung the "Our First Christmas" ornament close to the piano.
He held some mistletoe over their heads. "No more than I love you." He bent down to kiss her, their entwined bodies framed by the holiday lights blinking as if in celebration of their love.
FIN