Title: The First of Many

Challenge/Prompt: Written for the Gift-Giving Extravaganza of 2015 for ma chérie, Millsy. Along with that were the 100 Prompts, 100 Stories (77, gift); and the 5, 10, 20, 50, 70, 100 Fandoms challenges.

Rating: K+

Word Count: About 1989

Characters/Pairings: Ryouma/Izumi, Rei

Disclaimer: Not mine. Not affiliated with any official business or organizations related to, and including, the ones in charge of the production, selling, broadcasting, creating, or taping of the Love Stage! project. This was written by a fan for fans to fans.

Warning(s): Latest manga chapter spoilers, spoilers from Back Stage!, spoilers from anime

It was as the date drew in closer and closer that he finally came to the realization that he really needed to figure out what he was going to do later on that month. And so his search began. And he didn't just simply search; oh no, perish the thought. What he did was locate, examine, and gather data, with some more searching added to the mix. He watched movies, observed individuals in parks, and even sought answers on legitimate and credible sources of information - such as Yahoo! Answers - eyes trailing each new entry for at least some hint as to what he should do.

And that's when he then began to flip through a book. Which soon became two books, quickly turning into a multiple of eight, before it then became just the books he was skimming through. So strong was his determination that he soon began to read each panel, to analyze and re-analyze each author's use of diction and syntax, to absorb each plot line and conflict and tiniest smidge of character development until he finally gave up. It was with a wave of regretful finality that he shut the last book with a sigh and a dramatic declaration of:

"I have no idea what to get Ryouma for Valentine's Day!"

It was at that that Izumi truly felt the reality of the situation give way around him, as if the crumbling of a formerly solid bridge. A feeling reminiscent of a stone dropping to the bottom of his tummy, heavy and bothersome, weighing him down, soon came to life as he contemplated his burst of inner-inquiry. What did gay couples actually get up to on Valentine's Day? When he'd first submitted himself to that singular line of questioning, Izumi had, at first, shrugged off the mere suggestion of Valentine's Day, believing that Ryouma and he would jointly choose not to partake in this year's events. And as he thought that, he said to himself, 'What man would, especially when they were in a relationship with another man," unconsciously, not to mention blatantly, disregarding the past few years in which his brother would unexpectedly visited from London, weighed down with parcels upon parcels of foreign chocolates, to his own young delight. It'd been days since he'd started his search for information, and all he wanted now was a sign.

It was as he was contemplating the event in which he'd receive such a sign that Rei came into the library, a riskus of a scowl distorting his normally handsome features.

"Izumi," he said upon arriving at the younger blond's table. "I've been calling you for ages. Why haven't you been picking up?"

Izumi glanced up at the other man in confusion before slipping his phone out of his jeans pocket and checking his missed phone calls. Forty-three of them, he read in shock. And it was half-past six; meaning, he'd been at the library for over eight hours.

"Reiiii," he felt his mouth turning up in a pout, an alarmingly familiar burn at the backs of his eyes. Rei walked around the table and pulled out a chair, laying a commiserating hand on Izumi's slim shoulder in reply. Izumi immediately turned in his seat, placing his head atop Rei's chest as he sobbed, "What am I going to do for Valentine's Day? I mean, I know Ryouma celebrates it - he told me he did last week - but what should I do? He wouldn't like it if I arrived at his doorstep at seven with a bouquet of red roses and a reservation at an Italian restaurant, right?"

He felt more than heard Rei's sigh, and wondered briefly at the reasoning behind it. Maybe Rei was more tired than he'd initially thought? Maybe he hadn't been sleeping at all, so worried was he at Izumi's prolonged absence? Just as Izumi had decided to open his mouth in order to utter an apology at having disappeared at Rei's motherly expense, the man said something that shook him to the core.

"Ryouma-san has been pestering me about the exact same thing for weeks, nonstop, Izumi."

Izumi stopped crying at that, backing bodily away until he could look at Rei with ease. "Really?"

"Yes," he pushed his glasses up with his right hand as he took out a plain white handkerchief for the blond to dab at his eyes with. "I had to block his number after a few days under a barrage of unrelenting calls, but then he continued to do so from random pay phones around the city, so I eventually just unblocked him again with a threat to satisfy my annoyance at him.

"Just talk to him about it, instead of trying to plan out an elaborate surprise, okay?"

"Un," Izumi nodded his head, a smile stealing its way across his face in exuberance. "I will!"

"Oh, and Izumi?" The blond made a noise as a signal for the older man to go along with what he was about to say. "I don't especially think reading BL manga like Aitsu no Daihonmei or Junjou Romanchika is especially going to help you in this situation."

"But they're so popular!"

"And they are written for teenage girls."

"But I connect so well with Misaki-san and Yoshida-kun!"

Rei only had to lift up an eyebrow at that comment for Izumi to blush in embarrassment at what he'd just revealed. Well, at least he hadn't admitted to having analyzed every single scene for significance or even clues as to what might happen in the next installments...

And then he suddenly looked up at Rei with a new light in his eyes, for more reasons than simply one.

Six Days Later on the 14th of February

"Izumi!" Ryouma called out into the darkness of the hallway connected to his entranceway, door closed shut firmly behind himself. He frowned in thought when no answer met his shout, slipping his shoes off his feet in the meantime. It was especially odd due to the text Izumi had sent him over three hours ago to not return to his apartment until eight over three hours ago, so if no one was home...

Ryouma mentally shrugged at his own thoughts before he decided to meander further into his loft, flipping on light switches and peering into closets and rooms for signs of life. When he finally made it into the dining room, he stopped and held a hand to his chest in shock.

Standing, clothed from head to toe in an ensemble that nearly stopped the brunet's heart, was Izumi. The blond had undoubtedly had someone professional style his hair for him - maybe Ryouma's own hairdresser - and had chosen to wear one of the outfits they'd gone out to buy on their most latest outing together, giving his normally boyish appearance an androgynous finish.

It took a while longer than strictly necessary for Ryouma to finally redirect his eyes from scanning his incredibly attractive boyfriend to what lay on the long, mahogany table before him. A huge chocolate cake stood at the very center, colorful icing decorating it that just skated that thin line between gauche and artistic, surrounded by a small course consisting of appetizers, a steak dinner, a salad, and a bottle of wine, rather than traditional Japanese sake. Though struck dumb by the extent Izumi had gone to make their first Valentine's Day special, the brunet still held the presence of mind required in order to hand his own bundle of gifts over to Izumi as he strode in closer.

"Wow," he sighed in amazement, gaze flitting back over to the decorated table. There lay a cloth beneath the carefully distributed plates of food and silverware, the flutes of glass near both of the couple's separate, empty plates. The lights were still off, and it was only then that Ryouma realized that the dining room sconce hadn't turned on when he'd flipped the switch. He soon came to notice that there were candles carefully placed about the room, creating an atmosphere that was just dark enough to warrant the label of "romantic". Seeing how much attention was paid to detail boggled the mind, and he marveled at the efforts of whoever had helped Izumi to set up what his simple dining area had been transformed into. "When did you have the time to set all this up?"

Instead of answering the question, Izumi simply made a squeaky, though low sound of pleasure, causing Ryouma to immediately turn his head to the side in reaction to it, nearly causing a crick in his neck to form that would have left him in more than just a little bit of discomfort later on into the night. Izumi, to his delight, was cuddling the panda plush he'd had made for him by a local toy mongal, in exchange for an autograph and several pictures of the two posed together in a friendly manner reminiscent of two old friends catching up in a chance meeting, to his chest, face pushed into the soft fur of the monochromatic stuffed animal.

"Izumi?" he called once again, stepping in closer to place a hand on the blond's back. Izumi sprung to attention then, gazing up at Ryouma with stars in his eyes.

"Ryooouma," Izumi began in a sing-song tone of voice, a brilliant smile affixed upon his adorable face. Ryouma had to breathe in slowly at that in order to better control his inner-beast - which was currently cheering for him to take Izumi into his arms and hug him for a period of no less than sixty-three point five hours, an action that didn't sound very comfortable, no matter how much he liked the mere idea of having Izumi in his arms for any extended length of time - and answered coolly with a half-broken, cringe-worthy, "Yes?"

"I love it!"

And now Izumi was actually in his arms, and despite how much it hurt for the wad of boxes and bags and the single bouquet of assorted flowers he'd had a florist pick out in the Victorian Language of Flowers to push into his body, he couldn't actually bring himself to care. The encasing and enchanting nature of Izumi's warmth and smell seemed to make everything seem all the more brighter, a comforting feature to a wonderfully romantic setting.

"I'm so glad you do," Ryouma announced, staring up at the ceiling as he felt the tension seem to leak from his pores. "It took me forever to figure out what I thought you would want for today."

"Me too," Izumi agreed as he silently rubbed his face against Ryouma's chest, in place of the plush. Ryouma felt about ready to burst from the happiness he felt at just the slightest movement of his boyfriend's face. Oh why, oh why did he have to have someone so obliviously cute and lovely at his side? How did he get to be so lucky? "I love you."

Ryouma gazed down at his little bundle of Izum as he tried his level best to work his arms around the blond's waist properly, and pecked him on the top of his head. "I love you, too."

Minutes later, as Izumi was serving himself some food from the plate of appetizers the two were sharing in quiet joy, Ryouma straightened up in his seat and asked a very important question:

"How did you get a key to my apartment?"

"Rei."

And at that moment, Rei sneezed somewhere within Shougo's apartment, and Ryouma realized that he would never truly understand the true extent of Rei's reach into his life.

Author's Note:

I'm so relieved I finally finished. Seriously, I went from a measly 700 words and asking Aqua what the minimum was for GGE, to 1900. Dude, that is a steep climb.

Really, I just hope you enjoyed reading this venture into the Love Stage! fandom, Millsy. I really do love you very, very much, and I hope you felt the fluffiness as keenly as I did as I wrote and edited this piece. :3 Seriously, this idea ran away from me the longer it continued on.

And to those others who had decided to give this fic a shot: I really hope you enjoyed it as well, and hope you will share your pleasure by maybe... I dunno... leaving a review of some sorts? Kk thnx bai? :D