1. Clean and decorate your house
Gokudera's flat was spotless. He cleaned and aired the rooms, organized everything from magazines to clothes, took out the trash, even did laundry. A fresh start for a new year; it felt really great. Until, of course, he heard a loud crash and a piercing cry from Uri. He rushed to the kitchen and fell to his knees, tears welling up in his eyes. His freshly watered plant was currently on the floor, with Uri rolling in the dirt from the broken pot. Without thinking, he threw himself at the cat with a battle cry, but the cat ran off, leaving pawprints all over his clean floors. He spit out the dirt from his mouth and grabbed a kitchen knife from the drawer.
"That demon cat is going to die."
When Yamamoto entered the apartment, the first thing he heard was Gokudera's screams. He rushed to the source of the sound, his bat ready in his hands, and barged into Gokudera's bedroom. What he saw had him confused for a moment: Gokudera with a hammer in one hand and something cat-like in another, staring at him blankly. For a brief moment Yamamoto considered asking about the blotches of dirt on Gokudera's face, but thought better of it.
"Ahaha, are you hanging a maneki neko?" he asked diplomatically, putting the bat down.
"Yeah, sure, whatever, just come here and hold it still."
Yamamoto came closer and noticed that what Gokudera had been trying to hang on the wall was not a lucky cat but Uri. He yelped and grabbed Gokudera's arm before he could smash the poor creature with the hammer, making them both stumble and giving Uri the opportunity to finally latch herself on Gokudera's face.
"BAKAMOTO!"
Yamamoto managed to get Uri off, but Gokudera still seemed very angry for some reason…
2. Make mochi
Gokudera was still pouting when they reached Yamamoto's house, and for a good reason! The bastard let the demon cat do this to his face and dared to think a few kisses and a promise of mochi would make it right. At least now Yamamoto's bruise matched his scratches which, admittedly, stopped being so appealing the moment Gokudera thought of the shocked expression on Yamamoto's dad's face he was about to see. But the old man was nowhere to be found so Yamamoto got down to work without a word; it made Gokudera squirm.
"I thought you only could make sushi," he mumbled.
"Haha, Gokudera is so harsh!" replied Yamamoto lightly, not looking at him.
Gokudera gritted his teeth and cursed himself for being so impulsive again. Sometimes he felt that all he ever did was make up for mistakes he made. He reach out to touch the bruised cheek and gently turned Yamamoto's head, bringing their faces closer. He was about to apologize when Yamamoto's dad burst into the kitchen, all drunken giggles and heartfelt hugs.
"Eh, Takeshi, when will you finally get a girlfriend…" the old man slurred longingly out of the blue, throwing his arm around his son's shoulders. "All you think about is baseball…"
"Gokudera is my girlfriend."
Gokduera choked on his own spit but had to compose himself really quickly because Yamamoto's dad was staring at him suspiciously and humming loudly. "I thought he was a boy…"
Yamamoto nodded simply, his entire form relaxed and confident, and asked Gokudera to pass him the soy powder. As Gokudera reached for it with shaking fingers and pounding heart, he heard a slap and a yelp – Yamamoto's dad struck him on the back of the head. Gokudera swallowed, silently apologizing to Juudaime for failing to live long enough to protect him with his worthless life.
"Then don't call him your girlfriend, that's rude! And these mochi taste like sushi, son."
3. Make a resolution
Gokudera was going to kill Yamamoto. Not a very revolutionary idea for a new year's resolution, true, but he would make Juudaime proud with his resolve.
It wasn't about the fact that he suddenly came out to his dad, at the same time revealing their relationship. It wasn't even about the conversation he overheard when he sneaked out for a smoke, standing too close to the window for his own good ("Haha, your mother was feisty and mouthy too, my blood!" and then "Dad, stop it! How do I make them not taste like sushi!") because the old man's drunken comments were harmless and also strangely comforting.
It was about what he heard soon after Yamamoto's dad asked how long have they been together, and Yamamoto chuckled softly before saying, "It's… complicated."
Gokudera's eyes widened in shock, because, no, it wasn't complicated at all, Gokudera stopped complicating it a long time ago, everything was fine, wasn't it, they were together for over a year after all, there was nothing complicated about them, right? He scooted closer to the window, his arms around his knees, and listened, trying to calm his heartbeat. He almost stopped breathing when Yamamoto sighed with frustration.
"Sometimes I think I love him too much and I want to say from the first day that I saw him but it just sound silly and it's definitely not true for Gokudera he really hated me at first but I like to think he doesn't anymore but why would I think so he's perfect and I'm just a baseball idiot and he's gonna go out there and do great things and leave me behind because that's the smart thing to do and Gokudera is so smart he's so smart dad and so pretty did you see him his cat scratched his face earlier and he still looks so pretty did you spike my juice with sake oh my god dad"
And that's when, with his entire body shaking and his face burning like a thousand suns, Gokudera decided that Yamamoto Takeshi was a dead man.
4. Visit a shrine
If Gokudera would have to be honest, he didn't want to go out. As annoyingly pathetic and embarrassing as it was, all he wanted to do was lock himself in the room with Yamamoto and not let him out of his hands for even a second. But he didn't want to admit he'd heard him back there, and he definitely didn't want to let Juudaime down.
They were all supposed to go to the shrine, everyone except Bianci, who went back to Italy to be with "family." Gokudera scoffed at that, partly because he scoffed at everything Bianci said or did, and partly because he wanted to hide how hurt he was; after all, he didn't have "a family" anymore. Then Juudaime, in his infinite insight and empathy, put his hand on Gokudera's shoulder and said, "Don't worry, Gokudera-kun, we're your family now."
Gokudera cried tears of joy in that glorious moment and he wasn't even the least bit ashamed of it. How could he forget for even a second how generous Juudaime was, and how important it was that he knew the full extent of Gokudera's eternal devotion. He would go to the shrine, ring all the bells, buy all the talismans and watch all the fireworks Juudaime would want him to and Yamamoto could wait.
It was not to say that it was easy to keep ignoring him, with his little tipsy smile plastered to his flushed face and those confused glances when he caught Gokudera staring at him demandingly when Haru got too handsy. As absorbing as Juudaime was, Gokudera couldn't help but be aware of Yamamoto's presence; all the time, all over. It angered him almost as much as excited, which, in turn, angered him even more. He wished he wasn't so in love…
It made him laugh, really, considering what Yamamoto said to his own father. They were both young and stupid and stuck in a mile long line to a freaking bell and Gokudera really couldn't do anything but laugh. Juudaime looked at him questioningly before his eyes found Yamamoto and he smiled knowingly, giving Gokudera silent permission to switch places with Haru and lace his almost numb fingers with Yamamoto's.
5. Celebrate the "firsts"
When they finally got to Gokudera's apartment, they were both too exhausted to do anything but sleep. Gokudera didn't even spare Uri a second glance before collapsing on the bed and waiting for Yamamoto to join him. Before he fell asleep, he heard Yamamoto's chuckle right next to his ear and everything was alright.
He woke up to the annoying sound of purring and slightly less annoying sound of snoring. Uri was curled up in his feet, and Yamamoto's hand somehow found itself on Gokudera's waist. He turned from his side to his back and sighed sleepily, smirking at Uri's half-assed hiss. Next to him, Yamamoto groaned softly and his hand slid under Gokudera's shirt. He cleared his throat when warm fingers pressed into his skin and Yamamoto smiled.
"First touch of Gokudera's skin…" he mumbled without opening his eyes. His other hand crept up from under the pillow to sweep his messy hair off his forehead. "First touch of his hair."
Gokudera snorted, which turned into an undignified giggled when Yamamoto rolled himself over on top of him, embracing his entire body and simply breathing him in.
"First smell." He felt Yamamoto's tongue on his neck and shivered. "First taste."
If Gokudera's cheeks looked even half as red as they felt, he was going to die when Yamamoto looked at him, so the natural solution was to close his eyes and pretend none of that was happening. Of course, Yamamoto's smug chuckle took the better of him and soon he was glaring right into a brightly smiling face, leaning into his own.
"You're gonna celebrate your first black eye if you try to kiss me before brushing your teeth, Bakamoto, just a fair warning."
And Gokudera knew he heard it at least twice after midnight, but he still counted Yamamoto's full-belly laughter as a first, just to have something to celebrate until that first kiss in the new year.