A/N: Happy New Year to all! And happy almost anniversary to this fic.
Shougatsu: A Restart Special
20:03, November 29th
During what would be a night of casual relaxation at his apartment, Ijuiin Kyo had found himself unsure of whether to be relieved or completely heartbroken.
Usami Haruhiko, the presumed love of his life, had just admitted that he was needed to work back at the company on Christmas Eve and Day. However, Ijuiin would've also been held back by his own job to fulfill.
His partner seemed to have successfully masked his emotions behind one of Ijuiin's manga books, additionally pressing his glasses onto the bridge of his nose as if to distract himself. "Therefore, I believe we're just not spending Christmas together."
"Yeah…" Ijuiin said, swallowing his disappointment as he remembered the sudden magazine project that had been sprung onto him at the very last minute for a holiday special.
"Then, I know we've discussed it in the past before, but I would like to us to consider exchanging gifts if we are unable to be in each other's presence," Haruhiko suggested.
Ijuiin had thought briefly that this could be a good idea (if he could think of what he actually wanted), until he remembered the incident where Haruhiko bought 4 lifetimes worth of manga supplies. "I mean, I don't exactly have anything in mind. What about you, Haruhiko?" he asked.
"There's nothing I desire, but I would still like to give you something, being that this is—well, would have been—our first Christmas together," Haruhiko answered simply as he used his thumb as a bookmark when he closed the manga.
Ijuiin looked at his partner sternly. "Come on, that's not fair if I get something and you don't, first Christmas or not."
"I have everything I want and need. I appreciated the sketchbook you got me for my birthday, but I would rather not bother you with expenses," Haruhiko answered.
Ijuiin lowered his gaze, until his eyes widened as if an idea were waving right in front of face. "If you really want to give me a gift, how about a date?"
Haruhiko stared back, thinking over the suggestion. "…I was thinking asking you something of the same sort, but I wasn't sure if it would be an appropriate gift."
Ijuiin smiled. "Haru, spending any amount of time with you is a gift."
On cue, Haruhiko's face turned bright red, and he hid himself behind the manga once again, much to Ijuiin's amusement. "Th-then if you're not busy, I would like to have a New Year's Eve date with you." He calmed down enough to finally look above the manga in his face. "I'm not sure about you, but I know I'm usually asked to stay until closing during the holidays. If I let HR know ahead of time that I'm leaving in the evening, I should be able to meet you."
"That's even better," Ijuiin replied excitedly, already fantasizing the events as he rattled away, "We could grab dinner, walk around town, go to the temple—maybe stay the night at my place and have a little fun? You know, I wouldn't mind seeing you a kimono. It'd be even better if I took it off"—
Haruhiko seemed to melt into the chair, manga fully attached to his face as he successfully muffled any deemed embarrassing noises.
Ijuiin laughed as he ruffled Haruhiko's hair. "Haru, if you wanted me to let you read, you could've just said so," he teased, kissing him atop his head.
8:55, New Year's Eve
To say the least, Ijuiin found himself antsy for day to turn into night. The entire month had been busy for the couple, and in between cutesy text messages here and there, Ijuiin was running on empty from being deprived of his lover.
After spending the early part of the morning sprucing up, he decided to take the longer route on the way to his studio, making sure to snap a picture of the fountain near the temple where they planned to meet tonight and sent it to Haruhiko.
"Sounds good. I'll see you tonight," Haruhiko texted back by the time Ijuiin had arrived.
Ijuiin couldn't help but beam like an idiot with excitement (so much so that his assistants gave him strange looks)—completely optimistic that their plans were meant to follow through.
9:00
Aside, Haruhiko was cheerfully setting up his workspace. He had reached into his bag and pulled out his materials for the day, when he had noticed that several things were missing amidst the excitement.
'It can't be…' Haruhiko felt his heart race as he frantically searched his bag. "My phone charger is missing. I thought I packed my kimono as well."
He exhaled, realizing that there was no use in trying to find his charger and his kimono. If anything, his kimono wasn't a concern, but that battery…
He checked the battery life: 80%. His heart was at ease. Surely this would be enough to last him throughout the day.
17:34
Haruhiko stretched as he glanced at the clock. Just a little more time, and he was free to roam the streets with Ijuiin.
There came a sudden knock at the door.
"Come in," Haruhiko responded in an almost chipper tone, compiling his paperwork.
"Good evening, Haruhiko."
Hearing that voice would normally put a damper on Haruhiko's mood. Nonetheless, he made eye contact before organizing his papers.
"Good evening, Father. Did you need something?"
"Just wanted to talk for a few minutes," said his Father, as he shut the door behind himself.
Knowing his Father, a few minutes could be devastating enough. "If you're asking me to stay overtime, I'm afraid I cannot comply. I already stated that I have an important engagement, and must leave early," Haruhiko replied.
"I saw the report, but you're forgetting an important piece," the older Usami reminded him, "Someone needs to hold down the fort until near midnight. Unfortunately, none of the higher ups are able to do so—meaning that you're the next rung."
"So what you're saying is that you're forcing me to work despite the form I submitted to HR, simply because you don't want to?" Haruhiko asked, eyes deadlocked on his Father and voice unwavering.
"Even though I'm head of the company, I can't exactly bend these regulations in a snap. As it is, I was suddenly summoned with the others for a year-end meeting, and I'm unable to refuse."Haruhiko's father sighed. "I'm not acting as a cruel Father—I'm acting as your boss and superior."
'Or perhaps both,' Haruhiko thought bitterly to himself.
His Father turned away. "I apologize for ruining your date, but that's just the way it works. The world revolves around responsibility—not indulging in simple pleasures."
Haruhiko could only scream internally as his Father left the office.
19:12
Ijuiin had just wrapped up for the day when he came across Haruhiko's text.
"We may need to postpone our date. I apologize."
Ijuiin's face fell. "What? Why?"
Haruhiko had immediately replied. "Father needs someone to stay behind for a while, as there are no other supervisors available. I tried to argue back, and mentioned what I told HR, but he did not budge."
Ijuiin groaned loudly, and once again ignored the concerned looks of assistants. 'Of course he has to ruin today of all days…' He took a moment in an attempt to clear his head of any anger before typing out another message. "Look, I'm not sure what to do here. I'm trying to be understanding that you have work, but I can't help but feel this was all on purpose."
"Regardless, this is not something I can separate myself from. I still want to see you, but it might take longer."
Ijuiin nervously ran his hands through his hair. Their plans had already been ruined, and he had pretty much lost all hope that everything could turn around for the better. Even then, he managed to grasp for one more straw.
"Can you try to meet me at the temple later, at least?" he asked, on the verge of completely losing his patience.
"I'll try to get back to you on that."
Ijuiin locked his phone, staring at the ceiling in disbelief. He knew this possibly couldn't end well.
21:28
Haruhiko stared at the blank forms before him. Understandably, the motivation to work had been completely sucked out of Haruhiko.
His supervisors, including his Father, had long left the building—leaving Haruhiko by himself. The building itself was inactive in general, with some handfuls of employees remaining.
Haruhiko checked the time. They were closing down soon anyway. There was no way he would be needed.
"I'll meet you there soon. Please wait for me."
Unknowingly, as he opened up an application to navigate the subway, figuring it was the quickest option, his battery had dwindled down to 6%.
22:00
To say, at this point, that Ijuiin was quite miffed at the whole situation would be an understatement, and he was unsure of whether or not to give up his seat on the rim of the fountain. He had already sent his boyfriend a number of texts, as the last one had been sent by Haruhiko a half hour ago. Still no reply. The lust filled stares of various men and women from afar were also making him feel rapidly unsettled.
He wasn't quite sure how much longer he could stay out in the open cold, either, despite the surrounding warm bodies giving their prayers and hanging their wishes at the temple. He had cursed himself for not expecting his kimono to be of a lighter material, and wasting additional yen just to put it on at home and return.
Ijuiin had already completed his prayer, yet the block lay bare in his hands as he stared at all different directions in search of his lover missing in action.
His cell phone suddenly rang, and Ijuiin answered it blindly.
"Haru, where are you? Are you still coming?" he asked.
"Haru? Kyo, I know you can read."
Ijuiin was quickly losing his cool. Of course it wouldn't be Haruhiko. "Hello, Mother," Ijuiin seethed.
"Well that's no way to greet your Mother—especially on a holiday."
"I know, I'm sorry," Ijuiin backtracked, "I didn't mean to take it out on you. I'm just really stressed out right now."
"Why are you so stressed? It's New Year's Eve. If you're off, you should be out having fun with that cute boyfriend of yours."
"Yes, I should be," Ijuiin sighed, "Except that our plans ended up getting completely ruined by his Father. We already didn't get to see each other during Christmas because we both had work to do. I just get the feeling that this'll turn into some sort of pattern."
"I hate to tell you this, Kyo, but sometimes, things just don't work out. I know you used to read shoujo manga when you were younger (Ijuiin refrained from asking how she knew about that), and nothing ever works out that perfectly," his Mother replied.
"Of course not. It's just...really disappointing, you know?"
"It's okay to feel let down, but that doesn't mean you love him any less, right?"
It was as if the planets suddenly aligned in Ijuiin's perspective, hearing his revelation. "…No, never. Nothing could make me love him less."
"Then that's more important than anything. All you can do is own what you have now, and let everything work out, rather than staying angry and rushing things. Even that petty feuding with the Father will resolve eventually resolve, and he'll back off in time," Ijuiin's mother explained.
'Own what you have now,' Ijuiin repeated internally, 'But how do I do that?'
Right now, what Ijuiin had was the person who would always love him back unconditionally. They had their ruts every so often, but they could work them out because in the end, he knew nothing could replace his adorable, loving Haruhiko.
"You're right. There's no point in being upset. If he comes to me tonight, I'll be happy. If he doesn't, there's always tomorrow," said Ijuiin.
"Now you're getting it! See, you can rely on your Mother for love advice every once in a while."
Ijuiin laughed. "I get it, Mother. Thank you. It's freezing, so I'm going to head home from the temple soon."
"No problem, Kyo. Get home safe. These old bones need to rest, so I just wanted to call now before falling asleep. Happy New Year, my son."
"Happy New Year," Ijuiin said before hanging up.
With a newfound confidence, Ijuiin finally knew what he wanted to write on his ema.
He hung it up confidently for the world to see, even if Haruhiko wouldn't be able to find his wish, and then promptly turned towards home.
22:30
Haruhiko couldn't remember the last time he ran so much, as he was never known to have much physical endurance during his school years.
Yet here he was, lost among thousands of people crowding his vision, and no sign of his beloved in sight. 'That's to be expected.' He thought, glowering at his lifeless phone. 'I can't even contact him.'
He at last approached the fountain where the meeting spot was, but alas, Ijuiin was nowhere to be found. Despite his hardened expression, Haruhiko felt tears waiting to well up in his eyes.
Not wanting to give up quite yet, Haruhiko searched the temple for a short while, scanning the crowd until he reached near the end and bumped into another person by accident.
He ended up getting knocked back a bit by the force and muttered an apology as he turned his head—meeting face to face with a wooden slab presented before his eyes as if a god were leading the way for him to this very important spot.
'…Could it be…?'
Leaving himself no time to rue in his thoughts, Haruhiko hurriedly wrote down his wish, said his prayer. With the map of the subway and directions burned into Haruhiko's mind, he headed straight for Ijuiin's apartment.
23:51
Ijuiin was multitasking between looking back at the clock, glancing at the television and out the window, and staring at his phone momentarily before repeating the cycle.
He sighed. Even though he had accepted the situation, the pain was still fresh. It was even fresher when Ijuiin had realized that the kadomatsu he placed on the door welcoming the new year felt like it was all for nothing.
The door suddenly swung open without even so much as a polite knock, instantly forcing Ijuiin on his feet—only to be completely stunned at the sight before him.
Haruhiko had burst into the apartment, breathless and crouching over with his hands on his knees.
Ijuiin would've seen the headlights from Haruhiko's car when it had approached the apartment complex. 'He took the subway and ran all the way here just for me?'
"I apologize, I know I'm late," Haruhiko said, pausing in between each word to catch his breath.
At a loss for words, Ijuiin made a beeline for Haruhiko and pulled him in for a tight hug, nestling against the crook of Haruhiko's neck as his lover returned his embrace, standing there with the front door wide open for what seemed like ages.
"I suppose that means you forgive me," Haruhiko once they finally separated, unbuttoning his coat before taking a seat on the couch.
Ijuiin shut the door before sitting beside Haruhiko. "There's nothing to forgive," Ijuiin replied, both his hands caressing gently against Haruhiko's face to warm it, "Even if you didn't make it in time, or at all, you still wouldn't have to apologize."
He drew his face closer to Ijuiin's so that they were nose to nose, noticing how cold and red Haruhiko's face looked. Even his glasses were foggy. "I don't care as long as I have you."
It was a scene taken straight out of a shoujo manga, with their lips finally meeting for an elongated kiss just as the clock struck midnight, as the bell started ringing in the background, and the first snowfall of the New Year already started to flurry.
"Happy New Year, Haru."
Haruhiko's dark eyes seemed to almost shine bright with tears. "Happy New Year, Kyo."
12:46 AM, New Year's Day
The couple ended up crawling into bed together a while later, with Ijuiin's arm habitually hung around Haruhiko's shoulder.
"So your Father let you out early after all?" asked Ijuiin.
Haruhiko leaned forward momentarily to sit his glasses atop the nightstand. "Well, not exactly."
Ijuiin smirked. "Haru the rebel strikes again."
Haruhiko failed to hold back a small smile. "It's not like he has to know of my whereabouts as long as I completed my initial assignments for the day, so I simply left after he did."
"Snuck out, you mean," Ijuiin corrected Haruhiko, kissing him on the forehead.
Haruhiko rolled his eyes. "Regardless, I did try to meet you at the temple. However, you were already gone before I arrived. I would have contacted you, but in a twist of bad luck, my cell phone battery managed to die."
'That explains the complete silence,' Ijuiin noted, then asked, "Wanna borrow my charger?"
"No, I'll worry about that tomorrow. I just happened to be careless, unfortunately."
"Because you were thinking about me, am I right?" Ijuiin teased him.
His lover looked away, his blush quite apparent. "And what if I was?"
Ijuiin suddenly cupped Haruhiko's chin, rotating his face toward himself to give him a chaste kiss. "Then you get more of these, because you're all I think about, too."
Haruhiko burrowed into Ijuiin's chest, his face practically a ball of fire against Ijuiin's skin, the latter man stroking his lover's soft hair.
"I'm sorry I wasn't patient enough. I knew I should've waited for you longer, but I did end up making my wish already," Ijuiin apologized. "If you want, we can go together tomorrow so you can make yours."
"Actually, since I did approach the temple while I was searching for you, I ended up submitting a wish," Haruhiko admitted.
Ijuiin smiled, nestling against Haruhiko's hair. "No worries. That just means more time together tomorrow to do other things. It feels like forever since we've been on a date."
"That sounds lovely," Haruhiko said.
Now that the subject had been brought up, Haruhiko remembered what he had wanted to ask about—thinking back to the wish he saw at the temple. "Kyo, can I ask what you wished for?"
Yet, in a matter of seconds, Ijuiin had fallen fast asleep.
Haruhiko carefully moved his head back towards the pillow, swiping Kyo's hair out of his face with his free hand. 'That's alright,' he thought, 'I'm sure he'll tell me someday."
. . .
If anyone were to walk to the temple, they would notice thousands upon thousands of hanging wooden ema blocks next to one another—their owners hoping that their wishes will be heard.
Some had wished for good grades, or getting into their school of choice. Some were asking for blessings in their job search and happiness for their families and loved ones.
However, if one took a closer look, there were two tablets written on by two particular lovers coincidentally hung side by side in the sea of wishes that would surely be granted.
"I wish to spend the rest of my life with Ijuiin Kyo."
"I want to marry Usami Haruhiko one day."
A/N: I did try to do some research on how Japan celebrates the New Year and tried to incorporate it. I know kissing at midnight is more of a Western thing, and I may have messed up the whole temple scene (not sure if you can send your wishes or prayers before midnight or if it's after midnight), so I apologize. Also, I did not realize that Christmas was more of a couple's holiday than New Year's, but I would've had to rewrite the whole fic if I went that route (I think the result would've been pretty much the same anyway, no matter the holiday).
FINAL A/N: I'll probably put the link again when I update the Junjou Restart, but DandereDaisy, now known as Squidalicious, made a really sweet and awesome fancomic. So by all means, please check it out here—she seriously did an amazing job.
FINAL FINAL A/N: FF isn't letting me put up the link, so just check out squid-a-licious tumblr and search for either Ijuiin Kyo or Usami Haruhiko.