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When they agreed the time and day when she'd be visiting her son's house, Takumi wouldn't have known that work will make him late that day.
He phoned Gii knowing that he'd be home for a while more, and as much as he knew that his lover would be more than happy to welcome his mother in his place, he still had an apologetic tone while explaining the situation to him.
As he thought Gii held no objection and since by the time Takumi will be back he'd still have time before going to work himself, he reassured his beloved that he was pleased to.
When he heard the doorbell, Gii knew immediately who it was. He confidently walked to the door and when he opened it there he was face to face with the mother of his partner.
It wasn't the first time they met. It wasn't the first time he saw her, but it's been a long time and time changed her. Changed them all. Somehow it felt like another first encounter.
It hasn't been an heartfelt reunion. They were both rather formal. She clearly preferred it that way and Gii briefly wondered if she'd be the same if she knew what place he holds in her son's heart.
Time later both were in the kitchen, exchanging small talks while Gii was preparing tea.
She sat at the kitchen table and while looking at the busy Gii she was thinking about the trip in New York her son mentioned the day before. So the conversation suddenly changed.
"You should tell him not to go" she knew that her son wouldn't listen to her if she's the one to tell him.
It was quite sudden and Gii, confused, turned towards her with a questioning look "Sorry?"
"That trip in New York" she clarified "It's your world he doesn't belong to it" it was her reason to oppose it.
Without being aware of it, she angered Gii who, of course, didn't let it show: such thing as 'his' didn't exist while talking about him and Takumi, but only 'ours'. He knew that Takumi didn't tell her about their relationship, he didn't say why yet, but only thinking about the possible reasons that prevented him from revealing it to her mother stopped him from blurting out everything right there and then.
"It's mine as much as it's Takumi's" still he couldn't help saying.
But she didn't agree. Gii's from an influent family; he's the heir of a powerful group and he already matches up that reputation "Your worlds are so different, he still has to make a name for himself" she insisted but Gii wouldn't back down "He will soon, he'll become a great violinist" he confidently said.
"It's a waste of time" she replied not trusting her son's ability at all "he can't build a career from that and he certainly won't be able to"
That was the last straw for Gii, he managed to remain calm until now and to hide his real feelings but now he couldn't contain his irritation; he could bear her comments about them not being a whole because she didn't know the truth, but saying that about Takumi was another thing "I can't believe that after all this time you're still talking about Takumi that way"
"I'm only being realistic"
"Realistic?" he said "You know nothing about your son" for the first time Gii's feelings towards her showed in his eyes as well as in his voice.
A long moment of silence followed, she was surprised and Gii's expression stopped the words in her mouth.
Takumi came in just a little after that and walked into a really heavy atmosphere. He slowed down his steps looking questioningly back and forth from his lover to his mother.
Since none cared to explain anything he didn't ask and stopped next to Gii before greeting the two people.
Though his mother's greeting was somewhat distant, maybe because it was spoken while thinking about what Gii said, Gii's "Okaeri" was the complete opposite, it was warm and homely.. very much heartfelt, like Takumi's "Tadaima", but she didn't seem to notice.
In that moment Gii's phone rang. He took a look at the display to see who it was and without wasting time he excused himself before he walked to another room to take the call.
That air of uneasiness was still present even if it wasn't caused directly from the two of them, but it was like the conversation with Gii just a little before was still echoing in the room affecting the present occupants.
Mother and son couldn't seem to be able to stat a proper conversation for some reasons, so in the end Takumi decided to show her the house now that she was there.
The guest room served as the perfect cover for him, not that when she asked where he slept she mentioned anything about Gii, but seeing that there was another room was maybe enough for her to guess and Takumi didn't say a word.
"It's a great house, but Takumi, you should start seriously thinking about your future" she said when the little tour was over.
Takumi looked at her confused. What does it mean? He was. With the violin.
But seeing the wealth in which he's living, a kind of wealth that wasn't excessive but just out of her son's resources, gave her an idea of what Takumi was doing with his life, and she didn't like what that looked like to her.
She continued "You're taking life too lightly. How long do you think you can go on like this? You can't keep sponging off your friend forever."
Takumi gasped; sponging off Gii was definitely something he never did and never will do.
"I. am. not" Takumi pronounced distinctly, clearly conveying his irritation.
Gii's entry put a stop at the silent and slightly awkward atmosphere between mother and son.
It was clear to him that Takumi wasn't ok but his mood was even worse. He walked up to them with contained anger, successively hiding his mood to the woman, and beckoned his lover to follow him a few steps away from the ears of his mother so they could talk.
As soon as they reached the next room Gii turned to him and said "I don't think we should go to New York."
He talked quietly so only Takumi could hear but he was all but quite, Takumi saw the anger and agitation Gii was concealing; the fact surprised him, but more than anything Takumi was worried for him.
Gii could see that worry from his face but with Takumi's mother there it wasn't the time to explain things so he only said "Not now, I'll tell you everything later".
Stealing a furtive glance to the other side of the room where he could get a glimpse of where his mother in law was, he added "I gotta go to the office now" then noticing Takumi's expression he finally smiled and added in a softer tone "Don't worry" before coming closer to place his lips silently on his beloved's.
He then walked back to the room where his mother in law was and bowing "I'm going now" he said "it was a pleasure to meet you". She reciprocated the gesture and his words before Gii turned to leave.
The two lovers walked together to the door, before going Gii turned to him and when their eyes met both exchanged a sweet smile before Takumi's "Itterasshai".
The word coaxed a warm smile on Gii's features. "Ittekimasu" Gii, never loosing that smile, replied before leaving.
This simple greeting was something that Gii, being born and raised in New York, found really delighting. To Takumi, being born and raised in Japan, it could seem normal and with no special importance but Gii always liked these little parting words and upon telling his lover that he asked that they should always use them. Simple words that represented love and family to him.
Hearing it from Takumi never failed to make him happy or improve his mood. It was exactly what Takumi wanted to achieve right now.
Takumi stood looking at the closed door for a few moments. He wondered what could have happened that resulted in Gii to say that; to decide not to go to the ceremony for his own company that was about to be born was strange enough. Lots of question appeared in his mind but taking Gii's words to heart, his 'don't worry', Takumi stopped thinking about it, deciding that he'd wait for Gii to tell him everything that night, and returned to the kitchen where his mother was just like he left her.
He certainly didn't feel like talking to her about it so he made sure to hide that thought in front of her. When they were face to face, noting the tea sitting on the table, he just said "You should drink it before it gets cold" hoping to make everything seem normal.
Somehow what just happened made him forget about the last words her mother spoke before Gii came back from that phone call. Both drank their tea together in silence. It wasn't very awkward but not even particularly nice. One would think what were they together for, but still none made a move to say goodbye for the day, so for a while time was spent like this.
While Takumi put away the two mugs his mother spoke again "What will you do with your job while you'll be in New York?"
Takumi froze slightly. There was still a lot of time before that date and he still didn't talk about it to his boss: he only needed one week's notice furthermore he knew that he'd have no objection to his leave since he would work those hours nonetheless.
Even so he couldn't say to his mother that he was sure there won't be any problems, nor that he still didn't say that to his boss. Especially not that.
For that short time he had before answering that question he could only say "Maybe we won't go after all" it still was a topic he didn't feel like discussing with her but still it was the lesser of two evils.
His mother displayed a surprised, and pleased, expression. Not at all worried about what could have happened to prevent a trip which only talking about it made her son smile. "And what caused this change of mind?"
Takumi mentally sighed. He was just being forced into a conversation he didn't want to be in, with her, and on something that he wasn't sure about and was trying not to worry over to boot.
"It's still not sure" he said evasively hoping that she'd end the topic.
"Did Saki-kun suggest it?" Her face didn't take much to display a pleased expression "Well it's a reasonable choice I think."
Takumi turned to her with his eyebrows furrowed in confusion "What do you mean?" her smile was strangely annoying.
"Well actually before you came in, me and him had a chance to exchange a few words. I couldn't hide my worries to him about this trip, you see, you don't really belong to that world, it wouldn't be good for you to-"
"What do you know about that?" he interrupted.
That surprised her a little "I'm only concerned about you, it's not good for you to mix with people who have such a different life from yours. You can only get hurt when you'll be left out in the end. And looking at reality it's just the way it is. I'm happy that Gii decided for the best in the end. You can feel down because of it now, but with time you'll understand that it's the best for you since you belong to different words"
Takumi's eyes shone with rage, and his heart clouded with hurtful disappointment realizing that Gii felt this way.
"That's enough. Don't speak like that when you know nothing about my life. And next time keep Gii out of your concerns."
"I-"
"The conversation is over. Now if you don't mind it's gotten late and I'm quite busy." He added with more calm but the tone didn't change.
His mother looked at him with mixed feelings but he was looking down and with no intention to prolong their meeting so she got up and left.
)( )(
That night Gii went back to an empty home. He was very surprised that Takumi worked late. If it was something urgent that kept him he'd have called, but he didn't and it was strange to him that Takumi chose to stay away after they said to discuss things about that morning.
He left him a message on his voicemail but another half an hour went by and still no words from him. Then he heard the door opening and finally Takumi was there.
Gii reached him immediately, he didn't realize that he was worried for his wellbeing until he saw him cross the door and coming inside.
Gii frowned though, his worries didn't dissipate, but changed: Takumi looked too serious, in a way that only Gii could know was strange.
"Okaeri." Gii tried.
"Tadaima" the word sounded void.
Takumi glanced at his lover before he started walking inside, followed by Gii.
"Was it everything all right at work?" he gently pried
"It was" he replayed in a distant manner, then put down his keys all the time keeping his back to him.
By now Gii just knew that something was bothering his lover; and the only probable thing now, that he was aware of, was surely about his last words that morning before they parted.
"Dear, about what I said this morning, can we talk about it now?" he was almost careful with his words
"There isn't much to talk about, I already know." The non-caring attitude started to fade and he finally turned around to face him.
"Yeah.. well.. It wasn't final, I wanted to discuss so we can decide."
"You think there's something to discuss? It's the way you think isn't it? There isn't much to say that would make it look any different" the agitation was surfacing in his words.
Gii was greatly puzzled now, and failed to follow Takumi's train of thoughts. "Takumi..."
"I didn't expect that from you.." Takumi said low, disappointed, while turning back and starting to walk away, but he was immediately stopped by Gii.
"Takumi what's wrong?" Gii touched his arm but Takumi pulled back forcefully and sounded angry.
"No need to hide it, I know why you don't want me to go. Man! I can't believe it! You-"
"Takumi!" Gii raised his voice and stopped him midsentence. He didn't like at all what the situation was turning into, and he surely didn't get it all. "Takumi calm down, I don't know what's going on here, for one thing I suggested that we both won't go, and how do you know about it? Did you talk with my parents? Did they say anything to you?"
Gii sounded more agitated on the last words and this time it was Takumi who was confused.
"What have your parents have anything to do with it?"
Both stared at one another with confusion for a few silent moments until the mood softened.
"Should we start from the beginning?" Gii said gently, at last.
Even if Takumi was a bit scared that he wouldn't like it, he agreed to it immediately.
When they took a seat next to each other Gii finally started to talk after Takumi declined the offer to talk first:
"I was on the phone with my parents this morning and we had an argument about us."
He sighed and told him about the call which started this way:
"We're aware that you know how to be discreet but this time will be a bit different. Since Takumi is coming, we think it's best if you show up separately and remain so all the time. We don't want our guests assuming you're together in thatway.
Plus we wanted to talk to you about another thing, you see, about your situation, we think you should find a woman to marry."
"Marry!?"
"We're only concerned about y-"
"What the hell does that mean? Takumi's my partner! And you know it."
"Gii, you've become an adult. You can't stay like this forever"
The argument continued for a long time, leaving Gii fuming and disappointed.
"Apparently their happiness for us was all a show; faking they were on our side!" he felt like he had been fooled around all along by them.
Gii let his thoughts go and let off steam while his lover heard the real story behind it.
He felt ashamed, towards Gii; angry, towards his mother; shocked, towards his parents in law.. and confused as well.
"So that was it then..." Takumi added softly when Gii took a pause from his ranting.
At hearing that, Gii turned to look properly in his eyes, now feeling calmer, and finally asked: "Why were you angry then?"
"I wasn't angry.." He said truthfully.
Gii tried to encourage him to talk with his eyes but, even if he wanted to, Takumi didn't want to think about what his mother had told him, and how it made him feel now.
"Takumi it doesn't matter really, you can tell me."
Gii reassured gently, sensing that his lover was reluctant to say whatever it was in his mind, also thinking about Gii's feelings.
Eventually, he started: "It's my mother.. This morning after you left she told me about the talk you had, and what she told you. She seemed pleased that you decided to 'listen to reason' as she thinks.."
His voice trailed off as he failed to held his head up.
Gii felt for him, for that revelation must have hurt him, false that it was, and now he understood that he was only masking hurt with anger when he came in, feeling betrayed and disappointed.
It was too hard to take.
"Takumi.." He only whispered and reached out to enclose him in a tight embrace. Taking forgiveness for something that he didn't do but still damaged their bond.
"Sorry" Takumi tried to say but Gii wouldn't let him
"Don't say that"
"But I am, I should have known better"
"Don't" Gii soothed "It's all right" and his arms tightened a bit more.
Finally Takumi smiled in his arms and closed his own around Gii. Making everything alright.
"Takumi…"
Takumi was still with his eyes closed and a loving smile playing on his lips, basking in their closeness and took a moment to acknowledge Gii calling him
"Hmm?"
"What should we do?"
The whole situation came back to him and his smile faded
"About your parents? I don't know.. I can't understand their motives.."
"They just fooled us, acting all nice with us but in reality they don't support us. They may even have though that we'd broke up soon anyway so there was no reason to hinder us themselves."
"Gii..."
"It's true isn't it?"
"How can you talk like that? They're your parents, they've always been on our side"
"Well you see that now.. That's their true nature it seems. I've clearly told them that we won't back down. And I won't accept their ridiculous suggestion."
"What do you have in mind to do?"
Gii had the time to think about it that day, and the immediate anger that made him want to desert them was replaced by another will.
"We'll go. Together. As the couple that we are"
"Gii, you do not intend to turn this into a war with them do you?"
"It's already a war."
Takumi gasped.
"You can't mean that"
Gii didn't respond but Takumi could see how badly he was affected by the rejection of his parents. Hurt was clear in his eyes.
Takumi paused all that he wanted to say and leaned his head on Gii's shoulder. Needless to say, only he knew how to comfort him.
They stayed motionless in that position without exchanging a word, a whirlwind of thoughts swirled in their minds and the only thing they were sure of was that they would go through this together.
