'When was the last time I had a good dream?' Masamune thought. It was the first day of the New Year.

He can say he had some good dreams at first… but then it would be ripped away from him mid-dreaming or at the end of dreaming so those cannot really be counted as good dreaming. Most days he'll just wake with the feeling that he had a decently pleasant dream, but the memory was gone just as the way it came.

Ritsu seemed to dream more than him. It was evident when the younger would begin mumbling once in a while, and smiling with closed eyes. He was obviously having very good dreams, most of the time dreams involving him. 'Why can't I have dreams like you?' The 28 year old pinches Ritsu's cheeks gently, grazing his thumb to feel the softness of the brunet's face. He would love to dream like his sleeping lover. He'll think about wanting to do that a lot.

*Ding ding bzzz… Bzzz* Hearing the ringtone, Masamune turns with a grunt to grab his cell phone on his other side under the pillow. "Hello?"

"Ah, Takano!" It was Dr. Sakurai. "I'm sorry to call you now during your vacation, but may you come in on the 3rd?"

"The 3rd?" Masamune frowns. He was supposed to go back in on the 5th. 'Two days early…'

"It's just for several hours, don't you worry! Then you can go back to what is left of your vacation. You see, some students are coming in for tours. Just simply show them around and you know. They're fairly huge groups however, so that's why I'm trying to contact who is available. It's going to be a handful…"

"I understand," Masamune begins professionally, "I'll be there."

"Thank you! Just be here around 9AM. Goodbye!" After hanging up, Masamune sighs and puts his cell phone back before turning back to embrace Ritsu.

'This year I'll have to separate my vacation days huh?' Masamune muses, thinking about what is to come soon. 'I can't use it all like I did for my birthday to now…' This was going to be hard, he can feel it.

…

"Want to go shopping first?" Ritsu looks across at him at the question, watching the glasses-wearing driver. After breakfast they were contacted by their landlord that they could return, so here they were in the car on the way home. The goodbyes to An and them were pleasantly quick as they all had to go somewhere around the same time.

"I think we have enough at home…" The brunet answers, uncertain. "We have leftovers too now from yesterday- unless…" he sighs. "I honestly don't remember what's in the fridge."

"Then let's go after we put what we have up at home. Is it too cold to walk for you?"

"Oh no, I'm fine," Ritsu turns his gaze to out his passenger's side of the window. "It's not that cold," he pauses in thought, "Do we still have peaches? Should we give them to the neighbors? I don't want them to go to waste."

"If they want it. Oh," Masamune realizes, "Did we give any to Yokozawa? They left a little early during Christmas, didn't they?"

"Did they?" Ritsu tries to remember, "I remember Mom asking where Takafumi's parents lived, I think she planned to ship them some but I don't know… I think Misaki said he'd take some later though, to his brother and to where he used to live."

"I see…" It was quiet for a little bit when Masamune turns into the parking area at the apartment building. "We'll just call them later when the next shipments of peaches come for your mom."

It was still very cold in their apartment; shivering, Ritsu leaves on his coat as he enters the living space. After setting some bags of leftovers on the counter in the kitchen, he heads to the fridge to look inside.

"What's in there?" Masamune asks, after taking their suitcase into the room.

"There's some eggs… and leftovers from a few days back- it looks like it's still good. And um," Ritsu checks it all over once more. "There's butter and the other stuff…" He was referring to refrigerated condiments. He opens the freezer side. "There's some meat in here… it's pork."

"…I want fish tonight." Masamune says, after some seconds of thought. "Let's go get that, and more vegetables and meat. Maybe get some bread too. "

"Oh okay." Ritsu says, closing both sides. He walks around to the living room where Masamune was to go sit on the couch. "Now that I think about it, which kind of meat do you like? Chicken? Beef? Pork?"

"All of them are good," Masamune answers, looking down at the brunet on the couch. "But there is one particular meat I love."

"Huh? What is it?" Ritsu's eyebrows furrow, trying to figure it out. "Fish?"

"Nope."

"Duck?"

"Nope."

"..um…" The brunet pauses, not able to think of other things before turning to seafood, even though they don't eat so much of that. "Octopus?"

"No…" Masamune smiles coyly, "You can't figure it out?"

"I-I can!" Ritsu takes him on. "Crab? Squid? Lobster?"

"You've turned to seafood?"

"Ng..ngh… V-vegetarian meat?"

Masamune chuckles. "What?" Bending down slightly to level with Ritsu's face, he pokes one of his cheeks. "It's not that hard."

"Easy fwor you to fwsay…" Ritsu says, almost incoherent due to the poking turning into his cheeks being pinched. "Fwuhy do youf likfe doifing thwis ansyway?"

Masamune laughs now, kissing him on the forehead before letting him go and heading to the bedroom to use the bathroom. "I love playing with your meat."

"…?" Ritsu rubs his cheeks, frowning. 'What? My meat?'

"…" 'He called them meat...?'

'Wait…' He looks down, blinking until he gets it, "Ah," and it hits him. Blushing, he flusters, embarrassed. "Hah?!" Fire flashes through him as he heard Masamune laughing from the bathroom. "Masamune!"

An hour later, somewhere else, specifically in a store...

"Mommy!" The older woman turns to her little girl. "Daddy's taking me to the shop next door for a cake!"

"Ah okay," she replies, watching as her energetic daughter runs off to catch up with her father.

She was glad her husband preferred to do things like that with their daughter... she was so worn out, but yet itching to rather work than do something so casual like buying groceries.

"..." She wondered if it was okay to think about him. Her only son.

It wasn't as if her only son was a dirty secret. Her current husband knew of him (although she was vague, and he didn't want to push), and her little daughter was simply too young to know and understand that she had a brother old enough to be her father. And as a mother, she had a right to wonder how he was doing, right?

Although, if she had another situation happening, she probably would have forgotten about Masamune wouldn't she? After all, they weren't close, and with everything she had going on, she had no bond to him other than blood.

But that doesn't mean she still can't wonder about him now right? She sighs.

That man who was apparently her son-in-law... if he hadn't come searching for her to get the last she had of Masamune...

"...Kotoko?"

"...?" She turns, brows furrowing a the unfamiliar stranger. The older man was wearing glasses, and was grabbing a box mix to read. "Do I know you from somewhere?"

The man sighs. "Really... Masamune, and then you... I haven't changed that much."

"..? Saga...?" Kotoko's eyes widen. "Is that really you?" Her ex-husband had grandfather vibes.

"It is. Is it the nose?" He pushes up his glasses. "Ah, but now that we're here, may I ask you something?"

"What?" She says cautiously. "Do you need my help or something?" This was sort of odd for her; she has never seen Saga so... casual before. Why did he want to talk with her after all they've been through?

"Oh no," he gestures. "Have you gotten in any contact with Masamune?"

"...What?" She lowers her voice. "What do you want with him?"

"No need to put up a guard. I just wanted to know... if you invited him to be part of your current family." He pauses, quiet. "He refused to be part of mine."

"Of course," she says, as if it was obvious. "You're not related to him. But he wouldn't want to be part of mine either," she states, slightly bitter. "After what we went through..."

"But don't you see?" Saga begins, hopeful, "We have our own families now- and don't you think, after all we put him though, we should give him an opportunity to have a family?" His brows furrow. "You... you do have a family now right?"

"I do... just," she sighs, trying to get back to topic, "Masamune is an adult now. He wants nothing to do with us. And I don't want to involve him in my matters either. He's done fine without us."

"He is. However," Saga sets the box mix back before grabbing another flavor to read, "I... I regret what had happened back then. Now that I have my own family, and my stepdaughters... I understand more than ever. He may be well off happy with that partner of his, but I-"

"Liar." He shoots up his gaze to Kotoko, who was glaring. "You're hiding something."

"Kotoko-"

"What is this really about?" She turns, "I have nothing more to say to you. If it's Masamune you want, go to him."

"...Who is his father?" She freezes. "You never did tell me?"

"That is what you want to know?" She turns back to him again, glaring. "After talking about family..."

"No. I was honest about that. You just reminded me for a moment though, about him. Was it that man you were working with before we eloped?"

"I don't know what you're talking about," she says, arms crossed. "I worked with many men- for work only business, I assure you."

"Kotoko, it had to be one of them. Who was it? Or you don't remember?" He frowns, "You weren't forced, were you?"

"No! As if I let myself..." Upset that he thought that, she decides to leave; the shop next door with her husband and daughter was appealing now. Before walking away from him, she turns to face him once more, furious. "You're a doctor aren't you? Go find out yourself!"

...

"Aah!" Ritsu stiffens, a hand in his coat pocket. They were leaving the grocery store and walking along. He takes out the money Akihiko had given him on Christmas. "I forgot..."

"Oh yeah," Masamune says, staring at it. "Want to put it in the bank or something?"

"Oh, uh... Oh!" It takes Ritsu a second to think and then look back at Masamune in excitement. "Want to get a cat?!"

"Ritsu, a cat?"

"What?" Ritsu falters. "You don't want one?"

"I do, but not yet."

"What? But... I mean," the brunet begins, "I'd like it if Sorata can stay with us some weeks, but I don't think-"

"No, Ritsu, just..." Masamune frowns. "You remember that one time we were doing it in my room in high school?"

"H-huh?" Ritsu blushes, "Wh... which time?"

"Ritsu, it was the only time that Sorata walked in on us."

"What? No, he was in there a couple of times..." Ritsu begins to remember...

"Aah," Ritsu threw his head back on the pillow as Masamune laid his head on Ritsu's shoulder, kissing along as he continued to thrust. "Ah!"

"Ritsu..."

"Ah! Hah... wha..." Ritsu wonders faintly through his pleasure what Masamune wanted. For some reason, Masamune would say his name over and over once in a while with no follow up to it.

"Meow." Ritsu was staring ahead, now looking over Masamune's head as he heard the little meow. 'Huh..?'

"Sa... Saga," Ritsu pants, trying to get his attention while watching the little kitten that was trying to climb up the bed. "Saga..."

"Ritsu," The older of the two whispers against his skin, before thrusting in harder at a different angle. Immediately, Ritsu threw his head back again, his pleasure spot having been hit.

"Aaahh! Ah!" Ritsu clung to him, his hips moving in response to meet with Masamune's. "Ah!"

"Ritsu... Ritsu!" Masamune shouts, getting in there harder to hear more, to feel more. "Ritsu..!"

"Meow?" Brows burrowing at the unusually close sound, Ritsu turned his head a little. Faintly surprised, he saw that the kitten had made his way on the bed. Sorata tilts his head at the sight before walking up close to Ritsu's head.

"H-hah..." Ritsu swallows, panting as the oblivious kitten came close. 'Oh no...' "S-saga..."

"Ritsu," Masamune breathes, his hands moving to cradle Ritsu's face. Ritsu was distracted as he was kissed, his own hands retracting from his love's back to put them though his hair. Groaning, Masamune deepened his kiss, his thrusts growing languid as he focused on kissing Ritsu.

"Meow." Okay, now he heard it.

Masamune whips his head to the side to see Sorata, staring at them curiously.

"A-ah..." Ritsu shrinks back as much as the pillow allowed, as Sorata walks closer to his face. He shuts his eyes at Sorata sniffs him, holding back a small laugh when his cheek was licked.

"Oy..." Masamune glares, picking up the kitten and bending slightly to set him on the ground. "Get out."

"Meow."

"Out!"

"Meow?"

"Hahah..." Ritsu manages to get out, finding the exchange funny. It was quickly over with, however, as Masamune suddenly rammed into him. "Ah! Ahh! S-saga..."

"It was kind of cute..." Ritsu says, flashback over. "What was wrong?"

"Ugh... I hate it when the mood gets ruined. Also, he kissed you right in front of me. Rude."

Ritsu laughs at that bit of humor. "He didn't know..."

"Still. Augh," he stops thinking about that. "No pets for now."

"Fine... then I guess I'll just save this for later." Ritsu says in disappointment, putting it back in his pocket.

"Let's see," Masamune says aloud, "We have most of what we need, right?"

"Yeah..." They decide to go home then, ready to spend the evening back at their hopefully now-warm apartment.

I'M SO SORRRRRYYY! School is a bit more busier now than last year!

I'll try to update some other fics too this weekend!

Ughh the Valentine's chapter will be later, I'm sorry!