The foreign car pulled into the small gravelled parking space near the front of the ryokan. Tohru's face was pressed against the window, as she tried to take it all in. "Oh my goodness, it looks like it didn't change at all!"

Yuki unfastened his seat belt and got out of the driver's seat. "Traditional inns generally don't change all that much." He straightened his back. "That's one of their selling points."

Tohru looked at him with concern. "Are you tired? Perhaps you should go right in and take a bath, and let the rest of us handle the check-in."

Yuki waved the suggestion away. "I just get a little stiff and sore after a long drive. I'm fine. Besides, I think a certain someone would have something to say if I didn't carry my own bags."

"You're damn right I would," growled Kyo. "'Stiff and sore'? What kind of old man complaining is that? You aren't even forty yet and you're whining about aches and pains? You're out of shape. That's what your problem is."

Tohru giggled. "I've missed this. When I hear you two bickering, it feels just like it was yesterday."

"The longest-running comedy show in the family!" Momiji piped up.

Yuki smirked. "It hasn't changed, because mentally, Kyo hasn't aged a day in twenty years."

"You know what…"

"But can we hold off on scene two of the comedy until we're in our yukata?" Momiji interrupted as he helped Tohru out of the passenger seat.

Tohru smoothed out her dress. "Yes, let's get our bags and check in. Have you got mine?"

Momiji lifted it. "Right here."

"So… Please give it to me?"

"If you thought for a moment that the princess would carry a single bag when she's with three princes… Das wäre wahnsinnig."

"Or in Japanese, 'That would be crazy'" translated Yuki.

Kyo scoffed. "Yeah, yeah, you know languages, amazing, but you still don't know your brachialis from your gluteus maximus."

"I assume those are 'elbow' and 'ass'? In any case, if Momiji has your bag, then I'll just take this." Yuki took Tohru's hand and flashed a princely smile.

Smiling wryly, Kyo took the other hand. "This spot is still free, right?"

Momiji fumed. "Oh, you're holding her hands and I get stuck with the luggage? Ihr beide Arschlöcher!"

"I won't translate that one for you, Kyo."

"I can guess from context."

One thing, at least, had changed. The proprietress from twenty years prior had retired, and Ritsu had stepped into her position. She was the picture of poise and elegance, not an apology in sight, as she guided the party to their rooms. "If it pleases you, this room shall be for the two gentlemen. Tohru-san, your and your husband's room is the next room along…"

Yuki interrupted. "I think all three of us boys should stay here."

Momiji nodded. "It'll be just like last time."

"This is stupid. It's nothing like last time."

"Your attitude is making it a perfect facsimile. Also, you still suck at ping-pong. Ah, the nostalgia of it all."

"Do what you want. I don't care. Hey, Ritsu. You've got beer here, right?"

"If the gentleman would like a beer, we would be happy to…"

"Three beers, please."

Momiji smiled. "Oh, that's nice."

"What are you smiling about? They're all for me." The others chuckled at that comment, and Kyo couldn't prevent himself from smiling at their reaction.

There was a knock at the door. "Come in!" Tohru called out.

Kyo slid the door open. "Kyo!" Tohru held up her arms and turned around in her yukata. "How do I look? Like a princess?"

"A princess in the third trimester." He shifted slightly. "Listen… I've been kind of an ass, and I'm sorry."

She smiled. "I forgive you."

"I've just been a little on edge lately and…"

Tohru took one of Kyo's hands and put it on her belly. "She's kicking right now. I think she's going to be a martial artist, just like her daddy."

Kyo felt the soft impacts. "This is a little scary."

"You should imagine what it feels like for me!"

"No, not the kicking. I mean… raising an infant."

Tohru put her hand over his. "You're already a father. And a very good one."

"Adopting a child who isn't a baby anymore is a little different."

"You'll get used to changing diapers in an instant. I had some anxieties when I was pregnant for the first time. Those fears are only temporary. They'll go away with the joy you'll have when you hold her right after she's born."

He blushed slightly as he continued to hold his hand to her belly. "Tohru? I really love you. So much."

She put her hand on his cheek. "Me too." She smiled when he blushed slightly. "Oh, I meant to ask you something. There was something we wanted to do this time that we didn't do twenty years ago. Ritsu told me that this inn has a private bath area that can be reserved..."

Yuki looked straight down. That was the only safe direction to look.

"Yuki? Am I making you nervous? Do you not want me to be here?"

"W-whatever gave you that idea?"

Under the water, a pair of legs came into his view.

"I'm sorry, Momiji and I just thought that since we're all mature adults now, that this might be a special experience for us. But if you are feeling anxious, I could leave…"

"No, please don't." He put his hand on her shoulder. "If anything, Kyo and I should leave and give the two of you some privacy."

"No, Yuki, we invited you. We want you to be here."

Yuki forced himself to look up. He smiled at her through the steam rising from the surface of the bath. "Thank you for your trust."

"Besides, if you're there when the child is born, you're going to see everything, anyway."

This caused Yuki's breathing to speed up slightly. "I'm not sure I want to think about that. Perhaps I can wait outside when it happens?"

She smiled as she looked at Momiji and Kyo pouring themselves cups of sake on the other side of the bath. She looked down at herself with a sigh. "When we're all in the bath like this, it really stands out. The three of you, still so trim and handsome, and… I'm fat."

"You're the size that you're supposed to be, and you know it."

"But at my age, I feel like my body will stay like this forever."

"You're only thirty-six, that's not even middle aged."

"I'll be thirty-seven when she's born. I don't have any friends who had a child at that age."

"Tohru… if you're having second thoughts... I mean, we could work out some sort of arrangement where she lives with us half the time, and the other half with you."

"What? No, heaven forbid! I didn't mean to give you the impression that I… Oh, what am I even saying?"

He held her hand under the water. "We both owe you so much. It was an outrageous request, and there's no possible way we could ever repay you."

She nestled her head on his shoulder. "It wasn't outrageous. You wanted to grow the family you love. I love your family, too. Every member of it. I'm doing it all for love."

Yuki couldn't trust himself to talk at that moment, so he kissed the top of her head.

"Yuki? You know how my due date is May 1st?"

"Mmm."

"Depending on what time… She could end up being the last baby born in Heisei , or the first one in Reiwa."

"That's true. We'll have to think of a name appropriate to such an auspicious occasion."

"I'm sorry for complaining earlier."

"I wouldn't call it complaining. But even if you had…" Yuki smiled. "You know, an idiot once said that it's good to complain some of the time."

"What a wonderful idiot he is."

"So easy to love, so handsome, and just so, so stupid."

"I love your smile when you talk about him. But I'm feeling a little overheated. I'm going to need your help getting out of the bath."

"All right."

"And if you avert your eyes, I'll feel quite offended."

"All… All right."

Yuki woke up suddenly. He looked around. Momiji's futon was empty. Obviously, he had decided to do exactly as he had done twenty years ago and sleep with Tohru.

Kyo was also not in bed. Yuki looked up and, in front of the moonlit garden, saw a familiar silhouette outside on the engawa.

Yuki went out and sat next to Kyo.

Kyo offered a can to him. "Beer?"

"No thanks. I've had enough. I don't want to drive home with a hangover."

Kyo shrugged, popped the can open, and took a long slug.

"You better not drink like that when…"

"Of course I won't. I'm not an idiot. I'd never get drunk if there's a child in the house. I've never gotten drunk around Motome, have it?"

"No, you haven't. You're a responsible father."

"Yeah?" He took another drink. "Well, I feel like a piece of shit."

Yuki put his arm around Kyo's back. "Why?"

"The three of you, all having such a great time, remembering the past. When I think of when we were here twenty years ago, I can't remember anything good about it."

With his other arm around Kyo's front, Yuki held his partner in a gentle hug. "Why can't you remember anything good?"

"Because of me. I was so terrible. To everyone." He set his beer down and looked into the garden. "I caused everyone so many problems."

Yuki pulled at Kyo gently until the other man swung his legs around so that they rested on Yuki's. "None of us are upset about back then. We tease a little-but there are no grudges."

Kyo laid his head next to Yuki's neck. "You say that. And I even believe you. But I still feel bad about it."

Yuki caressed Kyo's side. "I know this isn't easy for you. Sometimes you feel like you need someone to blame. And you look at yourself, and you see a target who doesn't fight back. But listen to me carefully, okay?" Yuki lifted Kyo's face and looked him in the eye. "I don't care if it takes fifty more years, I'm going to teach you to fight back. I've got patience. I'm playing the long game. I'm not going to give up."

Kyo hugged him tightly. "Thanks for putting up with me. Love you."

"Love you, too." Yuki tilted Kyo's head up, and they kissed. Passion was perhaps dulled by fatigue and alcohol, but Kyo's kisses still made him shiver a little.

The two men sat there in each other's arms beneath the clear night sky. "Kyo? I thought of another name."

"Okay."

"Asaka. With the kanji for 'morning' and for 'beautiful.'"

"Nice. You're good at this. I got one but it's not as good. Yukari. Using the kanji for 'evening.' But it's too similar to your name, plus it has three kanji in it so it'll be harder for her to learn to write."

"Already thinking about her going to school. You're a really good dad."

Kyo kissed him on the neck. "Don't patronize me."

"I'm not, I'm complimenting you. I do that with people I admire."

"Hey… Yuki?"

"Yeah?"

"You know what was the worst thing about sharing a room with you back then?"

Yuki smiled. "My snoring? My sloppiness? The fact that you hated me? The fact that I was actually pretty mean to you?"

"No-it's that I couldn't crack one off."

"Excuse me?"

"I was so damn hard and I couldn't do anything about it. No privacy. You think I would have dared jerk off when I was with you in the same room?"

"And the mood has now completely changed. So much for innocent nostalgia."

"Gimme a break, that was the first time I ever saw you with your clothes off. You were so pretty back then. I couldn't stop looking at you. I don't think the term 'confused boner' existed twenty years ago, but I had one for sure."

"Well, in the interest of full disclosure, you may have gotten me a little hot and bothered back then, too."

"Too bad we were stupid. We could have had a lot of fun back then. A lot of fun. Especially after Momiji left the room."

Yuki looked into the room. "I notice that Momiji isn't in the room at the moment."

"Good observation."

"So, if you were so inclined, we could go inside and engage in a little recreation."

Fun was had.

Author's note:

This was originally written as a Secret Santa exchange gift for my friend Sandwich who is a fan of the Yuki/Kyo pairing. Having a modest appreciation of that ship myself, I was happy to oblige.

This story has one clear piece of artistic license: I have them referring by name to the Reiwa era (which began May 1, 2019), even though in the real world, the name was not revealed to the public until April 1st, two weeks after this story takes place.

Originally I was going to include Mitsuru in the story, but there just wasn't opportunity for it. While Ritchan heads up the hospitality of the inn, Mitchan is responsible for the business side.