My response to Challenge #5: Chinese New Year on the legalscribbles lj group.
A little known fact about Saiga was that he loved holidays. He fully celebrated every one he could, from Valentine's Day to Golden Week (1). And therefore, Kazahaya was not particularly surprised to find that Saiga planned on celebrating the Chinese New Year, even though they had already celebrated Shōgatsu (2).
Not that Kazahaya was complaining. Free money was not something to be turned down, and Kakei and Saiga had given him one of the traditional red envelopes containing about 4,000 yen (3). Kazahaya had thanked them profusely, praying that there wasn't a catch.
And the traditional Chinese food that Saiga had cooked was also a major benefit. It wasn't everyday that Kakei and Saiga actually fed them; usually Rikuo and he had to buy their own food. The yusheng and jiaozi were delicious, as was the niangao (4). Kazahaya privately added 'cooking' to the list of housewifely skills Saiga possessed. And somehow or another, they managed to get through an entire meal without Kazahaya threatening Rikuo.
After dinner, Kakei had pulled out the mahjong board, swearing up and down that playing mahjong was a traditional part of the celebration. Kazahaya had been torn between risking Kakei's 'punishment' by refusing to play and risking (and almost certainly losing) the money that he'd just received. Rikuo had rolled his eyes and wondered whether it were worth saving Kazahaya or not. He had decided it was. After all, it was New Year's. He could do a good deed or two. Or maybe just one.
He grabbed Kazahaya and pulled him out the door, saying that they had planned last night to go see a movie, not knowing that Saiga and Kakei were planning on a celebration tonight. And it would be an extremely bad omen for their relationship to have to break their first date. Kakei had calmly agreed, as Saiga roared and Kazahaya sputtered.
Footnotes
(1)Golden Week- the week of April 29-May 5, which contains four major national holidays of Japan.
(2)Shōgatsu- Japanese New Year; the Japanese used to go by the Chinese calendar, but now celebrate New Year according to the Western calendar.
(3)4,000 yen- about $40; in both Chinese and Japanese tradition, red envelopes containing money are given as gifts on New Year. Note: married couples traditionally give the red envelopes together. ;-)
(4)Yusheng, jiaozi, niangao- food traditionally eaten at Chinese New Year. Yusheng is a salad of raw fish and shredded vegetables; jiaozi are dumplings (they are somewhat different than their Japanese equivalents); niangao is a sticky sweet cake