Considering how long it had taken to have even the tiniest bit of luck in their house hunt, all of sudden things felt like they were moving at a lightning pace. The day after Tohru and Kyo's meeting with the Suzukis and Mr. Shimada was Sunday, a day the two traditionally spent at home together. That Sunday, they spent pretty much the entire day poring over their laptop together, researching, reviewing, and discussing all they could learn about building and builders.
The next day, Tohru spent her lunch break making calls. Then again, after work, there was more calling, and emailing. Same thing the day after that, and the day after that. At the dojo, Kyo would check his phone on breaks, rapidly reading anything that Tohru had forwarded to him and sending back questions of his own that Tohru would turn around and ask during her calls, jotting notes down on the little note pad that suddenly never left her side. Every conversation they had, from the moment they woke up until the moment they fell asleep, revolved around costs, estimates, overcharges, and liabilities.
But by the end of the day on Thursday, they'd made up their minds. And when they contacted the Suzukis early Friday morning, the first thing Mr. Suzuki asked was "When would you like to sign the papers?"
That was the beginning of August. Before another week had passed, they were the proud owners of their very own piece of land, and Tohru and Kyo had signed on with a building company. One week after that, the old house was gone, and they had begun meeting with the company's architect. And one week later...
"How very, very lovely," Kazuma said softly, looking around Tohru and Kyo's new piece of land. It was early afternoon on a Wednesday, and Kazuma had stepped off the train from Tokyo in Nigeyashi less than an hour earlier. Tohru had taken the afternoon off of work to meet him, then she and Kazuma had taken the bus into Hibe where Kyo had been waiting for them at the depot, still wearing his gi.
Kazuma was visiting for an annual tradition: the Hibe Summer Festival, which always took place at the end of August. Every year, the Matsuda Dojo held an exhibition as part of the festival, and every year the Dojo was a big draw. It was also quite a lot of work for Kyo and the rest of his peers, who always put in more hours than ever in the weeks leading up to the festival to prepare.
And that was why they were at the property now, on Kyo's lunchbreak. Even though it wasn't a night he normally taught late, Kyo himself would need to be back at the dojo for the entire evening. If they wanted to Kazuma to see the land both by daylight and with Kyo, then for the rest of the week their options were extremely limited.
But none of them had wanted to wait any longer than they needed to. Kazuma was well aware of Tohru and Kyo's house hunt and the ensuing complications; telling him that they'd finally found their new home had been a joy for all three of them. And though Kazuma was initially surprised to hear they were actually building it, he had been delighted for them.
Tohru and Kyo had been excited to walk Kazuma down the road south of town, and it had been an exciting moment to stop at the gravel driveway that led into their land. The newly filled-in place where the old house had stood probably made it obvious, but it was still an exciting moment when Kyo turned to Kazuma and asked, "So, what do you think?"
They didn't have a lot of time, but it was enough. Tohru and Kyo walked the edge of the property with Kazuma, pointing out their fruit trees, and the currently existing gardens. The location of their new house. Then it was time for Kyo to run back to the dojo, and for Tohru and Kazuma to head back to the house.
Seeing the land had brought a smile to Kazuma's face, one that had yet to fade, and he turned it on Tohru as they walked along. "I imagine this all must be quite a lot for you two to be dealing with, Tohru, especially right now! I feel like it was only yesterday that you two had no leads at all, and now..." He shook his head in amazement.
Tohru laughed, nodding her own in agreement. "I know! It's only been a month since we first heard about it, and now we own it! And we have a builder, and an architect..." It was so much, it was almost impossible to accept it. "It's a pity that we've hit this part of the process now," she admitted, "but it's so nice to be here at all!"
Kazuma could completely understand that. "I supposed that these past two weeks haven't been the easiest for Kyo, have they?"
Tohru shook her head. "No. He was able to meet with architect with me once last week, when he and some of the other building company people came here to look at the property, but otherwise he hasn't had time! On Sunday, the two of us plan to sit down and really hammer out some of the details of what we for the house, so that we can send them over and the architect can get right to work on the plans." She paused, giving Kazuma an apologetic look. "I'm so sorry we have to do this while you're here, Master Kazuma, but once we have things started we'll be a little less distracted."
"Please don't apologize, Tohru, I'm very excited for you two! Besides, you two working on your list will give me an excuse to spend some quality time with Hajime, and you know I'll never say no to that," Kazuma said with a smile.
Tohru smiled right back. "Well, he'll be very excited, I'm sure. He's been looking forward to seeing you all week, I can only imagine the surprise on his face when you're there with me to pick him up from daycare this afternoon!"
Kazuma laughed himself, imagining it. No matter how many times he saw his grandson, the sense of wonder and amazement that this was Kyo's son never seemed to wear off. He loved Hajime dearly; originally for Kyo's sake, but every bit as much now for his own.
"Hopefully he's very happy; I know I will be, too," Kazuma said as they turned onto Main Street and headed down towards the residential part of town and the Sohmas' house.
"So, I know it's exceptionally early in the process, Tohru, but do you two have any idea of the timeline for the house?"
She gave him an excited look. "Well, that's part of why we really want to get things going on Sunday, if we can. The builders had another project fall through, so if we are able to get everything figured out and finalized in the next three weeks, they're hoping to start work by the end of September!"
Kazuma was startled. "Next month? My goodness! But that doesn't leave you a lot of time for the design, does it?"
Tohru weaved her head back and forth a little bit. "Yes and no? We'll have a lot longer to decide things inside the house, like the cabinets and the fixtures and the flooring. What we need to have figured out early is the actual house; layout, doors and windows, and things like that. We already know tentatively what the main things are we want, so it's just committing to them and then seeing what the architect comes up with. Neither of us was hugely picky about most of the house, so hopefully this will be plenty of time!"
Kazuma nodded. "Do you have any idea how long it will take?"
That was the question mark. "They said best case scenario, late December, but to expect it to take longer. A more realistic estimate is late February, and possibly as late as June," Tohru admitted with a sign. "But we'll just have to wait and see, and that's why we really want to get this spot so the build can start next month."
"That certainly makes sense. I'll do my best to keep Hajime busy on Sunday, then, so you two can get to it!"
In spite of Tohru's impatience, the rest of the week seemed to fly by. Hajime was so excited to see Kazuma that everyone in a five-block radius of the daycare had probably heard his shriek, and while Kazuma's ears were ringing, he couldn't hide his delight at Hajime's reaction. At Kazuma's request, Hajime stayed home from daycare on Thursday and the two of them had a Grandpa/Grandson day while Tohru and Kyo were at work; a morning visit to Kyo at the dojo brought smiles to all three Sohma men.
Friday saw Hajime back to daycare and Kazuma to the dojo for the day, taking advantage of the invitation from Dojo Master Matsuda to step in and participate in the dojo's last training day before the exhibition, and then Saturday...was the exhibition.
Exhibition day was always an adrenaline rush for Kyo, and this year would be no different. The day started early, and there was a lot going on; skill demonstrations from all the classes, kata performances, and, of course, the sparring matches. Sparring was the biggest draw for the event; there were always matches between the Dojo's instructors, to demonstrate the skill sets of the people who worked there, as well as a student tournament and an open tournament that anyone could sign up for.
Technically the exhibition also continued into Sunday, but that part was optional for Kyo this year. Both of the classes whose performances he was responsible for were on Saturday; the advanced kata and instructor matches were also on Saturday. A second day of the open tournament would be happening on Sunday, but he'd decided to bow out this year and while he'd taken some teasing from his fellow dans, they'd mostly been understanding.
It was a pretty big deal, building a house.
But skipping Sunday didn't mean that Kyo was going to hold back on Saturday, or give any less than 100% when he was there. He loved exhibition time; his natural competitiveness went into overdrive when he had the chance to fight in front of an audience, or to test his skill with a new opponent. And beyond his own matches and his own demonstrations, he always got a genuine thrill from having his classes perform, and witnessing their pride in a job well done.
The three previous years Kazuma had participated in the open tournament, but this year he had bowed out. Instead, he spent the day with Tohru and Hajime. This was the first year that Hajime actually understood what was going on, and it had been a delight for both Kazuma and Tohru to watch his excited reactions to everything.
At one point later in the day, Kyo was squaring up for a match and the audience had gone quiet in preparation. Naturally, Hajime had picked that moment to yell out "KICK 'EM, DADDY!" at the top of his little lungs, making Tohru, who was holding him, wince and causing almost the entire crowd to crack up laughing. Kyo himself had to fight to keep a straight face, as had his opponent, and if they were both extra-motivated during that fight it was pretty easy to guess why.
At the end of the day, Kyo was very satisfied with how things had gone. He might have been tired and drenched with sweat, but when he found his family at the end of the evening, he was smiling.
"Hey you three," Kyo said, grinning as he scooped up Hajime. "Did you all have a good time?"
Hajime was beaming at him. "Daddy kicked an' Daddy punched an' Daddy went SMASH!"
All three of the adults laughed at that, then Kazuma gave Hajime a fond look. "A touch simplistic, but accurate. You did very well today, Kyo. All of you did, and you should be very proud."
Kyo was ginning. "Yeah, I'm feeling pretty good about today. My kids did pretty great, don't you think?"
Kazuma was about to respond when Hajime immediately burst in. "Yes! I gweat, I wisten! I sooooo good!"
The adults laughed again, and Tohru smoothed her son's hair. "You certainly were, Hajime, you did a great job behaving today! Mommy is very proud of you."
Chuckling, Kazuma looked back at Kyo. "Yes, Hajime was a near-model observer, but your classes did very well, too. Working with younger children can be a challenge, but you'd never be able to guess it from the results. An excellent job by all."
They stayed at the festival for a little while longer, checking out some of the booths and getting some food. Kyo would periodically be stopped, either by parents, community members, or even random audience members who wanted to talk to him; his hair had always made him memorable, and his youth tended to make him approachable.
Kazuma had smiled, watching Kyo interact with people. If Kyo was annoyed at being stopped while he was with his family he never let on; he would crouch to talk to kids, be thankful and bow when complimented. He was always quick to talk up any students to their parents, pulling all sorts of details about their skills up in the blink of an eye. And he'd always, always be smiling.
At one point, after yet another student and their parents walked away, Kyo noticed Kazuma smiling at him and raised a brow. "What's the look for?"
Kazuma continued to smile. "You. It's a wonderful thing, seeing you here. Like this."
Kyo blinked, then chuckled. "Well, shouldn't be that surprising. The exhibition's one of the biggest days of the year for the dojo when it comes to local engagement, and Sensei always wants us to make a good impression. We usually get a lot of students who start as a result of today, so I shouldn't really be growling at everyone, should I?"
"Perhaps not," Kazuma said, smiling, but somehow he doubted that Kyo's smiles were simply PR for the dojo. This was the real Kyo, not a façade meant to make the dojo look good. This man, happy, smiling, wearing a sweaty gi, carrying his son, looking affectionately at his wife...this was the real Kyo.
And it was no act.
They stayed at the festival until Hajime started to nod off in Kyo's arms, then it was back to the house. It had been a busy day, and an exciting day.
But today was over, the dojo exhibition, as far as Kyo was concerned, was over. His crazy all-day work schedule was over, until next summer when it would begin anew.
And starting tomorrow...they'd be designing a house.
"Alright, Mr. and Mrs. Sohma, if you'll just sign this last page, then we'll be all set!"
Tohru and Kyo exchanged an excited glance, then without hesitating Kyo picked up the pen, quickly signing his name at the bottom of the page. Then he passed it to Tohru, who promptly did the same.
"Well, that should be everything, then!" Beaming, Mr. Abe, their building company representative, gathered up the pages of the contract they'd just signed and stood up. "I'm going to make you two a copy for your records, but with this there's not really anything else you need to do, not for a while. Obviously keep doing your research as far as the interior finishings go, and let us know as soon as you know what you want. The sooner you can get that information to us, the better, but we won't need any of that until November at the absolute earliest. If there's any complications we'll be in touch; you're always free to reach out to us with any questions. And feel free to check out the site at any time, though we obviously prefer that you stay away from the actual construction unless we let you know it's safe."
As Mr. Abe walked out of the room, Tohru and Kyo traded another look, then they both broke out into big, beaming grins.
"We're doing it, Kyo, we're actually doing it!"
"I know!"
Both of them were so excited they could hardly stand it. Three weeks had passed since the dojo exhibition, and in that time the two of them had thrown themselves into the home design question with a tenacity that would have made their high school teachers proud. That first day they had spent literally the entire day, from the moment they finished breakfast all the way until Hajime's bedtime, working on their design. They had a basic layout from their architect to start with, and from that they had discussed, discussed, and re-discussed. Added. Taken away. Changed. But by the end of the day, they had something they were happy enough to pass back to the architect as a first draft.
There had necessarily been changes. It had taken five in-person meetings and almost the entire three weeks, but they'd settled on something that hit all of their needs, most of their wants, and fell firmly within the range of their budget. Having the architect smile and tell them "I think this is it!" had been an exciting moment, one of many they'd had so far on this process.
Today's meeting with Mr. Abe was yet another. They had just signed off on the plans, the project, the estimates...and the timeline. Next week, ground would officially be broken on their new house.
Mr. Abe soon came bustling back with their copy of the contract and a stack of catalogues. "These are all options available to you two for the interior. If possible, I'd try to get yourselves to a showroom for the kitchen and bathrooms; several of these brands have showrooms, a couple in Nigeyashi or else if you can make time to head into Hirosaki. Like I said, the soonest we'd need any of this is the beginning of November, but having it sooner means we have it, if we end up ahead of schedule."
Tohru took the stack with an excited nod. "Of course! We'll let you know as soon as possible. And thank you so much, Mr. Abe, really!"
He smiled at her. "Our pleasure, Mrs. Sohma. It's always a treat, helping families get their dream home!"
After exchanging goodbyes, Tohru and Kyo were on their way, grinning at each other as they walked down the sidewalk hand in hand. Kyo had attempted to take the catalogs from Tohru, but she was clinging to them as excitedly as any child with candy.
For a little while they walked in silence, but finally Tohru couldn't keep her excitement in any longer. "Next week, Kyo, they're starting work on our house next week!"
He laughed, squeezing her hand. "I know, right? Crazy to think, after all this chaos, that it's finally happening!"
"I know!" Tohru sighed happily, looking over at him with a smile. "We're going to have a house, Kyo. A house, all our own! Ours! That we own!"
Kyo grinned, loving her enthusiasm. "I know. A house, a yard, space..." It was his turn to sigh happily, just imagining it. After so long searching, so long trying to find something, their new home was finally, finally on the horizon. They wouldn't have to be crammed in together, not for too much longer.
Which also brought something else rather important to mind.
"So," he said, glancing over at her with a suddenly hesitant smile, "they'll be able to start construction when they hoped."
Tohru was still beaming. "That's right! So we could have a house as early as December, if we're lucky!"
"But we probably won't be, remember," he quickly cautioned her. "Remember, they said that was a super early, absolute best-case-scenario timeline."
"I know, but isn't it a nice thought?" she asked, her eyes shining.
Kyo laughed again. "Well, you can think it, just don't get too committed to it. I'm guessing that that February timeframe is probably more realistic, maybe even longer. Still, it's good to have a general idea."
"That's true," Tohru admitted. "But just knowing it's coming is enough, really!"
He nodded, then took a breath. "So, with them starting construction on schedule...are you still sure, about the other thing?"
Tohru immediately realized what he was asking, and she returned his hesitant look with a confident nod. "I am, Kyo, really."
"The timing could end up really close. Remember, they said that it might not actually be done until June, so if things work out like they did with Hajime-"
"If we are, then we'll make it work. But remember, the odds of that happening are so low; it's a lot more likely that it'll take months than not. And we've already been waiting so long, I'd really rather not wait any longer than we have to," Tohru said firmly. But then she paused, giving him a concerned look. "Are you not sure any more, Kyo? If you've changed your mind, we can certainly talk about it some more."
He shook his head. "Nope, I haven't. Yeah, it'd be a lot nicer if we actually had the house and could move in now, but if you're ok with the uncertainty, then I am, too," Kyo said with a smile. "Just promise me that this time, you tell me any time you're suspicious enough to take a test, ok?"
"Ok," Tohru said with a laugh. "But I'm pretty sure it'll be a while."
"Still. I want to be included in the whole thing this time, even the suspense."
"That's fair," Tohru agreed, then gave him an excited look. "So...I'll make an appointment, then."
Kyo took a breath, then nodded. "Sounds good to me."
They continued on their way, both of them lapsing once more into silence, but both of them grinning as they clung to each other's hand.
This next year was shaping up to be very exciting.
