She looked up from the photo. "I was expecting an apartment, not an actual house!"
He nodded. "The commute to work is longer, but a house this far from the city is much less expensive than a downtown flat."
"You've even got a garden?"
"A small one. I wouldn't want to keep a dog inside an apartment."
She gasped. "You never told me you had a dog!"
"I don't. I plan to in the future, but my current lifestyle doesn't allow me to care for a pet."
"I can't wait to have a look at it. I wish I didn't have to wait until the weekend."
"Sorry, I've got other errands to take care of."
"Plus you've got to throw out all the dirty magazines and bikini posters."
"I don't have anything like that," he growled.
She smirked. "I know. Just teasing you."
"You don't like it much when I tease you."
"Because your teasing makes me scared, not irritated."
"I'm…" he looked at his hands. "I'm sorry about that. Social communication is not my forte."
"It is mine." She took one of his hands between hers. "I'll train you in it and you'll get better. Just like you'll teach me the Japanese way of life until I transform into a perfect yamato nadeshiko."
He snorted in amusement. "Yeah, that's never going to happen."
Wearing an annoyed look, she poked his arm, then smiled. "See? You're getting better at teasing already."
"I don't know why you couldn't have the moving company deliver these bags as well," he grumbled, heavy suitcase (with no wheels) in one hand, a garment bag over his opposite shoulder.
"They won't be delivering my things until tomorrow. I need a few necessities until then."
"These are a few necessities?"
"Have you ever lived with a woman other than your mother?"
He thought for a moment. "There were some female personnel in the same barracks back in my early days with the JSDF."
"Barracks don't count." She bumped his hips with hers. "Well, Karasuma, you're going to be getting quite an education in the next few weeks and months."
He was about to counter with 'if you're here that long', but stopped himself. He had learned that he didn't find jokes about relationships breaking up to be funny. Instead he said, "and years." He was rewarded with a brilliant smile from Irina.
With effort, he lifted up the arm holding the suitcase and pointed. "There. Third house along."
"Oh! I can't wait!" Her smile faded slightly. "Just like the pictures. It's quite modern, isn't it?"
"It is. What were you expecting?"
"Oh, I suppose when I think about a Japanese house, I picture one of those more traditional ones with the sliding screens, and so on."
"It does have sliding doors. But with wooden floors instead of tatami." He shrugged. "If you don't like it you can always…" He saw her tense up. "Help me look for a house for us that suits you better." She relaxed again.
"Why don't you have a car?"
"I haven't really needed one before. If I needed a vehicle for a mission, I'd requisition one from the motor pool."
"I think I might like to have one. It would make it easier to go off for a weekend in the country. If that was something you'd like to do."
"Sounds good to me. Once you're settled, we can start looking for one."
"Instead of that, I was thinking more like having one of mine shipped to Japan."
"What."
"Not one of the flashy ones. I've got a really nice Mini Cooper: very practical. Best of all, it's right-hand drive, so it should work just fine in Japan."
"'One of your cars.' How many cars do you have, Irina?"
"I'm not exactly sure. A few. Can't be much more than twelve or fifteen." She noticed his shocked expression. "In my old job it was often necessary to maintain a certain lifestyle in order to get close to some targets. A few of them were gifts from grateful customers. Of course, now that I'm not doing that line of work anymore, I suppose I could sell them off. No point in paying for storage on things I might not use again."
He couldn't help but notice her pained expression once she saw the interior. "Do you not like the wall colors? I can have it repainted."
"The paint is fine. My problem is that there's so much of it. It's all just walls. Is this place decorated at all?"
"It seems fine to me like this. It's clean and uncluttered."
"You've been a bachelor way too long, Karasuma. This will not do. We need flowers and art and furniture."
"I have furniture," he said, annoyed.
"More furniture. What have you been doing here for the past few days?"
He shrugged. "I've been busy overseeing more practical aspects of the house."
"Such as?"
"Tempered glass windows, concrete walls. A safe room with an entrance from the main bedroom closet. Three centimeter thick armor plate, separate ventilation system and power supply, satellite phone, weapons cache, stocked with food and water for two weeks."
She nodded. "What else?"
"Main gun safe downstairs, with a secondary upstairs. For surveillance, there are infrared, heat-sensitive cameras, monitored 24/7. Also detectors against chemical and radioactive threats."
Irina smiled. "What, no Aegis anti-missile system?"
"No, the JMSDF wouldn't loan us one."
"Are you joking?"
"About the Aegis, yes. Everything else, no. I don't know that anyone from our pasts is going to come after us, but if they did, they'd be shooting to kill." He looked at her seriously. "There are two bodies I want to keep safe above all others, and I'm going to make damned sure they stay safe."
They reached the top floor and he slid open a door. "So, this is your bedroom, if you want it. If you don't, you can have a different room. If you don't like the bed…"
She grabbed his arm. "What do you mean 'your bedroom?' I thought we'd be sharing–I mean, we are a couple living together, and I'd assume that we'd share one room." She looked down and spoke quietly. "And one bed."
He released a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. "That is what I want, too. I really do. I just didn't want to take for granted that we'd be doing that. I know that people can make rude assumptions where a beautiful woman is concerned, but I didn't want to be one of those people."
She hugged him quickly and tightly. "You couldn't ever be. Not you. I know you."
He didn't want to contradict her, but he couldn't lie to himself. He had had preconceived notions about her. He was one of those people who makes rude assumptions. It was in the getting to know her that he saw her true face.
"This is our bedroom," he muttered into her hair. "This is our bed."
They stayed there, holding each other for quite a long time. It was a pleasant silence.
The bulk of her goods was to arrive the next day, but she did want to organize the things she had brought with her: predominantly toiletries. After that came the rather less traditional settings of lock combinations, alarm disarm codes and biometrics that the ultra-secure house required.
As they were lacking in time, energy, kitchen equipment as well as groceries, the evening meal was via delivery. As they ate, they collaborated on a shopping list. Not just food and pots and pans, but linens, furniture and countless other things.
The next day would be devoted almost entirely to unpacking and organizing Irina's belongings, but they could, at very least, buy some grocery staples.
"I was going to ask–did you want to get a piano for the house? I'm sure you'd need to practice to keep your skills up, and I'd enjoy hearing you play as well."
"I actually have a piano already, in storage in Europe, like my cars. But now looking at your… our house, I don't think it would fit."
"Don't tell me—a grand?"
"A Bösendorfer, in fact."
"I don't recognize the name, so I'll assume that means that it's very good."
"The best. But since it's a smaller house, I think a spinet would be perfect. A Japanese home needs a nice Japanese piano. We could look for a Yamaha."
"I… are you sure…" He put his hand on hers. "I'm not making you give up too much to live here with me, am I?" he asked softly.
She laced her fingers with his. "It's not been my dream to live with a piano. My dream is much more human."
As nighttime approached, a certain awkwardness made itself manifest. Nighttime meant sleeping, and in this new arrangement, that meant…
She changed into a short satin nightgown in the bathroom. When she came out, he sat on the bed in a t-shirt and boxer shorts.
If they couldn't even bring themselves to change clothes in front of each other–how was this going to work out?
Irina decided to face the issue head on. She sat down on the bed next to him. Then pulled him down for a kiss.
"So, this isn't exactly a sexy thing to say, but it's a conversation we need to have. You might have some concerns about me because of my past. That's understandable. I have been tested, and I'm clean. I can provide you with the doctor's report if you want."
"You don't have to–I believe you."
She smiled. "And I haven't slept with anyone since I came to Japan. I've got an IUD, so whether you want to use a condom or not, I'll leave it up to you. And now that I've told you about myself…"
He hummed quietly. "I'm not certain how to respond to that, Irina."
"It's fine, you don't need to go into details. Just–have you been tested?"
"No."
"Why not?"
"I haven't slept with anyone in a long while either. Twenty-eight years."
Irina did the mental math, then gasped. "Are… are you saying you're a virgin?"
"I fit the standard definition of the word. Sex has never been a high priority of mine." He frowned slightly. "I hope you're not disappointed."
"No, not at all! Your body, your choice, right?" It was her turn to frown slightly. "Are you sure *I'm* the one you want to… be your first?"
"Of course. Why wouldn't I want you?" He lifted her hand and kissed it.
She closed her eyes and sighed. "Maybe you're a beginner, but I have a feeling you're going to be great." She giggled slightly. "I'm just surprised-and pleased that there's another thing where I'm more of an expert than you."
"Don't get cocky, Irina."
"Y-you learn quickly."
They fit together well, he thought. Cuddled next to him, she could rest her head on his shoulder, kissing and nuzzling her neck. He ran his fingers through her long, blond hair. This he could get used to.
It wasn't the sex. It wasn't just the sex, he quickly amended.
More than that, it was the intimacy. Years of trusting no one and being suspicious of everyone–now he had someone he could trust. Trust with anything. He hoped she felt the same.
He had thought she might have been asleep, but she tensed up suddenly. "What are you thinking about," he murmured. She looked at him, and he was shocked to see tears in her eyes. "Are you all right? I didn't hurt you, did I? You should have said something. I didn't mean…"
She shook her head. "No, it's not that. I was just thinking."
He kissed the top of her head. "Thinking about what?"
She faced him."I've got everything I want right now, and I'm scared it will be taken away from me." She looked away. "Listen. I want you to promise something, Tadaomi. I'm not going to ask you to promise to stay with me forever. I know that people can change and relationships can fade away. Right now I do feel like I want to live with you forever…"
"So do I," he murmured.
"But I can't expect either of us to swear to stay in a relationship forever just because of how we feel right now. Do you get what I mean?"
"What do you want me to promise?"
"I promise that I'll never walk out on you. That no matter what happens, I won't just abandon you. Can you promise me that, too?"
"I promise I'll never walk out on you." He lifted her hand and kissed it. "I promise I won't abandon you." He kissed her mouth.
She smiled through her tears. "That's good enough for now."
