"Nowaki? Kamijou-san? Would you like some breakfast?" asked a quiet voice from the door, followed by a soft knock. Hiroki shifted and lifted his head, blinking tiredly in the brightly lit room.
"Nn? What? Is someone talking to me?" Hiroki slurred, rubbing his eyes.
"Yeah. It's Misaki. Good morning! I'm making omurice, would you like some?" Misaki asked.
"Yes," Hiroki said, licking his lips as his stomach grumbled. The vibrations of his stomach roused Nowaki, who slipped his arm off of Hiroki's waist and yawned, rolling onto his back. Hiroki glanced at him. "Good morning, Nowaki. Want some omurice?"
"Mm'yeah, I'm starving," Nowaki said groggily, smacking his lips.
"Nowaki wants some, too," Hiroki called.
"Alright. It'll be done soon," Misaki said.
"Thanks."
Hiroki heard Misaki walk away from the door, then he flipped onto his opposite side to face Nowaki.
"I slept like a rock last night," he said. Nowaki yawned and tiredly turned to him.
"Me too," he murmured, nuzzling his pillow. Hiroki reached up to caress Nowaki's cheek.
"How is your leg this morning?" he asked softly, craning his neck and pressing a kiss to the side of his fiancé's mouth.
"Mmm… it feels a lot better, actually."
"Do you think you can walk on it?"
"I don't know. Want me to try?"
"Yeah."
Hiroki slipped out of bed and came around to Nowaki's side. He helped Nowaki sit up, then helped him swing his legs off of the bed.
"Be careful," Hiroki said gently, taking Nowaki's hand. Nowaki used it as leverage as he slowly slid off of the bed and put both feet on the floor. He wavered slightly.
"Well, it definitely hurts still, but it's not as bad as it was," Nowaki said, wincing slightly as he eased himself back down onto the bed. "Won't be able to walk for a while, I guess."
Hiroki frowned sympathetically as Nowaki looked down at his hands in frustration. He stooped down to kiss Nowaki's jaw, then trailed his lips down to his neck.
"I'm sorry," Hiroki murmured. "Don't let it get you down. I don't look at you any differently."
Nowaki sighed.
"I know. I just… I hate feeling so helpless," Nowaki muttered. Hiroki straightened and cupped his fiancé's face in his hands.
"You're not helpless," he said firmly. "Stop saying that. The baby is still here because of you."
Nowaki sighed again and leaned forward, burying his face in Hiroki's chest.
"I know."
Hiroki stroked Nowaki's hair, swaying slightly as he held his troubled fiancé against him.
"Let's get you dressed, okay?" Hiroki said, pulling Nowaki away from him and patting his cheeks affectionately. Nowaki looked down at his boxer-clad body. Hiroki went to the luggage bag and knelt before it. He unzipped it, but gasped as a black bag tumbled out of it and flopped to the floor with a loud thunk. He quickly shoved the bag back into the luggage bag and out of sight, but it was too late.
"What was that, Hiro-san?" Nowaki asked.
"Nothing," Hiroki responded hastily.
"Please tell me those aren't my letters," Nowaki said flatly. Hiroki pinched his lips together.
"Okay, they're not your letters," he lied. Nowaki groaned.
"Of all the things the raiders could have left untouched, it had to be those damn letters."
"Is it so wrong for me to want to keep these?" Hiroki asked, slightly angry as he looked over his shoulder at his fiancé.
"Why do you insist on holding onto them?" Nowaki asked, squinting. Hiroki frowned and picked up the bag full of letters, sitting back on his heels and holding the bag against his chest.
"Because they fill in the missing year in our relationship, you fucking idiot," Hiroki grumbled, flushing scarlet. "A whole year of your love is in all of these letters. As if I could throw that away."
"Hiro-san…" Nowaki whispered. "I'm sorry, I didn't know that you saw it that way."
"Y-Yeah," Hiroki said, tightening his hold on the bag of letters.
"Hiro-san?" Nowaki asked after a long pause. Hiroki looked over his shoulder at him. "Someday, let's read all of those letters together."
Hiroki felt his cheeks heat up even more, and a shy smile played at his lips.
"Okay."
Nowaki opened his mouth to say more, but there was a loud rapping at the door.
"You two better not be fucking in there, it's rude to have sex at a friend's house," the loud voice of Akihiko yelled. Hiroki's body stiffened.
"Hiro-san, don't strain yourse-"
"YOU HYPOCRITICAL ASSHOLE!"
Nowaki sighed as Hiroki shot to his feet as fast as his baby bump would allow and flew towards the door. Akihiko laughed just outside of the door as Hiroki tore it open and grabbed a nearby table statue of a bear from the end table next to the door. He lobbed it at Akihiko as hard as he could, but Akihiko easily deflected it with a sweep of his arm.
"I was just kidding, jeez. You're going to wake up Tomi-chan," Akihiko said, putting his finger over his lips. Hiroki immediately straightened from his hostile stance and covered his mouth with his hands.
"Did I wake her?" he whispered worriedly. Akihiko barked a laugh.
"Those mood swings of yours are so unpredictable, Hiroki. Don't worry, you didn't wake her. Tomi-chan could sleep through a bomb going off," Akihiko said, smiling as he rolled his eyes. "Hurry up and get dressed, breakfast is almost ready."
Before Hiroki could say anything more, Akihiko closed the door and walked away.
"That guy…" Hiroki trailed off. He pursed his lips and shook his head before flashing the middle finger towards the door. Nowaki chuckled lightly.
"Please try not to strain yourself. It's been a rough weekend, and I can only imagine the strain it must be putting on the baby," Nowaki said warningly. Hiroki sighed, willing himself to relax his shoulders. He rubbed his baby bump apologetically.
"Our baby is going to be a tough cookie," Hiroki mused absentmindedly. "I don't know how many stressful situations it's gone through."
"About eight thousand too many," Nowaki said. Hiroki's lips twitched as he turned around.
"At least we won't have a crybaby on our hands."
After getting dressed in his white turtleneck sweater and maternity jeans, Hiroki wheeled Nowaki out of the guest bedroom. He had helped Nowaki into his usual black turtleneck with his black jeans after a bit of struggle getting them over his injured thigh.
For the first time, Hiroki noticed a large, colorful playpen off to the side of the stairs, where Hitomi was dozing on a baby blanket, her little hands gripping a stuffed animal. As he and Nowaki passed the playpen, they both glanced over at her and smiled to themselves.
"Good morning!" Misaki called from the kitchen, where he was plating up breakfast. Akihiko milled about uselessly behind him, a cup of coffee in his hand.
"Morning," Nowaki replied cheerfully. Hiroki wheeled him across the carpeted floor, smiling shyly.
"Tomi-chan sure is a sleepy baby," Hiroki commented.
"Mhm. It's really nice," Misaki said. "Why don't you two take a seat?"
Hiroki moved to wheel Nowaki up to the dining table. However, he tilted his head in curiosity as he caught sight of the large pile of wrapped gifts sitting on the table. As he neared, he saw a card sitting on the top:
Nowaki and Hiroki Kusama
Too confused to be embarrassed about the use of Nowaki's last name as his own, Hiroki whirled around to face Misaki and Akihiko. They grinned from ear to ear as they walked up to the table, breakfast in hand.
"What's all of this?" Nowaki asked as Hiroki flapped his lips speechlessly, glancing back and forth between the presents, Akihiko, and Misaki.
"Usagi-san and I decided to go out and buy you two a few things," Misaki said. Nowaki blinked as Hiroki sputtered incoherently.
"Y-Y-You didn't have to! You've already given us so much!" Hiroki exclaimed. He ran his hands through his hair, flustered, as Akihiko chuckled and stepped forward to put a hand on Hiroki's shoulder.
"Let's just have a little private baby shower. You two need it," Akihiko said. "Please take them, it's our pleasure."
Hiroki shook as he wheeled Nowaki up to the table and sat down beside him.
"Eat some breakfast, then we'll open them in the living room," Misaki said. He and Akihiko grabbed handfuls of gifts and brought them into the living room as Nowaki and Hiroki slowly ate their breakfast. It was slightly awkward, as Nowaki and Hiroki had no idea where to look.
Each gift was wrapped in silver, shiny wrapping paper. Frilly bows, curly strings, and decorative, golden confetti coated the pile of presents. Nowaki seemed torn about the whole situation, his mouth halfway between sheepish appreciation and a grateful smile. Hiroki, on the other hand, showed blunt humiliation with flickering eyes and scarlet cheeks.
When Nowaki and Hiroki slowly finished, Akihiko and Misaki came back to the table and grinned at them expectantly.
"Uh…" Nowaki trailed off, awkwardly scratching his arm.
"Come on! Let's open presents!" Misaki exclaimed. Before anyone could protest, he bounded around to the back of Nowaki's wheelchair and began hastily pulling him away from the table. Hiroki struggled to get to his feet as fast as he could, and ended up getting pulled to feet by a chuckling Akihiko.
By the time Hiroki was herded over to the two couches of Misaki and Akihiko's living room, Misaki was already helping Nowaki ease down into the couch. Akihiko helped Hiroki sit next to his fiancé. The pile of presents had been placed on a coffee table before Hiroki and Nowaki, and they blinked at the pile as Misaki went to get Hitomi and sit next to Akihiko on the adjacent couch.
"Uh… what do we start with?" Nowaki asked.
"Start with the one by the edge there," Akihiko instructed, pointing. Nowaki warily reached out and retrieved a medium-sized gift. He glanced at Hiroki before slowly unwrapping it.
"Now, this isn't much of a baby shower gift, it's more of a gift to help you out," Misaki explained as a strange, black contraption with straps was unveiled.
"What's that?" Hiroki asked as Nowaki gaped down at it.
"It's a leg brace," Nowaki breathed. "One of the best in the world… these can be over five hundred thousand ye-"
"You looked frustrated by the wheelchair. Didn't I tell you that I don't want my pregnant friend with an immobile lover? Now you'll be able to walk, a bit stiffly, but you'll still be able to walk. It's designed to hold your muscles in place just right so they don't move too much around your wound," Akihiko explained. Nowaki glanced up at him, his lips flapping.
"I-I-I-I… uh, th-thank you," Nowaki stammered, returning his gaze to the priceless leg brace.
Hiroki, meanwhile, had taken on a very gentle face. He felt a new kind of respect for Akihiko blossoming in his heart, and he gazed at his best friend with a smile on his face. He put a hand on Nowaki's knee and squeezed lightly.
"Thank you," Hiroki said. Akihiko leaned back, slipping an arm around Misaki and giving Hiroki a smile and a subtle wink. The adults were brought out of their knowing glances as Hitomi cooed, oblivious to the grown-ups around her. She crawled from Misaki's lap to Akihiko's, and just as Akihiko was about to reach out to cradle her, Misaki snatched her back and cuddled her himself. Hiroki couldn't suppress a laugh as Akihiko pouted.
"Open the next one before my hair starts turning grey," Akihiko said flatly, promptly silencing Hiroki's snickers.
They worked through the gifts, receiving baby blankets, paints, pillows, and even a crib set. A strikingly familiar crib set.
"Hey… this is…" Hiroki trailed off, looking at all of the gifts in his lap or before his feet. He glanced up at Akihiko, his eyebrows furrowed. "It's just like-"
"Your nursery? We thought we'd get you're the exact same colors and accessories so you can rebuild the exact replica," Akihiko said gently. Hiroki stared down at the panda-print baby blanket in his hands.
"Thank you," he whispered shakily. He felt Nowaki's arm coil around his waist and pull him in. "Thank you so much."
Hiroki hugged the baby blanket close to his chest and slumped over Nowaki, squeezing his eyes shut as he trembled. Before he could start to cry, though, Akihiko spoke up once more:
"Hiroki, there's one more gift."
Hiroki opened his eyes and blinked in confusion. He glanced down at the coffee table and caught sight of a small envelope. He slowly reached out to grab it. Briefly flicking his gaze to Nowaki, he cautiously slid his finger under the flap of the envelope and opened it. He resisted the urge to protest as he pulled out a check. Knowing Akihiko, he probably had gone overboard and had given him fifty thousand ye-
Two hundred million yen.
Hiroki squeaked and immediately thrust the check away from him, as if it was on fire. It fluttered harmlessly onto his lap.
"What? What is it?" Nowaki asked frantically as Hiroki flapped his lips, strangled sounds coming out of the back of his throat. Nowaki took the check off of his lap and glanced down at it. He inhaled sharply and promptly outstretched his arm towards Akihiko and Misaki, who were positively beaming.
"Do you like it?" Akihiko asked, raising a silver eyebrow.
"You can't. No. We won't take it," Nowaki said firmly. "Seriously. W-We can't take this much money. Take it back."
"That's only pocket change to me," Akihiko said, blinking. Misaki rolled his eyes and smacked his lover's thigh.
"I told you they'd react like this," he scolded. He turned to Hiroki and Nowaki. "I tried telling him that it was too much, but the check's already signed. Please take it. It's the least we can do."
"Absolutely not!" Hiroki barked, making Hitomi jump and screw up her face slightly. Misaki quickly pacified her, and she stared at Hiroki with a disgruntled look on her face. "The least you can do? This is a ridiculous amount of money!"
"Hiro-san's right. We really can't take this check," Nowaki said, shaking his head. Akihiko sighed.
"Hiroki, can I talk to you in private for a few minutes?" he asked. Hiroki, still rather distraught about the whole situation in front of him, glared up at his idiot best friend. Akihiko stood and beckoned for Hiroki to follow him. Hiroki glowered as he stood and trudged after Akihiko, who led him into the guest bedroom.
"What?" Hiroki asked angrily the second the door was closed.
"Please take it," Akihiko said softly, his voice suddenly serious. He went to the translucent curtains and drew a second set of solid curtains over the first, darkening the room. Hiroki blinked in the dim light. "It's the only way I can make things up."
"Akihiko…?" Hiroki asked slowly, taking a step forward. Akihiko turned to him, a small shaft of light illuminating his darkened eyes.
"No amount of money could ever make up for what I did. All those years… you were in love with me, weren't you?"
