The next morning when Kyo woke up, he instinctively started to reach for his running clothes. But then he paused, and after a few moments' consideration he returned them to the suitcase. When he went downstairs, he was instead wearing his gi.

Kazuma was in the kitchen making his tea when Kyo walked in, and his eye was immediately drawn to Kyo's outfit. Smiling, he asked, "No run this morning, Kyo?"

As he reached into the fridge and pulled out the carton of milk, Kyo gave Kazuma a smile of his own. "Nah. I was thinking I'd do some meditating this morning, instead."

Kazuma was beaming as Kyo took a big swig of milk and wiped his mouth. "Well, that's somewhat surprising. I'd rather given up on you ever taking to it," he said, chuckling.

"Oh, I still haven't taken to it, Dad," Kyo said with a chuckle of his own. "In general, I'd much rather run and think than sit and think. But I can run and think anytime," he continued, replacing the milk. "And I'd much rather have a little extra time this morning with my dad."

Both of them were smiling as they made their way across the hall, where they sat while Kazuma drank his tea. And in between sips, they talked. About Kyo and Tohru's planned visit to Yuki and Machi's later that morning, about their travel plans. What the upcoming week held for Kyo, and for Kazuma. How things were going in their respective classes, and a little bit about life in general.

The same things they always talked about, the same way they had always talked about them. Freely, comfortably, and happily.

And as they talked, Kazuma couldn't help but notice Kyo's body language; relaxed and somewhat sprawling, the same way it had always been.

Like nothing had changed between them.

As Kazuma raised his cup once more to his lips, he couldn't help but think of his argument for not telling Kyo about himself; that it wasn't necessary, because it wouldn't change anything. On the surface, he could say he'd been right; it hadn't been 'necessary,' and in most ways that mattered, nothing had changed.

But not every way.

Sitting there with Kyo, talking, laughing, and being natural with one another...knowing there was no barriers between them...

Telling Kyo might not have been necessary, no. But it had been the right decision, and Kazuma doubted he'd ever regret it.


Later that day, Tohru and Kyo were sitting in Yuki and Machi's living room when they all heard the front door open. All of them were surprised, and Yuki was just standing up to go investigate when Mutsuki breezed into the living room, a bright smile on his face and Hajime close on his heels.

"Oh good, you're all here!" Mutsuki said, smiling around the room. "We were hoping we'd catch you two before you had to leave, Aunt Tohru and Uncle Kyo," he said happily.

"Yeah, well, you caught us," Kyo said, feeling somewhat wary in the face of Mutsuki's bright cheerfulness. But Tohru was beaming too, and she stood up to give Mutsuki and Hajime hugs.

"It's so sweet of you to want to see us, you two!" She said, beaming at them both. "We'll be going straight to the train after here," she added, and both boys nodded.

"It's also good to see you too," Mutsuki told his parents, walking over and giving Yuki a hug. "Though we figured we'd be more likely to catch you two, seeing how you live here and all."

"Yes, it does often tend to be the case that we are, in fact, in our house," Yuki said with wryly, "Especially in late November."

"It's good to see you though, Mutsuki," Machi said, hugging him in turn. "Why didn't you say you were coming? We could have made you both something to eat, you must be hungry!"

"We grabbed some lunch from a vendor at the station, Aunt Machi, but thank you," Hajime said, looking at her before glancing at Mutsuki. Mutsuki gave Hajime a big smile, then settled onto the couch in between his parents and asked,

"Are we interrupting anything?"

Hajime stood awkwardly for a moment before Kyo glanced over at him and patted the couch between himself and Tohru. Hajime hesitated, looking once more at Mutsuki, then smiled and sat down between Tohru and Kyo, almost unconsciously adopting Kyo's posture of crossed arms and one ankle resting over the opposite knee.

Meanwhile, Yuki shook his head at Mutsuki. "Nothing in particular, just now. We just finished lunch, and you caught us in the middle of a chat about New Year's plans."

"Was there something you needed, Mutsuki?" Machi asked, and Mutsuki's eyes darted once more over to Hajime.

"Yes, actually, there was, Mom. Do you guys mind if I change the subject for a few minutes?"


Across the room, Hajime had started to tense slightly. Even though he knew Mutsuki's parents already knew about Mutsuki, they didn't know about Hajime, or about Hajime-and-Mutsuki. An even though they'd talked about this, even though he was glad they were doing this...it was still hard.

When was telling people actually going to start getting easier?

Suddenly, Hajime felt an arm across his shoulders, and he glanced over to see Kyo giving him an encouraging smile. The arm was rapidly followed by a hand on his knee, and he looked the other way to see Tohru's loving and determined gaze. For a moment, he felt practically overwhelmed by the support...then he smiled himself, taking a deep breath.

There was nothing to be afraid of.


Yuki and Machi were both looking at Mutsuki curiously, and he reached out to take each of their hands.

"So, Dad, do you remember back when I was twelve, you told me that someday when I was dating someone, you wanted me to bring them home to meet you guys, so you could get a chance to know them and love them just like me?"

Machi was suddenly staring at Mutsuki with wide eyes, but Yuki nodded, albeit warily. "Yes, that sounds about right," he said, his voice somewhat cautious.

"Well," Mutsuki said cheerfully, "I decided I'd make the whole process easier on you both by just going with someone you knew and loved already!"

Yuki's brow furrowed for a moment, then his eyes widened and shot across the room, landing on the furiously blushing Hajime before returning to Mutsuki with a somewhat wary "Mutsuki..."

"Mom, Dad," Mutsuki said, looking from one parent to the other with a smile, "Hajime's my boyfriend. Isn't that great?"


Kyo almost wanted to burst out laughing, the expression on Yuki's face was so comical. He couldn't say he blamed the other man in the slightest; although Kyo had known Mutsuki his entire life and did, in fact, love him, he'd always been a somewhat bewildering person to try to understand. How someone as pragmatic and direct as Machi and someone as calm and tactful as Yuki has produced the human enigma known as Mutsuki, Kyo had genuinely no idea.

Sometimes, he almost felt sorry for Yuki.

Hajime had said that Mutsuki's parents knew he wasn't' straight, so Kyo supposed that had helped Yuki make the leap to Hajime; that, and the fact he was the only person who could currently fit the 'brought home' descriptor. But it was obvious from the looks on their faces that both Yuki and Machi were surprised, and not just by the news that the boys were dating.

After staring blankly at Mutsuki for a moment, Yuki's eyes had flown over to meet Kyo's, then became confused when he realized Kyo didn't look the least bit startled. A glance at Tohru found her beaming from ear to ear, and Yuki looked once more at Mutsuki before looking back at Kyo and bursting out,

"You already knew about this?"

"Yeah, but only since yesterday, you damn Rat, so don't get too huffy on our account," Kyo said, grinning at the rare chance to see Yuki so flustered.

Yuki shook his head in amazement, but Machi was looking at Mutsuki. "How long has this been...a thing?" she asked, clearly trying to make sense of it all. "I assume it's serious, if you're telling us,"

"Oh, it's serious," Mutsuki agreed. "I love him, Mom," he said, glancing across the room and beaming at Hajime. And even though Hajime was still crimson, he was smiling, too.

"And I love him," Hajime admitted, earning a happy noise and a hug from his mother that made him mutter a somewhat embarrassed "Geez, Mom, really?"

"I'm just so happy for you, Hajime," Tohru repeated, still hugging him tightly.

Yuki had to smile at the oh-so-very-Tohru display of affection and enthusiasm. She had always been a sucker for romance.

And when he turned back to Mutsuki, he was smiling. "What can I say, Mutsuki? While I have to say I hope you two are making sure to focus on your studies and your Student Council work-"

Hajime immediately protested. "Uncle Yuki, you've got to know me better than that!"

Mutsuki was almost as swift in his rebuttal. "You really think even I'm capable of stopping Hajime from fulfilling his responsibilities? You've got more confidence in me than I do!

Yuki held up his hands. "As I was saying, as long as you two are making sure to focus on what you need to be doing, then I think we can both say," he said, glancing at Machi, who was smiling, "that we're happy for you."

Mutsuki was still holding their hands, but he let go to throw an arm around each of his parents and hug them both. "I was hoping you'd say that, and I don't blame you; after all, he's a catch! And I think you and I can both agree, Mom," he continued, nodding sagely at Machi, "that there's something to be said for the allure of the presidency."

It was hard to say who was blushing harder: Yuki, Machi, or Hajime.


A little while later, Hajime and Mutsuki were sitting talking to Tohru and Machi, while Yuki and Kyo had drifted to the kitchen to get something to drink. A rather stiff drink in Yuki's case, Kyo was amused to see.

"Is it really that shocking, Yuki?" He teased, swirling his own glass in his hand. It wasn't often he had a chance to be more poised than Yuki, and he was rather enjoying it. "Hajime told us Mutsuki's been...out...to you guys for a while, I figured this part'd be easy for you."

Yuki finished preparing his drink and gave Kyo a dry look. "Nothing Mutsuki ever does or says is shocking, Kyo, and it hasn't been for years. Surprising, on the other hand..."

Kyo took a drink. "Just so long as your surprise isn't 'cause you think my son's not good enough for yours, 'cause if that's the case then we're gonna need to have words."

"Your son?" Yuki said with amusement, raising a brow at Kyo. "Debatable. Tohru's son, though?" he said, smiling. "As much as I'll have to get used to the idea, I doubt it's possible for there to be someone better."

"Lucky for you they're one and the same," Kyo said with a chuckle. "Can't have one without the other."

"Sad, but true," Yuki said, then glanced back towards the living room. "Speaking of which, though...I'm honestly amazed, in retrospect, that I never suspected this, given how close they were. Then again, I never knew about Hajime, either."

"Yeah, well, you're not alone there," Kyo admitted, and Yuki looked at him in surprise.

"Really? You didn't know?"

Kyo shook his head. "Neither of us did. Nobody did, in fact, except Mutsuki...and Dad," He admitted wryly, earning another surprised look from Yuki before Yuki brushed past that.

"So when you say you learned about this yesterday-"

Kyo exhaled. "We learned about all of it yesterday. The fact Hajime's...gay," he said, still trying to get used to the word, "the fact the boys are...dating. All of it," he repeated, silently thinking about Kazuma as well.

It had been quite the day, to put it mildly.

Yuki was studying him thoughtfully. "How are you doing with all of this, Kyo?"

Kyo bit back the impulse to promptly say 'fine' in order truly consider the question. But after a minute, he gave Yuki a smile. "Honestly, Yuki...I'm good. Surprised, yeah. Tohru and I both wish Hajime'd been willing to talk to us about this earlier," he admitted, looking down at his drink. "It's a little hard to learn your kid's been in a relationship for a year and a half-"

"Wait, a year and a half?" Yuki's eyes rounded, and he jerked his head once more towards the living room. "And they're only just telling us?"

Kyo resisted the urge to tell Yuki a year and a half was nothing, but Kazuma's secret wasn't his to tell, and he doubted it would be Kazuma's to tell anyone else, either, except for Kyo's other two children at some point. Instead, he reached up and patted Yuki's arm.

"Pretty sure that was on Hajime's account, Yuki, or rather, on Tohru's and mine. From the sound of it, Mutsuki's been wanting to tell you guys for a while, but they were waiting until Hajime was ready to tell us."

After a moment, Yuki nodded. "I can see why they'd wait, in that case. Perhaps if you weren't always so damned intimidating," he said, giving Kyo a teasing smile, and Kyo snorted.

"I'm not, and never have been, intimidating. I'm damn loveable, and you know it."

Yuki chuckled. "Yes, loveable...that's the word for what you are."

Kyo was chuckling too, then he glanced back out towards the living room. "So..." he said, suddenly serious. "Our kids're dating."

"That's right," Yuki agreed, thinking of the way the boys had looked at each other when they said they loved each other.

"And it seems pretty serious," Kyo commented, and Yuki nodded. Then Kyo looked at him. "So what's that make us, then, if they end up staying together long-term?"

Yuki took a drink. "I believe the technical term is 'stuck with each other.'"

Kyo snorted. "Pretty sure we were that already, thanks to Tohru."

Yuki chuckled. "Yes, but this will just make it official."


Hajime and Mutsuki stayed until Tohru and Kyo needed to leave for the train, and when it was time for them to go, they decided to walk with them, to catch their own and say goodbye. And as they walked down the street, Tohru and Kyo hand in hand as always and Mutsuki and Hajime simply side by side, Hajime couldn't help but feel amazed at how everything had turned out.

For so long, he'd been afraid. He'd hoped that things would turn out well; he'd wanted, so very badly, to believe they would. But he'd been held back by fear, knowing that once he said anything, he'd never be able to unsay it. Things could have changed forever, in the span of once sentence.

And in a way, he supposed they still had. The version of himself that his parents had known was gone, replaced by the very-similar-but-still-different version he actually was.

The version who deeply and totally loved Mutsuki, and wasn't afraid to say so.

And his parents...were ok with that.

"What do you think, Hajime?"

Tohru's voice broke in on Hajime's thoughts, and he looked up in surprise, then embarrassment. "Sorry Mom, what?"

Tohru looked back at him with a little giggle. "I said that I think that it's too bad we couldn't stay longer, but that I'm very glad we came. Mutsuki agrees," she said, giving the other boy a smile, "but I wanted to know what you thought," she said, looking at Hajime affectionately. "I know that none of this was in your plan for this weekend," she admitted, a little ruefully.

Hajime chuckled. "No, none of this was in my plan, but I'm glad, yes. About all of it, honestly, but especially about you two coming," he said, giving his parents a warm smile. "It was good to see you, and to have time to actually talk about...things. Without having to deal with Chaos at the same time."

Kyo's mouth twitched, and Tohru beamed at Hajime, then frowned, then sighed. "Hajime, you know how I feel about that nickname for your siblings."

"It doesn't apply to Katsuro, Mom, except when he lets Sachi get to him."

"Says the man who's been letting literally everything get to him lately," Mutsuki murmured teasingly, and Hajime blushed.

"That's different. And I didn't say I'm blaming Katsuro, just that he gets loud when he's upset."

"Again-"

"Pretty sure that's just normal for our family," Kyo said ruefully, looking at the boys before smiling at his wife. "Tohru aside, anyway. And on that note...yeah," he agreed, "I'm glad we were able to talk, too, without your brother and sister around. Though I am glad you're planning to tell 'em, Hajime, 'cause I'm pretty sure they're gonna be able to tell something's up with your mom."

Hajime glanced at Tohru, who was smiling sheepishly at him, and he chuckled. "Yes, you've never been good at hiding when you're happy about something, Mom."

"You say that like it's a bad thing," Tohru protested, and the other three all laughed. Then Tohru smiled, reaching out a hand to Hajime. "And I am happy about this, Hajime. Truly. Happy you're happy, happy you told us..."

"Yeah," Kyo agreed, smiling at Hajime. "It's been...a pretty good weekend."

And Hajime agreed.


That night, Hajime and Mutsuki sat once more on the floor in Hajime's room, talking over the events of the weekend.

"So...your parents know about us too," Hajime said, looking at Mutsuki. "They seemed to take it well, don't you think?"

"You ever thought they wouldn't?" Mutsuki asked, looking at him in surprise. "I'm pretty sure they like you nearly as much as they like me, and considering how much they like me, that's high praise."

"Well, yeah, but just because they like like doesn't mean they'd be happy," Hajime said, rolling his eyes.

"Why not?"

Hajime gave Mutsuki an exasperated look. "Don't you ever have that starry-eyed optimism turn around and bite you, Mutsuki?"

Mutsuki was quiet for a moment, then smiled slightly. "Sometimes, yes. And when it does, before you ask, yes it does suck. But more often, things work out. Like this weekend," he said, his smile brightening as he reached over and took Hajime's hand. "I said everything was going to work out, didn't I?"

"Maybe once or twice," Hajime said with a wry face, and Mutsuki laughed.

"See, if you'd have just listened to me the first time I told you, you could have saved yourself a lot of stress and us a lot of time! But that's ok," he said, smiling. "The important thing is that it's out there now. We're out there, now," he added with a teasing grin, and Hajime snorted, then smiled.

"Yes...we are." Not to everyone, not yet. They still had more people to tell before they were comfortable just being open. But the people they had most wanted to tell, the people Hajime had most feared telling...they all knew. His parents and Mutsuki's parents were all in the loop, now, and as unbelievable as it had seemed a mere two days ago, they were all happy for them.

Not only that, but Kazuma had been able to tell Hajime's parents about himself, too, and regardless of what Kazuma had been telling himself all these years, Hajime hoped it was a relief to have the truth out there. His grandpa had certainly looked happy the previous day, and Hajime sincerely hoped he was. How much longer would it have taken Hajime to get to this point, if he hadn't had Kazuma to help him?

Hajime had been quiet for a little while, thinking about it. Then he sighed, and Mutsuki reflexively looked his way, a slight hint of concern flickering in his eyes. But at the sight of Hajime's smile, Mutsuki broke into a smile of his own.

"Thinking deep thoughts?"

"Maybe," Hajime said, leaning back against the bed.

"Anything you want to share?" Mutsuki asked, scooting up beside Hajime, and Hajime glanced at him affectionately.

"How about, 'I love you, Mutsuki, and I don't care who knows?'"

"Liar."

At Mutsuki's laughing denial, Hajime's eyes flared. "What?"

"Not about the loving me part, that part's true," Mutsuki said, eyes dancing. "But you do care. You care because you want them to know."

"You know what I meant, and way to ruin the moment," Hajime said, elbowing him.

"I didn't ruin anything," Mutsuki said, grinning. "I just think that saying what you actually mean makes it sound even better."

Hajime thought about that for a second, then it was his turn to grin. "Ok, maybe it does."

"See? And not to sound like I'm keeping score, but that's me being right. Again."

"Does it hurt, trying to contain that much ego?"

Mutsuki laughed again, then his smile softened as he looked over at Hajime. "I love seeing you like this, Hajime. Relaxed. Happy. Content. Almost as much as I love you."

Hajime smiled. "I know." Then he sighed, this time much less happily. "Enjoy it while you can; there's less than two months until the center test."

"Eh, you'll be fine. You've been studying for so long, you could sweep that test in your sleep. But just in case.."

Mutsuki gave Hajime a devilish grin, then leaned close and whispered, "I think we know a few good relaxation techniques."