"No, of course. Like I said, I'm glad you told me earlier. I wouldn't have wanted you to wait, either. How's she taking it, do you think?"

Hajime stood leaning against the living room wall, watching and listening with an anxious frown as Mutsuki paced back and forth across the room, his phone to his ear and an equally anxious look on his face.

"Well, that sounds about right," Mutsuki said after a moment, a little glint of humor cutting through the anxiety. "I can't say I blame her, though, her timing on this really sucks." He was silent for a moment, then laughed. "No, I am not saying there's a good time for this, but I know how much you two were looking forward to your trip. Do you know how long she has to stay?" Mutsuki was quiet again, his frown deepening as he listened to the other side of the call, then he sighed.

"Well, hopefully everything goes as planned tomorrow and they can get to the surgery right away. In the meantime, make sure she's taking her drugs." He paused again, then laughed. "Well, how else am I supposed to say it? That's what they are!" Mutsuki smiled, his face softening slightly, then sighed. "Yes, I know. And I'll let you go, for now, but I'll be checking in later. If anything changes, let me know right away, ok?" There was another pause, and Mutsuki's smile deepened. "Love you too, Dad. Tell Mom the same when she wakes up, ok? Bye."

Mutsuki sighed as he put away the phone, then looked over at Hajime.

"Ok, so the update: it's a 'displaced fracture,' which means the break is out of alignment, which means she actually needs to have surgery to correct it. The earliest they can do it is tomorrow, so she has to stay in the hospital overnight tonight for sure. How long after that will depend on whether they have to push back the surgery at all and how everything goes."

Hajime exhaled, then gave Mutsuki a sympathetic look. "How's she doing otherwise?"

"Mostly ok, it sounds like. Dad says she's pretty upset," Mutsuki said with a wry smile. "They were supposed to be leaving tomorrow for the festival and obviously that...is not happening now."

Hajime nodded. "Yes, I'm sure they're all pretty bummed about that." Yuki and Machi had been traveling north to attend the Hirosaki cherry blossom festival with Hajime's parents every year since Hajime's little brother Katsuro had been a baby. Hirosaki, a city about an hour away from Tohru and Kyo's home in the village of Hibe, was renowned across Japan for its cherry blossoms, and its festival was always a wonderful event. It wasn't often that Yuki and Machi made it that far north, but the annual festival was always something their parents looked forward to seeing together.

Which is why Hajime had to agree with Yuki: Machi managing to break her leg after getting it tangled in a blanket and falling while getting up that morning had been incredibly unlucky, on multiple fronts.

"Is Uncle Yuki able to stay at the hospital with her?" Hajime asked, and Mutsuki nodded. "Good, hopefully that will make it easier for her." He knew Machi had never liked hospitals; they were too stark and pristine and orderly for her, and he could only imagine how difficult it would be for her to be immobilized and unable to adjust anything if she needed to.

"Yes, that's what Dad hopes, too," Mutsuki agreed, then he gave Hajime an apologetic look before exhaling. "I have to go, Hajime. Home," he clarified, "today."

Hajime was silent for a moment as well, then he nodded. "I kind of figured."

"I know we had plans," Mutsuki continued, the words almost a rush, "And I really am sorry, but-"

"-But you're their son, and they could probably use your help. You don't have to apologize, Mutsuki, I get it," Hajime said, reaching out and squeezing Mutsuki's hand. "I'd do the same thing, if I was in your position, and it's not like you've even got siblings, either."

Mutsuki stared at him for a moment, then broke into a grin. "And here I thought you were going to argue with me."

Hajime shot him an appalled look. "Why would I argue with you?"

"Because you're a naturally argumentative person?"

"I am not!" Hajime immediately protested, then blushed at Mutsuki's mischievous smirk. "That didn't count, and you know it."

"Fine," Mutsuki agreed after a moment, still smirking. Then his expression softened. "Seriously though, Hajime, I hate having to cancel our plans, and leave you high and dry."

"Don't worry about it. It's not like we were doing anything we can't work in some other time, even if it isn't Golden Week."

Just over a month had passed since Mutsuki had graduated high school and moved down to Chiba, into the new apartment the two of them had picked out together. He'd joined Hajime as a student at Chiba University, where Hajime was just starting the second year of his international language and cultural studies degree and Mutsuki began his own degree in landscape architecture. And after a year of being apart, even if it was only a two-hour trip by train...living together again had been wonderful.

They'd decided to spend Golden Week, the break at the end of April and beginning of May, 'playing the tourists' in Chiba. Although Hajime had lived there for a year and Mutsuki has visited him as often as he could, neither one of them had actually gotten out all that much the year before and seen the sights. Now that they were both local, they were ready to make up for lost time.

But plans could and did change, and even if they couldn't do everything they'd planned all at once, they'd only been going to do day trips, anyway. There would still be opportunities to see everything later.

Hajime's expression was thoughtful as he continued, "You know, since your parents aren't going to be heading up to Aomori now and you're going to be in Tokyo...maybe I should go north, myself. I haven't been home since last August, and it might be nice, having some time to visit when it's not summer festival time. And then you don't have to worry about me being alone," he said, smiling teasingly.

Mutsuki stared at him for a moment, then broke into a wide, beaming smile. "That's a brilliant idea, Hajime! Aunt Tohru and Uncle Kyo would love to have you, I'm sure, and who knows, maybe they'll even be as happy to see you as they would have been to see Mom and Dad," he said, grinning.

Hajime rolled his eyes, then smiled. "I'll check in with Mom and see if that works. Do you know if your parents have told them yet?"

"Yes, they called Aunt Tohru this morning," Mutsuki said, his grin fading into a slightly more serious look, then he glanced at the time. "I should pack," he said, "if I'm going to get home before it's too late tonight."

Hajime nodded. "Your bag's in the front closet, with mine inside the big suitcase."

Mutsuki laughed, then kissed him. "I appreciate you and your anal-retentive home organization skills."

Hajime returned the kiss with a smile. "Remember that the next time you're complaining about having to put things away."

As Mutsuki headed to the closet to dig out his bag, Hajime turned and headed into the bedroom, walking over to Mutsuki's dresser and standing in front of it. He meant to start pulling out some things he knew his boyfriend would need for the week; Mutsuki could sometimes be a haphazard packer. But he couldn't help but look at his own dresser, and think with a pang about how disappointed he was, no matter what he'd actually said to Mutsuki.

It was selfish, he knew. It wasn't as though Machi had wanted to break her leg, especially badly enough to need surgery. And of course Mutsuki needed to go; contrary to what people sometimes thought, Mutsuki could be extremely helpful when he put his mind to it, and Hajime was sure that Mutsuki being there for the week would be a relief and a help to Yuki as well as Machi.

And it would be nice to have a chance to visit his own family when the social stakes were low; the last time he'd been to Hibe, and the next time he'd planned to go to Hibe, was during the Hibe summer festival, when there was always a lot going on. Even if he enjoyed it, festival season tended to be hectic, and there was a lot of pressure for Hajime to see people.

But it wasn't what he'd planned...and he'd really wanted to do what he'd planned.

He'd always wanted to do what he planned.

But as he stood there, staring over at his dresser and mourning his plans, Hajime suddenly felt a moment of clarity.

Sometimes, plans needed to be flexible.

"When you said the bags were in the big suitcase, I didn't realize you meant 'like a set of nesting dolls' in the big suitcase, Hajime," Mutsuki said, walking into the room with his and Hajime's bags a little while later. "Is it really all that much easier to store them like that?"

"It's more efficient to store them like that," Hajime said, neatly piling Mutsuki's socks and underwear on top of the dresser. "It also keeps them from getting crushed as much."

Mutsuki shook his head and joined Hajime at the dresser. "Well, it's a pain to get to them, uncrushed or not."

"I promise, Mutsuki, tossing them all in a heap on the closet floor and having to dig through for the one you want would be an even more obnoxious pain."

Mutsuki sighed dramatically as he started to pull out clothes. "Have I ever told you you're incredibly annoying when you're right?"

"Often," Hajime said, smiling as he moved out of the way. "That's probably why you have such a tough time admitting it."

"Me?" Mutsuki protested, looking at him. "I admit you're right all the time, Hajime, even though, as I said, you're incredibly annoying about it. You, on the other hand, have an absolutely abysmal track record at doing the same."

"I do not!" Hajime promptly argued. "I give you credit for things all the time!"

"Like when?"

"I told you just now it was the right thing to do for you to go home," Hajime said, and Mutsuki paused, straightening up from his drawer and looking at Hajime. Even though Hajime had meant to sound playful, he knew he couldn't be surprised Mutsuki had picked up on the undercurrent of disappointment.

"Hajime, I'm so sorry, really," Mutsuki repeated, setting down his bag and walking over to take Hajime's hands. "If there was another option-"

"But there isn't, and you shouldn't beat yourself up about it," Hajime said firmly. "It's the right thing to do. And that's something I've always admired about you, Mutsuki, the way you always try to do the right thing. It's something I've always...loved about you," Hajime said, his mouth suddenly dry.

Mutsuki blinked, then smiled at him. "Well, if you, being the bastion of moral fiber and good judgement that you are, say that, then I suppose I shouldn't argue."

"No, you shouldn't," Hajime agreed, squeezing Mutsuki's hands and trying not to stare at them. At his graceful, elegant hands, the hands that were yet another thing he'd always loved about Mutsuki.

One of a very, very long list, of things he'd always loved about Mutsuki...and knew he always would.

Mutsuki was eyeing him, and Hajime could see the concern starting to creep back into his boyfriend's face. "Hajime, you know it's ok to be disappointed, right? Just because I have to go doesn't mean you have to be happy about it, I promise."

Hajime shook his head. "It's not that, Mutsuki. I mean, yes, I am disappointed, of course," he admitted, looking up from Mutsuki's hands to his face. "I was looking forward to this week," he said. "Everything we planned."

Mutsuki gave him a sadly sympathetic look. "Me too. But we're still going to do it all, right? Maybe not all at once, any more, but we have weekends, and we'll have this summer, and days when we have long breaks...we'll still do it all, I'm sure of it."

Hajime took a big breath, then nodded. "Yes, we will. All of it," he said, his voice so suddenly fierce that Mutsuki was surprised. Then Hajime repeated, more to himself than Mutsuki, "all of it."

Mutsuki was looking at him curiously, and Hajime felt his mouth get even dryer. This wasn't the way he'd wanted to do this; he'd had a plan. He liked plans. He'd always liked plans, and thinking things though. He wasn't spontaneous, and never had been.

But life with Mutsuki had always meant rolling with the punches. And if he couldn't do what he'd planned...he'd just do the next best thing.

He couldn't look at Mutsuki's face right then, and dropped his gaze back down to their hands. His hands, holding Mutsuki's, the way he always wanted it to be.

Always, and forever.

"Mutsuki...I thought a lot about this week. Where all we were going to go...what we were going to do. And there was something...I wanted to do, this week. I hadn't picked a spot, exactly, because I wasn't sure about the crowds or what the weather would be like or how we'd be feeling-"

Hajime could tell that he was babbling, and he was cringing at every word that came out of his mouth. But Mutsuki wasn't saying anything, or moving at all; the hands Hajime was watching were still, and Mutsuki himself was silent. Listening, and letting Hajime babble.

"And at first I thought, with you going to Tokyo, that I'd just wait. Until we could go and do the things we'd planned to do, and see those places...but I don't want to wait, Mutsuki. I don't."

Hajime's hands had started to shake, and Mutsuki's tightened around them. Then Hajime pulled one of his away and reached into his pocket. "I know...we're not that old. And that we have years before we're done with school. And I know...that it doesn't mean anything. Not legally. And maybe-"

"No, Hajime." Mutsuki's negative was so firm that it froze every cell in Hajime's body, and his hand stopped midway out of his pocket. All he could do was stare in stunned, near crushing disappointment at Mutsuki's beautiful hands and try not to let the feeling completely destroy him.

Then Mutsuki repeated again, his voice much softer, but still fierce. "No, Hajime." And at the sound of the hitch in Mutsuki's voice, Hajime slowly looked up.

Mutsuki's eyes were full of tears, and he was smiling at him; no, not smiling; beaming. But Mutsuki's voice was fierce and full of emotion as he looked at Hajime and continued, "Don't you dare stand in front of me, in our home, and tell me that it doesn't mean anything, Hajime, legally or not. Don't you dare tell me that we don't mean anything, or that we won't mean something, just because the government says so. And don't ever make excuses to me, for anything, when it comes to us."

Mutsuki let go of Hajime's hand and crossed the room to window, crouching beside the large potted plant sitting there in the sun. After a couple moments he stood up, brushing dirt off of a small plastic box.

Suddenly Hajime couldn't breathe, and it was like he was frozen all over again. But this time, he was beaming as well, and his eyes were bright as Mutsuki walked back over to him, sliding a smaller box out of the plastic one.

"I've been thinking, a lot, lately," Mutsuki said, looking at Hajime. "About how long was 'long enough,' and if I'd spook you-"

"You could never spook me," Hajime said emotionally, and Mutsuki laughed.

"You say that, but I definitely have! More than once, I'm pretty sure."

"But not for a while," Hajime said, wiping his eyes with the back of his wrist. "Not...for years."

Mutsuki was grinning, his eyes shining, and Hajime was beaming back, his heart so full it almost hurt.

"This last year..." Hajime said, looking at Mutsuki, "it sucked, so much. Yes, I had school, and yes, I did fine...but I missed you, so much. So much, all the time. To go from living with you...from having you right there, all the time...to not...it sucked. And it made me realize, within the very first month, that I didn't want to live away from you ever again. That I didn't want to be away from you if I didn't have to, ever again."

"I felt the same way," Mutsuki said softly. "I was happy for you, that you had gotten to go where you wanted. That you were getting started on what's sure to be a brilliant career. That you'd gone to a place where you knew I could follow," he said, his grin suddenly mischievous, and as emotional as he was Hajime still laughed. That had played a big role in Hajime finally choosing Chiba University, even though he could have gone to numerous other places, some of them admittedly closer than two hours away from Kaibara High.

But Chiba University had a horticultural program that Mutsuki liked, and more than Hajime wanted to be closer for that one admittedly long year, he wanted to be close thereafter.

"But I hated you were gone," Mutsuki continued, the mischief fading. "I hated I couldn't just pop across the hall and see you, whenever I wanted. That we couldn't do homework together, or go shopping together, or just...be together. Because I just want to be with you, Hajime. Always."

"And forever," Hajime said softly. "That's what my parents have always said to each other, when they tell each other 'I love you.' I always thought it was gross when I was younger," he said with a choked-up laugh. "Because everyone knows parents aren't supposed to be like that. But then you came along...and told me you loved me...and I got it. I still get it," he said, finally pulling his hand out of his pocket.

Mutsuki had tears in his eyes and his smile stretched from ear to ear as Hajime flipped open the small box. "I know it's pretty basic-" Hajime began, but Mutsuki cut him off.

"-And it's absolutely perfect," he said, opening his own box.

Hajime had to laugh again, almost in awe of just how perfect it really was. In each box was a strikingly similar ring, just a simple white gold band. And Mutsuki was laughing too, wiping at his eyes as he looked at Hajime.

"I guess we have similar taste, don't we? At least in jewelry, anyway."

"Jewelry...and maybe a couple other things," Hajime said, beaming. Then he exhaled, continuing to grin as he dropped down to one knee.

"Mutsuki Sohma, will you marry me? However, wherever, whenever...I just want to be with you, for the rest of our lives."

Mutsuki had tears trickling down his cheeks, and he wiped at them again while beaming at Hajime. "And here I was wondering if I'd always be doing the asking in our relationship."

In spite of the moment and as emotional as he was, Hajime still couldn't help but snort. "That's what you say when I propose to you, Mutsuki? Really?"

"Really," Mutsuki admitted. "Though it shouldn't surprise you, at this point." Then suddenly Mutsuki had dropped to his knees in front of Hajime, his mouth on Hajime's in a fierce, all-consuming kiss that left Hajime breathless.

"Of course I will," Mutsuki said, pressing his forehead against Hajime's. "I've always wanted too...and I always will. You and I were born to love each other, Hajime," he said, his voice choked up, "and I'm never going to stop loving you, even after I've died."

Hajime didn't know if he was kissing Mutsuki or Mutsuki was kissing him, but he didn't care. And as they both tumbled to the floor together and their ring boxes both went flying, all he could think was that he was the happiest man in the world.

"So how did you figure out my size?" Mutsuki asked later, as the two of them sat together on the floor and admired their new rings.

"I used a string, when you were asleep," Hajime admitted, blushing, then squirmed when Mutsuki burst out laughing. "What? It worked, didn't it?" he asked defensively, gesturing to the perfectly fitting ring now adorning Mutsuki's left hand.

"Yes, it did, clearly," Mutsuki said, still laughing as he pointed to Hajime's hand. "Since that's what I did, too."

Hajime stared at him for a moment, then laughed as well, shaking his head. That was an advantage of both of them being deep sleepers, he supposed; neither one of them had had to worry about the other waking up and spoiling the surprise.

"So...now what?" Hajime asked, resting his head lightly against Mutsuki's.

"Now? Well, for starters...I need to finish packing and go to Tokyo," Mutsuki said, and Hajime blinked, then blushed again, realizing he'd completely forgotten about Machi's broken leg and the circumstances that had led to this happening here and now anyway.

But Mutsuki wasn't done. "And when I get there, I'll help my parents however I can...and tell them my fiancé sends his love."

At the word 'fiancé,' Hajime broke once more into a big, beaming smile. That was what they were now, he supposed: fiancés.

"And after that...I suppose that for now, we go on as we are, mostly," Mutsuki admitted. "You've got almost three years of school left, and assuming nothing changes for me I have almost six. We have time, to figure things out. Maybe things will change in Japan, in that time," he said. "Assuming nothing changes in Chiba, at least, in another year and a half we can always register for a 'special partnership' if we want, even if it's not exactly the same as a marriage."

Hajime couldn't decide if it was a good thing or not, to hear the facts stated so plainly. It definitely felt strange to go from the exciting whirlwind of emotions to the pragmatic, somewhat depressing reality of legalities...but Hajime had been the one who asked.

"But hopefully now that we're wearing these," Mutsuki said, smiling as he looked at their rings, "I don't have to hear you grumbling about being hit on anymore. And if we decide we're tired of waiting on change at any point, we can always do what Momiji and Hans did, and get married abroad." Mutsuki continued, grinning. "Do you want to go to Europe? Or America? Australia is an option, I think..."

Hajime smiled, running his thumb over Mutsuki's ring. "Not like you've thought about it much or anything, right?"

The look Mutsuki gave him was pure love. "I've thought about it a lot, Hajime...and I kind of think I'm not the only one," he said, looking down at his perfectly fitted ring.

Hajime grinned and that, and shook his head. "No, you're definitely not the only one."

"And I can tell you this, Hajime. Whatever the government says...whatever the world says...as far as I'm concerned, all that matters is what we say. And right now," Mutsuki said, resting his head against Hajime's and interlacing their fingers, "I think what we say is pretty obvious, don't you?"

Hajime smiled as he looked at their hands, his slightly larger one holding Mutsuki's. They been holding hands for nearly three years now...and he was ready to keep doing it for a lifetime.

"I love you, Mutsuki," Hajime said, his voice soft, and Mutsuki smiled beside him.

"I love you, Hajime. And I can't wait to spend the rest of my life with you...right after this week," Mutsuki said ruefully, picking himself up from the floor.

As Mutsuki finally got back to his packing, Hajime watched him with a smile. This smart, charming, kind, loving, wonderful, beautiful man was his...and he always would be, too.

And as he glanced back down at his ring, Hajime couldn't help but smile.

He couldn't wait to tell his parents.