Chapter 12 - Dream Scaping

About a month passed since Lucas' departure. Even though his show's break was over, he still found time to email Takashi about his proposal plans...frequently. Takashi took Lucas' input into consideration, but it became non-stop. "Dream-scaping" is what Lucas called it.

"You're practically a knight in shining armor rescuing a damsel in distress, this has to be epic!" Was the line that bothered Takashi the most. He didn't imagine Izumi to be caught up in "glitz and glamour" (another Lucas phrase), but Lucas had sent Takashi a list of reality wedding tv shows to watch, and now considered how big this might be for her.

Reiko and Haruhi...well he didn't want to approach them. Reiko had been very specific in what she wanted, but she had actually been the "instigator" in her and Mitskuni's relationship. (Nevermind the fact that Mitskuni sort of planned everything in a way that made Reiko ask for things.) Haruhi, well, it was more Tamaki that was the dreamer...

Outside of Lucas, no one in the host club knew. No one in the Morinozuka family knew. He wanted this to be as intimate as possible. Not even Mitskuni knew, not yet anyway.

However, Lucas had two dream-scapes in mind. Option A] Surprise proposal surrounded by family and friends. Option B] Huge vacation/planned weekend with the proposal worked in, to be followed up with a congratulatory party shortly after.

After about two months of debating (or fending off) Lucas' suggestions, Takashi finally (and politely) said "I'll take it from here." This was rather good timing as Lucas was becoming rather impatient with how slow moving Takashi was. "Gah! Only three months left until the new year! I'll stab my eyes out if Takashi doesn't propose before the year is over," Lucas wailed as he closed his laptop. "Fine, whatever. It's not like I'mthe one getting married. Fuck it. Let him do whatever he wants..." Lucas paced towards a waiting basket on the other side of his bed. He picked it up and upended it into the trash. Tons of wedding magazines, clippings and fabric samples overflowed the hotel trash. "Stupid boy takes so long to move!"

"How's the new trimester going," Takashi asked, returning home.

"Mm? Oh it's good. The kids are great. Well behaved, of course. They're all too smart for their own good. Sometimes I think these parents need to let kids be kids or actually be parents, ya know?"

The continued some idle talk until Satoshi arrived for their sparring session. Izumi busied herself with grading papers and helping with dinner.

It was a nice routine they had fallen into. They go, do their thing (teach for Izumi, school for Takashi), they come home. Izumi usually catches up with Haruhi, who was now full into her pregnancy. Someone ends up sparing with someone. They have dinner. Some quiet time after dinner and then sleep.

Occasionally they'd go out with all or part of the Host Club, visit his family or run some errands together. Even though there were house hold staff, Izumi still wanted to do things herself.

A few more weeks passed of him closely observing their "normal" and assessing his feelings.

It was this quiet, routine existence that Takashi loved. Yes, it sounds boring written on paper, but he was utterly ecstatic and happy to just enjoy the stillness of their being. When you're happy doing nothing is when you know. When you know you could do this for the rest of your life and still feel complete, excited to come home just to see the smile... that's when you know.

Now that Lucas was no longer providing him with must-haves, Takashi felt more sure of himself with his original decision. He was going to keep it small, intimate, just between them. They'll probably take a mini vacation somewhere in Japan, low key... he'll decide the moment when it's time.

Izumi yawned and threw her leg on top of Takashi's. His hand went under the covers and rubbed her tears formed in her eyes as she settled into the pillows.

"You asleep?"

"meeeehhhhhhh"

He kissed her forehead. "Hey..."

Izumi playfully kicked at him. "You know, it's hard for me to sleep [yawn] when you talk..."

"What do you think about taking an extended weekend before winter break?"

"What? Why?"

"Well, before the weather gets really bad, I was thinking it might be nice to go to an onsen. November is right around the corner, we can take our time to find one that we really like. What do you think?"

I think you rich people are insane. This place is a freaking mansion and has it's own garden and open air bath..."That sounds nice."

Takashi kissed her on her forehead and watched her drift into sleep. When he was absolutely sure she was in a deep sleep, Takashi let out a huge sigh of relief. He was never really nervous about things before. Embarrassed, yes, but never nervous. Not until Izumi. Even now, she still gave him butterflies.

He didn't care if she didn't remember in the morning. Right now, she said yes to his proposal location. Sure she didn't know what the heck was going on, but it gave him the confidence to continue. I'll debate telling Lucas later. I need to find an onsen...

"Hey babes!" Izumi exclaimed upon seeing Takashi come home. The staff took his coat and bag right before she leaped upon him.

Takashi laughed to himself. Okay she wants something.

"So... remember the onsen you told me about..."

"Shall I carry you into the sitting room?"

nod

"Well, I found out from Haruhi that Kyoya's family has opened a new one and they need a dry run for the staff..."

Oh, this is good. This will make things so much easier if it's her idea."And you want to go?" He put her down on the couch and sat beside her as tea was brought into the room.

"Well, yeah. I was going to ask if we could. At first I was thinking of going somewhere else in Japan and going to a local one. Then I thought the baths might be crowded. Then I was thinking of how I didn't want to be naked around that many people. Then I thought if we went to an onsen I didn't really want to spend a lot of time without you. So I thought about the private ones, but those are all...well..."

"They're for 'rich folk,' as you would call it?"

"Yeah. I mean, I was worried about what would happen if we went to one where you might be recognized and then it might be weird if we had a private bath and we're not married. I didn't want you to be in a bad position. And if we had to go to a shared one, I didn't want to have polite conversation... it just makes me nervous."

"Izumi," he cupped her chin in his hand and tilted her face up, "I understand that it makes you uncomfortable, but there really isn't anything to worry about. I will speak to Kyoya about the Ootori's new onsen. But please," he kissed her softly, "don't let status issues bother you. It's nothing to be worried about."