Hope and Happiness Go Hand in Hand

Keito stood in front of his house with Seri-san. Somehow the feeling of his lover next to him had not diminished his apprehension. Seri-san knew his parents were not aware he had taken on a male lover, or any lover for that matter. The calm and collected man beside him was usually a source of comfort that didn't seem to be finding its way into the taller boy's heart.

He looked down at Seri-san, whose face was illuminated by the porch light. This was the face of the man he was so in love with he didn't want to think of the possibility that behind the door there lie a trap in the form of some girl his parents were going to push on him. Had Seri-san not been standing there he would have done an about face and walked away, probably to Riri-chan's house, where the girl was undoubtedly watching from an obscure location.

The student felt like slime in that moment because he had been so nervous he'd neglected to inform the elder what could be on the other side of the door. This feeling made the boy feel like the worst, which only reminded him of when Serizawa had told him he only attracted the worst. In that moment Keito-kun fit that category perfectly and this made him all the more antsy.

"Keito-kun?"

The tall individual looked sharply at the smaller with a grimace.

"If you are that worried I can come back another time." Serizawa said in a soothing voice.

Keito shook his head. "No!" He said louder than he had expected. "I-I-I mean, please don't leave me." Then he added in his head, I can't do this alone and if you leave I may never be able to come back.

Serizawa reached over and grasped the younger's hand in his own as a sign of composure. He didn't know what had caused this abrupt request from his lover, but something must have happened. He recalled his earlier conversation with Keito-kun's classmate and the uneasiness that the tall boy was exuding started to bleed into his own soul. Whatever thoughts had snaked their way into either was starting to cause the world to turn a very dark color indeed.

"Let's go inside." Serizawa said as he reached for the door knocker. He could feel the iron under his hand, but Keito stopped him from knocking.

"This is my house too, so we don't need to knock to enter." Seri-san nodded and hand still entwined within the larger hand of Keito-kun, the two entered the house.

"I'm am home." Keito said clearly but softly. He could hear people talking in the dining area. Obviously people were already present for the meal.

After removing his shoes Serizawa took a good look around. The hallway wasn't overly long and there were three doors on the two sides. The back door, which was open, was obviously the one they were headed towards as that was where the light and sounds came from. The door to his left was open and he could see a computer monitor's screen saver dancing in the darkened room. The two doors on the right were closed.

The walls were painted a slate gray color and the floor was hardwood. A western style table sat off to the side and had two sets of keys. He noticed there were three sets of shoes, one obviously belonging to a man with large feet, and two that were decidedly feminine. Of course in this day and age anyone could have been wearing those ridiculous high heels women seemed so infatuated with.

He realized his hand was still wrapped in Keito-kun's but the way his hand was gripped he doubted he'd be able to remove it if he tried. So he settled for leaving his hand within his boyfriends for the time being. Somehow the hand holding his cleared some of the trepidation in the elder's mind.

A few moments after stepping onto the hardwood floor a woman rounded the corner and stopped in her tracks.

"Keito-chan, you should have told us you were bringing a friend." She admonished before turning into the room and heading the opposite way she had entered from.

Murmurings could be heard as the two figures made their way to the door. Just before the threshold Keito released their hands and gave Seirzawa an apologetic smile before timidly walking into the room. Serizawa heard Keito speak in a tongue he didn't recognize.

Then he heard the boy say, "Tazaki-san?"

This made Serizawa's heart jump a beat. It was too much of a coincidence for there to be two Tazaki-sans. This must have been the girl who came to see him at work today. For a moment the man didn't want to enter the room; he just wanted to leave. He wasn't a coward though and maybe, just maybe, the girl had something to do with Keito's jumpy mood.

Slowly he stuck his head in and bowed at the others in the room. It was easy to see where Keito-kun got his height from as well as his pale complexion. He was the spitting image of his dad and for a moment Serizawa imagined the two of them in twenty years with Keito looking like his father, only cuter and with a shy look on his face.

The others in the room were obviously Tazaki-san's parents. All of them eyed him as he finished entering in the room and bowed, respectfully.

"Nice to meet you all. I am Serizawa Hajime. It's nice to finally meet you Tsuda-MacLeod-san." He kept his head bowed until he felt Keito tap him on the shoulder. Slowly he returned to an upright form only to see all eyes on him in curiosity. That is except for Tazaki-san who didn't seem thrilled to see him.

"Keito-chan, who is this?" The boy's father asked.

"Um…this is Serizawa-san. He works at BE Books near the university." His voice was low and soft as he spoke as he felt every eye boring holes into his person.

"This is the individual who allows you to sleep at his house most nights." This sentence could have been both a statement and a question at the same time.

"Yes, father."

"Ah…" The man stood up and walked forward with pride in his steps. "Serizawa-kun, thank you for taking care of my son. He's a little bit of a hopeless case and it's nice to know he has such good friends looking out for him."

Serizawa chuckled uncomfortably as his hand was shook by the other man. "Not at all sir, it's my pleasure to have him around."

Though the words were meant in a completely innocent way, both Serizawa and Keito blushed at the sentence as if it had another meaning. That morning's round of love being forefront in both their minds.

"Well welcome to our home. I hope coming by tonight didn't inconvenience you in any way. Keito hasn't told us much, but from the way he talks it sounds as if he's completely enamored with you." How the man just stated that as if it wasn't a big deal we will never know.

"Um…thank you sir. I appreciate being invited in to meet you. I have wanted to meet you for a while and the timing just never seemed right."

Serizawa was pulled into the room and introductions were made. He bowed to both the elder Tazaki's and shook hands with Keito-kun's mother. In all honesty he didn't see it being a problem that he was there to meet his parents. They were lovely people and had Tazaki not been present he wouldn't have suspected anything other than finally being introduced as a friend. As it was he had a feeling that Keito-kun had brought him to introduce the man as more.

/GG/

Dinner went by without much in the way of confrontation. Tazaki insisted on sitting next to Keito-kun who did just that and looked miserable the whole time. How a boy could feel so uncomfortable in his own home was over Serizawa's head. Then again, the way Tazaki was behaving it made him rather jealous. The feeling grew exponentially when the girl looked over at him with a sly smile.

"These two kids certainly look cute together, don't they?" Serizawa didn't know which of the women said that, but he did admit, they did look exactly as he did when he'd first seen the two of them. "Keito-chan, you should ask this nice young lady to dinner sometime." Obviously it was the boy's own mother who had spoken.

He then realized exactly what was going on and for a moment his eyes wanted to water as he caught Keito-kun's eye. The boy obviously felt the problem too and looked on the verge of tears himself. The two had an unspoken communication at that time and Serizawa nodded his head that he was fine with coming out to Keito-kun's parents in front of the company and he realized he would need to be the one to take charge because the poor student was in no shape to handle it himself.

Taking a deep breath Serizawa closed his eyes and quickly rehearsed what he had planned to say whenever he'd gotten the chance to meet his lover's parents. It was a good thing he had spent time before rehearsing or he was sure he would make more of an ass of himself then he was about to. Then, with very little confidence, he stood up and bowed in front of the patriarch of the family.

"Tsuda-Macleod-san," he stated with halting conviction. "I would like to formally announce how I feel about your son."

All eyes were trained on the young man as he felt the sweat drip down his back only to be absorbed by his shirt. Now or never.

"Excuse me?" The man asked. "I thought you were Keito's friend."

Serizawa could feel Keito's eyes on him and it gave him the strength to continue on his current path.

"No sir, I am not your son's friend." He looked up slightly and caught Keito's eye. He also saw the scowl from Tazaki-san. "I am more than his friend. I am his boyfriend."

Not a sound could be heard in the room for what seemed like an eternity (which was only about ten or so seconds). During that time Serizawa didn't try to look up at the group until he heard movement to his side.

"I'm sure it's just a phase Tsuda-MacLeod-san. Given the right person I am sure Keito-chan here will choose someone more suiting of him." Tazaki –san stated.

This was followed by more silence for a few more seconds, then Keito spoke up.

"No, Tazaki-san. I love him…a-a-and no one is going to change that." The usually meek individual pushed himself away from the table and got down on his knees in front of his father. Tears were pooling in his eyes and he could feel his heart beating all the way to his finger tips. "Father, I want your permission to be with Seri-san…b-be-because…I-I…love him more than anyone else."

Serizawa-san felt his heart explode in happiness at this confession and he smiled as he slowly stood up to see his poor, towering boyfriend in the child's pose on the floor in front of his father. His soul had been bared for all to see and it made the elder's love for the boy grow all that much more. Serizawa walked over to his partner and knelt down next to him in a submissive pose as well.

"I would also like your permission to remain with your son, sir."

It took a moment for anyone to mention anything, then finally Keito-kun's father spoke up.

"I am not sure how I feel about homosexual relationships, but this is the first time Keito has ever asked for something using his entire essence."

Both young men waited for him to continue from their spots on the floor.

"For the moment I can't give you my blessing until I am able to sort out my feelings…" This caused two hearts to all but crumble. "However…" They stopped crumbling. "Since I can see you two are serious I will hold my thoughts until I can properly understand the situation. You may continue to see one another, just don't do anything to embarrass this family Keito."

With these words Keito sat up and cried his eyes out.

Keito's father looked at his wife and sighed. "He certainly doesn't get this sensitive side from me." He reached over and rubbed his son's hair with a smile. "Serizawa-kun, I ask that you continue to look after my son for the foreseeable future."

"Yes, sir." He replied a little too fast as a blush came across his face and a smile lit his eyes.

The patriarch of the Tazaki clan decided to speak up at this point. "Not that I am comfortable with homosexual relationships, but were any of you women aware of the boy's relationship? I knew something was up when they walked in together." Then he glanced at his daughter. "Were you already aware that Tsuda-kun had someone in mind when you suggested we get together?"

All eyes fell on the girl who didn't shrink back.

"Yes father, I was aware. But they can't remain together in Japan, marriage isn't legal between two men and it dishonors the family. I like Keito-chan and don't mind that he has this type of past-time."

The elder Tazaki shook his head and sighed. "I am disappointed in you. If you were aware of the feelings this young man had for another it was none of your concern. Love doesn't dishonor families, but being selfish does."

She lowered her eyes to avoid looking at her father, but continued to speak. "I'm not going to give up on my love either father. I will wait patiently until he grows up and learns that what he is feeling isn't right."

Serizawa was used to all types telling him that he was gross or that he was a sinner. This very well could have been the first time Keito-kun had heard these lines come from someone's mouth, so he reached over and held his lover's hand again. The gesture was a silent way of saying that they needn't concern themselves with her opinion.

"Tsuda-san, I am sorry, but I think my family and I should be going before my daughter disgraces us anymore." The man stood up and bowed. "Serizawa-kun, Keito-kun, you have my humblest apologies. Keep each other happy."

With those words he whisked his family away before any further embarrassment could occur. The four who remained in the house were at a little bit of a loss as to why they left so early, but it did open the door for a further set of comments.

"Keito-chan, how come you didn't tell us?" His mother asked.

"I didn't know how you would react and I didn't want to cause anyone any frustration." The usually inarticulate man said softly from his position on the floor.

Serizawa, still holding Keito's hand, looked from his lover's mother to his father and back again. There was no malice in either set of eyes, only concern, which was to be expected.

"You'll give me some time, right?" She asked.

"Yes, mother. As much as you want."

She nodded and that was the end of the conversation. All in all the evening went better than it could have gone. While neither of Keito-kun's parents were 100% for the relationship, they weren't against it either. That meant that there was still hope to be had, and where there was hope there was some sort of happiness. Hope and happiness do go hand in hand, after all.