Adoption

Rin paced through the apartment, glancing periodically at the sheets of government paperwork sitting on their coffee table only to curl his lip in annoyance, his tail lashing about behind him. He just wanted to marry the man he loved. Why did the world conspire to make it so much harder than it had to be?

He tensed as he heard Ryuuji's key in the lock, but slipped a smile on anyway.

"Welcome home," he said, greeting Ryuuji at the door with a kiss as the other man entered the building. He took Ryuuji's coat and hung it up for him, getting out of way so could enter their tiny apartment. "How was work? Are you hungry?" Rin asked, not even stopping to let Ryuuji answer, "I could make-"

"Rin."

Ryuuji's voice was stern, like a parent about to reprimand a child, and Rin tensed, waiting for what was coming.

"Did you submit the paperwork?"

"I-uh… Forgot. Again…" Rin said trying to force the usual lazy grin that came so easily when he really did forget. You couldn't blame him for an honest mistake. The problem was that he was lying.

Ryuuji sighed, and started to put his coat back on. "Where is it? If I hurry I think I can get it in before the office closes." He looked up when Rin didn't answer. The other boy was biting his lip, staring down at his feet.

"Rin?"

"It's… I'll get it," he said, ducking past Ryuuji only to stop short as the other boy grabbed his wrist.

"Something is bothering you," Ryuuji said simply. Rin's shoulders sagged, and Ryuuji sighed, turning Rin around to face him. Rin wouldn't meet his eyes.

"You still want to do this, don't you?" Ryuuji asked, a hint of uncertainty slipping in to his voice. "Get married?"

"Of course!" Rin said, looking up at Ryuuji with wide eyes. Making him doubt that was the absolute last thing he wanted. "But… this… it's not…" He looked away again.

"Come on," Ryuuji said, taking Rin's hand and guiding him to the couch so he could sit, "Tell me what's wrong."

Rin sighed, looking down as he picked at his hands. "I want to marry you," he said, getting that out of the way first of all so there could be no confusion, "Just… this… it's not…" He gestured to the offending adoption paperwork sitting on the table.

"We talked about this, Rin," Ryuuji said with a sigh, pinching the bridge of his nose. "We can have a religious ceremony, but if we want civil rights, this is the only way we can get them without moving to another country."

"I know…" Rin mumbled, leaning forward and burying his face in his hands, as if he could hide from it.

"I can't leave my family behind, not with my responsibilities, and you said you didn't want to move either. Not when you'd have to leave your family and friends and learn a new language. It's not worth it just for a piece of paper."

"I know."

"But it's important that we be able to do things like have legally joint property, or visitation rights, or power of attorney, or-"

"I know, damn it!"

Ryuuji quieted, backing off and letting Rin take a moment to stew after his outburst.

"I just…" Rin started, "Why do I have to take your name?"

"…That's it?" Ryuuji asked, furrowing his brow, "That's why you haven't submitted the paperwork? You know why you have to take my name."

"You're only four months older than me!" Rin said, throwing his hands up before crossing them over his chest and slumping down on the couch.

Ryuuji didn't argue. Rin knew the tiny gap in their ages didn't matter. One day was all it took, and the older party had to adopt the younger. It was never intended to be a replacement for marriage so it only made sense. Instead Ryuuji walked behind the couch, behind Rin, placing his hands on his shoulders and kissing the top of his head, trying to ease some of the tension out of him.

"What's wrong with my family name anyway?"

Rin sighed. "Nothing… It's just… Shiro gave me my name."

Ryuuji froze. "Oh…" He hadn't even thought about that. Rin certainly hadn't gotten his name from his birth father, and as far as they knew, he'd been given a made up name to protect his identity. "But… Shiro gave you a lot of other things too."

"Like what?"

"Unconditional love and a strong moral compass, to start," Ryuuji said immediately, ignoring Rin's scoff. He'd never even met the man, but he'd heard stories, and frankly, just by knowing Rin he got a sense of what kind of man Shiro had been, and knew he had cared about the two boys immensely and had given them a lot. "When all it took was one outburst or one feat of unnatural strength for others to write you off as a monster, he stuck by you through it all. And I know you don't like to talk about the day he died, but he didn't give up on you. Not even then. He gave his life for you, so you could have a shot at a normal life and be happy. You know that."

"Yeah…" Rin sighed, sinking even deeper in to the couch, his voice melancholy.

"It's not like you'll be forgetting him by changing your name. Everything important is right here," Ryuuji said, placing his hand over Rin's heart. "And here," he kissed the top of Rin's head again.

"I know," Rin said, placing his hand over Ryuuji's and sighing. "I know…"

"Or… We could just not, for now," Ryuuji said with a shrug, trying to be casual. Doing things properly—legally—was important to him, but he didn't want to rush Rin in to something he might end up regretting. "It doesn't really have any impact on us having a religious ceremony with our friends, and there's no rush, not really."

"No, you're right," Rin said with a huff, squaring his shoulders and sitting up straight. "I'll sign the damn paperwork. Gimme' a pen before I change my mind." He held his hand out, palm up, and waited, even though he was closer and Ryuuji had to walk around the couch in order to even reach the pen. Ryuuji rolled his eyes, but said nothing as he got Rin the pen and then watched as the half demon quickly scrawled his name down on the paperwork, his handwriting as messy as ever.

"You wanna' take it to the office together?" Rin asked.

"Whatever you like," Ryuuji said, sitting down next to Rin and ruffling his hair. "Whatever you like."