Chapter Text
Months passed in quiet chaos. There was so much to do, always. Kaoru felt he was always working, fixing some small fire, or gathering information on something, or trying just to keep everything functioning.
He wouldn’t change a moment of it. Because in between the stress and the panic there was always a plate of warm food, Kojiro turned out to be every bit the chief he claimed he was, a shoulder to lean on, friends to race. When Kaoru was awoken at an insane hour of the morning during the precious few hours of sleep he managed to wrestle from his mind, Kojiro’s arms still wrapped around him and the kids standing beside him explaining some disaster they had caused Kaoru told himself to remember this. He would breathe deeply and handle the emergency before collapsing back against Kojiro’s warm body.
Kaoru was fairly sure he thrived when half the world was crumbling around him. Because most days that is exactly what it felt like. Some of the other territories had been extremely hostile to his pro Fae policy, and others had been welcome allies. The fight was far from over, but with each new day Kaoru felt more and more optimistic. They received complaints and Fae refugees from other human territory every day, Carterhaul was quickly becoming a colorful and lively place for magic. Every day Kaoru woke up to find some new chaotic creation in his halls, some of which made his life more exciting than he wanted, truly he would never understand accidental time travel or how someone accidentally made a mini wine volcano in the hallway, he certainly hadn’t expected the volcano to… well explode.
And on the quiet days, the days when he couldn’t shut down his brain, when flashes of his father, or Adam came back he would quietly dip away from his duty and go to Crazy Rock, sometimes to skate, and sometimes just to use every molecule of magic in his body trying to fight demons no one could see. Sometimes he went just to talk to his mother. He never could figure out if she had been real or some sort of magical delusion. But it was nice to think she could hear him as he told her about the silly pranks Miya had played on Reki or the thoughtful things Kojiro had done.
His father had attempted once or twice to worm his way back into power, but Kaoru had easily shut down any attempts at his return.
There were always going to be bad days, but Kaoru found that having good days made the bad ones easier to manage.
But his favorite parts of the day were the moments he got with Kojiro, teasing him, kissing him, laughing as he made a mess. Kaoru couldn’t imagine a world without Kojiro, and as the other man assured him when his mind told him otherwise, he was never going to go anywhere. Except perhaps on a beach trip. Which Kaoru was mildly dreading, but he knew it would make Kojiro, and the kids, who had invited themselves along happy. Though he had sworn he was not going into the water under any circumstances. To which Kojiro’s eyes had sparkled with mischief, and Kaoru had sighed, mentally preparing himself for the schemes of his significant other.
Presently the two of them stood together in front of a very well worn door to a small home, not far from the estate. Karou could hear voices and laughter coming from inside, and could smell fresh bread rising in the oven, and stew cooking. The outside of the house was decorated with folk paintings, some faded and some fresh, and wooden charms and drying herbs hung outside each window.
Kaoru squeezed Kojiro’s hand tightly, “It’s ok if you aren't ready. We can do this another day.”
“No I- I think I’m ready, I'm just nervous.” Kojiro tugged on the neck of his shirt, as though having four buttons undone was still too tight. Kaoru sighed, he was almost certain Kojiro was allergic to clothing. Mostly around him, which was nice until they were in public, which meant it was very distracting.
“I’ll be right here. We can take this slow.” Kaoru reached his other arm up to squeeze Kojiro’s bicep, less than an inch lower than the tattoo on his shoulder.
Kojiro looked at the ground, and paused, his face changing slightly. Kaoru felt the shift in his emotions but couldn’t fully predict the words that came out of the other man's mouth, “Are you alright if I introduce you as my Fiancé?”
Kaoru’s jaw dropped open, before he snapped it shut, “Now?!” he had known this question was coming, but he had honestly expected a horrible spectacle and some form of public embarrassment. Which he supposed unfortunately could still happen. He pinched his nose and breathed deeply counting backwards from ten, “Yes, gorilla. I am fine with it. But Gods above we are going to work on your timing.” Still he smiled lightly, the timing was a surprise but not the question.
Kojiro looked at him with a dopey grin, “I just asked you to marry me.”
“That is generally what being a fiancé means.” Kaoru was sure his head was spinning around.
“We are gonna get married.”
“Gorilla. We are literally connected by our souls. And standing in front of the door to your family who you haven’t seen since you got cursed by the Fae king seven years ago. Please focus.”
“Ok. I just figured I was already so nervous about this, it would make asking you easier.” Kojiro pressed a kiss to Kaoru’s forehead, wrapping his arms around him. Kaoru could feel the other man's love and appreciation for him through his magic.
“Will you please stop smothering me and just knock on the door!?” Kaoru said, louder than he intended, embarrassed.
Kojiro grinned at him and took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the door.
“Just a moment.” A voice that sounded like cinnamon and nutmeg on a cold day called. Kaoru felt safe just by hearing the voice. He smiled to himself, Kojiro and his family were going to be just fine.
The door creaked open and a shorter robust woman with grey hair in a bun peaked out at them, “How can I- Oh! Kojiro!”
She slammed the door all the way open, tugging him in for a hug, “Dear! Kojiro is home!”
Kaoru laughed as the much shorter woman manhandled Kojiro into a tight if almost painful looking hug, before dragging him in through the door. Kojiro reached back to snatch Kaoru’s hand, dragging him in alongside himself. The home was everything Kaoru had expected, a cluttered wonderful mess of colors and smells. Every wall was covered in paintings, torn scrolls with the family name, and strings of peppers drying from the rafters. Kaoru could almost see a much younger Kojiro running through the hallways, he closed his eyes and tried to imagine his laughter as a kid, playing with the kitchen when he shouldn’t have.
“You! Have some explaining to do! Young man! Do you have any idea how worried we have all been? What happened to your hair? And your eyes? Your poor sister, she's been running the restaurant alone!” Kojiro’s mother poked his chest with each word before shoving him into a chair in the kitchen and slamming a pile of food down. “Seven years Kojiro!”
“And who is this skinny man? Kojiro, have you not been feeding your friends? We raised you better than that.” She began to poke Kaoru’s ribs through his shirt, before handing him an entire loaf of still hot bread. “Poor thing you are as skinny as a stick of cinnamon.” Well she is certainly Kojiro’s mother.
Kaoru blinked, of course the people who raised Kojiro were as energetic and loud as he was.
“Mother, this is Lord Kaoru Sakurayashiki. Please be nice to him, he’s sensitive.” He winked at Kaoru who opened his mouth to protest, abundantly, “My fiancé.”
“Oh.” She curtsied, and then reached up to fix her hair, and tug at her apron. “My lord-”
“Mother please. Sit down,” Kojiro reached out and grabbed her hand, “we have a lot to catch up on.” He smiled at her and then back at Kaoru who was delicately eating the bread just to have his hands occupied. It was delicious. Kojiro’s mother sat, mouth flapping open and shut, as the door to the kitchen opened up and what felt like a small crowd poured in. All the people gathered looked like variations on Kojiro, curled hair and glinting eyes. They clamored over each other all excited and yelling. Some of them couldn’t have been old enough to remember who he was, but they took one look at his kind face and familiar features and seemed to decide he was another adult bound around. Several smaller children ran up to Kaoru and began to ask him questions about his hair. After a moment of this chaos Kojiro took pity on him and raised his hands, silencing his relatives, “I have been on quite the adventure. Let me start at the beginning.”
Under the table, Kojiro gently laced their fingers together and squeezed tightly. Kaoru felt himself smile, and mentally prepared himself to have to interrupt many times when Kojiro got the story wrong.
He was home.