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Takeda never gave much thought as to about what marriage itself would be like. His parents pressured him to get married for so long that, until he met Ukai, it felt more like an obligation or duty than something he actually wanted to do.
His big life plan just sort of stops right at ‘marriage,’ and now Takeda is a married man with no idea what to expect. There's this constant unsettling feeling of vulnerability looming over him, almost like driving to a destination he really wants to go to, but isn't exactly sure what or where it is.
At first, as they get settled into their new routine, marriage is a bit like dating all over again. Takeda discovers, married life it isn’t a world filled with hearts, rainbows, and fresh cooked dinners every night. They still have their fair share of squabbles, like the time Ukai forgot to put the toilet paper facing the right way, or how Takeda left the freezer door cracked open a hair and accidentally spoiled all of Ukai’s frozen snacks.
Still, Takeda can’t imagine it any other way.
After the honeymoon phase is over, they settle into this sort of rut. It’s a very comfortable rut; Ukai at the shop, Takeda at school, shogi with the Vice-principal on Sundays…
Just as Takeda’s about to doze off for the night, a thought tickles his brain. He realizes he doesn’t want to end up like one of those stick in the mud old couples doing the same old same old things week after week, year after year. The thought pokes and prods, preventing him from getting a wink of sleep. He counts some sheep, tosses and turns, but the thought just won’t leave him be.
Takeda delicately turns over, glancing to see if Ukai is still awake. He’s not. (Since Takeda is a teacher, he’s very adept at knowing when people are truly awake or not).
“Keishin,” Takeda whispers, receiving a muffled groan in response.
“Keishin, let’s go on a date!”
Ukai’s eyes snap open. “But, we’re married!” He says it like going on a date when you’re married is a terrible taboo.
“Just because we’re married doesn’t mean we can’t still go on dates.”
“You can’t mean...for us to go now?”
Takeda is about to say ‘Of course I do’ and drag Ukai out of bed, when he lets out a big yawn. It was already well past 9 and he had to teach in the morning. Maybe his spontaneous date idea wasn’t so perfect after all. If he comes in looking hungover, haggard, and harried his students will run right over him.
But, one way or another, they were still going on a date.
“Then...what about this Saturday, you’re off Saturday morning, right?”
“Saturday?” Ukai squints, “Isn’t that the day we’re supposed to get a new couch?”
Their couch is on its last leg, it’s a balancing act to even sit on the thing. Takeda doesn’t want to put it off any longer, they’ve worked so hard to squeeze shopping into both their busy schedules. Sunday they have shogi with the Vice-principal so they can’t then. Maybe there isn’t time for a date, unless...
“Why don’t we do both? Dating is all about the mindset anyway.” Takeda taps a finger to his head.
**
The moment they set foot in the furniture store, nostalgia washes over Takeda as he reminisces about when they first started dancing around the idea of dating. They were in that awkward in between of being something beyond just friends, but not being officially together, and neither one wanted to be the first to admit there was something more going on. So for a long while their ‘dates’ were accompanying each other on simple errands just for the sake of each other’s presence.
“What about that one?”
Ukai tugs his hand sharply to the right and Takeda looks up to find perhaps the ugliest couch he’s ever seen. A blindingly bright yellow, it looked as if someone spilled some radioactive substance over the whole couch.
They are not buying that couch.
“I know, I know, but can we at least try it out?” Ukai tilts his head, giving Takeda the same look he does when he’s asking if he can have a smoke in bed. Just this once.
Ugh, fine, Takeda can never say no to that look. Still hand-in-hand, they walk over to try out the yellow eyesore of a couch.
The couch is deceptively cozy, it’s like cuddling with big puffy cloud. As he leans against the couch arm he feels the weeks sorrows melting away. Okay, maybe they could check and see if the couch came in any other colors.
“This is comfortable as fuck!” Ukai grins, unclasping their hands to stretch an arm around Takeda’s shoulders. When Takeda sees that look of sheer unadulterated pleasure on Ukai’s face, he can’t help but smile too.
“The color reminds me of that car you used to have,” Takeda shakes his head, leaning in a little closer.
“Hey, we had a lot of good times in that car,” Ukai whispers into his ear, making Takeda blush. This was getting a little bit intimate for such a public place, but it was a date.
“Admit it. You liked that car.” Ukai kisses his cheek, and the hand formerly around Takeda’s shoulders starts trailing down his back, settling around his waist. When Ukai kisses him deeper, Takeda doesn’t want him to stop, but darn it, with the store manager gawking at them like that, they were going to have to take this couch somewhere more private. Like their apartment.
**
They buy the couch and set it up in their apartment as soon as possible so they can continue with their activity. It’s just like all the times in Ukai’s car but 10 times more comfortable and minus the stress of some unassuming person peering in at them through the car window. Plus, now every time Takeda walks into their living room a rush of happiness swims in his stomach. He knows even if he keeps on doing the same old same old routine, it will never get old, not when he’s with Ukai.