Chapter Text
i. positive
“I don’t know what else it could be, Kaede,” Shuichi told his best friend over the phone. “It feels like I’ve been doing nothing but puking for the past week, Kaito’s worried, and I don’t have any answers to give him. I need to know.”
“But… Shuichi, didn’t you say you and Kaito hadn’t been trying? That he was too scared?” Kaede answered. Shuichi could practically see her worried eyes over the phone.
“Yeah, that’s… that’s part of the reason,” he sighed. Shuichi twirled a lock of hair around his finger, looking at the calendar resting on the bed in his bedroom. It had a few days circled in red -- the days when he was supposed to have his cycle -- but those days had come and gone two weeks ago and nothing had happened.
It was well past time, and he needed to know.
“What’s the other part of the reason?” Kaede asked.
Shuichi bit his lip. “I… I didn’t think we were ready,” he finally replied. He leaned back against the bed and looked up, studying the patterns on the ceiling of their bedroom. He couldn’t help but think about the possibility of his and Kaito’s… well, the thing he couldn’t voice or think of right now, growing inside of him at that very moment. “I… was mostly worried about Kaito, but now that I think about it… we’re still kind of young.” Twenty-two, to be exact. It wasn’t an uncommon age to have a baby, but Kaito and Shuichi were both in their primes, and climbing higher in their respective fields. Kaito might even be going to space in the next year or so, and the last thing Shuichi wanted was for him to feel like he needed to wait because of him.
If he waited, he might not get a second chance.
“Well… Kokichi and Rantaro have their kids! And everything turned out fine for them,” Kaede chirped on the other end of the line. “Remember? They were nineteen when Sugako and Kohei were born!” Her voice still sounded incredibly chipper, though Shuichi wondered how much of it was just her trying to reassure him. “They even got married!”
“...yeah,” Shuichi sighed. He uncrossed his legs from their criss-cross position and looked back down to the floor. “But… can you come with me to buy the test? I… don’t want to do it by myself.”
“Of course I can! You’re my best friend, I love you, Shu!” Kaede replied. “I’d do anything for you. And… don’t worry about Kaito. I’m sure he’ll be fine either way.”
An hour later, Shuichi curled in on himself in the bathroom of his bedroom and cried when the test came back positive.
Kaito came home a little while later. Shuichi had taken the day off that day, so he figured he might as well get dinner started. It was getting late, anyway, and Kaito was probably tired, so it was unlikely that he wanted to do the cooking.
He came up behind Shuichi and wrapped his arms around him, leaning over to kiss the side of his jaw. “Hey, Shu-shu,” Kaito greeted quietly, peppering kisses down his jawline and neck. Shuichi gave a satisfied sigh.
“Hi, Kaito,” he murmured, leaning away from the stove for a moment to return the kisses. “How was your day?”
“Boring without you,” Kaito replied candidly, his hands tracing Shuichi’s hips before pulling away for a moment. “I kinda had something I wanted to ask you, though, if you weren’t too busy.”
Shuichi bit his lip. “Well… I had some news for you, too, but it’s fine if we wait.”
“No, no, you go first,” Kaito said, shaking his head. “You rarely ever talk about your day. Go ahead and tell me.”
Shuichi’s hands curled into fists at his sides as he steadied himself. Did he really want to…
“I’m pregnant, Kaito,” he finally sighed. “I found out a few hours ago. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you right away, I just wanted to be face to face with you when I said it, I…” Shuichi trailed off, his eyes traveling from Kaito’s chest to his eyes.
And he had that look. The one he got whenever he pointed out something new to Shuichi in the night sky, the one he got when he talked about going to space, the one he got when they were falling asleep together. The one that looked like Shuichi had brought him the sun, moon, and stars all in a neat little package.
Suddenly, Shuichi wasn’t worried anymore when Kaito gathered him up in his arms and twirled him around.
“Oh my -- holy shit Shuichi are you serious?!” He asked, breath in a rush. “We’re gonna have a baby? A real, for real baby?” Kaito put his hand over Shuichi’s stomach in awe, though there was nothing there to feel yet.
Hot tears pooled in Shuichi’s eyes as he nodded. “Yes, I -- but I thought -- you’re so happy, I thought you’d be --”
Kaito looked at Shuichi, confused. “You thought I wouldn’t be happy?” He let out a little laugh. “Shuichi. Having a baby with you is second best to -- to --” He hesitated, like he was cutting himself off from saying something.
Now it was Shuichi’s turn to be a little confused. “To what?”
A beaming smile crossed Kaito’s face. “To you saying yes.”
“...yes to what?” Shuichi murmured.
“Yes to -- to marrying me,” Kaito laughed.
Shuichi smiled. “Well -- let me make your day then. Yes.”
There was nothing to worry about after all.