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Day 10 - Reunion
Morisuke drummed his foot in the cramped amount of legroom he was offered in economy as he flew back over the Pacific.
A study abroad trip to cap off his second year of university had just concluded, and he was on his way home to Tokyo that very moment, flying through blue skies on a hot July day.
His mind, however, was preoccupied with thoughts far away from his recently completed study abroad.
This is the last time.
Morisuke, as humiliated as he was to admit it, had changed his name over the previous semester.
Hell of a hassle, it’d been.
His name now reflected his mated status, something he’d been toting since high school but hadn’t had the will to actually take care of until mere months ago.
Until a particular event had occurred, one that he’d surely never forget.
He was…so scared.
Lev was the type of alpha who didn’t fear much of anything. Pain didn’t do much more than deter him, harsh words only motivated him, and while he might act like a crybaby at times, he was made of far stronger a substance than even Morisuke had made him out to have.
Yet that day, he’d been terrified.
What if I didn’t make it? What if I wasn’t good enough?
Morisuke had always been pretty academically inclined. Lev, not nearly as much. He wasn’t stupid, of course, but he didn’t exactly take books like a pro, either.
Morisuke was a good studier, and he had an excellent memory.
Lev’s memory wasn’t great, and he struggled to sit still for more than an hour or so, constantly itching to be on the move.
So Morisuke’s university of choice, sought after months before any long-legged emerald-eyed half-Russians came stumbling into his life, was understandably rather difficult to get into.
It wasn’t the height of academia, not by a long shot.
It wasn’t easy, though. That much was for certain.
Morisuke was in school for architectural design.
Lev wanted to do graphic design and study computer programing that applied to the field.
It just so happened that Morisuke’s university, which he’d gotten into and already begun attending when it came time for Lev to decide where he was aiming, had a fantastic program for just that.
…and then we’d never have to be apart again.
Morisuke could feel goosebumps rise up on his arms at the memory of those words, spoken over a video call nearly a year and a half ago when Lev had his mind made up.
I’ll work really hard. I’ll study hard. I can do it. I even talked my parents into getting me a tutor.
The fact that Lev would relent to being tutored was a shock in and of itself.
Yet Morisuke, sitting here in this tiny airplane seat and thinking back on it, felt a smile dance over his lips.
That time, that video call before seven AM because Lev had just gotten his letter back from the university and was scared to open it without Morisuke.
Yet Morisuke wasn’t there.
He couldn’t be. He was still at school. He’d be back in a few weeks, but obviously, Lev had to open it before then.
So they’d sat on that video call for nearly half an hour as Lev worked up the nerve to slot open the envelope.
Dear Haiba Lev, we are pleased to inform you that your entrance scores meet our requirement to attend, and we look forward to welcoming you to our student body. Enclosed you will find…blah, blah, blah. All it took was him reading that ‘we are pleased’ for both of us to almost start crying.
Morisuke had kept it all together, trying his best to hold back his own emotions on the subject.
I never wanted to influence his decision. Where he wanted to go, he should choose for himself. But he was dead set on being…with me. I guess it’s only fair.
He groaned as he shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out his rumpled boarding pass.
Stamped in the black text, plain as day, was his name.
Haiba Morisuke.
Kill me…
He covered his face with his hands and hung his head, ignoring the confused sidelong glances of the passenger next to him.
Lev looked so stupidly happy when we went through the whole thing. It wasn’t easy to do, back and forth, with me still at school, but once I got up the nerve, I didn’t want to wait until after this study abroad.
Considering Lev this much, it was only natural that his heart gave a now-familiar ache.
He’d been away from his alpha for about a month and a half now, and to make things worse, he’d only gotten to spend a week in Tokyo with him after the semester before leaving.
Collectively?
It’d been well over four months since he’d last gotten to spend more than a few nights with Lev.
But this is it. It’s all done now.
His own mixed feelings about his newfound dependence on his alpha aside, he could tell his inner beast was about ready to have a breakdown.
Not from exhaustion or from the separation, but from sheer joy.
The two years of long-distance would come to an end in a few short hours.
Lev had gotten in to his university.
They shared a name now, for god's sake.
A mated couple well and proper, much as the stubborn, uncomfortable side of Morisuke seemed to grapple with it, and with that came everything.
They’d already signed a lease together for an apartment off-campus.
Just them.
The two of them.
Paying the rent together, providing everything together.
And we’ll never be apart again.
Even if a day should come where someone had to go somewhere, that place would be the visit.
No more months upon months with nothing but video calls and phone speakers to cling to.
All of him. All of his good and his bad. I’m sure it’s gonna be an adjustment, but…
He remembered staying over with Lev, or Lev staying with him. The weekend trips they’d taken together.
Waking up next to that man, Morisuke would never admit it, was all he wanted for the rest of his life.
If he woke up next to Lev each morning, that day could be a total disaster, so long as he went to sleep that night with his alpha again, everything would be perfect.
As stupid and cheesy as that might sound, it was truly all he really wanted.
And that wish would come true starting today.
Morisuke must have gotten pretty lost in his thoughts because before he knew it, the blinking of the seatbelt light came on, and he buckled up for the descent.
The trip through customs and collecting his carry-on luggage went over smoothly, and as he headed out into the main terminal, he had his head on a swivel.
All that time alone was about to vanish, to evaporate, and disappear.
In a place like a jam-packed airplane terminal, full of sobbing relatives reuniting, children screaming and running to folks coming from the terminal, and the obligatory kissing couples who’d been brought together again, Lev was easy to spot.
It helped his alpha was nearly a head and a half taller than the usual populace.
“Lev!” He shouted, waving.
Silvery hair spun wildly fast as the younger turned like a top from where he’d been facing a screen opposite the terminal, likely checking to see if the correct flight had arrived.
“Mori!” He broke a path through the crowd with ease, considering his size.
Morisuke had spent a lot of his time in high school, pre-Lev, thinking he’d never be one of those people to get swept off his feet.
Well, here he was.
Both figuratively and literally.
This was the one time he had no intentions of yelling at Lev for it, as he dropped his carry-on and wrapped his arms around Lev’s neck.
That’s it. It’s finally over.
His alphas scent nearly brought him to tears, but this was Morisuke, so he fought any temptation of waterworks down.
His eyes did get a bit prickly, though, he would admit it.
“I missed you so much!” Lev was much more forward with his emotions, still holding him off the ground as he pulled his head away to see his omegas face.
Morisuke was smiling, and for once, he didn’t let himself get caught up in the little hesitancies.
“I missed you too.”
They kissed a capstone to their own reunion. It was sweet, and a bit rushed, maybe a little haphazard, but Morisuke couldn't imagine anything better at that moment.
Grasping around Lev's neck, his scent a wonderful, familiar reminder of everything he'd so desperately missed.
No more missing. No more empty, lonely, nights.
Their reunion was one happening amongst so many others within the terminal.
Yet it was a reunion that, thankfully, would be the last they’d celebrate for a long time.
After all, from now on, it’d be minutes or hours, not months, that would dare to separate them.