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“Okay, okay, just give Daddy your shoes - We’ve got to put them in the bin - No, no, not your shirt, Kiki, no.”
Kazuya grabs hold of his youngest daughter, four years old and wild, just like her other dad, and swings her up into his arms. “I said not the shirt, you monster,” he mumbles, glancing over at Eijun, who is busy coraling their eldest into the security line, too. “You good?”
Eijun flashes him a pearly smile, completely unfazed by the chaos of airport security two days before Christmas. This is an adventure to him. “Of course!” he responds, kicking off his shoes before kneeling down to help Chio with hers. “Are you?”
Kiki squirms, wanting to be released, but Kazuya knows better. He pinches her nose playfully and helps her out of her shoes. “I’d be better if we had flown out a week ago like I suggested…” he grumbles.
Kazuya is pouting. He knows he is. It’s just - he hates flying. He particularly hates flying during the busiest flight weekend of the year. Flying makes him anxious, because it’s an entire plane taking off from the ground -
And his whole world is going to be on that plane.
If something goes wrong, no matter how unlikely that might be, then Eijun and Kiki and Chio -
“Hey,” Eijun says, suddenly close, scooping Kiki out of Kazuya’s arms to set her on her feet, keeping hold of her hand. “It’s gonna be fine, Miyuki Kazuya,” he assures, bumping his shoulder into Kazuya’s with a reassuring smile. “Trust me.”
Kazuya inhales deeply.
Trusting Eijun is something Kazuya doesn’t have to think twice about doing.
They make it through security without further incident, even though Chio tries to run across the airport once they make it through, eager to try and pet someone’s service dog. Eijun barely manages to catch her in time, giving the woman and her dog a charming smile and a swift apology while Kazuya helps Kiki back into her jacket and her shoes.
They have to make three stops on the way to their gate, one for Eijun to relieve his bladder, one because Kiki absolutely, completely, totally must have the plush of the beaver at the stop-n-shop, and one because Kazuya isn’t going to make it through their flight with his sanity in check if he doesn’t get more caffeine in his veins.
By the time they make it to their gate, Kazuya is exhausted, nerves fried, and his daughters are hungry.
“Okay, just give me a second,” Kazuya says, setting their bags down to hunt for his wallet so he can go buy a few overpriced bagels from the shop a couple gates down. “I’ll go get us some food, just - “
“Hey.”
Warm, callused hands grab Kazuya’s, halting their search for his wallet. Kazuya looks up to see Eijun swaying into his space, eyes soft. “Take a breath, won’t you?” Eijun says sweetly, and Kazuya knows that if they were alone, he’d lean in to kiss Kazuya right now. “In less than five hours, we’ll get to see your dad and my parents, and the girls are going to have the best time in the snow,” he continues, squeezing Kazuya’s hands before letting them go. “It’s Christmas, Miyuki Kazuya.”
Eijun has always been good at taking the complexity out of things. It’s Christmas, he says. We’ve got our family, he says. That’s all we need, yeah?
Kazuya exhales and feels a weight he didn’t know he was carrying slide off his back. “Yeah,” he agrees quietly, clearing his throat. “I know it’s Christmas. You haven’t stopped announcing it since the end of Halloween.”
Eijun gasps as if Kazuya has offended him. “Girls,” he says, turning towards their daughters, pouting dramatically. “Your father is being a scrooge,” he declares.
Kiki and Chio light up, immediately jumping to Christmas’ defense. Kazuya is convinced that Eijun has bribed them to take his side in every argument.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Kazuya quips, reaching out to poke Eijun in the side, delighting in the way he squirms. “That’s foul play. You can’t use our children as your army.”
Eijun grins and bites his lip. Kazuya wants to kiss him. “Yes, I can,” Eijun claims, tugging Kazuya’s beanie over his eyes playfully. “Because it puts you in a better mood.”
Kazuya sputters as he pushes his hat out of his face. His cheeks burn because Eijun is right, because Eijun knows how to get Kazuya out of his head maybe too easily. “You know what,” Kazuya grumbles, turning back to grab his wallet. “You can buy your own food.”
Eijun giggles, delighted, and links his arm with Kazuya’s. “No,” he retorts easily. “We can buy food together.” He motions towards the girls, encouraging them to join their makeshift huddle. “As a family.”
Kazuya can’t help but smile.
Because no matter what happens, that’s how they’ll always do things - as a family.