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One fine morning at the Asami household...
"Have you ever been married?"
As blunt as it was unexpected, the question seemed, nevertheless, to leave its recipient unfazed.
Asami looked up from the morning newspaper; an eyebrow arching inquisitively at the young man who sat across from him at the breakfast table.
"I've heard some things about you." The latter offered, before casually taking another bite from his toast; himself pretty unfazed-looking.
Yeah...to hell with 'unfazed'! Akihito's curiosity was well on fire by now. He'd been dying to broach the subject with Asami ever since he first got hold of some seriously curious intel regarding the man just the night before.
"You've heard some things about me." Asami repeated calmly.
"Yep."
"May I ask where exactly have you heard these things?"
"I did some research into your family history... Now that I know that you actually have one."
If Asami noticed the hint of accusation in Akihito's tone, he chose to ignore it.
"Oh? And what have you found out?"
"Huh... that you have an older brother. A half older brother. A foreign half older brother, for that matter… That your family is seriously loaded. And I do mean seriously loaded. We are talking old money here. On both sides! Oh, and that your parents divorced when you were a kid and that you got tossed from one to the other until you were old enough to be shipped to a boarding school in Croatia."
"I see... Anything else?"
Akihito nodded. "I also found out that you graduated top of your class all throughout middle school and high school. Oh yeah, and that when you were seventeen you came back to Japan... but didn't stay long... although I couldn't find out why."
"I have to say I'm impressed."
"Well, it's all true, isn't it?"
"You'll notice I'm not refuting any of it." Asami grinned. "I will point out though that you haven't alluded once to my marital status during your little exposé."
"Hm, I'm not sure if my intel is trustworthy on that part...That's why I asked."
"So you're not certain if I was ever married, is in essence, what you're saying?"
"Well...were you?"
"What does your gut feeling tell you, Akihito?"
"That you weren't...I mean, maybe you were...You kinda could have been...at some point...I think...Maybe...Maybe not."
"That's a lot of maybes".
"Well, would you even tell me if you had been?"
"Do you think I'm married now?"
"That would make you an adulterer, wouldn’t it?"
"And you, the other woman, I suppose."
"Don't joke!"
"You were the one who brought up the subject. I was merely trying to enjoy breakfast."
And with that, Asami turned his attention back to the newspaper, leaving Akihito to sulk on his seat.
"...You're not gonna answer me, are you?" The latter asked moments later.
The older man took a long sip from his coffee mug before replying: "I don't see the point to the question in the first place."
When Akihito retorted by sulking some more, Asami's mask of perfect composure finally began to crack, causing him to show his amusement on account of the situation.
"Relax, will you?" He said, wishing to dispel the other's despondent mood. "I'm not married."
But Akihito replied by narrowing his eyes at him. "I didn't ask if you are married. I asked if you were."
"The past is the past, Akihito. What difference does it make? What matters is the present."
"Ah, is that a 'Yes' then?"
"No. That is a 'mind your own business'... What sudden fascination is this about my past anyway?"
For a second, it seemed as though the younger man was going to retort, but in the end he just lowered his gaze toward his own coffee mug, biting his lower lip in silence as he did so.
No matter though. For Asami figured he could see right through the youngster's demeanor.
"I see..." The business man grinned. "Why don't you just admit it out loud, Akihito?"
"Huh? Admit what?"
"That you're jealous." And before Akihito could protest, Asami added: "You've no doubt heard some nonsense about my past, and now you think there's a former Mrs. Asami somewhere out there in the world."
"I-I do not!"
But Asami was already on a roll: "What is it that's truly bothering you? That I might have lived under the same roof with someone else?"
"Stop."
"That I might have exchanged vows with them?... Or even wedding rings?"
"Stop it! Not funny."
Asami chuckled. "I beg to differ."
"You're seriously uncool, you know that?"
"Oh? And here I was about to offer a perfect solution for your predicament."
"And what might that be?"
"The cure for your jealousy?"
"I'm not jealous of you."
"Why, I can only really think of one way to cure it."
"Again, I'm not jealous of you."
"Why don't we do it?"
"...Do what?"
"Exchange vows. Rings. The whole shebang. No point in worrying about potential past wives, if you're the current one, right?"
"...Did you spike your coffee with drugs this morning?"
"I can assure you I'm perfectly sober at the moment."
"I beg to differ about that."
"May I remind you once again that you were the one who brought up the subject of marriage over breakfast?"
"Huh? But...But I...I didn’t…"
"Would you, then?"
"Would I what?"
"Would you marry me, Takaba Akihito?"
"..."
"Well?...Would you?"
The young man felt his cheeks start to burn, his mind suddenly racing to come up with an answer, as his mouth started opening and closing like that of a fish caught out of water. Was he genuinely being proposed to over coffee and toasts?
He was about to panic, when he noticed the corners of Asami’s mouth twitching upwards.
Panic turned to annoyance in a nanosecond.
"Oh, I see what you’re doing here. Ha Ha. Very funny. If you've never actually noticed, Asami, we're both guys. We can't get married. The law doesn't allow it."
The older man chuckled, whilst shaking his head at the other’s lack of foresight. "Come on, Akihito. The Japanese have long ago figured out how to work around that minor legal inconvenience."
It took the youngster a moment to understand what it was that Asami was alluding to.
When he did, he felt his cheeks burn anew.
"Forget about it! There's not a chance in hell I'm letting you adopt me! Why, I would sooner adopt you."
"Traditionally it is the elder in the relationship who adopts the younger one, Akihito... Although come to think of it, the name Takaba Ryuichi does carry a nice ring to it. I suppose I'd just have to re-issue my business cards. That surely wouldn't be too much of a hassle...Shall I have Kirishima start looking into the adoption paperwork?"
A wave of panic threatened to wash over Akihito once again.
"Are you serious?!"
"Yes... Aren't you?"
"I...I..."
But this time Akihito’s despair was short lived, for Asami soon started laughing wholeheartedly, unable as he was to hold it together upon seeing the look of utter dread that suddenly came over the younger man’s face.
As a result, Akihito scowled at him, clearly unamused. “I could kill you right now.”
“Good thing you’re armed with only a butter knife then.” Asami quipped. “So, now that we’ve established that neither of us has a penchant for the idea of matrimony, I suppose I can head off for the day.” He concluded, getting up from his chair and putting on his suit jacket.
Seeing, however, as the younger man’s scowl didn’t look like it was relenting any time soon, instead of leaving the room immediately, Asami rounded the table and leaned against it right beside Akihito.
“What?” The latter asked defiantly; arms crossed in front of his chest.
"I was never married.” Asami offered. “There. Happy?"
"…Are you sure?"
"I'm sorry to disappoint. Your intel appears to be fantastically off the mark in this regard. I would review my sources if I were you."
"Huh, and were you ever close to getting married?"
When Asami huffed whilst rolling his eyes, Akihito brought his hands upwards, signaling his surrender.
"Ok, ok. Sorry. Case closed. I won't bring it up again."
“Good.” Asami grinned, leaning down until his lips touched the other man’s.
"What now?" Akihito asked moments later, when the kiss ended but Asami still hovered over him.
The older man looked into the youngster’s eyes intently, before confessing: "I've never lived with anyone else before either… You're the first."
"...Oh."
Suddenly Akihito’s cheeks were once again awfully warm, but this time around he could have sworn he saw the slightest hint of pink marring the other man’s cheeks as well.
The sensation lasted but for a second, for in the next, Asami’s usual mask of perfect composure was back in place.
“Right. I should go. See you in the evening.” The older man announced, before starting to walk toward the living room door.
Akihito couldn’t help but smile as he watched the other man’s retreating form.
Somehow it felt nice finding out that he was one of Asami's 'firsts'.
THE END