Work Text:
Massu runs his fingers over the marks engraved in the door frame with a faint smile. Each of these cuts in the wood is annotated by Keiichiro's mother.
Miki, August 1983
Keiichiro, June 1986
Miki, August 1984
Keiichiro, February 1987
Miki, May 1985
And so on. Massu raises his head a little to see the last mark – Keiichiro, May 2004, his current height.
Thinking these marks represent dozens of years of Keiichiro and Miki's lives makes him dizzy. They would never have done something similar in his own house, because his mother wouldn't allow anyone to damage the walls.
Massu comes from a... normal family. He's grateful he has never lacked anything. He has been well brought up and he's quite happy with the man he has become, even if Keiichiro had to teach him everything about how to talk about his feelings when they started dating two years ago.
If anything, the Koyama family isn't normal. In a good way.
Keiichiro puts his head in the doorway and a smile passes over his face when he sees Massu.
“Hey love. Trying to run away already?”
Massu shakes his head and shows him the marks.
“You were small,” He points out.
“As everyone,” Keiichiro replies with a little laugh.
But his smile fades as soon as he takes a better look at Massu's face.
“You look sad.”
“No, it's...” Massu tries to find an excuse but there's no point of hiding something from his boyfriend. “I feel really good here.”
“In the kitchen?”
“In your family house.”
“And that makes you sad?” Keiichiro asks.
Massu doesn't answer immediately, trying to put his thoughts in order
“You know what I say about my sister and her friend sending my application for me because she wanted to get rid of me?”
Koyama nods.
“It's not only a joke. We didn't get along very well. And I think it's for the best that we only see each other at our parents' house.”
It's true. It's for the best, but it doesn't mean it's not painful, and Keiichiro understands that because Massu's heart has no secrets for him. Massu keeps talking anyway.
“It's stupid but you can't miss what you don't know, and I didn't know a family could be like yours. You've been through a lot, but seeing how you all care about each other, and trust and support each other... I'm glad I met you, but I'm also sad I feel more myself in your family than I ever could in mine. They don't even know you exist. I mean, they do, but they don't know who you are to me. I hate this,” Massu finally says in a choked voice, therefore Keiichiro rushes to take him in his arms. “Sorry,” He whispers, causing his boyfriend to hold him tighter, and Massu can't breathe for a second but it's relaxing.
“Don't be sorry. You have all the right to feel that way and I'm so proud you're the kind of man who can open up about it.”
Massu can't exactly nod in Keiichiro's embrace but he lets out a long sigh and feels a little lighter.
“Maybe one day you can introduce me properly to your family. For now, my family is more than happy to have you.”
“You think so?” Massu asks with a little voice.
They're interrupted by Keiichiro's mom who enters the kitchen. Massu's first instinct is to quickly step aside, flustered, but neither Keiichiro nor his mom make any comment.
“Ah, here you are,” She says with a smile before turning to Massu. “Taka-chan, let's take a family picture!”
Massu would argue that he is not good at taking pictures, but he’s eager to make a good impression, so he follows her into the living room where many Koyamas are waiting for them. There, he is stopped by one of Koyama's uncles when he is about to reach the camera.
“Don't touch that, the timer is already set!”
“You can come here,” Miki's husband adds.
Massu blinks several times, shocked, so Keiichiro gently takes his hand in his and leads him to the spot left for them both. Then, Massu stops blinking completely or he knows that his tears will flow.
"You are family," Keiichiro says in his ear and Massu squeezes his hand.
His feelings are overwhelming, but he can handle them, and if there's one house where someone shouldn't be afraid to cry, it's the Koyama house.