Chapter Text
"Be my boyfriend."
Kojiro stared at his pink haired best friend with wide eyes. Completely shocked, he nearly overfilled his glass of wine. What the hell did Kaoru just say? He definitely misheard him.
"For the holidays, I mean," Kaoru took a bite of his food. "We pretend, for our families, so that we don't need to answer those dreaded questions about our romantic lives… Or lack thereof."
"Wow, um, what?" Kojiro leaned over the counter. "We just, what? Tell our families we suddenly started dating just in time for Christmas?"
Kaoru sighed. "Of course not, dimwit, we tell them our relationship has been private for a while. A few months, perhaps a year. And we decided to announce it over Christmas. It won't be difficult to keep up such a façade, we're already close.
As for displays of affection- I know that's on your mind- I don't mind it to a certain extent, however it won't be anything shocking for our families if we use the excuse of me not being comfortable with that."
“Hold on, Kaoru,” Kojiro rubbed his temples. “You didn’t even think to ask me how I feel about this, or even if I would do it. You just assumed I would be fine with it and play along!”
Kaoru put his fork down on his plate quietly and without looking up he said, “Won’t you?”
“I- ugh dammit, Ru, you know I will, I just don’t understand why you suddenly sprung this on me. What if I had plans?” Kojiro’s hands slid down his face exasperatedly.
“Because, Kojiro, you would have told me if you had plans and you would have told me if you had someone to spend the holidays with, but you did neither of those things. Was I wrong to have assumed your availability?”
Kojiro groaned and sat beside Kaoru. “You really don’t care about showing up with… me ?”
“What?” Kaoru asked, sounding almost offended, his eyes full of bewilderment and mouth agape. His face was twisted in the way it got when Kojiro would call Carla a ‘robot’. He looked almost angry, almost sad. Kojiro hated being the reason for that look.
“I mean, y’know, your parents never liked me. Wouldn’t it be best to bring someone they wouldn’t give you shit over?”
“Hmph. Quite frankly, I do not care what they think and neither should you, I just do not wish to be asked a hundred times when I am bringing home a woman to them.”
Oh. So Kaoru’s parents were still pretending he wasn’t gay. He had come out to them nearly ten years ago, back when his piercings had a permanent place in his appearance, and “rebellion” was written above his messy pink hair. Kojiro had been there as a shoulder to cry on when his parents didn’t react in a positive way. They yelled at Kaoru and called him terrible things, but Kaoru cried the hardest when he told him his parents also called Kojiro these terrible things.
“Why would they even bring me into it?” Kojiro had asked, confused.
Kaoru sniffed. “I’m so sorry, Koji. In the heat of the moment I just… Told them you’re bi.”
“Ah… Don’t apologize, ‘kay? I don’t really care about any of that. You don’t gotta worry about it.”
“Koji…”
Kaoru always was the more sensitive one between them- and that’s saying something. Kojiro always got teased for being a crybaby as a teenager and even into adulthood. “Okay, Ru.”
~
After dinner, the pair made their way upstairs to Kojiro’s apartment. Kaoru had invited himself to stay the night in order to formulate a story and put their holiday schedules together. Kaoru’s parents lived in Osaka and only wanted to see Kaoru for a few days before Christmas. They didn’t want to spend the holidays with Kaoru, they just wanted to see he was still ‘upholding the Sakurayashiki name’ and bid him adieu. Kaoru purchased two plane tickets for himself and Kojiro. As a thank you to Kojiro and a premature apology for what his parents were bound to say about the pair.
They made the decision to spend the evening of the 21st through the morning of the 23rd with Kaoru’s parents. It was easier that way. Enough time to see them, get ridiculed, and leave. Kojiro had argued with him for years that he doesn’t need to visit them, but Kaoru always insists he does. He never really had a solid reason behind it, but Kojiro always held on to the hope that one day Kaoru would have the courage to finally, finally cut ties with his parents.
The Nanjo family was a completely different story. Once you met them, you would understand why Kojiro turned out the way he did. Loud, boisterous, full of love, arms always wide open. His parents, Elena and Takeshi, had accepted Kaoru as part of the family when he was just five years old. He would always come over to the Nanjo house to play. Manami, the oldest of Kojiro’s younger siblings, absolutely adored Kaoru. She loved to braid his hair, paint his nails, and draw with him. She was definitely Kaoru’s favorite- save for Kojiro of course.
Manami had even named her first daughter Sakura , after him.
Despite usually not enjoying the company of such a large group, Kaoru always loved being surrounded by the love of the Nanjo family.
“Y’know, spending all this time with me willingly almost makes it look like you like me,” Kojiro teased.
“Oh no, that would be ridiculous. I can’t stand you,” Kaoru waved a dismissive hand at him, trying to hide his smile.
Kojiro barked a laugh. “I said almost! Almost!”
Kaoru adjusted himself so he was sat facing Kojiro and stretched his legs across his lap. Kojiro habitually placed his hands on his ankles, rubbing them as Kaoru spoke. “Okay, can we come up with a timeline of our relationship? So whatever questions our families throw at us will have an answer.”
“Yeah, sure. How long have we been together?” Kojiro moved his hands to Kaoru’s feet.
“Hmm… Just over a year. November 15th,” he took a sip of his wine. “That’s our anniversary.”
“Specific. M’kay, I know ma’s gonna want details, ya got a story prepared?”
“Obviously,” Kaoru scoffed. “It was quite simple, really. We were having dinner at Sia and you couldn’t hold back any longer. You professed your love for me and-”
“What?! Why me?!” Kojiro shrieked.
“Because, dumbass, you’re the big sap. You just would.” Kaoru really had no idea . “Anyway, after you told me, I said that I returned your feelings. Our first date was a home-cooked picnic at Manzage.”
“Romantic.”
“Of course it was, you planned it.”
Kojiro stared at him. “So you think I’m romantic?”
“In your dreams, Nanjo.”