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“Your phone ‘s ringing”, Niki muttered between two bites. Rinne didn’t bother to put down the glass of beer he was emptying in that very moment. Rolling with his eyes Niki grabbed the phone, wondering if the ringtone or the owner was more annoying.
The name “lil bro” was flashing across the screen.
“Hey little bro”, Niki said, still munching on his fried chicken, “Your stupid brother is currently lifting beer glasses.”
“Ah, Shiina-san”, Hiiro’s voice sounded surprised, “Thank you for picking up the phone when Nii-san is ignoring my urgent call.”
“Urgent, hu?”
Hiiro’s voice sounded stern, “Umu. Urgent. Can you please tell Nii-san that I just got married?”
“You… you what?” Niki exclaimed, dropping his fried chicken in shock. Rinne finally turned to him, his attention not fully on the beer anymore.
“You heard right. I need Nii-san to know so that he can give me his blessings.”
Niki took a moment, before nodding, “Uh. Sure. So Rinne-kun? Your little brother wants you to know that he just got married.”
Rinne’s eyebrows shot up. He finally put down the glass, not without a cry of sheer joy that he could empty it in one go.
“You’re pathetic”, Niki muttered, pointing with his finger at the empty glass.
“And you’re not attentive enough, I need another drink, obviously”, Rinne said, grabbing the phone out of Niki’s hand.
“Oi!”
“So, what’s the thing about you and being married?” Rinne asked without greeting his little brother, “Ya pulling a joke on your good ol’ brother on Christmas, hu?”
“Nii-san”, Hiiro’s voice was as stern as before, “I just got married. And I need your blessing.”
Rinne groaned. He grabbed the fried chicken from Niki’s plate, even though he had plenty on his own as well – but whatever talk this was going to be, he needed strength for it. Also fried chicken tasted even better when stolen from Niki's plate.
“So, you are married”, Rinne repeated, chewing on the crispy meal, “Admit it, you had alcohol, right?”
“Hu, this is your first question?” Hiiro asked a bit surprised, but then quickly recovered from his own surprise, “But yes. Aira’s Mom insisted we also have some wine and champagne to the meal, because apparently this is a rule in France. I didn’t want to break the rule, so I drank it.”
“Well, that explains a lot”, Rinne muttered, “But now, from the start. You didn’t follow my invitation to eat with Niki and me, because Aira-chan invited you over to celebrate with him and his family. I don’t think you are in France though?”
“I am not, I am still in Japan”, Hiiro explained, “But Aira’s mother is half French and she says Christmas is nicer there, so that’s why she insisted on the French tradition and French celebration.”
“Like champagne and wine?”
“Umu.”
Hiiro didn’t say anything else, so Rinne had to change his strategy if he wanted more information. Or at least any information.
“Where are you right now?” Rinne asked.
“In Aira’s bedroom. Sitting on Aira’s bed. He's next to me, asleep.”
Niki came back with two bottles of beer. His outraged cry because the fried chicken had disappeared from his plate was met with Rinne’s eye rolling. “Don’t leave me alone with food if you don’t want me to eat it.”
“But you sent me to get you more beer!!” Rinne stared him deadly in the eye, while grabbing another chicken from Niki's plate. Niki immediately grabbed a piece from Rinne's plate and gobbled it down. "Hey!"
“Nii-san”, Hiiro said louder when Rinne had been ignoring him, fighting for the chicken, “I can’t go to sleep before you give me your blessings.”
“Right”, Rinne said, shaking his head slowly, “We are still not at the point when you got married. So you were invited to join Aira-chan’s family for Christmas. What happened between that and the current situation?”
“We had dinner, we exchanged gifts, we drank wine and now everyone is in bed”, Hiiro said, “Except me. I need your blessings.”
“If you need my blessings to do things with Aira-chan, I have to tell you, you can’t do this when he is asleep. You know that, right?”
“What do you mean, Nii-san? Do what?”
Rinne sighed, “Eh, forget that then. So why do you think you are married?”
“I didn’t realize it first, Nii-san. I thought that things were different in the city, but apparently they have the same traditions as we do!”
“What do you even mean?” Rinne asked, slightly annoyed at this point. He wanted more beer. He was used to Hiiro having his moments, but none of them were this bad.
“When Aira and I arrived at his place, his parents greeted us. They were so nice to me! I was so excited to celebrate Christmas for the first time. And the meal was amazing!”
“What did you even have?” Rinne asked, “Fried chicken? Niki said that is tradition in Japan.”
“No no, we had French Christmas, not Japanese! We started the celebration with some champagne. I was unsure whether it was really okay to drink it, but they just gave it to me and Aira also drank it. It wasn’t really my taste, but I thought it was rude not to chink glasses with them. And then the dinner started. They called it Le Réveillon and said it was typical to eat for hours. And there was so much food, Nii-san! We had roasted turkey that had chestnut and stuffing, and roasted potatoes and even cooked apples! I have never seen anything like this before! And afterwards the Mom served a cheese platter, and she made us say all the different names for the cheese while drinking wine, so it ended up being really funny. And at the end we got Bûche de Noël, which is a cake that looks like a wooden log”, Hiiro said, “I really like French Christmas now!”
“Cut it short”, Rinne begged, “So what made you think you are married now?”
“But Nii-san… when we get married, we first go to the home of the bride and chink glasses with the family, and then there is a big dinner, cooked by the bride and the family, right?”
Rinne grunted, “Well. Yeah.”
“See! That happened.”
Rinne scratched his head. Well, yes. Technically Hiiro was not wrong, that had happened. But he had also come to Niki’s place today, had had beer and Niki had made fried chicken for them to celebrate. Though it was because Rinne had whined that he wanted a real Japanese Christmas dish and somewhen Niki had given in, too annoyed to refuse. It didn’t mean Niki and he were married – though one day Niki would say yes!
“That was just a normal dinner invitation though; with fancy food”, Rinne muttered, “That’s not really only for marriage. So what happened afterwards?”
“They have a decorated Christmas tree here!” Hiiro said excitedly, “And there were lights on the tree like in the park, but inside the house! It looked so beautiful! So after the dinner, we sat around that tree and sang Christmas songs. I didn’t know them, but they taught me. And in the end Aira and I had so much fun singing and dancing!”
“I suppose at that point you had more alcohol?” Rinne asked.
“Mmh!” Hiiro hummed, “But we also had cookies! But Nii-san! Don’t you see, the next step for the wedding celebration is singing and dancing. And that’s what we did.”
“Well… you surely did”, Rinne agreed.
“And then we exchanged gifts”, Hiiro told him, “Luckily Tatsumi-senpai had told me that I need a gift for Aira’s parents as well, as this was tradition. Aira had helped me to get something suitable for them, because I didn’t know them before. But his Mom really liked the tea box that I got her, and his father loved the sweets that I had for him. And then they both also got me a gift! A new hoodie, a matching one with Aira. We immediately put it on and took some photos. I will send them to you later.”
“Wait wait wait”, Rinne sat up straight, “You all exchanged gifts?”
“Yes! That’s what I am telling you”, Hiiro said, glad that Rinne finally understood the seriousness of the situation, “And then his parents went outside for a walk, but Aira and I were too full to go outside, so we stayed behind. Oukawa-kun had helped me to think of the perfect gift for Aira; he told me to get some idol merch. So I had asked Kagehira-senpai if there was any old Valkyrie clothes that they don’t need anymore and that I could have. He then talked with Itsuki-senpai, and there is indeed one outfit that had two different versions, but they ended up just using one and so they had some things left. I could get the hat that Itsuki-senpai had designed as a present for Aira.”
“Get to the point”, Rinne begged.
Hiiro hesitated, “Well, first Aira gave me his gift. A really nice necklace with my initials on it! I immediately put it on and thanked him, and he looked very proud. And then I gave him my present and explained that it was a Valkyrie outfit. And then he totally lost it. He broke into tears, so I thought he hated it. But he kept sobbing and pressing it against his chest and then he screamed that this will go straight to his most favourite and special merchandise collection; then he was putting the hat on, but then he screamed he first needed to take photos. He was all excited and ran around the room, and I just watched him. And then, suddenly, he hugged me. And said this was the perfect gift. And then… uh...”
“Then what?”
“Then… he kissed me”, Hiiro muttered.
“He kissed you?!”
“He kissed me. On the lips. He has very soft lips.”
Rinne stared at Niki, the first time speechless in his life.
“Nii-san?” Hiiro asked, “Nii-san, are you still there?”
Rinne nodded, his slightly drunken brain trying to navigate through the story that he was just told.
“What’s the matter?” Niki asked, munching on Rinne’s crispy chicken, “Is lil bro really married?” Rinne speechlessly handed him the phone.
“Nii-san?”
“Ah, it’s me again”, Niki said chewing loudly, “What did you say to him? He looks broken.”
Hiiro pouted, “I still haven’t got his blessings for the wedding! I am tired and want to go to sleep, but I can’t before he gives me his blessings as the monarch.”
Niki put down the phone on the table and turned on the speaker, “So what is that, you are really married now?”
“He… he is”, Rinne muttered, chewing on his lower lip, “At least when it comes to our tradition.”
“See!” Hiiro exclaimed.
Niki looked confused.
“Hiiro went to the bride’s house, was offered food, exchanged gifts with the parents, danced and sang, then exchanged special gifts with the bride and then they kissed. And now they share a bed”, Rinne summarized the evening, “That is how you get married in our society.”
“Umu!”
Niki raised his eyebrows, “Oh… so congrats?”
“Thank you!” Hiiro happily exclaimed.
“So what happens next?” Niki asked curiously.
“The monarch gives his blessings, so that we can share the bed”, Hiiro said, “That’s what I have been trying to get for the past half an hour, because I am really tired.”
Niki and Rinne looked at each other, both eventually shrugging. This didn’t seem to be too dangerous in the end.
“Fine, you get my blessings to share a bed with Aira-chan”, Rinne finally said, “But make sure to stay on your side of the bed, right?”
“Umu! He anyway takes up most of the bed”, Hiiro said, “Maybe I have to sleep on the floor anyway.”
“Just for the record”, Rinne said, rubbing his forehead, “What happened after the kiss?”
“Aira asked me to take the photos of him with the hat! And I did. And then his parents came home and we had one more cake before they all went to bed. I thought about the day and realized that I am married. And then I called you.”
Rinne groaned, “Right. So, keep your hands on your side of the bed, but you have my blessings.”
“Thank you, Nii-san! See you tomorrow morning then.”
“Oh right”, Rinne muttered, “Yeah. Just come over with Aira-chan. You know where Niki lives?”
“Umu!”
“Wait, they are coming here? Why?” Niki asked alarmed.
“Well, after the groom stays the night at the bride’s place, the next morning they go to the groom’s family and that’s where the wedding celebration ends”, Rinne explained.
Niki shook his head furiously, “No no no! We are not doing anything of that here in this apartment!”
Rinne grinned, “Oh, you don’t want a big breakfast feast to celebrate lil bro’s marriage?”
“Oh… oh! This is about food?!” Niki exclaimed, “Okay, then count me in! Can I also bake a wedding cake?”
“Sure, why not”, Rinne said, grinning. Maybe this wouldn’t be too bad after all. Cake sounded lovely.
“Thank you, Shiina-san! I love cake!” Hiiro sounded excited, "I can sleep and dream of cake now!"
“Uh, wait, Hiiro, one more thing… uhm”, Rinne scratched his head, “You know what? Don’t tell Aira-chan why you are coming over with him tomorrow. Let me explain it to him when you are here, okay? Let this be my Christmas gift.”
“Hu? If you want to, okay! Goodnight, Nii-san! Goodnight, Shiina-san!” Hiiro hung up.
Rinne grinned. That would be fun. But also dangerous. Aira was small, and he looked really cute when he was angry, but who knew how he would react if he was told that he was already married. Maybe Rinne should invite Kohaku over as well; he knew Aira well and was close with him. And he seemed to be in favour of Aira’s and Hiiro’s relationship as well. Though maybe he would team up with Aira, hmm. They needed more people here, definitely. Hiiro and he would really need someone to protect them. He had to think about who else he could invite, and who would not go after his throat immediately. Maybe he should also invite the others from Alkaloid? They were like family to Hiiro and Aira after all, and probably wouldn't want Hiiro to die. And if Tatsumi was here, then he would also have to invite MeruMeru, just for the laughs. But who else could he invite? Maybe some other idols? Well, that screamed for a list. And more beer.
“Niki! Beer!” Rinne loudly shouted, but Niki was already busily taking notes what he wanted to serve.
Rinne grabbed the last chicken piece from his plate and laughed. What a chaotic festival, but at least his brother was now married and he finally had fried chicken. He counted that as a success for the Amagi family.