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“Are you ready, Miri?” Kazuki asks as he holds on tight to the back of Miri’s bicycle seat, keeping her steady.
“N-no!” She shouts, gripping the handles bars tightly in her little hands. She shakes her head, causing her helmet to shift.
“I promise you, I’ll be right behind you for as long as you need, okay?” He says, sweetly, bending down to see her red, scrunched up face. Her eyes are squeezed shut and her cheeks are puffed out, holding her breath. “If you’re not ready, we can go back home and play games with Papa Rei instead.”
Rei nods a grunt, he hates seeing Miri scared, but he knows that it’s best to overcome your fears head on…. Not that he can take his own advice.
Rei has been gut wrenchingly afraid to admit, even to himself, that the feelings inside of him that he has for Kazuki are more than platonic co-parents and coworkers. He doesn’t want to ruin what they have, or hurt their family if Kazuki doesn’t feel the same way.
But seeing Miri finally place her little feet on the pedals of the new bike Kazuki bought her, without even considering if she knew how to ride or not, Rei decides that if she can conquer her fear, maybe he can too.
“Wahoo! Yes, Miri! You got it!” Kazuki jumps and hollers as Miri rides, a bit wobbly at first, down the concrete path of the park.
“Papa Rei!” Miri calls over to him, taking his attention off of Kazuki’s proud smile. “I’m doing it!” She yells excitedly, quickly straightening the handles to avoid falling over after turning to look at her papa.
“Good job, Miri,” Rei congratulates, bending low to look up at her under her helmet when she passes by him, giggling and picking up speed.
“She’s amazing, isn’t she?” Kazuki wraps his arm around Rei’s shoulders, squeezing him tight as he watches in awe at their daughter.
Rei nods in agreement, enveloped in the warmth of Kazuki’s pride and excitement.
~*~
“So, Miri, what’s next?” Kazuki asks at the dinner table as he sets her plate down in front of her. “What else haven’t you tried before?”
Rei watches as Miri sticks her fork in the hamburg steak, making a face as she thinks about the question.
“Uhh,” she ponders, chewing on the food, then shrugs. “Don’t know,” she says through a mouthful.
Kazuki chuckles and looks over at Rei with a ‘what are we gonna do with this kid’ kind of look on his face, making the corner of Rei’s lips twitch up into a half smile, the constant ba-thump of his heart picking up pace inside of his chest.
Quickly looking down at his almost clean plate, he tries to think of anything else other than Kazuki’s smile to calm himself down.
“What about,” he thinks of something he has never done before. “Going to the cinema?”
“The movies?” Kazuki tilts his head to the side, trying to recall the last time he went to the movies. “Have you been, Miri?”
“Mm mm,” she shakes her head, shoving a tomato to the far side of her plate. “But Hinata-Chan told Ms. Anna about her trip to the movies last weekend. She said the dark was scary, but the popcorn was yummy!” She beams up them.
“Okay, then. Sounds like we’re going to the movies!” Kazuki cheers.
“Movies! Movies! Movies!” He and Miri chant, moving their shoulders with each syllable, laughing and pointing at Rei from across the table.
“Movies,” Rei nods to them, feeling his laughter bubble up in his sternum, quietly chuckling to himself.
“But only after you both eat your vegetables,” Kazuki teases, gaining whines from both of them.
~*~
At the movies the next evening, Rei holds Miri’s hand as she cranes her neck up at the concession stand, the bright neon lights washing over her face as she eyes all of the different candies and soda options.
“Woah,” Miri and Rei gasp, their heads following the spinning colors of slushy flavors.
“Uh, and two slushies, please,” Kazuki sighs, adding to his order as both Miri and Rei start filling up cups with all the different flavors.
Holding all of their snacks and sweets, Kazuki ushers the two to their seats. Miri takes the seat with the best view, forcing Rei into the outer corner next to the isle and Kazuki in the middle of them.
“Now we have to be quiet during the movie, Miri. No talking or asking questions like you do at home; we’re in public now and other people want to enjoy it too, okay?” Kazuki says in a hushed voice, as he hands her a tray of popcorn.
“I know I don’t have to tell you to keep it down, but try not to eat all of your snacks before the movie even starts,” he whispers to Rei, smirking as the lights go down.
He’s so close to Rei, his face inches from his as he leans over to snag Rei’s slushy, taking a sip and promptly puckering his face.
“Ick, what flavor even is that?” He sticks his tongue out in disgust, shoving the cold cup in Rei’s hand - but Rei doesn’t feel the cold, just Kazuki’s warm fingers as they graze his.
“A-all of them,” he admits, shrugging and taking a sip. The trailers start to play and Kazuki turns to check on Miri, licking her buttery fingers.
That’s when Rei realizes, looking down at his straw and then at Kazuki out of the corner of his eye.
An indirect kiss.
He blushes at the thought of it. The bright screen shining down on him would give him away if Kazuki’s was playing any attention to him. Thankfully, he’s busy wiping Miri’s hands and face of butter.
As the movie finally begins, and as they all look up at the big, bright screen, Rei can’t help but watch Kazuki out of the corner of his eye.
The movie is a boring kids animated film about a bear or beaver, Rei can’t tell. He’s not paying attention because Kazuki’s hand keeps reaching over to his lap, grabbing handfuls of popcorn from the bucket between his legs.
Rei slyly watches Kazuki’s lips as he licks the butter from his fingers, laughing at a dumb joke from the movie and crinkling his eyes as he smiles at the life lesson the film tries to convey.
Towards the end, Kazuki’s tearing up, and reaches for a napkin, brushing against Rei’s hand as he does. He quietly looks over at Rei, hoping to hide his tears from him, shrugs when Rei stares at him, smiling at Rei like it’s normal to cry at kids movie. Rei smiles back, the warm feeling in the pit of his stomach spreading through his body as he watches Kazuki wipe his tears away.
As the credits begin to roll, they both look over at Miri; she’s asleep. Slumped over, lightly clutching a fist full of popcorn in her tray, Kazuki slowly lifts her onto his chest while Rei gathers their mess.
~*~
“Okay, she’s asleep,” Kazuki sighs as he plops down on the couch next to Rei, a little closer than usual.
He’s playing video games to distract himself from thinking about Kazuki’s lips and whatever feelings he’s having about the indirect kiss, trying to push them down and lock them away, but Kazuki’s body heat is not helping.
“So, how’d you like the movie?”
Rei shrugs, his sweater rubbing against Kazuki’s arm.
“Yeah, I’m surprised you actually stayed for the whole thing,” Kazuki chuckles quietly, poking his elbow into Rei’s side. “Thought you would have left to the arcade ten minutes in.”
“There was an arcade?”
Kazuki laughs a little louder at that, making Rei blush at the sight of him.
“Maybe next time we’ll check it out,” he smiles at him. Rei nods, focusing back on his game, definitely not distracted by Kazuki’s smile.
“Was that your first time at the movies?” His voice is low, almost as if it’s a secret.
Rei nods again.
“Are there other things you haven’t done before?” Kazuki asks, turning his body to face Rei. His eyes are focused solely on Rei, watching him as tries to finish the last lap of Morio Cart.
“I guess,” he gulps, finishing in fifth place after losing focus. Having Kazuki’s eyes on him so directly makes him nervous.
“So, have you ever been to mini golf?” Kazuki asks. Rei can feel the tingle of Kazuki’s breath on his neck as he leans in, ever so slightly to him, slowly filling the space between them with palpable tension as he lists actives Rei has never done before.
Rei shakes his head.
“Bowling?”
Another inch, another shake of his head.
“Have you ever been on a date?”
Another inch. Rei gulps, shaking his head again.
“Ever kissed someone?” Kazuki’s chest is almost pressed against Rei’s shoulder, his face right next to his ear.
Their eyes go crossed as Rei turns to meet Kazuki’s gaze. His heart jumping up into his throat at the sight of crimson red, shining intensely in front of him.
Swallowing down his heart, Rei is half expecting to wake up in the movie theater from this dream, but when Kazuki’s eyes flick down his mouth, he gasps at the feeling of his lips on his.
Staring at Kazuki’s closed eyes as he presses their mouths together, holding his breath so he doesn’t scare him away, Rei is panicking. He doesn’t know what to do, so he lets Kazuki’s lips move on their own.
The controller falls from Rei’s hands in a clatter in the floor, startling Kazuki as he pulls away bashfully. Rei’s lips already missing the warmth of his.
“I’m sorry,” Kazuki mumbles, leaning back opening the space between them again. “I shouldn’t have-“
Rei quickly reaches for his hand, pulling him back into the space, gazing up at him with wide eyes, pleading for him not to leave.
Kazuki smiles, leaning into Rei and quickly pressing his mouth to his again. This time, he parts his lips, taking Rei’s bottom lip between his, softly tugging at it, making Rei groan.
Kazuki’s hands cup Rei’s face, pulling him even closer to into himself, his tongue nudging Rei’s mouth open to lick inside. Rei squeezes Kazuki’s hand at the intrusion, bringing his free hand to grasp Kazuki’s shoulder.
All this time, Kazuki felt the same at Rei. Pushing down his feelings, not wanting to ruin what they have, but wanting so much more.
Panting, the two reluctantly pull apart. Kazuki’s hands frame Rei’s face as they gaze into each other’s eyes, finally acknowledging their feelings for each other.
“There are a lot more firsts I want to be for you,” Kazuki smiles. “If you’ll let me,” he whispers, pressing their foreheads together as he nudges Rei’s nose with his.
“I’d like that,” Rei smiles.