Chapter Text
It had been much too long since he was last in London, Ryunosuke mused. Of course, it couldn't really be helped - in taking up Kazuma's dream (well, his stated dream anyway) to restructure the Japanese legal system, he'd taken on a considerable amount of responsibility - responsibility that had begun nearly as soon as he'd stepped off the boat back in Japan in 1901.
He was proud to say that he had, actually, made some progress since then - largely in what rights defendants had, and what cases the prosecution was even able to bring to court, but progress nonetheless. It felt minimal, in the face of the monumental task he'd taken up, but he knew for a fact that those changes had already helped the innocent win back their freedom.
Meanwhile, while he'd been mucking about deep in the inner workings of the legal system, someone else had noticed his work - namely, Yuumei University, his alma mater. They had offered him a professorship in the law department, and he'd snapped it up. After all, shaping the next set of lawyers for the courts also helped in changing the laws themselves. So he had added students and teaching to his pile of responsibilities.
And, of course, he had kept up a law practice as well. Precedents were set by court cases, too, after all. And he could hardly turn away those who begged for his services from a jail cell - he knew what that was like, all too well.
Thank goodness for Susato-san, he would never have managed it all otherwise. Which was part of why she was along for this vacation too - she'd earned it, perhaps even more than he had.
Heavens, how long had it been, anyhow? Three years? No, three and a half. He'd managed a brief visit about two years after he'd left, and then gotten so wrapped up in everything that he'd been away even longer this time. But he'd recently gotten the kick in the pants he'd evidently needed, as the government looked to strengthen its ties with Great Britain. The university was looking too - after all, academic ties could be nearly as important as diplomatic ones, in this modern age. So, when they had asked for volunteers willing to go on diplomatic study or teaching tours, he'd jumped at the chance. In his case, they called it a study tour - essentially a redux of the one that had first brought him to English shores, but with him actually intended to be there this time.
It was so strange to see how everyone had changed, now that he was back. The most noticeable was Iris, of course - whereas at his last visit, she was certainly a bit older (taller, mostly), now she'd gone from the child he remembered to blossoming into a lovely young woman of 16. She'd gleefully pointed out that she was now the age that Susato had been when they'd first arrived in London, a thought that had stopped both he and Susato in their tracks. And she was taller than them both now! Even taller than Kazuma! The English height was something to be reckoned with, that was certain.
Sholmes looked largely the same - a hint of gray was beginning to show in his pale blond hair, and a few wrinkles showed about his eyes (mostly, he thought, from the man's habit of squinting at documents in his dark corner at all hours), but he was as bouncy as ever.
Kazuma, though - he looked wiser, he thought. He couldn't describe what precisely gave him that impression, but that was what came across to him. Of course, he found Kazuma arresting each time he'd gotten to see him since he had left. It couldn't be helped, he supposed; but it did make him wonder and worry how difficult their separation would be this time, as each time seemed to be more of a siren song to stay.
Gods, he was tired. He'd never slept well on ships, not since what happened on the SS Burya. He was rather glad his ship had come in late at night, as it left him an excuse to greet only the members of 221B and Kazuma, instead of the long list of friends and acquaintances he should eventually say hello to now that he was back. And, well, it let him get to this sooner - lying on Kazuma's chest in his old, comfortable surroundings at 221B. He nuzzled against Kazuma's neck, feeling warm and safe with his arms around him.
He was already half asleep, his thoughts becoming slow and a bit nonsensical, when Kazuma spoke, startling him a bit.
"Did you… ever think about having children, Ryu?"
Ah, the pet name reserved exclusively for when they were alone. He must've been serious, then - but Ryunosuke couldn't help a somewhat sarcastic tone. "Really, Kazuma?"
He could feel him shift underneath him, uncomfortable and suddenly trying to get away as he mumbled something.
"No, wait-"
He stilled, but he was still looking away when Ryunosuke moved to look at his partner.
"Kazuma, that came out wrong."
"It better have."
He snorted. "Let me try again?"
"I suppose."
"Otherwise I'll go sleep on the sofa downstairs, hm?"
Kazuma's eyes met his, won over again by the humor to his apology. "It's a deal."
"It's just… oh, aibou , everyone who's met me knows I love children."
"That's not what I asked."
"No, I suppose not." He paused a moment, gathering his words. "I simply assumed it wasn't in the cards for me. For us. It would put everything you care about in so much jeopardy - I couldn't ask that of you, not just for my own dreams of raising a child."
Kazuma waited a moment, seemingly thinking. "I've seen those pamphlets Iris has been leaving on your desk."
"Hm? Oh, yes, the orphanages. She's trying to give me ideas, I think. Though I have been meaning to discuss such a thing with you -"
"Ryunosuke."
"Hm? Ah, my apologies. Sholmes is rubbing off on me too much already, I'm already more prone to tangents."
A small, fond smile appeared on Kazuma's face, what little moonlight shone through their small window illuminating it in a dreamlike way.
"You had something you wanted to say, I assume?"
He felt him take a deep breath beneath him. "What if… what if it was in the cards for us?"
"What, do you mean-?"
Kazuma nodded.
He was struck absolutely dumb for a moment, left gawping at Kazuma like a fish in the market. "You're not- you don't mean- Kazuma, it could be so difficult!"
"And? I've- we've done far more difficult things, I think."
"I suppose so. But- But I can't let you take on all that risk just for my sake!"
Kazuma scoffed. "Whoever said it would be just for your sake?"
"Wait, Kazuma, you would want to? To have a child? W… with me?"
He laughed. "Of course, Ryu. Why else would I offer?"
"I just… I thought it was only me. I thought you had no interest - which would've been fine! But I was sure I was alone in even thinking of it. But you've-?"
"How many times must I say it? Yes, Ryunosuke. I'm rather fond of the idea, actually."
He laid down on him again, the closest he could get to holding him close. "I - gods, I just want to keep asking you if you mean it. It sounds unreal."
He chuckled. "I rarely say things I don't mean."
"That's true." He sat up again, looking Kazuma in the eyes once more. "There will need to be a bit of planning, though. To keep you safe."
He sighed. "I assumed. The center of gossip-mongering London probably isn't the place to go through with the whole charade, hm."
"Exactly. You'll need somewhere to stay, outside of the public eye."
He thought for a moment, before laughing again. "Well, I’ve just thought of one place I know of that I can near-definitely get access to."
"Where is it? And why are you laughing?"
"The cyclicality of it all, mostly."
"Don't be cryptic, Kazuma."
"Pff. I’ll tell you, I promise.”
Ryunosuke gave him a Look.
“Fine, fine - I just assumed you might have wanted to deduce it," his eyes twinkled as he said it, enjoying poking fun at his partner.
"Not if it's information I can just have you tell me, no!"
"Alright, I'll stop. It's van Zieks' summer home, the place I'm thinking of."
"Really?"
"I did stay with the man for several months while amnesic, Ryu. He already knows all those secrets, and he's not one to pry."
"I suppose that's true… but why is it cyclical -" he stopped himself, the realization hitting him. "... Ah. Though it's not that… shack , I'd hope."
"No, no, his family summer home. Rather deserted, I understand, for nearly 20 years now. Though I hear he's been working on tidying up the place, of late."
He nodded. "I think that could work, then. You'll need to ask him, of course." His eyes shifted away. "Hopefully this will go better than things did for poor Mrs. van Zieks…" he added under his breath.
Kazuma reached up, turning his face back towards himself. "It'll be fine, I'm sure."
"Ah, um - yes, yes, of course," he said, nodding along with his statement. Even so… he sighed, finding a kernel of doubt still within himself. "I'm sorry, I just… I can't help but worry about you, you know how I am."
Kazuma snorted at him, then hooked an arm around his neck and smushed him against his chest. "It'll be fine , Ryunosuke. I'm certain."
He laughed, smothered as he was against Kazuma's night shirt, as the worry broke before Kazuma's sheer will. "All right, all right, I'll leave it!" The pressure around the back of his neck released, and he giggled again at the rather obvious message. Still, it had helped to calm him, in the odd way that Kazuma often did, and he found himself growing tired again.
As he drifted off again, he found himself mumbling to himself. "Our own child…" he said, as though trying to remember a dream before waking.