Work Text:
Title: As the Years Go By
Author: Triste
Fandom: Kuroko no Basuke
Pairing: Kise/Kuroko
Rating: PG
Status: Complete
Disclaimer: Not mine
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Life starts to slow down, as they get older. Some things change, others don’t. Tetsuya’s eyesight is bad enough now that he needs his glasses all the time, and things get harder for him during winter. The cold weather makes his bones ache, makes him more prone to getting sick these days. It affects Ryouta, too, and tires him out more than usual. His hearing is starting to go as well, although he won’t admit it. Tetsuya is patient though, and doesn’t mind having to repeat himself, or that he has to keep reminding Ryouta to turn the television down in case the volume of it bothers the neighbours.
It’s quieter tonight, since Ryouta is asleep at the kotatsu. Tetsuya doesn’t pay much attention to it, too busy going over his to-do list of chores for the New Year. He’s already sent out greetings cards to everyone they know, and the two of them managed to finish doing a thorough cleaning of the house just before dinner. Ryouta is a hoarder and can’t bear to part with anything, which is why it always takes longer than it should.
Peeling a tangerine, Tetsuya checks the clock. They prefer to go bed earlier than this, but New Year’s Eve is an exception. He knows Ryouta will complain later for not waking him up when it gets to midnight, but Tetsuya allows him to get his rest. Besides, it won’t be much longer before the grandkids come to visit for their New Year allowance, and for Ryouta to dote on them the same way he did with their parents. He likes to tell them stories about when he and Tetsuya were younger, to which the children always groan out, “Grandpa, we’ve heard this like, a million times before.”
Even so, they always enjoy looking at old photographs together, especially the ones Tetsuya has saved from Ryouta’s modelling days. It never fails to amaze the kids that he actually used to do this for a living, and it makes Ryouta laugh to hear them say, “Whoa, you were so handsome back then.”
Tetsuya thinks he still is.
Only half-listening as the announcer on TV counts down the seconds, one year ends and another begins with Tetsuya watching Ryouta’s sleeping face. It’s not the most eventful or remarkable way of welcoming the first day of the first month, but it fills Tetsuya with affection and contentment all the same. He can’t help the smile that forms on his lips when, almost half an hour after the hands on the clock have reached twelve, Ryouta finally stirs. As Tetsuya predicts, he’s upset when he finds out what time it is, and that he’s missed something so important. He soon gets over it, however, when they undertake another annual tradition by sharing their first kiss of the New Year, and it’s as sweet the one that brought them together so many decades ago. Ryouta’s eyes are as soft and enamoured now as they were then, telling Tetsuya without words that he’s still the centre of his world, even after all these years.
“Come to bed,” he says.
Tetsuya nods his assent.
It’s becoming more difficult for him to climb the stairs now, and it makes Ryouta worry endlessly that he’s going to fall and hurt himself. He insists they should move to a one storey house, just to be on the safe side, and in any case, it’s not like they need so much room anymore seeing as their children have long since flown the nest, but Tetsuya is stubborn. He refuses to go anywhere. This is the house they’ve lived in so long, where they’ve created so many memories, and he doesn’t want to leave it, wants it to be a place where they can always come back to.
It’s okay, is how he always soothes Ryouta’s concerns, I’ll manage somehow.
Again, Tetsuya knows it won’t stop Ryouta from praying for his good health when they make their first shrine visit of the year. He has a prayer of his own to offer, promises to be there for as long as he’s needed. He knows Ryouta would never survive the heartbreak of a life without him in it, so he doesn’t push it, but he doesn’t take things easy, either. He’s careful, more for Ryouta’s sake than his own.
Up they go, one step after they other, Ryouta’s hand firm and steady at the small of his back. It moves to Tetsuya’s shoulder once they get to the top, giving it a gentle squeeze as if to ask him if he’s all right. Tetsuya leans against Ryouta’s side, smiling once more as he feels Ryouta’s chin settle on his head, nuzzles at the hollow of his throat and answering, just as silently, that he’s fine.
Like always, when they reach the bed, Tetsuya lies with his back against Ryouta’s front, Ryouta’s right arm sliding round his waist to hold him close and secure. Tetsuya strokes a thumb over Ryouta’s wrist, slowly, rhythmically.
“Go to sleep,” he whispers.
“Not without you,” Ryouta says.
And so, Tetsuya closes his eyes as the sound of Ryouta’s breathing follows him into his dreams.