Chapter Text
Towa pointed at the blank answer next to the math problem on Mei’s worksheet.
“Same thing we did before,” he coached her. “What do you need to do?”
Mei lifted her hands. “Count on my fingers?”
“Good.”
She was able to answer the math problem. There were some questions she couldn’t count on her fingers, so Towa taught her the rules of addition and subtraction on paper. It was pretty clear math wasn’t her favorite subject, judging by the doodles all over her worksheets with red markings from her teacher all over it.
He told her the quicker they finish her homework the faster she can go upstairs to her room and play; but it had been over two hours, and they weren’t done yet because she kept begging to take a snack break, pee, or find ways to procrastinate.
The front door opened, stopping the session. Taku was home. Towa and Mei exchanged glances. He put his finger to his lips.
This was a routine of theirs for a while now, sneaking across the hall and hiding until Taku entered the room. Once he spoke up, they’d jump out of their hiding spots and surprise him. They’ve done it so much that Taku just pretended to be oblivious to their presence in the room, especially since Mei would giggle and give up her spot, too excited to stay quiet.
This time around, Taku’s yelp of surprise was rehearsed as ever, still authentic, when Mei leapt into his arms for a hug, with Towa walking behind them, hands behind his back.
“No way! You’re getting too good at this hiding thing!” Taku laughed, holding Mei in his arms.
“Hi daddy!” She squealed, hugging him again once Taku lowered her to the floor.
“Hey, baby,” Taku glanced up at Towa knowingly. “You guys not done with her math homework yet?”
“Not sure how many pee breaks she has left in her.” Towa answered, hands on his hip.
Taku snorted, patting Mei’s back. “Go wait at the table, I’ll help you out before mommy makes dinner.”
Mei groaned. “Can I go upstairs and play?”
“Not until you finish your homework.”
“You heard him,” Towa gestured to the table, where she abandoned all her schoolwork. “We’re almost done.”
“Okay,” she mumbled, scurrying back to the table. Towa approached Taku, giving him a kiss before removing his lab coat for him.
“I was invited to a brunch by the guys in the neighborhood,” Taku said.
“Oh?” Towa smirked, folding his coat in his arms to drop in the washing machine later. “Look at you, fitting in.”
They were quite popular in their seaside town. Maybe it was because the residents didn’t get newcomers moving across the country often, but it was cozy and tight-knit. Everyone knew each other. It was a diverse community of all kinds of occupations, compared to Shinkoumi, crime and poverty running rampant, people usually kept to themselves.
“I’m not really used to getting invited to things,” Taku said with a sheepish laugh. “But I said yes, since they seem pretty nice.”
“You should go,” Towa encouraged. “Mei and I will be fine.”
Taku pursed his lips together. “You sure?”
“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t tell you to go,” Towa said, his voice dripping with heavy sarcasm. “Now help me finish her homework.”
“Alright, alright. Fine. But…” Taku knew where Towa was getting at, asking him to come with, that is.
“Not a chance,” he replied flatly.
The delightful screams of children scattered at the school’s front entrance filled the quiet of the morning.
“Do you have everything?” Towa was the one dropping Mei off at school, packing her things as she rushed off to the car first thing in the morning.
She nodded, munching on a cheese stick.
“Okay,” Towa unlocked the car doors. “I’ll be back—”
“--Bye mommy!” She practically flew out of the car to rush toward her waiting friends, a stark contrast to her refusing to even leave the house when she first started her new preschool here. Sometimes this place sounded too good to be true. Everyone was just too damn nice, the faculty, the parents, everyone that lived here.
Maybe Towa should blame himself for waiting for some sort of disaster to happen. Shinkoumi had one happening at every corner, he was used to preparing for the worst. Not being greeted by his neighbors when he left the house every morning, comforting drives without the lingering threat of being rear-ended by some jackass, going to the store and not getting mugged by an asshole, or thugs loitering the streets during the night. The law enforcement here were pretty strict, so that’s likely why the crime rate was so low.
His favorite pastime was drawing at Rei’s new coffee shop he opened up in town. When she agreed to move here with them, she wanted to keep his body modification business running, but that was more of a side hustle. Working at Roost inspired her to start a place of his own, and it worked out in her favor. Izumi’s was the newest hot spot in their quaint neighborhood, patrons coming in and out during the mornings and afternoons, whether it be shop owners needing a caffeine boost before they open or students needing a spot to hang out while they study.
It was an entirely different environment from Roost with the kinds of customers that showed up, but the atmosphere was perfect for Towa.
It also turned out that Rei shared the same reservations as Towa—struggling to find a sense of belonging here.
“It’s not just me, right?!” Rei asked, relieved that she wasn’t alone on this. “It’s so weird, how nice everyone is here. I’ve made so many new friends. But, I still miss Shinkoumi sometimes.”
“Probably because we’ve spent our whole lives there,” Towa reasoned. He found himself drawing his old home more than his new one, too. “I like it here, though.”
“Me too, don’t get me wrong,” Rei clarified. “I wish I could’ve moved here a lot sooner. Shinkoumi wasn’t perfect, but it was special. There’s this charm to it that makes you kinda miss it.”
“Taku said he wants to build a new life,” Towa explained. “I think… for him, Shinkoumi brings too many bad memories. And while I’ve lived there for a long time, it’s like I don’t remember anything growing up there at all.”
Rei frowned. “Is that so…?”
Towa rested his cheek on his palm. “I guess it’s a good thing for me. I just feel like something’s missing.”
“Really?” Rei asked. “Like what?”
Towa sighed. “I don’t know…”
“Hmm,” Rei hummed, glancing down at Towa’s sketchbook. “Hey,” she started, as if she thought of something after a moment of silence. “Have you ever tried going back to school?”
Towa looked up from his sketchbook. “Huh?”
“Art school!” Rei said. “Have you tried applying for any art schools here? There’s a ton!”
Towa actually never thought of that. Going to school in Shinkoumi was out of the question, as he dropped out due to lack of interest. While he was satisfied working on art full-time, his income came solely from commissions—and in-between commissions, he was taking care of Mei and doing housework. He was drawing for himself as well, though drawing for a living killed some of his motivation to draw as a hobby in general.
“I can’t,” Towa refused. “Taku works long hours. I have to pick up Mei from school sometimes, help her with homework—”
Rei was offended that he was forgetting an important detail. “Are you forgetting she has an amazing auntie that she can spend as much time with as she wants?!”
Towa rolled his eye. “You have a business to run here, too.”
“So? She loves it here. Besides, you can just take her to school with you.”
Towa grimaced. “Would they be okay with that?”
“Sure! Things happen.” Rei said.
The idea of going back to school—art school, that was, sounded like an engaging way to spend his free time. He just wasn’t used to being in an environment like this, and that was what was killing his motivation.
And it’s bugging him.
“I’ll talk to Taku about it,” he answered.
They were brushing their teeth after Mei was put to bed when Towa told Taku about the conversation he had with Rei.
“Art school?” Taku asked, glancing down at Towa.
Towa immediately felt self-conscious, lowering his toothbrush. “I know, it’s stupid,” he said, spitting into the sink and running his toothbrush under the faucet. “Forget I asked—”
“Wait—no—” Taku grabbed Towa’s hand before he fled the bathroom. “Towa, that’s great! I just—”
Towa glared at him, warning him to speak his next words wisely.
“I didn’t, uh, I didn’t think that was your thing…” Taku said reasonably. “Not doing art, of course. Going back to school is what I mean.”
“You’re right,” Towa agreed begrudgingly, wiping his mouth with a dry washcloth. “Maybe I shouldn’t.” He walked back to their bedroom, sitting on the covers. Shortly after Taku was finished, he flicked the bathroom lights off and joined him. Knowing Taku, he had more to say about this than Towa would’ve liked.
“I didn’t say you shouldn’t apply.”
“It kinda sounds like you did.”
“Is that what you want?”
Towa pouted. “That’s why I’m asking you and Rei…”
Taku leaned back against the headboard with a hum of contemplation. Towa looked at him, chewing on his bottom lip, unable to relax. He hated how this had been on his mind all day since Rei suggested it—and it wasn’t her fault either, Towa was just horribly indecisive.
“Mei’s goin’ to school, yeah?” Somehow, someway, Taku always knew what to say. Maybe doctors were crazy good at finding the root of every problem, because Towa didn’t bring that up even though that was one of the biggest things on his mind as well. “If you were going to school, you wouldn’t have to worry about picking her up until you finish your classes. If you’re staying late, Rei can always watch her, bring her to my clinic, and she could stay until I close.”
Towa let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “It’s not just that…” he confessed, averting his gaze. “Ugh…” he clicked his tongue, running his fingers through his hair.
“Is it money?” Taku asked.
“You’re paying way too much already, Taku.”
“It’s not an issue for me. I’ll pay for it.”
“I just don’t know if it’s meant for me.”
Taku snorted. “How can you say that when you haven’t even tried yet?”
He had an aggravating point. Towa scoffed.
“I hate how I can’t hide anything from you even if I tried.”
Taku chuckled, the two of them getting cozy under the blankets with Towa snuggling up against Taku’s chest.
“It’s hard, isn’t it?” He murmured, his hand rubbing Towa’s back. Towa felt guilty, although that was the truth since coming here.
“Mei loves it.” Towa mumbled, hugging Taku’s middle. “She likes school. Being away from Shinkoumi is what she needs.”
“But it’s not the same for you?” Taku figured with a tired laugh. “Yeah, I hung out with the guys the other night and it hit me, just how strange it is. You don’t think I’ve felt that, too?”
“You asked me to move with you,” Towa huffed, shifting so that he was lying on top of Taku’s body to face him. “Aren’t you mad?”
Taku frowned. “For what?”
“That I’m not comfortable here.”
Taku petted Towa’s hair, shaking his head. “Not at all. I didn’t expect you to love it here overnight, anyway.”
Murase Takuma was a dream; too good to be true. Sometimes, he wondered if he pressed on too much he’d make Taku regret all of this, marrying him, starting a family, and now, moving to the mainland; leaving Shinkoumi behind without looking back.
He didn’t want to be surrounded by bad memories—still, it wasn’t fair for Towa to assume it was easy for him to just up and leave. They visited his mother’s burial site a few days after the move, and it all made sense to Towa.
“You moved here to be closer to your mom,” he said. “I moved here because I want to be closer to you and Mei. But I feel like…” He took a deep breath before he added, “it’s not enough. I want to do more.”
“Then, I think you should go for it,” Taku encouraged with a soft smile. “And if it doesn’t work out, there’s other things to look forward to. You’re not restricted anymore, Towa. I don’t want you to feel like you have to run things by me to do things. If this is what you want, if you think this is your calling… don’t ignore the signs the world is giving you.”
Towa buried his head in Taku’s chest.
“Why do you make things sound so easy?” He muttered, causing Taku’s chest to shake with joyful laughter. “It’s not funny…” Towa lifted his head, glaring.
Taku just smiled, playing with Towa’s hair. “Well, you have my answer.”
Towa ignored the butterflies in his stomach by leaning down to kiss him.
One night, Towa poured himself a glass of wine and started sifting through open houses emails. He had to brace himself somehow, and doing it sober wasn’t the way to go. He had too many fucking options to choose from.
Did he have to weigh these options? Was one better than the other? Did they have what he was looking for? Did any of this shit even matter?
He texted Rei for help, and Rei said to just do some research before he applied to any colleges. As for Taku, he said that Towa should take it easy and not apply to too many, he was just looking to get into one.
Towa ignored both of their advice and applied to every single art college in the region. He had three glasses of wine, and he was past shit like tedious research and considering which college would be best for him.
When he submitted his last portfolio, he shut his laptop, rubbing his eyes tiredly. He stared at the finished wine bottle in front of him, his last glass of the night empty. He looked out the window.
It was late at night when he started the application process. Towa checked the time on his phone, and it read past midnight.
He yawned, pushing his laptop away and crossing his head over the table, too lazy to come upstairs.
He was just going to rest his eyes for a bit.
Footsteps descended the staircase. By then, Towa was fast asleep. Taku was going to ask if Towa was done with his work, so he could come to bed, but he already decided on that a while ago.
He chuckled, approaching the dining table and shaking his head.
“You applied to every school in the region, didn’t you?” Taku asked knowingly with a sigh. He opened Towa’s laptop, seeing a page that displayed congratulations, you have successfully submitted your application to the institute of Towa’s choice. He closed the laptop, picking up the empty wine bottle and wine glass to put away in the sink.
Then, he came back, his hand on Towa’s shoulder to shake him awake.
“C’mon, peaches,” he said softly. “Let’s get you to bed. You did a lot of work tonight.”
Towa grumbled, turning his head so he wasn’t facing Taku.
“Towa,” Taku chided. “You can’t sleep here. You’re gonna wake up with a sore neck in the morning.”
Towa groaned, lifting his head. His hair messily poked out in different directions.
“What are you, a cop?” Towa drawled sleepily.
Taku narrowed his eyes. He ended up carrying Towa upstairs to their bedroom, tucking him in and pulling the covers over his frame.
“Wait,” Towa whispered, sitting up, making grabby hands at Taku. “Don’t go.”
“I’m just going to the other side.” Taku assured, but Towa grabbed his hands and yanked him toward the mattress.
“Towa—!” Taku wheezed, Towa climbing on top of him, clinging to him with all four limbs.
“Don’t leave,” Towa pleaded, holding on as tight as he could. “Stay with me.”
Taku relaxed, as much as he could with Towa squeezing the oxygen out of his lungs. His hand settled on the small of Towa’s back, sliding up to bury into his tangled locs.
“Who said I was going anywhere?” Taku muttered, kissing Towa’s forehead. Towa would cling to his legs kicking and screaming if worse came to worse—which was never going to happen in the first place. They had a precious little princess sleeping with her toys in the next room over, who was their whole world.
Taku took Mei to school today before work. (“I could drive you both, y’know.” Towa had said. “Is it because of my parking skills? Because every curb in this town should be afraid of me, not the other way around.” “Daddy says mommy drives too scary.” Mei admitted, speaking for Taku because he was too scared to, otherwise Towa would bite him.)
Rei was on break, and Towa finished a commission as he only had one to work on, so she suggested they hang out at a seafood restaurant because she really wanted to try out their menu.
“Towa! That’s way too many schools!” Rei chastised when Towa told him he just applied to every single one. “Why didn’t you just apply to the ones in the area?!”
“I couldn’t decide,” Towa muttered. “The more options should be better, so why not?”
Rei sighed. “I guess… so, what now?”
“We wait.” Towa said, taking a bite of his food. Rei applauded.
“I’m so proud of you!”
“I don’t think I’m gonna get in.”
“Don’t say that! Your art was featured in two of the most famous museums in the country!”
“Dumb luck.” Towa wasn’t exactly an optimist, meanwhile, Rei was every pessimist’s worst enemy.
Rei rolled her eyes. “I forgot to mention,” she changed the subject, picking at shrimps with his chopsticks. “When are you guys having a wedding?”
Towa looked at her like she had grown two heads. “Who said we were having a wedding?”
Rei laughed, putting down his chopsticks. “You got married in Shinkoumi four years ago.”
“Yeah, we did.”
“You’re wearing Taku’s ring on your finger.”
“Are we playing spot the difference now? If so, you have really nice boobs I haven’t seen before.”
Rei flushed, gasping. “Th—that’s not what I meant!” He shrieked, causing Towa to smirk at him, eating his fish. “Anyways! You guys need to have a wedding.”
“Need to? Or you want us to have one?” Towa asked, drinking from his glass.
Rei cleared her throat. “Well—both? Don’t you?”
“No.”
“What about Taku?”
“Taku was fine with it.”
“How do you know that’s the truth?”
Towa glared at her. “What the hell is that supposed to mean?” When they signed government papers at the court office, Taku said this was less a hassle than planning an actual wedding. Towa respectfully agreed.
“Maybe it’s not that you guys don’t want a wedding,” Rei said, explaining. “It’s that you didn’t want to have a wedding in Shinkoumi.”
“No,” Towa denied immediately. “I just don’t want a wedding.”
“Why?!”
“Too much work,” Towa met Rei’s eager gaze, lifting a hand to stop her from saying what she was about to say. “Don’t bother.”
Surprisingly, Rei dropped it, going back to eating her food.
“Okay,” she said with a shrug. Towa blinked at her, making sure he wasn’t mistaking it. Rei loved to drag shit until he was pretty much beating a dead horse.
“Okay?”
“I heard you.” Rei answered with a pout. “No wedding.”
“No wedding.” Towa repeatedly firmly, and that was the end of it.
Towa should’ve known not to trust Rei about anything he said.
On his way to her restaurant one morning, people in the neighborhood were congratulating Towa on an upcoming wedding he didn’t remember agreeing to.
Livid, Towa ran to the coffee shop, pushing the door open.
“Rei!” He shouted, startling the patrons present, but he ignored their reactions. Rei smiled brightly.
“Hey, Towa! Good to see you!”
Towa stormed over to the front counter, slamming his hands on top of it. “I thought we agreed no weddings!”
“No, you did,” Rei said, his smile not waning. “As long as I plan everything myself, then you won’t have to lift a finger!”
Towa hopped over the counter, grabbing Rei’s shoulders. The other regulars watched in shock as Towa attacked Rei, shaking his shoulders furiously.
“Listen woman!” He hissed vexingly. “When I moved here, I planned to live as quietly as possible, meaning I want no one from Shinkoumi to know what I’m up to!”
Rei looked guilty, and Towa stopped shaking her shoulders, sighing heavily.
“You invited everyone in Shinkoumi, didn’t you?”
Rei giggled nervously. “Surprise?”
Towa removed his hands from Rei. With clenched teeth, he asked, “does… does Taku know about this?”
Her look told Towa everything he needed to know.
“Did Rei tell you about the wedding?”
“What am I gonna do about my hemorrhoids?” Taku’s patient asked irritably from where he sat on the cot. Towa glared at the man.
“Can’t you see we’re having a conversation here?”
“Well it ain’t gonna go away any faster!”
“Kaito-san, just give me a few minutes—” Taku put his clipboard down, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Towa, what did I say about barging in while I’m treating patients?”
“Did she or did she not tell you about the wedding?” Towa asked in a clipped tone.
“Sensei! My hemorrhoids!”
“Shut it, Kaito!”
“She did,” Taku blurted out. Towa spread his arms in the air.
“I can’t believe this. I’m the only one that doesn’t know about this.”
“Now you do.”
Towa pushed the cart away with his foot so Taku couldn’t reach his clipboard. “Can I talk my way out of this?”
Taku grimaced. Towa glared at him.
“Taku.”
“I dunno…” Taku began. “You might kill me for sayin’ this, but… I kinda, uh, want one?”
“Who would want hemorrhoids?” Kaito grumbled to himself. Taku and Towa glanced at the elderly man's impatient look, proceeding to ignore it, as that was obviously not what Taku meant.
“I don’t,” Towa answered. “You could’ve at least talked to me about it…”
“Okay, so let’s talk about it,” Taku said. “And hear me out. It doesn’t have to be this grand thing. We can keep it small.”
Towa shook his head. “Why do you want one anyway?” He folded his arms.
Taku shrugged. “Life’s too short.”
Towa wasn’t expecting that answer to come out of him. It made him feel all funny.
“I—” He began, then his mouth clamped shut, flustered. He looked between Taku and Kaito, then he turned his heel, stomping out of the office, ignoring Taku calling after him.
Arimura was speaking with a patient at the front desk when he saw Towa leave the office, everyone else in the lobby glancing down the hall in curiosity.
Towa noticed eyes on him, causing him to stop in the middle of the hall. With an eye roll, he turned around to go back to the exam room.
“Enjoy your stupid hemorrhoids.” He spat, before closing the door and leaving for good.
“Auntie said mommy and daddy are having a wedding,” Mei said, desperate to talk about anything but her homework. “Is it true?”
“Mommy’s not sure yet,” Towa said. “Time to answer question six.”
“Does mommy want a wedding?” Mei asked, studying his reaction. Towa looked up from her worksheet, remembering what Taku told him earlier.
Life’s too short.
It was just three words, yet it kept lingering in the back of his mind since then. He always had the fear that this bliss was temporary, that it would be all gone in the blink of an eye, and he’d never get it back.
Perhaps that was what was stopping him from going through with this stupid thing.
“I never pictured myself having one,” he said aloud. Mei was curious to know more, scooting closer to Towa.
“Why?”
“I don’t know.”
“Can I be ring bear?”
Towa chuckled at her enthusiasm. “Ring bearer,” he corrected her with a small smile. “Is that what you want?”
Mei nodded excitedly.
It wouldn’t make sense, given they already had rings—but Mei wasn’t born to witness the first time they made their marriage official. It only made sense she would want to see them have a wedding this time.
“Finish your homework first and I’ll talk to Rei about it.” Towa said. That gave her enough motivation to pick up her pencil and power through the rest of her homework.
“Don’t be shy!” Rei said from the changing room. “C’mon! Come out!”
Towa pushed the curtains aside, trying on yet another wedding dress. Rei examined the outfit, then he shook his head for like, the billionth time.
“I’m better off putting on a trash bag and calling it a day.”
“Let’s not give up just yet!” Rei said, convincing him to stay. “There’s one more Mimi-san suggested.”
“We’ve tried at least five different dresses,” Towa muttered. “I’m starting to think we’re not going to decide on anything.”
“...Sixth time’s the charm?” Rei asked with a meek grin.
“Tell Mimi we’re going home.” Towa started, lifting the skirt of his dress to leave the dressing room, but Rei rushed over to stop him.
“Taku’s really looking forward to this, too. Not just me…” Rei said, causing Towa’s facial expression to soften. “I know how you feel about weddings—”
“I don’t need another speech, Rei—”
“You know what Taku told me?” Rei continued, stubborn. “There’s not many things he’d like to do before he dies, but one of them is definitely seeing you as his bride.”
Towa’s eye widened. When Taku said life’s too short—he hadn’t asked the reason behind this answer, yet here Rei was, giving it to him.
“I wasn’t even supposed to tell you that,” Rei sighed. “Anyways, pretend you didn’t hear it from me.”
“Taku wants me to…?” Towa asked hesitantly. “Really?”
Taku was happy to see that Towa was going through with Rei’s crazy wedding planning proceedings—only because this was something only Rei could excel at. Like always, Towa was just being taken along for the ride.
“Yes,” Rei picked up the last dress of the pile, shoving it toward Towa’s chest. “Sometimes I worry about you, because you don’t let yourself enjoy life’s greatest pleasures. It’s okay to live a little, Towa.”
“Why is everyone being so annoyingly philosophical lately?” Towa mumbled, turning back to the changing rooms.
“I’ll be right here!” Rei said, reassuring him. “Don’t be scared, okay? This isn’t Shinkoumi anymore. We have the chance to do everything we always wanted.”
Rei also had a point there, too. Towa tried on the wedding dress, not just for Taku and Rei’s sake, but his own, too. He opened the curtains, approaching Rei, feeling even more nervous than before.
But the look on Rei’s face—like he had been enlightened, made every muscle in Towa’s body relax.
“This is it,” Rei gasped, standing up with his hands covering his mouth. “Oh, honey. Taku’s gonna love this…”
Towa found himself smiling a little.
Their friends from Shinkoumi came down to the mainland to celebrate the bachelor party before the day of the wedding.
For everyone else, aside from Rei’s friends—this would be their first time stepping foot in his new establishment.
Since they had to consider the presence of children (Mei and Suzu) in the restaurant, the party was more kid-friendly.
Towa would never admit it, but it was nice to have their old friends here. Judging by their odd behaviors, it was no wonder they stuck out like a sore thumb. They were used to fighting for their lives every single day, for them, chaos was their ordinary.
So it didn’t take long for them to get a bit rowdy; but it was fun, and Towa missed their presence. Rei made a big buffet for their arrival, and it was clear that she missed her friends from Roost as well. The manager sent his congratulations for the extremely belated wedding, although he couldn’t make it to the bachelor party, he had promised to come to the event.
Most of the party was spent teasing Taku and Towa, with Arata nudging Towa to whisper to him that he was truly lucky to be in his position right now.
It didn’t take rocket science to know how smitten Taku was with Towa, but it was the more subtle things, like pushing Towa’s chair back and taking his hand to help him sit down, adding more food to Towa’s plate so he got his fill, asking if he was comfortable every now and then, Taku unable to take his eyes off him when he was engaged in juicy conversations with Rei and her friends.
Taku sacrificed his old life in Shinkoumi for all of this—this bliss, for a proper fresh start.
When things wound down, Towa stepped outside to get some fresh air, gazing at the seaside.
“There you are,” Taku appeared behind him, joining him on the front patio. “Kotarou-kun was trying to give me a pep talk, and I couldn’t run away from him if I tried.”
Towa giggled. “Was it sound advice?”
“He said no side chicks, no matter how tempted I might be, whatever that means.”
“You’re not cheating on me, are you? I see the way those elderly ladies talk to you.”
“They’re my regulars,” Taku snorted. He looked down at Towa, nursing a beer bottle. “How you holdin’ up, though? Rei must’ve tired you out with all that planning. He’s dragging you everywhere these days.”
Towa shrugged. “I don’t mind.”
Taku was surprised to hear that. “Sure you’re not saying that just to get me off your back?”
Towa rolled his eye. “What I’m trying to say is…” He sighed, cheeks turning pink as he braced himself for his next words. “I thought about it. And, uh, it’s not…” he averted his gaze. “Bad.”
Taku raised a brow. “What isn’t?”
“A wedding,” Towa mumbled under his breath, so quiet Taku could barely hear him.
“A what?”
“I want to have the stupid wedding,” Towa blurted out. Taku’s eyes widened in shock. “There, I said it. Now I feel weird.”
Taku smiled. “I’m happy you want to, Towa. Because I do too. I want this with you.”
Towa meekly met Taku’s tender gaze. He couldn’t hold it for long, turning away.
“Mei wants to be the ring bearer.”
“I know. She won’t stop begging me. Also, Kotarou wants to be my best man. He won’t take no for an answer.”
“At least you don’t have Rei as a bridesmaid.”
They both laughed.
“Do you…” Towa began, unsure. “Do you think I’ll make a good bride?”
“As long as you don’t kill everyone,” Taku said, earning a slap on the arm from Towa. “Then you’re perfect in my eyes.”
“Cheesy.”
“You asked.”
Maybe Towa was getting far too comfortable with the peace of this seaside life he was settled into.
He was on his way back to the house with groceries, parking the car; Taku at work and Mei back at school—Rei was still in the midst of wedding preparations (they would be having one on the beach, and her perfectionism knew no bounds) but he cut Towa some slack to take care of things herself, when Towa noticed the doors to the house was open.
“What the fuck?” He whispered to himself, unbuckling his seatbelt and bolting out of the car. He abandoned his groceries, rushing into the house.
Two men dressed in black were rummaging through the shelves in the living area.
“Hey!” Towa shouted, alerting them. “What do you think you’re doing?!”
“Shit, you didn’t tell me that someone was coming back!” One of the robbers scolded his partner. Towa removed his slipper, throwing it at the man’s head. The impact was hard enough to send him stumbling into the wall behind him.
“Put our stuff back, assholes!” Towa said, getting his other slipper ready. He didn’t have any actual weapons on him, but he could make his sandals into one—don’t fuck with him.
The second thief, on the other hand, brandished a knife. He grit his teeth, lunging for Towa.
“Move out of the way!” He barked. Towa dodged the knife a second too late, the blade grazed over his shoulder. While the pain stung like a bitch, it wasn’t enough to stop Towa from jumping on the fucker’s back, sinking his teeth into the thief’s ear.
He screeched, dropping to his knees—unable to handle Towa’s body weight on top of his.
“You think I haven’t been stabbed?” Towa threatened, smashing his head against the ground and smacking his shoe on top of the bastard’s head in case he tried to move. “I used to be part of one of the most ruthless gangs in Shinkoumi, so don’t fuck with me.”
“Isamu!” The thief behind Towa rose up to his feet, rushing to his friend’s aid.
Towa was fully prepared to take on two robbers, failing to notice the looming shadow of another presence in the room.
The other thief was thrown across the room, bags of stolen items discarded. Towa was still on the man’s back, blood running down his shoulder, his left sandal in his hand, lifting his head up to see the person that came to his rescue.
His eye widened.
“Madarame?”
“A sandal?” Madarame asked, with an arch of his brow. “Really?”
This wasn’t how Towa expected them to reunite, nor was he expecting a reunion between them at all in the first place.
“What’s it to you?” Towa asked with a scoff, rising up to his feet. The idiot beneath him scrambled up to run for his partner, only for Madarame to stick his foot out and trip him purposefully.
Good to know he didn’t change one bit.
“You’re not going anywhere,” Madarame lifted the burglar by the back of his shirt, kicking him to where his friend was, still writhing in pain on the floor. “If I were you, I’d start calling the cops.”
Towa patted his skirt pockets, seeing that his phone fell on the floor during the scuffle. He walked toward it, picking it up.
“Did you follow me here?” Towa asked, dialing the number.
“Just happened to be in town,” Madarame explained with a shrug. What a piss poor excuse, as it didn’t take a genius to know he was tracking Towa’s whereabouts. “I didn’t know you moved from Shinkoumi.”
“Should I have left a postcard or something?” Towa asked, and once the rings connected to the police he reported the robbery. They said they’d be on their way in a few minutes, so he hung up.
“You should probably get that checked out,” Madarame said, stating the obvious. “Tell Murase-sensei I stopped by to say hello.”
Towa glared at him, clutching his wounded arm. “Like hell I would.”
“And here I was hoping you’d get bored of him by now,” Madarame said with a teasing smirk, looking Towa up and down. “Look at you, playing the role of a good little wife. How cute.”
“The police are gonna be here any minute now…” Towa threatened. Madarame didn’t waste any time. When the police arrived to assess the situation, Madarame had already vanished. Towa would’ve joked that a phone call would be nice, but Madarame was one of the most unorthodox people Towa knew.
The robbers were arrested, and Taku and Rei were among the first to arrive at the house.
“Towa!” Taku ran up to him, hands on his shoulders. “What the hell happened?!”
“You’re hurt!” Rei said worriedly, seeing Towa’s blouse stained with blood.
“We got robbed,” Towa grunted. He was just thankful that he was the only one home to witness it. “Luckily, I managed to fight them off before I called the cops.”
“You fought two robbers?!” Rei asked in disbelief. Not exactly. Towa had a bit of help, said help disappeared before the cops showed up.
“No big deal,” Towa said dismissively. “And Mei? Is she still at school?”
“Yeah,” Taku replied. “She’s fine. Let me take you to the clinic. That stab wound looks pretty bad.”
“Wait—there’s—” Towa stopped Taku and Rei. “There’s groceries in the car…”
“We’ll handle it.” Rei offered. “Taku can drive us both to the clinic together.”
Towa nodded, allowing Taku to take him to the passenger seat. Once Towa was finished explaining to the coastal guards the situation, they headed to the clinic so the police could investigate the crime scene.
Taku finished stitching up his wound. Rei stayed with them for a bit, then Taku suggested he pick Mei up from school. Towa pleaded for her not to tell Mei, as it would only make her uneasy.
“If I’d been there…” Taku grit his teeth, averting his gaze in shame.
Towa placed his hand on Taku’s shoulder.
“It’s fine. I’d rather you and Mei be safe.”
“Still! This could’ve been a lot worse!”
Towa cupped Taku’s cheeks, squeezing them.
“Taku,” Towa said sternly. “It’s my turn to protect you.”
Taku’s eyes shimmered. “Towa…”
“You’ve done enough for me,” Towa empathized, loosening his hold on Taku’s cheeks. “For me, a stab wound is nothing. This is just like old times. I happen to think this is a pretty badass scar.”
“But—” Taku took Towa’s hands off his cheeks. “How did you even fight those burglars all by yourself? You weren’t even armed.”
“Well…” Towa started, apprehensive. “I wasn’t able to do it alone.”
“Huh?” Taku frowned. “What does that mean?”
Before Towa could elaborate any further, Rei arrived with Mei, Arimura was with them.
“Mommy?” She asked, blissfully unaware of everything that was going on. Towa spread his arms, and she ran into them. He picked her up so she could sit with him on the cot.
She noticed the bandages wrapped around Towa’s arm. “Are you hurt?”
“I just tripped on the way to the house,” Towa said, tucking her hair behind her ear. He glanced at Taku and Rei, then back at his daughter. “Nothing serious.”
She nodded, holding onto Towa’s hand.
“Oh,” Taku spoke up. “Arimura-kun.”
“Yes?” Arimura asked.
“Aren’t you off today? Did you come here with Rei?”
Towa almost forgot why the two of them would be together in the first place, with Rei and Arimura dressed suspiciously fancy.
“Hoooooh….” He smirked in mischief. Arimura and Rei turned beet red. Mei was oblivious, meanwhile, it took Taku a second to put two and two together.
“We were eating at that seafood place when we heard the news about—” Rei stopped himself, because Mei was in the room. “When we, um, heard.”
“Y-yes…” Arimura ducked his head. “I wanted to come along. I’m glad that everyone is alright.”
Taku scratched the back of his head, nodding. “Yeah…”
“S-So now that everyone’s okay, why don’t we grab some dinner? It’s on me?” Rei chimed in to relieve the awkward tension in the air. “C’mon! Let’s go!”
When everyone left the clinic to grab a bite, Towa made a note to himself to badger Rei about his interrupted plans with a certain clinical assistant later.
Rei insisted that Taku finish up what he had to do. Since the police recommended they steer clear from the Murase’s property for a day or two to monitor crime activity in the area, Rei suggested they stay over at her house for the time-being.
Things were back to normal aside from the incident, still, there was unease among the citizens of the village since it happened.
Towa also had his doubts.
During the first night, Rei wanted them to do face masks and eat ice cream to lighten up the mood. Towa told Mei to wash up first and get ready for bed since she had school in the morning, leaving just him and Rei in her living room.
Rei was telling Towa that he felt bad he had to cut the date between her and Arimura short, so he asked for a do-over, and Arimura had actually agreed to it. While Towa was trying his best to listen, his mind was elsewhere.
“Towa?” Rei asked, touching his arm. “Are you even listening?”
“Oh,” Towa said, his gaze distant. “Sorry.”
Rei peeked at his forlorn expression. “Is everything okay? Do you wanna talk about it? Should I call Taku? He should be done soon.”
“Do you think moving here was a mistake?” Towa asked suddenly, touching Rei’s hand on his arm.
“What? Of course not!” Rei denied, picking up Mei’s empty ice cream bowl and walking toward the kitchen, a pink towel over his damp hair as he just washed it. Towa closed the tub of ice cream, joining Rei in the kitchen to put the remainders away.
“I can’t help but think it’s my fault,” Towa said. “Everyone that lives here said this stuff barely happens.”
“You couldn’t have seen it coming,” Rei stated in his defense. “Not every town is perfect. If you’re worried this place is going to turn into Shinkoumi, I doubt it.”
“Do you think it could be Takasato-gumi? Or a stalker?”
“Taku spoke to Sakaki-san about it. He said he doubts they’d have any business in some beach town where there aren’t any rival gangs.”
“So I’m just unlucky then?”
“Towa,” Rei massaged his shoulders, trying to ease his stress. “You’re safe now. In a few days you can go back home like nothing happened.” He wrapped his arms around Towa for a reassuring embrace.
It dawned upon him this was what fear did to anyone. It kept them awake at night, lingered in the form of nightmares, like a haunting shadow that lurked in every corner.
Moving here was Taku’s dream. Towa would be damned if a bunch of burglars were going to ruin that; even worse, the people he cared about getting hurt. At the very least, it was good to know he wasn’t the one that caused this mess.
His right arm ached slightly.
“Rei,” Towa murmured. Rei pulled away.
“Hm?”
“I couldn’t have asked for a friend like you,” He confessed, unable to keep his worries at bay any longer. “Thanks, for keeping Mei safe.”
“Oh, Towa…” Rei teared up, pressing her forward against his. “Couldn’t you have saved your sappiness when we both don’t look like Frankenstein?”
Towa giggled, and so did Rei.
Wedding plans resumed.
Towa was still waiting on decisions from the schools he applied to. Just like that, life went on. He could tell things were quite tense between him and Taku, but they had Mei to take care of, so those tensions were ignored for her comfort.
He didn’t like it. In fact, he hated it.
So, he decided to take matters into his own hands. When he put Mei to bed, as it was a busy night for Taku, he went outside on the patio to draw.
Since moving to the mainland, he hadn’t had the inspiration to draw anything here. When he drew, it was always places in Shinkoumi. His commissions gave him the opportunity to draw other things, but they were the requests of other people. His mind continuously blanked out, and it frustrated him.
It was difficult to let Shinkoumi go, no matter how hard he tried. Then, he remembered the first time Taku introduced him to Mizu at the place she was buried.
He set up a memorial in their new home, where he, Mei, Rei, and Towa paid their respects to her—and Rei made a banquet in her blessing.
Towa mapped out the memorial on paper, allowing his pencil to craft an image closest to the real thing. When he said he wanted to know Taku inside out, he wanted to know more about her, the most important person in his life. She was the reason he found the courage to say goodbye to Shinkoumi.
In order to let himself go, Towa drew her memory. By the time he finished the drawing, Taku returned home. He left the car, stopping when he spotted Towa on the front steps, sketching away in his book.
“Oh, Towa.” He said with a tired smile. Towa looked up, meeting Taku’s gaze.
“Welcome home,” it came out on instinct, despite everything they’ve gone through, Towa would always welcome Taku to their home. To him and their daughter. After all, they wouldn’t be here if it weren’t for Taku.
Taku smiled. “How long you been out here for?”
“Not sure,” Towa stood up, closing his sketchbook and setting it aside. He stepped down the patio, walking up to Taku. “I wanted to wait out here until you came back.”
“Mei finished her homework?”
“Mhn.”
“That’s my girl…” Taku said with a soft chuckle. “And you? How have you been?”
“I’m okay,” Towa replied. The stiffness between them lingered in the air, so he had to try harder to get rid of it. “Taku—”
“Towa—”
They paused before they could speak any further.
“You go first…” Taku insisted.
“It’s fine,” Towa said. “You had a long day. What you have to say is probably more important.”
“Well,” Taku rubbed the back of his nape. “Um, I’ve been talking to Rei… and, I know the wedding’s soon, but I completely understand if you’re having second thoughts about it.” Towa stared up at him, waiting for him to continue. “I thought it would be safe here, but I guess I was wrong. I just can’t stop thinking about what would’ve happened if the police didn’t come in time. If Mei wasn’t at school. If I hadn’t been working. What kind of father and husband am I, really? That I can’t even…” He sighed heavily. “Be there to protect the people I love? I’m just terrified that I could lose it all in a heartbeat—”
Towa shut him up by stepping forward, holding his cheeks and leaning in to kiss him square on the lips.
Taku’s words died in his throat, making a muffled noise of surprise. Then, he relaxed in Towa’s grasp, his hands creeping up his waist.
Towa pulled away with a deep breath, fully prepared to say everything that was on his mind.
“I want to have a wedding with you,” he said. “I want to put on a stupid wedding dress. I want you to put your ring on my finger. I want a ceremony. Do you know why? Because I think about it too, that one day, I won’t have this. I won’t have you, and Mei, and I’ll be alone again if I take this for granted. So shut up and be the man that I’ve always loved since day one. You can make a thousand mistakes and I’ll stay anyway. It won’t change how I feel about you.”
Taku exhaled shakily, his forehead pressed against Towa’s. “You know that I’m not perfect. I wish I could be. I try to be.”
Towa shook his head. “And you don’t have to be.”
“Really?”
“Yeah. So let’s put this all behind us,” Towa pleaded. “I don’t like this. I want things to go back to the way it was.”
“Towa…”
Towa’s nose brushed against Taku’s, his thumb stroking Taku’s cheek, the man in front of him the reason he had a future so bright. With Taku, anything, and everything felt possible.
“We’re not in Shinkoumi anymore,” he reassured Taku, along with himself. “Our life, stays right here, no matter what.”