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Guren needed a coffee and he needed it badly. He was in the bedroom, grumbling at a box of smelly Christmas decorations, when a loud thud resonated from the living room. In a heartbeat, he dropped everything and rushed to the source of the sound, nearly tripping on a string of Christmas lights on the way there.
The sight that greeted him was somewhat relieving. Yuu was on the floor, surrounded by a pile of multicolored tinsel as big as him. Mitsuba was at his side, helping him up, and Guren could see that, although the ten year old brunet was rubbing lightly at his backside, he was ok.
The rest of the living room’s inhabitants noticed his presence. It was Shinoa who spoke for them. “Yuu tripped over some tinsel while fighting with Kimizuki,” she explained, causing the two boys in question to look at her, outraged that she had told on them.
“Was not! And anyway, he started it when he said I was putting the decorations wrong!” Yuu puffed, pointing at the slightly taller boy.
“They should match colors and blue doesn’t match with red and gold!”
“But I like blue!”
Guren sighed, wishing Shinya was there to handle them. Unfortunately for him, Shinya was, for the time being, outside, buying some last minute presents along with Mika and Yoichi, who had offered to go with him. They had left Guren and the rest of the children to continue decorating the apartment. Sounded easy enough, but now that they were squabbling Guren wasn’t sure how to handle the situation, since it was usually Shinya who supervised the children when their friends were visiting.
It was times like these though, when Guren was glad Mika and Yuu got along with each other so well, even after they adopted them.
“Yuu, Kimizuki, stop it.” Guren advanced and kneeled between them so as to speak at their level. He had seen Shinya often doing that. “Look, how about we make the bedrooms blue with silver and the living room red with gold?” both boys brightened up at the idea, nodding and turning towards the tinsel.
“Ok, let’s split up. Kimizuki and Mitsuba take the living room while I-“
“Whoa, simmer down, Yuu. Why don’t you work together on one room and then move on to the next?” Guren interrupted, raising an eyebrow at the small child.
“Because I want to surprise Mika when he gets back!” Yuu smiled brightly at him, making Guren sigh but shake his head in amusement nonetheless. He understood the logic, after all, he was doing the same thing for Shinya.
Quarrel now averted, Guren returned to the master bedroom, where the huge box of decorations was waiting, some Christmas lights dangling accusingly from the edge, reminding him there was so much to be done until evening.
Guren sighed and wished again for a coffee.
About ten minutes later, he had finished both disentangling and hanging Christmas lights to all the windows in their apartment, save for the balcony. That was Shinya’s demon tiger’s job.
He went to check on the children and found them in the kitchen, all of them holding glasses of orange juice and talking excitedly – and loudly – about Christmas.
“Can I stay with you?” Guren made himself a cup of instant coffee and took a seat next to Yuu. He noted that the boy in question had taken Guren’s place at the top of the table, but let him stay there. This once.
“Guren, when are we putting up the tree?” Yuu asked, his foot hitting at Guren’s knee to make sure he had his attention.
Guren frowned, swatting his foot away before answering. “After Shinya and the rest come home, of course. I’m not fighting with that huge-ass tree alone.”
“Hey, hey Guren, what did you get Shinya this year?” Shinoa smirked at him from her spot on his left.
Guren glared at her, though he blushed for a moment, thinking about the box hidden in their wardrobe. His reaction spurred the attention of the rest of the children, who all turned to him.
“Are you finally going to ask him to marry you?” Yuu poked his arm.
“It’d be sweet. But I bet he just got him an ugly sweater.” Mitsuba added mockingly.
“Yeah, I know, I was just giving him some credit. My bad.” Yuu shrugged at the girl.
Guren was both dumbfounded and annoyed. He had apparently sunk low enough to be made fun of by ten year olds.
“Careful, you little shits, I still have access to most of your presents.” He threatened.
The children all pouted at him, except Yuu, who stuck his tongue out, but nonetheless dropped the subject, turning towards one another and resuming their earlier conversation, ignoring Guren completely.
While thankful for a moment of respite, Guren was mulling over Yuu’s question.
Shinya had moved in with him right after the war against the Vampires had ended. Guren stayed within the military, not interested in pursuing other career, but for Shinya, it hadn’t been so easy. Now that Kureto had no immediate use of Shinya’s fighting skills, his abuses became more and more obvious. It was clear to just about anybody that the new head of the Hiiragis would never accept Shinya as a member of the family. Even more, Guren noticed a major change in Shinya’s behavior. He was withdrawing more and more into himself, his smiles always forced to such an extent that Guren feared he would lose the Shinya who he had come to know.
So he encouraged Shinya to leave the army and live with him, sure he could support both of them. The other had accepted, but insisted on pulling his own weight, so for some time he took a job as a teacher at their old highschool. It wasn’t what Shinya wanted to do with his life, but it was keeping him occupied until he would find something else.
A few months passed and Shinya got visibly better. Guren still woke up to him writhing on the other side of the bed, plagued by nightmares, but at least his smiles were more genuine. Guren found himself becoming fond of Shinya’s smiles, since they were now rare occurrences. In fact, Shinya’s whole presence had become a constant, to the point where Guren realized he could no longer live without the morning kisses on the cheek, the cuddling on the sofa in front of the television, the way Shinya’s face lit up when he came home later from work, the tickle of soft silver hair when he snuggled up against Guren in his sleep. The conclusion that he had fallen in love with Shinya came as the most natural thing in the world.
As soon as he knew, he didn’t waste much time confronting Shinya about it and soon their relationship blossomed into something that the both of them had needed.
One day, when night found the both of them snuggled up on the couch, Guren threading his fingers through Shinya’s hair and the latter reading through some reports, Guren noticed Shinya’s signature and frowned.
“Say, Shinya, what would you think of taking the Ichinose name? Those Hiiragi bastards don’t deserve you.” He had suggested. Every mention of the Hiiragi family hurt the other, so he thought of severing Shinya’s ties with them once and for all. The look Shinya had given him in that moment, shocked but so filled with love, made Guren glad of his decision.
It hadn’t been a proposal, not exactly, but it took their relationship to a new stage of intimacy. Guren’s heart skipped with pride every time he spotted Shinya’s new signature in his reports and schoolwork.
Soon after that, after one year had passed since Shinya moved in with him, Guren was faced with a dilemma. Namely, two children from the Hyakuya sect that reports said had escaped the orphanage and whom he had found hiding on the streets. He knew the Hiiragi were still performing the Seraph experiments on Hyakuya orphanage children, but he took sincere pity on them, impressed by the fervor with which they protected each other. Then he remembered what Shinya had told him happened to him in the orphanage and his mind was made up.
Concerned a bit by Shinya’s reaction, Guren had brought the children home. To his relief, as soon as he explained their predicament, Shinya took them in without a second thought.
The children, although reluctant and cold at first, soon had accepted them as guardians, warming up to Shinya quickly and eventually to Guren as well. Since they had taken them in, Shinya took leave from his job in order to tend to the children. Guren noticed how Shinya was notably happier since Mika and Yuu had entered their lives. He often mocked Shinya about his housespouse behavior, but he knew he was enjoying the domesticity just as much as the other.
He had grown attached to both of them, but Yuu’s similarity to his attitude made Guren warm up to him much faster. Even so, the fact that compared to Shinya, Guren felt like the worst parental figure in the world didn’t change.
Which brought Guren to the present. Two years had passed with him and Shinya hiding governmental secrets away from Kureto’s suspicious gaze. After all that time and all they’ve been through both during teenage years and adulthood, proposing seemed trivial. They didn’t need it to be a family, they didn’t need it so their relationship could become official, hell, Shinya already wore the Ichinose name, but Guren had often thought it would be nice to take their relationship to the conventionally official level.
“Shinya, can we buy cake too?” Yoichi asked him.
The three of them had finished buying what was left of the Christmas presents, but got distracted by the several stands displaying mountains of colorful sweets. Shinya had indulged both himself and the children by buying a multitude of snowman shaped gingerbread, chocolate bars, fondants and tarts.
“I don’t see why not.” He smiled at the boys and crouched in front of the glass counter displaying the various sorts of cakes. “How about carrot cake? It’s Christmassy enough.”
Mika grimaced. “We’re not seven, nobody uses Christmassy anymore! But, sure, carrot cake sounds good.”
Shinya laughed at Mika’s accusation. “You children make me feel so old.”
“If you feel old, look at Guren and feel better about yourself.” Mika giggled. He gave Shinya a run for his money in terms of poking fun at Guren.
“I’m offended in Guren’s name, but good point. Yoichi, do you want something else, or do we settle for the carrot cake?”
“I think Shinoa and Mitsuba like chocolate cake more. We should get a few pieces of that too.” Yoichi pointed out.
Soon enough, Shinya came to regret his prowess in spending money. He had to balance at least five bags of presents and two boxes containing the sweets in one hand, while holding Mika’s hand in the other. Mika was holding Yoichi’s hand and the latter, who had volunteered to help carry some of the stuff, was carrying one lighter bag.
“Shinya?” Mika looked up at him to make sure he had his attention before continuing. “Why don’t you propose to Guren?” Mika had spotted a wedding dress shop, which was what had spurred the question.
Shinya was taken aback by the question, but he raised his head in thought. “Mm, why do you ask?”
“No particular reason, but we’ve seen other adults looking proudly at their rings when talking about their loved one. Besides, Yuu thinks you’d look funny in a long dress.” Mika added the last part with a mischievous smile.
Shinya blushed at the involuntary mental image Mika had created. “It’s a nice thought, but Guren and I don’t really need these formalities. We’re happy as we are.” He added as an afterthought “And I wouldn’t be the one wearing the dress, mind you, that’d so be Guren. A frilly one with crinoline and a train.”
The two boys laughed. “You have weird thoughts, Shinya.”
“Why don’t you both wear dresses?” Yoichi suggested.
“Hmm, maybe if we find ones that are pretty enough.” Shinya’s face was becoming increasingly redder because of the discussion, but he humored them anyway.
“How about we go look one day? Like, when there’re less people here?” Mika said looking annoyed at the crowds of people they were currently walking through.
“If Guren agrees, sure.”
“Oh, not again.” Mika puffed, making Shinya laugh. There had been one time when Guren and him pulled the ‘ask your father’ card at the same time, to the great annoyance of Yuu and Mika, who missed a class trip to the amusement park because of it. Of course, they made up to the children by taking them there themselves, but Mika and Yuu still dreaded these types of answers.
When they reached the apartment, Shinya’s first impulse was to go check if Guren had killed anybody, including himself while left alone with the children. He shed his black coat, revealing a loose green sweater with a knitted reindeer on it. Mika and Yuu both wore similar clothes, at his insistence.
Once he entered the living room, he was relieved to find all of them watching TV.
“I thought you guys were decorating.” He looked inquiringly at Guren.
“Mika!” Yuu rose from the couch and pulled the blond towards their room. “Look what we, but mostly I, did!”
“We finished about fifteen minutes ago and were waiting for you. As I’ve told them, I’m not mounting that huge-ass tree in here by myself.” Guren got up from the couch as well, briefly kissed Shinya on the temple and made his way to the hallway, where the shopping bags were temporarily situated.
“What the fuck, did you buy the whole shopping district?” Guren exclaimed, poking his nose into one bag.
Shinya approached him, took the boxes with the sweets and went to the kitchen, followed by Guren. “No, I figured your Grinch heart couldn’t take any more Christmas spirit. We got you tarts, though.” He smiled and opened one box, taking one fruit mini-tart and holding it to the brunet’s lips. Guren scoffed, but bit from it anyway.
“I thought you were going to bake cookies with the boys.” Guren asked, taking advantage of the fact that Shinya had turned to place the cakes in the fridge and eating another tart from the box.
Once Shinya’s head was out of the fridge, he answered. “I wanted to, but it’s gotten too late, they wouldn’t have been ready.” He came over and swatted Guren’s hand away from the box. “At least wear the Santa costume before claiming all the sweets.” then he took the box and closed it away in the fridge.
“By the way, who’s dressing up as Santa this year?” Shinya asked, a smug smile on his face.
Guren frowned. Shinya had made him wear the dumb Santa costume two years in a row by making use of his little folder containing photos taken by questionable means as blackmail material.
None of the children believed the Santa story anymore, but they had all agreed, prompted by Shinya, to keep up the charade as part of Christmas spirit. Guren had not expected to get the short end of the stick to this deal for two years though. It was not a matter of dressing up anymore, it was a matter of principle.
“No way in Hell I’m wearing that again. It’s high time you did it.”
Shinya playfully pouted, feigning hurt. “But I thought you liked being Santa.”
“Not up for negotiating.” Guren stated, resolve not wavering even when Shinya leaned onto his side, nuzzling his neck.
“Should we solve this issue like responsible adults?” Shinya asked, holding out his fist.
“Rock paper scissors it is.” Guren sighed. Luckily for him, he had long since figured out Shinya’s tendency to pick paper nine out of ten times, so his win was predictable.
Shinya frowned, disappointed by his loss, but relented. “Ok, I’m sure you somehow cheated, but fine, I’ll do it this year.”
“Are you two done yet? We have to put up the tree already.” Yuu’s voice sounded from the doorway.
The two adults separated and followed Yuu to the balcony, where the tree lay in the net they had bought it in. Shinya went to search for the stand to place the tree in, while Guren moved the tree to the living room, where the children had laid a plastic sheet to keep bark and pins from getting onto the carpet.
Retrieving his katana, Guren got to slicing through the bark. Meanwhile, Yuu and the rest of the children brought the laptop and searched for Christmas carols playlists to set the mood.
“I found it!” Shinya came over with the wooden stand and a sack of Christmas lights.
“Good, I’m almost done here. Help me put it up.” Together, they lifted the two meter tree and placed it in its stand. Luckily for them, it fit from the first try, so they moved it in a corner between two armchairs.
The children gathered around it with the decorations. Guren, helped by Yuu and Kimizuki, fixed the lights on the tree, Shinoa occasionally butting in when they weren’t distributing the lights equally. Yoichi and Mitsuba were placing red and gold tinsel as from the bottom branches up to as high as they could reach, the rest being taken over by Guren. In the meantime, Shinya and Mika were sorting through various plastic boxes, preparing matching baubles and ornaments.
After placing the last of the tinsel, Guren stepped back and let the children place the rest of the decorations. Somewhere along the way, Shinya had snuck in with a camera and was actively taking picture of the children, either grouping them up or individually. Each reacted different to the camera, varying from Mika and Yuu’s excited grins and peace signs, to Shinoa photobombing, Mitsuba reluctantly smiling, Yoichi displaying the decorations he was holding more than his face and Kimizuki outright refusing to pose, forcing Shinya to settle for taking his photo while he wasn’t looking.
Guren was just about the same as Kimizuki, though. As soon as he saw the silver haired devil with the hellish device he called a camera, Guren fled the room, taking refuge in the kitchen, where he made himself a cup of tea and stole one more tart.
“Guren, you’re so mean…” Shinya trailed, entering the kitchen when Guren was halfway through his tea. Guren saw the camera around the other’s neck and glared at it like it had personally offended him.
“I normally trust you with my life Shinya, but I do not trust you with that thing.” He childishly stated. Shinya raised his hands in mock-surrender, coming to sit beside Guren. “You’re all so rude. Even the kids threw me out. Said they had to prepare some sort of surprise for later.”
Guren snorted in amusement. “Even they’re sick of your bullshit. Congrats Shinya.” He laughed when the other promptly stuck his tongue out at him.
“Anyway,” Shinya looked at the clock and frowned. “It’s eight already. We still have to pack the presents and I have to change into Santa.”
“Fair enough. Go and change and give me five minutes to finish this up. Also, are we really trusting the kids with this ‘so called’ surprise? For all we know they could be planning to light fireworks inside the house.”
Shinya laughed and kissed him chastely on the lips. “I guess we’ll have to find out.”
As he had promised, five minutes later, Guren walked into their bedroom, where he found Shinya, now in the Santa costume sans the beard and hat, sorting the presents on the bed, several Christmas themed gift bags beside him.
As much as they liked to think they were not bad when it came to holiday spirit, they were both equally inept at using wrapping paper, so they always had to settle for the less festive gift bags. Guren didn’t care either way, but Shinya had consistently tried in the past to wrap up presents, eventually vowing to sometime learn how to do it properly.
“Looking sharp.” He teased, coming up to hold the other from behind, burrowing his face in the crook of his neck. The costume smelled of naphthalene and the dark corners of their wardrobe, but he could still feel Shinya’s distinctive smell. Mint scented shampoo that he shared with Guren, cologne and a hint of gingerbread, likely from his trip to the bakery.
“Stop mocking and help me.” Shinya elbowed him lightly and motioned to the presents.
Guren made himself useful by writing the children’s names on colored sticky notes and putting them on their respective bags after Shinya was done with them. After that, he left Shinya to finish dressing up and went to check on the kids.
“So what have you brats set aflame while I was gone?” he asked, surveying the living room for anything out of place.
“So little trust.” Shinoa giggled from her place on the couch. They had been watching a rerun of Elf before Guren had interrupted.
His suspicions weren’t entirely settled, but his glaring was interrupted by Yuu, who punched him in the gut to get his attention.
“Oi Guren, we still didn’t put up the star. Help us!” Indeed, Mika was holding the red glittery star.
Guren, lightly rubbing the spot Yuu had hit, looked up to the top of the tree. “Fair enough. Give me that.”
“Now now Guren, you’re supposed to lift one of them up.” Shinya tut-tutted from behind him.
Although he looked as silly as ever in the Santa costume with the white beard covering half of his face, Shinya still managed to maintain his bright, cheerful aura. He was grinning from ear to ear, his hands held up to display the presents.
The children all ran up to him, shouting excitedly a chorus of presents and Santa. Shinya passed them carefully and sat down in the armchair next to the tree, presents at his feet. The children rounded him, peeking through the bags. Shinya shook his head and shielded the bags with his legs.
“First carols, then presents.” He smirked, much to the chagrin of the ten year olds.
Guren reclaimed his place on the sofa, watching the display with amusement. The children dutifully gathered in front of the tree and sang – in a somewhat sloppy unison – Jingle Bells and Deck the Halls. Shinya joined them along the way, his soft baritone easily dictating the rhythm.
Shinya had a beautiful voice. He often hummed while driving or cooking and sometimes, he sang to Mika and Yuu if they couldn’t sleep. If he happened to see an interesting line or poem in the books he was reading, he would recite them to Guren as he found them. He had suggested to Shinya to pursue a career in singing, but the other refused, saying he preferred to keep it private.
Guren realized that he had been staring when his eyes refocused and he caught Shinya smiling at him. He resisted a terrible urge to stick his tongue out.
As soon as they were done, the children rounded before Shinya once again. This time, he didn’t stop them, instead he called them in order, giving each his present and hugging them. He ruffled Yuu and Mika’s hair and lightly patted Shinoa’s head.
Guren smiled. Shinya loved Yuu and Mika, but he also knew that the other had a soft spot for the Hiiragi girl, since he knew first-hand what the child was going through within the Hiiragi household.
“Guren, your turn.” The brunet’s attention snapped back to Shinya when he heard his name being called.
“What?”
Shinya was holding up an extra gift bag. Guren blinked twice before rising and taking the present.
“Hey, how come Guren doesn’t have to sing?” Yuu glared, pointing accusingly at him.
“He’s shy.” Shinya joked, trying to appease the child.
Now that everyone got their presents, they were all checking them out, including Guren. Shinya had pulled out the dreaded camera yet again and resumed his photo session.
Inside his bag, Guren found the obligatory obnoxiously patterned sweater, mint flavored chocolate and a mug which read World’s best dad. As soon as he saw the mug, he snorted, covering his face with one hand to hide his amusement. Trust Shinya to be as painfully cheesy as possible.
“So who wants to put the star so we can properly take pictures?” Shinya asked the children. Most of them ignored him, in favor of the more appealing presents, but Yuu perked up, threw himself at Shinya, who caught and lifted him easily on his shoulders.
The rest of the night they spent taking pictures – even Guren eventually decided Shinya needed to feature in at least half of the pictures, so he took it upon himself to handle the camera – and eating most of the sweets that Shinya had bought, much to Guren’s disapproval. The children’s surprise turned out to be a sneakily assembled mistletoe under which they made sure Guren and Shinya ended up. Guren wasn’t thrilled by their scheme, but went along with it for Shinya’s sake if nothing else.
It was three hours later, after the children had all snuggled up in both Yuu and Mika’s bed and in the master bedroom, that Guren and Shinya were able to have a few moments together. Shinya had gone to change back into his oversized sweater and make them something to drink. This left Guren time to sneak into their bedroom, grab the little black box he had hidden in his military jacket and return to the living room.
He turned off the lights so the tree’s lights were the only thing illuminating the room and found refuge on the living room couch, where he propped himself up on a few pillows and waited for Shinya to come back from the kitchen with two mugs of hot chocolate and marshmallows. He handed one to Guren and carefully laid down in his arms, head resting on Guren’s shoulder.
“So, I declare this year’s Christmas a success.” Shinya said, turning slightly so he could look at Guren. “Did you like your present?”
He chuckled and kissed the top of Shinya’s head. “You’ll be the death of me.”
“I sure hope so.” Shinya joked.
Guren let a comfortable silence settle over them, all the while thinking of what to say. The little box was in the pocket of his hoodie, its corners poking him slightly in reminder.
“Shinya.” He started, searching the other’s eyes. For a moment, he got lost into the intensity of those blue irises, open in curiosity but patiently waiting. “I’ve been thinking; of how you entered my life, in our teenage years, when we were both nothing but brats and I had stupid ambitions, but you always stuck by me and had my back when I screwed up. And I’ll be damned if I didn’t screw up a lot.” He heard a quiet chuckle, but continued. “I’ve also been thinking about the last few years and how much brighter you made my life since you moved in. How much I’ve come to love everything about you. Your smile, your caring nature, your positivity. I’m truly grateful for the family we have created, the both of us and the kids.”
He paused, removing one arm from around Shinya, only then realizing during his speech, he had gradually strengthened his hold around the other. He calmly pulled out the box, opened it and displayed it for Shinya.
“I know this is nothing but a formality by now, but, Ichinose Shinya, will you marry me?”
Ever since Guren had begun to speak, Shinya had gradually become turning red, the blush reaching his ears. Along the way he had also found himself smiling fondly, so when Guren presented him with the gleaming silver band, he barely had the time to put the mug of chocolate down before he turned his body around, threw his arms around the brunet’s neck and kissed him. One of Guren’s hands buried itself in his hair, the other, still holding the ring, pressing into the small of his back, pulling him closer.
Shinya’s joy reflected in the kiss. He was giddy, moving fast, but precise against Guren’s lips. His tongue poked out to tease over his lips. Guren opened his mouth and did his best to match the other’s fervor. Both men had their eyes closed. Breaths mingled, Guren could easily feel Shinya’s silent groans resonating in his mouth. Shinya broke away for a moment, before his mouth went over Guren’s bottom lip, teeth closing gently around it and pulling playfully, before resuming peppering small kisses over his lips.
They broke apart before things got inappropriately heated. “I do.” Shinya finally answered and temporarily unwrapped himself from Guren, letting him place the ring on his finger.
Unbeknownst to them, the children were hidden behind the doorframe, peeking at the events and grinning.
“About time!” Yuu whispered excitedly.
“I know.” Mika added. “You owe me your next allowance though, Yuu.” He giggled at the other’s suddenly mortified expression.
“You two bet on it? Incredible!” Mitsuba huffed in amusement.
“Yeah, we bet on the date. Yuu said New Year’s, I said Christmas.” Mika explained.
“Did you know about the ring?” Kimizuki asked, no longer looking at the, in his opinion, excessively romantic scene.
“We caught Guren staring at it while Shinya was away.”
“Wow, I never would’ve pegged Guren for a sap.” Shinoa covered her mouth with one hand and chuckled.
“Guys, can we go? We’ll get in trouble if they find us.” Yoichi whispered, tugging at Yuu’s shirt.
They all nodded in agreement, so Mitsuba and Shinoa went back to the master bedroom, while the boys went to Mika and Yuu’s room.
“Hey Yuu, want to bet on who’s wearing the dress?” Mika whispered when he was sure Kimizuki and Yoichi were asleep.
“No way. I’m not risking another allowance.”