Work Text:
1st of October
“Nishiki, what would you like to do for your birthday?”
Nishiki and Kiryu were sitting at the bar in Serena, slowly sipping on a whiskey each.
“What would I like to do on my birthday?” Nishiki repeated back, and Kiryu nodded.
“Yeah.”
Nishiki thought about it for a moment, and realised that he’d been so busy lately with family stuff that he hadn’t really had any time to think about it. He took another sip of the whiskey, the amber liquid burning pleasantly on its way down his throat. “Why don’t you surprise me?” he said with a half smile, glancing over at Kiryu.
“Uh, I… I’m not very good at shit like that,” Kiryu said and rubbed the back of his neck. “Why can’t you just tell me what you want to do?”
“Because sometimes it’s nice to-” he started, but interrupted himself to sigh instead, looking straight ahead. “Never mind.” He finished the last of his drink and stood. “I’ll let you know.”
He nodded at Reina and walked behind Kiryu before exiting the bar.
/
Kiryu turned to Reina as the door to Serena closed behind Nishiki.
“What just happened?”
Reina gave Kiryu a soft little smile. “Oh, you’re really clueless sometimes, aren’t you?”
Kiryu just blinked up at her, confused.
8th of October
Nishiki gave a frustrated sigh as he walked up the steps to the walkway outside of Kiryu’s apartment. He had barely had any free time at all the past week, busy being told to go here and do that, and most of the time that wasn’t spent sorting out family business had been spent at the rehab center, and visiting Yuko.
He had barely even had time to hang out with Kiryu, or think about what he would actually like to do for his birthday, and even less tell Kiryu what he would like to do.
He opened the door to Kiryu’s apartment and was confused, because all the lights were off.
“Hello?” he called out and took a step inside, closing the door behind himself. “Kiryu?”
There was a sound directly to his right, the distinct sound of a lighter being flicked, and he nearly jumped out of his skin before he realised that it was Kiryu standing there, lit up by a small flame.
“What the fuck?!” he exclaimed and reached out to punch Kiryu in the shoulder.
“Shit, sorry, didn’t mean to scare you.” Kiryu looked apologetic, and also a bit scary with the way he was being lit up from below. Nishiki dropped his gaze down to what Kiryu was holding in his hands, and his eyes widened slightly as he realised that it was a small, store bought cake with strawberries and a single flickering candle on top.
“I got you a gift.” Kiryu reached into the pocket of his suit jacket and pulled something out that Nishiki couldn’t quite make out in the dark.
“Hang on.” Nishiki reached out to flip the light switch, flooding the apartment in harsh light and causing them both to squint momentarily. He looked back down at Kiryu’s hand, and could now clearly see the small gift wrapped box - dark blue paper and a white ribbon. It looked expensive.
“This is for me?” he asked as he gently plucked it from Kiryu’s hand and held it up to inspect it.
“Of course. It’s your birthday, not mine,” Kiryu deadpanned, and Nishiki couldn’t help but smile a little. He untied the ribbon and removed the paper, and his eyes widened as he was stunned into silence.
“Do you like it?” Kiryu asked, sounding slightly worried. “I asked Reina for help picking it out, because I’m really bad at these kinds of things.”
It was a small bottle of cologne, from an expensive brand that Nishiki always looked longingly at whenever he was at le marche. His chest swelled with fondness as he looked up at Kiryu, who was rubbing the back of his neck in that self conscious gesture. “I wanted to get you something you’d like.”
Nishiki took a step forward and wound his arms around Kiryu’s neck. Kiryu had to move the cake out to the side so it would not be crushed between them, but he fortunately was fast enough to avoid disaster.
“I love it,” Nishiki said truthfully. “Thank you.”
Kiryu smiled in that way that lit up Nishiki’s whole world, and Nishiki smiled so widely that his cheeks hurt.
“Happy birthday,” Kiryu said and leaned in to kiss him, and Nishiki kissed him back.