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It was still early; the sun barely peaking past the city line and the breeze chilly against his cheeks.
He should have grabbed his gloves.
But the dorm was close, and he was distracted...
Sinking both hands into his uniform pockets, Mika picked up the pace slightly, careful not to slip on the small frozen patches down the road. Tiny piles of snow and mostly-melted snowmen last reminders of what had been a white Christmas.
He let out a sigh – loneliness turning into white clouds as it left his lips.
It was fine.
With how busy things got around the end of the year, he’d already resigned himself to spend it working. And in all honesty, it was probably for the best. At least if he was busy, he didn’t have time to think of anything stupid, like wanting to have a Christmas date with Izumi…
No, no, no, no.
He shook his head vigorously. That was the exact line of thought he had to ignore.
Izumi was busy. Even more than him. He’d spent the eve at a sponsored party and Christmas performing in an ES event. Not to mention the exhaustion from the sudden trip from Italy and many other meetings and odd jobs…
If anything, he should be glad he even got to see him in person during Christmas – even if it was from a distance, barely exchanging glances and waves whenever they could. And he was! He truly was! The sight of Izumi, looking even more beautiful than usual in his Christmas set-up had to be a Christmas miracle, and he was so sure that sight alone would be enough to last him until next year.
And yet… He must had become greedy without realizing it.
Because he came to know what Izumi’s warmth felt like in his hands, and how his kisses tasted like against his mouth– cherry chap-stick and soft delight – he couldn’t keep his mind from wondering.
How would it feel to caress his cheeks? To touch his hair? To hold his hand?
How warm his body under Mika’s touch? How sweet his purrs? How salty his tears? How beautiful his face when lost in the moment…?
He shook his face again – his face burning hot despite the punishing freezing wind.
He needed to focus in his job.
…
He ate breakfast with Anzu, her company a godsend. Her completely lack of interest in anything other than work allowing him to shift his focus from the never-ending mess of thoughts inside his head to the Birthday Event photoshoot.
Anzu’s excitement about the stage and outfits was so contagious, in fact, that Mika soon found himself just as excited about the whole thing. And much to his gratefulness, even the photographer was a really nice guy, easily throwing compliments his way.
It made the whole ordeal feel easier, hours flying by as he changed into different outfits, stood in different sets, and tried all sort of poses.
By the end of the session, Anzu asked for a last cheki – one to remember the day, and he smiled in quick agreement before a single thought poked at him.
“Ah, wait… Uh, can’ya maybe take an extra one?” he mumbled, getting a questioning tilt of the head from the girl “Ah… I just, uh, kinda wanna hold onto a copy myself s’all…”
She seemed confused, but still agreed, taking the two extra chekis – one for herself, which he promptly signed, and one for him, which he immediately put into his pocket, not allowing himself any time to regret asking for it.
After all, he was probably being stupid.
Even if Izumi’s birthday cheki - a two-shot of them side by side, elegant penmanship decorating the sight with a “Don’t you dare to look away from me”- was like a treasure for him, that didn’t mean Izumi would feel the same about a cheki from him…
Ah… there came the regret.
…
Mika gave a last bow forward as the sets were dismantled, thanking the staff for their support across the event. Anzu smiled back, prompting him to return already – there were a few hours left for him to celebrate his birthday, so he should leave the clean up to them and go, she insisted.
It didn’t feel quite right to leave without helping, and he didn’t have any particular plans for the day, but she was determined. She insisted, and insisted, and insisted…
“If you have no plans then at least get some rest” with that simple phrase, she unceremoniously pushed him out into the elevator hall.
Silence fell as soon as the door shut on his face.
With most of the remaining staff gathered back in the event room, the halls felt almost disturbingly empty.
He frowned, shoulders sagging and body slouching as soon as he was out of view from the cameras, exhaustion catching up to him…
Just as the thought came to mind a loud yawn escaped his lips… Feeling slightly disappointed about the anticlimactic ending, he turned his heels and pressed the elevator’s down button. A tired pair of eyes looked back at him from his reflection on the silver finish in the door.
Guess he could always catch up on sleep?
Ding
The elevator ride was silent and long enough to gnaw at this mind, tearing open the barely stitched together loneliness in his heart…
He was asking for too much…
“You’re late! The hell were you doing for the event to last this long?” An annoyed voice greeted him as soon as he stepped off the elevator, forcing him to look up from the ground and into the trap of icy blue eyes.
“…eh… uh… Huwaah?? I-Izu-chan??? Wha-?”
“Don’t ‘wha-’ me. I can’t believe you had me waiting this long! The nerve!” the model complained, looking down at him from a few more centimeters up than usual… was he wearing heels?
He gave a quick look down. Izumi’s outfit…
“…that coat…”
“Huh? My coat? I told you I had a meeting at a modeling agency, didn’t I?” He still sounded a bit snappy, but the comment seemed to distract him slightly. Blue eyes skipping to the closest reflective surface as if to check himself, fingers quickly moving up to check the odd blue earring on his left ear and groom his already perfect silver hair “What kind of idiot would wear anything but their best outfit for something like that?” “
His best outfit.
Mika gulped down, only barely managing to contain his breath. That was the coat he made for Izumi. His birthday present to him, tenderly sewn by hand through a few months of embarrassingly devoted work…
“I-Izu-chan… didn’t know ya liked it that much… makes me real happy, though… it’s kinda… embarrassing” he admitted, feeling his face immediately burn in embarrassment.
“A-ah!” Izumi’s mouth dropped, and he flailed silently for a second as he came to realize what he’d just said. Anger easily fizzling out into embarrassment, his beautiful cheeks soon dusted red. “N-never-mind that! Don’t you have something to say to me after having me wait for so long?”
A different kind of frown now gracing his features, he fixed his fierce blue eyes in Mika- and nothing but Mika.
To be quite fair, he didn’t remember making any promises to meet with Izumi today – and he was confident in his memory. He knew Izumi’s schedule by heart, from even before they started dating – every meeting, photoshoot, event, performance, variety show, recording and interview.
Was that kind of weird and off-putting? Probably. Which is why he never quite mentioned it to Izumi’s face.
More importantly, now that he’d won the privileges of an official boyfriend, he got to hear all about Izumi’s plans directly from him, and noting it all up on his very own scheduler was not weird anymore! Probably!
All that’s to say, today’s meeting should have been longer. He was pretty sure it included a drinking session afterwards, as it was often the case with end-of-the-year meetings. Had Izumi skipped out on it?
Not that it mattered to him.
“’m sorry to make ya wait!” he chirped, his smile wide enough he felt his cheeks hurt. Any thought that wasn’t that of pleasing the model before him immediately trashed as useless.
He got to spend his birthday with the love of his life, what was there to overthink?
“…as long as you understand…” Izumi mumbled, face turning even redder.
Before he could have the time to voice up the million compliments that were already flooding his mind, Izumi had already moved again - charmingly spinning on his golden high-heel like a fluttering butterfly as he snuck his way to Mika’s side, linking their arms together as if that was the obvious move.
Which it probably was since they were dating.
He felt his heart jump, his own face heating up probably as much as his boyfriend’s.
The entrance was mostly empty by now, and by now, most staff hardly had it in them to question the overly touchy-feely behavior of Yumenosaki graduates, so there were no preying eyes to worry about.
“You’ve made me wait long enough, let’s get going already~” he huffed, tugging slightly from Mika’s arm as he started to walk. And Mika easily followed suit.
…
“Are you sure this is good enough?” Izumi gave him a complicated look as he stirred some vegetables – the simple white ribbon of the apron marking his thin waist despite the fluffy sweater he was still wearing.
By the time they had left the ES building, the options of restaurants and cafes was severely limited. Whatever wasn’t bursting with crowds would most likely require a reservation they didn’t have.
Izumi seemed terribly bothered by it – this less-than-ideal situation. He spend a good time snapping and hissing as he went through the options in his phone, often throwing little biting remarks at Mika for taking so long at work, only to eventually give up with a sigh.
Mika didn’t understand what was there to be mad about. He would have been happy enough just watching Izumi bicker with his phone for the rest of the evening, to be quite honest.
He was, in fact, positively elated.
The lack of reservation made him think his previous assertion had been right. Izumi had most likely turned down the drinking party at the last moment, just to spend time with him.
How could he Not be happy about that?
In the end, they settled for eating at the dorm, with Izumi cooking. Luckily, no one else was in the dorm common space at this time – either sleeping, or working, or out partying, adding to the feeling of intimacy.
However, Izumi seemed a bit unsure, even now, giving him conflicted looks he couldn’t even begin to decipher as he worked through the meal.
Eventually, his long rant about how annoying the people at the modeling agency was and how boring the meeting he went to, ended abruptly with that question.
“Are you sure this is good enough?”
“Uwa? Whatcha mean?” He wondered, tilting his head to the right.
“…I mean… I’m just here ranting about my day, cooking a simple meal with whatever leftovers I found in the freezer…” Izumi started, the movement of his slender white hand as he stirred the vegetables as graceful as everything he did “It doesn’t… are you really okay with only this? Maybe I can get a reservation for some place you like tomorrow…”
“Unuh… it’s fine” he chirped, resting his face in his hands.
The loneliness that had threatened to swallow him whole early in the day was completely gone. Replaced with the bubbling warmth of this perfectly domestic sight, the kind of which he’d be too embarrassed to even dream about – the person he loved cooking for him.
“…you sure?” Izumi asked again, brows slightly furrowed.
“Ah, I ain’t sayin’ no to going out withcha! Whenever ya want. Tomorrow, the day after. Any other day of the year. But… I’m more than happy with this today.”
“…you are?” Izumi insisted, silver hair swaying over his confused eyes as he crooked his head ever so slightly. The odd blue earring on his right ear catching onto the light beautifully.
He smiled. How could he not?
“Yep. I get the person I love most in the world cookin’ somethin’ just for me. That’s all I need to be happy~”
“You’re such an idiot” Izumi snapped, turning off the stove with a single move; bright red cheeks and trembling lips betraying how happy he actually was. “Why don’t you get the table ready instead of going on the sappy stuff?”
“’kay~” he smiled, leaving his privileged spot sitting by the kitchen counter to help Izumi set the plates and serve the meal.
Despite Izumi’s grievances about it being a ‘simple meal’, the result was anything but. There was tonjiru soup, takikomi gohan, stir-fry vegetables, sweet tamagoyaki and meat stew. A perfect Japanese meal, if Mika could say so himself – and it all smelled delicious.
“Wah, I think I might be the happiest man on Earth right now” he babbled, sitting down on his side of the table – a very specific warmth feeling his heart as he looked over all the plates.
If he could eat this every day of his life, he wouldn’t have nothing to complain about ever again.
“You haven’t even started eating, idiot.” Izumi pouted, the redness on his face spreading all the way to his ears. “I-it’s just cooking, I can do that for you whenever you want…”
“For real? Will ya?” he jumped up to standing and Izumi frowned again.
“Sit down, idiot.” He mumbled, pressing his hand against Mika’s shoulder so he’d be sitting again. Despite that, he didn’t move to sitting just yet, moving to the back of his room instead.
“Izu-chan? Aintcha eatin’?” he questioned, turning around to try and find the figure of his boyfriend.
“Don’t look this way, idiot” Izumi growled and he immediately turned back to the front, stiff as a board “Tch…I’m going, just wait a second.”
There was a bit of ruffling, and then the quiet sound of steps as Izumi approached him from behind. He gulped, unsure of whether he could turn now or if he should still stare in front of him.
“You can turn now if you want, dummy” Izumi mumbled, no bite nor venom in his words, a single cold digit poking at Mika’s cheek.
Slow, almost hesitant, Mika turned his gaze to Izumi. To his beautiful figure, standing proud and elegant on his side – cute red in his cheeks and... a paper bag, bright red with white snowflakes (clearly a Christmas design) in his hand.
“I got you an actual present, you know?” Izumi mumbled, offering the bag forward “Merry Christmas… I wanted to hand it to you yesterday but didn’t get the chance… t-too many people watching.”
Mika’s heart thumped once, shaky hands moving over to receive the bag.
“C-can I?”
“Be fast, the meal will grow cold” Izumi protested weakly, and Mika nodded, tearing the ribbon keeping the bag shut, and reaching inside.
There was a knitted pair of gloves, purple and light-green, the design one of skeletal hands. His eyes sparkled at the intricate design – one probably rather hard to accomplish in knitting.
“…you like creepy things like that, don’t you?” Izumi mumbled, maybe nervous because of Mika’s lack of words.
“I do! I love ‘em! Ya did ‘em for me? They’re perfect! Ah, I also-” he chirped, jumping back to his feet so he could look Izumi in the eye, grabbing his soft hands in his…just to notice another strap on Izumi’s left hand “Uh?”
“Ah…” Izumi bit down on the softness of his lower lip, and retreated just enough to release his left hand from Mika’s hold, revealing a second, much smaller present bag “…that was only the Christmas present. This is… for your birthday”
Eyes swimming as far away from Mika’s gaze as possible and fingers rather fidgety with nerves, Izumi offered forward the second present bag.
Taken by surprised, Mika nervously accepted it forward.
Inside the simply designed black bag, there was a smaller box, wrapped in gift paper.
He gave a single curious look up at Izumi… the odd blue earring bouncing lightly when he nodded for him to open it.
Feeling his hear thump with excitement, he grabbed for the smaller box – unceremoniously tearing the wrapping to pieces to discover a rather elegant looking box. Golden letters on the side probably the name of some brand Mika wasn’t terribly knowledgeable about.
It didn’t matter. Anything Izumi got him would be perfect. He was sure.
He opened the box with a single movement, discovering a single blue earring in a set of two, the other one gone from the box already…
His eyes widened.
It was the same design as the single odd blue earring in Izumi’s ear. The one that’d been catching his attention through the whole night.
“…this…?”
“…I saw them at the store and thought… it’d be nice if we could have one each… the set, won’t be complete without… the two of us” He stumbled slightly on his words, long eyelashes fluttering softly and lips pursed sweetly, showing just how embarrassing the idea was to admit.
He could feel his chest tightening. His heart beating hard enough to tear a hole through his ribcage and run right into his rightful owner, standing so beautifully right in front of him.
“…I-is it too much?” Izumi mumbled when Mika lost his words, beautiful blue eyes finally looking at him with a hint of worry.
As if.
He shook his head no as fast as he could.
“…I… I love it!” he dropped. Even though the words were barely enough to convey how he felt.
Izumi’s jolted slightly, as if he wasn’t expecting just a passionate response – his blue eyes finally returning to Mika’s face. Soft, and warm and… loving in a way he wasn’t sure he’d ever seen before.
“I’m glad” he smiled, a soft hand reaching up for Mika’s cheek to keep him in place as he leaned up to press a kiss against his lips “Happy birthday, Kage-chan.”
Was a man allowed this much happiness? He felt even more satisfied and fulfilled than on Izumi’s birthday, despite that feeling impossible just a few hours ago.
“Ah…” he let out, suddenly remembering something.
“Mn?” Izumi hummed his questions against Mika’s lips, still so close Mika could swear he could feel his eyelashes tickling his cheek when he looked up.
“I’ve somethin’ for ya too… I mean, the Christmas present ‘sn my room, so I can’t give it to ya now but…” he quickly reached into his back pocket. Where he’d put away the cheki he’d asked for before. “I… don’t know if ya’d want one, but since ya gave me one on yer birthday…”
He explained himself as he put the single cheki on Izumi’s soft white hand, hoping the present wouldn’t come as too narcissistic.
“Hmn, it’s kind of annoying”
“Uwa---awawawa? I-is it? Ah… I… I’m-” he panicked, but his attempt of apologizing was soon thwarted by the feeling of slender arms wrapping themselves around his neck, pulling him in closer
“Yeah, it’s su~per annoying that soo~ many people get to have photos of my boyfriend just because they bought a few event tickets and what not.” He huffed, pressing a possessive kiss against the corner of Mika’s mouth “I get only one and it isn’t even signed, isn’t that annoying?”
Oh, he was about to short-circuit. He could feel his thoughts leaving his brain one at a time, his hands struggling to put down the presents so he could reach out for the enticing waist, so close to him…
“I… I wasn’t sure you’d want it so…” he tried to excuse himself, the words failing him.
Izumi smelled so nicely… like… mint and lilies…
“Why wouldn’t I want it? Don’t you know my boyfriend is one of the ten hottest idols?”
“Hehe… ya hadn’t forgotten ‘bout that one?” he chuckled in embarrassment, his eyes inevitably glued to the softness of Izumi’s lips as his mind could do little more than wish for another kiss
“I would never” Izumi joked, his lips almost grazing Mika’s as he whispered into his mouth “The meal is gonna get cold.”
With those simple words and an elegant twirl, the beautiful butterfly fluttered away from his grasp and back to the table, leaving him light-headed and flustered…
“Ah, but you better sign this up after we eat, okay? I think Isara keeps some glitter pens in his desk so we can borrow them later.” He hummed to himself, happily looking at the cheki in his hands – his expression that of a girl in love.
…ah… this really was love wasn’t it?
This birthday truly was perfect.