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“Rintarouuuuuuuuuu! Come onnnn! You’re SO slow, it’s no wonder you can’t keep up with work at the headquarters!”
The little blonde haired girl called, skipping ahead of the two older men in her little blue and pink Kimono. Instead of the usual flower pattern for women, she had opted for birds instead (much to Mori’s dismay, he thought the Camellia patterned Kimono she had tried on was oh-so adorable). Her long hair bounced behind her in a cartoonish braid, bright blue eyes wide and sparkling as she stared up at the setting sun.
After several months of begging, and a bit of convincing still required from from Fukuzawa, who was currently stifling a laugh at the indignant look of embarrassment on the black haired man’s face, Mori had eventually given in and decided Elise was finally old enough to go to her first Tanabata festival and watch the fireworks at night.
Fukuzawa, who had insisted on accompanying them (not that he would have refused anyways) had switched out his usual olive Yukata and Black Haori for a dark red one that was covered in black lotuses , and more importantly to Mori, really made his grey hair stand out compared to his olive skin. Such a shame he never let Mori mess around with it, the shorter of the two was certain his partner would look absolutely divine with a side part.
Mori himself was dressed in a dark blue Kimono adorned in small silver beads on the hem and twisting wave patterns stitched with black thread on the sleeves and Obi, instead of wearing the traditional mens Yukuta. Courtesy of Elise, of course, who reiterated several times that he was “Too girly” to wear that.
But of course he wasn’t complaining, the fabric was much more comfortable in his opinion, and he adored the sleeves with all their fine patterns and the way they moved any time he reached to b something . For once, his hair was let down from it’s usual ponytail, instead he had a thin braid circling the back of his head almost like a halo, the rest lay loosely at the sides like it did back in his days as a doctor.
’So cruel, Elise-Chan! I’m not even 41, and you already belittle me for my age! What did I ever do for such treatment from the girl I took in…’
‘Oh, be quiet Rintarou! You’re just dramatic because you didn’t get to see me in your choice of dress instead of mine! Also seid leise und beeilt euch, damit wir vor dem Feuerwerk noch unser Gesicht bemalen können!‘
‘What on earth did she just say? I’ll never understand you two, Ougai.’
A deep sigh sounded from next to him, though when he turned to look up at his husband he saw only a warm smile and eyes trained on the little girl in front of the two. How Fukuzawa could ever put up with Elise’s sass and his own theatrics Mori would never know.
’She was saying to be quiet and hurry up for facepaint before fireworks. I wasn’t aware I would be turned into a canvas today. I trust that it wasn’t you and Elise-Chan conspiring to humiliate me, was it?’
’Of course not, dear. And I think you’ll look lovely, whatever you end up with. Now, hurrying up for fireworks I can agree with. Unless your old age is—‘
’I prefer the term “Well-seasoned”, Yukichi. And don’t forget, you may not have your sword, but I have my scalpels. Keep that in mind the next time you threaten the CEO of a Port Trading company.’
’Of course, I wouldn’t dream of it. Now, if you’re not too well seasoned, I imagine it’s time for us to cease conversation and pick up the pace unless we want to be scolded as soon as we’re home.’
Fukuzawa was absolutely right, to Mori’s chagrin. And that was how about 20 minutes later, he was continuously running his fingers over the dry paint of a wine red morning glory blooming from his right eyelid, while Elise had a rose on her cheek and had convinced Fukuzawa to match with her, and goodness he would be lying if it didn’t make his heart flutter to see how much Elise had warmed up to the tall man in just a year and a half since they took her in.
‘Okay, okay, come on! The fireworks start in an hour, we need a good spot! Let’s go, chop chop!’
’Now now, Elise. How about you and Yukichi go find a place to sit, and I’ll get us some shaved ice to eat while we watch?’
’Fine, but you better be fast! Got it? I don’t wanna hear you being all mopey on the way home cuz you missed some of it. And don’t forget because you’re old, I want strawberry syrup on mine! And get some red bean mochi, it’s not the same with out it.’
‘I’ll take green tea syrup, love. And, as much as it pains me to say, Elise is right. Please don’t get lost. It would be such a shame to watch the fireworks without you, Ougai. Plus, I don’t want to have my ear talked off all the way home because you’re being yelled at over missing them.’
So cruel, for his favorite people to insinuate such things! But unfortunately, they were entirely correct. It wasn’t Mori’s fault event maps were so confusing! In his opinion, they should just give you a QR code to scan and go to an online version, that way you could actually tell where you were and how long it would take to get to your destination instead of looking around for thirty minutes before finding what you actually needed. And he was one of the most important people in Yokohama, of course his opinion mattered. Young people these days were just incompetent brats with no manners or general knowledge of the world laid out before them.
’Yes yes, I’ll be back soon. Strawberry syrup for Elise-Chan, green tea syrup for Yukichi, and Peach Sake syrup for myself. 6 red bean paste mochi, and three bottles of water just to be sure. This should only take about twenty five minutes, and I’ll go as fast as I can. Find us some good seats, my flowers.’
Yes, his flowers.
That was the life he had wanted, and the life he finally got.