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Other than a soft patter of rain hitting the roof, it was uneventful in the flat. Mondo was flipping through channels on the television without paying much attention to what was on the screen as he waited for his boyfriend to come home for the night.
He’d landed on some cooking channel with a man called Guy Fieri holding up some greasy burger obscenely close to the camera when the door opened. Mondo quickly turned off the TV as Taka walked into the living room, closing his umbrella and shaking it off on the front porch.
Taka grinned when he saw Mondo. “The election is looking promising!” he announced before Mondo could ask the question. “I’m sorry. I’ve been so busy with it and haven’t been able to spend much time with you, but it’ll all be over tomorrow night.”
Despite his reassurances, Mondo could see more than a little anxiety in Taka’s eyes and in the tightness around his jaw. Taka’s run for governor of Tokyo, now that it was nearing its end, was taking more of a toll on him than he wanted to admit.
Mondo stood up and threw an arm around Taka’s shoulders. “Hey, don’t worry. You’ve been working your ass off, so there’s no way you’ll lose. It’ll all be worth it and we’ll be celebrating this time tomorrow.”
Taka gave a weak smile. “I hope you’re right. I’ve put everything I have into the campaign, but the scandal of my grandfather…” he trailed off, an uncharacteristically haunted look on his face.
“Hey.” Mondo turned Taka around to face him. “You aren’t your grandfather, remember? You know I ain’t good at this mushy shit, but I do know you’re ten times the man your grandfather was. You’ve been nothing but honest throughout the campaign. Most politicians try to run dirty and fuck with each other, but you never did. That’s got to count for something, right?” At the end of his little speech, Mondo pressed a kiss to Taka’s forehead, and that simple gesture managed to calm him better than any words could.
“Anyway, enough about my problems. I feel like I’ve been wearing you down lately by talking about myself so much. How was your day? Still working on that big project?” Taka asked.
To Taka’s slight surprise, Mondo gained a small blush and turned, not meeting Taka’s eyes. “‘S going okay,” he mumbled. Again, his behavior confused Taka. Mondo was usually extremely proud of the carpentry business he’d started after high school with other former members of the Crazy Diamonds. He’d received tons of work, and had even been commissioned recently by Byakuya of all people to build a honeymoon cottage for him and Toko. Usually, Taka was kept completely in the loop with all of Mondo’s projects.
But there was something Mondo had started months ago that Taka had hardly heard a word about. He only knew it existed at all because Mondo had come home late one night and had had to explain where he was. He hadn’t said who the project was for, or even what he was building.
But Taka trusted Mondo, and he trusted that he would be told when the time was right. The last thing either of them needed right now was more stress with Taka’s impending election. No, they just needed to take things one step at a time. That had been their motto for the entirety of their relationship, and it had yet to fail.
They went to bed that night as normal, though both of their minds were racing. Taka strove to carve a legacy separate from his grandfather’s and this was the ultimate test. Would he be able to atone for his family’s sins or would he always be doomed to stand in the shadow of his grandfather’s name?
Mondo had his own worries plaguing him, though he didn’t want to show it. He knew that Taka knew something was going on. And normally, he would never keep a secret this big from Taka, but he didn’t want to add another stressor on top of Taka’s already full plate.
But tomorrow… Mondo could tell him. No matter the outcome of the election, he would finally be able to tell Taka what he’d been doing. They just had to wait one more night.
****
Mondo stood with some of his former classmates from Hope’s Peak, as well as Takaaki, all of them watching the screens intensely. At the moment, Taka had a narrow lead. If he secured one more of the municipalities, the election would be his.
Mondo held his breath, one of his hands hanging tightly onto Chihiro’s. The programmer patted Mondo’s shoulder, and they were both tense with anticipation. Just a few more moments until all the votes were in…
There it was. He’d done it. After months and months of hard work, Taka had won the election and would not be able to start winning back honor to the Ishimaru name that his grandfather had tarnished. He stood there in near disbelief as he looked at the screen that proclaimed his victory.
He didn’t have long to absorb the moment. Within seconds, Mondo had thrown his arms around his boyfriend, closely followed by Chihiro and the rest of their classmates who had been able to be there to help support Taka. Tears and cheers were felt by everyone, and Mondo cheered loudest of all.
It was several minutes of them all shouting themselves hoarse before Taka managed to extricate himself from the group. “I have to… I have to call my fellow candidates,” he murmured, still in a daze.
They all let him go, still grinning wildly. Now that Taka was distracted, Chihiro took the time to take Mondo aside. “So, are you finally going to tell him?” the programmer asked. Chihiro was the only person outside of a few trusted people in the carpentry company that knew about Mondo’s project.
“Yeah, yeah, I will,” Mondo mumbled. “I just… I hope it’s okay, you know? He’s worked so hard for this. I don’t want to see that ruined because of me.”
“It won’t be,” Chihiro reassured emphatically. “I know things have been hard in the past, but times are changing. People are starting to accept me more; they’ll do the same for you. And even if you have nothing else, you’ll always have your friends. We’ll all stand up for both you and Taka if we have to.”
Mondo couldn’t help but break a smile. “Thanks, kid,” he said as he ruffled Chihiro’s hair affectionately before looking back over to his boyfriend.
Taka was still on the phone, and though his opponents had already called to concede the race and offer their congratulations, he was now being bombarded by friends from Hope’s Peak who hadn’t been able to be there in person. Even as Mondo drew closer, he could see that as soon as Taka hung up the phone with Leon, Byakuya’s name flashed on the screen, starting the whole process anew.
It was several minutes before Mondo got Taka to himself. Even after his phone had stopped constantly buzzing, the first one to pull Taka aside was Takaaki, giving his son a fierce hug. “I’m so proud of you,” he murmured as he choked back tears, overcome by the moment.
Tears were also flowing freely from Taka’s face by this point, and only now was Mondo finally able to wrap him up in his arms, squeezing tightly to the point that he was only just not cutting off his breathing. “Congrats, man,” he whispered into Taka’s ear, out of shot of anyone else.
“Th-thanks,” Taka gasped out, causing Mondo to release him. They could celebrate together properly later, but this moment was for everyone to be able to ride in the joy alongside Taka.
Formalities being what they were, he did need to make a speech. Mondo and the others stayed back as Taka gave his short acceptance speech, promising to have a more in depth conversation with the press the following morning. It didn’t take long, but Mondo couldn’t stop from tapping his fingers against his leg in anticipation.
Finally, people started to leave, both those who had attended Taka’s speech and their friends, needing to go back to their everyday lives. Takaaki was the last to depart, giving his son one last hug on the way out.
“Ready to go?” Mondo asked, grabbing the keys to his motorcycle out of his deep coat pocket. Taka took a moment before answering.
“Yeah,” Taka murmured. Mondo grabbed his hand and led him out to where he parked the motorcycle. “Sorry, I’m just… still in a daze. It doesn’t seem real yet,” Taka attempted to explain as he put his helmet on.
“Don’t worry about it,” Mondo assured with a wave of his hand. “I get it, okay? You’re gonna be a little distracted for the next few days, probably. Nothing we can’t fucking handle together, right?”
“Right,” Taka agreed, managing a smile before climbing onto the back of the motorcycle. Conversation had to be put on pause; they couldn’t hear each other any more over the roar of Mondo’s beloved bike.
It took Taka a few minutes of travelling (he was never completely relaxed on the bike) before he finally started to notice something–they weren’t going their usual way home. In fact, he didn’t recognize where they were going at all.
While he and Mondo couldn’t verbally communicate while on the bike, they’d long since come up with nonverbal cues when they wanted to get the other’s attention. So Taka, who had his arms wrapped around Mondo’s waist, squeezed briefly for a second, knowing Mondo would understand the reason for it.
Immediately, Mondo raised his left hand (Taka tensed for a moment, as he always did when Mondo didn’t have both hands on the handlebars) and his palm was open. It was a clear signal they’d created that meant both the simplest and deepest of things. ‘Trust me.’
So Taka did. It was hard for him to put his trust in many people, and he’d never even had a friend before attending Hope’s Peak, but who could he trust if not Mondo? Time and time again Mondo had proven himself. Taka had no reason to doubt him now.
Still, he couldn’t help but become more and more confused the farther they drove. They were heading into a more residential part of the city now, where people lived on plots of land rather than cramped into apartments. Taka’s first thought was that they might be visiting one of their old classmates, but even then, he’d been to all their places of residence. Unless one person had moved very, very recently, he didn’t see why they were here.
Also, while friends with all their classmates, the only ones Taka felt close enough to to barge in on in the middle of the night like this were Chihiro, Makoto, and Leon. The latter was currently in America for the baseball season, and both Chihiro and Makoto were at his election. So who could they possibly…?
Moments later, they pulled up to a house Taka had never seen before. It was a very nice house, maybe not as luxurious as someone like Byakuya would have, but certainly better than anywhere Taka had ever lived.
Both he and Mondo got off the bike as Mondo parked it in front of this house. Taka took off his helmet, shaking his head slightly, and he thought he began to understand. “Is this a spare house one of our classmates offered for us to borrow if I won?” he guessed. “Whose place is this anyway? Sayaka’s maybe? Junko’s? No, she wouldn’t give it up… Sakura doesn’t have an extra house out here, does she?”
“Uh, no,” Mondo mumbled. Now that his helmet was off, Taka could see that his face was beet red. “It doesn’t belong to anyone we went to school with… okay, well technically it does but… ah, fuck, this is all coming out wrong,” he grumbled before looking at his boyfriend desperately. “Help me out. You’re the one who knows his way around words and all that fancy shit.”
Taka looked just as confused as Mondo, however, and was likely to be no help at all. “I-I wish I could help, I just… well, I don’t understand,” he murmured before taking both of Mondo’s hands in his. “But whatever it is, you can tell me. I can’t see how it could be anything bad.”
Mondo took a deep breath, instinctively running his thumb over the back of Taka’s knuckles. “It’s ours,” he finally managed to get out. “It’s the project I’ve been working on. I built it for us.”
For a moment, Taka was stunned into silence. His lips were moving, but no sound was coming out. “F-For us?” he eventually managed to gasp.
“Yeah,” Mondo confirmed. “I just thought that now you’re the hot shot governor and all, we might want a bigger space. I made sure to include a fucking huge office for you. I figured you’d like that.”
“Like it?” Taka asked incredulously. “This is amazing! I can’t believe you managed to keep it a secret from me, or why you were nervous about it. When can we move in?”
His enthusiasm managed to pull a small smile onto Mondo’s lips. “I mean, we can move in right away,” he said. “Some of the guys said they’d help me get all the important stuff tomorrow while you were busy… but there’s one more thing.” His tone grew quiet as he reached the end of his sentence, and he wouldn’t look Taka in the eye.
“What is it?” Taka asked, his own smile faltering slightly. He’d almost never seen Mondo this nervous before–well, except once, when he’d met Takaaki for the first time–but at least Taka had known what was going on then, and could offer help. Here, he couldn’t fathom what Mondo was so worried about.
“Well, out here we’re kinda far from the city,” Mondo explained, cheeks still stained cherry. “And you’re going to need to go into the city now that you’re governor and shit. And the best way for you to get there would probably be for me to take you on the bike.”
“Yes?” Taka questioned with a furrowed brow. This still wasn’t making any sense to him.
“Well, downtown Tokyo’s a big fuckin’ place. Lots of people. And if a bunch of people see me taking you back to work on my bike everyday… the media and shit will probably figure out we’re together.” There. He said it.
“Oh.” Taka was finally starting to get it now. While western countries were growing more accepting of same-sex relationships, Japan was slower to come to that acceptance. And while Taka wasn’t ashamed of his relationship with Mondo, he was beginning to understand where his boyfriend was coming from.
“You feel like there’s going to be problems if I’m the governor and I openly have a boyfriend? That’s it, right?” Taka asked gently. With a massive sigh, Mondo nodded his head, almost looking sheepish.
“Not just with you being governor,” he mumbled. “I know you want to be prime minister someday. So if you think being with me is going to fuck that up, I won’t stay here with you. I’m not gonna be the one to hold you back from your dreams–”
He was cut off by Taka fiercely pressing his lips against Mondo’s own. Mondo was taken aback for a second, but it didn’t take long for him to respond to Taka’s kiss with enthusiasm. They stayed pressed together for several moments before Taka pulled back, and to Mondo’s surprise, he looked almost angry.
“You really think I care more about my career than you?” he demanded. “You’re the single most important person in my life!”
It was annoying that Mondo felt his blush increase further; he wasn’t aware his face could even be so deeply scarlet. “Still,” he muttered as he rubbed the back of his neck. “I don’t want to be the reason why you give up on something you really want, ya know? I want there to be a way you can have both.”
Taka’s brow furrowed for a moment. “When I entered politics, I vowed that I would strive to be honest, even with a career where nearly everyone partakes in deceit,” he murmured. “Where others will use any means necessary to gain power, I will never turn into someone like that. I would rather lose voters for being honest than gain some through deception. And that extends to my personal life as well.” Mondo’s eyes widened as the weight of the words hit him.
“Wait… you mean–”
“Yes,” Taka asserted before giving him another soft kiss. “I love you, Mondo. I don’t care if my voters know it, I don’t care if the whole world knows it. I love you and I want all of the challenges and joys that come with it.”
As they kissed again, Taka felt more than assured in his decision. Would challenges come? Of course; they couldn’t change an entire country overnight. But whatever happened, they could make it through. Together.