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Mikey remembers the first time they talked about how Izana spent his birthday.
-
“We should throw him a surprise party!” Emma says excitedly.
Shinichiro had gathered Mikey and Emma to his room to help him come up with ideas since Izana's birthday was coming up. He really wanted to do something for him since it would be his first birthday since living there with them.
“That'd be fun,” Mikey replies with a smile. “We could invite all of Izana-nii's friends and have Kaku-chan distract him until we’re ready.”
“And his birthday falls during break, so that’d probably be the best time to do that,” Shinichiro nods, turning to his notebook to start writing the plans down, but he pauses when Mikey speaks up again.
“No, you can’t have it on his actual birthday,” he says matter of factly, giving him an ‘are you serious?’ look.
Shinichiro blinks, giving his brother a confused look. “What? Why?”
“Izana always spends his birthday with Kakucho,” he replies. “You told me last year he said to visit before or after the actual day cause he’d be busy. And whenever he mentions his birthday, he talks about what he and Kakucho did the day of. Disrupting that time will probably upset him, even if Kakucho goes along with it.”
Shinichiro blinks, forehead crinkling in thought. “I think you’re right,” he says after a moment. “Now that you mention it, he’s never let me visit him on the day of his birthday, stating he’s busy. And he’s not the type to like it when his traditions are broken.”
Mikey nods. “I tried to bother him at the beginning of summer break and he got all pissy that I was breaking his first day of summer break tradition with Kakucho and the Haitani’s,” he complains.
“Well, we can do it after, since school doesn’t start for another few days after his birthday.”
-
They’d known since they were young that Izana spent his actual birthday with Kakucho. Even if Mikey was barely 12, he wasn’t an idiot, and he picked up on things that sometimes Shinichiro and Emma didn’t, especially when it came to Izana. Even if they fought and bickered a lot, they tended to notice things about each other that others looked over or didn’t (aside from their future partners, of course).
A lot of things Mikey noticed, though, were about Kakucho. Mostly due to his proximity to Izana, but also because he was Mitchy’s childhood best friend. One of the major things was that, no matter what, Izana never broke a tradition if it involved him. His birthday, being an example. One year, apparently the Haitani’s had wanted to take him out on his birthday, but he had vehemently refused. When they tried to intervene during his plans on the actual day to persuade him to join them, he blocked and ignored them for 2 weeks. After that, everyone seemed to understand how serious his birthday traditions were to him and never bothered him on that day.
Except it was deeper than that. Even small things, such as how he always got lunch with Kakucho on Thursdays and how he always spent the first day of break with him were sacred to him. When it came to Kakucho, Izana had strict traditions and things he did with him that no one was allowed to interrupt. At first Mikey thought that Izana was just a control freak of sorts and tried to ask him about it, but it was actually very surprising on what his answer was.
-
“Izana-nii,” he drawls out one afternoon. It’s just the two of them in the house, no one else would be home for a while and he was curious. They had been hanging out in the living room, both silently doing their own things.
“What?” He asks in reply, looking up from his phone with an eyebrow raised.
“Why is it so important that you spend your birthday with Kaku-chan?” He asks. “You always get pissed if someone tries to switch up your plans.”
Izana rolls his eyes. “Why do you care? It doesn’t affect you,” he turns back to his phone, uninterested.
Mikey pouts. “Izana-nii!” He complains. “Are you just a control freak??? No one cares if it’s just that.”
The elder sighs, putting his phone down. “Mikey, when’s your birthday?” He asks out of nowhere.
“August 20th,” he replies automatically.
“And when is Emma’s? Takemichi’s? Shinichiro’s?”
“November 25th, June 25th, August 1st. Why does that matter?”
“Okay, when is Kakucho’s?”
Mikey takes a moment to think. He wracks his brain for any mention of a birthday, whether from Izana or Takemichi, but he can’t seem to find anything. Which-
“I don’t know,” he pouts. “Why don’t I know? Have I been missing it?” He feels bad now…
Izana shakes his head. “No, even Kakucho doesn’t know his birthday. No one does, the orphanage doesn’t have it on record and no one can find his birth certificate. He doesn’t have any blood family left, nor does he have any close family friends that would know any of that.”
Mikey blinks, feeling sad now. “What? How come no one told me? Or Shin-nii or Emma-chan? How did we not realize we haven’t gotten him anything for his birthday?”
Izana sighs again, reaching a hand up to ruffle his hair. “It’s fine,” he reassures. “The reason I celebrate my birthday with Kakucho and Kakucho alone is because I celebrate him as well. We call it merry happy day, we celebrate my birthday and another year passing by for both of us. He probably would act like he doesn’t mind if we did something else, not that I want to, but I know he would.”
“That’s… sad,” Mikey says with a frown. “But… what about everything else? You always make sure to do things on the dot when they come to Kakucho, and yet when it comes to anything else, you do it on your own schedule?”
“Stability,” he replies easily. “No one in the orphanage really takes care of kids like Kakucho, so I take care of him. I make sure he’s well fed and doing okay in school, I set specific times for specific things so that he has a bit of stability and routine in his life. And it won’t be like that forever, aside from my birthday. He’ll grow, and so will I, but at the moment I’m just trying to do anything I can to make sure he doesn’t grow up in that orphanage like I did.”
Mikey frowns. “But we could help!” He insists. “You don’t have to do that by yourself, Izana, you’re only 3 years older than us and-”
“Hey, I know,” he shuts him up by placing a hand on his head and offering a smile. “I’m only 15, I know I can’t do everything by myself. I trust you guys. You’re my family, somehow, and I have been trying to coax Kakucho to spend more time here. It’s just…” he takes in a deep breath, a somber aura emitting from him. “I also know that kids like Kakucho? If they’re not taken care of and taken in, they get lost to time. That’s why they don’t know his birthday, or know anything about his parents, or even care enough to take note of the fact that he doesn’t come back sometimes. They don’t care about kids who they deem trouble. They don’t care if they slip through the cracks, and disappear. It saves time, food, resources, and money.”
“That’s stupid,” Mikey replies. “Their whole job is to take care of kids, especially those like Kakucho.” He pauses, thinking. “Is that… what would’ve happened to you? If Shin-nii hadn’t brought you home?”
Izana purses his lips. “... maybe. It was always a possibility. They don’t care if their kids disappear sometimes, or if they get lost in violence, drugs, addictions, etc. They can be very cruel, Mikey. That’s why I’m very serious when it comes to Kakucho. I don’t-” he pauses, eyebrows furrowing as his hands clench. “ I can’t lose him .”
Mikey does something uncharacteristic, when it comes to him and Izana that is, and hugs him. Izana pauses but hugs him back and they just stay like that for a few moments. When they pull back, Mikey feels lighter.
“Thanks for telling me,” he says. “I’m gonna go text Ken-chin now, but if you need me,” he pauses and shrugs. “Don’t,” he jokes.
Izana rolls his eyes, shoving his shoulder lightly. “Get out of here you gremlin.”
“Hey!” He pouts but stands, sticking his tongue out at Izana as he leaves, heading upstairs.
-
After that, Mikey makes sure to make sure anyone and everyone knows to never mess with their pair on Izana’s birthday. He makes sure no one tries what the Haitani’s did, no matter their intentions, because that day was theirs and theirs alone. Even if it was ‘just Izana’s birthday’, it was a day important to them, a day that Izana decided to share and covet for both of them and not just himself.
Which, Mikey cannot wait to be invited to their wedding.
However, when Izana turns 21 has got to be his favorite one so far.
-
“So…” Mikey trails off, looking around the park they’re at. “Why exactly are we here?” He asks, fidgeting.
He watches as Izana’s eye twitches and he slathers a fake smile on his face. “Kakucho said he just had to have you guys here. For my 21st birthday. For some fucking reason.”
“And you agreed to it?” Emma asks, an eyebrow raised with a mischievous smirk. “I mean, I'm not complaining. This park is really pretty, but you don't let anyone be with you on this date except for him.”
Izana sighs, running a hand through his hair. “I do that because today is for us and us alone . But he said it was important for you guys to be here and he was on the verge of begging, so I agreed.”
“I wonder why,” Shinichiro muses, watching the water flow in the nearby pond.
“Wonder what?” Kakucho asks as he enters their little bubble again, sitting back down at his designated spot across from Izana.
“Where'd you go?” Emma asks in reply smoothly, tilting her head.
“Bathroom,” he explains. “I should've used it before we got in the car, honestly.”
Emma grins wide and pulls out her phone. Shinichiro and Mikey give her weird looks, but Izana is too caught up as Kakucho points something out behind him. He turns his head, and his eyebrows furrow when he notices nothing.
“Kakucho, wha-” he starts, cutting himself off when he notices he's not in his seat anymore.
No, instead he's kneeling on one knee beside the picnic bench, a ring box open in his hands.
“Izana, my king,” he starts, noticing the elder's surprised face and taking advantage of the momentary shock. “You've been with me for as long as I can remember. You gave me a reason to keep on living after I lost all my will to live. Whenever we're apart, I miss you with all of my heart. I know we're not even technically dating due to our supposed age gap and how society is, but I have to ask because I know our souls are well intertwined.” He pauses, taking in a breath. “Izana Kurokawa, will you marry me?”
Sometime during the speech, Izana had brought a hand up to his mouth, the other clenched hard in his lap. His eyes are wide as he stares for a few moments, studying him.
“Yes,” he breathes. “Fucking- of course I'll marry you, Kakucho,” he says, reaching his hand up to wipe at his eyes. “Fuck, you've been acting so weird recently, I thought something was wrong, and then you surprise me with this,” he hiccups, sometime earlier he had started crying.
Kakucho grins wide, moving forward quickly to take Izana's face in his hands and kiss him . It's chaste, simple and sweet, and then he uses that chance to kiss his cheeks and eyelids and forehead, anything he can. It makes Izana laugh, so soft and caring.
“Put the ring on,” he demands, offering his left hand.
Kakucho nods, pulling it out of the box so he can slip it on his ring finger reverently. Izana pulls it close to inspect it, there's a tiny red gem embedded in it, as well as a small carving beside it that reads eternity in Japanese.
“I love you,” Izana says. “I've loved you for as long as I remember. I've wanted to marry you since. You've always been mine and always will be,” he kisses his cheek after he's done speaking, a smile so big it hurts his face as a few fresh tears slip from his eyes.
“Congratulations!” Emma squeals, catching their attention. Her phone is focused on them, and she's grinning wide. “You did it, Kaku-chan!”
“You knew?” Izana asks, surprised.
“He talked to me yesterday!” She explains as she ends the recording. “Asked me to record it!”
“Congratulations,” Shinichiro says warmly, walking over to hug them both. “This was a great surprise,” he says with a chuckle, pulling back to look at them. “Thank you for inviting me, Kakucho.”
Kakucho smiles warmly. “Of course, Shin-nii.”
“Kaku-chan!” Mikey says excitedly, finally over his shock. He moves over to jump on the taller's back, all grins. “Holy shit, you just did that!”
“Mikey, you knew too-”
“Did I?” He asks, confused.
He sighs. “Bakemitchy told you yesterday? I was there for it? You even swore to help Emma remember to record?”
“Oh yeah,” he nods. “I didn't realize that was today though,” he admits with a grin. “Congrats! Can I be the flower boy?”
“Mikey,” Izana admonishes, moving to remove him from Kakucho's back. “First of all, that's going to be Emma-chan's job. Second of all, you don't wanna be my best man?” He asks with a raised eyebrow.
“Wait, you're asking me?” He asks, surprised. “I thought you'd ask Shin-nii or one of the Haitani's?”
“Why?” He asks in reply. “You were the only one who really noticed how important spending my birthday with Kakucho was, and you're the only one who's ever truly asked why.”
Mikey grins. “I'd love to be your best man.”
“And a bonus, Bakemitchy is mine,” Kakucho adds with a wink.
Mikey grins wide.
-
Yeah, he'd never forget that day. Or the wedding. It was beautiful.
And never once since his 21st birthday has anyone else been invited out with them on their day.