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“I’m putting my foot down, Michael!” Yoichi scoffed, arms crossed over his chest as he stared his boyfriend down. “My parents are coming tomorrow to see me and you’re coming too! They want to finally meet you and you’re not weaseling out of this one!”
Kaiser grimaced and knew better than to run away. Yoichi’s gotten a lot faster this year and getting tackled by this firecracker was asking to get his nose bitten off.
“Yoichi—“
“No,” Yoichi interrupted. “You’ve been avoiding them since we got together and all they have of you is stories I tell them. I want you guys to get to know each other. I know you’re scared—“
Kaiser sputtered. “I’m not scared—“
“But it’s time we take this step!” Yoichi insisted. Bending down, he held Kaiser’s cheek. “Listen. They’re not scary. They won’t interrogate you or reject you or anything. They just want to meet you and I want us to give that to them.”
Kaiser’s lips thinned. His eyebrows drew together in frustration.
“Mihya…”
Kaiser scoffed, a bitter smile quirking up his lips. “They’re gonna be disappointed by whatever they see.”
Yoichi shook his head. “That’s not true. Please, give them a chance to see what I see.”
Kaiser looked at him and saw the desire in his eyes and sighed. “Alright. But don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
The beaming smile that broke through Yoichi’s face almost made his acquiescence worth it.
“We’re in this together, Mihya. You’re not spending Christmas alone. Not when you have me.”
“Yocchan!”
“Yoichi! Son! How are you?”
Yoichi laughed as he was held by his parents, broader shouldered and a head taller than his mother and father at this point yet still their only child and treated as such.
“I’m good. How was the flight?” Yoichi asked, lifting their bags into Kaiser’s BMW and opening the door for them. His mother scurried in first, then his father.
“Oh, it was nice! You know me and your father, we rarely ever leave home,” Iyo laughed softly. She patted her hair down and shuffled to get comfortable on the expensive leather of Kaiser’s car. “We were very comfortable in first class thanks to you, Yocchan!”
“Yeah! There was so much space and they had these trays of wonderful snacks!” Issei harped happily, weaving his arm behind Yoichi’s headrest. “We almost got lost trying to leave the airport though!”
Yoichi smiled back. “It’s a good thing we were here to get you out then, dad.”
“It is! Oh, and Michael-san, thank you for picking us up as well.”
Kaiser sat behind the wheel and lifted his eyes to look at the couple sitting behind them in the rear-view mirror, wearing the translating ear pieces. “Of course, it’s no problem.”
“We’re gonna drop your luggage by my apartment and then we can go eat out.”
“How wonderful!” Iyo raved, tugging her own ear piece so it didn’t end up falling. “I’ve never had German food before!”
“Well, there’s always a first time for everything!” Issei replied.
They chatted through the whole ride, easing into a relatively peaceful mood. When they got to Yoichi’s apartment, they took a moment to settle into their room for their 3 day stay in Germany.
“Good so far?” Yoichi checked in with Kaiser, who was reviewing their tickets for tonight’s skating event. Kaiser’s been tense the whole morning, but from the looks of it, he’s been calming down now that Yoichi’s parents were really here.
“I don’t know what I worried about,” Kaiser mumbled, sighing as he melted against Yoichi’s shoulder. “I forgot completely you’re from a family of rabbits. I should’ve known there was nothing to be scared of.”
Yoichi hit his arm. “Rabbit?! What’s that supposed to mean?!”
“It means I could carry all three of you the whole day and not get tired,” Kaiser teased. “They’re so harmless and cute. They’re not even scared of me,” Kaiser whispers the last part almost in disbelief.
“You’re not all that, Kaiser. I promise you.” Yoichi rolled his eyes in annoyance.
“You’re hurting my feelings,” Kaiser fake sniffed.
“Good.”
“We’re ready!” Iyo bounded down the hall, wearing a long brown coat and hat, matching her husband in blue.
“Great! Let’s head out to eat first and go skating after.”
The ice rink in the Center Potsdamer Platz is beautiful, strewn with lights and stores inside. There’s people of all kinds here, families and couples all smiling and laughing and enjoying themselves. Kaiser bought VIP tickets, so that meant they didn’t have to wait in line get on the ice.
After his mother thrust her phone in his hands, Issei and Iyo immediately left for the rink, holding each other and the rink’s handle before they got the confidence to try and leave the edge. Yoichi took picture after picture, knowing his mother would have his head if he didn’t take at least a hundred new pictures to satisfy her collection.
Yoichi’s eyes were inevitably drawn to the tree in the heart of the rink, tall and bright, the perfect backdrop to every smile.
After some time, they both came back to where Yoichi and Kaiser were standing and Iyo immediately took to Kaiser’s side.
“Michael-san, let’s skate together!”
Kaiser’s eyes widened and before he could even string together a sentence, was swept away by a tiny lady’s excitement. Yoichi waved at him as Kaiser stared at him in betrayal.
“Are you going to skate, son?”
Yoichi hesitated, looking at the ice and imagined him slipping and making a fool of himself.
“Maybe later, when Mihya’s done.”
“Ah, then I suppose you don’t mind me stealing him away after your mother is done chatting his ear off?”
Yoichi laughed in amusement. “Go ahead! I’ll take pictures of you guys!”
Ten minutes later, when Iyo came back with blushing cheeks and twinkling eyes, Issei immediately took her place. Kaiser definitely wasn’t expecting that as his face made a hilariously distressed expression.
Yoichi gave him a thumbs up.
As his father dragged Kaiser away, Iyo giggled beside him, getting his attention.
“He’s a perfect fit for you, Yocchan!”
Yoichi blushed. “Y—You think so?”
Iyo nodded fervently. “I do! He’s sweet and mature and even though his expression can be quite cold sometimes, he’s not a bad person at all. When you can, Yocchan, tell him we would love to spend more time with him the next time you come back home.”
Yoichi blinked and then sighed in relief. “That’s great. Mihya’s been so nervous since I asked him to come with me to meet you guys that I started worrying he’d disappear altogether.”
“That won’t happen,” Iyo reassured. “He loves you too much.”
“Mom!”
“Don’t be flustered.” Iyo poked his cheek. “A mother knows best!”
“Oh my god, Mom,” Yoichi groaned.
“We’re back!” Issei called out, pivoting to Iyo and clasping their hands. “Honey, let’s go to the market! I wanna see what they have to offer!”
“Oh, yes! Great idea! Yocchan, you and Michael-san have fun, if you need us just give us a call!”
Yoichi watched them walk away and felt like they’d pull the rug under him. He just knows they did that deliberately.
“Ready?” Kaiser whispered in his ear at his back, drawing out a shiver. He turned around to face Kaiser.
Yoichi nodded and let Kaiser take his hand, their skates touching the ice. In reality, Yoichi’s never skated in his life, so the immediate touch has his stomach dropping, fighting for control so he didn’t break his nose by hitting the ice.
“Trust me,” Kaiser told him, his hold on Yoichi firm and protective. He must’ve noticed his hesitation in skating. “Just follow what I do.”
“Right,” Yoichi gasped, drawn into Kaiser’s orbit. Left and right, swaying, one foot forward, one step back. Kaiser’s hand is the anchor keeping him standing. When he turns his face and he finds those icy blue eyes already trained on him, the rest of the world falls away.
Nothing else matters.
The sights blur into a prism of winter colors, golden hair flying and pink lips an aching temptation.
“Thank you,” Yoichi says, Kaiser pulling him back in, legs twisted together and swerving them out of the way of others. On the field, Kaiser dominates with the glare of the sun, but here in the mellow drifting of bodies, Kaiser leads with gentle assurance.
“What for?”
“For trusting me.”
Kaiser and him circled each other, a push and pull, the tide of lovers condensed into dance.
“It’s more like I didn’t trust myself,” Kaiser corrects him, hand on his waist. “I convinced myself good things don’t happen to me, especially if that thing is my darling Yoichi’s parents liking me.”
Yoichi laughed, flushed. “They adore you. They see how happy you make me.”
“True. Iyo mentioned the same, told me thank you for being with their son. That they never thought someone like me would be your type.”
“What type?”
“In her words; flamboyant, tattooed and white.”
“WHAT?”
Kaiser cracked, his laughter loud and obnoxious. He drew Yoichi into him, chest to chest, pink lips grazing his.
“That’s—I don’t have a type—“
“You do and it’s me,” Kaiser growled and kissed him deeply under the flashing lights.
“She forgot—“ kiss, “To mention—“, kiss, “OBNOXIOUS!”
“I’ll make sure to be extra annoying if that’s your ideal,” Kaiser grinned against him.
“I’m gonna hit you.”
“Go ahead, I’ll just kiss you harder~”
Click.
Behind a tree, a camera captured the scene without either of the two knowing.
The next morning, his mother insisted on making breakfast, relentless on feeding all three of her boys. Kaiser was the first to scarf the plate clean and thanked her for the homemade meal with shining eyes.
When Kaiser and his father stepped out the apartment for a moment, Yoichi heard his phone ping. Taking it out, he saw it was a message from his mother.
“What’s this?” Yoichi asked curiously.
“It’s the picture I took of you and Michael-san from behind a Christmas tree! It’s quite romantic, isn’t it?”
Yoichi opened it and gaped as the picture his mother secretly took was one where they were intimately tangled together, kissing in full view of anyone with eyes. Somehow, that didn’t register at the moment it happened.
“Oh, and I sent that to Michael-san as well!”
“MOM!”
“Merry Christmas darling! Make sure you and Michael-san get married quickly, okay?”
Yoichi screeched in horrified embarrassment.
“MOM!”