There is magic in this World (Chapter 13)
Nino shuddered as he appeared in his childhood home. He still hadn’t fully gotten used to apparating, but it was way faster than any other form of travel.
“I’m home,” he yelled as he walked to the kitchen from where he could hear sounds.
Kazuko looked up as she heard him and kissed him on the cheek. “Welcome home, darling,” she greeted with a smile. “I hope you are hungry. I prepared Monjayaki.”
Nino grinned with bright eyes at her words. “Yay,” he said childishly as he clapped his hands. Kazuko rolled her eyes in amusement before she concentrated back on the food she was preparing.
Nino grinned before he moved around to set the table for them to eat.
“Your sister will arrive shortly.”
“Oh nice, will Tatsuya be with her?”
“Yes, he was very excited to learn that his beloved uncle will be here today. Will Satoshi come?”
“Around the evening. He has to work until three,” Nino said as he set two more plates for his sister and nephew.
“How is school?”
“Good, we are mostly studying for final exams,” he said with a sigh.
“Are you nervous? Keito mentioned that Jun-kun is very nervous,” Kazuko asked as she turned the oven off and turned around. She came over and played with his hair.
Nino closed his eyes as he relaxed and leant back in the chair and against his mother. It was strange coming home, honestly. He spent most of his time at school. He had come back regularly on the weekends when he had first started boarding school instead of just being a day student. But over the years it had gotten less and less.
Especially since Ohno wasn’t in school anymore, it got even less. He had spent most of his holidays with his mother and sister before, but now it was mostly in his soon to be home.
Still, this was home. He still felt the same warmth as he had when he was growing up. It was still like a safety blanket, and the hands of his mother always calmed him down.
“A bit. I still don’t know exactly what I want to do afterwards. I’m envious. The rest seems to know exactly what they want to do after school…”
“You still have a few weeks to decide. And if nothing else, I’m sure that Satoshi will support you.”
“He said he will, but I want to earn my own living. It’s unfair to leave it all to Oh-chan,” he said with a pout.
“If nothing else, you can find a part-time job,” she said as she tweaked his ear.
Nino grimaced, but then he nodded. “Yes, true. I forgot about that,” he said with a grin. Kazuko lifted an eyebrow before pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“I changed my opinion,” she declared suddenly clapping her hands. “We will make the monjayaki on the hot plate, instead me making them in the pan.”
Nino pouted but got up to pull out the hot plate from the cupboard and install it on the table for them to use. He was kneeling on the floor to plug in the cable when the door opened. He laughed when a small body lunged onto his back.
“Uncle!” the small boy yelled tugging at his shirt.
“Tatsuya,” Nino copied with a chuckle as he stood up, keeping his arms on the back so that he wouldn’t fall down.
“Say hello to your grandmother,” his sister scolded the boy who hugged Nino around the neck.
“Hello, grandma!”
Kazuko chuckled as he came over to kiss his cheek. “Hello, sweetheart.”
Nino grinned as he greeted his sister before depositing Tatsuya on his high-chair.
“I’m hungry,” he declared as he sat down.
“Me too,” Tatsuya agreed readily as he grinned brightly at the oldest woman who put the ingredients on the table. They settled down for their lunch and afterwards Nino was begged by his nephew to play with him which he, of course, did without complaints.
-
Satoshi made sure to concentrate on Nino’s old room to apparate into. It was always strange to suddenly stand in a place full of non-wizard people, and he didn’t want to scare Nino’s family.
He knew these were the most important persons in Nino’s life, after all.
“I give up,” Nino cried out, hiding the laughter in his voice rather badly. Ohno chuckled as he opened the door to the living room, greeting Nino’s mother calmly. He saw Nino lying on the floor with Tatsuya on top of him a stick pointing at Nino’s chest. Tatsuya giggled before he jumped up and around Nino.
“I defeated beast!” he giggled, shouting when suddenly Nino moved, catching Tatsuya around the hips and tickling the boy until he collapsed into himself on his lap.
“My brave hero,” Nino said with a smile. He looked up when he heard Ohno’s chuckle, smiling happily.
“Hello, babe,” Ohno whispered as he pecked his lips.
“How was work?”
“Good. Tatsuya, look what I brought,” he said, and with a flutter of his hand, there was a bag of cookies.
Tatsuya’s eyes brightened as he grabbed them before Nino took the bag and pulled out two of the cookies before handing the rest over to his sister. “That’s enough for now,” he said, handing them over to the boy who happily started munching on them and sat down at the low table because his mother had more than once told him not to eat and run around or play at the same time.
“I also brought a cake for us later,” he said to Nino, and the two women grinned happily.
“Help me up?” Nino said, and Ohno smiled as he took his hands to pull him up. Nino sighed happily when Ohno tugged him to the armchair and pulled him on his lap.
He leant his head against Ohno’s shoulder, listening to the others talk while watching Tatsuya who had taken his colouring book when he realised that the adults were settling down.
-
Jun sighed as he read the same sentence for the twentieth time and then closed the book.
“What’s up?”
“I feel like my brain has turned to mush,” Jun said as he leant back. He moved his neck a few times to loosen the tension in his shoulders.
“Break?” Toma said with a small groan from the other side of the room.
Nino giggled as he marked the page he was reading and put the book down. His eyes wandered over today’s small sketch of Ohno that he had put beside his rose on the desk. “Let’s have some snacks and then turn in for the night. We should be careful as to not hurt your brains.”
“Brat,” Toma said as he threw his brush at Nino’s head who easily evaded it.
Jun rolled his eyes as he stood and stretched out his back. They went to the kitchen to get some snacks and then back to their dorm to relax and just talk.
“Will you move in with Masaki?” Toma asked Jun curiously.
“No,” Jun said with a sigh. “I will go back to my father’s home after graduation. He lives close to the university.”
Toma hummed in understanding. “Yeah, I will go back to the family home as well. Erika is looking forward to it. She is still only a day student,” Toma grinned at the thought of his little sister who was the baby of the family.
Nino’s thoughts wandered back to Ohno and moving in with him at the end of school. It was a strange thought, honestly. Living together for a week or two was something else. Ohno always made sure to be at home as much as he could and concentrated mostly on his needs.
It probably would change living together fully.
“When will the marriage be, Nino?” Toma asked suddenly, making him blink.
“What?”
“I can’t believe that you will soon be married,” he added with a hum. “For me, it would be way too early. But you and Ohno are like soul mates in those children’s books. Made for each other since you were small.”
Nino grimaced at those words. “We haven’t talked about it yet,” he said in the end.
“I thought Ohno would want to do it shortly after school ends,” Jun said in surprise, and Nino shrugged uncomfortably.
“Yes, but he said I should just concentrate on finals,” he mumbled. The truth was that they talked about it sometimes. But Nino didn’t care much about the ceremony. He also didn’t know if how wizard weddings worked. All that mattered was that Ohno would stay with him.
“He’s right, I suppose,” Toma hummed.
Jun nodded with an amused grin. “You want top marks, so I understand.”
“Yes, and that’s why I will go to sleep now. My first lesson is early tomorrow,” Nino mumbled as he got up to go to the bathroom and change into his nightclothes. When he climbed into bed, he let the low murmurs of Toma’s and Jun’s conversation lull him to sleep.
-
“Hey, Kazu?”
“Mh, what is it, Satoshi?” Nino asked as he looked up from the cards he was playing with.
“What do you think of a wedding in the snow?”
“Huh?” Nino laid his head back and stared up at the other man who was preparing their dinner.
“A winter wedding,” Ohno said with a chuckle. “You would look beautiful in the snow. And it always reminds me of you.”
“I don’t mind,” Nino said after a while. “But our first holidays were in the winter.”
“True.”
Nino stayed silent for a moment before getting to his feet and walking over to the kitchen. He hugged Ohno around the waist and pressed his face against his shoulder. “Dinner ready?”
“Not yet. What’s up?”
“Nothing, can I stay like this?”
“Of course,” Ohno allowed easily as he continued to prepare the vegetables and wash the rice.
“Oh-chan is it bad that I’m scared of moving in?”
“No, I’m nervous as well. I got used to living here alone. Accommodating to you living here as well will be an adventure. But one I’m looking forward to.”
“What if we fight?”
“Then we fight, run off to different places and come back after we have cooled down. Same as in school.”
“I don’t want you to hate me.”
“I never would,” Ohno said as he tugged him around to look into his eyes. “I just have one request. To never go to bed or travelling without making up, okay?”
Nino looked at him and relaxed slowly. He kissed him on the lips as Ohno let go of his chin. “Okay, I think, I can do that.”
“Good, me too. Other things on your mind?”
“Work… I still don’t know what I want to do, and please don’t say that you can support me fully. I don’t want that.”
“I know. I will look for job openings around, okay?”
Nino smiled more brightly at that and nodded. “Yes, thank you. Now my dinner, pretty please?”
“On it, set the table and it’ll be finished soon.”
Nino chuckled as he let go of him and left to do as he was told.
-
Nino was brimming proudly as he dressed into his golden robes that evening. Jun tried hard to make a joke about it, but Nino looked so genuinely happy that it was hard to make a remark.
“We did it,” Toma cheered as he played his arms around their shoulders.
“Finally,” Jun grinned while Nino nodded.
“And we should head out,” he realised when there was a call at the door for them to gather. They found their places between the other students and went out. Nino tried hard not to search for Ohno and his family. He knew that Ohno had brought his sister, brother in law and even his nephew while his mother had come with Jun’s father.
Nino knew that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the ceremony if he looked at them, and he didn’t want that. This was his graduation, and he wanted to enjoy it. He listened more closely to the speech of their director than he had ever done, and even if he knew it was the same speech as every year, it was somehow more enticing.
It seemed to be too fast until he was called up to the stage to get his graduation certificate and shook the hands of his teachers. When the ceremony was over, it didn’t take long until a small bundle of joy collided with his side.
“Congratulations, uncle,” Tatsuya cried out in joy. He ruffled his hair as he pressed him closer to his body before picking him up. Tatsuya settled on his side, his arms around Nino’s shoulders and his legs around his waist.
“Thank you,” he said. “Where is the rest?”
“We are here, congratulations, Kazu,” Ohno said with a chuckle.
Nino was brimming at the words of Ohno and accepted the congratulatory terms of the rest as well as the kisses from his mother and sister. Ohno stayed by the side during that and then put an arm around Nino’s waist to kiss his temple.
“I’m very proud of you. You got your golden robes,” he teased Nino who blushed slightly.
“They look good, right?” he asked then with sparkling eyes. Ohno nodded, kissing him again until Tatsuya tugged at his robe.
“What’s up?” Nino asked the boy who pouted slightly.
“I’m hungry,” he whined. Ohno grinned as he led Nino to the buffet.
“Let’s see if there is something you would like,” the man said, motioning for the rest to follow them. “Ever had frog legs?” he asked the boy in a teasing voice when Tatsuya scrunched up his face.
“I want normal food!”
“For wizards it is. As is slime and spider legs,” he said with serious eyes.
Nino bit his lip as to not to laugh when Tatsuya looked outright disgusted when Ohno continued with fake herbs and strange animals.
“Uncle Kazu! I don’t wanna eat eyeballs,” he whined in the end.
“Where do eyeballs come from?” he asked while chuckling. “Did Satoshi tell you that?”
Ohno shook his head, silently laughing as he looked over the food and prepared a plate for his lover and nephew. Both liked similar things, so it was easy.
“Shall I take him?”
“Nah, it’s fine, right?” Nino asked the boy who grinned.
“Yup, daddy, I share with uncle Kazu. He holds me and the plate. I feed us,” he said happily as Nino held the plate and he picked something up to eat and then present Nino with another bite.
After dinner, Nino put Tatsuya down again, who then proceeded to force his uncle to play with him and dance to the music playing until he was tired and climbed on his father’s lap where he fell asleep.
-
“God! Finally home,” Nino groaned when he and Ohno arrived at Ohno’s - no their - home. He fell to the sofa with a groan and closed his eyes.
Ohno chuckled as he walked in after he had put their things in order and watched Nino for a moment. He felt his heart sing at the sight of his younger lover on the sofa, clearly relaxing.
“What?” Nino asked with a frown as he watched the other looking at him.
“I just thought about how lucky I am to be in love with you. And how much I love you,” Ohno whispered as he came closer. Nino blushed a dark red when Ohno knelt on the sofa beside him, capturing his face in between his hands and kissing him oh so softly on the lips.
Nino sighed in the kiss as he closed his eyes. His hands came up to close around his neck, drawing Ohno just a tiny bit closer. Ohno shifted his face so that they fit a bit better together. They were so close like that that Nino could feel the slight shifting of lips on top of his and a shudder went up in his body when Ohno sighed softly at the kiss when their tongues met.
They kissed for a while until Ohno picked Nino up. Nino giggled into the kiss, tightening his arms around him as Ohno carried him to the bedroom.
-
“I can’t do this,” Nino whined as he tugged at his bow tie. Jun rolled his eyes as he hit his hands to stop him from mussing up his hair.
He clicked his tongue as he redid the bow tie for him. He then ran his fingers through Nino’s hair to make sure everything was in order.
“Stop it, or I put a stupefy on you,” Jun threatened.
Nino snorted as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and fell on the sofa with a sigh. “At least then I can’t fall over my own feet when I have to go there.”
“You never fall,” Jun said with a chuckle.
“I could start now,” Nino mumbled, feeling his cheeks heat up. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. “God, why am I so nervous? It’s just Oh-chan.”
“That’s the answer. It’s Ohno-kun. The most important person in your world.”
Nino looked up at him with a small glare. Jun chuckled as he lifted his hands.
“It’s true, sorry. But nothing will happen. You won’t stumble.”
“And if I forget my vows?”
“Then you tell him that you love him and that you will take him and stay by his side forever. You don’t need some special vows, you know?”
“I could forget the ceremonial words.”
“Hard to do since you have to repeat them directly after the priest.”
“I’m just panicking for nothing? Is that what you imply?”
“No, you have all right to panic,” he said with a softer face. “But it’s my job to tell you these things to calm you down a bit. I’m sure all panic will dissolve if you see Ohno-kun.”
Nino’s eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet. “If?! What? Isn’t he here yet? J, what do you mean if? Did he tell you he has second thoughts?!”
Jun swore at the panic in Nino’s eyes. He hadn’t thought his words would get that reaction.
“Not if, when. Sorry, Nino. Ohno-kun is here.”
“Are you sure? How do you know? Did you see him?”
“What’s up?” Aiba’s voice added to Nino’s, making Jun looking up.
“J said Oh-chan might not be here!”
“Huh? Of course, he is, Nino. I just was there. He begged me to check if you are here,” Aiba said with a shrug of his shoulder. “He is walking holes in the carpet and driving Sho-chan crazy.”
“So he is here?” Nino whispered, his voice not more than a breathy whisper.
“Of course, there is no way he would miss this. So relax. I will go there and tell them you are ready then head out and tell Kazuko-san. She is walking you out there, right?”
“Yes,” Nino said with a small blush. He knew it was uncommon. But he had no father that cared about him and his mother was all he ever needed.
Aiba smiled as he ruffled his hair, making Jun growl. He made a playful panicked look, before pecking his boyfriend on the cheek. “Sorry. You look handsome, though, you know?”
Jun hit him on the back of the head with a grim smile before Aiba was able to close the door behind him. Jun sighed as he looked back at Nino, making sure he looked okay when there was a knock at the door.
“Your mother. I’ll leave you two alone.”
“Thanks Jun. For everything.”
“Sure thing. And if you really forget something I will hex it in your mind,” Jun promised with a wink.
Nino chuckled as he nodded and smiled brighter when Kazuko came in after exchanging a few words with Jun. “Hey, mum.”
“Hello, darling. You look good,” she said. “A bit pale, though. Nervous?”
“Very,” Nino whispered as she closed her arms around him and rocked him a bit from side to side.
“My baby has grown so much,” she mumbled as she stepped back a little to look into his face. She rubbed his cheek, smiling softly.
Nino stared at her for a moment before moving closer and hugging her tightly. “Is this the right choice?”
“You love him.”
“Yes,” he whispered. “More than I could ever think possible. When he looks at me like he can’t help himself, I want to be the person he loves so much forever.”
“Then it’s the only choice there ever was, Kazunari. I always knew that you would do whatever you thought right, and I was sure that you would always find the right way.”
Nino smiled a little as he took a deep breath.
“It’s time. Let’s go. You don’t want to let him wait, right?”
“Right,” Nino whispered.
Kazuko kissed his forehead as she linked their arms. They stepped out of the room, Nino had gotten ready in and wandered together to the front. Nino’s smile got wider when shortly before him, Ohno appeared in front of the priest, waiting for him.
His mother squeezed his hands as he handed him over to Ohno, who opened his hands readily when Nino stood in front of him.
Ohno’s hands were warm around his even if they were slightly wet, showing how nervous Ohno was really even if he looked as calm as ever.
That knowledge though relaxed him fully. He smiled when Ohno placed a small kiss on his hand before both looked at the man in front of him. For Nino, the whole ceremony was like a dream. A dream where everybody was just a blur with only Ohno in focus. He didn’t remember Ohno’s vows fully, neither did he know if he ever managed to say his correctly, what he remembered was the cheer going up around him when Ohno turned back to him and how their lovely rose on the altar seemed to glow even more brightly then ever.
Nino remembered the dark brown eyes that were so deep and in love as they came closer and the warm, moist lips on his own when his eyes fell closed. It was just a touch of lips against lips, but the fluttering of his heart told him exactly what this really meant. And he knew with certainty that this bond they waved today would really be forever.
“I’m home,” he yelled as he walked to the kitchen from where he could hear sounds.
Kazuko looked up as she heard him and kissed him on the cheek. “Welcome home, darling,” she greeted with a smile. “I hope you are hungry. I prepared Monjayaki.”
Nino grinned with bright eyes at her words. “Yay,” he said childishly as he clapped his hands. Kazuko rolled her eyes in amusement before she concentrated back on the food she was preparing.
Nino grinned before he moved around to set the table for them to eat.
“Your sister will arrive shortly.”
“Oh nice, will Tatsuya be with her?”
“Yes, he was very excited to learn that his beloved uncle will be here today. Will Satoshi come?”
“Around the evening. He has to work until three,” Nino said as he set two more plates for his sister and nephew.
“How is school?”
“Good, we are mostly studying for final exams,” he said with a sigh.
“Are you nervous? Keito mentioned that Jun-kun is very nervous,” Kazuko asked as she turned the oven off and turned around. She came over and played with his hair.
Nino closed his eyes as he relaxed and leant back in the chair and against his mother. It was strange coming home, honestly. He spent most of his time at school. He had come back regularly on the weekends when he had first started boarding school instead of just being a day student. But over the years it had gotten less and less.
Especially since Ohno wasn’t in school anymore, it got even less. He had spent most of his holidays with his mother and sister before, but now it was mostly in his soon to be home.
Still, this was home. He still felt the same warmth as he had when he was growing up. It was still like a safety blanket, and the hands of his mother always calmed him down.
“A bit. I still don’t know exactly what I want to do afterwards. I’m envious. The rest seems to know exactly what they want to do after school…”
“You still have a few weeks to decide. And if nothing else, I’m sure that Satoshi will support you.”
“He said he will, but I want to earn my own living. It’s unfair to leave it all to Oh-chan,” he said with a pout.
“If nothing else, you can find a part-time job,” she said as she tweaked his ear.
Nino grimaced, but then he nodded. “Yes, true. I forgot about that,” he said with a grin. Kazuko lifted an eyebrow before pressing a kiss to his forehead.
“I changed my opinion,” she declared suddenly clapping her hands. “We will make the monjayaki on the hot plate, instead me making them in the pan.”
Nino pouted but got up to pull out the hot plate from the cupboard and install it on the table for them to use. He was kneeling on the floor to plug in the cable when the door opened. He laughed when a small body lunged onto his back.
“Uncle!” the small boy yelled tugging at his shirt.
“Tatsuya,” Nino copied with a chuckle as he stood up, keeping his arms on the back so that he wouldn’t fall down.
“Say hello to your grandmother,” his sister scolded the boy who hugged Nino around the neck.
“Hello, grandma!”
Kazuko chuckled as he came over to kiss his cheek. “Hello, sweetheart.”
Nino grinned as he greeted his sister before depositing Tatsuya on his high-chair.
“I’m hungry,” he declared as he sat down.
“Me too,” Tatsuya agreed readily as he grinned brightly at the oldest woman who put the ingredients on the table. They settled down for their lunch and afterwards Nino was begged by his nephew to play with him which he, of course, did without complaints.
-
Satoshi made sure to concentrate on Nino’s old room to apparate into. It was always strange to suddenly stand in a place full of non-wizard people, and he didn’t want to scare Nino’s family.
He knew these were the most important persons in Nino’s life, after all.
“I give up,” Nino cried out, hiding the laughter in his voice rather badly. Ohno chuckled as he opened the door to the living room, greeting Nino’s mother calmly. He saw Nino lying on the floor with Tatsuya on top of him a stick pointing at Nino’s chest. Tatsuya giggled before he jumped up and around Nino.
“I defeated beast!” he giggled, shouting when suddenly Nino moved, catching Tatsuya around the hips and tickling the boy until he collapsed into himself on his lap.
“My brave hero,” Nino said with a smile. He looked up when he heard Ohno’s chuckle, smiling happily.
“Hello, babe,” Ohno whispered as he pecked his lips.
“How was work?”
“Good. Tatsuya, look what I brought,” he said, and with a flutter of his hand, there was a bag of cookies.
Tatsuya’s eyes brightened as he grabbed them before Nino took the bag and pulled out two of the cookies before handing the rest over to his sister. “That’s enough for now,” he said, handing them over to the boy who happily started munching on them and sat down at the low table because his mother had more than once told him not to eat and run around or play at the same time.
“I also brought a cake for us later,” he said to Nino, and the two women grinned happily.
“Help me up?” Nino said, and Ohno smiled as he took his hands to pull him up. Nino sighed happily when Ohno tugged him to the armchair and pulled him on his lap.
He leant his head against Ohno’s shoulder, listening to the others talk while watching Tatsuya who had taken his colouring book when he realised that the adults were settling down.
-
Jun sighed as he read the same sentence for the twentieth time and then closed the book.
“What’s up?”
“I feel like my brain has turned to mush,” Jun said as he leant back. He moved his neck a few times to loosen the tension in his shoulders.
“Break?” Toma said with a small groan from the other side of the room.
Nino giggled as he marked the page he was reading and put the book down. His eyes wandered over today’s small sketch of Ohno that he had put beside his rose on the desk. “Let’s have some snacks and then turn in for the night. We should be careful as to not hurt your brains.”
“Brat,” Toma said as he threw his brush at Nino’s head who easily evaded it.
Jun rolled his eyes as he stood and stretched out his back. They went to the kitchen to get some snacks and then back to their dorm to relax and just talk.
“Will you move in with Masaki?” Toma asked Jun curiously.
“No,” Jun said with a sigh. “I will go back to my father’s home after graduation. He lives close to the university.”
Toma hummed in understanding. “Yeah, I will go back to the family home as well. Erika is looking forward to it. She is still only a day student,” Toma grinned at the thought of his little sister who was the baby of the family.
Nino’s thoughts wandered back to Ohno and moving in with him at the end of school. It was a strange thought, honestly. Living together for a week or two was something else. Ohno always made sure to be at home as much as he could and concentrated mostly on his needs.
It probably would change living together fully.
“When will the marriage be, Nino?” Toma asked suddenly, making him blink.
“What?”
“I can’t believe that you will soon be married,” he added with a hum. “For me, it would be way too early. But you and Ohno are like soul mates in those children’s books. Made for each other since you were small.”
Nino grimaced at those words. “We haven’t talked about it yet,” he said in the end.
“I thought Ohno would want to do it shortly after school ends,” Jun said in surprise, and Nino shrugged uncomfortably.
“Yes, but he said I should just concentrate on finals,” he mumbled. The truth was that they talked about it sometimes. But Nino didn’t care much about the ceremony. He also didn’t know if how wizard weddings worked. All that mattered was that Ohno would stay with him.
“He’s right, I suppose,” Toma hummed.
Jun nodded with an amused grin. “You want top marks, so I understand.”
“Yes, and that’s why I will go to sleep now. My first lesson is early tomorrow,” Nino mumbled as he got up to go to the bathroom and change into his nightclothes. When he climbed into bed, he let the low murmurs of Toma’s and Jun’s conversation lull him to sleep.
-
“Hey, Kazu?”
“Mh, what is it, Satoshi?” Nino asked as he looked up from the cards he was playing with.
“What do you think of a wedding in the snow?”
“Huh?” Nino laid his head back and stared up at the other man who was preparing their dinner.
“A winter wedding,” Ohno said with a chuckle. “You would look beautiful in the snow. And it always reminds me of you.”
“I don’t mind,” Nino said after a while. “But our first holidays were in the winter.”
“True.”
Nino stayed silent for a moment before getting to his feet and walking over to the kitchen. He hugged Ohno around the waist and pressed his face against his shoulder. “Dinner ready?”
“Not yet. What’s up?”
“Nothing, can I stay like this?”
“Of course,” Ohno allowed easily as he continued to prepare the vegetables and wash the rice.
“Oh-chan is it bad that I’m scared of moving in?”
“No, I’m nervous as well. I got used to living here alone. Accommodating to you living here as well will be an adventure. But one I’m looking forward to.”
“What if we fight?”
“Then we fight, run off to different places and come back after we have cooled down. Same as in school.”
“I don’t want you to hate me.”
“I never would,” Ohno said as he tugged him around to look into his eyes. “I just have one request. To never go to bed or travelling without making up, okay?”
Nino looked at him and relaxed slowly. He kissed him on the lips as Ohno let go of his chin. “Okay, I think, I can do that.”
“Good, me too. Other things on your mind?”
“Work… I still don’t know what I want to do, and please don’t say that you can support me fully. I don’t want that.”
“I know. I will look for job openings around, okay?”
Nino smiled more brightly at that and nodded. “Yes, thank you. Now my dinner, pretty please?”
“On it, set the table and it’ll be finished soon.”
Nino chuckled as he let go of him and left to do as he was told.
-
Nino was brimming proudly as he dressed into his golden robes that evening. Jun tried hard to make a joke about it, but Nino looked so genuinely happy that it was hard to make a remark.
“We did it,” Toma cheered as he played his arms around their shoulders.
“Finally,” Jun grinned while Nino nodded.
“And we should head out,” he realised when there was a call at the door for them to gather. They found their places between the other students and went out. Nino tried hard not to search for Ohno and his family. He knew that Ohno had brought his sister, brother in law and even his nephew while his mother had come with Jun’s father.
Nino knew that he wouldn’t be able to concentrate on the ceremony if he looked at them, and he didn’t want that. This was his graduation, and he wanted to enjoy it. He listened more closely to the speech of their director than he had ever done, and even if he knew it was the same speech as every year, it was somehow more enticing.
It seemed to be too fast until he was called up to the stage to get his graduation certificate and shook the hands of his teachers. When the ceremony was over, it didn’t take long until a small bundle of joy collided with his side.
“Congratulations, uncle,” Tatsuya cried out in joy. He ruffled his hair as he pressed him closer to his body before picking him up. Tatsuya settled on his side, his arms around Nino’s shoulders and his legs around his waist.
“Thank you,” he said. “Where is the rest?”
“We are here, congratulations, Kazu,” Ohno said with a chuckle.
Nino was brimming at the words of Ohno and accepted the congratulatory terms of the rest as well as the kisses from his mother and sister. Ohno stayed by the side during that and then put an arm around Nino’s waist to kiss his temple.
“I’m very proud of you. You got your golden robes,” he teased Nino who blushed slightly.
“They look good, right?” he asked then with sparkling eyes. Ohno nodded, kissing him again until Tatsuya tugged at his robe.
“What’s up?” Nino asked the boy who pouted slightly.
“I’m hungry,” he whined. Ohno grinned as he led Nino to the buffet.
“Let’s see if there is something you would like,” the man said, motioning for the rest to follow them. “Ever had frog legs?” he asked the boy in a teasing voice when Tatsuya scrunched up his face.
“I want normal food!”
“For wizards it is. As is slime and spider legs,” he said with serious eyes.
Nino bit his lip as to not to laugh when Tatsuya looked outright disgusted when Ohno continued with fake herbs and strange animals.
“Uncle Kazu! I don’t wanna eat eyeballs,” he whined in the end.
“Where do eyeballs come from?” he asked while chuckling. “Did Satoshi tell you that?”
Ohno shook his head, silently laughing as he looked over the food and prepared a plate for his lover and nephew. Both liked similar things, so it was easy.
“Shall I take him?”
“Nah, it’s fine, right?” Nino asked the boy who grinned.
“Yup, daddy, I share with uncle Kazu. He holds me and the plate. I feed us,” he said happily as Nino held the plate and he picked something up to eat and then present Nino with another bite.
After dinner, Nino put Tatsuya down again, who then proceeded to force his uncle to play with him and dance to the music playing until he was tired and climbed on his father’s lap where he fell asleep.
-
“God! Finally home,” Nino groaned when he and Ohno arrived at Ohno’s - no their - home. He fell to the sofa with a groan and closed his eyes.
Ohno chuckled as he walked in after he had put their things in order and watched Nino for a moment. He felt his heart sing at the sight of his younger lover on the sofa, clearly relaxing.
“What?” Nino asked with a frown as he watched the other looking at him.
“I just thought about how lucky I am to be in love with you. And how much I love you,” Ohno whispered as he came closer. Nino blushed a dark red when Ohno knelt on the sofa beside him, capturing his face in between his hands and kissing him oh so softly on the lips.
Nino sighed in the kiss as he closed his eyes. His hands came up to close around his neck, drawing Ohno just a tiny bit closer. Ohno shifted his face so that they fit a bit better together. They were so close like that that Nino could feel the slight shifting of lips on top of his and a shudder went up in his body when Ohno sighed softly at the kiss when their tongues met.
They kissed for a while until Ohno picked Nino up. Nino giggled into the kiss, tightening his arms around him as Ohno carried him to the bedroom.
-
“I can’t do this,” Nino whined as he tugged at his bow tie. Jun rolled his eyes as he hit his hands to stop him from mussing up his hair.
He clicked his tongue as he redid the bow tie for him. He then ran his fingers through Nino’s hair to make sure everything was in order.
“Stop it, or I put a stupefy on you,” Jun threatened.
Nino snorted as he crossed his arms in front of his chest and fell on the sofa with a sigh. “At least then I can’t fall over my own feet when I have to go there.”
“You never fall,” Jun said with a chuckle.
“I could start now,” Nino mumbled, feeling his cheeks heat up. He closed his eyes and drew a deep breath. “God, why am I so nervous? It’s just Oh-chan.”
“That’s the answer. It’s Ohno-kun. The most important person in your world.”
Nino looked up at him with a small glare. Jun chuckled as he lifted his hands.
“It’s true, sorry. But nothing will happen. You won’t stumble.”
“And if I forget my vows?”
“Then you tell him that you love him and that you will take him and stay by his side forever. You don’t need some special vows, you know?”
“I could forget the ceremonial words.”
“Hard to do since you have to repeat them directly after the priest.”
“I’m just panicking for nothing? Is that what you imply?”
“No, you have all right to panic,” he said with a softer face. “But it’s my job to tell you these things to calm you down a bit. I’m sure all panic will dissolve if you see Ohno-kun.”
Nino’s eyes widened, and he jumped to his feet. “If?! What? Isn’t he here yet? J, what do you mean if? Did he tell you he has second thoughts?!”
Jun swore at the panic in Nino’s eyes. He hadn’t thought his words would get that reaction.
“Not if, when. Sorry, Nino. Ohno-kun is here.”
“Are you sure? How do you know? Did you see him?”
“What’s up?” Aiba’s voice added to Nino’s, making Jun looking up.
“J said Oh-chan might not be here!”
“Huh? Of course, he is, Nino. I just was there. He begged me to check if you are here,” Aiba said with a shrug of his shoulder. “He is walking holes in the carpet and driving Sho-chan crazy.”
“So he is here?” Nino whispered, his voice not more than a breathy whisper.
“Of course, there is no way he would miss this. So relax. I will go there and tell them you are ready then head out and tell Kazuko-san. She is walking you out there, right?”
“Yes,” Nino said with a small blush. He knew it was uncommon. But he had no father that cared about him and his mother was all he ever needed.
Aiba smiled as he ruffled his hair, making Jun growl. He made a playful panicked look, before pecking his boyfriend on the cheek. “Sorry. You look handsome, though, you know?”
Jun hit him on the back of the head with a grim smile before Aiba was able to close the door behind him. Jun sighed as he looked back at Nino, making sure he looked okay when there was a knock at the door.
“Your mother. I’ll leave you two alone.”
“Thanks Jun. For everything.”
“Sure thing. And if you really forget something I will hex it in your mind,” Jun promised with a wink.
Nino chuckled as he nodded and smiled brighter when Kazuko came in after exchanging a few words with Jun. “Hey, mum.”
“Hello, darling. You look good,” she said. “A bit pale, though. Nervous?”
“Very,” Nino whispered as she closed her arms around him and rocked him a bit from side to side.
“My baby has grown so much,” she mumbled as she stepped back a little to look into his face. She rubbed his cheek, smiling softly.
Nino stared at her for a moment before moving closer and hugging her tightly. “Is this the right choice?”
“You love him.”
“Yes,” he whispered. “More than I could ever think possible. When he looks at me like he can’t help himself, I want to be the person he loves so much forever.”
“Then it’s the only choice there ever was, Kazunari. I always knew that you would do whatever you thought right, and I was sure that you would always find the right way.”
Nino smiled a little as he took a deep breath.
“It’s time. Let’s go. You don’t want to let him wait, right?”
“Right,” Nino whispered.
Kazuko kissed his forehead as she linked their arms. They stepped out of the room, Nino had gotten ready in and wandered together to the front. Nino’s smile got wider when shortly before him, Ohno appeared in front of the priest, waiting for him.
His mother squeezed his hands as he handed him over to Ohno, who opened his hands readily when Nino stood in front of him.
Ohno’s hands were warm around his even if they were slightly wet, showing how nervous Ohno was really even if he looked as calm as ever.
That knowledge though relaxed him fully. He smiled when Ohno placed a small kiss on his hand before both looked at the man in front of him. For Nino, the whole ceremony was like a dream. A dream where everybody was just a blur with only Ohno in focus. He didn’t remember Ohno’s vows fully, neither did he know if he ever managed to say his correctly, what he remembered was the cheer going up around him when Ohno turned back to him and how their lovely rose on the altar seemed to glow even more brightly then ever.
Nino remembered the dark brown eyes that were so deep and in love as they came closer and the warm, moist lips on his own when his eyes fell closed. It was just a touch of lips against lips, but the fluttering of his heart told him exactly what this really meant. And he knew with certainty that this bond they waved today would really be forever.