[Fic] First of Many
Jin absentmindedly fixed his clothes and hair, preening nervously before making a somewhat hesitant, but confident, knock on the door. His hand went back to fixing his hair after rapping three times on the hard surface, trying to tame a particularly wayward curl.
It’s just Kazuya, he attempted to calm himself.
But today wasn’t just any day. Today was he and Kame’s one year anniversary, and Jin felt responsible for making sure it went perfectly. He had made several plans for them; first he would take Kazuya to that movie he had been wanting to see so badly, then out to dinner at Kame’s favourite restaurant, and then finally an evening of shopping and whatever other little whim may cross Kame’s mind that evening.
He had texted Kame about an hour ago, and he had replied that he was getting ready, so Jin was hoping that he actually would be ready so they could leave right away; Jin’s nervousness was only increasing with every passing minute he spent doing nothing.
Jin heard a muffled ‘coming’ from inside the apartment and smiled to himself. I’ll bet he’s beyond beautiful tonight, he thought dreamily, before again pulling at his clothes in yet another burst of self-consciousness.
Kame had moved into this apartment less than a month ago, and Jin found it exhilarating to know that it would always be Kame answering the door rather than his parents or one of his brothers. No need for awkward small talk when he came to take Kazuya out on a date.
He smiled brightly when the door finally opened, revealing Kame-in an old tank top and sweat pants, his hair pulled back in a sloppy ponytail, eyeliner around only one eye, and his cell phone against his ear.
Kame absentmindedly ushered Jin inside with one arm, turning away from him and pacing into the kitchen, attention focused on whoever was on the other line of the phone, repeatedly voicing assurances to whoever it was.
Jin frowned. Of course Kame wasn’t ready yet. That would have been too easy.
“No no, Nii-chan, it’s really okay. Yeah I know. Not a problem, really.” Kame was saying, one hand waving around in gestures that whichever brother of his was on the other line couldn’t see.
Jin had a bad feeling about this, and that bad feeling, in addition to his nervousness, was making his stomach upset. He wandered into the kitchen and opened the refrigerator, hoping Kame had something in there that might calm his nerves down.
“Sure thing. Half an hour then. I assure you it’s fine. Uh huh. Bye.” Kame finally turned to Jin as he flipped his phone shut, scratching the back of his head nervously.
“Everything okay?” Jin asked, before taking a swig out of a beer he had stolen from Kame’s refrigerator.
Kame cleared his throat. “All right, um, please don’t be mad, okay?”
Jin lowered his beer; stared at Kame. He wasn’t making any promises.
“Yuichiro is really in a bind. Apparently his wife is off visiting her parents and he just got called in to an emergency business trip for work.” Kame paused. “He uh, needs someone to look after Mieko-chan…”
“Kazuuuuuuuu!” Jin whined, lifting his head to the ceiling and howling his displeasure. “Why us?! Can’t he get a babysitter?”
“Not on such short notice.”
“But… For how long would we have to watch her?”
“Just until tomorrow morning.”
“But-“
“I’m not happy about this either, Jin, but he’s my brother and he needs our help right now...”
“But-“
Kame gave him a look.
“What about your parents? Or one of your other brothers?”
Kame rubbed his forehead, obviously not happy with Jin’s reaction. “He doesn’t want to bother our parents again when they just babysat for him a few days ago. And he didn’t say it directly but I get the feeling he already received a rude refusal from Koji.”
“Stupid Koji.” Jin grumbled.
“Don’t make this harder than it already has to be, Jin.”
Jin sighed again, sitting down at a seat at the table. “It’s just… this is our first anniversary…” he said softly.
Kame moved to stand behind him, stroked his hair softly. “I know, Jin. Yuichiro doesn’t know that though. If he did I’m sure he wouldn’t have asked us.”
Jin merely shrugged.
“I’ll make it up to you. I promise.”
Jin nodded, sighed.
“Besides, you like little Mieko-chan. You’ll have fun today.”
Jin mumbled a dubious agreement.
Kame kissed his temple then made his way to the bedroom, changing into a t-shirt and jeans and removing his eyeliner. The ponytail remained in place. Mieko-chan seemed to have a fixation with pulling on it lately.
-
It wasn’t long before there was another knock on the door with a profusely apologising Yuichiro and a cute little girl on the other side. The girl’s father was gone within seconds, leaving the five year old with a forcefully cheerful Kame and a slightly grumpy Jin.
The little girl, however, was completely oblivious to any tension among them and greeted them both enthusiastically, demanding a piggyback ride from each of them.
“Want up Unca Kazya!” Mieko-chan bounced up to Kame eagerly as he quickly scooped her up, spinning her around.
“There’s my little Mieko-chan! You’re getting so big sweetheart!”
The little girl nodded in adamant agreement. “I’m five now Unca Kazya! I’m going to start school soon!”
“Yes you are!” Kame agreed cheerfully, finally setting the little girl back on her feet when it seemed like the floor was spinning on its own.
Mieko-chan however seemed completely unaffected and quickly approached Jin, who was leaning against the wall looking decidedly crabby. “Now you spin me Unca Jin!” the five year old demanded.
“Uncle Kazuya just spun you around, Mieko-chan.”
“Want Unca Jin to spin me too!” When Jin again refused, a pitiful pout formed on Mieko-chan’s face aimed toward Jin.
Jin pouted back.
Kame rolled his eyes.
After a brief pouting contest, Jin was very quickly one over by the little girl and was spinning her around happily, a bright smile on his face. Kame couldn’t help but smile back at them, glad that Jin seemed to be won over for the moment.
-
“But I was going to take you to that Italian restaurant you love so much!”
“You know we can’t take Mieko-chan there. She wouldn’t eat anything there anyway. I can just cook.”
“You can’t cook on our anniversary!”
“Well we can’t just go out-“
“Can we go to McDonald’s Unca Kazu?!” Mieko-chan piped in, “I want to play in the big pool of balls!”
Both men turned to the little girl, who was insistently pulling on Kame’s shirt. “I don’t know…” Kame said.
“Pwease?!!” Mieko-chan’s eyes were wide.
Kame sighed, and glanced at Jin.
“Oh you have got to be kidding me.” Jin rubbed his eyes.
“What’s the use of having a niece if I can’t spoil her?”
“But on today of all days….”
“Pwease!!”
Jin sighed, there was no winning against this child.
This wasn’t at all what Jin had pictured his anniversary dinner with Kazuya to be; sitting in a nearby McDonald’s, at a small wobbly table, Mieko-chan playing in the play-area behind them, eating a shrimp burger and fries-as well as a second beer he had brought from Kame’s apartment. Not at all what he had pictured for their first anniversary.
Jin looked up when he felt Kame’s hand on his, an apologetic look in his boyfriend’s eyes.
“I’m sorry about this. I know this isn’t how you pictured tonight…”
Jin fingers tightened around Kame’s. “It’s not your fault.” He said softly, giving Mieko-chan a glance. “Besides, I enjoy seeing her so happy, playing like that. It makes me feel happy too.”
Kame smiled softly at him. “I know it does.” He glanced at his niece. “She makes all our lives brighten up.”
Their eyes locked once more, and Jin cursed the fact that they were in a public place, because this was the most romantic the night had been so far, and the urge to kiss Kazuya was nearly unbearable.
A sudden scream snapped them both out of out of their romantic trance and both men quickly stood up when they heard Mieko-chan calling for them.
“Mieko-chan?! What’s wrong sweetie?!” Kame called from the tunnel entrance to the play area. They couldn’t see the little girl, could only hear her from deep within the play tunnels.
“My foot’s caught in a net! Help me out Unca Kazu!”
“Are you hurt? Do you think you sprained your ankle or anything?”
“I don’t know!” the little girl whined. “It hurts!”
“I’ll go get her.” Jin said, deeply concerned for the little girl himself as well as upset by the obvious worry on Kame’s face.
Kame nodded gratefully at him. “Okay. But be careful.”
Jin nodded, getting on his hands and knees at the tunnel’s entrance and crawling through. “Where are you, Mieko-chan?” he called out when he came to an intersection of three other tunnels.
“I’m over here Unca Jin!” the little girl cried, voice coming from somewhere above Jin.
She would be up higher. “Okay I’m coming!” Jin crawled through one of the tunnels that he hoped was closest to the little girl’s location, eventually coming to an area of several staggered platforms that led gradually upward. Jin shimmied and crawled up with difficulty, painfully aware that this equipment was not made for people of his size.
Upon reaching the top, he called for the little girl again, and followed her cries into another series of tunnels. He nearly cursed out loud when he finally spotted his boyfriend’s niece on the other side of a huge pool of plastic balls, her foot caught in the netting on the other side.
“Did you find her?!” Kame’s anxious voice shouted from somewhere below them.
“Yeah I found her. I’ll get her out.”
“Be careful!” Kame reminded him again, and Jin wondered briefly if he was more concerned for him now.
He plunged into the ball pool, causing Mieko-chan to giggle slightly despite herself when Jin slipped and fell face first into the pile. He struggled to his feet, and paced determinedly towards Mieko-chan, gently releasing her foot from the netting upon reaching her.
“Does it hurt?”
She nodded.
Jin ran his hand over her ankle to make a quick assessment of the damage. It wasn’t broken, of that he was sure. He gently rotated the ankle, asking her to tell him if it hurt. She whimpered slightly, but Jin was fairly certain it wasn’t a sprain, just twisted a little. “You’re going to be okay, Mieko-chan. Come on, let’s get you out of here.”
He glanced around. He was not carrying her through that damn ball pool. He glanced through the tunnel on their side, relieved when he saw a slide. “Can you crawl?”
She nodded, and together they made their way over to the slide. “Kame!”
“Yes?!” he sounded very anxious now.
“I’m sending her down the slide! Catch her okay?”
“Got it!”
Jin helped her get situated and gently pushed her down, letting out a relieved sigh when he heard her giggling when Kame caught her and spun her around at the bottom.
“She’s down!” Kame called out to him. “Can you come down that way as well?”
Jin looked at the size of the tunnel dubiously. “Not unless I wanted to extremely embarrass myself by getting stuck halfway through it! I’ll find another way down!”
He glanced around, suddenly feeling ridiculously small among all the twists and tunnels. He crawled through in search of an exit; there had to be some other way out of here.
Instead of finding an exit, Jin found a group of little girls, no older than Mieko-chan, who all seemed very unsettled by an adult man’s presence among them. When he opened his mouth to greet them, and assure them he wasn’t going to attack them, one of the girls screamed, which caused the other girls to scream, which nearly caused Jin to scream.
He crawled away as quickly as he could, but their screams and wails persisted. Where the hell is the damn exit to this place?
“Jin?! Are you okay?!”
Jin was a bit relieved to hear Kame’s voice. “Yeah, just a slight misunderstanding is all!”
“Where are you?!”
Jin didn’t answer, couldn’t answer.
“Jin?!”
“I’m not sure okay?!”
“Maybe I should call someone-“
“No! I’m fine! I’ll be down in a minute!” Jin cried desperately as he turned into yet another tunnel. His knees were starting to hurt, and he could hear -and feel- chaos from children in the other tunnels who were now apparently also aware of his presence. He started feeling a little unnerved when he could not only find an exit, but when the tunnels without warning changed colour.
What the hell does that mean?!
Jin pictured himself crawling around for hours and popping out of a tunnel of a McDonald’s somewhere in the middle of China.
Kame was wringing his hands anxiously at the entrance to the play area, Mieko-chan sitting behind him quietly munching on her dinner with an icepack on her ankle.
Jin was almost assuredly lost. Of that Kame was certain, but he had no idea what to do about it. He would have gone after Jin several minutes ago if it weren’t for Mieko-chan, but he was stuck outside not knowing what to do.
Kame was about to just throw Jin’s pride to the wind and go for help when he saw two, rather large men from the management make their way to another entrance to the play area, a small megaphone in one of the men’s hand.
One of the men crouched at the entrance with the megaphone in his hand, and Kame belatedly noticed there were several crying children being comforted by their mothers in that area.
“SIR, WHOEVER YOU ARE WE ARE GOING TO HAVE TO ASK YOU TO REVEAL YOUR POSITION AND EXIT THE PLAY AREA IMMEDIATELY.” one of the men called out into the play area.
Kame buried his face in his hands and groaned.
Jin’s eyes widened when he heard the man with the megaphone. They must think he was some kind of pervert, climbing in with the children and scaring them. This was just great.
“I WILL ASK YOU ONCE MORE. REVEAL YOUR POSITION.”
“I’m over here! I can’t find a way out!” Jin cried out, suddenly not sure if he wanted to be found or remain lost forever.
-
Ten minutes and some severe damage to dignity later, Jin was finally escorted out of the play area, (Mieko-chan had clapped.) Kame did his best to explain that the reason Jin was in there was to rescue his niece and not to assault poor innocent little children, and thankfully they successfully avoided having the police called and instead were politely told to leave, since their presence was still unnerving many parents.
The ride home consisted of Mieko-chan re-telling her injury story and Jin drowning his embarrassment in his beer, pouting when he found it empty.
When they returned to Kame’s apartment Mieko-chan was still chatting excitedly and Jin immediately raided Kame’s fridge for another beer. Kame sighed and rubbed his eyes tiredly, searching through his cupboards for some much needed tea, groaning when he found none.
“Jin, did you drink all my tea again?” he asked, obviously exasperated.
Jin mumbled something but wouldn’t look at him, taking another determined swig of his beer.
Kame sighed, and taking a look at his cupboards again noticed that he really didn’t have much in there at all, including children’s cereal, (which was all at Jin’s apartment at the moment.) Mieko-chan would need something for breakfast tomorrow morning, and he was not in the mood for cooking.
“I’m going to have to run out and buy some food.” Kame said to a still unresponsive Jin. “Watch her while I’m gone okay?”
When Jin still didn’t respond, Kame approached him, tilted his chin to face him, and pecked his lips. “It’s all right, Jin. It could happen to anyone.”
“But it didn’t! It happened to me!” Jin yanked his chin out of Kame’s grip and pouted. “It’s embarrassing okay?!”
Kame couldn’t help but chuckle a bit. “Aw don’t be upset baby.” He stubbornly pecked Jin’s lips again, who this time responded slightly, a small smile appearing on his face. “I’ll be back in a little while okay?”
Jin nodded, leaning in for another kiss. Kame obliged for a moment before gently pushing Jin away, who whined a little but smiled anyway, before leaving the apartment.
Jin sighed and moved to Kame’s freezer, looking for the quart of chocolate ice cream he had stashed there a few days ago. Beer and ice cream: the perfect comfort foods.
In a slightly better mood, Jin found Mieko-chan in the living room with a colouring book, and she greeted him brightly when she saw him.
“Wanna see my picture Unca Jin?” she asked hopefully.
Jin nodded, always eager to play with children.
“Can I have ice cream too Unca Jin? The little girl asked when she noticed Jin’s treat, with wide eyes and a big hopeful grin on her face.
Jin easily complied, letting her have as much as she wanted. Like Kame had said, what was the use of having an adorable niece if he couldn’t spoil her?
They played and ate happily together, Kame returning about an hour later to see them both giggling hysterically on the kitchen floor over absolutely nothing.
“Jin, what on earth have you been doing?”
“Kazu!! We missed you!” Jin unsteadily stood up and embraced Kame, attempting to kiss him and missing, twice.
Kame’s face scrunched up at Jin’s breath. “Are you drunk?!”
Jin snorted, and spit a little. “No!”
Kame’s eyes narrowed and he eyed the three beer cans on the table. “How many have you had?”
“Two.” Jin said straight-faced.
Kame sighed, bending down to pick up his niece from the floor, who was still giggling. “And what’s gotten into you, princess?”
“Me and Unca Jin had aish cweme!”
Kame’s eyes widened. “How much ice cream?!”
The little girl shrugged and giggled again.
“Jin!” Kame shouted, glaring at his boyfriend. “You know how hyper Mieko-chan gets on sugar! She’s going to be up all night!”
“Hey! She wanted the beer too! Ask me if I gave her that!”
Kame sighed again, putting Mieko-chan down, before asking, “…did you?”
“NO!”
“Okay okay, calm down. I don’t know how wasted you are.”
“Only had three.” Jin grumbled, before hiccupping and muttering something about how Kame was just jealous because he was still too young to drink.
-
The rest of the evening was spent watching several re-runs of Gokusen 2 at Mieko-chan’s request, who seemed to find the entire show absolutely hilarious on her sugar high.
When she finally showed some signs of tiring out, Kame quickly put her to bed in his guest room, tucking her in and praying to God she fell asleep quickly.
Jin had sobered up some by that point, mostly due to the fact that hopeful signs of doing anniversary type activities were finally appearing. He kissed Kame fiercely once their bedroom door was shut and locked, moaning when he felt Kame respond eagerly.
They fell down together on the bed, blissfully happy to be able to make out finally on their first anniversary, hands already eagerly slipping under each other’s clothes.
“Finally.” Jin sighed, kissing Kame’s jaw. “Thought we’d never be alone…”
Kame nodded in agreement, moaning when Jin bit into his shoulder. “Happy one year anniversary, Jin-kun.”
Jin smiled. “You too, Kazu-chan,” he said, lifting Kame’s shirt off of him and kissing him deeply once more. They remained kissing for several minutes, in no hurry to rush this; tonight was special after all.
A sudden scream caused their eyes to fling open, and Jin had to suppress a scream of frustration himself.
“Unca Kazya!!” Mieko-chan cried out as she ran quickly to their bedroom and knocked repeatedly on the door.
Kame stood and hurriedly pulled on his shirt before opening the door. “What’s wrong, Mieko-chan?”
“I had a bad dream!” she wailed, frightened tears in her eyes.
Kame bent down to pick her up, sighing to himself as he realised this was probably another side-effect of the ice cream. “It’s okay, sweetheart. I’m right here. Nothing’s going to hurt you.” He cooed as he rocked her gently.
“Can I sleep with you tonight?” the little girl asked, glancing back and forth from Kame to Jin, eyes full of hope.
Kame gave Jin a glance.
Jin gave a soft sigh. “Of course you can, Mieko-chan.” He said gently. “I can go sleep in the guest room-“
“No! Stay here Unca Jin!” Mieko-chan’s eyes widened at the thought of Jin leaving. “Want both of you!”
Jin smiled at that, hugged the little girl to him when Kame set her down on the bed. “Then I wouldn’t dream of leaving.”
Kame got back into bed and snuggled closer to the both of them, kissing his niece’s temple to help calm her down.
“Tell me a bed-time story?” she requested.
Kame didn’t really know any bed-time stories, but it turned out he didn’t need any when Jin immediately dived into a tale about a red turtle named Ryu who wanted to live up to his name and become a dragon, so he followed the advice of the village idiot (who was known for his terrible puns) and climbed up to the top of a pink mountain to talk to the wise old man with the very large nose. Jin was just getting to the part of the scary fairy who could beat people up when Kame dozed off.
-
Kame woke up alone the next morning, and staggered into the kitchen to see Mieko-chan munching contentedly on the cereal he had bought the night before, with Jin next to her with an ice-pack on his head.
Without a word Kame got a glass of water and aspirin for Jin, who always complained it hurt too much to retrieve aspirin for himself. Once Jin had downed the pills obediently, Kame collapsed into the chair beside him, running a hand through his hair.
“Yuichiro should be here to pick her up pretty soon.” He said, receiving a nod from Jin. “Did you have fun, Mieko-chan?”
The little girl nodded eagerly, her mouth still full. “I wish I could stay with Unca Kazya and Unca Jin!” she exclaimed, milk running down her chin and a bright smile on her face.
Kame’s face melted into a tender smile at her; a part of him wished she could stay as well.
When the telephone began to ring loudly throughout the apartment, Jin whimpered pathetically and pressed the icepack tighter to his head, while Kame quickly hurried to answer it.
“Moshi moshi.” He said quietly to not cause Jin any more pain than necessary.
“Kazuya? It’s Yuichiro.”
“Ah Nii-chan. Are you on your way?”
“Not exactly, I’m kind of tied up at the moment. Could you drop Mieko-chan off at my place? I’m really sorry to have to trouble you again…”
Kame was not particularly please at the thought of going out this early, but did not want to trouble his brother. “No no, it’s okay. We’ll bring her over right away.”
“We? Jin-kun is coming too then?”
“Yes, if that’s okay.”
“Of course it is. Thanks Kazuya. I really owe you.”
Yes, you do. “Not a problem, Nii-chan. See you soon.” Kame turned to Jin as he hung up.
Jin was already whining. “But I don’t want to go out now…”
“Jin, please, just help me out with this and I promise I won’t make you do anything for me for the rest of the day. Yuichiro’s place isn’t far, and I need your help carrying Mieko-chan’s things.”
Jin groaned, but compliantly stood up, helping the little girl gather her things.
Kame put a hand on Jin’s shoulder, and leaned in to whisper in his ear. “I’m very sorry I ruined our anniversary, sweetheart. I really will make this up to you.”
“Like I said, it’s not your fault. And…” Jin trailed off, glancing at the little girl wandering around picking up her toys, “…it really wasn’t exactly ruined, you know. Besides, it's not like this is our only anniversary ever; this is just the first of many, right?”
"Right." Kame smiled and kissed Jin’s temple.
Half an hour later they were outside Yuichiro’s apartment, ringing the bell.
“That’s strange.” Kame commented, when after the third ring still no one had answered. “He said he was home…”
“He would have told you if he needed us to watch her for another day right?”
“I really don’t understand….” Kame rapped loudly on the door, wondering if his brother was okay.
“I have a key.” Mieko-chan suggested, digging in her backpack and handing it to Kame once she had found it.
Kame unlocked the door and hesitantly stepped through, a bit unnerved when he noticed there were no lights on or any other signs of life. “Nii-chan…?” he called out.
Mieko-chan toddled in front of them, more familiar with the layout then the two of them, and was soon out of their sight.
“Is your brother an environmental freak of something?” Jin asked. “Why aren’t the lights on?” they stepped into the kitchen, and Jin fumbled for a light switch.
“SURPRISE!”
Both men staggered back in shock as they were greeted by Kame’s parents and brothers as well as Jin’s brother, all staring and smiling at them from inside the kitchen.
“HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!”
“HA?!” both Jin and Kame exclaimed in unison, beyond puzzled and confused. “But why-“
“I’m so sorry Kazuya!” Yuichiro apologised as he approached them. “I had no idea it was your anniversary until Koji told me last night! I never would have made you babysit if I had known.”
“Oh… It’s really fine, Nii-chan. But what-“
“So…” Yuichiro continued. “To make it up to you I decided to throw this little impromptu party for the both of you.” He gestured toward the table. “Including….”
“A reservation to Marco’s Italian restaurant,” Reio continued, “a gift card to the movie theatre-“
“And a coupon to make Yuichiro do whatever favour you need whenever you need it!” Yuya exclaimed, obviously taking great enjoyment out of that one.
Jin and Kame were speechless. Kame’s parents quickly greeted them and gave each of them a hug and congratulations, and Koji cut pieces of a small cake that they had bought earlier for everyone.
“I can’t believe this…” Kame said, a grateful smile on his face. “Thank you so much everyone.”
“Yes, thank you so much...” Jin finally managed to get out a few words.
Soon Kame and Jin were given what they wanted the most, the freedom to go and finally be alone together.
“I cannot believe they did all of that…” Kame stated again once they returned to his apartment.
“Me neither…” Jin said, chuckling. “I don’t even care about my headache anymore.”
Kame laughed at that, pulling Jin close to him. “I’m glad. We can focus on other things then.”
Jin smiled and glanced at the clock. “We still have several hours before our reservation…”
Kame grinned at him and leaned in for a kiss. “Happy anniversary, Jin.”
“Happy anniversary, Kazu.”
There were no more interruptions that day.
-
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A/N: Haven't written anything for a while simply because I have had NO ideas. If anyone has any requests or ideas I'd be glad to consider them.(just not TOO out there...)
This one isn't very well-written in some parts, so I apologise for that. I'm very tired. Hope you enjoy.
Comments= the warm fuzzy feelings