I Don't Care (10/12)
Author: ryosukekoibito
Pairing: Hikabu, with some side Takachii, and other side pairings to come!
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Summary: Hikaru had a great life. He had two great jobs, fun and caring friends, and an amazing boyfriend that he loved more than anything in the world. Life was good, but it would be perfect if Takaki would just stop calling during his make out sessions with Kota.
A/N: So! This fic is part of a project my sister
thanku4urlove and I have been working on. It ties in with two other multi-chaps: I Do, and I Don’t. If you’d like to get some other perspectives on the same series of events, please check her stories out! I Do is from Chinen’s POV, and I Don’t is from Takaki’s.Previous Chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
Hikaru didn't really get a chance to start looking at rings until the following Tuesday, once Kota had left for school. He kissed his boyfriend goodbye, and then―once he was sure Kota had gone―he got dressed and slipped out the door, locking their empty apartment behind himself. Anticipation filled his chest as he got onto his train, wallet heavy in his pocket. The anticipation only grew as the train left the platform, and it continued a constant feeling in his chest all of the way into town. Hikaru had decided to go downtown once he'd gotten the money to buy Kota's ring a while ago. He'd already browsed what felt like every jewelry store within walking distance of their apartment building, and while he'd seen plenty of pretty rings, none of them jumped out at him, or made him feel like they were quite what he was looking for.
Most engagement rings, Hikaru was coming to realize, were made for women. The ones made for men were usually thick and plain, and Hikaru found them to be less unique, or meaningful in his eyes, and on the whole unfitting of his Kota. But Kota―as a man―deserved something made for a man. But he also deserved something beautiful, something that held the unmistakable promise of marriage and lifelong love. Hikaru wanted a proper engagement ring, and he stepped off of the train determined to find one.
He shopped for hours, using a preprepared list of places he'd determined as the most promising through some research online, and he walked from store to store, taking notes and asking lots of questions in each place. He looked at what felt like hundreds of different rings, but to his disappointment his findings at these places were much like those at the jewelry stores closer to home. All rings made for men just seemed too bulky for Kota's delicate fingers, their weight amazingly heavy, and while some did have diamonds, all of them had stones that seemed dwarfed by the band they were embedded in. While his findings were slightly frustrating, he went home just as determined to find the ring. He would find it, and once he did, he'd know.
The next day when he wasn't trying to figure out a clever way to get Kota's ring size was spent working instead on his proposal ideas. He had three that he was debating between, all of which he liked a great deal, but all of which required very different planning, and a different budget. To help himself try and narrow it down to one idea, he checked the calendar. Their anniversary was on a Tuesday this year. Damn it! Kota had his university classes that day.
"Kota?" He asked, putting on his best, most innocent voice. His boyfriend looked up from where he'd been texting Takaki, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
"What are you going to try and convince me to do, Hika?" He asked. Hikaru dropped the act, going over and sitting next to his boyfriend, taking his hand.
"Skip school."
"Why?" Yabu seemed bewildered by the request, but Hikaru could also see him gearing up for a lecture about how education was important and as a man he had a responsibility to follow through with his commitments by doing his best. Hikaru twined their fingers together, giving an honest answer.
"It's just one day. Our anniversary." Kota sighed, immediately adopting an apologetic look on his face, and he looked down at their intertwined fingers, his brushing gently over Hikaru's knuckles as he thought about Hikaru's request. Hikaru was glad that Kota was genuinely considering what he was asking of him, but he knew even before his boyfriend opened his mouth what Kota's decision was, and it wasn't in his favor.
"Hika...I'm sorry, but...I just can't." Hikaru tried to act like it wasn't a big deal, nodding and leaning in to kiss Yabu on the cheek, knowing that the older man felt guilty―as he always did―when he declined anything Hikaru genuinely asked of him. Hikaru smiled, but internally he was cursing, frustrated. He hadn't planned on Kota being at school for most of the day. None of his ideas could accommodate that. He would have to start all over again, from scratch.
Hikaru had been completely focused on his planning, and on his relationship with Kota, and he had completely forgotten about Takaki's newfound crush on Chinen until that Friday, when after rehearsal Inoo said
"So. Guess what Takaki did." Hikaru didn't miss the opportunity to tease their singer, asking
"Do we care?" Takaki played along, pouting jokingly at him, and declaring
"Fine. I won't tell you guys." His statement was made null in seconds however, when Inoo said
"Takaki confessed to Chinen." The words spilled out all jumbled together, and it took Hikaru a moment to comprehend what exactly had been said, shocked by this unexpected turn of events. He wasn't the only one, Daiki practically yelling in surprise, Yuto positively speechless, his mouth hanging open slightly. Kota had his eyes wide, the way he did when he was comprehending something unexpected, his brain racing, and after a moment he said
"We thought it would take at least a month for you to do something. But a week?" Takaki seemed thoroughly pleased with himself, a huge grin on his face, and he just shrugged in response to Yabu's question. It was in this break that Yuto seemed to gain his wits, asking
"So? How did it go?" All eyes were on Takaki, even Inoo declaring that he didn't know, and suddenly the singer looked just a bit less confident, rubbing as the back of his neck in a slightly embarrassed manner, before saying
"Well...I kind of... I kissed him and he yelled at me." Hikaru just blinked, trying to imagine that scenario. It was gutsy, but it was also―
"Takaki! All you had to do was not do anything stupid, and what do you do? Something stupid!" It seemed as if Inoo had been reading his mind, their keyboardist almost indignant. But Takaki didn't back down, saying
"I don't know how stupid it was, because I have a date tomorrow." Hikaru shared a quick look with Kota, amazed and amused that Takaki's idiotic confession had worked, and Kota seemed to share his thoughts, a grin on his face. Yuto meanwhile, was pouting, and the young drummer said
"Don't scare us like that."
"So? Are you nervous?" Hikaru found himself asking, and from there the conversation covered nothing but Takaki's plans for his first date with Chinen. It seemed that he had put a great deal of thought into it, and Hikaru was pleased to see just how committed Takaki seemed to this concept of him actually being in a relationship with his husband. Luckily, judging on the kisses and giggles they were treated to watching from the two in the weeks to come, it seemed that Takaki's planning had payed off, their singer thoroughly entranced by his little husband, his eyes lighting up whenever the younger man entered the room.
When Hikaru wasn't in full proposal planning mode, new things were happening with the band. To everyone's delight, their little group of friends had grown to ten, now completely including Chinen, Yamada, Keito, and Ryutaro. Ryutaro especially was immensely enjoyed by Kota, who took to treating the teen like the younger brother he'd never had. Hikaru caught Yabu wrestling the kid to the ground a few times over childish things, laughing and whining. Hikaru figured it was good that his boyfriend had someone besides Inoo to behave immaturely with. But with the inclusion of the three new boys into their little circle came other new benefits, and it was through Keito's hospitality that they found themselves recording some of their songs for the first time ever.
The quiet young man had offered up the full recording studio he had in his home for their use one day offhandedly, and they had jumped at the opportunity. It was long, tough work, and Hikaru knew he was extremely picky about the process, but they all seemed to be having a lot of fun, even Daiki getting in on the activity, playing around with Keito's sound board and getting himself familiar with it. Perhaps, at this rate, they could sell some of their music one day.
A week before their anniversary, everything finally fell into place. Hikaru had been out to get new strings for his bass when he looked down into the shop next to the music store's front window and froze. That was it. The perfect ring, the ring he'd been looking for. It was definitely made for a man, the band in that similar thick style, but it wasn't as wide as they usually were, and there in the center was a decently sized, real, proper diamond, sparkling innocently up at him and drawing a smile to his face. It was beautiful, and he could just see it resting on Kota's finger, and so before he knew it he found himself inside the shop, forking over the cash without any question. He'd pay whatever they wanted, as long as he got that ring. And, to his utter delight, he did, leaving the store with a little navy blue velvet box in his pocket, his heart pounding in his chest in anticipation.
In the next few days his plans were finalized, and suddenly the only thing Hikaru had to do was wait. Waiting was worse than planning. He was excited, anxiously chomping at the bit; the anticipation, and-if he was being completely honest with himself-the fears, were keeping him up at night. His thoughts raced over his plan repeatedly, trying to imagine what he was going to do, and more importantly, how Kota was going to react. Yet despite his sleepless nights and the butterflies buzzing in his chest-so constant now was to make him slightly nauseous-dragging each day on, Tuesday rolled around, and suddenly it was the day.
He'd ended up staying up until the early hours of the morning, unable to shut his brain down and just sleep. As consequence he didn't wake to Kota's alarm like he usually did. Instead he was woken by a warm hand on his cheek and Kota's familiar voice murmuring in his ear.
"Hikaru. Look at me; its morning." Slowly Hikaru cracked his eyes open, his brain still fuzzy with sleep, and he was met with the sight of Kota smiling down and him, and his boyfriend murmured "Happy anniversary." Oh. Wow. Today marked ten years. Ten years of being with Kota, of loving Kota. He felt an answering smile growing on his own face, and he said
"Happy anniversary to you too." He pulled himself to a sitting position, blinking away the last remnants of sleep, and they leaned in for a kiss, meeting each other halfway. The kiss was long and sweet, and Hikaru whined when Yabu pulled back, the older man looking apologetic.
"I was going to let you sleep, but I just wanted to kiss you before I have to leave. It's already time...I have to go if I'm going to catch my train." Hikaru looked over at the clock, cursing when he realized just how late it was. Kota took his hand, giving it a small squeeze. "Sorry." Hikaru brushed off the apology at once, throwing the sheets off of his body and pulling himself to his feet.
"Have you eaten?" He asked, and Kota nodded, standing as well. He was already dressed, his school bag packed and waiting on the kitchen table. He truly had wanted to let Hikaru sleep, obviously having waited until the last minute before waking him up. Hikaru knew that his boyfriend had to go, but he wrapped his arms around Kota tightly, pulling him to his chest and burying his nose in his neck. Kota reciprocated the gesture more fiercely than Hikaru had expected, his thin arms binding Hikaru to him, and Hikaru felt his boyfriend's chest expand and contract rapidly, and heard him sigh.
"I don't want to go." Yabu murmured. There was a small pause, before he pulled back, his hands on Hikaru's shoulders, as he looked him seriously in the eyes. "I love you." Hikaru just nodded, and Kota smiled, leaving their bedroom to retrieve his bag and put on his shoes, and Hikaru followed him, giving him one last kiss on their doorstep, and saying in an almost pleading manner
"Hurry home." Kota smiled a small smile, nodding and fixing a stray hair on the top of Hikaru's head before leaving for class. Once he'd gone, Hikaru just stood there for a while, his mind racing, everything he needed to do, everything he was going to do today piling on top of each other and making him feel slightly panicked. So he sat down, ate breakfast, drank terrible coffee, and made himself a list. Once the list was complete, he got to work.
He started cooking, he made a few necessary phone calls, and once he got started he was swept up in the preparations, the hours flying by. It was mid afternoon before he realized that Kota would be home within an hour, and he was still in his underwear. He hopped in the shower, and then pulled out his nicest casual clothes, dressing up a bit for their date, but not enough that it would raise any suspicions. He was slipping the ring into his pocket, his stomach already churning slightly in an anxious anticipation, when he heard the door open, Kota announcing his return. Hikaru went to greet him, stopping him as he reached down to take off his shoes with a quick
"No! Don't―" Yabu sent him a questioning glance, but he left his shoes on, standing there in the doorway. Hikaru grabbed the picnic basket he'd prepared, slipping Kota's school bag off of his bony shoulder and depositing it on the floor right by the door. Yabu just watched, still obviously confused. "I...I have a surprise planned. For our anniversary." Hikaru's explanation drew a huge grin on Kota's face, and he obediently took Hikaru's hand, letting him lead as they left the house.
Kota began to ask questions once they got off the train back in their old neighborhood, as Hikaru began taking him through familiar streets, following a path they both knew all too well. They rounded a corner, and arrived back in front of their old middle school. The kids were just being let out, students all talking and joking as they left in a mob through the gate, and a few of them gave Hikaru and Yabu strange looks as they passed, but none said anything. Yabu's eyes were huge, and he turned to Hikaru, obviously completely taken by surprise.
"Hika, what's this?" Hikaru adjusted his grip on their picnic basket, smiling.
"A walk down memory lane. Don't worry, I called ahead of time and got permission for us to be here." He took a step inside. "Let's go." Yabu looked up at their old school, smiling a bit, and he nodded, and together they crossed the school grounds. Suddenly, Hikaru stopped as they were about halfway across the courtyard. Yabu gave him another bewildered look. "This―" He pointed to the ground he was standing on. "-is where I was standing the first time I saw you." He smiled, pointing over to another uninteresting portion of the open space. "You were right over there, showing off your soccer pins to some of the other kids."
Yabu groaned a bit in embarrassment but he was smiling, and he gave Hikaru's hand a squeeze before Hikaru led him up to their old classroom. Once they got there, Kota immediately skittered over to his old seat, plopping down in the desk chair. He giggled at the way his long legs sprawled out awkwardly from under the desk, before his attention was drawn to the surface, and he rubbed at it, saying
"Some kid wrote 'I love Jinguji' on my desk!" He declared, pouting a bit. Hikaru laughed, taking his own desk seat. It was much tinier than he remembered, the chair uncomfortable, with barely any space for his legs. They reminisced for a while about the kids in their class, before Hikaru stood again, walking over to the back corner by the door, taking Yabu and dragging him up too, positioning him specifically just outside of the doorway and announcing
"This was where we were the first time we talked to each other." Yabu looked over at him in surprise. "You had been kicking around a soccer ball in the hallway and one of your buddies kicked it and it hit me in the face." Yabu's eyes widened at the memory, one hand going to cover his mouth.
"That's right! You snapped at me!" He declared, and Hikaru frowned teasingly.
"Of course I did! You idiots hit me with your ball! I was upset!" Yabu laughed, nodding.
"True." By this point it was growing dark, the sun nearly set, and they basked in the last golden rays of light for a moment, before Yabu's stomach growled, and he looked down at it embarrassedly. "Hikaru, this is great, but...I'm hungry." Hikaru smirked, snatching the picnic basket back up from where he'd set it down on one of the desks, and said
"Then we'll have to go to that place!" Yabu immediately knew where he meant, leading the way this time to one specific staircase, and plopping down on the second step from the top, right where they had eaten lunch nearly every day during their middle school years. Hikaru sat down next to him, digging into the picnic basket and pulling out containers full of every type of lunch food he could think of, everything handmade cutely into nice shapes like hearts and animals and soccer balls. He also drew out two thermoses of tea, and as he laid out their meal, Kota's gaze swept over the feast with wide eyes.
"Hikaru, this is amazing!" Hikaru smiled, passing him his chopsticks.
"It's our anniversary."
"Still! I wasn't expecting all of this." Hikaru smiled, pleased that Kota seemed to be having such a good time, and he gestured to the food, willing him to eat. And so, he did. They ate as the sun went down, the stars coming out, and the school hallways got dark quickly, the building feeling a bit creepy and abandoned as they sat there by themselves. Hikaru felt a small shiver run down his spine. He hadn't really taken into account how the school's atmosphere would change over night, but it was fine. He hadn't planned on them staying inside the building any longer anyway.
They packed up the remnants of their dinner, and as they left the building Kota thanked him for such a wonderful surprise. Hikaru almost didn't hear him, the sound of his own heart racing in his ears drowning out his boyfriend's words. But he took Kota's hand, and he said
"We have one last stop." He dragged Yabu around to the back of the school building, to a small, plain but private patch of worn grass and dirt, illuminated by an exterior light attached to the side of the school building. And he knew that Kota remembered this place, but he said it anyway, letting himself untangle their fingers and pull away-depositing Kota right under the beam of the light, where he could see him perfectly-taking a few steps and turning around to face him. "This is the place that I confessed my feelings for you." He murmured. Kota nodded, and Hikaru felt as if his stomach was trying to eject itself out of his throat, because this was it. He took a deep breath, and another, and then he continued.
"Now last time I wasn't as direct as I needed to be to make you understand. Last time wasn't quite good enough the first time around. I'm not going to make that mistake again; I don't want you yelling at me." He added the last bit as a bit of a joke, but Kota could sense how nervous he was, and the older man didn't laugh, his eyes wide. Hikaru pushed on. "This time I'm just going to tell you how I feel." Kota nodded, frozen in place.
"I feel like this. Kota, you complete my life. You make me whole and you keep me patient and you remind me that life is supposed to be fun. You brighten every day, and you help me to realize who I am, and you help me to be who I want to be. You have shaped me into the person I am now, and you have done it all with nothing but love and kindness, and I am so grateful for you." He paused, noticing that tears were slipping slowly and silently down Kota's cheeks, and he felt tears of his own building in his eyes, and the next words came out rather croaky.
"I wouldn't know what to do without you." He murmured, and he reached into his pocket, fingers clutching the tiny velvet box, and he continued. "I don't ever want to be without you, Kota. I love you. I love you more than I've ever loved anyone or anything else in my entire life, and so..." Slowly he knelt down, one knee burying into the grass, and as he did Kota let out a choked gasp, one hand covering his mouth, the tears still pouring down his cheeks. Hikaru got the little box out, gently opening the lid, so that the diamond could sparkle in the light of the moon and the slightly yellow glow of the school light. And then he asked "Yabu Kota, will you marry me?"
That was when Kota completely broke down, his silent tears becoming loud sobbing, but he was smiling, and he said
"Yes. Oh, Hikaru-" That was all he managed to get out before Hikaru had barreled into him, pulling him into a fierce hug, his face buried into Hikaru's shoulder. Kota clung to him, still crying, and despite himself Hikaru felt a tear or two roll down his own cheeks. Finally after a minute or two, Yabu pulled himself together, and Hikaru took his hand, gently slipping the ring on his finger. It looked perfect. It looked positively amazing. "Hikaru." He looked up into his boyfriend-no-fiancé's eyes, and Kota just said "I love you." Hikaru wiped his cheeks, and he leaned in for a kiss, and in that moment he was the happiest he had ever been in his entire life.
Corresponding Chapters:
I Do | I Don't
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