Chapter Text
beep beep beep beep beep
It’s the insistent sound of the alarm clock, and Horikawa blinks several times before he feels awake. He yawns and stretches, and smiles softly at the sleeping form of his husband next to him.
Horikawa playfully smacks Kane-san’s cheek, “Dear, wake up~!”. He only grumbles in response, and the new wife can’t help but giggle. Kane-san is a little weak in the mornings after all, but Horikawa finds it incredibly cute. His husband who is usually so cool and composed acting a little childish in the mornings always makes his heart beat a little faster.
Horikawa scoots his way out of bed, and after washing his face and changing, heads downstairs to prepare breakfast.
As he flips a large, fluffy omelette on the frying pan, he hears the shower start to run upstairs. Horikawa begins to hum as he sets the plates and cutlery down on the table, and fills a cup nearly to the brim with fresh orange juice. And, of course, the last touch is a large heart drawn on the omelette with ketchup. It’s important to begin a day with love!
Kane-san makes his way downstairs as Horikawa is washing the frying pan.
“Goodmorning, dear!” Horikawa smiles, “Are you awake now?”
Horikawa hears a faint tch .
“Morning,” the chair scrapes against the floor as he takes a seat at the table, and Horikawa hurries to put a mug of coffee in front of Kane-san, “Something smells good.”
Horikawa smiles, “I made your favorite today!”
Kane-san tsks , and there’s a mischievous grin on his face. “The omelette looks good, but you look even tastier.”
He grabs Horikawa around the waist, and sits him down on his lap.
“A-ah, Kane-san! You’ll be late to work! Don’t mess around, please!”
His smile only broadens, and he breaks off a piece of the omelette with the fork, and feeds it to Horikawa, who is still protesting.
Horikawa quiets down, but now his face is as red as the ketchup. He silently chews the bite in his mouth, and swallows it.
“That’s not fair, Kane-san! An attack like that this early in the morning!”
Kane-san only chuckles, “Get me another slice of toast.”
Horikawa pouts, and Kane-san pinches his cheek, “Please?”
“Fine, fine!” He gets off of Kane-san’s lap with a small jump. Horikawa pops a slice of bread into the toaster, and glances over at the clock on the range top.
“Oh my! Dear, you really will be late if you don’t leave now!”
“Is that so? I should get going then.” Kane-san gets up, and grabs his briefcase off the counter.
Horikawa runs after him, lunchbox in hand, “Don’t forget this!”
Kane-san takes it from Horikawa, who at that moment notices something terribly wrong.
“Dear!” Horikawa gasps loudly, “Your tie!”
Indeed, Kane-san’s tie is knotted incorrectly.
Kane-san leans down, “Fix it for me”
Horikawa blushes, “Fine, fine! But you can’t depend on me to do this forever!”
“Ehhhh? Why not, we’ll be together forever from now on, won’t we, Kunihiro.” His words tickle Horikawa’s hair.
Even though it’s been a month since they’ve been married, Horikawa still cannot get used to the sight of Kane-san in his suit and tie. He looks so dashing, and Horikawa’s fingers fumble a little as he knots Kane-san’s tie for him.
“All done, dear!” Horikawa looks up, and is met by Kane-san’s face directly in front of his. He closes his eyes slowly, and leans forward. This much is alright, isn’t it? A kiss as his husband leaves for work...it’s something that Horikawa has been dreaming of.
He feels Kane-san’s large hand on his head, ruffling his hair.
“I’ll be back late tonight. See you.”
The door clicks open, and then shut.
Horikawa sighs.
Maybe it was too much of him to ask, after all. Or maybe Horikawa did something wrong, and that’s why Kane-san won’t kiss him…
No, no, it’s probably nothing. Horikawa shakes his head, to clear away any negative thoughts, and gets started on his schedule for the rest of the day.
First things first, he clears the breakfast table, scrubbing each plate clean by hand. Kasen often reprimands him, don’t use the dishwasher, that’s lazy and a waste of water!
Horikawa’s not sure if he agrees with that, but it’s in his best interests to keep his Mother-in-law happy.
After that, Horikawa picks Kane-san’s clothes off the closet floor, and puts them back into place, neatly folded. Kane-san might be perfect, but he might also be just a little messy, but just a little. Horikawa finds it endearing, though. In fact, there isn’t anything that Horikawa doesn’t absolutely adore about his husband.
Now that the floor is all cleared, Horikawa begins to vacuum, nearly tripping over the cord in the process. Really, Horikawa is such a klutz! Kane-san often teases him about it, but it’s always with a smile, so Horikawa doesn’t mind at all.
Horikawa is a little lost in thought, and over the sound of the vacuum cleaner, it’s a little late once he notices the phone ringing. He misses the call, just barely, and it so turns out that there are four other missed calls showing on the call log, all from Kasen.
The phone rings right in his hands, and Horikawa jumps a little. He takes a small breath, and picks up.
“Hello, Mother!” He answers the phone as brightly as possible.
There’s an unamused exhale on the other side of the line before Kasen begins to speak, “Do you know how many times I’ve tried to reach you since this morning?”
“Ah, I was---”
But Kasen cuts him off, “I don’t care for something as inelegant as excuses! More importantly, is Izumi there? I must talk to him.”
“I’m sorry, Kane-san left to work already. I can pass your message on to him, if that’s alright with you?”
Kasen sighs again, “My poor Izumi...having to wake up this early for work. It must be causing him so much stress, what if his hair starts to fall out…”
“You”
“Y-yes! Mother!” Horikawa’s voice squeaks on the first syllable.
“Have you been feeding him properly? It’s your duty as a wife, you’ve been doing at least this much right? Please tell me that my Izumi’s wife isn’t so lazy as to not even prepare breakfast for him…”
“Yes, Mother, I made his favorite omelette for him this morning!” Horikawa regrets his answer the second it’s out of his mouth, but it can’t be helped, he doesn’t know how to lie.
The line goes silent, one second, two seconds, five.
“You made him an omelette for breakfast? What use is an omelette! How many times have I told you to make a balanced Japanese breakfast! My Izumi looks strong, but he’s a delicate boy! I won’t stand for you to be feeding him junk like that!”
“Yes, Mother, I’ll be careful from now on!” Horikawa hopes that his voice doesn’t shake.
“You had better be. Also, do something about that speech of yours. So not elegant, it grates against my ears to listen to you.”
Horikawa responds softer this time, “Yes, Mother.”
“Then that’s all.”
“Have a nice ---” The call ends abruptly before Horikawa finishes his sentence, making it the second time getting cut off.
He sighs.
Don’t get angry, don’t get angry,
he thinks
. It’s all for the best, isn’t it ? Kasen means well, I’m sure of it. I just need to try harder!
Even though he tries to assure himself, tears well up in his eyes.
“Uuu….” Horikawa sits down on the floor, phone still in his hand. But he doesn’t have much time to wallow in his misery, as the doorbell rings in the next instant, followed by four, quick consecutive knocks.
Horikawa gets to his feet, wipes his tears off his face, and gives himself a quick check in the hallway mirror before answering the door.
“Yo, Taishou!”
“Eh?” Horikawa’s not sure what to make of the man standing outside the door.
“Ah, sorry about that! It’s a bad habit! Anyhoo, Hello. I’m your doctor, and I’m here to pay you a special house visit.”
The man senses Horikawa’s confusion, as he pulls a business card out of his pocket and hands it to him.
Horikawa looks over it, Dr. Yagen Toushirou, the address listed is a clinic not even ten minutes from the house, he’s seen it several times. It seems legitimate enough, but something feels strange to Horikawa. He looks up at Dr. Yagen, meeting his gray eyes. The doctor smiles at him.
“Can I come inside?”
“Umm...Ah….Nobody is sick though…” Horikawa fumbles, this doctor’s eyes have a strange effect on him. It’s as if they see clearly right through him.
“It’s just a routine check up, don’t mind it! May I?”
Kane-san always says not to let strangers into the house...but he said he’s our doctor , Horikawa debates with himself. It’s fine, right? Forgive me, husband, just this once. Uwah...I don’t know what to do...
In the time that Horikawa spends fretting, Yagen has already slipped past him into the house, taken his shoes off, and made his way to the dining table. He sets his bag down, and that is when Horikawa realizes that it is quite rude to leave his guest waiting like that, it’s extremely bad manners to not serve your guests tea!
Horikawa hurries over, and puts water to boil.
While the kettle is on the stove, he sets cookies out on to a platter, and puts that down in front of the doctor.
“Please, have some.” Horikawa smiles, “I hope you’ll forgive my rudeness earlier.”
“Oh no, you’re fine! Don’t mind if I do!” Dr. Yagen reaches over, and picks a biscuit off the platter.
“Since it’s a house call, are you a personal doctor for the Kanesadas? My husband isn’t in at the moment…”
“Ah, something like that. But today, I’m here for you.” The doctor smiles, and Horikawa feels his heart skip a beat. Is he sick, after all?
The kettle begins to whistle, and so Horikawa doesn’t give any further thought to it.
He pours the tea carefully into plastic cups, and frowns. He really does wish that they had a nice tea set, but it hasn’t been long since they’ve moved in, so that also can’t be helped. There’s also the matter of Kasen refusing to let Kane-san inherit the family’s prized porcelain, but Horikawa prefers not to dwell on that.
The cup clinks very softly as Horikawa sets it in front of Dr. Yagen, and he reprimands himself. This kind of unnecessary noise is inelegant .
Yagen stirs in two teaspoons of sugar, and closes his eyes as he takes a sip.
The doctor’s coat is now off, its shoulders hanging off the back of the chair. It’s not as if Horikawa notices it intentionally, rather it can’t be helped, but weren’t the first four buttons of Dr. Yagen’s shirt properly closed before? Horikawa feels a blush start to spread on his cheeks. But Horikawa can not permit himself to have any kind of indecent thoughts, especially not when he already has such a fine man as a husband! He looks away, his gaze going anywhere but on the doctor.
“Delicious.”
“E-eeh?” Horikawa looks up from his feet, “The tea?”
“I wonder...” Yagen’s smile seems a little sly.
Horikawa’s heart skips a beat again. Perhaps he should get that checked out. But something about this doctor seems almost dangerous , Horikawa is unsure about consulting with him. Horikawa’s eyes stray again, to Dr. Yagen’s exposed skin.
Yes, this is much too dangerous.
Horikawa snatches the tea cup out of Yagen’s hand, and some of it spills onto his shirt.
“I-I’m sorry, Doctor, but I’ll have to ask you to leave!”
Horikawa turns around, to put the cup in the sink, and to grab a towel. Even if he’s asking the doctor to leave, it’s still rude to leave him with tea spilled all over his shirt!
But Yagen stops Horikawa, grabbing onto the end of the tie of Horikawa’s apron. The apron comes loose and flutters from the movement.
“O-oh my, what are you doing, doctor?”
“I told you, I’m here to pay a special house call..” Yagen whispers this directly into Horikawa’s ear, and the warm breath makes him feel nervous.
“I heard that you were…” Horikawa noticed it earlier, but he is suddenly all the more aware of just how nice the doctor’s voice is...it’s so deep…A part of Horikawa’s mind, that isn’t intoxicated with Yagen’s voice lets out an alarm. You can’t do this, Horikawa, you can’t do this, it’s saying. Do what?
“love sick…”
The teacup falls from Horikawa’s hand, and knocks against the wooden floor uselessly, before rolling away, spilling any remaining tea.
It’s when Yagen lightly kisses Horikawa’s ear that he finally finds his voice.
“Th-there’s no such thing!” he stammers out, “Please don’t touch me!”
Horikawa turns around, to face him.
“Hmmm~” Yagen has a strange expression on his face, “I wonder,”
“Wh-what is it?” Horikawa touches his ear, trying to rid of the warm sensation.
“Is your relationship with your husband alright, Madam?”
Horikawa’s eyes widen, how did Yagen, who he only met a few minutes ago, know this.
“My relationship with Kane-san is good!” Horikawa hopes that his voice doesn’t shake, and he repeats it again, “It’s very good! We...we’re lovey dovey everyday…!”
“Then...why are you crying?”
Horikawa doesn’t notice the tears that have started to spill down his face, and still tries to deny it, “There’s nothing wrong!”
He starts to cry harder, until his whole body shakes, and Yagen, taking a step forward, embraces him tightly.
“It’s ok, you know, if something is wrong, you can tell me. I’m your doctor, even if it’s heart ache, I’ll cure it.”
Horikawa leans into Yagen’s chest, sobbing heavily, “I lied doctor, I’m sorry. I love him so much...I love Kane-san so much...so much that it hurts...but even though we’re married...why won’t he kiss me…am I a bad boy...is that why.”
Yagen lifts Horikawa’s face up, holding it between both of his gloved hands, until their eyes meet, the young wife’s shining with tears.
“Even if he doesn’t love you, I will, in his place.”
“Even though I love Kane-san?”
“Even then.”
Yagen wipes Horikawa’s tears away, “But it would be nice if you’d love me too, just a little.”
“Ah...That’s..”
Yagen leans in closer, and Horikawa shuts his eyes tightly, and hopes that he won’t notice just how much he’s trembling.
Horikawa hears a soft laugh, “...you’re not ready for this treatment yet.”
Yagen brushes his fingers against Horikawa’s lips, and while the gloved fingers are cold, they leave behind a hot touch.
The doctor pulls away from him, then gathers his belongings from the table. He slips his lab coat back on, and points at the card sticking out of Horikawa’s apron pocket, “Call me whenever for your next appointment.”
Horikawa nods, still in a daze.
“I’ll be waiting then,” Yagen throws a wink over his shoulder, before leaving out the door.
Horikawa’s knees are weak, and he lets himself fall to the ground. He lightly slaps at his face, trying to regain his senses. What just happened?
He takes the business card out of his pocket, and turns it over in his hands. Horikawa doesn’t understand Dr. Yagen. Was he just teasing him? If he was, that’s just not fair!
But still…..the doctor seems like an incredibly nice man. Horikawa wouldn’t mind talking to him again.
The clock chimes six times, and Horikawa gasps. This late already! He’s spent much too long in his thoughts today, and he gets up with a start. First things first, clean the mess of tea on the floor. Tea can stain, and it’s already been left too long.
After that, it’s time to prepare dinner. All of Kane-san’s favorites, of course. Horikawa smiles as he taste tests the food, he’s sure that even Kane-san will be able to taste the love in it!
Or at least, Horikawa really hopes so. A line of worry forms in between his eyebrows...Kane-san does understand, right? And if he doesn’t...then...then Horikawa will surely win his heart back!
It’s eight o’ clock by the time Horikawa is done setting the table. Kane-san should be back by now, but Horikawa recalls his words from this morning. He’ll be back late tonight.
Things must be busy at work, and Horikawa knows not to blame him, but he sighs anyway. It would be nice, just every once in a while, if his husband could be back early.
Horikawa rests his head on his arms, and watches the clock tick away. Even if Kane-san will be back late, he still wants to greet him with a smile.
Horikawa blinks, and the light hurts his eyes at first.
“Did I wake you? I just got back,” Kane-san’s face is incredibly close, and through his sleepy haze, it takes Horikawa a few moments to realize that Kane-san is carrying him.
“K-Kane-san…?” Horikawa mumbles, and stifles a yawn, “Welcome back. Have you eaten yet? I’ll go heat up the food right now, please put me down.”
Kane-san kicks the bedroom door open with one foot, “Just go to sleep.”
“B-but dear…”
Kane-san puts a finger to Horikawa’s lips, “Shhh, just sleep. It’s midnight, and I already ate before getting back.”
“Oh...I see…” Horikawa hopes that his disappointment doesn’t show on his face. If he was going to eat outside, he could have let Horikawa know...
Kane-san lowers Horikawa gently on to the bed, and pulls a blanket over him. Even though so much has happened today, and there is so much that Horikawa wants to ask his husband, it’s not long before he succumbs back to sleep.