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lisatelramor***
Kaito twisted pieces of a puzzle box around in his hands as Takumi did assigned reading on the living room couch. It was Takumi’s favorite spot since Kaito and Saguru moved in together, a much plusher replacement for Kaito’s old one that had been slowly falling to disrepair for years. The steady tick of the bookshelf clock and the occasional flip of pages were the only sounds at the moment, and while normally Kaito would be soothed by the peacefulness, he couldn’t reach that calm today.
He slipped a segment of wood free, testing panels for which one would budge next, mostly on automatic. Kaito’s real attention was on Takumi and the way Kaito’s heart beat a bit too quickly for sitting calmly in their living room. “I was thinking,” Kaito said.
“Mm?” Takumi turned a page. “About what?”
“About life.” Kaito twisted a carving. “How we’ve settled here. The future.” A careful glide of fingers along a seam and one of the three hidden compartments in this box slid open. Empty of course because he hadn’t put anything in it yet. “Whether Saguru’d say yes if I asked him to marry me,” Kaito said as nonchalant as possible, heart beating too fast as he waited for Takumi’s response.
Takumi stopped flipping pages. “You’re going to ask him to marry you?” he asked, eyes wide.
Kaito didn’t blame him for being surprised; marriage had very different connotations and memories attached to it for Kaito compared to Saguru. Kaito hadn’t thought he’d want to marry again. It wasn’t like either of them needed it to be happy or have a meaningful relationship. It just turned out that Kaito was still more of a romantic than he’d thought he was capable of being. Kaito fiddled with the next part of his puzzle.
“It’s just a thought,” he said. “It’s not like we’ve talked marriage really.”
“Tou-san—”
“But hypothetically, how do you think he’d feel if I asked?”
Takumi set down his book. “Honestly?” He gave Kaito a small smile. “He’s pretty much married to you already.”
A year and a half together. Kaito’s fingers tapped along the box’s edge. That wasn’t too short of a time to consider a lifelong commitment right? Kaito’d proposed to Aoko after a few months of dating. Of course they’d both been idiot teenagers then. Saguru never told him the story of how he’d ended up getting engaged, but Kaito bet he’d done things properly, dating for at least half a year and figuring out compatibility. Not skipping half a dozen steps and having a rush wedding.
“That’s cohabitation and dating,” Kaito said after what was probably too long of a pause. “And if I asked him to marry me, I don’t know if it’d set off his grief again.” Losing a spouse violently would make marriage a touchy subject.
“If it did, it wouldn’t be for long,” Takumi said with confidence. “He’s gotten a lot happier and healed a lot I think. Didn’t you say something about that when you guys got back from the London trip? Mel was Mel but you’re you, and it’s not replacing anything or something like that?”
Kaito smiled. Yeah, they had had that conversation. And he’d come out of London feeling more secure in their relationship.
Takumi nodded as he saw the smile. “There you go then. He’d probably agree on the spot.”
At that Kaito snorted. “I doubt that.”
“Fine, or stress about it for a bit, have a talk, then say yes. Because he wouldn’t say no.”
“He could.”
“I have eyes, Tou-san.”
Bold words from the kid that didn’t really get romance or interest on a personal level. Kaito slid open the second compartment of the box.
“So you are going to ask him,” Takumi said.
“Maybe.”
Takumi rolled his eyes. “If you’re waiting for some kind of approval from me, just go ahead and ask. He’s practically another parent already and married isn’t any odder than dating.”
“We couldn’t get married in Japan anyway,” Kaito said after a moment. The third part of the puzzle box was giving him problems. None of the panels would shift. Ah, wait, there was a little strip that acted as a key…
“Hakuba-sensei is a British citizen and it’s legal there. And Japan honors foreign marriages even if you can’t marry here. Which you know.” Takumi gave an annoyed sigh. “Also, you know Shiemi would hunt you down if she didn’t get the chance to be in your wedding party. She has a new betting pool how long it will take before one of you asks.”
Kaito almost laughed. Really? They expected them to marry that much? “I’m guessing you paid into it?”
“I’m not telling you anything. That’d skew the results and I’m too fair to do that.”
Kaito did laugh then. Just telling Kaito that there were bets was interfering with how things might turn out.
“So marriage,” Takumi repeated pointedly.
“Maybe,” Kaito said. The final two parts of the box opened in quick succession now that he wasn’t wound up with nerves. Takumi wasn’t uncomfortable with him potentially getting married and he thought Saguru’d say yes.
Kaito reached into his pocket. Was it really a maybe when he’d gone out and bought a ring already?
“Is that what I think it is?” Takumi asked as Kaito slid the ring into the fourth and smallest box compartment.
“Maybe.” He reversed the puzzle, pulled a pressed flower out to put in the third compartment. Reversed it again until he reached the second compartment where he placed tickets to a science conference he’d seen that looked like Saguru would enjoy. Reversed to the first and easiest to find compartment, the box now almost back to how it was initially.
“Tou-san,” Takumi complained when Kaito didn’t add anything else to his statement.
Kaito grinned to himself and put a riddle in the first compartment, one that told of a treasure at the end of the puzzle and clues to how many compartments the box had. And—if Saguru strained at some sideways word meanings—a hint about why Kaito was giving it to him. Kaito slid the compartment shut and re-locked all the bits he’d undone until it looked like a perfectly ordinary decorative box. “So, I was thinking that this could be a Christmas gift.”
Takumi gave him a long look before he sighed. “You want him to figure it out with his mom watching when he reaches the last bit, don’t you?”
“Still just a maybe,” Kaito said, though by this point he wasn’t even convincing himself. Nerves still fluttered in his stomach at the thought of actually doing this, but they were the kind of nerves he used to get before a complex heist. It kind of was a bit like a heist, putting all the pieces in motion and waiting for the payout. He really hoped Saguru was on the same page with this. He should subtly test it as the weeks led toward Christmas to be sure it wouldn’t end badly. But yeah, the idea of Saguru reaching the last compartment while they all had a lazy Christmas morning with Saguru’s parents and Kaito getting on one knee was just… really appealing in more ways than one. He loved every time he still managed to surprise Saguru in some way. He hoped to keep doing it the rest of their lives.
“…I get to be there to record it.”
“Knew I could count on you.”
Takumi snorted and picked up his book. “You didn’t have to check if I was ok with you remarrying you know. It’s your life.”
“And you’re my son and I never want to make you uncomfortable if I can help it,” Kaito countered. “Well, not in that kind of way.”
“I like Hakuba-sensei. You can keep him,” Takumi said, settling back down to continue his readings.
“You know he’s given you permission to use his first name by now.”
“He’s Hakuba-sensei until I graduate,” Takumi said. “Too weird otherwise.”
Kaito snickered. The puzzle box went on a side table. He’d wrap it tonight and hopefully have the courage to give it to Saguru by the time December swung around. “I love you.”
“Love you too,” Takumi said, already half absorbed back into his work.
Kaito closed his eyes and leaned back in his chair. In his head, there was a long-stretching future, Saguru by his side. And maybe, just maybe, two hands overlapping with matching rings, revisiting a London sunset.
***
Saguru unwrapped his present to find a box. An intricately carved and beautifully inlaid box that had to have cost quite a bit. Curious, Saguru tugged gently on the top. It didn’t open. Kaito grinned Kid’s signature grin in his direction, so that meant the box had to be more than it appeared. A few cautious presses against carvings and something shifted. “A puzzle box?” Saguru asked.
“Yep,” Kaito said. “Your gift isn’t just the box, but what’s in it too.”
Mum laughed from the other couch. “What a fitting gift for him,” she said.
Takumi grinned too, eerily like Kaito’s smile, and Saguru guessed he knew what the rest of the gift entailed. Color Saguru intrigued.
“You gave me this last so I wouldn’t be playing with it all morning, didn’t you,” Saguru accused.
“Now that most of the gifts are open, you can play with it the whole rest of the day,” Kaito said. He seemed to be enjoying the fuzzy robe Mum and Otou-san got him, all bundled up with the too-sweet cup of cocoa Mum passed around.
Saguru tugged him closer and kissed off the faint chocolate mustache Kaito was developing. “Thank you.”
Kaito kissed back before pulling away. “Have fun. You’ll have to come up with something to store in there.”
Saguru had a few ideas already. He was a sentimental person when it came to the people he loved; he had a few keepsakes that would fit in a small compartment or two. “How many boxes are actually in this box?”
“That’s for you to find out, Guru,” Kaito teased.
Saguru swatted at him absently for the nickname, already testing the box for trick panels.
He was peripherally aware of Mum refreshing everyone’s cocoa and a board game being brought out, but he let himself tune out the rest of his family to contemplate Kaito’s gift. It didn’t take very long to find the first compartment. Inside it was a riddle. Saguru glanced at Kaito and Kaito sent him a mischievous grin.
It wasn’t as complex as some of Kid’s riddles, but he got the feeling Kaito had left out something important in it. ‘Treasure’ was too vague for Kaito’s usual standards. But some of the lines implied permanence and others the passing of time, and all that Saguru was sure of was that there were a total of four things in the box. If he considered the riddle the first, that left three more to find.
Saguru went back to work on the box. Whoever made it, it was subtle work. Finding the seams was difficult, and pieces only moved if they were prodded at just the right angle too.
He slid open the second compartment and found tickets to the upcoming international chemistry conference that was going to take place in Tokyo come February. He’d offhandedly mentioned it a few months ago when he’d spoken to a few people in Hakuba laboratories who hoped to submit some academic papers. He hadn’t realized Kaito’d remembered that or that he’d remembered that Saguru used to go to this sort of thing whenever he could in the past. There were two tickets there, so Saguru could bring Kaito if he wanted and drag him along. Knowing Kaito, he’d probably understand a good deal of what the different research was too.
Touched, he set the compartment to the side and kept going.
The next box was trickier. It took Saguru almost five whole minutes to realize that one of the decorative inlays slid free to act as a key to the next compartment. Inside that was a pressed flower. Saguru recognized it as one left from a bouquet he gave Kaito on their six month dating anniversary. Because Kaito often kept flowers on his person, a lot of people didn’t give him flowers, and he’d been far more touched by the gesture than Saguru had expected. That evening had been particularly romantic and Saguru couldn’t help smiling as he touched the fragile petals.
Kaito’s smile was softer when Saguru caught his eye, a private moment passing between them. He might just keep that compartment reserved for the flower when he closed the box up again.
Saguru didn’t rush the last compartment, taking a moment to marvel at the craftsmanship once again. It took a very particular kind of mind to come up with such a complex puzzle box. Saguru was half tempted to ask Kaito if he’d designed it.
As he released the final lock, he marveled at how small it was. The first and third compartments had been built into the sides of the box, and the second had been part of the base. But the final one was built into what would have been the lid of an ordinary box, a small compartment that needed half a dozen carvings shifted just to reveal it and about as many more to make it pop up enough to pull its lid free. As Saguru lifted the last piece away, he heard movement across the room. It was peripheral awareness though, because at the bottom of the tiny compartment, sitting in a felt-lined nest was a ring.
There was a touch on his knee and Saguru looked up to find Kaito kneeling in front of him. “Kaito?” he asked, not quite daring to believe it was what he thought it was.
Kaito took the box from him and tipped the ring into his palm. His warm, callused hands cupped Saguru’s as Kaito gave him the gentlest, most loving smile Saguru could remember him directing his way. “You know me better than anyone else ever has,” Kaito said, looking him in the eye, “and you had the patience to puzzle me out.” Because Kaito didn’t open up easily. “I didn’t think I’d fall in love again, but you came into my life and filled broken bits of me that I didn’t even know were there. I’ve been happier since I’ve been with you than I have been in over a decade and I can’t see that changing in the future.”
Saguru’s breath caught in his throat, words and thoughts frozen in this moment. There were only Kaito’s warm blue eyes and his hands holding Saguru’s grounding him and holding his whole attention.
“Hakuba Saruru,” Kaito said, “would you tie your future to mine?”
Saguru made a sound in the back of his throat that he couldn’t categorize. He didn’t cry easily, but there were the beginnings of tears prickling at his eyes. He wanted to hold this brilliant man so tight they merged together, or maybe kiss him until they both were light headed from lack of air. Saguru twisted his hands in Kaito’s hold to grip him back. “Yes,” he choked, the word barely making it from his throat with the sudden rush of emotions. “You. Kaito.”
Kaito grinned so wide Saguru’s cheeks hurt just looking at it before he kissed him. Saguru almost missed the feeling of a ring being slid on his finger. Damn it, he loved this man.
From the other side of the room there was a happy, high pitched sound, and Saguru abruptly remembered they had an audience. Mum looked, when Saguru pulled back from the kiss, like it was not only Christmas, but her birthday, anniversary, and New Year’s all lumped together. She looked so happy for him that she might start crying. Saguru’s father only looked deeply amused, content with this turn of events.
Takumi was filming. Saguru covered his face with embarrassment. “I can’t believe you proposed to me on Christmas.”
“Well,” Kaito reasoned, “it’s a very romantic day for Japanese traditions.”
“And just dramatic enough for you,” Saguru said drily. He couldn’t stop smiling though. The ring on his finger was silver-colored instead of gold like his previous ring, and engraved with a simple swirling pattern with the exception of a tiny four leaf clover worked into its center. Saguru had no doubt that it had been custom made, which raised the question of when Kaito had started planning this, and how long he’d been thinking of marriage. It wasn’t that the topic was never mentioned, but it wasn’t something they went on about either. “How long…?”
“Well he bought the box in early October,” Takumi said, apparently now done filming for the moment. “So it’s been at least that long since he decided he was definitely going to propose. Don’t know when he got the ring though.”
“Kaito?”
Kaito flushed, one thumb worrying at the knob of Saguru’s good knee. “I… may have looked into it a bit after our London trip.”
“That long?”
Kaito blushed darker. Saguru rested his forehead against his. “So is this ring part of a pair or…?”
“It’s a set. I, um, wasn’t carrying the second one around with me though,” Kaito said. Which implied he did carry both rings around for at least some period of time.
“You were worried I’d say no?”
“Well we never really tackled the topic head on,” Kaito muttered, hiding his face in Saguru’s knees.
Saguru tugged at him until he looked up and he could pull him into another kiss. Takumi looked like he was torn between finding it cute and the instinctual discomfort of seeing a parent being intimate.
Mum bounced to her feet with a clap of her hands. “I’m breaking out the fruit cake and brandy.”
“Already?” Saguru asked, pulling back from Kaito’s distracting lips.
“It’s time to celebrate! This calls for a drink!”
Kaito started laughing against him and Saguru couldn’t help but laugh too, feeling bright and light inside.
“To the future,” Kaito said when Mum pushed a far-larger-than-necessary glass of brandy into his hands.
“To our future,” Saguru said, with a much smaller and diluted glass—Takumi’s hopefully not brandy at all.
The cheery clink of glasses like bells heralding a happy future. Saguru took a drink to that.
