Chapter Text
08:00 P.M.
That means 20 hours of his birthday have gone by. During that time, Tsukasa received numerous text messages and calls from his family and friends. Since his birthday will be on a weekday and not all of his friends will be available, the actual party will only happen two days later on Sunday, at his family’s house. Today he took the day off just to stay at home, and make the most of his first birthday living together with his dear boyfriend, the person he chose to spend the rest of his life with…
…who, for some reason, is spending the whole day busy with something else.
He found it strange enough when Rui didn’t go to sleep with him last night, but he wasn’t there to give him a happy birthday kiss in the morning, either… Seems like he was locked in another room since he woke up, whenever that was. When Tsukasa finally saw him get out, he greeted him with a quick goodbye kiss before going out. And he still hasn’t come back.
It seemed unusual for him to be out for so long without an explanation, so Tsukasa sent a worried text some time later; Rui took long to reply, only saying he was busy and would probably take a while to get home. Tsukasa was so sure that he had taken the day off with the same intention as him, but if he’s not coming back yet, maybe he had something important to do… But is there anything that could be more important than spending his boyfriend’s birthday beside him?! Ah, he can’t believe he got his hopes up for this!
And that’s not even the worst part: maybe he would feel at least some sort of relief if Rui had wished him a happy birthday before he left, but… even though it’s already night, Tsukasa hasn’t heard those two words from the one person he wanted to hear them the most.
08:10 P.M.
Tsukasa pushes his phone aside and lets out a sigh of frustration. How long has he been sitting here checking the time, alone with these empty chairs and this empty table? The sweets he prepared to eat with Rui as they celebrate have been in the fridge for hours already, and there’s no sign of him coming back. How much more will he have to wait? Can he even feel the same excitement to celebrate anymore? After waiting all day for him, or to at least hear those words from him… will he be able to smile properly when the time comes?
From the way things are going, Tsukasa is doubting whether that time will come at all. He really doesn’t want to believe this, but considering Rui’s actions, it’s almost like… he completely forgot about it.
…
…No, there’s no way that’s true, right?! In all the years they knew each other, Rui never forgot his birthday! And now that they’re living together, that they have the chance to spend it in their home for the first time, that makes it so much more important! Tsukasa is sure Rui thinks the same! If he’s taking so long, then… he must be preparing something extra special for him!
Right, that has to be it: Rui must have come up with something so impressive that he had to take some hours from today to finish preparing it! Even though he’s usually such an organized person when it comes to making people smile, to the point where Tsukasa can barely imagine him leaving everything to the last minute… accidents happen, right?! He must have run into some trouble, something that made him take way longer than he meant to… And if he didn’t wish him a happy birthday before leaving, it’s probably because he wanted to pull a prank on Tsukasa, to make him believe he forgot his birthday only to surprise him even more!
Yes, it’s definitely something like that, Tsukasa has to trust him! Anytime now, Rui will walk through that door, to soon gift him with a surprise beyond his imagination! Then he'll pull him into his arms to give him a happy birthday along with a loving kiss, putting an end to all these senseless doubts–
“...?”
He practically jumps out of the chair as he hears some sounds outside. Is Rui finally here?! Ah, maybe he should go open the door for him! If he spent so much time out, he must have brought a lot of things!
Tsukasa rushes to the door and is greeted exactly by the sight he expected: Rui carrying a lot of bags. His heart beats faster in excitement just thinking about what he could have in store for him!
“W-welcome back, Rui!”
“I’m home,” Rui smiles as he steps through the doorway, giving him a small kiss. Ah, it’s already been some months of living together, but this domestic interaction still makes Tsukasa’s heart flutter every single time… He’s so happy about sharing a home with Rui!
And knowing his boyfriend, Tsukasa is sure he’s about to make him even happier on this special day. He can barely hold in his anticipation as he locks the door and turns around, trying to subtly take a peek at Rui’s bags. “Wow, you really brought a lot of things… No wonder you took so long!”
“Yes, I had a lot to do today… Preparations for a future show, you know?” Rui replies naturally, probably doing his best not to make it too obvious.
“Oh, I see! If it’s a show by my reliable director, I’m sure it’s going to be a good one!” Tsukasa also tries to not make it obvious that he has a good idea of what it’s about, though he can’t quite hide the grin on his face…
“Hehe, that’s what I’m hoping for! Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’m going to take these to my workshop.”
“Ah– s-sure!”
Tsukasa watches as Rui walks with his bags to the room he claimed as his workshop. They made sure to find a place with an extra room so Rui could use it just as he did to the garage of his parents’ house; it’s a mess just the same, too. Of course, he always sleeps with him in their room! But that’s the place he usually goes to work or when he needs to be alone to concentrate. And right now, Tsukasa should probably stay away while he finishes his preparations – he doesn’t want to ruin his surprise after all!
In the meantime, maybe he should be getting the table ready? But he’s not sure how much time Rui is going to take, maybe he should leave that for later–
‘Hm…?’
Unlike he expected, Rui leaves his workshop just after dropping his bags. “Tsukasa-kun, do you mind waiting a little longer to have dinner? I’d like to take a bath first.”
“O-oh…”
“Mm? What’s wrong, are you hungry?”
“Ah–” Tsukasa’s disappointment probably showed in his face. But, well, there’s no reason for him to feel this way, is there? It’s not like Rui’s surprise had to happen right when he came home or anything! They still have over three hours left until midnight, and… Tsukasa already waited all this time anyway, what’s a little more? “N-no, it’s fine, of course! I was just… thinking about something else!”
“Is that so…?” He can see a hint of concern on Rui’s face as he approaches him, placing a hand on his head to stroke his hair softly. “Don’t you want to share it with your boyfriend?”
“I-it’s nothing important, I just got a little distracted…” Tsukasa pulls away, feeling ashamed of himself. He can’t believe he almost thought again that his boyfriend, caring as he is, could forget his birthday. Rui has been out for so long, it’s natural that he wants to take a bath first… Tsukasa shouldn’t feel so obviously down about having to wait some more, or he’ll make Rui feel bad! “Anyway, go take your bath! I’ll be preparing the food!”
Thankfully, Rui seems convinced looking at his smile. “Mm… Alright, I’ll try not to take too long.”
He plants a kiss on his forehead and walks away, leaving Tsukasa alone with his thoughts again. He can’t go back to thinking stupid things, that’s not fair to Rui! Knowing his boyfriend, these three hours will be wonderful enough to make up for the whole rest of the day! Yeah, Tsukasa just has to trust him and wait!
Ah, but now that he thinks again about how many bags Rui was carrying… he can’t help feeling super excited! Rui must really have something amazing prepared for him, something that will make him feel appreciated in a way only Rui can do. He’s so curious to know what it could be, he hopes it doesn’t take much longer… But in any case, he’s sure that in the end it’ll all be worth the wait!
‘After all, I have the best boyfriend in the world!’
Tsukasa is sitting on his chair with all the food on the table when he hears Rui coming. He does his best to keep a straight face and hide his overflowing excitement, so it doesn’t look extremely obvious how much he’s been looking forward to it. As his boyfriend enters the room, Tsukasa’s eyes immediately go to him, but what he sees is–
‘Huh…?’
Rui, empty-handed, walking into the kitchen with a lazy yawn. His eyes widen a little as he looks at the table. “Hm…? Are we having cake and pudding for dinner?”
…
Is he seriously trying to pull a prank on him right now…? Tsukasa thinks it’s a little late for that, he already made him wait long enough… But fine, if it’s part of Rui’s surprise, he’ll play along! “Well, yes, because it’s a very special occasion!”
“Special occasion…?” Rui seems even more confused. He turns to the calendar on the wall with a small star on May 17, and fixedly stares at it with a raised eyebrow.
Tsukasa’s mind is running out of excuses to explain his behavior at this point. He could still be messing with him, but… “Rui, don’t tell me– Do you seriously not remember what day it is today?”
“Huh…?” he looks back at him with the same expression, as if what Tsukasa is saying doesn’t make any sense to him. “Isn’t it the day before Tsukasa-kun’s birthday?”
…
…
…?!
Tsukasa feels at a loss for words hearing that. The words fall out of Rui’s mouth so naturally, like he’s absolutely sure of what he’s saying… So all this time, the reason he was acting as if there was nothing special about this day was not because he was preparing a surprise for Tsukasa’s birthday, but because he thought that would only be tomorrow?!
“Tsukasa-kun…?”
Even now, he’s staring at him with that stupid face, as if Tsukasa has absolutely no reason to be acting the way he is. It seems there’s no way to make him understand without spelling it out.
“…Rui, my birthday is today.”
“Eh…?” Rui looks at him blankly for a few seconds, until the words sink in and his eyes widen in horror. “Eh?! N-no, isn’t today the 16th?!”
“NO, IT’S NOT?! IT’S MAY 17, MY BIRTHDAY!”
“Huh?! No, it can’t be…” Rui stares at the calendar again, but still doesn’t seem to believe it. Until he grabs his phone and sees the date on the screen, and his face turns pale before the undeniable proof. “…Ah!”
“I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU ACTUALLY FORGOT IT! HOW COULD YOU FORGET MY BIRTHDAY?!”
“W-wait, I didn’t forget it! I just got confused about what day it is today… I’m pretty sure the last time I went to sleep it was the 15th– Oh.”
He stares at him as if he just found the explanation for everything, though Tsukasa is sure nothing can justify such an irresponsible mistake. “…What?”
“I didn’t sleep at all last night,” Rui lets out a sigh of frustration, his voice sounding more disheartened the more he speaks. “I got too caught up trying to make endless improvements in my ideas… but I guess I forgot the day doesn’t change only when I go to bed. And today I was in such a rush I didn’t pay attention to the date on the times I used my phone, I can’t believe this…”
Oh, so that’s why he didn’t go to sleep with him and still wasn’t there in the morning… So, what, he was too busy working on his inventions and show ideas to at least make a minimum effort to be in good condition to celebrate with Tsukasa? How could he get so immersed on something else, to the point of not sleeping at all, on the night before his birthday?! Was he not looking forward to it at all?!
“Hah… I totally messed up, didn’t I?” Rui seems to perfectly understand how upset Tsukasa is from the silence he receives in response. “I’m really sorry, Tsukasa-kun… I’ll make it up to you tomorrow, so can you please forgive me?”
…
…
“…No.”
“E-eh?!”
The loud sound of his hands hitting the table startles Rui, who looks even more nervous as Tsukasa gets up and walks in his direction while glaring at him. “Do you know how long I’ve been looking forward to this day?! I wanted to spend a lot of time together on my first birthday living with you, but you didn’t even come home! I put my all into making these sweets for us to eat together, I sat here all day waiting for you, but YOU! WOULDN’T! COME! HOME!”
Rui flinches at each word as Tsukasa screams in his face, likely hurting his ears in the process. “I-I’m sorry! I was actually preparing for–”
“NO! I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT!” he turns his back on Rui to start putting away all the food on the table. “MY BIRTHDAY DINNER IS RUINED! MY WHOLE DAY WAS RUINED BECAUSE OF YOU! Ugh, I can’t believe I’ve been waiting for you all this time… I even thought you were taking long because you were preparing ‘something special’ for me! I’m such an idiot!”
“W-wait, please let me explain–”
“There’s nothing to explain, I’m not forgiving you! And don’t you dare touch my birthday cake or any of my sweets, unless you want to make me angrier!” Tsukasa grabs the last plate with the pudding and stomps away with it. “I’m going to take this to our room and eat it by myself! I’ll lock the door, so don’t even think of trying to come in!”
“Ah…!” Rui immediately follows right behind him, looking at him like an abandoned puppy as he tries to stop him from closing the bedroom door. “Tsukasa-kun, please, don’t be so harsh! We can still enjoy the rest of the day together–”
“I DON’T WANT TO ENJOY ANYTHING WITH THE PERSON WHO FORGOT MY BIRTHDAY! ACTUALLY, I DON’T WANT TO SEE YOU AT ALL UNTIL MORNING! GOODBYE!”
“A-ah– Wait!” Rui’s face disappears behind the door as it closes with a bang. Tsukasa is quick to turn the key before he can try to open it, but at least he’s self-aware enough not to do that… Instead, he timidly knocks after a few moments. “At least leave a bite of the pudding for me?”
…Seriously? How shameless can he be?
“NO!!”
After eating spoon after spoon of pudding through tears of anger, Tsukasa lost his appetite before reaching the end. He made enough for four servings so both he and Rui could eat two times, so maybe it was really too much to finish by himself… He was able to eat about three, and now he’s curled up in bed, rolled up in the sheets with red and puffy eyes like a sad roll cake. What a nice way to spend the last hours of his birthday.
Ugh, how could his own boyfriend ruin his special day like this?! Tsukasa feels like a fool the more he thinks about the hours he spent waiting for his return, trying his best to believe that Rui was just taking so long because he was preparing a “surprise” for him. He did surprise him, but in a completely opposite, negative way!
Ah, he could never have expected this from Rui… Tsukasa knows he gets too immersed when he’s excited about his ideas, to the point of sacrificing his sleep sometimes, but what could be more important than his boyfriend’s birthday?! Tsukasa wouldn’t forget his birthday, not in a million years! Doesn’t that mean he’s not as important to Rui as he is to him?!
Fuck, that thought hurts… And it feels extremely ironic, too, when Rui has always been the one in their relationship to be more vocal about his love. Ever since they started dating, when Tsukasa was still getting used to being straightforward about such intimate feelings, Rui would constantly tell him how much he loved him, how happy he was to date him, and how important he was in his life… After all of this, Tsukasa can’t help but think that maybe those feelings weren’t as strong as Rui made him believe with his words.
…
…No, it’s not fair to doubt all the beautiful things Rui said to him because of one mistake. He knows Rui loves him a lot, he proved that in so many ways already. And in all his other birthdays, he was always there for him, doing his very best to make him smile. Tsukasa can’t ignore all of that because he forgot it a single time.
And, from the way he reacted, he didn’t actually forget his birthday, he just confused the days. Of course, that’s still an extremely irresponsible thing for a boyfriend to do! But… at least he can’t say Rui didn’t care about it at all.
…
Ah… now he’s feeling a little guilty. Was he too harsh on him after all? Tsukasa had been looking forward to spending time with him the whole day, so despite knowing the actual reason Rui “forgot” about it, he was too hurt to think clearly, and ended up letting out all his frustration on him. Even if it was irresponsible of Rui to focus on something else on the night before his birthday, he couldn’t have predicted things would turn out like this… Being sleep deprived must have made his head even more confused.
Come to think of it, he said he didn’t sleep at all, didn’t he? As far as Tsukasa knows, Rui has a habit of staying up late working on show-related things, but he usually forces himself to sleep at least for some hours, since he doesn’t want to be completely exhausted to the point it hinders his focus on the next day. For him to stay up all night working on something, it must have been really important…
And even after spending all that time on it, today he left in the afternoon and only came back at night, carrying all those bags. Tsukasa wonders just what kind of unimaginable show he could be planning this time… If it’s something that big, he’d normally have at least mentioned it to him by now. Could there be a reason why he didn’t?
…Wait, when Tsukasa mentioned the fact that he wouldn’t come home, Rui tried to say something, like–
“I-I’m sorry! I was actually preparing for–”
What could he be preparing for, if not…
‘…my birthday?!’
Tsukasa unrolls himself out of the sheets in a swift movement, almost falling off the bed. He quickly gets up and walks towards the door in a mix of hope and apprehension. If he’s right, Rui cares so much more about him than he gave him the credit for… but that would also mean he was extremely unfair to him.
He opens the door quietly, just enough to take a peek at the hallway and see if Rui is anywhere in sight. He feels bad about trying to snoop through his things, but maybe if he looks inside the bags Rui brought home, he can check if his suspicions are right or not. Could they still be in his workshop? He hears some faint sounds from the living room… Is Rui working on something there? If he already opened the bags, there’s not much Tsukasa can do…
So, maybe he should take a look at what Rui is doing first?
Tsukasa tip-toes his way towards the source of the sound, hiding behind a wall like a detective in an important investigation. If he’s caught before he confirms anything, he won’t know how to react. He needs to assess the situation before anything else, so he waits a few more moments just to be sure. A little longer and Rui’s footsteps get closer, forcing Tsukasa to make his way back to their room as fast and quietly as possible. When the sound grows distant, he can safely assume Rui went back to his workshop. Perfect, this should be his chance!
He carefully steps into the hallway again, glancing at the open door of the workshop to make sure Rui isn’t coming back too soon, only then making his way to the living room to see what he’s been doing–
“Ah…!”
Oh, of all the times Tsukasa felt like an idiot in his life, this one is definitely on top of his list.
The first thing that draws his attention is a miniature stage in place of their TV. It takes up almost the whole surface of the TV stand – not enough to fit Rui, that’s for sure, but there’s a lot of space for his robots. It has curtains, and even miniature lighting equipment! The yellow background has drawings of small hearts and falling confetti around the words… “Happy birthday, Tsukasa-kun!”
…
So this is why Rui was so busy he completely lost track of time… He must have been giving his all to create this show for him, and Tsukasa dared to believe he missed the right date because he didn’t care enough. He was so upset he didn’t even give Rui a chance to explain himself! How could he treat his boyfriend like that?! When he’s been doing all of this for his sake…
And the show isn’t the only thing he’s been preparing, judging from all the papers on the center table. Tsukasa takes a peek at them to see what they’re about and finds a few notes, checklists, and even a drawing of their living room fully decorated. Ah, but he probably shouldn’t look too much – he’s already seeing too much when this was all meant to be a surprise. He couldn’t help but notice the drawing of a pegasus made with balloons, though… He remembers Rui used his balloon art skills to make one for him last year, and Tsukasa liked it so much Rui swore he’d turn it into a tradition to make one for each of his birthdays. Seems he plans on keeping that promise… Of course he would. He always takes Tsukasa’s happiness seriously, even in the smallest details.
He lets out a shaky sigh as he feels tears welling up in his eyes, turning around to look in the direction of the stage again. There are a lot of small stars on the wall behind it; they look like light-up ornaments Tsukasa has seen before. Those will probably look so beautiful when the lights go out for the show to begin… And on each side of the TV stand, there’s a star-shaped foil balloon, each of them attached to a different gift box. Are those just part of the decoration or did Rui buy two gifts for him? That would be a common excessive Rui thing to do… The show would have been more than enough.
He notices something on the ceiling too, looking up to find a lot of small gadgets attached to it. He’s seen Rui use those before, to make it rain confetti inside a closed space… but there’s so many of them! Is he planning on drowning the two of them in confetti?! Tsukasa has no idea how they’re going to clean this later… but he supposes Rui has thought about that too. When he’s trying to make him smile, he thinks about everything, doesn’t he? So why… How…
How could Tsukasa believe, even for a moment, that he didn’t care enough?
“Ah–”
The sound of Rui’s voice brings Tsukasa back to reality. Oh, he was thinking so hard he completely forgot Rui would soon come back and catch him here… He supposes he ruined his surprise.
“Y-you said you didn’t want to see me until morning… I thought you wouldn’t be coming here anytime soon,” Rui says with an awkward smile, placing the box he brought from his workshop on the couch. “I suppose you’re still mad at me, but since it’s not midnight yet, we can at least set off the confetti if you want. Then we can say we celebrated it just a little…”
“N-no…”
“…Oh. Okay, that’s fine. If you don’t like it, I can take off the decorations–”
“Don’t…!” Tsukasa rushes to his side, still at a loss for what to do. For now, he only grabs Rui’s arm to make sure he won’t undo the beautiful preparations he’s making for him. “Don’t… take them off.”
“Tsukasa-kun…?”
There’s so much Tsukasa wants to say he doesn’t know where to start… Hearing the sadness in Rui’s voice made his guilt grow even more. He was so unfair to him, to his amazing, caring, dedicated boyfriend who always does so much for him… It’s exactly because he wanted to do so much for him that he ended up confusing the dates. His mind must have been so full with all the preparations he wanted to do, to make Tsukasa as happy as he could, that all of this happened. Tsukasa should have known he cared, he should have never doubted that, but…!
“I’m sorry…”
“…Eh?”
“I’m so sorry, Rui!”
Rui is so confused by his words and the sudden hug he’s pulled into that he does nothing but stay motionless for a few seconds. “H-huh?! What are you saying, Tsukasa-kun? I’m the one who–”
“It’s fine!” Tsukasa holds him tighter. If he has to hear Rui blaming himself one more time, he doesn’t know how he’ll be able to forgive himself. “It’s fine… I could never be mad at you after seeing all of this. No, I shouldn’t have been that mad at you in the first place! I was s-so unfair to you…!”
It’s only when Tsukasa starts sobbing in his arms that Rui hugs him back, gently caressing his head to calm him down. “No… you reacted normally, Tsukasa-kun. You had no idea about any of this, and even so, I did end up making an irresponsible mistake. What’s the point in preparing so much if I fail to do it on the right day?”
“D-don’t say that! I was still really happy to get here and see all of this! I a-actually came to check because after a while, I wondered if you were doing something like this…”
“Oh… Hehe. I’m glad it still could make you happy.”
Hearing the smile in Rui’s voice brings Tsukasa relief and more regret at the same time. “B-but… that means you didn’t deserve what I said at all. I’m really so sorry, Rui!”
“Tsukasa-kun, I already said you reacted normally. You must have been waiting all day to celebrate together, but I took so long to come home, and never realized what day it is until you told me… You had every right to be frustrated, I don’t blame you at all.”
“B-but…! I was so harsh to you! I acted like you didn’t care about me at all, when I know that’s not true! You’ve always been so good to me, Rui, I should have known better than that…!”
“Tsukasa-kun…” Rui pulls away from the hug to look into his eyes, wiping away his tears while showing him a gentle smile. “You can’t keep crying like that. It’s still your birthday, isn’t it? If you spend the rest of it crying, I don’t know how I’ll redeem myself.”
“N-no, it’s not your fault I’m crying! I’m just feeling guilty about treating you like that when you were doing a-all of this for me!”
“Yes, I understand… But I chose to prepare all of this anyway hoping to at least cheer you up, not to make you feel guilty. If you keep blaming yourself and that stops you from smiling, there’s no point, don’t you think?”
“Ah…” Tsukasa sniffs one last time and does his best to hold back the rest of his tears. Rui is right; the least he can do right now is not waste his boyfriend’s efforts to make him happy by dwelling on what he can’t undo. “Fine… b-but I’ll only stop crying if you’re also not sad anymore!”
“Hehe… How could I be sad when my boyfriend is being this cute?” Rui happily squishes his cheeks, placing a kiss on one of them before letting go.
“W-what’s cute about me feeling guilty for being a jerk?” Tsukasa massages one of his aching cheeks – the one where Rui didn’t kiss him, because he doesn’t want to wipe his kiss away, of course!
“Ah, if you keep saying those things about yourself, I’ll be sad again…”
“Oh– S-sorry!”
Rui chuckles and hugs him tightly again. “Hah… I’m just so relieved you’re not mad at me anymore! I can’t believe I planned so much only to lose track of time in the end… I’ll be more careful from now on.”
“It’s fine. After this, I’ll forgive whatever you do.”
“Oh, really? You should watch what you say, Tsukasa-kun.”
“Gh– D-don’t take that too literally!”
“Hehe, I’m just kidding~” Rui places a soft kiss on the top of his head, taking his hand and turning to look at the decorations he was putting up. “So, since the day isn’t quite over yet, how about we enjoy this… half surprise party that ended up not being a surprise? I was hoping to finish decorating the room, but now that you’re already here anyway…”
Tsukasa honestly doesn’t feel like he deserves so much after the way treated him, but knowing his boyfriend as well as he does, he’s sure Rui won’t be satisfied if he doesn’t see his plans through. “N-no… You prepared a lot for this day, didn’t you? I’m sure you’ll be frustrated if you don’t get to do what you want.”
“That’s… definitely true, but I think I’ll only finish everything by tomorrow. Would that be okay with you?”
“Of course! Since you thought it was tomorrow, let’s pretend it really is and enjoy a whole day together!”
“Oh… Are you really fine with that?” Rui asks a little uncertainly, clearly still feeling guilty about confusing the dates.
“I am, I promise,” Tsukasa reassures him with a smile. “And I’d rather you don’t spend two nights without sleeping…”
“Ah– Haha… I guess it would be troublesome if I got any more exhausted.”
Tsukasa traces the bags under his eyes with his fingers. He can’t believe Rui was seriously about to tire himself out even more for his sake, after being treated so unfairly… Maybe his boyfriend is a little too amazing.
“By the way, have you eaten? A-after I ruined our dinner…”
“Yes, don’t worry. I made myself a sandwich.”
“Is that so? What about the sweets–” the question instantly reminds Tsukasa of his own actions – how he told Rui not to touch any of his sweets in the middle of his yelling, and then walked away to eat the pudding alone in their room. Ugh, he feels so ashamed of himself! “I-I’m really sorry!”
“Hehe, I already said it’s fine, didn’t I? Oh– Speaking of, did you really eat the whole pudding by yourself?”
“A-ah… not really. There’s still some left.”
“Mm… Now that you’re not mad at me anymore, I suppose you’ll let me have a bite~?” Rui asks as he plants a few kisses on his cheek.
“Hm… You’re deserving more than just one bite,” Tsukasa happily accepts the affection, though he knows Rui is probably being so sweet as he asks that just to make sure he’ll be convinced… He really doesn’t need to worry about that, Tsukasa would probably do anything he asked right now.
“Oh, really? Then, can I have all of it?”
“Of course! W-well, all that’s left, since I already ate most of it…”
“That’s fine! I’ll just take a bite of you to compensate~”
“What– Ack!” Before Tsukasa can react, Rui opens his mouth and catches his cheek between his lips, making “nom nom” sounds with his mouth full as he pretends to chew on his face.
“Mm, delishious!”
“W-what are you doing…?” Tsukasa chuckles as he gently pushes him off, to grab him by his cheeks and pull him into a kiss. Rui is quick to reciprocate, wrapping his arms around him tightly and surprising him by slightly lifting him off the ground.
Tsukasa lets out a startled sound and playfully hits him to make him put him down, both chuckling as the kiss is broken. Ah, he’s so glad everything turned out fine! Even if his birthday went nothing like he expected, being in Rui’s arms like this is enough to send all his frustrations away. He truly couldn’t feel more blessed for having a boyfriend such as his!
He lifts his hand to gently stroke Rui’s face, silently admiring him for a moment before he speaks again. “Hey, Rui.”
“Mm?”
“I really… really love you.”
Rui shows him a smile of pure affection, taking his hand in his own to place a kiss on top of it. “I love you too, Tsukasa-kun.”
Tsukasa responds with a bright smile himself. After all these years together, hearing those words from Rui never fails to give him butterflies. He hopes it’s the same for Rui, and that they can keep feeling like this forever… This wasn’t the first time they had a misunderstanding since they started dating, and Tsukasa can’t say for sure he won’t make similar mistakes in the long run, but he hopes– no, he knows they’ll always find a way to overcome anything together. That’s just how much they love each other!
“What are you thinking about?” Rui asks as he cups his face, making Tsukasa feel as if he could melt under his loving gaze.
“…About how I want to be with you forever.”
His declaration surprises Rui, but as he lets out a happy chuckle and shows him a joyful smile, it’s easy to see he feels the same. “I’d love that more than anything.”
The next time their lips meet, none of them has the intention of ending the kiss too soon. Feeling Rui’s affection in his embrace, in this kiss, in this room filled with his efforts to make him smile… Tsukasa couldn’t feel more loved. He also wants to show Rui how much he loves and appreciates him, even more from now on! For now, though… all he can do is pour those feelings into this kiss.
Tsukasa holds him closer as he deepens their kiss, hoping to reassure Rui of how strong his feelings for him are… but maybe kissing him too intensely had a different effect. The more their tongues touch, the more the previous innocence of the gesture fades away. Tsukasa slowly feels a familiar heat taking over his body, and then Rui’s hands move a little lower and slip under his shirt, touching his skin and fanning the flames inside him. If this keeps up, it’s obvious where they’ll end up.
Having sex right now definitely doesn’t sound like a bad idea. He’d like to be as close to Rui as he can now that they made up, and doing something so intimate with him would also be a wonderful way to end his special day! If possible, Tsukasa would like to make it extra special somehow… Because it’s his birthday, of course, but also because he wants to create the perfect memory to overwrite what happened earlier. Oh, and he also can’t forget to give Rui the rest of the pudding! He needs to redeem himself at least a little for eating most of it–
…!
Something that seems like a good idea crosses his mind. No, it must really be the perfect idea – to make up for eating half of Rui’s pudding, he just has to help him enjoy the other half as much as possible! But if he wants to do what he has in mind, some preparations will be needed… Which means that, very unfortunately, he has to stop this before things escalate.
He pulls away, putting a hand over Rui’s mouth as he tries to keep kissing him. “W-wait, Rui…!”
“Mm? Something wrong?”
“No, it’s just–” he takes a moment to catch his breath and put his thoughts in order, still a little hazy from all their kissing. “E-even if we’re going to celebrate it tomorrow, can we do something special to end my real birthday?”
“Oh? Of course, my star. What do you have in mind?”
“Well, you said you wanted to eat the pudding, s-so…”
“So…?”
“A-actually, I’d rather show it to you instead of just saying it!” Tsukasa would like to do a small surprise for him as well, as a thank you. “You wait here, and I’ll take a bath and prepare myself, okay?!”
“…Oh, so it’s that kind of idea,” Rui grins with interest. “Hehe, now I’m very curious about what your ‘something special’ could be! I can’t wait~”
Ah… Maybe he shouldn’t be creating so much suspense. Rui is usually the one who comes up with ideas for them to try out different things in bed, and he’s not sure if what he has in mind is kinky enough by his boyfriend’s standards… But, well, in any case, Rui always loves having sex with him, so it’ll be a success regardless!
“Ah, but, Tsukasa-kun… you told me to wait here, not in our room?”
“T-that’s right!” Seeing the confused look on Rui’s face is definitely amusing, even if he still feels a little unsure… but right now, all he can do is trust himself and follow through with his plan! So before he leaves to prepare himself, he gives Rui a kiss on the cheek before whispering in his ear, “Look forward to it, alright?”