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Yuki is not a mind reader.
Honestly, if he were to meet anyone who could claim such a thing, he had more than enough money to personally hire them because he (and everyone else who’s at least worked with him extensively) knows that he’s not very good at clueing in when it comes to other people. Things like musical expression, composition, song writing—that’s been the language he’s fluent in for years. People-ese is Momo’s territory.
But he can’t rely on Momo for everything.
Like right now.
“Sorry, Yuki, I wasn’t paying attention! One more time?”
Yuki blinks and asks again: “Are you okay?”
To which Momo responds: “Of course!”
Momo is not, in fact, okay. He knows this. Yuki may not be a mind reader and his people-ese has never been the best, but he has been committed to studying Momo-ese for the past handful of years. Yuki has to—because Momo himself is a very secretive person and his secrecy is always for what he thinks is Yuki’s best interest, which is not always in Momo’s best interest.
(Yeah, it’s just as ridiculous as it sounds.)
His partner’s lips are sealed better than some industry scandals; Yuki knows that there’s nothing else he can really do at the moment except wait for Momo to eventually feel comfortable enough and tell him what’s wrong himself. So, he just smiles and says Okay before resuming the conversation about their upcoming holiday schedule.
Oh.
Now there’s an idea.
Yuki texts Rinto after Momo heads home for the evening. Maybe he doesn’t have to sit idly by and just wait this time around.
Alright so, he probably should have brought stomach medicine when he went to meet with Rinto in the office the next morning. The man could certainly use something after Yuki dropped the bomb and asked him to clear their schedule for the afternoon of Christmas Eve and the entirety of Christmas Day. To his own defense, all their major interviews had been completed within the past week, their variety appearances will be pre-taped, and recording for a new single won’t be starting until the new year. Yuki knows they have a bit more liberty to move things around, so it shouldn’t be too bad—that’s what managers are for anyway, right?
Very uncharacteristically, Rinto sends him a photo later that night of a video game developer with the caption ‘Never ask me for anything ever again’ in bold characters before the updated schedule winds up in his inbox.
A message on Rabbit Chat follows not even half a minute after.
[Momo] IT’S A CHRISTMAS MIRACLE!!!
He should remember to get Rinto something nice. Maybe an all-expense paid trip to a relaxing vacation spot. Ah, but then that means Yuki and Momo would have to be left to their own devices for a while; it might be disastrous enough that Rinto winds up returning to a metaphorically burning house. Cake should be good enough, Yuki decides as his fingers type out a response.
[Yuki] Since we’re free after 2pm, want to go somewhere with me?
If Momo isn’t going to spill his secrets, then Yuki might as well use some of his Momo-ese and spoil him a little to at least ease his burden.
[Momo] As if I’d pass up on a date with my darling~ (ﾉ๑≧◡≦๑)ﾉ･*♡
[Yuki] ♡*･╰ (◠◡◠╰)
Maybe if things went well, he’ll wind up loosening those very kissable lips enough to get something nice for himself, too.
The days leading up to Christmas Eve turn out to be extremely packed with jobs and networking events despite all the major stuff already out of the way. Rinto doesn’t say anything, but Yuki can see the triumphant You did this to yourself every time he tries to open his mouth to jokingly complain to the staff. Maybe this is what it’s been like over the past few-odd years for their manager. No wonder he needs the stomach medicine all the time.
Meanwhile, Momo seems to thrive off the busyness—and while it’s endearing to see the pride of a hard day’s work in his partner’s tired smile, Yuki hopes that their little holiday comes soon or else he himself might just die.
Time seems to cooperate. Before he knows it, he and Momo are disguisedly wandering around the shopping district on the afternoon of Christmas Eve like a fresh couple: huddled close together with linked arms and laughter that’s just meant for the two of them. Of course, that was after Momo threw his arms around him and squealed Happy birthday, Darling! Momo-chan’s going to spoil you lots!! as soon as he walked into the studio Yuki was recording in.
Whatever troubles Momo had before seem to be easing away from his face as they hop from store to store, just passively looking at everything there is to offer since they’ve already done their gift shopping well in advance. Yuki thinks he might have finally done it.
And then Momo tells him to stay where he is.
“Don’t worry, I’ll be right back!”
…Maybe he hasn’t done it after all.
Especially since he seems to go somewhere by himself quite a few times.
True to his word, Momo always returns shortly. Everything seems to be in order, save for just one bag from a department store that he insists is “just for Okarin as a bonus thank you for the Christmas Miracle.” It could very well be, sure, but it seems too full to just be a gift for one person—and more than one, even for Rinto, seems excessive.
(If Yuki is also reading things correctly, one of Momo’s jacket pockets also seems a little fuller by the end of their excursion.)
They wind up heading back to Momo’s place for the night for the sake of convenience: it’s the closest walking distance with a nostalgic stop to a convenience store along the way. It’s definitely not because of Yuki’s laziness to hail a taxi; when his partner tries to lay down a joking accusation, he merely counters with a romantic (and not entirely untrue) excuse that he wants to Momo to be the first one he sees when it becomes Christmas since he wasn’t the first one Yuki saw on his birthday. Many squeals and coos of Darling~! and What a hunk~! follow as they finally cross the threshold of the apartment, decorated tastefully for the winter season.
“I should’ve asked you to bring your gift along since you’re staying over,” Momo says, setting down his purchases by the fake miniature fir tree in the corner that serves as his Christmas plant. “That way, we could’ve done our gift exchange right at midnight!”
“I’m hurt, Momo,” he says without any seriousness. “You’re really going to make little old me carry more things? Even after making me hold all of that? You know, since it's my birthday, it means I'm not getting any younger. I'm already such an old man.”
A laugh twinkles out into the warm air as Yuki sets down their convenience store bag for emphasis. “My darling could use a little more strength training! It's especially important once you're older, so you can stay in shape. Then he can show off those awesome guns as extra fanservice and we’d snatch up the Most Desired Embrace Ranking!”
“That ranking is something I’ll gladly leave to our cute juniors, thank you very much.”
“Aw, but darling—!”
It becomes a nostalgic pocket of time in those next couple of hours: like they were spun back into simpler days when they shared the same roof, the same meals, the same woes as any aspiring musician starting out. All the tension in his limbs from working and walking eases away with a couple of cans of beer, leaving a contented sort of exhaustion that’s apparently all it takes to lull him into a shallow nap. Yuki doesn’t know when exactly he had passed out, but it’s about ten minutes to midnight when he wakes up to see Momo’s back, the sounds of tissue paper crinkling softly wafting around him.
Textbook Momo-ese.
Yuki wills himself to sober up a little more—enough that he can successfully sneak towards his partner while he’s distracted with whatever he’s doing on his lap that he doesn’t want Yuki finding out about.
“So,” Yuki says, propping his chin on Momo’s shoulder while his arms snaked around the familiar and comforting width of that toned waist, “finally going to tell me what’s got you stressed lately?”
He feels Momo jolt in his arms. “D-Darling!”
When his eyes catch a glimpse of pastel pink, Yuki can’t help but glance down. Momo’s lap is covered by a blanket of yellow tissue paper and at the center of it all is a small onesie that has strawberry designs on it.
Yuki quirks a brow.
Well.
This is… different.
Even though the words come out of his own mouth, he can’t help but internally wince when he teases with, “Unexpected baby scandal?”
“N-No! Of course not!” Momo extracts himself from Yuki’s arms, setting the onesie aside by where its intended gift bag rests beside him. He places himself across from Yuki, shifting his legs beneath him in a seiza position. It really would look something akin to talking about a love affair of tabloid-worthy proportions if it isn’t for the pout on his partner’s lips. “So I found out from my sister that she’s pregnant and so I wasn’t sure whether I should get something for her or maybe something for the baby, so I held off on it. And then the new schedule happened and I got so busy with everything going on that I totally forgot to get Ruri’s present! But I knew I was gonna shop with you so today was, like, the last chance I was going to get. Then, I saw this adorable thing and I knew I had to get it for the baby—because no niece or nephew of mine is going to be anything less than the cutest!”
His brow raises a little higher. “And you hid this from me because…?”
“Because I’ve been thinking about it for the past couple of weeks,” Momo says, a blush streaking across his cheeks, “and I didn’t want you to get jealous of the baby?”
Yuki purses his lips, trying not to laugh. To think it turned out not to be as serious or emotionally tantamount as he had first thought. With how he’d been acting lately, Yuki almost thought he was planning a huge surprise proposal or something. Instead, it’s this. There’s nothing else to really ask except the remaining question of, “You don’t even know if it’s going to be a girl or boy and you went with strawberry themed?”
“Um, yeah, so we can be fruit friends?”
His partner is absolutely, adorably ridiculous.
The sound of a phone alarm cuts into their moment and Momo nearly topples over trying to grab the offending device from the table to shut it up. There’s a shift in the air, Yuki notices, because suddenly that energetic face is back with its usual energy as he stands up to get something from his jacket.
“It’s officially midnight!” Momo says, making his way back and putting a small box in Yuki’s hand. “You know what that means!”
“Thank you, Momo.” Looks like things are finally returning to normal.
Of course, it only stays normal until he actually opens the box and sees his present proper: a simple silver band with two inset diamonds, bearing their colors, that sit side by side.
Sports were never really his thing, but if he had experienced what it was like to get the wind knocked out of him, it would probably feel like this. Yuki helplessly looks up at Momo, whose face had gentled into something far more mature than what he’s used to. Like a man who has his life together, who knows what he wants, who can make those aspirations a reality. Like someone who’s actually proposing marriage.
“I love you,” Momo says. “I know we can’t go and get hitched or anything right now since there’s the whole idol thing, but this is a placeholder for when I can finally do the real deal. Will you wait for me?”
He smiles. “Just don’t get into any baby scandals for real until then.”
“Hey!”
Yuki is not a mind reader nor is he a people-reader. While his Momo-ese is surely getting better, this incident only proves that there’s still a lot for him to learn—and that’s okay by him.
“Happy birthday, Yuki.”
“Merry Christmas, Momo.”
After all, he has a promised forever to learn it.
“…Wait a second, doesn’t this whole thing remind you of To My Dearest?”
Yuki huffs out a laugh. Since he’s the birthday boy and Momo’s lips have spilled their secrets, he thinks it’s high time to steal something nice for himself.
