Love

"Tadaima!¹" Tsukishiro Yukito pulled the door closed behind him and waited for an answer from his lover. The house seemed to be dark, but he'd seen the other man's bicycle in the rack downstairs. "To-ya? Are you home yet?"

"Okaeri nasai², Yuki. I'm in here," came the response.

The silver-haired man left his coat and shoes at the entrance and slid on his house slippers, sniffling a bit from what he hoped was just the change in temperature. He followed the sound of the voice to the common area and was greeted by the sight of his koibito³ seated at the table, a lovely and intimate candlelit dinner spread out in front of him, and music playing softly in the background.

"What's this?"

"Happy Christmas, Yuki. And Happy Birthday."

Yukito smiled shyly at his lover. They'd been officially together for almost a year and this was their first Christmas together. It seemed that Touya wanted to celebrate properly. He had to have spent most of the afternoon preparing this.

"Arigatou, To-ya. It's beautiful!" He sat next to the other man and took his hand. "You didn't have to go to all this trouble."

"It wasn't trouble. And I wanted to do this. You deserve a special dinner for your birthday."

"Thank you."

The two men served each other, then ate in relative silence, Yukito praising his lover's skill in the kitchen, and thanking the other man for choosing many of Yukito's favorite dishes. It wasn't until the end of the meal that the silver-haired man noticed the small potted Christmas tree on the far corner of the table, decorated with handmade ornaments of white rabbits and peach blossoms.⁴ He looked at Touya with barely-contained laughter in his eyes.

Touya blushed slightly, then glared at Yukito.

"I love it, To-ya." Yukito gave his lover a quick peck on the tip of his nose.

"There's something else...." He reached behind the tree and pulled out a small box. "I've had this for a while now. I...ummm...Otanjoubi omedetou⁵..." Touya was bright red as he placed the box in his lover's hand, looking endearingly and uncharacteristically flustered.

Yukito slowly untied the ribbon and opened the box. His eyes widened as he saw the contents. A delicate silver band was nestled in the velvet lining. "To-ya..." the silver-haired man whispered as he pulled it free of the box. The inside was engraved with the kanji for "love". "Oh, To-ya. It's...it's...perfect."

Touya flushed with a mixture of relief and embarrassment. "I was hoping you'd like it."

"Oh, I do! Arigatou, To-ya." He leaned in and gave his lover a sincere kiss, then pulled back. "I'd like to give you your present now, if that's okay..."

Touya, still not thinking completely clearly, just nodded slightly.

"I'll be right back, koi." He stood and ran back towards the entryway, rubbing at his nose once he'd turned away from the other man. Yukito rifled through most of the pockets in his heavy winter coat before finally finding the one where he'd stashed the present. As he headed back towards the table, the silver-haired man rubbed at his nose and sniffled again, hoping that the tickly feeling would just go away.

"This is for you, my To-ya. Happy Christmas," and he placed a box identical to the one he'd received just minutes before in to his lover's hands.

Still stunned, Touya opened the box and pulled out a silver band slightly thicker than the one he'd given to Yukito, engraved on the inside with the kanji for "heart".

"I know I already gave my heart to you, a long time ago, but..."

Yukito found himself wrapped in the embrace of his taller lover.

"Ano...Yuki, I...I know I don't...don't say it much..."

"Shhh. It's okay, To-ya. I know. You may not say it with your voice, but you say it so many other ways. I love you too."

The taller man tightened his arms around Yuki and held him a moment longer, then placed a kiss on Yukito's forehead before pulling back and smiling gently.

Yukito smiled back before his gaze was caught by movement in the window behind Touya's head. "To-ya! It's snowing!" With the joy of a much younger child, he grabbed his lover's hand and pulled him out to their balcony. "So beautiful," he commented of the snowflakes swirling down from the sky.

"Mm," Touya replied, then wrapped his arms around Yukito from behind and held him as the two watched the snow fall, planting the occasional kiss on his lover's neck and half-exposed ear.

Yukito leaned in to his lover's embrace, quite content, until one of the snowflakes landed squarely on his nose. The faint tickle that had been plaguing him since he'd walked in the front door that evening became much more. He pulled away from Touya and hid his face in his hands. "Eck-chiu! Hih-chiu!"

"Na, Yuki, it's too cold for you to be out here without a coat on."

"But..."

Touya gave his koibito a look much like the one he'd often given to his sister when she'd been fussing for similar reasons. "I don't want you to catch a chill, Yuki."

Yukito sniffled lightly, feeling an unpleasant pressure in his sinuses that shouldn't have been there, and that he'd felt building all day but had ignored in hopes of it going away. "I think it might...heh...be too...heh -chiu!...too late for that."

The scolding look changed to one of concern. "Yuki..."

"Daijoubu⁶, To-ya." He smiled at the taller man. "You know I always end up with something when the weather changes as quickly as it did last week. Don't worry about it. Right now it's just a tickle in my nose. It's an excuse for me to stay home and snuggle up in bed with you, ne?"

Touya rolled his eyes. "You're too much sometimes. You know that, don't you?"

"Un. That's why you love me." Yuki winked.

Touya leaned in and kissed his lover on the forehead. "One of many, many reasons. Come on," he said, wrapping one arm around Yukito's shoulders and leading him back inside as Yukito got a distinctly sneezy look on his face again. "Let's get you inside and warmed up."

"Ick-CHIU! *sniffle* Hai..."

Within minutes, the two were seated on the couch, mugs of hot chocolate in their hands, Touya with his arms around Yukito, and several quilts and blankets wrapped around both of them. "Warmer now?"

Yukito nodded. "Nn. Much." He relaxed in to Touya's arms and sipped at his cocoa. "I...Ih-chiu!...I love you, To-ya."

"I love you too, Yuki. Happy Christmas."