The Cat and the Crow

[24 December]

[I just have a few minutes. Any updates?]
[Venue is secured. Ice rink in Ogawara Park. It’ll be all ours after 4pm.]
[Thanks, Daichi]
[SO AWESOME!]
[219]
[He seems to have slowed down, if you’ve only reached 219 since yesterday]
[The people running the festival are going to decorate for us]
[Sweet! Thanks, Suga!]
[Nekomata, Yaku, Kai, Lev, Fukunaga, and Inuoka all arrived about an hour ago and are housed accordingly. As soon as we’re done here, we’ll be making calls to our team]
[You guys are the best. Thank you so much!]
[Kuroo, I don’t think I need to ask, but… are you ready, too?]
[Never been readier. You guys know what to do.]
[We’ll be ready. See you tomorrow]
[THIS IS GOING TO BE SO AWESOME!]
[220]
[I don’t think he’s happy enough]
[Not at all]

Tetsuro tucked his phone in his pocket, and quickly scanned his surroundings. No one was in sight. Bokuto and Akaashi had absconded with Kei to another part of the mall. Meanwhile, he had managed to convince his love to let him get their promise rings resized and buy a new chain for them. Luckily, he found a place that was able to do what he needed in a fairly short amount of time, and he was able to purchase the new chains, too.

But it was all a part of a grander scheme, which was set to happen tomorrow.

Reaching into another pocket, he took out a small, red velvet bag. Inside it were the key components to tomorrow’s plan. Smiling, he touched the bag to his lips. He was as excited as Bokuto, really, but a lot less conspicuous.

“Here you are, sir,” the shop girl smiled at him and held out a tray. Their promise rings were set on a little pillow, shining rosy in the light of the shop. “Since the rings didn’t need much to be resized, we’re not going to charge full price.” She told him how much it would be. “That also includes the two silver necklaces, as well.”

Tetsuro blinked. He’d expected to pay a lot more for, well, everything. Instead, he was paying way less. “Thank you,” he said quietly, handing over his card.

“When I told my boss about what you had planned, he wanted to do what he could to help. He discounted your order, and told me to tell you he would visit the shrine on the way back and say a prayer for you and your partner.”

For a moment, Tetsuro was speechless. “Thank you,” he repeated softly as she handed his card back, and gave him the rings.

“Good luck, sir. And I wish you many years of happiness and joy.”

“Thank you very much,” he replied, and bowed deeply. Then, before he embarrassed himself by crying, he turned and left.

Once outside the store, he found a bench and sat down, taking out the silver chains, and replacing the rings on them. He also reattached the half-heart charms as they were before, hanging ‘inside’ the rings. By the time he’d finished, he looked up to see Bokuto, Akaashi, and Kei headed toward him.

“We found this cafe that serves the best Taiyaki!” Bokuto said, taking a bite of the one in his hand. Kei sat down next to him and handed him a couple of the sweet treats.

“Did you finish what you came here for?” he asked, taking a bite of his own taiyaki.

“I did indeed,” Tetsu replied. “We can leave whenever you’re ready.”

“We do need to get home soon. Mom’s expecting us for dinner.”

“And here we are, ruining it by eating dessert first,” Akaashi said around a mouthful of said dessert as they walked out of the mall and made their way back.

“I wonder what she has planned for us,” Bokuto said. Turning around, he started walking backwards as they went. “Tsuki, your mom is the best!”

“She is, isn’t she?” Kei replied with a smile.

“I think she’s already adopted them,” Tetsu murmured in Kei’s ear.

“Yeah, same,” Kei agreed.

Before they left the brightly lit main avenue, Tetsuro reached out and gently tugged on Kei’s arm, slowing him down. Bokuto saw the cue, and took Akaashi’s hand and started running.

“We’ll meet you back home!”

“See you soon!”

“What was that about?” Kei asked, looking adorably confused.

Tetsuro didn’t answer, but instead, came around to stop in front of him. He reached into his coat pocket and pulled out an envelope with a card inside, and handed it to Kei.

“What’s this?”

“Open it.” Kei gave him a weird look, but opened the envelope anyway, pulling out the card.

“An invitation? Tetsu, I don’t…”

“Read it,” he commanded softly.

Kei narrowed his eyes at Tetsuro, but then read the card.

“You’re invited to a special Christmas party!
Time: 5pm
Place: the Ice Skating Rink in Ogawara Park.”

“That’s it?” Kei asked, flipping over the invitation. “Oh, no, there’s something else…” He took a closer look at the small, handwritten print. “‘Do you remember the wish you made?’” Kei looked up at Tetsuro, looking into his eyes for any clues. “I remember my wish. But I’m pretty sure we decided we weren’t going to say it out loud.”

Tetsuro took Kei’s free hand and started walking. “I’m not asking you to tell me. I’m just asking if you remember.”

“Yes, of course I do.”

“Okay.”

After a short silence, “You’re being deliberately vague tonight.”

“Yes, I am.”

“Which usually means you’ve got a surprise planned,” Kei deduced, looking at Tetsuro sideways. “Am I going to like it?”

“I hope you’ll love it.”

They walked a while without saying a word. “Not even a clue?”

“Not this time.”

Kei sighed, but smiled gently. “Alright then. Keep your secrets.”

Tetsuro burst out laughing, brought Kei’s hand up to his lips and kissed it. “Nice try, love, using movie quotes against me. I’m still not going to tell you.”

By the time they got home, Kei still hadn’t pried even a tiny hint from Tetsuro about Christmas day, and they were both laughing over his attempts to guess at the surprise in general. They went straight to the kitchen, following their noses by the glorious smell of fried pork. They were all there, except Akiteru.

“Mom, where’s ni-san?”

“I sent him to fetch tomorrow’s dinner. He’s up in Sendai for the night, and will be back tomorrow.”

“Mom made pork cutlet bowls for us!” Bokuto suddenly exclaimed, looking like he’d achieved enlightenment halfway through his first serving. He smiled up at Kei and Tetsuro. “Sorry. We couldn’t wait. These are the best!”

“It’s fine,” Kei waved away the apology as he sat down across from Tetsu. He smiled up at his mom as she put a bowl down in front of him. “Welcoming two new sons to the family?” he asked her jokingly.

“Of course,” she affirmed, as if it were old news. “They’re good boys, and they definitely make our home more lively. I really like them, Kei. You should invite them up more often.” She went about her business as she would for any normal dinner: making sure everyone’s bowls were full, making sure none of the other dishes ran out of food too soon, and generally just keeping them fed and happy. Then, she stood off to the side, her hands folded up in front of her, and the happiest expression on her face that Kei had ever seen. “Besides,” she said quietly. “They really like my cooking.”

“Who doesn’t?” Bokuto asked. “We’ll just kick anyone out who doesn’t like your cooking, mom.”

“I’m pretty sure that absolutely no one would dare say they didn’t like your food,” Akaashi added. “You taught Kei well, because his food is just as delicious.”

“Agreed!” both Tetsuro and Bokuto exclaimed.

“Can you show me how to make this?” Akaashi asked her, pointing his chopsticks at his bowl. “Bokuto is right. This is the best pork cutlet bowl I’ve ever had.”

Mom’s eyes watered and she could barely speak, but she nodded her head emphatically.

“I would also like a copy of that cookbook you made for Kuroo,” Akaashi requested, looking at Kei. “Especially since it’s all her recipes.” Now, Mom was sobbing, and Akaashi quickly got up and went over to her. “I-I’m sorry! I didn’t mean to make you cry!” He looked panicked, like he wasn’t sure what to do next.

Mom solved that quandary herself, wrapping her arms around Akaashi. For a few minutes, he was too shocked to move. But then, he followed suit, wrapping her up in a hug.

“I think you just gave her the best Christmas present ever, Akaashi,” Kei said, using his napkin to wipe away a few stray tears of his own.

“Yeah, same,” Akaashi said so softly, they almost didn’t hear it.

“Welcome to the family, guys,” Tetsuro added gently.