Moonrise

Epilogue - Part Two

~*~ One Year Later ~*~

"Thank you," Tetsu said as he handed over several books to their last customers. "Come back again soon."
"Oh, we will," the lady said with a gleam in her eye; her friend was blatantly staring. "This shop is too adorable not to visit again."
"Much appreciated," he replied with a smile. He looked past them at Kei, who rolled his eyes.
"Have a good evening," Kei said, holding the door for them as they left.
"Thank you!" they replied without looking back.

Kei closed the door and locked it, started pulling down the shades on the door and windows, closed curtains, and tidied up, while Tetsu opened the antique register and started counting the money. It was routine, and could be considered mundane, but Tetsu loved it as much as Kei did.

They'd been co-owners of the shop for a year now, and Tetsu found it fun and interesting, which he never expected. He was often the face their customers saw when they opened early in the morning, while Kei would be the one they saw before the shop closed late at night. He was the more sociable of them both, so he would chat with their customers, and Kei would quietly help them find books and serve them tea and snacks if they intended to use the chairs and tables. Kei took care of publicity and put ads in the local newspaper and created a web page on the internet. Their little shop eventually gained a bigger clientele, and not surprisingly, most of them were women.

"You don't even try to charm them, but they flock in here to see you," Kei said cheekily from where he was reshelving books. "Lady-killer."
"That's because I'm good-looking," Tetsu replied, looking rather smug.
Kei's eyebrows shot up. "Debatable."
"Oh really? I seem to remember you saying I'm handsome as sin."
"Not even once!"
"Last night, Sunday morning, while we were at the store on Tuesday..."
Kei snorted. "I honestly can't believe you keep track of that."
"You'd be surprised what I keep track of."
"Oh yeah? Like what?"
"It's a secret."
"Which basically means you don't keep track."

Tetsu laughed, put the money in the safe box and rounded the counter, walking slowly to where Kei was replacing books on the shelves. He caged his fiance in with his arms, and leaned forward so that his chest was against Kei's back, and he whispered in his ear.

"I keep track of many things," he said, his lips lightly brushing the shell of Kei's ear, and his voice pitched low. He felt him shiver and smiled. "I keep track of your smiles, your laughs, the way you hum to yourself when you're putting up books." He pressed in further. "More importantly, I keep track of your shivers, your moans, and what makes you cry out when you..."
"Tetsu?"
"Yeah?"
Kei put the books he was holding in a death grip down, and turned so that they faced each other, and no space between them. He snaked his hands up under Tetsu's shirt, sliding his hands up and up, over heated skin. Tetsu groaned, but kept his eyes locked on Kei's.
"Let's go to bed."
"No argument here."
"Since when do you argue about it?"
"Smartass."
"Glad you're keeping up."
"In more ways than one," Tetsu growled, and then kept Kei from replying by kissing him into silence.

~*~ Two Years Later ~*~

"Can you see anything?"
"Not through a sleep mask, and all the strips of fabric..."
A soft laugh and a quick kiss. "Okay, then. No peeking, either."
"Mmhmm... can I get another kiss?"
"Don't push your luck."
"Stingyshima."
"No using high school nicknames, Kitty Cat."
"I detect a new rule, and a new nickname."
"Only one is temporary. How did you even find out about that nickname? Hinata was the only one to use it."
"Noya told me."
"I should have known."
"Accurate, though."
"Shut up. We're almost there."

Kei smiled brilliantly at his perfectly blindfolded fiance, stole another kiss, and then sat back in his seat. They'd just been informed by the pilot that they were ten minutes from landing, and his excitement was increasing. He saved up for an entire year for this trip, and Tetsu's mom had helped (even after Kei insisted she didn't).