Title: linen
Rating: T
Fandom: Tokyo in April is...
Relationship: Ishigaki Ren/Takizawa Kazuma
Wordcount: 450
Short summary: Ren pulls out a certain linen shirt out of the laundry basket to hang up and dry.
Ren sighs as he pulls out a certain item from the laundry basket to hang up and dry. A certain white linen shirt that holds so much meaning...
It means a lot to Ren, in a good way now, but for a moment it was complicated. It was not exactly supposed to be his, but it eventually became his as acknowledged by the gift-giver, reluctantly.
Of course without words. Everything happened without proper communication. Both of them were afraid, Ren realizes now, but at first Ren only knew of his own fear. Immediately thought of the mistake, of wearing a “boyfriend” shirt without properly being boyfriends. Kazuma may have been as oblivious to the “situation” as he was back then, but of course she would see.
She judged him correctly. But she was harsh. She was reluctant; she was afraid too.
Acceptance didn’t come easy for either of them, even after things were acknowledged. Ren did want to do good by her too, but he didn’t know how she wanted it. She had her own pride, her own point of view. But she also had hurt Kazuma, albeit in a misguided way, but still…
The next linen shirt Ren pulls out also has meaning, albeit a different one.
“Kazuma, you don’t have to…”
“Oh, Mom said this was for you.”
“Really.”
Ren couldn’t actually believe she would gift him a shirt willingly, but he wasn’t going to argue with Kazuma. Turns out he was wrong.
Because the third linen shirt Ren pulls out of the basket was given to him directly… No Kazuma involved. It wasn’t given with a big smile or with any type of overt affection, just a small curl of the lips and a hard stare. Ren remembers accepting it with a nod of his head and a small smile of his own.
He puts a lot of care in hanging up these three linen shirts properly, next to the other linen that has been washed, that had been stained during last night’s activities… Details of which stay only between him and Kazuma.
It may be her job, as a professional fashion designer, to gift shirts made of the highest quality. It may be her job, as a mother, to let her son grow up and act how he wants, even if she doesn’t actually want him to do those things. It may be her job, as a human being, to face other human beings with empathy, with understanding when they make mistakes and try to atone for them.
She has done all three for Ren, which means she truly has accepted him now.
So he will, in return, do his best to accept her as well.