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It’s quite well-known that Edmond has a soft spot for rabbits.
How did the others know? Because Edmond is often seen around the city feeding the stray rabbits, visiting the animal shelter during his free time to pet and play with them, and he even had a pet rabbit as a child. A white bunny that was given to him on his 7th birthday by his mother. He named it Sugar.
In most of Edmond’s childhood photos, Sugar is always seen. Whether she was in the background, or the young Edmond was holding her.
Unfortunately, Sugar passed away when Edmond was 16. Understandably, he was devastated at the loss of his beloved pet, crying nonstop for days, privately at his home. His parents suggested that they could adopt another rabbit.
To their surprise, Edmond refuses to. He knows his parents meant well, as adopting a new rabbit can help with companionship and affection. But the loss of Sugar was too much for him. He didn’t want to replace her.
That still doesn’t stop him from visiting the bunnies at the adoption shelter. The small, round, and fluffy ones running up to him and hopping onto his lap for snuggles.
As the years go by, he slowly considers the idea of adopting another bunny. It would be nice, but for some reason, he never brought himself to actually adopt one.
He told all of it to Yakumo when he found the knight petting and feeding the few rabbits in the garden one day. Yakumo already knew Edmond loved them, considering he still had his rabbit plushie from his childhood.
He’s still slowly healing from the loss of Sugar, but he mentioned thinking about adopting another one. Did he think that he was replacing her?
“Sir Edmond…I’m sure Sugar wouldn’t mind if you got another one. You took good care of her. She wouldn’t want you to keep being sad over her.” Yakumo does his best to comfort him.
He never had a pet before, but his grandparents used to have a few cats during their younger years. Each of them will always have a special spot in their hearts.
“I know she wouldn’t now. I can take care of one again, but I just can’t bring myself to actually adopt one.” The pain still lingers.
“Do you know what rabbit you would like?” Yakumo asks him.
“I like them all…but I would like another white rabbit. They remind me of her and the winter season. And the cute names that would match them.” Edmond rambles on, and Yakumo is happily listening. He sees joy in Edmond talking about the things he loves.
While Yakumo does enjoy listening to Edmond talk, it’s also a plan for him to know exactly what Edmond wants.
His birthday is coming up in a few weeks.
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Edmond isn’t at home for the day, as he’s at his vice-captain job. Yakumo waited a few hours after Edmond left so he could leave without questions. Making his way into the city, he goes to the animal shelter, the one where Edmond often visits.
Yakumo asks the lady working there if he could see the rabbits up for adoption. The lady takes him to a section only for rabbits. She introduces him to some of them, hopping around, playing with the others, and asking the other humans for attention. Edmond is right, they are all adorable.
A white bunny caught his attention. It finished playing and went up to him. It looks similar to Sugar, except she had brown eyes in the photos. The one in front of him has blue eyes. It reminds him of Edmond.
The lady sees him looking at the white bunny.
“That is Snowflake! She was found at an abandoned farm and was brought here. We believe she is around three months old now.”
“Snowflake…” Yakumo mumbles as he picks her up carefully. Snowflake happily lets him do so, making herself comfortable in his arms.
“She might’ve been abandoned by her mother; no nests were around, and she was alone and hungry when she was found. She’s a very affectionate bunny if you want good companionship.” The lady adds.
A very affectionate bunny…it’s good for Sir Edmond.
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The guys have come together to celebrate Edmond’s birthday. Yakumo cooked up delicious food, and some of the guys managed to get good wine. Of course, every food Yakumo makes is delicious, but the chocolate cake he made for Edmond is his favorite.
Edmond likes all of the gifts they brought for him. He is very grateful for them—new jewelry, clothes, novels, a few small statues made by Blade, etc. Yakumo’s gift to him is a blue kimono with an elegant swan design. Reminding him of a joke they had a while back, of if Edmond were a yokai, he would be a swan, since he’s beautiful and elegant.
And also scary when chasing after people…
His other gift to Edmond is hiding in his room, hopefully not chewing on his furniture.
A wonderful night was had. Edmond preferred not to drink on his birthday, as he gets drunk super easily. Oh well, it gives Rei the excuse to drink more wine, considering that was his gift to him.
He enjoys his friends who wished him a happy birthday. However, Edmond found himself preferring to stay close to Yakumo. He isn’t shy, but he prefers his company above all else. He doesn’t even need to say anything; Yakumo holding him close with a kiss on the lips does it.
A few more hours go by, and they decide to end the party for the night, as some of them have jobs to attend to in the morning. They stay to clean up the aftermath, except Kuya, who left while carrying a drunk-as-fuck Rei, who will probably regret drinking in the morning.
They left when cleaning was finished, except Yakumo, who stayed to help pack up Edmond’s gifts.
“Sir Edmond, there is one more gift I have for you.”
The knight is curious. He lets Yakumo take him to his room. They get there and go in; he turns on the lights, and his “gift” freezes Edmond in place.
Snowflake is sleeping on Yakumo’s bed in a loaf position. A few seconds after the lights came on, she woke up and yawned, stretching as well. Noticing the two men in the room, she hops over to them, still staying on the bed. Yakumo carefully picks her up and brings her to Edmond.
“Her name is Snowflake. I got her for you a few days ago. The lady who worked at the shelter said she was found in December, so she could be around 3 months old. Snowflake came up to me, and she instantly reminded me of you.” Yakumo explains.
Handing Snowflake over carefully to Edmond. They watch her as she makes herself comfortable in the knight’s arms. The bunny looks up at Edmond. He looks at Snowflake for a good 5 seconds before he starts tearing up. Yakumo's immediate thoughts were that maybe this was a bad gift, but he was quickly proven wrong when Edmond got closer to him and kissed him, making sure Snowflake wasn’t getting squished between them.
“I love every gift you have gotten for me, whether it was birthday-related or not, but Snowflake is the most precious gift of all. Thank you so much for her.” Edmond speaks, trying not to burst out crying. Yakumo wipes the tears away from his face with his finger.
“You’re very welcome, my love. Happy birthday.” Yakumo gives him a few kisses on his face and his lips again.
The next few minutes were quiet. Edmond is just petting Snowflake, who fell asleep on his lap, and Yakumo is sitting next to him, enjoying the moment. Until Edmond asks him a question.
“Can we get another bunny?”
“Hm? We can if you want to. Can I ask why?” Yakumo is curious.
“I don’t want Snowflake to be alone while we’re at work; she could get lonely. Can we get another, maybe the ones that look like you?”
Oh, how Yakumo could fall in love with this man again.
“Of course, Sir Edmond.”
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A few days later, the couple can be seen walking out of the shelter together. The knight is holding a brown bunny.
They happily introduced two new fluffy animals, Snowflake and Mocha.