Japan x Reader - Overburdened

    "Kiku?" You muttered, eyes opening slowly as you felt someone crawl into the double futon mattress with you. You turned to look at your husband as he laid down on his side of the futon.

    "Ah, sorry (F/n)-chan." Kiku said. "Did I wake you up?" You glanced at the digital clock on your nightstand, eyes narrowing as you noted the clock said 2:00 am. Maybe you were hallucinating. You rubbed your eyes and pinched yourself for good measure.

    "Kiku!" You said, turning over in your bed to look at your husband while trying to stifle a yawn. "Do you know how late it is?" However, Kiku was already beginning to doze off; his eyes drooping as he tried to stay awake.

    "Yes." He murmured. "Sorry." You sighed, closing your eyes.

   "Just go to sleep." You muttered.

    "おやすみなさい ." Kiku replied.

    "Good night." You replied, moving closer to him and wrapping you arms around him. Most days he would blush, stutter a few words perhaps before you would tell him to just hug you back. Even after many years of marriage, your Japanese husband was still cautious about physical contact. Millenniums of avoiding physical contact wasn't something that could be cured in a few decades. However your husband seemed too tired to even blush about it. You cut your train of thought there before your thoughts kept you awake throughout the night. Closing your eyes, you rested your head against his chest. 

    The bright light of the day came all too soon. You refused to open your eyes, aware that once you did, the chances of going back to sleep were slim, even though you knew it was time to get up now. With a sigh, you resigned yourself to crack one eye open, letting it adjust to the light of the sun that streamed in through the window. Then you sat up, glancing over the Kiku. You couldn't help but smile at the state of bliss your husband seemed to be in, unfortunately it was your duty to make sure he wasn't late.

    "Kiku." You whispered, the numbers 6:00 am stared at you from the clock. "It's time to get up." You then frowned when you remembered that your husband had fallen asleep at 2:00 am, giving him about four hours of sleep. Kiku's eyes slid open, revealing his dark brown eyes as he looked at you, for a second in confusion. "Good morning." You said, leaning in and kissing his cheek while he was still half-asleep. His eyes widened and he sat up, awake and alert while his cheeks turned a light red.

    "A-ah, おはよう (F/n)-chan," Kiku stammered out and you couldn't help but smile at how adorable he looked with his bed-head, red cheeks and wide eyes.

    "Am I showering first or are you?" You asked. He thought about it for a second as he recovered from his embarrassment.

    "You should go first." He said. "Baths are longer than showers." You shook your head.

    "Actually, I can go after. I work from home after all."

    "Don't you have a meeting today over video call?"

    "But you have to go to work and you'll be late if you don't. Just go, I'll go and make breakfast. What do you want?" Kiku seemed to hesitate.

    "Do you want a Japanese breakfast? Steamed rice with miso soup and grilled fish and nori?" You said. "I could if you want. Or I could make a (C/n) breakfast dish."

    "Whatever you want." Kiku said. You sighed and walked towards the kitchen, knowing that you probably wouldn't be able to get another answer out of him. He was just too good at avoiding answering questions directly. You took a wild guess and decided to make him the Japanese breakfast. Quickly, you began to take out the ingredients for it. As you finished making the breakfast, Kiku came down; dressed in a suit. You had to admit it looked sharp on him.

    "What are you making?" Kiku asked.

    "A Japanese breakfast." You said as you placed it in front of him. "What is your schedule today?"

    "I have meetings." Japan said, fixing you with his dark brown gaze. "I will start cleaning after I finish eating." You shook your head.

    "I can." You offered but Japan gave you a look.

    "You too have a meeting." He chided and at the same time, you could tell that he wanted to do it since your cleaning skills were inferior to his.

    "You're in a suit." You reminded him but he pointed at the fabrics he put over his clothing to prevent them from getting dirty.

    "It will be alright. I can do this." He said, giving you a small smile while tilting his head to the side slightly. "Go ahead. You need to shower first and then eat to make sure you are in time for your meeting."

    "Then I will go take my shower." You said and you went up the stairs. You grabbed some nice professional looking clothes before entering the washroom. 10 minutes later you finished taking a shower and brushing your teeth and you were now putting your clothing on. There was a knock on the door.

    "(F/n)-chan? May I enter?" You snickered at how your husband sounded so unsure of entering the washroom with you.

    "Go ahead Kiku." You said, unlocking it. Kiku opened it before stopping in his tracks. His eyes widened, cheeks turning a bright red.

    "(F/n)-chan!" He sounded flustered, too shocked to move. "Y-your shirt!" You looked down and your eyes widened, noting that your blouse was unbuttoned.

    "Oh. Whoops, sorry Kiku." You didn't mind, you were comfortable with your husband. However Kiku was just uncomfortable about stuff concerning bare skin, so you turned around while buttoning it. "What do you need?" You asked, doing the last few buttons.

    "A-ah. I just needed t-to fix my appearance." Kiku said as you turned back and grabbing the brush and working out the knots in your hair.

    "Okay." You said, struggling with one specific knot. You grimaced. Why did your hair do this to you? Kiku sighed and grabbed the brush from you, to help you out. You flinched when he pulled hard.

    "Are you alright?" Kiku asked, peering at you from the mirror. You nodded and Kiku continued. "How do you get your hair like this?"

    "I don't know!" You huffed. "Anyways, what time will you be coming home tonight?"

    "Late again most likely." Kiku said, as he worked out the last few knots. "Done."

    "Thank you." You gave him a quick kiss on the cheek and his cheeks were lightly dusted with red. No matter how many times you did that it never got old.

    "You're welcome. I will be leaving now, I left your breakfast out on the table okay?" You nodded and followed him downstairs.

    "Don't forget your paperwork and your briefcase." You reminded him and he nodded, holding it up.

    "I have it, do not worry." He said, hesitating before placing a kiss on your forehead. "See you tonight."

    "Uh huh." You said, smiling. "Try to get home early if possible."

    "I will." He said, opening the door and shutting it. You sighed before walking towards your breakfast and eating it. Then you would tend to your make-up. You had 30 minutes before your video call meeting. Well, here is the start of another really busy day.

Time skip to around 8:00 pm that night.

    The door opened, grabbing your attention. Kiku must be home.

    "ただいま!" Kiku called out. You stood up and walked out of your shared study.

    "Welcome home." You greeted, walking up to him and placing a kiss on his cheek. He blushed lightly, but he was used to your welcome home kiss now. Sort of. Not really. "How was work?"

    "It was...okay." Kiku hesitated. "Very busy."

    "Hm." You said, as you placed food in front of him. "Today's dinner is a dish from (C/n)." You grinned. "Eat up." Kiku nodded.

    "頂きます." Kiku said before eating. You couldn't help but silently squeal at how adorable Kiku was when he said those words. He was just plain adorable. He looked up at you confused. "Is something wrong?"

    "You are adorable. You know that?" You asked and he blushed.

    "ありがとう." He replied, unsure whether saying thank you was the right thing to say.

    "How much work do you have?" You asked, glancing at the clock. Kiku had come home around 8:00 pm today, but he still hadn't eaten. So here you were, serving him food. How many hours would he take to do his paperwork?

    "A lot." Kiku said, rubbing his eyes and you sighed.

    "Why don't you go and eat while you do your work then?" You asked. "I don't want you to stay up late again today." Kiku hesitated, looking down at the food and then you.

    "I can stay here, it's alright." Kiku said with a smile.

    "Honestly, you don't have to be polite." You said with a roll of your eyes. "Try and put yourself first once in a while."

    "I insist, (F/n)-chan." Kiku said. "What kind of husband would I be to not talk to you? I married you, not my work." You blinked a few times in surprise at the normally stoic man's last sentence before bursting into giggles. At his confused look, you reached over a hand and placed it on his cheek.

    "You are adorable." You repeated. "However it will be selfish of me to keep you here to talk to me for an hour or so while you could spend that hour working and going to sleep an hour earlier." Kiku opened his mouth to say something but you stopped him. "Yes you married me and not your work, but that also means that as your spouse I must look after your well-being. What kind of wife would I be if I made you sleep-deprived from talking when there are better ways of making you sleep-deprived?" You winked and he blushed a bright red.

    "(F-n)-chan, please don't imply such things such as that!" He said, holding his hands out in front of him as if it could ward off your words while and shaking his head back and forth vigorously. His eyes were shut as if to try to block what you were saying.

    "Imply what?" You teased. "My, don't you have a dirty mind?"

    "I-I-" Kiku stuttered.

    "Relax. I'm just teasing you." You said. You stood up and went to get your Japanese husband's tea. "So what went on at work?" There was a moment of silence as he recovered from the embarrassment before he replied. 

    "Don't worry about it." Kiku said with a sigh. "It was just a lot of meetings." You frowned at that, knowing that Kiku didn't want to burden you with his problems.

    "I want to know." You insisted and Kiku hesitated before giving in.

    "My boss was very strict today. He also seemed to be in a bad mood." Kiku said.

    "Did he yell at you?" You asked, eyes narrowing when Kiku nodded.

    "He was under a lot of pressure today." Kiku weakly tried to defend him but you wouldn't take it.

    "What was it about?" Kiku seemed like he was uncomfortable about this, but you didn't care. He muttered something that you didn't catch. "What?"

    "He didn't want me to come home as early as I did today." Kiku repeated louder. "But I told him that my wife was waiting for me and he got upset." You clenched your hands.

    "You should have told him off." You said, coming back to the kotatsu and handing his tea to him.

    "It wasn't that bad." Kiku said. "It's fine (F/n)-chan. It's very trivial."

    "If you insist." You sighed and Kiku nodded.

    "I do." He said as you went over to loosen his tie for him. "Wh-what are you doing?"

    "You should go take a bath before you work." You said. "And how can you relax if you are in such formal attire? At least take of the jacket part of your suit." Kiku nodded, forcing a blush down before he took of the suit jacket and his tie. Despite your protests, he continued to eat dinner with you. The rest of the time was spent on small talks about things such as how Ludwig and Feliciano were doing, whether you should go grocery shopping tomorrow -and you would be glad to do it as a break away from your paperwork-, the weather, the latest anime or manga, etc. At 8:45 pm, Kiku had finished his dinner and you took away his dishes and told him to go take a bath which he obeyed. His baths were about 20 minutes long, meaning you he would be done around 9:05 and hopefully he would be able to finish the paperwork the same time you did.

    However that was not the case. You found yourself lying down alone in bed at 1:00 am, twisting around trying to find Kiku with your eyes closed. You stood up with a huff before you walked towards the study.

    "Honda Kiku! I swear if you do not go to bed soon I will murder you!" You hissed under your breath as you threw the door open. You were greeted with the sight of Kiku on his cell phone, flinching as his boss yelled at him.

    "What do you mean you can't finish it today?" His boss was shouting. "I want it done by tomorrow!"

    "Sir, the amount of work you had given me is unreasonable." Kiku was saying, rubbing an eye with his free hand. "I need my sleep, I've been staying up late the last few days. I will get sick if I continue like this."

    "Are you a Japanese man or not?" His boss sneered. Kiku clenched a fist and you realized that he was doing this for you. You were the one who had told him to stand up for himself. "Do your work for your country! You are the personification of Japan, you should be able to get your paperwork here on time." You were tempted to step in but you allowed your husband to make a stand for himself. This was about his pride.

    "Sir, by all means, the Japanese law states that (A/N I do not know if this is right, I did some research but I am unsure still. If you find the right information, please tell me) the limits of overtime in Japan are 5 hours per day, 45 hours per month and 360 hours per year. I start work at 7:30 am. I am supposed to come home around 5:00 pm, meaning I work about 9 hours and a half a day which is more than the average hours of a normal employee. Yet I still come home late and when I come home I am to work on paperwork for the rest of the evening. My wife has almost no time to talk to me. I work overtime as well, about 4 hours of overtime with the exception of today. I have been doing this for almost 2 weeks, bringing it to about 40 hours of overtime, almost surpassing the limit of the 45 hours of overtime per month law." Kiku's eyes hardened and he was now glaring at his paperwork. The air seemed to grow colder, despite the fact that it was warm out.

    "Isn't your wife the personification of (C/n)?" His boss snapped, changing the subject. "She has a lot of paperwork as well doesn't she? Yet you don't see her complaining."

    "Don't bring (F/n) into this." Kiku snapped and you blanched at the rage entwined in his words. "She has nothing to do with this." You have barely seen Japan get mad, yet here he was, raging at his boss. The air grew tenser and you shivered. This reminded you to never get your husband angry.  "I have no time for her to the point where she tells me that I should skip eating dinner with her and eat it while doing my paperwork, why? Because she wants me to get enough sleep to stay healthy, even if it means that I don't get to spend time with her."

    "I-" His boss started, but Japan interrupted again despite it being impolite and rude. This was somehow very attractive to you...

    "I will be taking a vacation day tomorrow." He said frowning.. "You can fax me the paperwork but I plan on spending the day with my wife tomorrow." You smiled at this while Japan calmed down, finishing up the conversation with his boss before hanging up. He organized all his papers, a satisfied grin on his face.

    "Hello." You greeted as he turned around to look at you in shock.

    "(F/n)-chan." Kiku said, gazing at you worriedly. "I didn't wake you up did I?"

    "No you didn't." You said, walking up towards him. "I heard the conversation. Are you being serious about tomorrow?"

    "Yes I am." Japan said, looking up at you and you grinned.

    "I will take a vacation day tomorrow as well then." You said, placing a head on his shoulder. "What will we be doing?" Kiku hesitated before you interrupted him. "And don't say what I want to do, do what you want to do."

    "I would like to have a day in." Kiku confessed. You grinned coyly. He had fallen right in your trap, you knew he was going to say that.

    "How about a day of sleep?" You asked while he stood up.

    "Why?"

    "Because I can promise you that I'm going to make you sleep-deprived by the time night ends." You winked while pulling him out the door. Kiku's face reddened.

    "(F/n)-chan!"