A/N – This is a short fic based on how I thought Arthur would ask for Yao's hand in marriage. The first part of Arthur's proposal was inspired by a 'Friends' episode ;) The rest of it is my concoction.

"How about this one?" Alfred pointed to a pink ruby ring on display.

Arthur frowned. "That colour is a bit too girly, don't you think?" They were shopping for a ring – Arthur had been planning to ask for Yao's hand in marriage, and had called Alfred along for advice. They had been in the jewellery shop for almost an hour already, and seemed to be making no progress.

"I give up!" exclaimed Alfred. "No ring seems to pique your fancy!"

Arthur glared at Alfred. "Shut up! The ring has to be perfect – I only get to do this once, and I don't want to screw it up!"

"Well," Alfred raised an eyebrow. "If you want it to be so perfect, you can custom-make it yourself. I'm sure there are a lot of ring designers out there who are willing to design the ring for you, and besides, it's not like you can't afford it! Then we don't have to be wasting our time here!"

Arthur looked at Alfred with an amazed expression. "Why didn't I think of that before?!"

"Because I'm smart, and you're not," Alfred muttered.

Arthur smacked him on the head. "I heard that, you git!"

In the end, Arthur hired a ring designer who designed a beautiful sapphire ring for Yao. It had a beautiful oval sapphire, which was a deep intoxicating blue, accented with two sparkling cut diamonds.

It was beautiful, and Arthur could not stop staring at it – occasionally, he would take out the ring from its box and just look at it.

Now, Arthur needed to plan the right time and method to ask Yao to marry him. He wanted it to be a surprise; when Yao wasn't expecting it, he would spring the question. But how?

Finally, Arthur figured that he would take Yao out to a nice, romantic dinner, and after dinner, he would pop the question to Yao. It was flawless!

Arthur had even asked Yao's siblings on how to ask Yao to marry him.

Mei had squealed before going on into a long-winded description on how Arthur should ask Yao to marry him. Hong Kong had rolled his eyes, and said that Arthur should just be straightforward – Yao was irritatingly oblivious to things like this. Kiku and Yong Soo agreed with Hong Kong. Nevertheless, they were all very excited at the prospect of their oldest brother getting married.

So, on Friday night, Arthur took Yao to a fancy restaurant for dinner. Yao didn't think it was strange – Arthur could find any excuse to splurge his money on Yao, so he didn't enquire about it.

All was going well, until Ivan appeared at the restaurant with his date. Ivan had dated Yao for a short while but they broke up when they realised that they had different goals in their relationship. They remained on friendly terms, though.

When Ivan stepped through the entrance of the restaurant, Yao immediately turned towards Arthur and gasped, "It's Ivan, aru!"

Arthur looked towards the entrance where Ivan was now talking to a waiter as his date waited for him with a smile on her face. When Ivan was done, his gaze shifted and fell upon Yao and Arthur. His eyes lit up in recognition as he waved at them and approached them.

"Hi, Ivan," Yao greeted.

"Hello, Yao. Arthur," Ivan nodded. "Fancy bumping into you guys over here."

Arthur smiled and grasped Yao's hand on the table. "We're just having dinner," he told Ivan.

"So are we," Ivan replied. "Oh, how rude of me!" Ivan suddenly exclaimed. "Yao, Arthur, this is Natalia," he gestured to the young lady who was standing behind him.

Natalia stepped forward, smiling at Arthur and Yao. "Hi, it's nice to meet you," she said, extending her hand to be shaken.

Yao shook her hand, followed by Arthur. "Are the two of you… dating, aru?" Yao asked.

Natalia glanced at Ivan as if seeking for confirmation.

Ivan grinned. "Yes, we are. We've been dating for seven months now."

"That's great!" exclaimed Arthur, a bit too hastily.

The waiter whom Ivan had been talking to came back to show Ivan to his table. However, when he saw that Ivan seemed to know Arthur and Yao, he said as he pointed to the empty table beside Arthur and Yao's, "This table is free if you would like it."

Ivan raised an eyebrow. "Okay," he replied. "I'll take it," he said and gestured for Natalia to sit down. "It'd be nice to catch up with Yao-yao, da?"

Yao nodded, smiling, but Arthur's eyes widened. How could he ask Yao to marry him in front of Ivan? It would be low, and downright rude! Arthur still had his ethics and standards. He let out a soft growl.

Yao looked at Arthur in concern. "Is everything alright, aru?"

"Yeah," Arthur managed. "Just peachy."

When Arthur and Yao made it back to Yao's house after their date, Arthur was in a foul mood, but he tried his very best not to show it. Ivan and Yao had reminisced about their time together, and Arthur felt like a third wheel. Granted, he had had dated Yao for a longer period and had more memories with Yao, but that didn't change the fact that Ivan had dated Yao, and that they shared those recollections.

"I made some black sesame soup this afternoon – it should still be warm. Would you like some, aru?" Yao asked Arthur as he made his way into the kitchen.

"Sure," Arthur replied, following Yao into the kitchen. He rummaged into the drawer and brought out a bowl for Yao to pour the soup into.

Yao had just taken the bowl from Arthur when Mei and Hong Kong came in. They had just come back from a meeting. "Ooh, you're back!" Mei cried excitedly. "Let me see your hand, let me see your hand!"

Behind Yao, Arthur was frantically shaking his head and waving his hands.

"What, aru?" Yao was perplexed.

Mei noticed Arthur a bit too late and had already grabbed Yao's left hand. "Er… I wanted to see the bowl you were using!" She yanked the bowl out of Yao's hand. "Don't use this bowl – it's my favourite bowl!"

"It is?"

"Yes!" Mei brought the bowl back to the drawer and took out another one. "Use this instead!"

Yao took the other bowl from Mei. "Okay, aru…"

Hong Kong pulled Arthur out of the kitchen. "You didn't ask him?" he whispered.

"No!" Arthur replied. "Ivan was there too, and I couldn't very well ask him with Ivan there!"

Hong Kong nodded. "Fair point. So like, what are you going to do now?"

Arthur shrugged helplessly. "I don't know. Probably plan another date where I can ask him to marry me?"

"It's your call in the end," Hong Kong told Arthur.

Arthur smacked his hand on his forehead. "I had thought tonight would be perfect, you know? Then Ivan had to go and ruin it for me!"

"Ivan ruined what for you?" Kiku asked. He had just come in with Yong Soo.

Yong Soo ignored the men by the entrance of the kitchen. He immediately ran into the kitchen and yelled, "Brother! I want to see your hand, da-ze!"

Mei shot Yong Soo a look and shook her head at him warningly.

But Yong Soo had already grabbed Yao's left hand as he was scooping black sesame soup into a bowl for Arthur. "Yong Soo, aru!" Yao cried. Some soup had spilled onto the kitchen counter.

"Eh?" Yong Soo stared at Yao's left hand.

Mei glared at Yong Soo.

Yong Soo caught Mei's glare and hastily let go of Yao's hand. "Just wanted to see what soup you made, brother!" he cheerfully said.

Hong Kong rolled his eyes.

Yao looked funnily at Yong Soo. "Black sesame soup, aru. Do you want some?" He proceeded to wipe the spilt soup on the kitchen counter with a rag.

"Okay!"

"Arthur couldn't ask brother to marry him because like, Ivan showed up," Hong Kong whispered to Kiku.

"Oh," Kiku shot Arthur a sympathetic look.

Arthur looked witheringly at the two brothers.

Yao came out of the kitchen holding Arthur's bowl of black sesame soup. "Here you go, aru," he handed Arthur the bowl. "Kiku, Hong Kong, there's more soup in the pot if you want some. Go have some while it's still warm."

"Okay," both Kiku and Hong Kong chorused before making their way into the kitchen to help themselves to some of Yao's soup. It was a known fact that Yao made very delicious dessert, and they didn't want to miss it.

A few days later, Arthur decided to test the waters on where Yao stood with the idea of marriage. So, while they were having a simple lunch, Arthur brought up the subject. "So… what do you think about marriage?"

Yao raised an eyebrow. "Marriage in general, aru?"

Arthur nodded as he scooped a spoonful of rice into his mouth.

Yao smiled dreamily and poked into his food. He didn't look at Arthur, though. "I think it's a wonderful thing. I mean, what better way to legally promise a couple to one another than through a wedding, aru?"

Arthur feigned nonchalance. "I guess…" Then he got an idea – Arthur would dismiss all thought of getting married by saying that he didn't want to get married so as to deter Yao from thinking about marriage at all. Then, when he popped the question, it would definitely be a pleasant surprise! "I don't know – it just seems a little excessive to me. I mean, I know I love you and I know you love me, so why should a couple get married? It kinda ties you down, doesn't it?"

Yao looked away. "You're right," Yao said with a small voice. But he didn't sound convincing. "So you don't ever want to get married, aru?"

Arthur nodded. "The divorce rates are sky-rocketing these days!"

"Not even to me?"

"Love," Arthur took Yao's hand. "You know I love you, so why do I need to prove that I love you?"

Yao didn't say anything in reply to that. What Arthur said kinda made sense. But knowing that Arthur loved him did not seal his commitment like a wedding did. Yao looked at his hands. To be honest, he saw Arthur and him happily married in the foreseeable future. Not soon, but eventually. And it hurt that Arthur didn't see the same way as Yao did.

"Brother?" Kiku asked when Yao entered their house. "What are you doing home so early? Didn't you go out with Arthur?"

Yao sighed and flopped onto the sofa. "I did," he replied gloomily. "I decided to come home early."

"What's wrong?" Kiku asked as he got up from his position on the floor and walked towards Yao. "You don't look very happy."

Yao opened his mouth to answer, and then closed it. He opened his mouth again, and then closed it. For a moment there, Yao looked like a goldfish. Finally, he said, "I don't know, aru."

"Why?" Kiku sat beside Yao on the sofa.

Yao rested his chin on his hand. "Arthur was talking about marriage," he told Kiku.

Kiku's eyebrows rose. "And you're not happy about that?"

Yao glanced at Kiku. "Well, no, aru. But yes, as well."

"Why?" Kiku prompted.

"He said he didn't want to get married. Not ever," he told Kiku. "Not even to me, aru!"

Kiku frowned. That didn't sound like Arthur at all. Last he heard, Arthur had wanted to propose to Yao.

"I mean, I'm not expecting us to get married tomorrow or something, aru," Yao continued. He was clearly upset. "I would just like the assurance that I mean something to him and that this relationship is going somewhere!"

"Well, maybe you should talk to him and explain to him how you feel."

Yao sighed again. He stood up from the sofa. "I don't know. Just give me some time to think, aru." With that, he exited the house.

Kiku stared at the closed door before whipping out his cellphone to dial Arthur's number.

"Hello?"

"Arthur, you bastard!" Kiku exclaimed. He didn't bother introducing himself over the phone – he figured Arthur must recognise his voice after being with Yao and conversing with Kiku for so long. "Why did you tell brother that you didn't want to marry him?!"

"Oh…" Arthur sounded apologetic. "He told you, huh? How is he?"

"Not happy, I must say!" Kiku yelled at Arthur. "Do you want to or do you not want to marry my big brother?!"

"Of course I do!" replied Arthur. "I just wanted it to be a surprise, you know, so I thought I'd say that I didn't want to get married so that Yao wouldn't be expecting me to ask him for his hand in marriage!"

Kiku sighed. "You are an idiot," he told Arthur. "The biggest idiot in the world."

"Where's Yao?" Arthur asked. "Can I talk to him?"

"He left a moment ago – he said he needed to think," Kiku replied.

"Oh," said Arthur. "Do you know where he went?"

"No idea."

"Crap," Arthur cursed. "I hope he doesn't go and do anything stupid. I guess I'll go look for him."

As Arthur left his house, his brain was formulating his 'Proposal Plan B'.

The sun had set when Arthur finally found Yao. Actually, Arthur had known where Yao would head to, so he sneakily prepared 'Proposal Plan B'. It needed more work than his initial plan, but Arthur thought it was worth it.

Yao was sitting forlornly on a bench in the park, staring at the kids who were packing up to go home. He wasn't sure if he wanted to go home yet. Going home meant that he had to face his siblings' questions.

"Yao?" Arthur placed his hand lightly on Yao's shoulder.

Yao turned around to look at Arthur. "How'd you find me, aru?"

Arthur chuckled. "Instinct, I guess."

Yao scooted over so that Arthur could sit down beside him. But Arthur didn't. Instead, he took Yao's hand and pulled him up. "Follow me," he said.

Yao looked quizzically at Arthur. Nevertheless, he followed Arthur.

Arthur led Yao to a more secluded area of the park, where he had his surprise prepared. "Listen, Yao…" Arthur began. "What I said about marriage earlier on, I didn't mean any of it."

Yao looked at Arthur and frowned. "What do you mean, aru?"

"Well, just that. I didn't mean it when I said I didn't want to get married. In fact, I do."

"Then why'd you say that?"

Arthur blushed involuntarily. "To keep you from having any thoughts about marriage," he replied. They finally reached the lake in the park. Arthur had hung many colourful Chinese lanterns around the lake, so the area was quite brightly illuminated.

Yao gasped when he saw the beautiful sight of the lanterns glowing in the night. He glanced at Arthur.

"… So that I can do this," he pulled out a tiny box from his coat and opened it.

Yao peered into the box and to his shock, found that Arthur was presenting him with a beautiful sapphire ring. He gasped and brought his hand to cover his mouth when Arthur knelt down on his knees in front of him.

"Yao Wang, you have made me happier than I have ever been in my life. You have changed me for the better; you have made me a better person. You are always on my mind, especially when you are not by my side. I miss you when you are not around. I think about the future, what goals I have with you in my head, more than ever now. I'll never hurt you; I'll love and cherish you for as long as I live. Let me make you the happiest man on this earth." His cheeks were turning pink, but with a deep breath, Arthur finally said, "Will you marry me, Yao?"

For a moment, Yao was speechless. His arms had dropped to his sides and he stared at Arthur with his mouth open. Needless to say, he was stunned beyond words. He blinked once. "What, aru?" Yao finally said.

"Will you marry me?" Arthur repeated, gazing into Yao's eyes.

"Y-yes! Yes, I'll marry you, aru!" exclaimed Yao as he knelt down so that he was at level with Arthur, and engulfed him in a massive hug.

"R-really?" Arthur questioned. He was somewhat shocked by Yao's immediate answer. Why would Yao want to marry someone like him?

"Yes, really!" said Yao, kissing Arthur on the lips. "I love you, you dolt!"

Arthur grinned. The two of them got up, and Arthur slipped the ring onto Yao's left fourth finger. It shimmered even under the light of the lanterns.

"I'm engaged…" Arthur muttered. "I'm engaged to Yao," he beamed deliriously.

Yao smiled at Arthur and snuggled into his chest. "Never in my wildest dreams would I ever have imagined getting married to you, aru."

Arthur frowned. "Does the thought of marrying me revolt you so much?" he jokingly asked Yao.

"No!" Yao replied quickly. "It's just that… I never thought I'd get together with you in the first place – you seemed to have such good tastes, so why would you date someone like me, aru?"

Arthur cupped Yao's chin with his hand. "What do you mean someone like you?"

Yao blushed and looked away from Arthur. "I don't know – some as unattractive as me?"

Arthur brought Yao's face to look at him. "Yao, you are not ugly," he told the Asian man.

Yao shrugged. "Sometimes I just feel that way," he said.

"Well, you're not. Anyway," Arthur wagged his eyebrows suggestively. "We are getting married!" he sang, as he wrapped his arms around Yao's waist.

"Yes, we are, aru," Yao giggled and nuzzled his nose against Arthur's.

"So, do you want a big wedding or a small wedding?" Arthur touched his forehead to Yao's.

Yao's answer was immediate. "A small wedding – just family and friends."

Arthur kissed Yao on the lips. "Looks like you'll have to prepare your something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue now," he grinned cheekily at Yao.

"Aiyah," Yao smiled affectionately at Arthur as he stroked Arthur's right cheek with a finger. "That's a Western custom, aru."

"Aw," Arthur pouted. "Indulge me? Please? I'm Western after all," he reasoned.

"Okay, okay..." replied Yao. "I'll think about it, aru. But I guess we can use blue confetti or blue balloons for 'something blue'."

Arthur nodded, seemingly satisfied.

Just then, a slow song started playing from a distance. Arthur glanced behind towards the direction of the song. "Want to dance?" He stood up and extended his hand towards Yao.

Yao looked around nervously. "In a park, aru?"

Arthur smiled at Yao. "There's music," he shrugged. "Come on!"

Yao took Arthur's hand. He wrapped his arms around Arthur's neck, while Arthur wrapped his arms around Yao's waist, bringing their bodies closer together. Arthur nuzzled his nose against Yao's ear and kissed Yao on the back of his neck. They swayed their bodies to the music, and Yao thought happily, as he leaned his head on Arthur's shoulder, that he could do this for all eternity.

When Arthur and Yao entered Yao's house later that night, Yao's siblings were watching a Japanese game show on TV called 'Hole in the Wall'. They were cheering for a contestant who had to contort his body into a funny shape in order for a block which had a hole in said odd shape to pass through his body.

As soon as Arthur and Yao walked into the living room, Yong Soo shifted his attention from the TV to them. "Brother!" he cried, leaping onto Yao. "You're back, da-ze!"

"Oh, I see you've found him," Kiku observed, looking at Arthur. Kiku had filled his siblings in on what Arthur had done.

Arthur beamed at Kiku. "Yup," he said. "We're engaged now."

Mei squealed and Yong Soo gave a loud cry. "Let me see your hand, let me see your hand!" they cried simultaneously, as Mei got up from the sofa and ran towards Yao. Meanwhile, Yong Soo had grabbed Yao's left hand and was examining it excitedly.

Yao blushed as Mei and Yong Soo fawned over the ring on his fourth finger.

Hong Kong turned towards Arthur. "Did you like, manage to surprise him?"

Arthur nodded, smiling. "I did – I even set up lanterns in the park!" he beamed.

"Wow, that's even more dramatic than your initial plan," commented Hong Kong as he nodded approvingly.

"Hey, after that plan failed, I needed a better one!"

"So, when's the wedding?" Kiku asked Arthur.

Arthur shrugged. "We haven't discussed it yet. But Yao says he wants a small wedding."

By then, Mei was still gushing over Yao's ring but Yong Soo had turned his attention back to the TV. Yao had to gently pry Mei's fingers away from his hand in order to get back to Arthur.

"We just wanted to announce our engagement," Arthur told Yao's siblings. He took Yao's hand and smiled at the Asian man. "We're going out to celebrate."

Hong Kong rolled his eyes, Mei made an excited sound, Yong Soo shot them a thumbs-up sign and Kiku merely smiled at them. "Have fun then," Kiku said pleasantly.

"Don't wait up for us!" yelled Arthur as he pushed Yao out of the door.

Hong Kong looked at Kiku. "Do you think they'll be that bad when they're married?"

Kiku shrugged and turned his attention back to the TV. "Oh well, at least they're happy."

Omake

Mei was surfing the Internet. Well, to be more specific, she was surfing Facebook. She liked to keep up with the current gossip, and she could do that through Facebook.

Mei was scrolling through her newsfeed, her eyes scanning and filtering through news that was important.

Then, Mei caught sight of one particular item on her newsfeed.

Yao Wang is engaged to Arthur Kirkland.

Well, it wasn't new news to Mei. But knowing her brother, who was a very private person, he wouldn't post something like that on Facebook. But maybe he had changed. She wagged her eyebrows suggestively and exited her room in search of Hong Kong.

Mei found Hong Kong watching TV in the living room. She waved to get his attention.

Hong Kong tore his eyes away from the TV to look at Mei. "Like, what is it?"

"Did you see big brother's update on Facebook?" Mei asked gleefully.

Hong Kong frowned. "No… what did he say?"

"Come, come! You have to see this!" Mei ran over to where Hong Kong was seated and pulled him up from his seat. She then dashed into her room, pulling a protesting Hong Kong along.

"Slow down!" cried Hong Kong. "What's the hurry?!"

Mei and Hong Kong reached her table where her laptop was on. She gestured excitedly to the screen. "See that! See that!"

Hong Kong bent down and leaned forward so that he could read what was on the screen. He squinted, and when he finally read what Mei was so excited about, he grinned. "Well, I didn't expect him to post something like that on Facebook… but that's like, a good way to get the news out."

When Yao got home that night, he brought Arthur along for dinner.

Mei didn't waste a second to try and tease Yao about his Facebook update. "Congratulations, big brother Yao!" she cried, engulfing him in a hug. "You're officially engaged now!"

Yao looked at her funnily. Then he looked at Arthur, who shrugged.

"What do you mean, aru?"

"Your Facebook status!" Mei flailed her arms excitedly. "It says you're engaged now!"

Yao frowned. "No, it most certainly does not! I wouldn't post something like that on Facebook, aru!"

"Let me show it to you!" Mei then dragged Yao to her room to show him the evidence.

Kiku and Yong Soo then entered the dining hall. "What's Mei so excited about?" inquired Kiku.

Arthur shrugged. "Apparently Yao's Facebook status states something about him being engaged?"

"Oh," Yong Soo grinned. "I did that, da-ze!"

"You hacked into Yao's Facebook account?" Arthur asked incredulously.

"It's not called 'hacking' if you don't do any harm to it," Yong Soo pointed out. "I just logged in and changed his relationship status!"

"How do you know his password?" Kiku looked at Yong Soo.

Yong Soo rolled his eyes. "He uses the same password for everything, da-ze! And it's not even secure – '123456' hardly qualifies as a proper password!"

Arthur glanced at the direction Mei and Yao had disappeared to. "Well, you better hope he won't be too upset about it."

Yong Soo waved a hand. "He'll forgive me. He always does," he declared smugly.

"WHAT?!" came a scream from Mei's room. "WHO THE HELL DID THIS?!"

Arthur exhaled. Despite his lover's small size, he had to admit Yao had a fine pair of lungs that could bellow so loudly.

Yong Soo blanched. "Maybe I should make myself scarce for a while," he muttered. "See you!" And he dashed out of the dining hall and out of the house.

Arthur chuckled nervously. "I guess I'm going to pacify Yao," he told Kiku.

"Yeah, you go do that," Kiku smiled at Arthur. "I'm going to get the table ready for dinner."

Arthur made his way to Mei's room, where she was standing beside Yao. She had a gleeful look on her face, while Yao was frantically trying to undo the change Yong Soo had made to his Facebook status. Arthur gestured for Mei to head downstairs for dinner first.

"Yao?" Arthur approached the Asian man and placed a hand gently on his shoulder. "It's okay – we ARE engaged after all."

"I know!" cried Yao. "But I don't want everyone knowing and teasing me about it, aru!"

"Hey, hey," Arthur pulled Yao up so that he was standing. "No one will tease you, okay? I'll make sure of it."

"How can you be sure?!"

"Just trust me, okay?" Arthur murmured softly.

Yao looked unsurely at Arthur. Then, his expression melted into that of a loving one. "Okay, aru," he replied.

Arthur grinned. "That's my Yao," he said, planting a kiss on Yao's forehead. "So… should we go down for dinner? I'm starving!"