For Him [Yama 1/6]

Breakfast has been the first thought on Sho Sakurai's mind every time he woke up, since he and Satoshi Ohno started living together. This was for him, the most noticeable and comforting thought about the whole ordeal of sharing a life and a home with someone. Breakfast wasn't just the most important meal, and it was no longer the most hectic one either. It was a small happiness of being together in a whole new day.

When he opened his eyes and did not see Satoshi, he immediately took in the scent of fried eggs. Satoshi wasn't a morning person, but weekends meant Sho got to sleep in. Satoshi used to deactivate all the alarms Sho would set in his insistence of sticking to his body clock but that was years ago when they were new to cohabiting. Now, Sho lets himself get spoiled, especially on Sundays.

Automatically, Sho reached over to the side table to check his phone. It was Sunday before his anniversary and they had planned to leave for a quick Hawaii getaway to celebrate. He ran through the itineraries and schedules they were planning as he noticed a face hover into his peripheral view.

Satoshi was peeking from the foot of the bed and this startled Sho a little. "Hi," he said softly as Sho blinked for a second to make sure he wasn't still dreaming.

"How long have you been here―?" Sho began, sitting up, putting his phone away and rubbing his eyes.

"Five years!"

Sho looked up at Satoshi even while his eyes were still a little blurry. "What?"

"Well, four if you mean living with you. Three if you mean this apartment unit." Satoshi was climbing into the sheets, still in his sleepwear but had on a blue apron with a hand-drawn disfigured tuna. Sho pretended he did not see his abomination of a painting attempt and softly poked Satoshi's forehead.

"I meant how long have you been in this room, you dolt." he said. Under his finger, Satoshi shut his eyes and wrinkled his nose in an exaggerated way that made them both laugh.

"A few seconds." Satoshi came closer to snuggle, but Sho was already getting up. "I've been checking you. I wanted to bring you breakfast in bed."

Sho choked on his feelings for a moment, making a sound that was between a gasp and a chuckle. "Did you accidentally spill paint on my papers again? Or is it some weird thing you're 'just trying out' that went the way things always go―"

Satoshi frowned. "No, no, I want you to feel special."

"I already do." Sho chuckled.

"No, I mean, with me. Like, not at work and stuff, although yes, you're pretty special there too, I mean...lots of people think you're special but I want you to feel special with me." Satoshi went on, getting up and helping Sho tidy the sheets.

"Yes, that's what I meant. But even then, breakfast in bed? That's...yeah, pretty nice." Sho walked off to the washroom and he heard Satoshi follow.

Satoshi often randomly does thoughtful things like slipping sticky note doodles in his files and, once in a while, some very affectionate things like breakfasts in bed. The former, Sho had gotten used to over the years but the latter was still taking a bit of adjustment.

"I know these things are kind of weird for you but it's almost our fifth." Satoshi watched Sho fondly as he washed his face.

"Oh, no, it's alright, I meant nice—nice. Not just 'nice'." Sho with all his achievements under his belt found himself absolutely robbed of words from the twinge of emotion in Satoshi's voice. He turned to his partner, still with his hair sticking out in varying directions. "You know? I do appreciate it."

"I know." Satoshi grinned and, on tiptoes, flattened Sho's hair. "So you better let me give you breakfast in bed."

"But we just fixed it." Sho said. Satoshi looked at the bed for a second and said, "Yeah, we did."

"Do you smell―" Sho began but Satoshi had gone back to the bed with a thoughtful hand on his chin and another on his waist. "Maybe you can sit on top of the sheets and―"

"The thing you're cooking!" Sho dashed to the kitchen on his long legs while Satoshi was still in the process of reacting.

The sunny-side ups were blackened beyond salvation even as Sho tried to flip them over. This only resulted in him breaking the yolks and butchering the eggs further. Satoshi caught up just as the second yolk broke, took the pan and spatula and seamlessly flipped the eggs. The smoke finally alerted their emergency sprinkler and in seconds, they went from groggy young men to pathetically soaked Dumb and Dumber. With burnt eggs and a possibly ruined pan.

Sho felt his anger rise but Satoshi's tinkering laugh interrupted his thoughts.

"I mean, I've always wanted to see you drenched in the rain―" he said between gasps, with his hand clutching Sho's shoulder as he doubled over, "―so I got my anniversary wish! That and our Hawaii trip."

Sho laughed despite himself. "You might want to hold something else. My shoulders are too sloped for support."

This immediately launched Satoshi into a renewed wave of giggles. Sho wasn't done, not wanting Satoshi to stop. "And hey look, you've finally copied my egg recipe!"

"Still, wouldn't change a thing." he wheezed.

Three or four emotions welled into Sho's eyes for a moment, before he could control them. It was five years of this, messy but happy relationship of laughter, burnt eggs and horribly painted tunas. He blinked them away as Satoshi took his hand and pulled him up.

"Let's clean up, change and have my breakfast in bed, alright?" Sho put the eggs into the trash bin and the pan into the sink.

Satoshi considered this for the moment and pointed to the living room. "Couch," he replied, knowing how Sho felt about keeping the bed tidy after waking.

Sho on the other hand, remembered the heated night Satoshi said the same word in a breathless yet unexpectedly commanding tone. He bit his lip and nodded, hoping Satoshi doesn't read minds.

***

Having no other responsibilities to attend to, they took time in putting things back in order. Satoshi insisted for Sho to shower and get dressed and the kitchen will be good as new. Instead, when Sho came back, the sink looked pretty clean but the mercifully waterproof floor was still a little damp. There was a mop in the corner, beside the counter where some dish towels and paper towels were stowed. At the stove, repeatedly saying "hot, hot, hot―" was the little man who caused it all. Minus his pajama top, but with a towel draped over his shoulders.

"That's not going to make it any cooler," Sho said, mechanically gathering the towels and examining the mop to see if it was soaked.

As Sho opened his mouth to remind his breakfast cook to put a shirt on, Satoshi immediately grabbed the towels, took them out of Sho's hands and placed them on the counter.

"Oh," Sho managed as Satoshi pulled up a chair and ushered him to sit. Sho tried not to make it too visible that the chair was still completely wet and had soaked right through the sweatpants he put on. He watched and nodded as Satoshi gestured for him to stay seated and quickly went back to his cooking.

"Ehh," Sho peeked a little bit past Satoshi's petite frame. Besides the fact that Satoshi hardly obscured anything from view, there was an empty bowl of batter at the side and the smell of pancakes were enough hints for Sho. In support, he still gave Satoshi cues that he was curious about it. Satoshi glanced at him and their eyes met for an odd second.

"Well, don't ruin the surprise," he said with a tone that pointed out common sense. Sho chuckled an apology but continued to watch. The damp pajama bottoms clinging to Satoshi's shape was enough breakfast anyway. That and the bare back.

"I wonder what's cooking," Sho said aloud with a sing-song voice.

"Fish," Satoshi answered. "But it's a surprise."

"I hope you didn't fish for tuna again because we still have some yellowtail from the last time you went." Sho chided absently as he propped his chin on his hand, resting his arms on the damp table. "And you better stop escaping to the sea and have started packing. Or at least planning what to bring."

"It was albacore tuna, not yellowtail tuna, and I gave them to Matsujun already." Satoshi said busily. He went on while his arms moved about carefully, "Packing isn't so hard, we'll only be in Hawaii for two days so I don't really need a lot of things." For a pancake, it looked to Sho as if it was taking a little too long with some odd manoeuvers.

"Still, you know. Planning ahead." Sho replied, now genuinely curious. He watched as Satoshi took the spatula and his movements were followed by the sound of a perfect pancake landing. The scent wafted anew, hanging in the air and making Sho's stomach growl. It was audible enough to make Satoshi chuckle.

Satoshi got a plate and slid his new creation on it. He turned and laid a placemat on the table in a succession so smooth that he could be dancing. He also laid down a fork and a knife but Sho had to reverse their positions beside the plate as quickly and quietly as possible so Satoshi could continue with the surprise.

And it was more worth it than Sho expected.

"What in the―? How did―? Ehh!" He was again at a loss at the sight of Satoshi's "fish".

It was definitely a pancake, but it looked like a painting. A pastry-scented sepia print of two curving fishes, a dark and a light one.

"You know what this is, right?" Satoshi pulled up a stool and looked at Sho with the face of a puppy after fetching a ball.

"Koi!" Sho said, a little overwhelmed by the graceful art but also by how good it smelled.

"And?" Satoshi nodded eagerly. Sho was a little stumped but he blurted his first thought.

"Pancake!"

Satoshi reached over and turned the plate around, letting Sho watch. He rotated it again and Sho finally understood.

"Yin and yang." He said, keeping his eyes on the fish, a little more mesmerized when he noticed the differently colored spots on the fishes' heads.

"Yin and yang." Satoshi nodded and smiled softly. Sho still kept his eyes on the fish.

"This is too pretty to eat, but I love it." He managed to say, using one finger on each hand to rotate the fishes again.

They didn't need to mention the relevance of the yin and yang koi fish because it was a near and dear memory of their first meeting. During the school trip when they were teens. At the aquarium where Sho was babbling to his friends about his fish knowledge from the books he read the night before. His bookish knowledge was thwarted by the fishing experiences of a sleepy looking boy from the other class, with a long middle-part fringe.

Satoshi's sleepy looking eyes always glistened when he talked about fish.

"Thank you for completing me." Satoshi said quietly. "Now have some breakfast."

"Man, this is so dramatic." Sho whined, laughing awkwardly. Satoshi just chuckled and handed him some butter and syrup from the counter.

"It's also an apology because practicing that is where all the eggs went. You were kinda mad yesterday and I had to kind of lie." Satoshi mumbled.

"Wait how many times did you practice?" Sho looked from Satoshi's sheepish expression to the pancake art and back.

"Once. I let Aiba-chan and Nino eat it." Satoshi nudged the butter closer to Sho. "Of course I can't let you try it if it's not perfect."

Sho took the butter and grinned. "Still. Wouldn't change a thing."

Satoshi, with a recognizable look in his eyes, stood up to come closer but Sho hurriedly got a chunk off the darker fish tail and swallowed. Satoshi nearly stumbled.

Sho let out a long whale call of satisfaction. "This is incredible! I'm in a pancake sea!"

The image of a sea of pancakes immediately made Satoshi laugh, as if on cue. Sho laughed with him and took another bite, trying not to imagine what would've happened if Satoshi came closer first. To keep it that way, Sho sliced a piece and stuffed it into Satoshi's laughing mouth.

He too, made a long whale noise.

"It is!" Satoshi said excitedly. "Pancake sea!"

Before the laughter died down from Sho, he knew he can't possibly reciprocate the thoughtful gesture. He had planned on taking Satoshi out on a fishing date but he quickly realized that this would be the second or third year in a row he did. Satoshi wasn't done, he was for sure planning something grand to have started with an amazing present days before their actual anniversary.

But how can one compare to perhaps the most loving old goof Sho ever knew?