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Yamada Tarou Monogatari: 3 Times Tarou Thought About Kissing Mimura-kun, and 1 Time He Did
Title: 3 Times Tarou Thought About Kissing Mimura-kun, and 1 Time He Did
Author: Tani
Fandom: Yamada Tarou Monogatari
Rating: PG
Notes: All feedback welcome, from constructive criticism to a brief "I liked it" or "I didn't like it." (Although if you didn't like it, I'd love an explanation of why.) Either way, thanks for reading!
The first time that Tarou thought that he might like to kiss Mimura-kun, it was raining. It was a rare day where neither of them had any classes and Tarou had the day off from his part-time job. Tarou had spent most of the day with Mimura-kun, laying around and listening to the rain fall while Mimura-kun worked on an arrangement. The sound of the rain was soothing, almost like music. It had already lulled Tarou into a light doze several times, and he expected that it would do so several more times before dinnertime would force him to move.
Tarou was on the verge of falling asleep yet again when he happened to look at Mimura-kun. He was concentrating on his arrangement, and in his concentration he had started biting his lower lip. Tarou glanced at that look of concentration, took in the teeth that were currently worrying his lower lip, and lazily wondered what that mouth would feel like against his own.
A second later, the thought actually penetrated his brain, and he startled fully awake. Tarou looked again at Mimura-kun, watching as he carefully placed a flower in the arrangement. Mimura-kun tilted his head in consideration for a moment, then smiled slightly. It was a smile that someone else might not have even noticed, taking place more in his eyes than anywhere else. But Tarou saw and marveled a little as the urge to kiss Mimura-kun grew just a little more pronounced.
Mimura-kun looked up from the arrangement, meeting Tarou's eyes. “What do you think?” he asked, gesturing to the flowers in front of him.
Tarou smiled. “I like the colors,” he said.
This time Mimura-kun's smile reached all the way to his mouth. Turning, he beckoned to Isogai, who was showing his usual talent for being exactly where he was needed. “What do you think of this as a centerpiece for the dinner table tonight?”
“I think that it will brighten the room, young master,” Isogai replied, carefully lifting the arrangement.
Not as much as his smile does, Tarou thought, and knew that he was in trouble.
--
The second time that Tarou thought about kissing Mimura-kun was during a day spent at Tarou's house. Jirou had recently gotten his first part-time job, and it meant enough extra money that they could have a good meal at least once a week. Tonight, it was tempura.
Mimura-kun had cited boredom as his reason for being there that day, although how he could be bored with his course load, Tarou wasn't quite sure. Regardless, Mimura-kun had ended up at Tarou's house with nothing to do, and that had led to Tarou recruiting him for help in the kitchen. He hadn't realized just how useless Mimura-kun would be. He always forgot that being rich meant that you couldn't do certain things for yourself, and for Mimura-kun, cooking was one of them. Mimura-kun did take directions well, so it worked somehow, but, unsurprisingly for a beginner in the kitchen, he tended to make a mess more often than not. And with tempura it was doubly bad because the batter had a tendency to get all over the place even when you knew what you were doing.
This meant that when things were finally calm enough for Tarou to pay real attention to his surroundings, the first thing that he noticed was the spot of dried batter on Mimura-kun's nose. He was immediately torn by two conflicting urges: the urge to laugh and the urge to lean forward and kiss the spot away. In the end, he went with neither and simply stared dumbly until Mimura-kun realized that something was wrong.
Since Mimura-kun wasn't the paranoid type, he didn't immediately ask, “Do I have something on my face?” like Tarou would have. Instead, he simply asked, “What?”
Tarou stumbled to find his voice around the sudden dryness of his mouth. While he was still doing so, Itsuko came bouncing up, probably to check on dinner, and said, “Mimura-niichan, you have batter on your nose. Right there.” She reached out and touched Mimura-kun's nose.
Mimura-kun turned bright red and scrubbed vigorously at the spot indicated. “Is it gone?” he asked Itsuko, looking relieved at her nod.
Tarou replayed that blush in his mind and considered banging his head against the wall.
--
The third time that Tarou found the idea of kissing Mimura-kun crossing his mind, he was actually too tired to be bothered by the it.
Even though the kids were growing up and getting more and more capable of taking care of themselves every day, sometimes the entire burden still fell on Tarou. This time, Jirou had just decided to take a break from working in order to study for his upcoming exams when the toilet broke down in such a spectacular fashion that even Tarou's knowledge of household maintenance was no help. They'd been forced to call a plumber to come in, a venture that was just as expensive as it was necessary.
Tarou had ended up picking up not one, but two, part-time jobs in order to make the payment. One was through his college, a job where he was able to save time and earn more money by adjusting his work schedule around his classes. The second was waiting tables at a busy coffee shop that stayed open until all hours in order to cater to college students like himself. Between that and studying for his own exams, Tarou was averaging less than two hours of sleep a night and exhaustion had become a constant companion.
On the last day of his personal marathon, the day that both his exams and his hectic work schedule ended, he staggered out of the coffee shop at nearly 2 in the morning. He was exhausted and not looking forward to the long walk home; the trains had stopped running at midnight, with the buses stopping only a short while afterward.
Through his haze of exhaustion, it took him a moment to recognize the car that was parked in front of the shop. By the time he did, Mimura-kun was already climbing out of the back. Tarou blinked as a warm hand covered his elbow and steered him gently into the car.
As the car pulled into motion, he summoned his wits enough to ask, “What are you doing here?”
Mimura-kun shrugged, as cool and collected as ever, despite the extra work that Tarou knew he'd been putting in on his own exams. “I thought you might want a ride home.”
Tarou's mind raced through a dozen responses: protests that he didn't want to be a bother, scolding for interrupting his precious sleep, grateful babbling. In the end, he settled on a simple “Thank you” and relaxed into the comfortable leather upholstery of the car. His eyes were just sliding shut when Mimura-kun reached out and guided Tarou's slowly drooping head to his shoulder. Tarou's eyes shot back open.
Mimura-kun's head was turned in the opposite direction so that all Tarou could see was the graceful curve of his jaw. “You're exhausted. You can get a little sleep on the ride home.” His voice was calm, but Tarou could hear the undercurrent of embarrassment, so he didn't protest. Instead, he let suppressing the urge to press a kiss against Mimura-kun's jawline take the last of his energy before his eyes slid fully shut. His sleep was dreamless and peaceful.
--
It finally happened on the hottest day of the summer. Tarou had arrived home from classes to an empty house and a brief note explaining that the Yamada family had scattered to the four winds in search of the coolest place that each could find. Tarou considered his options for a moment - sweltering house or elsewhere - and decided that elsewhere was his best option. And where else would he go, if not to the house of his best friend who also happened to be rich enough to have full air-conditioning in every room of his house?
He'd forgotten that the heat would make it a long walk, and that there was very little shade on the way. By the time he reached the house, thirst burned in his mouth, and he was feeling a little weak from the heat. The house looked like an oasis.
Mimura-kun greeted him at the door, almost as if he had known that Tarou would be coming. And maybe he did. Mimura-kun could be weirdly omniscient that way. More likely, though, was the idea that one of the servants had notified him as soon as Tarou walked through the huge double gates. Servants really did make your life easier in some respects.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Tarou couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief. The absence of heat pressing against his skin was almost tangible. Air-conditioning was clearly a gift from heaven. And then there was the servant handing him a bowl of shaved ice that slid down his throat with delicious coolness. Clearly, he'd made the right choice in coming here. It seemed like things were always better when he was around Mimura-kun.
“Feel better?” Mimura-kun asked, leaning forward to peer at Tarou's flushed face.
Still a little light-headed from too much sun, Tarou leaned up and pressed his lips to Mimura-kun's. Tarou was aware for a few precious seconds of the feel of Mimura-kun's warm lips against his ice-chilled ones, and then it was gone, and he was meeting the slightly widened eyes of his best friend. Only then did Tarou realize what he'd done. He ignored the maid's suppressed gasp and forced himself not to turn away.
Mimura-kun stared at him expressionlessly for a moment, then shook his head. “Come on,” he said, turning in the direction of his room.
Tarou followed, feeling downcast and stupid, the shaved ice still held in his hand, forgotten. Mimura-kun was probably angry with him, not only for doing something as brazen as kissing him, but for choosing the absolute worst time to do it. Or maybe it wasn't the worst time to do it - Tarou could just imagine the reaction he would get if he had done it in front of Mimura-kun's grandfather - but it certainly hadn't been a good time either. And now Mimura-kun was going somewhere private to scold him, because even when he was angry, Mimura-kun was more considerate than to do it in front of someone else.
By the time they reached Mimura-kun's suite, Tarou was feeling completely depressed. The best outcome he could imagine from the coming conversation was that Mimura-kun would grudgingly allow him to remain his friend. Which is why he was taken totally by surprise when, as soon as the door closed behind them, he found himself backed up against the door with Mimura-kun's lips pressed firmly against his own. Tarou made a startled noise that was swiftly swallowed by Mimura-kun's mouth. Then he was too busy enjoying the experience to worry about being surprised.
The surprise came back pretty quickly once they pulled apart though. “Wha-Why-How-Huh?” Tarou shook his head, trying to clear some of the confused fog away from his brain.
Mimura-kun looked away. “You kissed me, so I thought I would return the favor.”
It took a second for the words to sink in, but once they did, Tarou couldn't help but smile. It seemed he had been wrong to hold back all those other times. Allowing himself to give in to temptation, he leaned up and kissed Mimura-kun again and then again.
“Maybe this was a bad idea,” Mimura-kun said when they finally pulled apart.
“Why?” asked Tarou, almost too distracted by watching Mimura-kun's lips move to register what he'd said.
“Somehow, I get the feeling we're never going to be able to focus on anything except kissing now.”
“I think I'm OK with that,” Tarou said, parting his lips and waiting until Mimura-kun leaned forward to cover them. After all, they had a lot of time to make up for.
Author: Tani
Fandom: Yamada Tarou Monogatari
Rating: PG
Notes: All feedback welcome, from constructive criticism to a brief "I liked it" or "I didn't like it." (Although if you didn't like it, I'd love an explanation of why.) Either way, thanks for reading!
The first time that Tarou thought that he might like to kiss Mimura-kun, it was raining. It was a rare day where neither of them had any classes and Tarou had the day off from his part-time job. Tarou had spent most of the day with Mimura-kun, laying around and listening to the rain fall while Mimura-kun worked on an arrangement. The sound of the rain was soothing, almost like music. It had already lulled Tarou into a light doze several times, and he expected that it would do so several more times before dinnertime would force him to move.
Tarou was on the verge of falling asleep yet again when he happened to look at Mimura-kun. He was concentrating on his arrangement, and in his concentration he had started biting his lower lip. Tarou glanced at that look of concentration, took in the teeth that were currently worrying his lower lip, and lazily wondered what that mouth would feel like against his own.
A second later, the thought actually penetrated his brain, and he startled fully awake. Tarou looked again at Mimura-kun, watching as he carefully placed a flower in the arrangement. Mimura-kun tilted his head in consideration for a moment, then smiled slightly. It was a smile that someone else might not have even noticed, taking place more in his eyes than anywhere else. But Tarou saw and marveled a little as the urge to kiss Mimura-kun grew just a little more pronounced.
Mimura-kun looked up from the arrangement, meeting Tarou's eyes. “What do you think?” he asked, gesturing to the flowers in front of him.
Tarou smiled. “I like the colors,” he said.
This time Mimura-kun's smile reached all the way to his mouth. Turning, he beckoned to Isogai, who was showing his usual talent for being exactly where he was needed. “What do you think of this as a centerpiece for the dinner table tonight?”
“I think that it will brighten the room, young master,” Isogai replied, carefully lifting the arrangement.
Not as much as his smile does, Tarou thought, and knew that he was in trouble.
--
The second time that Tarou thought about kissing Mimura-kun was during a day spent at Tarou's house. Jirou had recently gotten his first part-time job, and it meant enough extra money that they could have a good meal at least once a week. Tonight, it was tempura.
Mimura-kun had cited boredom as his reason for being there that day, although how he could be bored with his course load, Tarou wasn't quite sure. Regardless, Mimura-kun had ended up at Tarou's house with nothing to do, and that had led to Tarou recruiting him for help in the kitchen. He hadn't realized just how useless Mimura-kun would be. He always forgot that being rich meant that you couldn't do certain things for yourself, and for Mimura-kun, cooking was one of them. Mimura-kun did take directions well, so it worked somehow, but, unsurprisingly for a beginner in the kitchen, he tended to make a mess more often than not. And with tempura it was doubly bad because the batter had a tendency to get all over the place even when you knew what you were doing.
This meant that when things were finally calm enough for Tarou to pay real attention to his surroundings, the first thing that he noticed was the spot of dried batter on Mimura-kun's nose. He was immediately torn by two conflicting urges: the urge to laugh and the urge to lean forward and kiss the spot away. In the end, he went with neither and simply stared dumbly until Mimura-kun realized that something was wrong.
Since Mimura-kun wasn't the paranoid type, he didn't immediately ask, “Do I have something on my face?” like Tarou would have. Instead, he simply asked, “What?”
Tarou stumbled to find his voice around the sudden dryness of his mouth. While he was still doing so, Itsuko came bouncing up, probably to check on dinner, and said, “Mimura-niichan, you have batter on your nose. Right there.” She reached out and touched Mimura-kun's nose.
Mimura-kun turned bright red and scrubbed vigorously at the spot indicated. “Is it gone?” he asked Itsuko, looking relieved at her nod.
Tarou replayed that blush in his mind and considered banging his head against the wall.
--
The third time that Tarou found the idea of kissing Mimura-kun crossing his mind, he was actually too tired to be bothered by the it.
Even though the kids were growing up and getting more and more capable of taking care of themselves every day, sometimes the entire burden still fell on Tarou. This time, Jirou had just decided to take a break from working in order to study for his upcoming exams when the toilet broke down in such a spectacular fashion that even Tarou's knowledge of household maintenance was no help. They'd been forced to call a plumber to come in, a venture that was just as expensive as it was necessary.
Tarou had ended up picking up not one, but two, part-time jobs in order to make the payment. One was through his college, a job where he was able to save time and earn more money by adjusting his work schedule around his classes. The second was waiting tables at a busy coffee shop that stayed open until all hours in order to cater to college students like himself. Between that and studying for his own exams, Tarou was averaging less than two hours of sleep a night and exhaustion had become a constant companion.
On the last day of his personal marathon, the day that both his exams and his hectic work schedule ended, he staggered out of the coffee shop at nearly 2 in the morning. He was exhausted and not looking forward to the long walk home; the trains had stopped running at midnight, with the buses stopping only a short while afterward.
Through his haze of exhaustion, it took him a moment to recognize the car that was parked in front of the shop. By the time he did, Mimura-kun was already climbing out of the back. Tarou blinked as a warm hand covered his elbow and steered him gently into the car.
As the car pulled into motion, he summoned his wits enough to ask, “What are you doing here?”
Mimura-kun shrugged, as cool and collected as ever, despite the extra work that Tarou knew he'd been putting in on his own exams. “I thought you might want a ride home.”
Tarou's mind raced through a dozen responses: protests that he didn't want to be a bother, scolding for interrupting his precious sleep, grateful babbling. In the end, he settled on a simple “Thank you” and relaxed into the comfortable leather upholstery of the car. His eyes were just sliding shut when Mimura-kun reached out and guided Tarou's slowly drooping head to his shoulder. Tarou's eyes shot back open.
Mimura-kun's head was turned in the opposite direction so that all Tarou could see was the graceful curve of his jaw. “You're exhausted. You can get a little sleep on the ride home.” His voice was calm, but Tarou could hear the undercurrent of embarrassment, so he didn't protest. Instead, he let suppressing the urge to press a kiss against Mimura-kun's jawline take the last of his energy before his eyes slid fully shut. His sleep was dreamless and peaceful.
--
It finally happened on the hottest day of the summer. Tarou had arrived home from classes to an empty house and a brief note explaining that the Yamada family had scattered to the four winds in search of the coolest place that each could find. Tarou considered his options for a moment - sweltering house or elsewhere - and decided that elsewhere was his best option. And where else would he go, if not to the house of his best friend who also happened to be rich enough to have full air-conditioning in every room of his house?
He'd forgotten that the heat would make it a long walk, and that there was very little shade on the way. By the time he reached the house, thirst burned in his mouth, and he was feeling a little weak from the heat. The house looked like an oasis.
Mimura-kun greeted him at the door, almost as if he had known that Tarou would be coming. And maybe he did. Mimura-kun could be weirdly omniscient that way. More likely, though, was the idea that one of the servants had notified him as soon as Tarou walked through the huge double gates. Servants really did make your life easier in some respects.
As soon as the door closed behind him, Tarou couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief. The absence of heat pressing against his skin was almost tangible. Air-conditioning was clearly a gift from heaven. And then there was the servant handing him a bowl of shaved ice that slid down his throat with delicious coolness. Clearly, he'd made the right choice in coming here. It seemed like things were always better when he was around Mimura-kun.
“Feel better?” Mimura-kun asked, leaning forward to peer at Tarou's flushed face.
Still a little light-headed from too much sun, Tarou leaned up and pressed his lips to Mimura-kun's. Tarou was aware for a few precious seconds of the feel of Mimura-kun's warm lips against his ice-chilled ones, and then it was gone, and he was meeting the slightly widened eyes of his best friend. Only then did Tarou realize what he'd done. He ignored the maid's suppressed gasp and forced himself not to turn away.
Mimura-kun stared at him expressionlessly for a moment, then shook his head. “Come on,” he said, turning in the direction of his room.
Tarou followed, feeling downcast and stupid, the shaved ice still held in his hand, forgotten. Mimura-kun was probably angry with him, not only for doing something as brazen as kissing him, but for choosing the absolute worst time to do it. Or maybe it wasn't the worst time to do it - Tarou could just imagine the reaction he would get if he had done it in front of Mimura-kun's grandfather - but it certainly hadn't been a good time either. And now Mimura-kun was going somewhere private to scold him, because even when he was angry, Mimura-kun was more considerate than to do it in front of someone else.
By the time they reached Mimura-kun's suite, Tarou was feeling completely depressed. The best outcome he could imagine from the coming conversation was that Mimura-kun would grudgingly allow him to remain his friend. Which is why he was taken totally by surprise when, as soon as the door closed behind them, he found himself backed up against the door with Mimura-kun's lips pressed firmly against his own. Tarou made a startled noise that was swiftly swallowed by Mimura-kun's mouth. Then he was too busy enjoying the experience to worry about being surprised.
The surprise came back pretty quickly once they pulled apart though. “Wha-Why-How-Huh?” Tarou shook his head, trying to clear some of the confused fog away from his brain.
Mimura-kun looked away. “You kissed me, so I thought I would return the favor.”
It took a second for the words to sink in, but once they did, Tarou couldn't help but smile. It seemed he had been wrong to hold back all those other times. Allowing himself to give in to temptation, he leaned up and kissed Mimura-kun again and then again.
“Maybe this was a bad idea,” Mimura-kun said when they finally pulled apart.
“Why?” asked Tarou, almost too distracted by watching Mimura-kun's lips move to register what he'd said.
“Somehow, I get the feeling we're never going to be able to focus on anything except kissing now.”
“I think I'm OK with that,” Tarou said, parting his lips and waiting until Mimura-kun leaned forward to cover them. After all, they had a lot of time to make up for.