To youkohieifan, from von-questenberg
Title: untitled
Author: von-questenberg
Recipient: youkohieifan
Series: TRC
Characters/Pairing: KuroFai, and various others.
Rating: PG
Author's Notes/Warnings: I have absolutely no idea where this came from or if it's any good. You have been warned. Completely AU.
They hadn't had customers in quite a while, and it was only half an hour before closing on a Tuesday night.
Kurogane had also noticed Syaoran stifling several yawns. He knew the boy was up late studying for his upcoming college entrance exams every night, getting up early to run through exercises before school, and still made time to work here at his hole-in-the-wall restaurant. He was considering ways he could close down a bit early without letting the boy know it was for his sake (the kid really did push himself too far) when the little bell hanging on the door rang.
"Welcome," both men called out as the customers entered. A blond man and a blue-haired man both responded to the greeting.
"I hope we're not too late?" the blond asked, directing his question and his smile at Syaoran. "It's just that Suoh really misses eating real Japanese food, so I brought him here when I heard it was run by a Japanese family."
Syaoran shook his head enthusiastically. "No, no you're not too late."
"Excellent!"
The two men sat down together, and Syaoran took their orders. As Kurogane made the food, he found himself listening in. From what he caught of the conversation, Suoh and the blond man (named Fai, from some Scandinavian country or another) were foreign exchange students attending the small college about ten minutes away, and had decided to come here to finish their date. Syaoran blushed a bit at the pronouncement that the two men were dating, but Kurogane wasn’t entirely surprised. He was far more surprised at the twist of jealousy he felt against Suoh. Ridiculous, he told himself. He didn’t even know the blond man; had never even spoken a word to him.
The half-Chinese, half-Japanese Syaoran was planning on attending the same college the two men were, and they exchanged a little conversation on that topic before Syaoran left the men alone. Kurogane and Syaoran cleaned the kitchen while the two men ate, Syaoran checking on whether the customers needed anything every few minutes. By the time the men finished the kitchen was spotless and ready for tomorrow, and it was only 30 minutes past the closing time.
Suoh and Fai both complimented the food and, Kurogane was pleased to find, left big tips. Syaoran had a girlfriend, Sakura, back in Japan, and Kurogane suspected the younger man had a little fund going for a nice ring.
Suoh and Fai became at least once-a-week regulars for the following several months. Kurogane noticed Fai never ordered sushi. He noticed Fai spoke English with very little accent, and liked the color blue. He noticed Fai had a streak of dangerous self-depreciation. He noticed a lot of things about Fai, in fact, because from their third visit onwards Fai insisted on pulling Kurogane out of the kitchen to talk to them. At first Kurogane wondered how Suoh felt about his date flirting with the cook, but eventually noticed that Suoh and Fai were seeming far less couple-y and far more like platonic friends as time went on. Eventually Suoh came in alone or the two of them came in with several other friends instead of one-on-one dates.
Then one day Fai came alone for the first time, once again just before closing, and dragged Kurogane out of the kitchen. “Have a drink with me, Kuro-chan, please~?”
Kurogane winced at the ‘Kuro-chan’ (Suoh had taught Fai various Japanese phrases, including honorifics) but sat down all the same, after asking Syaoran to brink them some sake and then telling him to go home for the evening.
“So. Tell me about yourself,” Fai said. “What are your tastes, your passions, your pursuits?”
Kurogane started feeling a bit irritated. Fai had dragged him out of the kitchen to ask some silly, over-general question like they were kids at summer camp playing some get-to-know-you game?
Fai grinned, probably realizing he’d irritated the other man. “Or at least tell me how the best Japanese food this side of Tokyo ended up in the middle of nowhere, Indiana.”
Kurogane started massaging a crick out of his neck. “My family was a restaurant family in Japan, so when my great-great-grandfather came over to California, running a restaurant was pretty much the only thing he knew. After my grandparents got out of the internment camps in World War Two, they moved east and ended up here. Japanese food wasn’t a big seller at the time, so they did traditional American food. Mom always made sure I knew how to cook Japanese food, though, and a few years back we decided to see if we could make it as a Japanese place, since McDonalds was basically taking our lunch business. We’ve been doing pretty well, actually. The younger people like something that isn’t the exact same thing they’ve been served for dinner all their lives.”
“That’s a nice story,” Fai said, sincerely. “And Syaoran is your cousin, hmm?”
“Very distant cousin, but the family’s miraculously stayed connected.”
“All those generations? That is pretty miraculous. I barely know my first cousins.” Fai grinned.
“Yeah. But food words are the only Japanese I know, and the same goes for my parents, so all the cards and letters we exchange are in English. You probably know more Japanese than I do. So what about you?”
“What about me?”
“If you have cousins you have to have other family.”
“I have an identical twin brother. Yui. He’s a musician- he plays piano.”
Kurogane waited for Fai to go on, but the blond just sat there smiling.
“You can be really irritating, you know,” Kurogane said.
“But you haven’t left. Or kicked me out.”
“What about Suoh?” Kurogane abruptly said.
“What about him?”
Kurogane shot Fai another annoyed glance, and Fai relented this time. “He and I weren’t really seeing each other. He’s got someone. I’m friends with his boyfriend, actually- Nokoru Imonoyama.”
Kurogane didn’t admit to himself how much his heart leaped. Fai wasn’t dating Suoh, and never really had been. “How did you guys meet?”
“That’s kind of a convoluted story,” Fai laughed. “I told you my brother was a pianist, right? Well, he’s quite a good one, actually. He was invited to Japan to do a concert with Tomoyo Daidouji, a soprano with an absolutely gorgeous voice, and I came along. Tomoyo is friends with Nokoru, and introduced us all.”
“Tomoyo Daidouji?” Syaoran’s surprised voice broke through from the kitchen door. The two sitting men turned towards him, and the younger man blushed a bit. “Ah, sorry, I forgot my wallet and came back. I didn’t mean to interrupt or eavesdrop.”
Fai waved his apology away. “It’s alright. But you’ve heard of Tomoyo?”
“Actually, umm, she’s my girlfriend’s best friend.”
“Well isn’t it just a small world,” Fai said delightedly. “I think I remember meeting her. A cute young girl, named after a flower, correct? Sweetest little thing I ever met.”
Syaoran flushed again at hearing his girlfriend praised. “Yes, Sakura is her name.”
“It’s getting late,” Kurogane broke in. “We should all get home.”
“Yes,” Syaoran quickly agreed, shooting Kurogane another apologetic look for interrupting. Kurogane had a gut feeling that Syaoran knew exactly what was going on between the two men, and truly did regret interrupting. Oh well- he was frustrated at having the mood broken like that, but he was hardly enough of a brat to take it out on the kid.
“I’m a bit drunk, Kuro-chan. Can you drive me home?”
Kurogane’s immediate thought was that Fai was completely sober- the man held his alcohol like a sponge. Fai had probably been planning this from the moment he headed to the restaurant. For a moment he wanted to decline, simply to frustrate the man’s plans, whatever they may be. But Fai would just come up with some other plan, (and maybe he -was- drunk, he’d drank at least three times as much as Kurogane) so he agreed. They left in Kurogane’s red pick-up.
During the ten-minute drive to Fai’s apartment, the blond continued to pretend to be drunk. He’d made flirtatious touching into a bit of an art form, but didn’t distract Kurogane too much while he was driving; he simply kept his head on Kurogane’s shoulder, his eyes closed, and big grin on his face.
They pulled into the dorm parking lot, but Fai made no move. Kurogane rolled his eyes, and shook him. “Oi, we’re here.”
Still not opening his eyes, Fai sleepily answered, “But isn’t the prince supposed to kiss the princess awake?”
“I’m not a freaking prince, and you’re no princess.”
“We might have been in another life.”
“We’re living -this- life right now, and you’re annoying me.”
Fai opened his eyes. “You’re right. I’ll have to make it up to you, then.” And he then kissed the conveniently open-mouthed Kurogane. It was a short kiss, but pretty nice, Kurogane found himself thinking. Fai pulled away and cheerfully continued, “That was my apology for the trouble- you’re not supposed to go to sleep angry, after all. It’ll ruin your relationship. I read that somewhere. Well, good night.”
It took Kurogane a moment to realize that (a) he should probably make sure Fai actually got into his apartment, if he really were drunk and (b) Fai’s car was still parked at the restaurant, and they hadn’t made plans for Fai to pick it up. He climbed out of his truck, calling after the other man.
“Yes, Kuro-chan?”
“Come on, I’ll take you up to your place. You’ll have to tell me where.”
“That’s so sweet of you, Kuro-chan. Even though I’m not a princess you’re being so chivalrous.”
Kurogane just followed Fai into the dorm building and up to the fourth floor. Fai started fumbling for his keys.
“Did you forget them in the car?” Kurogane irritatedly asked.
“No, here they are!” Fai proclaimed, brandishing them victoriously.
“Just open the door already.”
“Are you going to come in? I’m not sure it’s fit for gentlemen callers, though.”
“No, let’s just get each other’s cell phone numbers. We can talk later and figure out how you’re going to get your car.”
“Ah, I left my phone in my car.”
Perfect. “Well, can you just get one of your friends to take you there tomorrow so you can pick it up?”
“Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving, most of the college has gone home for the holiday.”
“Suoh is gone too?”
“He had to return to Japan for a family matter for a couple days.”
Kurogane sighed. “Well, I can just come pick you up tomorrow.”
“Why don’t you spend the night? I’ve got an extra toothbrush, and you can sleep on the couch, it’s very comfortable. And in the morning I’ll take you out to eat.” Kurogane looked at Fai suspiciously, so the blond laughed. “Trust me, I have no plans to take advantage of you. I don’t ravage men without enthusiastic consent.”
“Don’t you mean you won’t take more advantage of me?” But he was really tired. “Fine. Thanks.”
It was a nice apartment- it wasn’t fastidiously clean like Kurogane’s place (but he didn’t have a whole lot of things anyways, so it was fairly easy to keep clean) but it wasn’t dirty either. It had a comfortable feel to it. Most of it was varying shades of blue, which wasn’t to Kurogane’s personal taste; but he had never been one to care much about interior decoration. And the couch was comfortable.
The next morning Fai clearly had a slight hangover, so Kurogane decided it was a good thing he’d driven the other man home. Fai still made good on his offer of breakfast, and actually talked some more about his brother Yui and the rest of his family over eggs and sausage. They’d been raised by their distant cousin Shura, a divorced professor of Indian studies with a child named Ashura. Fai grinned from ear to ear as he mentioned that Nokoru’s uncle Taichirou Imonoyama had fallen head-over-heels for Shura the moment they met, and was currently attempting to woo the rather overwhelmed Shura. Yui was currently keeping him updated on the relationship, and all three children heartily approved, though of course they teased Taichirou mercilessly. “Uncle Shura is nice, you know, but sometimes he really needs to get laid,” Fai concluded as Kurogane choked on his coffee.
After breakfast, Kurogane drove Fai back to his restaurant to pick up his car.
“Oh let me get your cell phone number,” Fai said, as he climbed out of the truck. “We can talk later.”
Kurogane paused for a moment. “Why don’t you come over for Thanksgiving?”
Fai looked over at Kurogane, blinking. “Really?”
“Yeah. My family does a big dinner. They love that patriotic stuff.”
“You already want me to meet your family?” Fai said, with his trademark smile.
“Just follow me, alright? I’ll lead you there.”
“Yes. Sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
“My grandmother will probably wrangle you into helping cook. It’s her way of making people welcome.”
“Sounds fun. Yui’s the cook in the family, but I’ll do my best.”
Author: von-questenberg
Recipient: youkohieifan
Series: TRC
Characters/Pairing: KuroFai, and various others.
Rating: PG
Author's Notes/Warnings: I have absolutely no idea where this came from or if it's any good. You have been warned. Completely AU.
They hadn't had customers in quite a while, and it was only half an hour before closing on a Tuesday night.
Kurogane had also noticed Syaoran stifling several yawns. He knew the boy was up late studying for his upcoming college entrance exams every night, getting up early to run through exercises before school, and still made time to work here at his hole-in-the-wall restaurant. He was considering ways he could close down a bit early without letting the boy know it was for his sake (the kid really did push himself too far) when the little bell hanging on the door rang.
"Welcome," both men called out as the customers entered. A blond man and a blue-haired man both responded to the greeting.
"I hope we're not too late?" the blond asked, directing his question and his smile at Syaoran. "It's just that Suoh really misses eating real Japanese food, so I brought him here when I heard it was run by a Japanese family."
Syaoran shook his head enthusiastically. "No, no you're not too late."
"Excellent!"
The two men sat down together, and Syaoran took their orders. As Kurogane made the food, he found himself listening in. From what he caught of the conversation, Suoh and the blond man (named Fai, from some Scandinavian country or another) were foreign exchange students attending the small college about ten minutes away, and had decided to come here to finish their date. Syaoran blushed a bit at the pronouncement that the two men were dating, but Kurogane wasn’t entirely surprised. He was far more surprised at the twist of jealousy he felt against Suoh. Ridiculous, he told himself. He didn’t even know the blond man; had never even spoken a word to him.
The half-Chinese, half-Japanese Syaoran was planning on attending the same college the two men were, and they exchanged a little conversation on that topic before Syaoran left the men alone. Kurogane and Syaoran cleaned the kitchen while the two men ate, Syaoran checking on whether the customers needed anything every few minutes. By the time the men finished the kitchen was spotless and ready for tomorrow, and it was only 30 minutes past the closing time.
Suoh and Fai both complimented the food and, Kurogane was pleased to find, left big tips. Syaoran had a girlfriend, Sakura, back in Japan, and Kurogane suspected the younger man had a little fund going for a nice ring.
Suoh and Fai became at least once-a-week regulars for the following several months. Kurogane noticed Fai never ordered sushi. He noticed Fai spoke English with very little accent, and liked the color blue. He noticed Fai had a streak of dangerous self-depreciation. He noticed a lot of things about Fai, in fact, because from their third visit onwards Fai insisted on pulling Kurogane out of the kitchen to talk to them. At first Kurogane wondered how Suoh felt about his date flirting with the cook, but eventually noticed that Suoh and Fai were seeming far less couple-y and far more like platonic friends as time went on. Eventually Suoh came in alone or the two of them came in with several other friends instead of one-on-one dates.
Then one day Fai came alone for the first time, once again just before closing, and dragged Kurogane out of the kitchen. “Have a drink with me, Kuro-chan, please~?”
Kurogane winced at the ‘Kuro-chan’ (Suoh had taught Fai various Japanese phrases, including honorifics) but sat down all the same, after asking Syaoran to brink them some sake and then telling him to go home for the evening.
“So. Tell me about yourself,” Fai said. “What are your tastes, your passions, your pursuits?”
Kurogane started feeling a bit irritated. Fai had dragged him out of the kitchen to ask some silly, over-general question like they were kids at summer camp playing some get-to-know-you game?
Fai grinned, probably realizing he’d irritated the other man. “Or at least tell me how the best Japanese food this side of Tokyo ended up in the middle of nowhere, Indiana.”
Kurogane started massaging a crick out of his neck. “My family was a restaurant family in Japan, so when my great-great-grandfather came over to California, running a restaurant was pretty much the only thing he knew. After my grandparents got out of the internment camps in World War Two, they moved east and ended up here. Japanese food wasn’t a big seller at the time, so they did traditional American food. Mom always made sure I knew how to cook Japanese food, though, and a few years back we decided to see if we could make it as a Japanese place, since McDonalds was basically taking our lunch business. We’ve been doing pretty well, actually. The younger people like something that isn’t the exact same thing they’ve been served for dinner all their lives.”
“That’s a nice story,” Fai said, sincerely. “And Syaoran is your cousin, hmm?”
“Very distant cousin, but the family’s miraculously stayed connected.”
“All those generations? That is pretty miraculous. I barely know my first cousins.” Fai grinned.
“Yeah. But food words are the only Japanese I know, and the same goes for my parents, so all the cards and letters we exchange are in English. You probably know more Japanese than I do. So what about you?”
“What about me?”
“If you have cousins you have to have other family.”
“I have an identical twin brother. Yui. He’s a musician- he plays piano.”
Kurogane waited for Fai to go on, but the blond just sat there smiling.
“You can be really irritating, you know,” Kurogane said.
“But you haven’t left. Or kicked me out.”
“What about Suoh?” Kurogane abruptly said.
“What about him?”
Kurogane shot Fai another annoyed glance, and Fai relented this time. “He and I weren’t really seeing each other. He’s got someone. I’m friends with his boyfriend, actually- Nokoru Imonoyama.”
Kurogane didn’t admit to himself how much his heart leaped. Fai wasn’t dating Suoh, and never really had been. “How did you guys meet?”
“That’s kind of a convoluted story,” Fai laughed. “I told you my brother was a pianist, right? Well, he’s quite a good one, actually. He was invited to Japan to do a concert with Tomoyo Daidouji, a soprano with an absolutely gorgeous voice, and I came along. Tomoyo is friends with Nokoru, and introduced us all.”
“Tomoyo Daidouji?” Syaoran’s surprised voice broke through from the kitchen door. The two sitting men turned towards him, and the younger man blushed a bit. “Ah, sorry, I forgot my wallet and came back. I didn’t mean to interrupt or eavesdrop.”
Fai waved his apology away. “It’s alright. But you’ve heard of Tomoyo?”
“Actually, umm, she’s my girlfriend’s best friend.”
“Well isn’t it just a small world,” Fai said delightedly. “I think I remember meeting her. A cute young girl, named after a flower, correct? Sweetest little thing I ever met.”
Syaoran flushed again at hearing his girlfriend praised. “Yes, Sakura is her name.”
“It’s getting late,” Kurogane broke in. “We should all get home.”
“Yes,” Syaoran quickly agreed, shooting Kurogane another apologetic look for interrupting. Kurogane had a gut feeling that Syaoran knew exactly what was going on between the two men, and truly did regret interrupting. Oh well- he was frustrated at having the mood broken like that, but he was hardly enough of a brat to take it out on the kid.
“I’m a bit drunk, Kuro-chan. Can you drive me home?”
Kurogane’s immediate thought was that Fai was completely sober- the man held his alcohol like a sponge. Fai had probably been planning this from the moment he headed to the restaurant. For a moment he wanted to decline, simply to frustrate the man’s plans, whatever they may be. But Fai would just come up with some other plan, (and maybe he -was- drunk, he’d drank at least three times as much as Kurogane) so he agreed. They left in Kurogane’s red pick-up.
During the ten-minute drive to Fai’s apartment, the blond continued to pretend to be drunk. He’d made flirtatious touching into a bit of an art form, but didn’t distract Kurogane too much while he was driving; he simply kept his head on Kurogane’s shoulder, his eyes closed, and big grin on his face.
They pulled into the dorm parking lot, but Fai made no move. Kurogane rolled his eyes, and shook him. “Oi, we’re here.”
Still not opening his eyes, Fai sleepily answered, “But isn’t the prince supposed to kiss the princess awake?”
“I’m not a freaking prince, and you’re no princess.”
“We might have been in another life.”
“We’re living -this- life right now, and you’re annoying me.”
Fai opened his eyes. “You’re right. I’ll have to make it up to you, then.” And he then kissed the conveniently open-mouthed Kurogane. It was a short kiss, but pretty nice, Kurogane found himself thinking. Fai pulled away and cheerfully continued, “That was my apology for the trouble- you’re not supposed to go to sleep angry, after all. It’ll ruin your relationship. I read that somewhere. Well, good night.”
It took Kurogane a moment to realize that (a) he should probably make sure Fai actually got into his apartment, if he really were drunk and (b) Fai’s car was still parked at the restaurant, and they hadn’t made plans for Fai to pick it up. He climbed out of his truck, calling after the other man.
“Yes, Kuro-chan?”
“Come on, I’ll take you up to your place. You’ll have to tell me where.”
“That’s so sweet of you, Kuro-chan. Even though I’m not a princess you’re being so chivalrous.”
Kurogane just followed Fai into the dorm building and up to the fourth floor. Fai started fumbling for his keys.
“Did you forget them in the car?” Kurogane irritatedly asked.
“No, here they are!” Fai proclaimed, brandishing them victoriously.
“Just open the door already.”
“Are you going to come in? I’m not sure it’s fit for gentlemen callers, though.”
“No, let’s just get each other’s cell phone numbers. We can talk later and figure out how you’re going to get your car.”
“Ah, I left my phone in my car.”
Perfect. “Well, can you just get one of your friends to take you there tomorrow so you can pick it up?”
“Tomorrow’s Thanksgiving, most of the college has gone home for the holiday.”
“Suoh is gone too?”
“He had to return to Japan for a family matter for a couple days.”
Kurogane sighed. “Well, I can just come pick you up tomorrow.”
“Why don’t you spend the night? I’ve got an extra toothbrush, and you can sleep on the couch, it’s very comfortable. And in the morning I’ll take you out to eat.” Kurogane looked at Fai suspiciously, so the blond laughed. “Trust me, I have no plans to take advantage of you. I don’t ravage men without enthusiastic consent.”
“Don’t you mean you won’t take more advantage of me?” But he was really tired. “Fine. Thanks.”
It was a nice apartment- it wasn’t fastidiously clean like Kurogane’s place (but he didn’t have a whole lot of things anyways, so it was fairly easy to keep clean) but it wasn’t dirty either. It had a comfortable feel to it. Most of it was varying shades of blue, which wasn’t to Kurogane’s personal taste; but he had never been one to care much about interior decoration. And the couch was comfortable.
The next morning Fai clearly had a slight hangover, so Kurogane decided it was a good thing he’d driven the other man home. Fai still made good on his offer of breakfast, and actually talked some more about his brother Yui and the rest of his family over eggs and sausage. They’d been raised by their distant cousin Shura, a divorced professor of Indian studies with a child named Ashura. Fai grinned from ear to ear as he mentioned that Nokoru’s uncle Taichirou Imonoyama had fallen head-over-heels for Shura the moment they met, and was currently attempting to woo the rather overwhelmed Shura. Yui was currently keeping him updated on the relationship, and all three children heartily approved, though of course they teased Taichirou mercilessly. “Uncle Shura is nice, you know, but sometimes he really needs to get laid,” Fai concluded as Kurogane choked on his coffee.
After breakfast, Kurogane drove Fai back to his restaurant to pick up his car.
“Oh let me get your cell phone number,” Fai said, as he climbed out of the truck. “We can talk later.”
Kurogane paused for a moment. “Why don’t you come over for Thanksgiving?”
Fai looked over at Kurogane, blinking. “Really?”
“Yeah. My family does a big dinner. They love that patriotic stuff.”
“You already want me to meet your family?” Fai said, with his trademark smile.
“Just follow me, alright? I’ll lead you there.”
“Yes. Sounds wonderful. Thank you.”
“My grandmother will probably wrangle you into helping cook. It’s her way of making people welcome.”
“Sounds fun. Yui’s the cook in the family, but I’ll do my best.”