[HnG] Standing There (PG) [Impatience arc Part 9]
Title: Standing There
Author: Kimmie (tasukichiriko@hotmail.com)
Category: shonen ai
Pairings: AkiHika
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I mean no harm, I have no money... Stuff like that. Yeah. (Hotta and Obana, guys!)
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: None.
Notes: Part nine of the "Impatience" arc... the story that I've begun to dream about. This part is 2-3 times longer than any of the other parts, so thank goodness I had most of the day off from work! (Also, again with the omake!) Enjoy! (Find previous parts at Jumpy Boys.)
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Akira looked at the green apron he'd just put on. It was a dark green with a strap that went around his neck and a thin tie that he looped around his back and tied in front. He wasn't sure exactly what Hikaru saw in it, but he'd mentioned, in a way, that he liked seeing Akira in it. Earlier, when Akira had come home, Hikaru was at the stove, cooking. He was making stir-fry, something which he usually got all over himself. Akira had meant to buy him an apron of his own, but he'd been distracted on his way by Ashiwara who seemed to have moved to the neighborhood recently. They'd chatted for a while, and talked about go. Ashiwara questioned him about why he kept mentioning games that he played with Hikaru, and (almost) everything was revealed. Akira was a bit irked by the fact that Ashiwara was not-at-all surprised.
Tying the string of the apron, Akira realized for the first time that he was skinny, at least in comparison to Hikaru. It wasn't that Hikaru was overweight like Kurata, but he was... sturdy? He wasn't able to actually tie the strings. He'd just roped them over one another and went about with his cooking. The sight of him, though, in a proper button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, wearing the apron that Akira habitually wore while doing the dishes before going to work... it had an effect. Hikaru's muscles bulging slightly against the folded sleeves as he reached right into the pan to pick up a piece of broccoli, eating it quickly before blowing on his fingers and smiling as he turned and saw Akira standing there... Akira wasn't sure what it was about the apron, but he had felt his pulse rise a bit and had wondered for a moment if the heat had been turned up in the house. The temperature hadn't seemed to change until Hikaru left, though.
As Akira ate the food that Hikaru left for him, he found himself thinking about what kind of apron he should buy when he went to the store. He'd worked in the morning and Hikaru had several interviews to give that afternoon, and then they would have a party in the evening. He'd agreed to do the shopping, and would be going first thing for an apron. And this time, he'd have it on the list to make sure that nothing would make him forget it.
When Akira came home from shopping, he was relatively laden with packages. He had several bottles of wine (which had been aggravating to get as the clerk kept checking his ID to see if it was fake), several kinds of cheese and bread, fruit, cured meats, white and dark chocolate and whipping cream. He wasn't entirely certain what Hikaru was going to do with it all, but reasoned that there couldn't be too much cooking involved as most of it was the kind of thing you ate at room temperature. There was also, of course, an apron.
The apron that Akira ended up picking out was something he'd never thought he'd find. But the wine store was next to a kitchen supply store, and Akira had wandered in to look for a new corkscrew and had thought to look at the aprons. There was a service offered to have a particular word or simple logo embroidered onto the apron for a small fee. So, Hikaru would soon be able to wear a bright yellow apron with a black number five in a circle embroidered onto the front. Akira was quite proud of his find, even if he had completely forgotten about the corkscrew.
Akira looked at the instructions that Hikaru had left for him about what to do with the groceries. The wine was to go on ice half an hour before the party; the cheeses, breads, and fruit were supposed to stay on the counter; the chocolate, whipping cream and ham went into the refrigerator. He did that quickly enough and moved out into the main room to set up for the party. He moved the couch into the corner and pushed the TV into a different corner. He pulled the go boards to the center of the room and retrieved the one from the bedroom to go with them. Three go boards would be enough for the party. Akira counted the guests in his mind: Hikaru, Waya, Isumi, Nase, Fukui (who would not be drinking, Akira reminded himself), Honda, Ashiwara, and himself. One more board would mean that they could all play at once, but Akira was certain that some people would eat and watch the others play. If they really needed another board, Waya would probably be willing to bring his over from the apartment next door.
With everything done that he could think of, as he always kept the apartment clean, Akira sat down on the couch with a book, a murder mystery that he'd picked up to read on the train to Nagoya, not realizing at the time that Hikaru had no games or teaching that weekend and would come with him. It would be nice to get to do something together. The Go Association seemed to love to make their schedules conflict. While Hikaru and Akira usually got to have dinner together, it was generally after they hadn't seen each other since the early morning. The closest they'd had to a full day together since they'd moved into the apartment had been the day that Akira had been scheduled to play against a pro who was found to be on the run from the police for selling fake gobans with fake Shuusaku signatures. Hikaru had laughed uproariously when Akira told him, but refused to expound on why, exactly, he found it so amusing.
The door opened when Akira was only 45 pages into his book. He glanced up and smiled to see Hikaru shrugging off his jacket. "Hi. Mind if I finish this chapter?"
Hikaru laughed throatily. "Keep on reading. You went shopping already, right?"
Akira nodded, already engrossed in his book again, gasping because the killer had just struck again, literally, and this time with a goke! Hikaru smiled and went into the kitchen.
There, sitting on the counter, was a package with his name on it. "Akira?" There was no answer. Hikaru took a step toward the package and opened it, his face quirked in amusement as he unfolded the apron. Without waiting a moment, he put it on, noticing that the strings were longer than the ones on Akira's own. He looked down at himself and grinned wildly before beginning to prepare the food.
He chopped the chocolate into small pieces while he heated a pan of water on the stove. When it was boiling, he lowered the temperature and began to melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over the pan. He melted the white chocolate in one bowl and the dark in another. He set both bowls of melted chocolate off to the side and began to whip the cream briskly after sweetening it. When it was stiff, he mixed it with equal parts of white and dark chocolate and served it into small dishes that he'd pulled from the cupboard. He put the dishes on a tray and slid it into the refrigerator, amused to hear another gasp of shock come from Akira in the other room.
Hikaru, confident that Akira wouldn't come snooping into the kitchen anytime soon, dug into the pantry where he found his sliced dried strawberries. He took a large handful of them and began cutting little circles out with the apple corer that he'd gotten as a free gift with the food processor he'd purchased. He dipped the circles into the chocolate, half in each flavor, and placed them onto a sheet of wax paper to set. He also drizzled straight lines of the dark chocolate onto the paper and then put the used bowls in the sink, nibbling on the remains of the dried strawberries.
He retrieved another tray from the cupboard and began to arrange the cheese, bread and fruit on it. The grapes, raspberries, pear and apple slices and orange wedges were scattered among the tray with thin slices of the bread and thick slices of the firm cheeses and cheese knives stuck in the soft cheeses. Hikaru made up a plate of the meats, with ham and prosciutto and some sliced smoked sausage. He kept the cheese tray on the counter and slid the meat tray back into the refrigerator. Taking a glance at the clock, he opened the freezer and pulled out the small aluminum tub he'd filled with ice and placed inside (after nearly breaking the rack in order to take it out). When his hands nearly stuck to the tub with cold, Hikaru finally acquiesced to the fact that Akira was probably right... Akira had maintained that perhaps the ice should have gone in the freezer with the bucket staying on the counter.
Placing the wine in the tub with a towel next to it to clean up any condensation or spilled ice, Hikaru placed the wine in and dug around in the drawers for the corkscrew, a simple screw going perpendicular to a small piece of black plastic. He placed it on the counter and turned his attention to finishing the dessert.
The mousse had set enough for the finishing touches. He laid crossed lines of the dark chocolate on top of the simple mousse and set several dark and light circles on various intersecting points. He grinned as he looked at the tray again; glad to have thought of doing such a thing for a go party. He set the tray in the refrigerator once more and walked out into the living area again. "So? How do I look?"
Akira looked up and bit his lip. "You found it. Do you like it?" He let his book close with his thumb keeping his place.
"Of course I like. In fact, I think I'm going to wear it all night."
"What?! But then you might get it dirty!"
Hikaru laughed. "It's an apron, no matter how new it is. Let me wear it. This is a *go* party." He gestured to the five. "It's perfect! And then I can worry less about dropping food on myself." He took a seat next to Akira. "Thank you." He lifted Akira's chin with his finger and gave his thanks with a kiss. "What are you reading that has you gasping every five minutes, anyway?"
Akira laughed. "It's silly, really." He showed Hikaru the cover. "It's called 'Keshi', you know... reduction?"
"I know that one." Hikaru stuck his tongue out at Akira.
"Of course you do. Anyway, it's a murder mystery that I really only bought because of the title. There's a serial killer and all of his killings are go related. First he kills the prime minister by slamming his head down on his go board leaving this blood stain that just won't wash away. Then, he kills the president of a big corporation by knocking him unconscious with a goke and shoving a stone down his throat as he's breathing. It's..." He paused and looked at Hikaru's expression. "Well, excuse me for being excited about a book about go."
"Oh, it's not that. Okay, it's the fact that you're so excited about a go *murder mystery*. It's nice to see you excited about something. You're always so calm when we're not playing that sometimes it's hard to remember you're the same guy that I consider my eternal rival at the same time that I want to grab your ass."
"Hikaru!"
"What?!" Hikaru laughed and squirmed out of Akira's reach as the other man moved toward him. There was a knock on the door which surprised both of them. Hikaru made a startled gasp. Akira fell off the couch.
After helping Akira to his feet, laughing the whole while, Hikaru approached the door and opened it. Nase and Isumi were there. "Hey!"
The two of them came in, both with gifts in their hands. "Here you go, Shindou," Nase said. "Housewarming gifts!" She looked over at Akira. "They're yours too."
Akira smiled and walked around the go boards toward them. "Thank you. It's very kind of you to think of such a thing."
"Oh, we didn't think of it. Waya did, actually. He even made suggestions about what to get you. So, don't be surprised to get more." Nase smiled prettily and was about to walk into the room when Fukui arrived and took a running leap for her. "Fukui!"
Fukui smiled brightly and handed his own gift to Hikaru. "It's good to see you guys! I haven't talked to any of you in ages. But, I guess that's what it's like when you actually play professionally."
Hikaru held his hand up for Fukui. Fukui slapped it and Hikaru laughed. "Congratulations on finally becoming a pro... but you're still not old enough to drink as your mother was kind enough to remind me on the phone."
Fukui laughed. "It's just as well. I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. They think I have carpal tunnel from too much speed go. I can't decide if I think that's cool or not."
Isumi laughed and turned a grin toward Waya who had finally emerged from his apartment. Waya approached and looked at everyone. "Hey, I thought we were having the party *inside*."
Hikaru's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah. Of course! Everyone get in here!"
As Hikaru was closing the door, he felt someone put pressure on the other side of the door. He opened it again to see Honda with a flustered-looking Ashiwara. "Oh, good. I see you found the place all right." He looked around again and then down at his watch. "Is that everyone? But it just turned seven."
Akira laughed. "Hikaru, just because you can never be on time doesn't mean that no one else can."
Hikaru pouted. "Fine. No dessert for you." He took the armload of presents into the kitchen, then called out behind him, "Everyone, have a seat at a board. Akira, want to help with the food?"
Excusing himself, Akira walked into the kitchen, almost surprised to see that it was still relatively clean. "What would you like me to carry?"
Hikaru gestured toward the wine. "Would you go ahead and open the wine? I have grape juice for Fukui in the fridge, so I'll grab that in a second."
Akira fussed with the corks for a bit and finally got a bottle open. He grabbed several glasses by their stems in one hand and brought them into the other room with the first bottle of wine. He returned a moment later to get the other glasses. Hikaru had already put the cheese and meat trays on the counter and had gotten the grape juice as well. "If you would, grab the grape juice and the rest of the glasses. I can carry everything else."
When they finally sat down around the trays, Waya took a glance at Hikaru and Akira and stifled a laugh. "Hikaru... is that an apron?"
Hikaru stood up again and modeled it. "Yup. This is my new apron, courtesy of the most thoughtful and wonderful guy in the world." He reached down and ran his knuckles softly against Akira's jaw.
Nase's eyes widened a bit. "Are you guys- Waya, you said-" She paused. "Waya, you should have told me they were dating! I would have gotten a different gift."
There were mixed reactions, but no objections. Hikaru sat down again, folding his legs in front of him. "Sorry. I didn't think to tell you guys about it. It's one of those things, you know? Now, c'mon everybody. Eat! I didn't buy this food to have it go to waste."
Akira smiled. "You didn't even buy it. You just put it on the plates."
"That was the hard part!" Hikaru insisted.
After eating, they moved over to the boards. They played jan-ken-pon to determine who would sit out, and again to figure out who would play at which board.
Nase played Ashiwara which she giggled about. "I figured I wouldn't get to play you until I got into the upper dans!"
Akira played Honda who looked distressed, but was pulling off some very thought-provoking moves.
Fukui played Waya which made Waya groan loudly. "I've still only beaten you that one time for the pro exam. God, I need more to drink."
Isumi and Hikaru sat off to the side, talking quietly about the three games. Isumi had been over at Waya's apartment a few times when Hikaru had come, sometimes with Akira in tow. He was used to the idea of them being together, if not some of the things that had come along with it. It was still strange to see Hikaru being affectionate, or to suddenly have a nearly-gourmet spread of food around when, previously, he might be offered something to drink. In the middle of Hikaru discussing Ashiwara's perfect use of the empty triangle, Isumi asked, "Where did you learn to do all of this?" while gesturing to the forgotten trays of food.
Hikaru laughed. "Um, the Cooking Channel. I need something to keep me occupied when Akira's at work, and since I'm the one who does the cooking around here, I figured that knowing how to make noodles and stir-fry wasn't quite enough."
"You really love him, don't you?" Isumi grabbed a few grapes off of the tray and popped one into his mouth.
"I do. He's just... For years now, I've wanted him in my life like he's in my go."
Isumi chewed on another grape. "Are you going to marry him?"
Hikaru paused, and then laughed. "I think, first, I have to get him over the idea that kissing is not evil."
"He's not affectionate?" Isumi glanced at the boards and saw that Nase was making eyes at Ashiwara who was blushing and playing bad hands because of it.
"It's not that. He's very sweet and thoughtful and when there's no one else around, he can be *very* affectionate, but sometimes I'm just not sure what he wants to get out of this, or if he even realizes what 'dating' is, but then he does stuff like this," he gestured to the apron, "and I fall in love all over again."
"The apron means that much?" Isumi looked confused and examined the apron again.
"It's the thought behind it. He got the right size, the right color, had a logo put on it that he knew I'd like, and probably all because he caught me wearing his dish-washing apron this afternoon. He was eyeing me like Shuusaku kifu, and I couldn't get enough of it."
Isumi laughed at the imagery. "Should we all leave after this game to give you some alone time?"
"No." Hikaru shook his head. "I know it means a lot to him to have other people here. He's the kind of guy who sits by himself but wants everyone else to sit with him. We moved here because of you and Waya being close by, and he's not close with you guys. He moved away from his parents for me, even though they're gone a lot of the time anyway. Because of who he is, and how he is sometimes, he doesn't have a lot of friends, and I want to come home from shidougo one day and hear him say things about his day that weren't about go. I want him to be happy."
Isumi sipped at his wine. "You guys are perfect for each other."
Hikaru smiled and turned to Isumi. "You think?"
Isumi smiled and nodded. "And, to think, go is the reason you're together."
Taking a sip of his own wine, Hikaru smiled and raised his glass a bit. He muttered to himself, "Thank you, Sai."
"Did you say something, Hikaru?"
"No, nothing. Oh, hey, I think it's our turn to play!" Hikaru moved to take Nase's spot from where she'd just finished beating Ashiwara and was now trying to get him to have more wine.
They played several more games, some as speed rounds. They all finished at about the same time and Hikaru hopped to his feet and went into the kitchen, coming back with the tray of mousse. "I hope no one minds dessert this late. This one I actually had to do some work on!"
Akira was smiling widely as he took his own dish. He looked around and shook his head, standing up and heading to the kitchen. He came back a moment later with a handful of spoons. "I think we'd like to eat these with something other than our hands, Hikaru."
Hikaru had the decency to blush. "Hey, I'm busy being proud of myself, here."
Kissing Hikaru's shoulder, Akira handed him a spoon. "I'll be proud of you if this tastes as good as it looks." He suddenly blushed to realize how he was acting.
Hikaru gave him a full kiss, if a relatively chaste one. "Don't worry. They're friends. Eat your mousse."
Akira picked up a bit of the mousse with a white chocolate piece and chewed on it, his face lighting up as he tasted the strawberries. He chewed and swallowed, then looked up at Hikaru. "You didn't have me get strawberries."
"They're dried. I snuck them into the basket when we got the popsicles."
Akira laughed and ate more mousse. "It's good. I'm proud of you."
Everyone else was too busy eating to really notice as Hikaru reached out and grabbed Akira's free hand, holding it as he ate his own mousse with his left hand. "Thank you."
"For what?" Akira licked a bit of mousse off his upper lip.
Hikaru squeezed Akira's hand softly. "For the apron, of course. Look, I've already got chocolate on it."
At the end of the evening, for once, Akira left the dishes in the sink. They had bid everyone a good night and shoved the mess into the kitchen, not even bothering to clear the last game from the boards. Akira lay closer to Hikaru than he normally did in the bedroom, and was amused that he could still smell a vague scent of chocolate coming from Hikaru. "That was fun," he muttered into his pillow.
Hikaru slung an arm around Akira's hips. "It was. We should have more people over."
Akira laughed sleepily. "I get the feeling that I might be seeing more of Nase if I go visit Ashiwara. They seemed to hit it off."
"You seemed to get along well with Honda, too."
"He's been reading the same book. I knew it from the way he almost hesitated before going for komoku."
"What's the deal with komoku?"
"The killer uses this-"
"Never mind. Maybe I'll just read it myself." Hikaru yawned loudly and rubbed Akira's side with his thumb. "G'night, sweetie."
Akira smiled and let the name pass unmentioned. Hikaru could at least call him sweetie in the privacy of their own bedroom.
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Owari. ^_~
SPECIAL BONUS OMAKE:
-----Strawberry Sneak----- a drabble
Hikaru had been holding the package of dried strawberries in his hand for the last three aisles and Akira still hadn't noticed. Good. This just might work. He dragged Akira over to the ice cream and, in the process, slipped the strawberries into the cart next to the bread. He then managed to talk Akira into popsicles, which had been his plan from the beginning. At the register, he made sure to distract Akira by discussing his father's latest game against Beijing's best player, purposefully mispronouncing the Chinese pro's name. When they got home, Hikaru slid the strawberries into the pocket of his cargo pants until Akira left the room to answer the phone. He stored them in the pantry quickly and breathed a sigh of deep relief. He knew that Akira loved strawberries, and dried ones would be perfect to sneak to him at some unspecified time not too far in the future.
Author: Kimmie (tasukichiriko@hotmail.com)
Category: shonen ai
Pairings: AkiHika
Disclaimer: I don't own the characters, I mean no harm, I have no money... Stuff like that. Yeah. (Hotta and Obana, guys!)
Rating: PG.
Warnings: None.
Spoilers: None.
Notes: Part nine of the "Impatience" arc... the story that I've begun to dream about. This part is 2-3 times longer than any of the other parts, so thank goodness I had most of the day off from work! (Also, again with the omake!) Enjoy! (Find previous parts at Jumpy Boys.)
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Akira looked at the green apron he'd just put on. It was a dark green with a strap that went around his neck and a thin tie that he looped around his back and tied in front. He wasn't sure exactly what Hikaru saw in it, but he'd mentioned, in a way, that he liked seeing Akira in it. Earlier, when Akira had come home, Hikaru was at the stove, cooking. He was making stir-fry, something which he usually got all over himself. Akira had meant to buy him an apron of his own, but he'd been distracted on his way by Ashiwara who seemed to have moved to the neighborhood recently. They'd chatted for a while, and talked about go. Ashiwara questioned him about why he kept mentioning games that he played with Hikaru, and (almost) everything was revealed. Akira was a bit irked by the fact that Ashiwara was not-at-all surprised.
Tying the string of the apron, Akira realized for the first time that he was skinny, at least in comparison to Hikaru. It wasn't that Hikaru was overweight like Kurata, but he was... sturdy? He wasn't able to actually tie the strings. He'd just roped them over one another and went about with his cooking. The sight of him, though, in a proper button-down shirt with the sleeves rolled up, wearing the apron that Akira habitually wore while doing the dishes before going to work... it had an effect. Hikaru's muscles bulging slightly against the folded sleeves as he reached right into the pan to pick up a piece of broccoli, eating it quickly before blowing on his fingers and smiling as he turned and saw Akira standing there... Akira wasn't sure what it was about the apron, but he had felt his pulse rise a bit and had wondered for a moment if the heat had been turned up in the house. The temperature hadn't seemed to change until Hikaru left, though.
As Akira ate the food that Hikaru left for him, he found himself thinking about what kind of apron he should buy when he went to the store. He'd worked in the morning and Hikaru had several interviews to give that afternoon, and then they would have a party in the evening. He'd agreed to do the shopping, and would be going first thing for an apron. And this time, he'd have it on the list to make sure that nothing would make him forget it.
When Akira came home from shopping, he was relatively laden with packages. He had several bottles of wine (which had been aggravating to get as the clerk kept checking his ID to see if it was fake), several kinds of cheese and bread, fruit, cured meats, white and dark chocolate and whipping cream. He wasn't entirely certain what Hikaru was going to do with it all, but reasoned that there couldn't be too much cooking involved as most of it was the kind of thing you ate at room temperature. There was also, of course, an apron.
The apron that Akira ended up picking out was something he'd never thought he'd find. But the wine store was next to a kitchen supply store, and Akira had wandered in to look for a new corkscrew and had thought to look at the aprons. There was a service offered to have a particular word or simple logo embroidered onto the apron for a small fee. So, Hikaru would soon be able to wear a bright yellow apron with a black number five in a circle embroidered onto the front. Akira was quite proud of his find, even if he had completely forgotten about the corkscrew.
Akira looked at the instructions that Hikaru had left for him about what to do with the groceries. The wine was to go on ice half an hour before the party; the cheeses, breads, and fruit were supposed to stay on the counter; the chocolate, whipping cream and ham went into the refrigerator. He did that quickly enough and moved out into the main room to set up for the party. He moved the couch into the corner and pushed the TV into a different corner. He pulled the go boards to the center of the room and retrieved the one from the bedroom to go with them. Three go boards would be enough for the party. Akira counted the guests in his mind: Hikaru, Waya, Isumi, Nase, Fukui (who would not be drinking, Akira reminded himself), Honda, Ashiwara, and himself. One more board would mean that they could all play at once, but Akira was certain that some people would eat and watch the others play. If they really needed another board, Waya would probably be willing to bring his over from the apartment next door.
With everything done that he could think of, as he always kept the apartment clean, Akira sat down on the couch with a book, a murder mystery that he'd picked up to read on the train to Nagoya, not realizing at the time that Hikaru had no games or teaching that weekend and would come with him. It would be nice to get to do something together. The Go Association seemed to love to make their schedules conflict. While Hikaru and Akira usually got to have dinner together, it was generally after they hadn't seen each other since the early morning. The closest they'd had to a full day together since they'd moved into the apartment had been the day that Akira had been scheduled to play against a pro who was found to be on the run from the police for selling fake gobans with fake Shuusaku signatures. Hikaru had laughed uproariously when Akira told him, but refused to expound on why, exactly, he found it so amusing.
The door opened when Akira was only 45 pages into his book. He glanced up and smiled to see Hikaru shrugging off his jacket. "Hi. Mind if I finish this chapter?"
Hikaru laughed throatily. "Keep on reading. You went shopping already, right?"
Akira nodded, already engrossed in his book again, gasping because the killer had just struck again, literally, and this time with a goke! Hikaru smiled and went into the kitchen.
There, sitting on the counter, was a package with his name on it. "Akira?" There was no answer. Hikaru took a step toward the package and opened it, his face quirked in amusement as he unfolded the apron. Without waiting a moment, he put it on, noticing that the strings were longer than the ones on Akira's own. He looked down at himself and grinned wildly before beginning to prepare the food.
He chopped the chocolate into small pieces while he heated a pan of water on the stove. When it was boiling, he lowered the temperature and began to melt the chocolate in a bowl suspended over the pan. He melted the white chocolate in one bowl and the dark in another. He set both bowls of melted chocolate off to the side and began to whip the cream briskly after sweetening it. When it was stiff, he mixed it with equal parts of white and dark chocolate and served it into small dishes that he'd pulled from the cupboard. He put the dishes on a tray and slid it into the refrigerator, amused to hear another gasp of shock come from Akira in the other room.
Hikaru, confident that Akira wouldn't come snooping into the kitchen anytime soon, dug into the pantry where he found his sliced dried strawberries. He took a large handful of them and began cutting little circles out with the apple corer that he'd gotten as a free gift with the food processor he'd purchased. He dipped the circles into the chocolate, half in each flavor, and placed them onto a sheet of wax paper to set. He also drizzled straight lines of the dark chocolate onto the paper and then put the used bowls in the sink, nibbling on the remains of the dried strawberries.
He retrieved another tray from the cupboard and began to arrange the cheese, bread and fruit on it. The grapes, raspberries, pear and apple slices and orange wedges were scattered among the tray with thin slices of the bread and thick slices of the firm cheeses and cheese knives stuck in the soft cheeses. Hikaru made up a plate of the meats, with ham and prosciutto and some sliced smoked sausage. He kept the cheese tray on the counter and slid the meat tray back into the refrigerator. Taking a glance at the clock, he opened the freezer and pulled out the small aluminum tub he'd filled with ice and placed inside (after nearly breaking the rack in order to take it out). When his hands nearly stuck to the tub with cold, Hikaru finally acquiesced to the fact that Akira was probably right... Akira had maintained that perhaps the ice should have gone in the freezer with the bucket staying on the counter.
Placing the wine in the tub with a towel next to it to clean up any condensation or spilled ice, Hikaru placed the wine in and dug around in the drawers for the corkscrew, a simple screw going perpendicular to a small piece of black plastic. He placed it on the counter and turned his attention to finishing the dessert.
The mousse had set enough for the finishing touches. He laid crossed lines of the dark chocolate on top of the simple mousse and set several dark and light circles on various intersecting points. He grinned as he looked at the tray again; glad to have thought of doing such a thing for a go party. He set the tray in the refrigerator once more and walked out into the living area again. "So? How do I look?"
Akira looked up and bit his lip. "You found it. Do you like it?" He let his book close with his thumb keeping his place.
"Of course I like. In fact, I think I'm going to wear it all night."
"What?! But then you might get it dirty!"
Hikaru laughed. "It's an apron, no matter how new it is. Let me wear it. This is a *go* party." He gestured to the five. "It's perfect! And then I can worry less about dropping food on myself." He took a seat next to Akira. "Thank you." He lifted Akira's chin with his finger and gave his thanks with a kiss. "What are you reading that has you gasping every five minutes, anyway?"
Akira laughed. "It's silly, really." He showed Hikaru the cover. "It's called 'Keshi', you know... reduction?"
"I know that one." Hikaru stuck his tongue out at Akira.
"Of course you do. Anyway, it's a murder mystery that I really only bought because of the title. There's a serial killer and all of his killings are go related. First he kills the prime minister by slamming his head down on his go board leaving this blood stain that just won't wash away. Then, he kills the president of a big corporation by knocking him unconscious with a goke and shoving a stone down his throat as he's breathing. It's..." He paused and looked at Hikaru's expression. "Well, excuse me for being excited about a book about go."
"Oh, it's not that. Okay, it's the fact that you're so excited about a go *murder mystery*. It's nice to see you excited about something. You're always so calm when we're not playing that sometimes it's hard to remember you're the same guy that I consider my eternal rival at the same time that I want to grab your ass."
"Hikaru!"
"What?!" Hikaru laughed and squirmed out of Akira's reach as the other man moved toward him. There was a knock on the door which surprised both of them. Hikaru made a startled gasp. Akira fell off the couch.
After helping Akira to his feet, laughing the whole while, Hikaru approached the door and opened it. Nase and Isumi were there. "Hey!"
The two of them came in, both with gifts in their hands. "Here you go, Shindou," Nase said. "Housewarming gifts!" She looked over at Akira. "They're yours too."
Akira smiled and walked around the go boards toward them. "Thank you. It's very kind of you to think of such a thing."
"Oh, we didn't think of it. Waya did, actually. He even made suggestions about what to get you. So, don't be surprised to get more." Nase smiled prettily and was about to walk into the room when Fukui arrived and took a running leap for her. "Fukui!"
Fukui smiled brightly and handed his own gift to Hikaru. "It's good to see you guys! I haven't talked to any of you in ages. But, I guess that's what it's like when you actually play professionally."
Hikaru held his hand up for Fukui. Fukui slapped it and Hikaru laughed. "Congratulations on finally becoming a pro... but you're still not old enough to drink as your mother was kind enough to remind me on the phone."
Fukui laughed. "It's just as well. I've got a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning. They think I have carpal tunnel from too much speed go. I can't decide if I think that's cool or not."
Isumi laughed and turned a grin toward Waya who had finally emerged from his apartment. Waya approached and looked at everyone. "Hey, I thought we were having the party *inside*."
Hikaru's eyes widened. "Oh, yeah. Of course! Everyone get in here!"
As Hikaru was closing the door, he felt someone put pressure on the other side of the door. He opened it again to see Honda with a flustered-looking Ashiwara. "Oh, good. I see you found the place all right." He looked around again and then down at his watch. "Is that everyone? But it just turned seven."
Akira laughed. "Hikaru, just because you can never be on time doesn't mean that no one else can."
Hikaru pouted. "Fine. No dessert for you." He took the armload of presents into the kitchen, then called out behind him, "Everyone, have a seat at a board. Akira, want to help with the food?"
Excusing himself, Akira walked into the kitchen, almost surprised to see that it was still relatively clean. "What would you like me to carry?"
Hikaru gestured toward the wine. "Would you go ahead and open the wine? I have grape juice for Fukui in the fridge, so I'll grab that in a second."
Akira fussed with the corks for a bit and finally got a bottle open. He grabbed several glasses by their stems in one hand and brought them into the other room with the first bottle of wine. He returned a moment later to get the other glasses. Hikaru had already put the cheese and meat trays on the counter and had gotten the grape juice as well. "If you would, grab the grape juice and the rest of the glasses. I can carry everything else."
When they finally sat down around the trays, Waya took a glance at Hikaru and Akira and stifled a laugh. "Hikaru... is that an apron?"
Hikaru stood up again and modeled it. "Yup. This is my new apron, courtesy of the most thoughtful and wonderful guy in the world." He reached down and ran his knuckles softly against Akira's jaw.
Nase's eyes widened a bit. "Are you guys- Waya, you said-" She paused. "Waya, you should have told me they were dating! I would have gotten a different gift."
There were mixed reactions, but no objections. Hikaru sat down again, folding his legs in front of him. "Sorry. I didn't think to tell you guys about it. It's one of those things, you know? Now, c'mon everybody. Eat! I didn't buy this food to have it go to waste."
Akira smiled. "You didn't even buy it. You just put it on the plates."
"That was the hard part!" Hikaru insisted.
After eating, they moved over to the boards. They played jan-ken-pon to determine who would sit out, and again to figure out who would play at which board.
Nase played Ashiwara which she giggled about. "I figured I wouldn't get to play you until I got into the upper dans!"
Akira played Honda who looked distressed, but was pulling off some very thought-provoking moves.
Fukui played Waya which made Waya groan loudly. "I've still only beaten you that one time for the pro exam. God, I need more to drink."
Isumi and Hikaru sat off to the side, talking quietly about the three games. Isumi had been over at Waya's apartment a few times when Hikaru had come, sometimes with Akira in tow. He was used to the idea of them being together, if not some of the things that had come along with it. It was still strange to see Hikaru being affectionate, or to suddenly have a nearly-gourmet spread of food around when, previously, he might be offered something to drink. In the middle of Hikaru discussing Ashiwara's perfect use of the empty triangle, Isumi asked, "Where did you learn to do all of this?" while gesturing to the forgotten trays of food.
Hikaru laughed. "Um, the Cooking Channel. I need something to keep me occupied when Akira's at work, and since I'm the one who does the cooking around here, I figured that knowing how to make noodles and stir-fry wasn't quite enough."
"You really love him, don't you?" Isumi grabbed a few grapes off of the tray and popped one into his mouth.
"I do. He's just... For years now, I've wanted him in my life like he's in my go."
Isumi chewed on another grape. "Are you going to marry him?"
Hikaru paused, and then laughed. "I think, first, I have to get him over the idea that kissing is not evil."
"He's not affectionate?" Isumi glanced at the boards and saw that Nase was making eyes at Ashiwara who was blushing and playing bad hands because of it.
"It's not that. He's very sweet and thoughtful and when there's no one else around, he can be *very* affectionate, but sometimes I'm just not sure what he wants to get out of this, or if he even realizes what 'dating' is, but then he does stuff like this," he gestured to the apron, "and I fall in love all over again."
"The apron means that much?" Isumi looked confused and examined the apron again.
"It's the thought behind it. He got the right size, the right color, had a logo put on it that he knew I'd like, and probably all because he caught me wearing his dish-washing apron this afternoon. He was eyeing me like Shuusaku kifu, and I couldn't get enough of it."
Isumi laughed at the imagery. "Should we all leave after this game to give you some alone time?"
"No." Hikaru shook his head. "I know it means a lot to him to have other people here. He's the kind of guy who sits by himself but wants everyone else to sit with him. We moved here because of you and Waya being close by, and he's not close with you guys. He moved away from his parents for me, even though they're gone a lot of the time anyway. Because of who he is, and how he is sometimes, he doesn't have a lot of friends, and I want to come home from shidougo one day and hear him say things about his day that weren't about go. I want him to be happy."
Isumi sipped at his wine. "You guys are perfect for each other."
Hikaru smiled and turned to Isumi. "You think?"
Isumi smiled and nodded. "And, to think, go is the reason you're together."
Taking a sip of his own wine, Hikaru smiled and raised his glass a bit. He muttered to himself, "Thank you, Sai."
"Did you say something, Hikaru?"
"No, nothing. Oh, hey, I think it's our turn to play!" Hikaru moved to take Nase's spot from where she'd just finished beating Ashiwara and was now trying to get him to have more wine.
They played several more games, some as speed rounds. They all finished at about the same time and Hikaru hopped to his feet and went into the kitchen, coming back with the tray of mousse. "I hope no one minds dessert this late. This one I actually had to do some work on!"
Akira was smiling widely as he took his own dish. He looked around and shook his head, standing up and heading to the kitchen. He came back a moment later with a handful of spoons. "I think we'd like to eat these with something other than our hands, Hikaru."
Hikaru had the decency to blush. "Hey, I'm busy being proud of myself, here."
Kissing Hikaru's shoulder, Akira handed him a spoon. "I'll be proud of you if this tastes as good as it looks." He suddenly blushed to realize how he was acting.
Hikaru gave him a full kiss, if a relatively chaste one. "Don't worry. They're friends. Eat your mousse."
Akira picked up a bit of the mousse with a white chocolate piece and chewed on it, his face lighting up as he tasted the strawberries. He chewed and swallowed, then looked up at Hikaru. "You didn't have me get strawberries."
"They're dried. I snuck them into the basket when we got the popsicles."
Akira laughed and ate more mousse. "It's good. I'm proud of you."
Everyone else was too busy eating to really notice as Hikaru reached out and grabbed Akira's free hand, holding it as he ate his own mousse with his left hand. "Thank you."
"For what?" Akira licked a bit of mousse off his upper lip.
Hikaru squeezed Akira's hand softly. "For the apron, of course. Look, I've already got chocolate on it."
At the end of the evening, for once, Akira left the dishes in the sink. They had bid everyone a good night and shoved the mess into the kitchen, not even bothering to clear the last game from the boards. Akira lay closer to Hikaru than he normally did in the bedroom, and was amused that he could still smell a vague scent of chocolate coming from Hikaru. "That was fun," he muttered into his pillow.
Hikaru slung an arm around Akira's hips. "It was. We should have more people over."
Akira laughed sleepily. "I get the feeling that I might be seeing more of Nase if I go visit Ashiwara. They seemed to hit it off."
"You seemed to get along well with Honda, too."
"He's been reading the same book. I knew it from the way he almost hesitated before going for komoku."
"What's the deal with komoku?"
"The killer uses this-"
"Never mind. Maybe I'll just read it myself." Hikaru yawned loudly and rubbed Akira's side with his thumb. "G'night, sweetie."
Akira smiled and let the name pass unmentioned. Hikaru could at least call him sweetie in the privacy of their own bedroom.
----------
Owari. ^_~
SPECIAL BONUS OMAKE:
-----Strawberry Sneak----- a drabble
Hikaru had been holding the package of dried strawberries in his hand for the last three aisles and Akira still hadn't noticed. Good. This just might work. He dragged Akira over to the ice cream and, in the process, slipped the strawberries into the cart next to the bread. He then managed to talk Akira into popsicles, which had been his plan from the beginning. At the register, he made sure to distract Akira by discussing his father's latest game against Beijing's best player, purposefully mispronouncing the Chinese pro's name. When they got home, Hikaru slid the strawberries into the pocket of his cargo pants until Akira left the room to answer the phone. He stored them in the pantry quickly and breathed a sigh of deep relief. He knew that Akira loved strawberries, and dried ones would be perfect to sneak to him at some unspecified time not too far in the future.