Title : Four Hands in One Lump of Dough

Disclaimer : I do not own Saiunkoku Monogatari. It belongs to Sai Yukino.

Rating : General

Word Count : 309

Genre : Friendship

Warnings : Implied yaoi, barely so

Pairing : Koyu/Shuei, if you look real hard

Summary : The manju didn't get made.

Notes : This was written in response to a LiveJournal Saiun_Challenge prompt "Simple Pleasures" [Word Count: 300]

PLEASE REVIEW. EVEN IF YOU ARE NOT A MEMBER, I APPRECIATE YOUR NOT-LOGGED-IN COMMENTS (MY RESPONSE WILL BE ON THE REVIEW PAGE IF I CAN'T SEND YOU A PM).

"RAN SHUEI ! What did you DO? It's ruined!"

Koyu picked up the lump of flour-dusted dough and threw it at Shuei. Shuei's quick reflexes, honed by years of martial arts training, seemed to have deserted him. The dough hit Shuei head-on, releasing a cloud of flour, dusting Shuei's face, hair, and everywhere.

Still fuming, Koyu measured out the ingredients for another batch of dough.

"Excuse me, Master Koyu, Master Shuei sent me to assist you."

Koyu looked up in surprise. He did not realize that Shuei had left the kitchen.
"Where's Master Shuei now?"

"Master Shuei was headed for the bathroom."

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Why is he squatting on the floor?

"Shuei, why did you leave?"

Shuei stood up and grinned sheepishly.
"I thought I should get out of your way."

Flour-free streaks ran from the corners of Shuei's eyes down to his jaw line.

He cried! I made Shuei cry!

Shuei was down to his undergarments.

What do I do now? Shuei doesn't seem to know that the flour has exposed his secret.

Koyu dampened the bath cloth, and with rough affection, wiped Shuei's face, ears and neck.
"That should do it. Now get dressed. We've got manju to make."

As he pushed Shuei ahead of him, all the way to the kitchen, Koyu was mentally kicking himself.
Learn, Li Koyu, LEARN!
Shuei is right, I really am too uptight. Stop being so task-oriented! This is supposed to be a FUN thing to do on a day-off!

o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o-o

Four hands in one lump of dough. Koyu glanced at Shuei. He smiled.
This is what it's all about. The simple pleasure of just being in each other's company.

Koyu decided to be very non task-oriented. He groped for Shuei's hands in the dough, and started kneading them. This being Ran Shuei, such an action would necessarily lead to other pleasures.

[The End]