You gotta read the first two, friend, elsewise this will not make any sense. (Not Said to Me, is the first, and In a Letter is the second, they can be found in the I Love You Prompts)
So this honestly wasn't supposed to become a thing, but I re-read In a Letter and Not Said to Me, and I just got to thinking about how I wanted to develop it more. Now this story is a thing. It won't be a whole series, and I doubt it'll go much further then one more story in the future, but yeah.
"Uncle Tooru?"
He looks up, zeroing in on Fuyumi as she stands half hidden behind the door. She's in her pajamas, having gone to bed a few hours ago. Tooru spares a glance at his alarm clock, the bright red numbers read eleven-thirty.
"Trouble sleeping?" he asks quietly.
Fuyumi nods.
"Come here then." He clears a space for her on his bed, moving his papers to the nightstand and pulling back the covers so she can get comfortable. She has to get a bit of a running start to jump onto the mattress, and even then, she latches onto Tooru's offered hand to pull herself the rest of the way up.
"What are you reading?" she asks once she's settled under the covers.
"Nothing important," he says, setting the last paper among the others.
Fuyumi gives him a look that says she doesn't believe him for a second, but she's smart for a little kid, she's not going to push the issue until later.
"What's keeping you up?" he asks, easing back against the headboard.
"Dreams," Fuyumi mumbles, "They're bad tonight."
Tooru sighs, settling a hand in Fuyumi's hair. She has her mother's hair, long and thick, she likes to keep it braided but she always wears it down to bed. She looks up at him with Hajime's eyes, and she sniffles.
"I don't think I can sleep tonight," she whispers.
Tooru can't either. He'd been gripped by the need to read the letters again and, when that happens, he doesn't sleep until he's gone through each and every one of them. He'd finally gotten the courage to look at the photos. Most of them were from their days in high school, a few are just the two of them.
"Are you feeling tired?"
"Nope."
"Hmm," Tooru sits up properly, feeling Fuyumi eyes follow him.
He slips out of bed, sparing a moment to slip on his leg brace before standing up and propping his fists on his hips. Despite his exhaustion, Tooru pastes a smile on his lips.
"Let's make cookies."
Fuyumi sits up, puzzled.
"It's late though."
"Well, we're not sleeping." Tooru shrugs. "I used to go over to your dad's sometimes and we'd make cookies at two in the morning because I couldn't sleep. We'd bring them to volleyball practice later that day."
Fuyumi smiles at the thought.
If she's lucky, Tooru will spill memories of his youth with Hajime, usually at night or over meals. Fuyumi likes hearing about her father, and she likes seeing Tooru smile.
"Okay."
Tooru carries her to the small kitchen and sets her on the counter.
"We should have everything," he mumbles to himself.
He must have made these cookies hundreds of times before, he knows the recipe by heart, could probably make them in his sleep.
"I don't think daddy ever baked, usually mommy did," Fuyumi says. She's toying with a measuring cup, turning it about her hands while Tooru gathers the necessary ingredients.
"Well, I'll let you in on a little secret," Tooru says, a gentle smile on his lips, "Your dad couldn't bake, not at all, he could cook well enough though. I taught him how to make these cookies but he could never do it on his own. The first time he tried...it was a disaster, to say the least."
Fuyumi giggles, almost dropping the measuring cup.
Tooru pulls the step stool from the wall and sets it in front of the counter for Fuyumi to stand on. Once she's settled, he starts walking her through the process.
She catches on fairly quick, Tooru lets her measures the dry ingredients and lets her add as much vanilla as she wants. He's not fond of electric mixers so he gives Fuyumi a spoon and instructions to stir until her arms are tired.
He finishes up the process, handing the shaped dough to Fuyumi to set on the baking sheet. He puts it in the oven and sets the timer on the microwave.
Fuyumi stays on the counter while Tooru washes dishes.
"Uncle Tooru?"
"Hmm?"
"Do we think we can take some cookies to mommy and daddy when we go to see them?"
"I think that's a lovely idea."
The timer goes off a few minutes later and Tooru takes the tray out of the oven and sets it on the stovetop.
"You, my dear, are a natural, they look amazing," he says. Fuyumi giggling is interrupted by a yawn.
"Tired?"
She nods.
"Why don't you go change pajamas? Some of the cookies will be cooled by then, you can have one before going to bed."
"Okay."
Fuyumi hops down from the counter and disappears down the hall.
Tooru holds perfectly still until he hears her door close. Slowly, he turns around and begins plating the still cooling cookies, preparing the next batch when he's finished.
He used to show up at Hajime's in the early morning, a cloth bag of baking ingredients over his shoulder and a grin on his lips. Hajime would let him in and they'd proceed to make a mess of the kitchen. The cookies always turned out nice, with the exception of Hajime's solo attempt. Tooru would wash the dishes and Hajime would clean the counters while the cookies baked. Occasionally, Tooru would spend the night, Hajime's mom didn't care so long as the kitchen was clean and they weren't overly noisy.
He'd thrown a handful of flour once, coating Hajime's head in white, then proceeded to call him an old man. Hajime had retaliated in kind. It ended with a kiss, so the extra ten minutes it took to get flour out of his hair was worth it.
Tooru snaps to as Fuyumi re-enters the kitchen, her new pajamas consisting of floral pants and one of Hajime's old shirts. Between the two of them, they must have nearly all of Hajime's shirts divvied up.
"Yes, I do believe these cookies exceed your dad's baking skills," Tooru says as he gives her a cookie.
She smiles at him before lifting her arms, making a grabbing gesture with her free hand. Tooru picks her up, propping her on his nearly nonexistent hip.
Fuyumi breaks the cookie in half, holding one piece against Tooru's lips. He smiles before accepting the cookie. It tastes like the ones he made with Hajime, Fuyumi must have added even more vanilla when he wasn't looking just like Hajime used to.
"Delicious," he says. Fuyumi takes a bite of her cookie and grins.
"They're good, better than the ones mommy and me made."
"All because of you, little one. Now, go brush your teeth, I'll come tuck you into bed in a little bit."
Fuyumi finishes the rest of her cookie then wiggles out of Tooru's arms.
Once all of the cookies are cooling, and the oven is off, Tooru washes his hands and makes his way to Fuyumi's room.
She's curled up, covers pushed down at her feet. In her hands, a somewhat worn stuffed animal, a hedgehog.
Tooru picks up the blanket and lays it over Fuyumi, bending low to kiss her forehead.
"Night, Uncle Tooru."
"Goodnight, dear."
Tooru returns to his room and sits down. He sifts through the letters until he finds one dated in December, just a few years ago.
Tooru,
We made cookies, well, I should say that Fuyumi and Mio did. I'm still hopeless. They weren't like the cookies we made, Fuyumi reminded me of you whenever we baked, she had the same scrunched up look of concentration. The only part of her that was reminiscent of me was the fact that the kitchen was covered in flour when they were done. Fuyumi wanted to save some for you but I don't know when you'll be back to visit.
There's more, Hajime goes on to talk about an interview he watched of Kageyama and the little red headed shrimp. Then he talks about Tooru coming to visit more often, about how Fuyumi birthday is coming up in little less than a month, and she'd very much like to see her godfather. The old team was going to come for the party.
It never happened. Regardless of that fact, the letter is signed as all the others, with nothing but 'Hajime.'
In other news, I'm a terrible person.