Whoo! More Toriko fic! I'm so glad to see more people writing for Toriko! So much love to everyone sharing and writing fic! I also have a few more Toriko ideas in the works, but it might be a while before I can finish them, and we need more Sani, right? Sunny? Sani? I'm still trying to decide if I like the new Viz spelling.
Random note: I picked the primrose because while I was trying to look up the 'meanings' of different flowers I was very annoyed by them not being consistent between sources, and one of the meanings for a primrose is (apparently) inconsistency.
The peacock primrose was not the sort of ingredient that required the skills of a gourmet hunter to obtain. The herb had already been cultivated and carefully bred until it shrunk enough to make collection easy and discourage its natural pollinators, stinging moths, from gathering around it. There were villages that specialized in just raising and selling the sweet pollen as a spice.
With this in mind, from a purely practical point of view there was no need to be scaling the thirty meter stem of a wild peacock primrose. (The petals responsible for the name couldn't even be seen if one stood at the base.) There was less need to do it with Komatsu clinging against his chest. Then again, Sunny had always favored the seemly and beautiful over the strictly practical.
Over time Komatsu's grip had loosened until he could actually look down in curiosity. With Sunny's hair wrapped firmly around him he was in no real danger. In fact, Sunny was devoting rather more concentration to holding the tiny chef than he really needed. Just the feeling of Komatsu's warm body tucked close against him was a distraction. One that Sunny didn't mind at all, if only because it made the climb seem to go faster and was a much more soothing way to keep his venture interesting than having to deal with a few stinging moths.
They reached the top just before sunset, and Sunny had just enough time to help Komtasu turn in his arms so that he could see.
The tightly closed buds before them were pure white and appeared far too small for the stalk they had climbed to reach them. At least, until the sun touched the horizon. As the sun set the petals began to uncurl, finally revealing where the plant had gotten its name. Each petal was made up of feathery tendrils that gleamed in silken, prismatic colors as they uncurled enough for light to shine through them.
Sunny felt Komatsu gasp against him, and smiled. The beauty and scale of these blooms just couldn't be matched by their domesticated counterparts. Only in the wild could they outshine a peacock's tail, and only in the span of a sunset while the light hit them just right.
"The smell! It's amazing!"
That dispelled Sunny's half-formed fantasy quite quickly, if Komatsu couldn't even appreciate the sight. . . Disappointed, Sunny climbed from the huge leaf he had been resting on and placed his light burden directly inside the flower.
Komatsu didn't seem to notice his mood, caught up in the sight and smell and feel of everything around him. It was quite impossible to stay angry with him.
"You can even see the town from here," Komatsu exclaimed, pointing out the shapes of buildings in the distance. "I still don't understand why you were so adamant about coming out here instead of buying anything in town."
"I said I would show you when we got up here, so close your eyes, and I'll make it obvious."
Komatsu went along with it so easily, his face tilted up so that the sunset glowed on his cheeks. Sunny gathered up just a few grains of pollen on one finger and cupped his hair gently over Komatsu's cheek and chin.
"Open your mouth, 'Matsu."
Komatsu complied, completely trusting. Sunny dropped the grains of pollen on his soft tongue and watching him close his mouth, not to swallow, but to taste. His changing expression was fascinating, an instant of euphoria before his eyebrows rose in wonder.
"It's not just sweet," he said, faintly. "It's as if the real flavor is waiting to be drawn out."
That was the kind of face Sunny had wanted to see. It was a mix of bliss and the hint that Komatsu was thinking even then how to improve upon what he had found and bring out its full potential. That was why he could never have settled for bringing Komatsu a second-rate present that was on the market for anyone to buy. He had to give his favorite chef the most rare and delectable prize, with a beautiful view to greet him when his eyes fluttered open again.
"I have to use this. I don't understand why I never knew before-"
"Most people can't smell the difference." Sunny rubbed his hair under Komatsu's chin and down his neck, tempted to slip the casual touch lower still. "I wanted to know if it would taste different under your hands."
Komatsu seemed to gloss right over the fact that he was being 'tasted' by thousands of wayward strands of hair. He was too excited, almost bubbling over with possible plans as he carefully collected pollen from the immense flower to take back to his kitchen. Sunny did devote more time to watching than helping. The petals glowing in iridescent colors around him in the last rays of sunset lent a more conventional beauty to Komatsu. The light complimented the passionate attitude Sunny was so attracted to.
He knew, watching Komatsu until the light faded, that he had made the right choice in forgetting practicality. Any ingredient he wanted to offer his lovely chef had to match and compliment that unconventional beauty. His pride demanded no less than the best for Komatsu.