A/N: I really like 'Slices of Life' types of fanfics and I think there is so much about the daily lives of the Viewfinder characters worth exploring that I thought I'd try my luck at writing a few one-shots of the type. Hope you enjoy reading!
Disclaimer: I don't own Viewfinder or its characters, because if I did, Asami would not be allowed to wear clothes... ever XP
I.
Akihito eyed the kitchen's wall clock for the hundredth time that evening.
"…There's still time. You can do it Akihito, come on, you still have time." He said out loud, wiping away the flour residue staining his cheeks with the back of his sleeve.
He had been cooking and baking non-stop for 4 hours now, the results of his hard work already on display on the living room's dining table, save for the cake which he was currently finishing decorating.
Of course, it wasn't just any cake… It was a devil's food cake; Asami's favorite. And Akihito was busy decorating it with chocolate sprinkles so it read on top 'Happy Birthday Asami!'.
The fact he'd managed to find out that today was Asami's birthday had been a complete accident though.
It was Asami's assistant who had let him know that morning, when he stopped by the apartment to collect some documents that Asami had left behind by accident.
Akihito was finishing his breakfast at the time, and as the assistant knew quite well his way around the house, he just let him roam around unattended.
"Oh, by the way." The assistant said, while storing the documents in his briefcase. "The surprise dinner party for Asami-sama is this evening at club Dracaena, so don't expect him back before midnight."
"Huh? !... Surprise dinner party?" Akihito asked confused.
"Yes, for Asami-sama's birthday." The other man retorted, as if it was common knowledge. "Don't tell me you didn't know it was Asami-sama's birthday today?"
"O-Of course I did." Akihito smiled nervously.
He was lying though. He really had no idea, and as much as he'd afterwards tried to think of any changes in Asami's behavior over the past few days that might have ended up giving him a clue of the fact, he couldn't think of anything. Asami had acted as his usual self all throughout.
Even during that same morning, as he and Akihito had woken up in the same bed in a tangle of limbs and wrinkled sheets and Asami had dragged the younger man along with him to the bathroom so that they could take their morning shower together (…despite Akihito's many protests!), he hadn't acted as if there was anything special about that day at all.
Now knowing the truth though, Akihito wouldn't let the occasion go by without some sort of celebration. So he had spent his entire day at work figuring out what he'd cook for Asami; barely focusing his attention on the fashion photo-shoot he had been hired to perform.
It wasn't long before he settled on homemade yakisoba, which he knew was Asami's favorite dish, and a devil's food birthday cake.
He figured that even though Asami would be attending the dinner party later on, he would most likely not eat much, since he was used to having dinner much later in the evening, so it would be nice to return home and find a special meal cooked just for him.
So after Akihito had finished work for the day, he stopped by the local grocery shop near Asami's apartment complex to purchase all the ingredients he would need.
He was already on his way home with the groceries, when walking past a stationary shop something on the store front's display window caught his attention.
It was a medium size leather organizer, nothing fancy, an item more practical than anything, but as soon as Akihito's eyes fell on it, he immediately thought of Asami.
For a while now, Akihito had been debating with the idea of suggesting to Asami for him to get one. The man was notorious for leaving his paperwork scattered around the house after all, and on more than one occasion had been forced to send his assistant to the apartment to fish around for some important document he'd left behind.
Maybe if he had an organizer, where he could keep all of his most important paperwork, it would save him a lot of trouble.
Akihito shortened his distance to the display window, eyeing the price tag on the organizer.
Sure, the thing wasn't hugely expensive, but on Akihito's budget, buying it would mean that he'd have to go on a soup diet until his next pay check.
He bit his lower lip, eyeing the article, as if to decide whether or not to purchase it, but before he could stop himself, his feet acted on their own accord, dragging him inside the shop.
Akihito eyed the fancy wrapping paper and bow hiding the organizer from view as he placed the decorated birthday cake on the dining room's table. The shop owner had really outdone himself when wrapping it. Whoever saw the gift wrapping would probably think it was hiding a really expensive present.
He didn't want Asami to notice the present as soon as he first entered the room though, so Akihito picked it up from the table and hid it behind one the couch's pillows, intent on pulling out of its hiding place after he arrived.
As he did so, he caught sight of himself in the living room's standing mirror and couldn't help but grimace at his own reflection.
He looked like a mess.
There were chocolate and sauce stains on his t-shirt and his face and arms were smudged with cake batter; he even had flower dust on his hair.
He went back to the kitchen to peek at the clock again. 25 minutes to midnight. "Great! I still have time for a quick shower before he gets here." He thought, undressing on his way to the bathroom.
Fifteen minutes later, feeling clean and refreshed, Akihito stepped out of the shower, putting on a clean pair of boxers and a tank top. He was on his way to his bedroom, towel still on his head, when passing through the living room, the scene in front of him made him freeze.
Asami was standing by the dining room table, eyeing the birthday cake as if it was some kind of unknown foreign object.
"Ha, you're home early!... Your assistant said you wouldn't be here until after midnight." Akihito said, somewhat disappointed. He had been hoping to greet Asami as he first arrived.
Asami looked from the cake, to Akihito, back to the cake. "Did you...?" He asked, looking at the young man once again, while pointing to the cake.
Akihito felt his cheeks burn, despite himself. "Happy Birthday!... It's a devil's food cake. I hope you like it."
Asami still looked like the whole situation was quite unexpected to him. "…How did you find out?" He asked intrigued, while he removed his suit's jacket and placed it on the back of one of the dining chairs. He couldn't seem to be able to take his eyes off the cake.
"Oh, your assistance mentioned it this morning while he was here... I cooked yakisoba for dinner too. I hope you're hung-"
Akihito didn't finish his sentence though, because the weirdest thing happened at that moment...
Asami smiled.
Sure, it was probably an unconscious thing on his part (Asami was not the type of person to openly display his excitement after all), and probably few people besides Akihito would even qualify it as a smile, but knowing Asami as he did, Akihito new that that was about as open as Asami would get, and for some reason that ended up making him want to smile as well.
"Huh, the bath water is ready in case you want to shower before dinner. But hurry up, otherwise I'll have to re-heat the food."
Asami looked back at him, as if he was about to say something, but for the first time since the both of them had met, the older man seemed to be at a loss for words. So instead he just kept looking at Akihito in silence, that same half-grin, half-smile visible on his lips.
Feeling oddly self-aware of his attention, Akihito nevertheless took the opportunity to push Asami towards the bathroom. "Come on, hurry up. I'll get the drinks ready while you're in the shower."
As soon as he heard the shower running, Akihito rushed to the kitchen to prepare the cocktails which recipes he had downloaded from the Internet earlier on.
He managed to spill the contents of the shaker twice before having enough to fill two cocktail glasses, but eventually he got there.
After taking the drinks to the living room, he crossed over to the couch, pulling out his present for Asami from its hideout, and placed it on top of the table, beside the cocktails.
As he heard Asami turn off the shower head in the bathroom, he picked up his suit jacket from the chair, and ended up noticing something else placed on the chair's seat.
A little blue Emporio Armani carry-on bag decorated with a bow.
Akihito found himself frowning. "...He probably got it as a present from someone… I wonder who..." He whispered to himself, as he eyed the expensive brand name, before turning his gaze back to the present he'd paced on top of the table.
Suddenly the wrapping paper and bow didn't look to him that fancy anymore. "There's no way I could ever compete with Armani." He sighed quietly, feeling all of a sudden embarrassed by his present.
He didn't have much time to brood over it though, as the bathroom's door clicked open and he heard Asami's footsteps approaching from the hall.
Unable to do much else, Akihito threw the jacket back on the chair and picked up his present hiding it behind his back. He had to find a way to discard it quickly.
He figured he was probably showing some kind of guilty expression, because as soon as Asami appeared on the living room's door frame, still drying out his damp hair with a towel, he frowned. "What's the matter?" He asked Akihito.
He had put on some workout pants and a dark tank top which showed off the muscles on his arms quite brilliantly. Akihito had to tell his brain to focus.
"N-Nothing." He replied, in what sounded even to him, a poor convincing tone.
Before Asami had a chance to ask him anything else, Akihito blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. "So did you get any expensive gifts today?" He asked, though he regretted it two seconds later. "Bad topic..." He mentally kicked himself.
Asami was no idiot and quickly figured he must have seen the bag placed on top of the chair. "If you're referring to the carry-on bag, that's just something I got from one of my employees." He said, brushing it off as unimportant.
"From an employee? !" Akihito eyed the bag surprised by the answer. How much was Asami paying his employees these days?
The older man was able to read the question on his face. "Ok, not a standard employee, I suppose. It's from the manager of one of my nightclubs. Dracaena." He said, still not attributing much thought to it.
As soon as the club's name reached Akihito's ears, he froze though. Club Dracaena's manager? That could only mean... "Sudou..." Akihito whispered, suddenly feeling even more gloom. "Must be a nice gift." He said out loud, not even realizing it.
Asami stopped drying out his hair, placing the towel over his shoulders. "…It's just a watch. You can open the bag to check it if you want." He said, narrowing his eyes at Akihito who still had his gaze fixed on the bag.
"What are you hiding behind your back?" Asami asked all of a sudden, making Akihito nearly jump up in the air in fright.
"Nothing." The younger man replied a little too quickly, which only succeeded in increasing Asami's suspicions.
"Takaba..." Asami said in a warning tone, as he slowly made his way towards Akihito.
"I told you… it's nothing." The younger man replied, taking a few steps back; nearly tripping on the living room's rug.
"Well, if it is nothing as you claim, then there is no problem in showing it to me, is there?"
"You can't... I-It's mine."
"Great! And since you are mine, that means that all you own is also mine. So there is no point in offering resistance." He said, trapping Akihito between his arms against a wall.
Akihito held his stance though, his hands holding on to the present behind his back, away from Asami's view. "I really hate you sometimes..." He said, turning his gaze away from him out of spite, as he heard the other man laugh.
Asami's hand cupped Akihito's chin, gently turning it so that he would face him again.
"I don't doubt that you do." He said, before leaning down, capturing Akihito's lips with his own.
The younger man tried to convince his brain that Asami 's kisses weren't enjoyable at all, but lost the battle as soon as the other man moved lower, kissing a particular sensitive spot on his neck. The moment Akihito relaxed against him, he knew he'd made a terrible mistake...
Two seconds later, he felt Asami's arm snake around his back, yanking the package away from him in one swift movement.
The victory grin plastered on the older man's face as he took a few steps back from Akihito afterwards, made him curse under his breath.
"…Huh? It's a present." Asami said, seemingly surprised as he finally looked at the article in his hands.
He looked back at Akihito, in time to see his cheeks start to turn red.
"No kidding..." The younger man retorted ironically, averting his gaze from him again.
Asami noticed Akihito's blush deepening before turning his attention back to the package. "…Is this for me?"
Akihito didn't answer him though. Instead he stretched his arm on Asami's direction, still refusing to look at him. "Give it back."
Asami frowned. "Why? It's for me, isn't it?
"It's stupid. I don't know what I was thinking. I doubt you'll like it, so give it back."
"No."
"Asami! Give it back."
"No."
"You have no right to-"
Asami was untying the bow before he'd finished speaking, purposely ignoring him.
"Fine! I'm going to my room. Enjoy your birthday cake alone." Akihito said, stomping away from him in rage.
"My room, you mean." Asami corrected him amused.
"WHATEVER!" Akihito yelled back, slamming the door of his bedroom shut and throwing himself on the bed.
"Why do I even bother?" He said out loud, thinking of all the hard work he'd had that day, preparing the surprise dinner for Asami.
It wasn't long until he heard the bedroom's door click open though, but before Asami got a chance to get inside the room, Akihito rolled in bed so that his back would face him and covered his head with a pillow to hide it from view.
"Takaba..." He heard Asami say, his voice deprived of its earlier authoritative tone.
Still, he chose not to move.
"Go away, I want to sleep..."
His demand didn't work though, because Asami did the exact opposite; he walked over to Akihito's bed sitting down next to him and placed an arm on each side of his body.
"Akihito..." Asami tried again, making the younger man squeeze the pillow tighter against his ear.
He heard Asami sigh quietly after a while. "…I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you."
Hidden under the pillow, Akihito's eyes widened in disbelief. Did the great Asami Ryuuichi just apologize to him?
Unaware of the effect that his words had produced, Asami continued. "…I wasn't expecting the surprise, to be honest. It caught me off guard… But I liked it. The present, I mean…And the cake… and dinner." He pulled a hand through his hair. He wondered why he was finding it so hard to speak his mind. "Yeah, I guess what I'm trying to say is… hum… Thank you."
For a few seconds nothing happened. Then Akihito pulled the pillow slowly downwards until his eyes became visible to Asami.
"Say it again." He asked quietly.
Asami frowned. "Say what again?"
"Say that you're sorry again. Say 'I, the great Asami Ryuuichi, hereby admit that I acted like an asshole tonight and that I'm sorry for upsetting the hardworking and good natured Takaba Akihito'. And wait, let me get my cellphone. I want to record it." He made a move to grab his phone from the nightstand, but Asami ended up grabbing his wrist first.
In no time he had Akihito pinned under him in bed, holding both Akihito's wrists in a tight grip above his head.
"How about I say this instead then…" Asami said with a mischievous grin, as Akihito hopelessly tried to free himself. "I, the great Asami Ryuuichi, hereby pardon Takaba Akihito's latest insolent words, on account of receiving from him a very appetizing second birthday present."
Akihito narrowed his eyes at him in suspicion. "…What are you talking about? What second birthday present? !"
Asami's grin grew wider. "…You, of course." He said, bending down to kiss Akihito before he got a chance to protest.
Though Akihito still tried to fight him back, his body was quick to betray him, and as he felt Asami's free hand start to roam his body, a balmy rush bloomed out all over his skin.
He felt himself arch against Asami; his body clearly showing its approval and encouragement to the other man's touch.
By the time Asami released his wrists, Akihito's mind was already too foggy with desire to keep putting on a fight.
The last coherent thought he remembered having that night was that being Asami's birthday present was maybe not that bad at all…
Next one-shot: 90% done.