I actually wrote this in December, after the duet was released! I can't believe it took me this long to post... Hope you enjoy it nonetheless... even while getting ready for the new season (of makoharu) that is upon us!

Thanks Tainted for the beta!

Simple Recipe
myth720

By the time Makoto had finally gotten rid of Rei and closed his phone, Haruka somehow managed to put out the fire and salvage (again) what was left of Makoto's first attempt at cooking.

Makoto sighed as he sat down on the floor at Haruka's living room and waited to be served a burned mackerel in miso and fried rice. He looked at the charred food and then at Haruka, who sat across from him and started shoving the blackened food into his mouth with no reserve.

"You don't have to eat it. It's no good, right?" Makoto muttered at him, not even picking up his chopsticks.

Haruka stuffed his mouth with another piece, gave him a glance and swallowed. "That would be a waste. Besides…" He suddenly stopped talking, and a deep blush covered his face, all the way to the tip of his ears.

"Haru..." Makoto mumbled in surprise, feeling touched. He picked up his dish and started eating, then made a face and put it down. "No, Haru, don't force yourself... This is really bad..."

Haruka continued eating leisurely, his face back to its normal color and the usual blank expression.

Makoto sighed. "And anyway, Haru did most of the job, I only ruined it..." he admitted. "I'm really useless."

"You just need more practice," Haruka said quietly.

"That's not what you said before..." Makoto reminded him.

Haruka shrugged and finished eating, putting down the chopsticks on top of the empty bowl. He put his palms together and thanked for the meal.

Shaking his head, Makoto tried again to eat, but he was far too spoiled by Haruka and his mother's cooking to continue.

"Ah-ha, what am I going to do?! " he sighed. "My parents are going tomorrow and I'm like this..." He raised one blackened bite for a closer inspection. He should've thought about it at least the week before. He knew for a month that his parents were going for their 20th anniversary and it kept escaping his mind until the very last moment.

"You can try again. I told you it's a simple recipe. Ready for another go?" Haruka asked.

Although Makoto was touched Haruka was willing to go through the trouble again for him, all he could think about was the fire. It was a miracle he didn't burn down Haruka's house. He shook his head. "I'm not sure it's a good idea..."

Haruka huffed. "You need to have more confidence in yourself. No one expects you to suddenly become a chef. No one is that good the first time."

Makoto tapped a finger on his lips. He remembered Haruka's first attempt at cooking alone, after being taught by his grandmother. Haruka was probably Ren and Ran's age and he made Makoto wait outside in the living room the entire time until it was done and Makoto could taste it.

"Haru was always good at cooking," he mumbled as he recollected. Then again, Haruka was a genius who excelled at anything he set his mind to. It wasn't fair to compare himself to Haruka.

He raised his eyes to his childhood friend and noticed Haruka was staring at him sullenly. Makoto loosened his lips into a soft smile. Without warning, Haruka scooped in and straddled him, wrapping his hands around Makoto's neck.

"Ha... Haru?!"

"Makoto also has the things he's good at," Haruka said quietly, leaning close, their noses almost touching.

Makoto swallowed, feeling slightly aroused. When Haruka held him like that, he was always afraid of losing control.

"Haruuu..." he whined when Haruka shifted around on purpose, rubbing his bottom against the forming tent in Makoto's pants.

"I'll tell you what," Haruka whispered into his ear. "If you want it so bad, I can teach you more ways to cook mackerel."

Makoto wrinkled his nose. "I meant I want to learn cooking in general, not necessarily mackerel..." he started saying and gasped when Haruka pressed himself down harder. "That's why... Haru, are you listening?!"

With a small curve at the edge of his lip, Haruka asked, "What about dessert?"

"Dessert...?" Makoto blinked in confusion. "I can't bashhjk.." His voice was muffled when Haruka leaned in and attacked his mouth, pushing his tongue past Makoto's lips. He tasted like burned mackerel and miso and fried rice – tangy and salty with a hint of Haru.

Makoto did not try to cook again that day.

The next day, the Tachibana parents left for their hot spring vacation, leaving the twins in their eldest son's care for the weekend. Despite having club activities on Saturday, Makoto stayed home. Even though Haruka was the official vice-captain of the swimming club, Makoto asked Gou to be in charge for the day. Haruka was just lost in his own world when he was swimming, although Makoto was sure he would help Rei and Nagisa with their training menu if needed.

Of course at that moment, Makoto had his hands full with his siblings to be worried about his club. Sure enough, the two started squabbling over which video game to play, and were so loud Makoto had struggled to keep them from becoming a nuisance to the neighbors.

"If you don't stop fighting, you'll have to leave my room!" He tried to raise his voice over theirs.

"We always play what Ran wants!" Ren complained.

"It's not my fault Ren always wants to play stupid things!" the girl retorted.

"Do not!"

"Do too!"

Makoto was already at the end of his wits, it was painfully obvious the twins didn't mind his warnings one bit.

"Ren, Ran!" he yelled at them.

"What are you guys doing?" Makoto and the twins all stopped shouting when they heard the quiet voice behind them.

Haruka stood at the doorway of Makoto's room, looking at them in wonder.

"Haru?!"

"Haru-chan!" The twins immediately stopped their quarrel and ran towards him. "Haru-chan, play with us!"

"Haru, what are you doing here?" Makoto asked in confusion. "What about the club?"

Haruka rested his hands on the heads of the children. "I thought you could use some help..." he said quietly. "Anyway, I could hear you shouting all the way down the street."

Makoto blushed. The twins calmed down a bit and started to play with Haruka, leaving Makoto to do some other things his mother had asked of him, like laundry and cleaning.

Without noticing, time passed quickly and it was already time for lunch. Makoto was set to start cooking. He set the note he made with Haruka's recipe on the counter, gathering the ingredients. The house was still quiet, so Makoto went up to his room to check on Haruka and the twins.

When he opened the door, his heart fluttered at the sight. The three had fallen asleep, Haruka leaning against the bed and the children were lying down with their heads on his lap. Makoto wished he had his phone on him to take a picture of the tender moment.

"...Makoto..?" Haruka suddenly mumbled, opening one eye lazily.

The children started waking up as well, sitting up and rubbing their eyes.

"I'm hungry..." Ren mumbled.

"Me too..." Ran agreed.

"Ah, I'm cooking lunch now," Makoto said with a smile.

"Ehhh?!" The twins both woke up completely.

"What do you mean "ehhh''?!" Makoto muttered, pretending to be offended.

"Onii-chan even knows how to cook?" Ran wondered out loud.

"How rude, of course I do!" Makoto insisted, not mentioning the short, failed lesson he received from Haruka the previous day. Haruka didn't say a word to contradict him in front of his younger siblings.

"What are you cooking?" Ran asked again.

"Um..." Makoto hesitated and scratched his cheek. "Mackerel in miso ... And uh, maybe with fried rice." Depending how the first part went, he thought.

"Ehh, shouldn't Haru-chan cook it?" the girl asked. The twins had been subjected to Haruka's specialty before.

Ren made a face. "I don't want mackerel… Just order pizza, onii-chan!"

"What's wrong with mackerel?" Haruka asked the boy. "It's tasty and healthy."

"I can't order pizza all the time, it's expensive," Makoto said. "Just continue playing and I'll call you when lunch is ready."

The twins sighed in unison and Haruka put down the remote and looked at Makoto silently.

Makoto smiled at him. "Don't worry, I'll be fine. I remember the cat paws." He motioned with his hand, curling his fingers.

Haruka nodded and picked up the controller again. The children climbed onto his lap.

Makoto chuckled and closed the door. He wasn't as full of confidence as he pretended to be, but he remembered what he needed to do, more or less. It was a simple recipe even a beginner could make, that's what Haruka said.

"Ah..." he uttered when he remembered he forgot the apron in Haruka's house. It wasn't like he used the green apron too often - he only had it because they had to bring aprons to home economy classes and he bought the set with Haruka.

"Oh well, I'll just use mom's," he said to himself.

He cringed when he looked at the pink frilly apron. At least if he looked like a housewife, maybe it would give him housewife powers. He chuckled and put it on.

At least, the frying pan never caught fire.

Makoto was proud of himself, as he set the table and called the twins and Haruka down for dinner.

The twins were full of energy and ran down the stairs, dragging Haruka behind them - he didn't look too pleased as he tried to keep up with the two and not fall down the stairs.

"Oi, it's dangerous! Let go of him!" Makoto scolded them, which may have been a mistake.

The two let go of Haruka's hands and he lost his balance and flew down the stairs.

"Ha-ha-Haru!" Makoto cried out and ran over to catch Haruka, managing to block his fall by squashing the shorter boy into his chest.

"Haru, are you okay?" He asked in concern and touched Haruka's cheek.

"Yeah..." Haruka mumbled awkwardly and stepped away from Makoto's arms. He noticed the apron. "What are you wearing?"

"Ah, this?" Makoto chuckled, closing his eyes. "I thought maybe I'll have super housewife powers if I wear this."

Haruka frowned. "Super... house… wife?"

Makoto continued chuckling nervously. "Just kidding, ne?"

"Onii-chan! Are you going to be Haru-chan's wife?" Ran and Ren asked together.

"Wh... Wh... What are you two saying?!" Makoto blushed. "Go sit down at the table."

"Fine..." The children huffed and went to the dining room.

"Sorry, Haru," Makoto chuckled in embarrassment.

"What for?" Haruka shrugged and followed the twins. Makoto noticed his ears were a little red and smiled to himself as he watched his friend walking away.

Makoto removed the burned sides from the rice as much as he could to make the dish look nice. It occurred to him as he cooked that perhaps the ingredients and portions he used as taught by Haruka were enough for only one dish, but it looked like a good size for the kids who weren't big eaters to begin with. Haruka was a big eater when it came to mackerel, but he surely had enough at home so Makoto wasn't worried. Despite that, he decided to add fried rice to make the dish fuller. He even remembered the secret ingredient!

When he was done decorating the plates, Makoto felt his chest filled with pride. It actually looked edible and nice and he hid the burnt crispy corners at the bottom - Haruka said those parts were tasty so it should be fine.

"Ehhh! Onii-chan it looks good!" The twins uttered in delight when Makoto came over to the table with the tray and the dishes.

Haruka also looked on in surprise as Makoto started to put the dishes in front of them.

"The smell is a little too strong though," Ren said, pinching his nose.

Makoto smiled lightly, he may have forgotten the first step - after all, he mostly remembered what he did with Haruka after the disaster in the kitchen.

"It's okay," Haruka said reassuringly. "It's mackerel, it can't smell bad."

The two children - and Makoto - gave him a glare, which he ignored.

"Okay, I guess we can eat..." Makoto finished pouring water to everyone's glasses and removed the frilly apron.

They all greeted and picked up the chopsticks, taking an excited first bite.

"GAAAH!" the three Tachibana siblings all cried out together.

"Onii-chan, it's too salty!"

"I'm sorry... I guess I mixed the sugar again!" Makoto was still grimacing. "But I remembered the secret ingredient!"

It wasn't only salty, there were so many things wrong with it - the burnt sides he tucked away were not delicious as Haruka claimed it would be. There was too much liquid and the rice felt like sand grains in his mouth, woven with tiny pieces of egg shells. Some pieces of the fish were overcooked, while some felt almost rare – he wasn't sure how he managed to do that. Squirting nearly half a bottle of mayonnaise into the mix was probably not a good idea either. Haruka's secret ingredient did not salvage the disaster, but was perhaps the final blow. Makoto had to admit it was quite disgusting.

"I'll... I'll order pizza..." he mumbled quietly, accepting defeat, but instead of getting up, he grabbed his glass of water, drinking in one gulp and refilled it quickly.

The kids were also drinking water and refilling their glasses. When Makoto finished drinking he looked at Haruka in apology, but the dark haired boy was still eating calmly, without flinching.

"Haru, I told you already, don't force yourself to eat!" Makoto called to him.

"It's not that bad..." Haruka mumbled between shoving pieces of the fish into his mouth.

"Stop eating it, Haru, you'll die..." Makoto grimaced and glanced at his siblings who were still making faces.

"I'm going to die!" they said together, holding their throats.

"You're not going to die!" He raised his voice, frowning, and then returned his attention to Haruka. "Don't eat this just because it's a waste of mackerel!"

Haruka finished his dish, took a gulp of water and grabbed Ren's bowl. "No such thing as a waste of mackerel," he insisted.

"No, really..." Makoto started saying and sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. "I'm sorry... it's one thing to mix up the salt and sugar in Haru's place, but in my own house... No, at this point, the salt is not even the problem," he mumbled and returned his eyes to Haruka. The black haired boy put down the plate and grabbed the next.

"Haru!" Makoto tried again. "Don't eat more!"

Ran and Ren stopped acting up and looked at him. "Onii-chan would make a lousy wife..."

"You two!" he grouched at them. "Go to your room! I'll call you when the pizza arrives!"

The two were a bit too happy to leave the table and scurried out of the room.

"Haruuu..." Makoto returned his attention to his boyfriend. "Please stop eating it. It can't be healthy."

"It's okay."

Haruka kept a straight face the entire time, but Makoto couldn't believe he enjoyed the taste even for a second. Makoto only had one bite and it was more than enough. This was even worse than yesterday's charcoal. He exhaled and went to order pizza. When he returned to the dining room, Haruka had finally finished eating - Makoto was glad he used one person portion by mistake.

"Thanks for the meal, Makoto." Haruka put his hands together.

"Are you being sarcastic?" Makoto pouted.

His usually sullen best friend had a little smirk decorating his face. "It was better than I had expected... I thought you'd burn the kitchen for sure."

Makoto frowned, but his expression quickly changed and he walked closer to Haruka, stopping him from picking up the dishes off the table.

"Could it be that you were worried?" he asked carefully.

"Of course not, don't be stupid." Haruka huffed, turning his head away. Makoto could see the tip of his ears turning red again and smiled. 'Thank you, Haru,' he thought.

"It's the first time… Makoto cooked for me," Haruka added quietly after a moment, looking almost bashful.

"Haru..." Makoto's heart fluttered in his chest. He didn't bother to correct him; instead he stepped in and wrapped his arms around the shorter boy. "I'm happy, but as I thought, it's best if Haru would be in charge of the cooking..."

"I guess so." Haruka smiled softly and leaned back into Makoto's chest. "Now how about dessert?"

"Uh, yeah…" Makoto leaned in to kiss him.

"ONII-CHANNNN, WHERE'S THE PIZZA?" The two boys jolted and separated at the hollering from the upper floor.

Makoto chuckled nervously. "Maybe after the pizza…"

"Yeah…" Haruka turned away and started picking up the dishes.

end.