Just Another Day

Another gang fight at the dark alley down the street, a sale on tissues down at the supermarket… I sipped my mug of coffee, the taste of hazelnut and cream warming my throat while I scanned the newspaper.

The kitchen door slammed open with a resounding bang. "Nowaki! Oi, Nowaki, you bastard! You were supposed to wake me up thirty minutes ago!"

I looked up, smiling warmly. "Morning, love. I did try to wake you up. Twenty times, in fact." Exaggerated, but I couldn't resist. "You were so tired from last night, I don't think even World War II would have woken you up."

"You liar! I would have noticed!" Hiro-san bustled around, grabbing his briefcase that I placed earlier on the counter, pouring himself a cup of coffee and stuffing a piece of toast into his mouth. His hair was frazzled, brown tufts sticking out in different directions—bedhead, no doubt, and his jacket was rumpled. He could be so adorable sometimes, all flustered like that.

"Want some breakfast? I cooked eggs and sausages—your favorite." I held up a plate of steaming breakfast as an invitation.

One he did not take. "Sorry. Not now. Late for work."

My shoulders slumped. "Okay then."

Close to the doorway, Hiro-san still held a mug of coffee in one hand—one he had not even drunk yet, while he carelessly balanced his briefcase under said arm, and tried to put on his shoes with his free hand. I strode over, having abandoned the newspaper, and took his briefcase from him. He put on his shoes, but before he could go, I put a hand on his shoulder to stop him.

"… What now?" He sounded pretty miffed. For someone who wasn't a morning person, and was close to being late, I figured that he'd snap at any moment. I better be careful…

I smoothed down the wrinkles on his suit and retied his rumpled necktie. After deeming him pristine, I returned his briefcase and pushed him gently to the door. "Bye, love. Take care."

"Bye." He grunted then paused. "Oh, right. I almost forgot." He handed to me his cup of untouched coffee. "I'll just drink that later on. And…" he muttered so softly, yet I could make out the soft "… thanks."

Something then in me changed. I had planned on staying out of his way the morning—helping him out only when necessary, but with that little word, I couldn't resist. Grabbing his arm, I pulled him to me until his face was close to mine. I moved closer, to kiss him, but he moved away quickly.

He wrenched his arm off my grasp and bounded for the door. "S-save that for later, you idiot!" And he left, heavy footsteps growing softer and softer until he was gone.

Sighing, I pressed a hand on my cheek. There he goes again. Skirting away from affection. Hiro-san reminded me of an alley cat—one that needed to be approached cautiously before he would go to you, unless you'd want to be scratched. It was hard, I know, getting him to trust me, let alone getting him to live with me in this apartment. But it was his temper and passion that was endearing… and that was what drew me to him.

He was like a flame, when mad. He blazed marvelously, all colors and brightness—something you couldn't help but want to go close to, despite getting burned.

But why does he keep eluding me like that?

That could wait for now. Morning chores could not.

I went through the motions—putting Hiro-san's untouched plate in the fridge along with his coffee, washing the dishes, and cleaning up the kitchen. Morning chores were that. A chore. Something so bland, so ordinary, yet necessary.

Then it hit me. What if we too were like that? Yeah, maybe it was because the spark was gone. It got boring after a while. Fizzled out, like the dying embers of a firecracker. The excitement, the passion, the love… it was all gone.

To an extent, even Hiro-san being all abrasive yet secretly sweet was getting to be predictable.

I sighed. Surely there was some way to spice things up just a bit…

"Nowaki!" A loud crash emanated from our bedroom. Out came Hiro-san, rumpled as always, yet with a red face and what seemed to be a stuffy nose. "Whad's duh beading of dis?"

"Oh. Good morning, love." I went over to Hiro-san, a big grin on my face.

"Dod't 'good mording, love' be." He thrust a cat in front of my face. Big shining green eyes stared back at me. The little cat, who looked absolutely terrified to be up so high, let out a little whimper. "What is dis creature doig id our house?!"

I took the cat from him and stroked its black fur until it calmed down. "I found her in the streets yesterday. Since one of us is usually lonely at home when the other goes off to work, I figured that we should at least get a pet to keep us company."

"Dowagi." His brow twitched. "What did I say about… aachoo!"

Oh shoot. I didn't think that he'd have…

"B-by allergies!" He sneezed three times in succession, which frightened the cat even more. "Get that cat away frob be!"

"I'I'm sorry Hiro-san!" I ran off, knowing that I'd have to put the cat as far from him as possible. In a rush, I hastily tossed the cat in the bathroom sink. Running back to him, I waved my hands. "See, love. All gone."

"You liar," he wheezed, clutching his chest. "You just dubbed hib id the badroom."

The kitty seemed so lonely and sad. I couldn't bear to return him in the streets. "But—"

But before I could say anything else, Hiro-san kept sneezing. "Ged away! You hab bur all over you!"

I pressed a weary hand on my forehead. So much for spicing things up…

A/N: After a long time of not writing, we have this lovely piece of literature!

This was originally a writing exercise for my Creative Writing class, wherein I had to create a character with a different personality from me, then write in his POV about a routine which will eventually get messed up.I did use different names for the characters, but when I finished the actual piece, I noticed that the characters seemed to be like Nowaki and Hiroki, so I just changed the names.

The routine, of course, was loosely based on the morning routine of Hiroki and Nowaki in Episode 4 of Season 2 (That's the one with the "Nowaki, I'm cold" line).

I hope you like reading it as much as I liked writing it (though capturing Nowaki's personality was a bit challenging. I guess it's because I don't think or act like him). Do review on this. It will make my day.