Pancakes

by nikkihime

Sakuragi decided to make Rukawa a special batch of pancakes. Whatever could go wrong at such innocent plan? Mentioned MitKo, MiyaAya, SenKosh, Major RuHana.

Title: Pancakes

Author: nikki hiiragizawa

Genre: humor/romance

Rating: PG-13

Pairings: RuHana

Disclaimers: Standard disclaimers apply.

Notes: minor pairings like MitKo and AyaMiya and other surprises...

Warning: Not for people with weak hearts, please.

"Nani?!" Sakuragi was staring at the sooty frying pan. He threw up his hands in frustration and sighed. "Seems like the tensai cannot do something as simple as this!" He picked up the still-warm pan and threw its contents to the trash bin.

"Hmm...what do I do now?" He loudly asked himself as he plopped down the couch. It was a warm afternoon, and the redhead Sakuragi decided to make something special for his lover Rukawa. He did not plan on making exotic, hard-to-cook dishes because he knew the small forward does not enjoy eating as much as he does. Instead, he planned on something common but will make Rukawa proud when he sees it: Pancakes covered in maple syrup.

It seemed really easy, that's what the 'tensai' thought. "It seemed so great on TV," he muttered. "I want to shape the pancakes into perfect circles and then make it look like a basketball. Then I'll cover it in maple syrup and serve it. Gee, won't Kaede look so sexily happy when he sees it! He doesn't know I can cook...well...it seems that I cannot really..." He morosely looked at the scene the pancake cooking left him. A very sooty stove, a half-empty gas tank, three almost black pans, five empty large bags of flour and about a dozen of used eggs, spilled condiments starting from the kitchen and trailing towards the living room, and of course, the ton of carbonized irregularly-shaped pancakes that cannot be held as pancakes from first glance, these all made Sakuragi shake with rage.

"Maa, seems like I have to ask help..." He glanced at the phone. "Or maybe I should stop this nonsense and clean-up..." His mind suddenly conjured an image of Rukawa arriving at home, softly announcing his presence, and slowly trudging to the bedroom, all sore and tired...and Sakuragi cannot give him anything! "Yosha!" he interjected with newly-awakened spirit. "I shall not let this discourage me! I shall make this for Kaede...because he cooks all the time...I have to show I can, too!" He glanced at the phone again. "Maybe I should call the cooking program's station?" Suddenly, a great idea swept him. There I someone out there who can help him. He had always been known to be a great cook, as his lover said so...

"Stop that, Hisashi." Kogure elbowed the shooting guard as he moved away.

Mitsui grinned mischievously. "What? I was just cuddling you."

"Cuddling me to death, that is," Kogure replied with mock annoyance. "If your parents suddenly barge in and see us..."

"It won't matter to the. Besides, they are in Hong Kong anyway...very far away..." Exclamations from Kogure followed shortly and were stopped abruptly only when the phone rang.

Mitsui, annoyed with the disruption, picked up the phone not so gently. "Hello? What do you want?"

"Hello, Micchi!"

Mitsui almost dropped the phone. "Sakuragi? What do you want?!" He frowned as he heard Sakuragi's answer. "You are a distraction! Okay, Okay...I'll have him talk to you..." He turned to Kogure, who was frantically looking under the couch for the sock that Mitsui threw away moments ago. "Min-kun, Sakuragi wants to talk to you."

"To me?" Kogure adjusted his crooked glasses on his nose and went on putting his sock as he picked up the phone left by the shooting guard. "Sakuragi? Is there something wrong?"

Sakuragi felt a blush creeping on his face. He never asked for this kind of help before, but of course, anything for Kaede... "Anou, Megane-kun, are you busy?"

"Yes, we are in the middle of a mutual conversation!" Kogure glared towards his companion, who was eavesdropping on the phone extension in the kitchen.

"Drop the phone, Hisashi!" Kogure commanded, making Mitsui scowl as he place the handset back on its cradle. "I am not busy. What is it?"

The redhead looked out of the window to see if Rukawa's already back. "Anou, I called your house but the I got the machine, so I figured out that you're here. You see, I need your help..."

"Did your fail your physics exam again?" Kogure inquired, eyeglasses glinting,

"No, I did not!" Sakuragi gripped the phone tightly. "I need your help in cooking...pancakes..."

"Nani?!" Kami, I'm not only getting eye failure, I'm going deaf as well! "Anou, what did you say again?" Kogure repeated, this time, making sure he heard every word.

"I need your help in making pancakes. You know how to make pancakes do you?"

Kogure stood up. "Of course, I know how. I have to since I don't like Hisashi making pancakes."

"Oh. Uh, why don't you let Micchi cook pancakes?"

Mitsui listened to every word as he sneaked up on Kogure. "Because, " he tried to answer. "When I make pancakes, I make sure they're shaped like a..."

"Hisashi!"

"Gomen, gomen."

Sakuragi couldn't but laugh. He and Rukawa had times like those, too. "Anou, Megane-kun, can you come over and help me?"

Kogure suddenly remembered he had been talking to somebody on the phone. "Ah, yes, of course. I'll go now. Jaa na!"

"What does the bastard want?" Mitsui asked as he went on changing the channels of the TV.

Kogure got his coat. "He needs help in making pancakes. I have to go help him." He went towards the door, but surprisingly, Mitsui beat him there.

"Pancakes?" The shooting guard laughed so hard Kogure was afraid he would faint. "You want me to come over and help him? I can be very creative..."

Kogure playfully swatted his lover's arm. "I'll return soon." He opened the door.

"Make sure it is soon," Mitsui added as a threat and kissed Kogure goodbye. "Be a good boy!"

"You come here fast." Sakuragi observed Kogure as he opened the door for the vice-captain. "I am so sorry to have you interrupted with your business..."

"Nee, Sakuragi, I really don't mind. So, what's with the pancakes?" Sakuragi took a deep breath and narrated everything from his visions of a sexy kitsune eating the pancakes to his misfortune in cooking. Kogure nodded in understanding as he studied the messy kitchen. "Okay, then. I do not want to get the blame for a bad pancake so let's start."

Many procedures and revisions of the past recipe followed.

Kogure donned one of the aprons hanging by the refrigerator. "Sakuragi, I need flour, baking soda, a couple of eggs, and brown sugar."

"Just a couple of eggs?"

"Hai. Why? How many pancakes do you want to bake?"

"About a dozen...anou, Megane-kun! Daijobu?" Sakuragi stared at the fallen vice-captain with immediate concern.

"Yeah, I just...got...surprised..."

"So what do we do now?"

"Mix the flour with the baking soda, the butter and the eggs." Kogure paused. "Where is the butter?"

"Did you mention you needed butter?"

Kogure almost fainted again. "Never mind. Ah! Here it is. So, we mix it until we have a creamy batter."

"Butter? But I thought you mixed it with the other ingredients?" Sakuragi asked. Still, he kept stirring the bowl.

"It's b-a-t-t-e-r, Sakuragi. And where's your stove?"

The redhead pointed to a big black thing on the corner. "There."

"That's YOUR oven?" Kogure sighed as Sakuragi gravely nodded. The vice-captain proceeded to scour one of the pans so that it can be used again. "There. Now we pour this batter little by little to the pan."

"I want to shape it like a basketball," Sakuragi reminded him.

"Yes, but we have to cook it slowly on low fire and prod it on the sides to make it perfectly round." Sakuragi looked on as Kogure showed off his culinary expertness on making pancakes. The vice-captain even used a butter knife to draw lines on the pancakes that will make it look like a genuine basketball.

At last five of the pancakes were cooked. Kogure had used brown sugar and cooked it in a way that it will turn a bit golden brown. He bade the power forward to sample one.

"Me..gane-kun...it's delicious!"

Kogure thankfully smiled. "There, all you have to do is pour maple syrup over it and all will be done. You won't imagine what Rukawa will feel upon eating your pancakes...uh...SAKURAGI!" Sakuragi had polished the plate, finishing off the last of the pancakes.

"Oops, sorry. Can we make them again. I kinda got hungry..."

Kogure gave an exasperated sigh. "But this time, you're going to cook! Rukawa would very much like to eat your cooking, not mine."

And they proceeded to repeat the process all over again...

Rukawa lazily dismounted his bicycle and let it lean against a tree in their yard. He was excited to get home, mainly because he wanted to tell Sakuragi about his promotion in Uozumi Jun's Ramen house. He was given a new position: supervising cook. Some people even commented that his noodles are better than Uozumi's, causing a sudden burst of ego. Smiling in spite of tiredness, he trudged to the front door...

"This is way over a dozen pancakes, Sakuragi." Kogure's arms were aching from too much molding and beating and mixing pancake batter.

"Demo, Megane-kun, Kaede will be very happy when he sees my ability!" Sakuragi hurriedly took his position by the stove and waited for Kogure to pass him the bowl of newly mixed batter.

Kogure slowly walked towards Sakuragi. "If this keeps up, you'll have a pancake problem...on who's going to finish them all!"

"Ahahahaha! I will not have a problem like that since Kaede will eat them all for me!" He suddenly had an image (again) of a kawaii kitsune gulping down all the pancakes, making him giggle and Kogure goggle.

"You really trust each other, huh." Kogure sighed as he passed the bowl to the 'cook'.

Sakuragi looked crossly at the vice-captain. "You work so slowly!" he scolded. "Give me the bowl!"

"Oh wait, Sakuragi, you'll bump to the whipped cream container ..."

CRASH!

Rukawa heard a terrifying crash inside and hurriedly went in. What he saw upset and angered him so...

The kitchen was in a mess. Tidbits of food lay scattered everywhere. Two chairs were overturned, and the stove was still on. And on the floor, lay Kogure, all covered in whipped cream and what looked like yellow batter, and Sakuragi, his red hair covered in white cream, was lying over the vice-captain.

"Ah, Kaede, you're home!" Sakuragi gave his partner an inquiring look as Rukawa did not move.

"Rukawa..." Kogure tried t stand up, but failed, because apparently, Sakuragi was pinning him down.

Rukawa held up his head. "Teme..."

Sakuragi and Kogure blinked.

"You..."

"Nani, Kaede?"

Rukawa balled his fists. "You dare do this in our own house!" turning away, he ran outside and mounted his bike again, while Sakuragi and Kogure lay unblinking.

It took Sakuragi and Kogure several moments to internalize what Rukawa said...and did. Finally, Kogure looked up to Sakuragi who still had his form over the vice-captain. "Sakuragi, you're heavy."

They both stood up and began tidying the kitchen up. "What did I do?" Sakuragi morosely said. "Didn't he like my pancakes?" He sniffed a little as he swept the kitchen floor.

Kogure cannot placate him, mainly because he was at a loss himself. He silently washed the filthy dishes as the redhead ranted on mercilessly. It took them about an hour to partly clean the kitchen, and partly understand what Rukawa just did.

"Oh no..."

Sakuragi stopped mopping the floor. "Nani, Megane-kun?"

"Rukawa must have thought...oh no..." The vice-captain placed a hand on each cheek. "It cannot be..."

"NANI? MEGANE-KUN??" Sakuragi started shaking Kogure's shoulders very intensely, making the vice-captain's teeth chatter.

The front door opened and they were momentarily stopped as Mitsui stepped in the house. "Boy, what is this mess?" the shooting guard asked as he picked his way to the kitchen.

"Oh, it's you Hisashi. We ... Sakuragi and I...were just having some cooking lessons."

Mitsui eyed him suspiciously. "Are you sure?"

"Hai. Why?"

The shooting guard set aside his suspicions. Kogure cannot possibly lie. Those eyes of his always give away what he is feeling. Mitsui breathed a sigh of relief and grinned. "Okay, Kiminobu. I know you are only attracted to me."

Kogure dropped the pan on the sink, creating a loud, annoying clatter. "What did you just say?" Even Sakuragi was staring at them.

"Well, you see," Mitsui said as he sat down on one of the chairs. "Rukawa called me up, and told me to go check up on you two since you were having too much fun."

This time, it was Sakuragi's turn to drop the mop noisily in the wooden floor. "Nani?"

The shooting guard shrugged and enclosed Kogure in a tight hug. "He must have thought you and my Min-kun were getting a bit...playful. What do you think? Did he witness something...different?"

"Oh no." Mitsui looked up from nuzzling Kogure to peer into the brown eyes of the vice-captain.

"Is something wrong?" Kogure narrated everything that happened, the state that Rukawa saw them in, and his suspicions."

Sakuragi stood there, all the while observing the other couple. "Could somebody tell me what's going on?!"

"Sakuragi, you better talk to Rukawa, or it will be the end for you," Mitsui gravely warned. He told Sakuragi his and Kogure's suspicion and waited for Sakuragi's opinion.

The power forward slowly began to understand. "He thought Kogure and I...were..." Mitsui and Kogure nodded. "It cannot be!" Sakuragi slammed his fists on the able. "He hasn't tasted my pancakes yet!"

"Anou, Hisashi, Rukawa will be mad at me, too...so we better help Sakuragi..."

"It's none of our business Min-kun." Taking Kogure by the arm, he bade Sakuragi goodbye and hurried out of the house, leaving Rukawa's lover forlorn and miserable.

Rukawa sniffed as he pedaled away from the house. Sakuragi was very disloyal. He and his promises! He stopped at the nearest telephone booth and told Mitsui discreetly that Kogure was cheating on him. Then he headed for the park.

The spring was almost over, and summer should be near soon, yet coldness crept around him. "Why did Hanamichi do this tome...and Kogure-sempai! He should have known better!" He pouted for a bit and sank on a nearby bench.

"Oi, what's with the long face?"

Rukawa looked up and met familiar eyes. "Sendoh Akira."

Sendoh sat beside him and punched him lightly on the arm. "What are you doing here alone?"

"Nothing."

Ryonan's point guard eyed him. "Are you alright?"

Rukawa looked away. "Do'ahou."

"Hmm...foul mood..." He draped an arm around Rukawa's shoulder. "Really there is no need for you to be sad! Want to come fishing with me?"

"Do'ahou."

"Seems like you never got tired of that line, did you?" Sendoh observed with amusement. "Come on, I'll teach you how to fish...and some other things." He towed Rukawa to the fishing ground with a mysterious gleam in his eyes.

Sakuragi walked with heavy feet towards a certain house. "Megane-kun and Micchi had gone home, and I cannot bug them again to ask for help..." Sakuragi thought of the next possible help.

"Who is banging at that goddamn door?!"

"It's me, the tensai!" The door was opened and Sakuragi stepped in.

"Sakuragi Hanamichi?" Ayako stood in the living room with a dishtowel hanging over a shoulder. "What are you doing here?"

Miyagi stood frozen by the door. "Hanamichi?! What are you doing here? I thought you and Rukawa..." Ayako and Miyagi even stared more when Sakuragi burst to tears (literally).

"Sakuragi?" Ayako kneeled beside the redhead, who collapsed on a nearby chair.

"Kaede...he...he..." He wasn't able to finish his speech as tears came anew again.

Miyagi patted Sakuragi's shoulder. "What happened?"

Within thirty seconds, Ayako and Miyagi had a bulk of Sakuragi's problem as he narrated it at record speed. He ended with a touching concluding statement.

"Dakara...I want to ask you to give him this." He handed Ayako a wrapped package.

Miyagi sniffed the package. "Are you sure this is not a time bomb? Hmm...come to think of it, it smells good..."

"It's my...sniff...homemade pancakes...I was cooking it a while ago remember, and he..."

Ayako stopped him short before he tells his endless tale again. "Okay, we'll try to give it to him, wherever he is."

"Arigatou!" Sakuragi wept as he hugged Ayako's legs.

"Oi! Nobody touches my Aya-chan!" Miyagi pulled Ayako away from Sakuragi's grasp.

After a while, Sakuragi bowed and left, making the couple breathe thankfully. "Now," Ayako said. "time to find Rukawa."

"Hello, Haruko? This is Ayako."

"Oh, Ayako, what's up?"

"Have you seen Rukawa?"

Haruko raise a brow. What is Ayako up to now, teasing me? "Of course not, Ayako. Why?"

"Well you see, Sakuragi is going crazy looking for him and wants to give him this package of pancakes with maple syrup. When you see him, could you tell him Sakuragi is looking for him?"

"Uh sure..." Haruko hung up, not really understanding what Ayako said so fast. "Sakuragi...maple syrup?"

"Onii-chan?"

"What is it now, Haruko?" Akagi Takenori stopped from his exercise to face his sister.

Haruko pressed her forefingers together. "Anou, have you seen Rukawa recently?"

"No, why?"

"Well, Sakuragi was waiting for him and he's going crazy waiting for that maple syrup Rukawa was supposed to have."

Akagi frowned. "What's the maple syrup for?"

"Oh for the pancakes of course."

"Pancakes?"

That afternoon, Akagi ate at Uozumi's ramen house. "Oi," he said as he gulped down a kakesoba special. "Have you heard what happened to your cooking supervisor?"

"What about Rukawa?" Uozumi asked as he set a new bowl before him.

Akagi took a long slurp before speaking. "Sakuragi was crazily running after him because he ate all the pancakes and took the maple syrup with him."

"Where did the pancakes come from?"

"I don't know.."

"Ah, Uozumi-san, I'm glad I caught you at home."

"What is it you called for, Maki. I'm busy."

"Well. I happen to have difficulty in my chemistry subject. Could you help me out?"

"Maki sucks at Chemistry?" Uozumi asked in amusement.

Maki's voice sounded a bit annoyed. "Stop that blabbering and tell me if you're going to help me!"

"Okay. I happen to have to ask you if you have seen Rukawa anywhere?"

"Uh. No. Why do you ask?"

"Hmm...Sakuragi was desperately looking for him. He had Rukawa eat all the pancakes and then the bastard went off. The maple syrup was all the food left in their house."

"Is that so? Hmm...maybe Fujima knows. I'll call him."

"You just wanted an excuse to call Fujima." Uozumi laughed at his own joke.

"Not really, just to bug him and Hanagata a bit."

"This is Fujima residence. I can't come to the phone right now, so please leave your message after the beep,"

"Yo, Fujima. This is Maki. You know from Kainan...Well of course you know...I just wanted to ask if you have seen rukawa anywhere? You see, Sakuragi had this dish of pancakes and he was so disappointed that he can't give it to Rukawa so he just drowned it in maple syrup. We just wanted the two of them to work out, that's all. Thanks!"

Fujima Kenji sleepily rolled over and repeated the message. "Rukawa what?"

"Who was that?" Hanagata sat up from beside Fujima and gathered the blanket around him. "Anything wrong?"

Fujima sleepily yawned and stood up. "It's Maki. Asking something about Rukawa."

"What about?"

"I dunno. I deleted the message by accident."

"Oi, Fujima!"

"Kiyota Nobunaga! You're going jogging at the late afternoon?"

"Hai. Good for he muscles and it's not a hot weather, too."

Fujima laughed and ran a hand through his brown hair. "Hey, by the way, have you seen Rukawa?"

"Who cares bout that show-off?"

"I don't know. It seems like Sakuragi was drowning himself in maple syrup because he can't be found. Even the pancakes he was supposed to eat was left behind."

"Really? I better call Aida. He knows everything."

"Okay. Jaa na!"

"Aida-kun? It's Kiyota Nobunaga!"

Aida stopped chomping on a lettuce leaf and angrily asked the speaker. "How did you get my handy phone number, you miserable..."

"Stop! I just called to ask you something."

"What?"

"You see, Sakuragi had drowned himself in maple syrup because of some lost pancakes and his last words were for Rukawa. Do you know where Rukawa is?"

Now, Aida had completely lost his appetite. "Is that so? How is Sakuragi?"

"How will I know? I just heard it from Fujima."

"Hmm..." Aida thought hard. Sendoh will probably know where Rukawa is since he is a stalker. I'll handle this."

"I was right you can help. Jaa ne!"

"Hello."

"Sendoh-kun?"

"No, it's Koshino. Sendoh's out."

"Oh, Koshino. It's Aida. Do you know where Sendoh is?"

"He went fishing. Why?"

"Well, I was hoping he knew where Rukawa was and..."

"WHY THE HELL WILL HE CARE ABOUT RUKAWA?"

"Relax, Koshino." Aida made his voice a bit gentler. "You see, Sakuragi had been so frustrated with Rukawa's disappearance that he decided to kill himself by swallowing maple syrup. His pancakes were the only mementos left."

"Sakuragi?! Demo, why maple syrup? Can maple syrup harm you?"

A long pause followed. Aida managed to speak. "I guess he is allergic to maple syrup."

"Come on Rukawa. Be a bit fun."

"I'm going home!" Rukawa walked away but Sendoh caught him with a fishing hook on a line.

"I'm sure Sakuragi won't mind..." Sendoh's phone suddenly rang. "Wait a second, Rukawa, okay?"

It was Koshino. "Damn you Akira, where are you?"

"Are you already missing me, love?"

"HENTAI!!!" Sendoh had to move away the phone from his ear in order not to acquire temporary deafness. "What are you doing right now?"

Sendoh frowned in curiosity. Koshino had never been this...agitated. "I am fishing with Rukawa, why?"

"Damn you! Don't you know Sakuragi killed himself because of Rukawa? Better tell Rukawa about that!" The phone was slammed on his ear.

"Rukawa."

"Nani, do'ahou?"

"You need to go home right away."

"Why is the sudden mood change?"

"It Sakuragi...He hanged himself..."

When Rukawa reached the house, the front gate was full of people.

"Oh, Rukawa, I'm glad you are here!" Haruko exclaimed.

"What happened to Hanamichi?" Rukawa asked with genuine concern. It was my fault why he is dead, he thought. I left him.

"We do not know yet. We were too afraid to open the door." Maki, Uozumi, Akagi, Jin, Kiyota, Koshino, Aida, Fujima and Hanagata were already there.

"Funny, I didn't know he was dead when Ayako called Haruko," Akagi said as he contemplated deeply.

Rukawa could feel a stinging pain in his chest. It cannot be! "Let's open the door." Slowly he slid the door open.

And saw Sakuragi watching anime like a child.

"Hanamichi??"

"Oh, Kaede!" Sakuragi jumped at his lover like a child welcoming his father. "I am so glad you came back." He buried his face on Kaede's shoulder, weeping like a widow.

Rukawa slowly slid his arms up Sakuragi's back. "You are...alive..."

"Sakuragi, we did not find Ruka...oh...what's all the people doing here?" Ayako and Miyagi stood dumbfounded in the middle of the living room.

"Ayako-san, is Rukawa there al...ready..." Kogure and Mitsui added to the club of the dumbfounded. "What's going on here?"

And then came the long line of false stories....

Mitsui nodded contemplatively. "This was a mix-up, just as what Rukawa had hours ago." Mitsui narrated what Rukawa had seen, the cause of his leaving...and the whole truth about the Sakuragi-Kogure incident.

"Gomen, Rukawa. We did not mean to..."

"It was my fault, Kogure-sempai," Rukawa replied, still not letting of his Sakuragi.

Sakuragi smiled. "Yokatta ne."

Ayako help up the large package. "Rukawa, this is the package for you." She corrected all those false stories that came up. "These were the pancakes Sakuragi painstakingly made...and cause all this chaos..."

Everyone held up their hands and went out of the house, giving their best wishes to Rukawa and the pancakes. At last, they were left alone.

"I have to make you new pancakes then, since maybe it is ruined. Kogure taught me a lot, and I can..." Sakuragi paused when Rukawa shushed him with a finger.

"I have a better plan."

"Nani?"

"But, I'll need the maple syrup."

Sakuragi looked towards the kitchen. "It's still there in the kitchen. What do you want to do?"

"I will make the stories I heard, well, a part of them though, come true." Rukawa held Sakuragi's arm and led him upstairs.

"Which part of the story?"

"The part where you'll drown in maple syrup..."

"Oh...sounds nice..."

AUTHOR'S NOTES:

Haaa...Finished within 12 hours...I'm so proud. Hope you like it anyway, and RuHana lives...forever!