(Since it was Misaki's birthday a few days ago, and there's the new season out now, I thought I'd write a little something to celebrate. Sorry this is a little late!)
August 18th. That was when his lover of over four years would age another year. Slowly, the kid was catching up to him, closing the gap of their ten age difference and maturing more bit by bit each day. Misaki had been given a job offer at Marukawa already and soon he would be graduating college. The boy kept saying that he wanted to stay by Usagi-sans side, however, Usagi-san could still sense his hesitancy, especially when it came to revealing their relationship to his older brother.
All that aside, the novelist wanted to find something memorable to give Misaki for his birthday. He knew how Misaki could be, when it came to Usagi-san spending money on him. He was always being chewed out either for buying something too expensive according to Misaki, or for buying something useless and weird.
Still, there had to be something he could find for his adorable little lover.
Whats something that commoners like? he wondered to himself. Clothes, perhaps? Misaki did seem to appreciate the suits that Usagi-san had bought for him once upon a time. I've already given him those suits though, so isn't there something else?
Usagi-san decided to stop by a clothing store and look around anyways, in order to help get his imagination running. Although, when he normally wanted to get his imagination running, it often had to do with the exact opposite of a clothing store.
Inside the store he reminded himself that he should be looking for something cheap, that Misaki could use, and appreciate...if it wasn't something cheaper than what he was used to spending he was sure to get an earful.
When he was just about to give up on this particular store he saw them. There they were, up by the checkout counter. They weren't much, and they certainly were cheap. The simplicity of this material item suited Misaki as well. They even reminded the novelist of his previous present to the boy, congratulating him on his new job at Murakawa.
His previous present to Misaki had been his secret place: the sky. The sky filled with stars as far as the eye could see, shining spectacularly against the dark blue of the night sky. These were a nice, simple reminder of that.
Still, even with a simple and cheap material item to commemorate the holiday, he knew he should still do something special. The boy wasn't one who cared too much about material things. Just like before, with his previous gift, Usagi-san figured he should at least attempt to do something for Misaki that only he, himself could do.
"I'm home!" Misaki yelled from the entryway. Usagi-san was reading the newspaper on the couch, awaiting the boys return.
"Welcome home," he responded coolly as Misaki made his way into the kitchen.
"Usagi-san, what do you want for dinner?" He asked casually, just like he always did on any given day.
"I already made us something." Usagi-san replied, beaming with pride, as he folded up the paper and made his way into the kitchen.
"Huh? You did?" Misaki asked, astonished. I'm afraid to ask, he thought to himself.
"Yes. I call it: 'Misaki's Special Fluffy Birthday Surprise!'" From the kitchen, Usagi-san lifted the cover off of a platter set on the table. Upon uncovering the plate, the aroma of something burning flooded the kitchen. On the plate was a hard, blackened, indescribable something or other.
You call this fluffy? Misaki thought to himself. "Umm...Usagi-san, don't get me wrong or anything but...are you sure this is supposed to be edible?" Misaki was attempting to cut through the blackened entree only to have his fork bent back halfway through, not to mention he was pretty sure the knife was stuck in the thing for good at this point.
"Hmm, I followed the recipe I found online...Only that was meant for one serving, and since there were two of us I doubled it. I even put it in the oven for double the recommended amount of time."
"HUH?! Well no wonder! That's too long! You're not supposed to double the cooking time…"
"Aahh...I see now. Sorry."
"It's fine. Just...leave the cooking to me from now on." There was an awkward pause as Misaki shifted his gaze and blush crept into his cheeks. "But thank you...for the thought." He added shyly.
"Say, Misaki. How about we try to make 'Misaki's Special Fluffy Birthday Surprise' together this time? It'll be more fun that way." The novelist suggested, wanting to spend more time together with his lover as well as hoping that cooking together would be a fun way to celebrate the days special event together.
"It-It's okay, really, you don't have to go out of you way or anything...I mean, only if you want to…." Misaki muttered, which Usagi-san took as an agreement.
"Ah, that's right Misaki, I got you a gift as well. Don't be mad, because I tried not to spend too much money this time, knowing how against it you are."
"Eh? Ah, well...Thank you, again."
Usagi-san handed Misaki a lumpy soft package, the wrapping paper was decorated with bears wearing party hats and had balloons on it, topped off with a red bow.
After opening it, Misaki held up his newly obtained item. He held up a pair of navy blue socks, decorated with white stars.
"Umm...not that I don't appreciate or anything but...why socks?"
"They were cheap, just like you're always asking for. Plus, I thought they might remind of you my congratulatory gift that I showed you. Both involved stars. And just so you know, Misaki...you are the star of my life." He added with a loving smile.
Misaki's face became a deep crimson at those words. "I-Idiot Usagi!" Was all he could manage to yell out in response to such an embarrassing remark.
"Oh, right. I also got you this…" Usagi-san pulled out a hardback book which contained a pink cover.
"Eh, what is it now?" Misaki wondered aloud, somewhat irritated after being put through enough embarrassment for one day. Usagi-san handed the book to him, which he opened and began to read. Instead of a story there were rows of papers, each containing one thing.
Kiss Me. Fondle Me. French Me. XXCK Me.
"It's volume two of that first coupon book I gave you. You haven't been using those ones, so I thought I'd add some that contained different contents."
"The contents weren't the issue!"
Little did Misaki know that for many more celebrations to come he would continue receiving coupons he would never use.
The End.