Unfortunate Incident
Disclaimer: I do not own Harukanaru Toki no Naka de, or its characters. They belong to Mizuno Tooko and Koei. If I did own the series, Yasuaki x Eisen would be canon.
Notes: I bet some of you were wondering about that unfortunate incident involving no oven mitts when taking something hot out of the oven, weren't you? Well, you can stop wondering because I finally have a fic for it!
Of course, this fic is shounen-ai, which means a homosexual relationship. However, this one will be mainly fluff. If you don't like the idea of Yasuaki and Eisen being in a romantic relationship, then don't read. Thank you.
It was a day like any other day, though this day was a little different. Yasuaki had insisted the night before that he wanted to learn how to cook, he was starting to feel upset that Eisen was doing it all on his own, despite the Ten no Genbu having no problems with that. In the end, Yasuaki won and Eisen agreed to teach him how to cook something simple.
They were both in the kitchen, Eisen instructing Yasuaki on how to bake a cake. It was a simple recipe, even Yasuaki felt confident that he could do this and not wind up poisoning someone like he did the first time he attempted cooking. Soon, the batter was all mixed up. While Yasuaki poured the batter into a baking tin, Eisen prepared the oven. It had been preheated beforehand, but he had to change the temperature to the right measurement, or the cake would burn or wouldn't bake. He turned to Yasuaki after opening the oven door. "It's ready now."
Yasuaki picked up the tray carefully and carried it to the oven. He waited for Eisen to move aside before sliding it onto a tray and closing the door. "How long do we have to wait?"
"After fifteen minutes, we'll have a look to see if it's cooking." He set the egg timer to fifteen minutes and pushed the button to start the countdown. "In the meantime, let's clean up."
Yasuaki nodded. He moved to the bench and picked up the bowl and spoon he used to mix the ingredients. He carried them over to the sink and ran some hot water into the bowl, allowing it to soak while he helped Eisen clean the mess on the bench.
Eisen was out of the room when the timer let out a loud sound to alert that time was up. Yasuaki wondered if he should just leave the cake until Eisen returned, but what if it were to burn while he was waiting? He didn't want his second attempt at cooking to be a failure, he wanted to help Eisen in the kitchen as much as he could. Deciding he'd better check, the onmyouji moved to the oven and opened the door. Reaching in, he picked up the baking tray with his bare hand and dropped it suddenly, letting out a yelp as he did so. He didn't watch the contents of the bowl falling to the floor, he was too preoccupied with the pain in his hand.
Eisen entered the room just as the bowl hit the floor, and he saw his partner holding his hand, tears forming in green and gold eyes. "Yasuaki!!" He hurried over to him, careful not to slip on the bits of undercooked cake now on the floor and led him to the sink. He ran the cold water and moved Yasuaki's hand under it. "Leave it there for a few minutes."
Yasuaki nodded. He watched the water running over his hand. "I'm sorry..."
"Yasuaki?"
"I really want to help you cook. I don't like leaving it all to you..."
"I know, and I appreciate the thought. But, the truth is I don't mind doing the cooking. It gives me a chance to be creative in areas other than music. But, what I love most of all is seeing that I make you happy when I cook delicious meals."
"I want to do that for you too, Eisen. That's why I wanted you to teach me how to cook." He closed his eyes tightly. "But it seems I can't get it right."
"Oh, Yasuaki..." Eisen wrapped his arms around him. "I understand what you are saying, but there are things you do that make me happy."
He opened tear-filled eyes and turned to the smaller male. "Eisen?"
"When you hug me, when you kiss me, when you tell me that you love me, when you smile for me, when you're with me. All that and more. You make me happy in those ways." He set his gaze to the appendage under the water. "How is your hand?"
"It hurts..."
"I know, but it will stop hurting soon."
"Why do you never get burned when you get things out of the oven?"
Eisen realised what had happened. "You forgot to wear an oven mitt, didn't you?"
"An oven mitt?"
Eisen pointed to the thick glove sitting on a hook above the oven. "I wear that when I touch anything in a hot oven, that way I don't get burned."
"Oh..." He was in pain. He felt disheartened. And now, he felt foolish. "I didn't know if the cake was going to burn while you were gone, so I decided to check it myself."
"You did the right thing, Yasuaki, but next time, please do remember to wear an oven mitt so you don't get burned again." He turned off the tap. "How is it?"
"It still hurts..."
"It will hurt for a little while, but it will get better." He led the onmyouji to the table and had him sit down. "I'll clean up the cake while you wait for your hand to stop hurting, okay?"
"Clean up the cake?" He looked to the oven and saw the bits of cake all over the floor. He bowed his head, he was really upset about that. He was baking the cake for Eisen, to thank him for teaching him how to bake it. But... "I'm sorry."
"I'm not upset with you, Yasuaki." He stood behind his partner and wrapped his arms around him. "I can see you are upset with yourself though, and that's normal. You tried your hardest, but it didn't work out the way you had hoped."
"That cake...was going to be for you..."
Eisen's eyes widened at that. He moved to stand beside his partner. "Yasuaki, please look at me?" He waited until the onmyouji turned to face him, and saw the tears still in the mismatched eyes. He smiled gently and placed his hands on the Chi no Genbu's cheeks. "I appreciate the gesture. Please don't allow yourself to become upset about this. Maybe it will work out next time."
Yasuaki closed his eyes. "There won't be a next time. The first time I tried, I nearly poisoned you." He thought back to when he first prepared a meal for Eisen to have in bed on his birthday. The rest of the morning was spent in the bathroom; Eisen vomiting, and Yasuaki trying to soothe him. "This time, I hurt myself." He looked down at his hand that was starting to turn pink. "What if I did something worse next time?"
Eisen had never seen Yasuaki in such a state, he'd never known the onmyouji could have low self-esteem, he always seemed so capable, like there was nothing he couldn't do. But, he noticed the thought of something going horribly wrong was distressing the taller male. "I won't force you to try again if you don't want to." He carefully picked up Yasuaki's hand and lifted it to his lips. He noticed the fingertips and palm were the worst burnt areas, they were a darker pink. He carefully pressed his lips to each of those burns. He could hear Yasuaki hiss slightly, but he didn't feel him pull away. He set the hand back on the table when he was done. "I know you're feeling upset, and I know you're hurting. Nobody likes feeling that way, and it doesn't help when they are taken out of their comfort zones while in that state. I won't force you to try cooking again. I will wait until you decide on your own that you want to try again." Eisen knew, however, that time would never arrive. He wrapped his arms around Yasuaki and pulled him close. "You do not have to worry."
"Eisen..." Yasuaki closed his eyes, allowing his tears to finally fall. He cried silently into Eisen's shirt, feeling the monk stroke his hair and rub his back as he did so.
Eisen finished cleaning the mess on the floor. He looked over to the table where Yasuaki still sat. He noticed the onmyouji was still upset about the events of that morning. He approached him. He sat on Yasuaki's lap and rested his head against his chest, wrapping his arms around the other male. "Please don't be upset, Yasuaki. Everybody has a bad day. You seem to be having one of those today." He snuggled closer. "But I promise things will get better for you."
Yasuaki wrapped an arm around Eisen in response, his injured hand still resting on the table.
"How is your hand?"
"It still hurts, but not as much."
"That's good. It was just a first degree burn."
"First degree?"
"Yes. Your skin will be pink, and it will hurt, but you didn't burn yourself too bad. You won't get blisters, and it will be gone in a couple of days. It should stop hurting tomorrow afternoon at least."
"I'm glad."
Eisen unwrapped his arms and picked up the injured hand again. He kissed the areas that were burnt the worst again. He heard more hissing, but again didn't feel the hand being pulled back. "I hope I'm not hurting you."
"No. It feels nice. Your kisses are soothing it."
Eisen smiled. "I'm glad."
"Eisen, thank you for teaching me how to cook. I only wish I succeeded."
"You did very well today, what happened was an accident, it has happened to others in the past, so please do not feel bad about that, okay?"
Yasuaki nodded, and for the first time since he'd burned himself, he smiled.
Eisen's smile widened as he saw the onmyouji was no longer feeling distressed.
The End