Day-38 Cleaning!
Hallelujah, a normal prompt!
My excuse of the day is that I'm moving, so there's been a huge amount of busy-ness- and I might not be able to update regularly during the next few weeks- a road trip. T^T I promise to update when I can and write the chapters!
Kiku crouches to pick Pochi up- petting him, he sets the dog outside the Japanese-style home. He turns to re-enter the house in search of cleaning supplies.
After a long winter, springtime had burst into bloom with sprouts of tender green leaves and the warming of the sun. A steady warmth beamed down, and he turns to give an almost-smile as he watches the cherry blossom trees outside, almost wants to paint it in inks and write a haiku.
He shakes his head a little, and picks up a duster, moving the object carefully across the delicate washi paper of the sliding doors. He'd been holed in all winter, and wanted to air the house out- spring cleaning, if you will.
The silence echoes in his ears, and he sighs a little when he realizes that it seems odd. Silence and solitude were supposed to be his element, his sanctuary. Used to be his safe haven. But now the absense of laughter seems out of place, and he has Korea to thank for that.
Speaking of which, where was he? Korea was to fly in this morning, and a small smile lifts the corner of Japan's mouth. It's been awhile since he'd been with Korea, and looked forward to seeing him again.
But for now, back to cleaning. It was tedious- a monotonous chore he hadn't enjoyed since childhood, when they'd all raced each other on cleaning the floors, dusting, all fooled around and still got cleaning done. Now it was a solitary chore- silent and exhausting but necessary.
Kiku looks up when he hears a car outside, and then continues dusting the doors. The door slides open, and Korea gets a faceful of duster with all the dust that comes with it.
Yong-Soo falls back, coughing and sputtering, landing flat on his back, nearly falling off of the raised floor. A... spectacular fall, Japan notes, a bit of amusement flavoring his concern.
"Ah- I'm so sorry, Kankoku-san." He kneels down, apologizing. "Are you alright?" Masterfully wiping away the small smile, he helps Korea sit up.
He does so, groaning a little and rubbing his back. "Ow..." He grumbles good-naturedly, but grins. "You've got self-defense down, da ze. ...Hi, by the way." The silliness has Japan shaking his head, but he offers Korea his hand as he stands.
"Hello, Kankoku-san. Are you well?" He asks, the slightest smile on his face. Yong-Soo scowls playfully, and banishes the childish urge to pull Kiku down. He takes the hand and stands up instead, leaning in to press a hello kiss to the shorter man's forehead.
Japan flushes a light pink, but leads Korea in. "Are you cleaning, Kiku? I'll help!" And with that, Korea picks up a rag, setting it to the floor.
"Ano- Kan-" Before Kiku can say anything more, Korea is off, zooming across the floor, making ridiculous sound effects. It takes him back to those childhood days, and he smiles listening to the laughter that once again echoes through his home.
Korea spends the rest of the cleaning messing around, or making the various tasks into a game. It's fun, and Kiku is floored when he realizes just how much he'd missed Yong-Soo. And in return, Yong-Soo showers him with attention and affection, flicking suds at him, dragging him into his cleaning games, and always, always turning around with that bright smile.
The sun is setting, and Japan's home shines. He puts all cleaning materials away, and looks around- Korea is gone. He finds the Korean asleep, sitting at the kotatsu*. He drags Yong-Soo to a futon, readies himself for bed, and joins the slumbering nation in sleep.
All in all, he supposed, the best spring cleaning he's done in a long while.
A kotatsu is a low wooden table that has a heavy blanket with a table top on top of it.
I'm sorry- we've moved house, and are on the road.
The Awesome Me da-ze: Thank you for reviewing! Ahaha, I wrote an essay about stereotyping for school. I took the idea I had from there. o/ / /o Thank you! You are very awesome for reviewing as well!
Obsessed-Language-Freak: Yay, you're interested! *starts brainstorming ideas for bird story continuation* A compromise, good. Yes- I took the line from 'Eyes'; which you beta'd. Glad you liked! Aha, Kiku would've stayed quietly in his box- or snuck out of it. Yong-Soo is more straightfoward/flamboyant about it. Ah, good. Thank you for reviewing again!
Baws: Thanks for reviewing! Oh, don't we all wish. Aha, being a modern teen, it is indeed symbolic. It's very cute. ^_^