Love's Occasions

Arrhythmic: As promised (Day), Chapter Two! Dealing with Feb the fourteenth! Fwahaha...

Chapter Two: Valentine's Day

'Karen-san, heat the oven till what again?'

'350 Fahrenheit, Kamui.'

'How much is that in degrees Celsius, Karen-san?'

'I'm not sure. 180, I think. Why don't you just go out and buy a cake, Kamui?'

'Because it's not right,' Kamui said shortly, dusted in flour from head to toe, the receiver clenched between his ear and shoulder. 'And I know Subaru loves white chocolate.'

'Okay, so melted chocolate, check, what now?'

'Add the vanilla, Kamui.'

'Now?'

'Of course now, if not what, next year? Now, go cream the butter and sugar. Fluffy, Kamui, fluffy.'

'In other words, not-in-funny-lumps?'

'Yes, not-in-funny-lumps.' Karen's voice was patient as she delivered instructions to the younger Dragon of Heaven on how to bake a white chocolate cake. 'Why are you doing this, Kamui? I thought girls were supposed to give guys things on Valentine's Day?' her voice held a hint of laughter.

'Well, Subaru likes white chocolate, and I thought...' She could almost see Kamui's blush, palely visible through his white-flour-coat. 'Just teasing, Kamui. Get on with it, if you want to make a good cake. Add the chocolate, then the egg yolks. Just the egg yolks, no whites!'

'... Too late, Karen-san.'

She sighed volubly, and over the phone it sounded like a rush of static. 'I suppose it can't be helped. Tell me no bits of shell got in?'

'Hey. I'm not that bad!' Kamui said, sounding adorably indignant.

'Sift the dry ingredients together, add in the buttermilk bit by bit.'

'Uhhh... buttermilk, buttermilk... will ordinary milk do, Karen-san? Oh, wait, here it is. Okay. How much buttermilk?'

'One cup, Kamui.'

A sudden explosion of coughing had her startling in alarm. 'What, Kamui?'

'Umm-' hack, cough, 'Nothing, Karen-' cough, '-san. Just... sifted too hard-' cough.

'Oh, Kamui,' she said, a laughing tone in her voice.

'Do you think I have time to make chocolate liqueur after this?' His tone was faintly hopeful in anticipation.

'Let's concentrate on the cake first, shall we?' she laughed. 'And besides, chocolate liqueur needs to be prepared two weeks in advance. You're a bit late, sweetie.'

'Oh.' Kamui sounded so crestfallen she could barely hold back her laughter. 'Don't worry. Subaru will love whatever you do for him. Are we done with the buttermilk adding?'

'Umm, yeah, I think.'

'Add the pecans. Your Subaru doesn't eat coconut, right?'

'Yeah, he hates the stuff. I'm leaving it out,' Kamui said resolutely, for all the world sounding like he was making some earth-shattering proclamation.

'Blend it.'

'Huh?'

'Mix, my dear, mix. Mix until it's evenly blended, not in pieces,' Karen said extremely sweetly. 'Egg whites- those you didn't remember to separate- are now supposed to be blended with the sugar till it's a fluffy peak, but... just chuck the sugar in. We'll play this by ear. Are we finally, finally done, no accidents?'

'Ah! Karen-san, the oven's smoking!'

'Quick! Turn it off!'

There was a sudden ringing and the sound of liquid pattering down. Vaguely she heard Kamui yell 'No!' All was silence except for the crazed ringing and the sound of falling water, and then Kamui returned to the phone, sounding sufficiently doused. 'It set the fire alarm off.'

'I... could tell.'

'I saved the mix, though.'

'Is your oven still functioning?'

'Um.' Fiddle, fiddle, fiddle... clank. 'No, I don't think so.'

Silence.

'Subaru?'

Subaru could only stare at the mess that... used to be his kitchen, with a very dumbfounded looking Kamui standing smack in the middle of it all, dusted in brown-white and looking rather wet.

'The sprinkler system went off,' Kamui offered in a small voice, ducking his head shamefacedly.

'And just what were you doing to cause the sprinkler system to go off?' Subaru asked. He knew that by all rights he should have been angry, but the sight of Kamui, dressed in a shirt clinging in all the right places, knee-length denim darkened by water, looking so contrite and sad...

'Making a cake,' Kamui ventured, still not looking up,

'Why?'

'Valentine's Day. For... for you.' The admission was hesitant, but when it came, Subaru's heart melted. 'I'm- I'm sorry for ruining the kitchen, Subaru. I'll clean it- I really will, I promise.'

Subaru laughed, crossing a sodden floor with as much care as possible. 'It's all right. Don't look so sad,' he said, tipping up Kamui's chin, forcing the younger Ten no Ryuu to look at him. 'I don't like seeing you sad. Go bathe. I'll see what I can do to this.'

Walking to the closet nearby, Subaru got a mop, then rolled up his sleeves as the sound of water started cascading down in the bathroom. It was then he noticed the black phone on the countertop, the slight sounds coming from it indicating someone on the other end. Picking it up, he asked, 'Hello?'

'Subaru-san?'

'Ah, Karen-san? What're you doing on the phone?'

Karen laughed. 'Kamui called me as soon as you'd stepped out of the house, Subaru-san. He was attempting to make a white chocolate cake, as you've probably heard. You weren't supposed to come back this early. Be nice to him. He was really earnest about wanting to make you something, rather than buy it. And you know what chocolate on Valentine's Day signifies, don't you?'

Giggling in a very undignified way for a woman her age, Karen hung up on a rather stupefied Subaru Sumeragi.

Kamui stepped out of the shower, wondering whether Subaru was angry at him and fervently hoping he was not. Man, I've managed to ruin Valentine's Day. How stupid can I get? I should have taken Karen-san's suggestion and just bought the chocolate... I'm not Yuzuriha, after all. She's so good at cooking. I'm sure she's managed to make something really nice for Kusanagi-san...

Deciding worrying was pointless; he pulled on a shirt- coincidentally one belonging to Subaru- as well as drawstring pants before heading out.

Head down, he didn't notice Subaru standing in front of him until the older man enveloped him in a fierce hug, bending down to whisper in his ear, 'Karen told me what you wanted to do for me. Thank you. Hokuto... Hokuto used to make me chocolate.'

Horrified, Kamui broke away. 'I- I'm sorry, Subaru. I never meant to bring up unhappy memories...'

'But they aren't unhappy memories, Kamui,' Subaru answered, gently holding Kamui by the shoulders. He could feel the tension in the violet-eyed youth, like a rabbit above ground in unfamiliar surroundings, ready to bolt at any moment. 'Thank you for doing this for me.' Hesitantly, he stooped, then brushed his lips across Kamui's lightly, hurriedly backing off.

In a slight daze, Kamui could only notice the rosy blush that spread across Subaru's cheeks- he actually looks really cute- before he broke out into a brilliant smile and rushed forward to engulf Subaru in a hug of his own, pressing an ear to the older man's heart and hearing its steady, quiet beating.

It was a while before either of them moved, but Subaru broke away, gently disentangling himself from the younger Seal. 'Well, I've cleaned the kitchen. No white chocolate, but how about pizza and a cup of hot chocolate later?'

Kamui smiled, shyly approaching Subaru, pressing both palms flat to his chest before rising to his tiptoes. Subaru stiffened, then seemed to relax and brace himself at the same time, both of them knowing what was coming.

The doorbell rang and Kamui almost tripped in his hurry to get away from the Sumeragi, who reached out and grabbed him just before they fell. They stood there, staring at each other for that one, long moment before the doorbell pealed insistently.

Kamui smiled ruefully and went to answer the door.

Over Japan, couples were either at home or out, romancing each other with roses and fine dining. It was a night of love and for most, a night of beginnings, a night of proposals, a night of promised future. For all, it was a night of dreams, of loved ones and sweet kisses.

For Kamui, it was a night of pizza on the couch, and quiet laughter at the fracas he had caused in the kitchen, a night of blushes and gentle teasing. A night of normalcy, where the Promised Day was over and the Tree was a distant problem. A night of sweetness and fun, of hot chocolate that wasn't white, drunk from a shared mug in joined cupped hands.

A night of warmth.

Arrhythmic: Personally, I don't appreciate the ending. It doesn't seem right. But I do hope the readers liked it! If you did, please review! See the button? If you didn't, review anyway! Tell me what went wrong!