Title: Sweet Sharing
Characters: Michael, Yuuma, Astral||Ship: Michael x Yuuma
Chapters: 1-1||Words: 1,000
Genre: Romance||Rated: G
Challenges: Diversity Writing: YGO Healer/Firestarter Aus: B13, 1,000 words
Notes: This is a Healer/Firestarter AU, set about five years after canon. Astral visits from the Astral World on occasion.
Summary: Yuuma invited Michael over for a surprise. Exactly who is getting surprised is up in the air.

Michael knocked on the Tskumos' front door, checking to make certain that he wasn't sparking. He hadn't dropped any stray sparks in a while, but being around Yuuma had a way of making it happen.

More than once Thomas teased that he would forget their mission in order to court Yuuma. Michael refused to even think about that. More than once he'd reminded Thomas that his desire for Shark wasn't any better.

Thomas, of course, insisted every time that it was entirely different. They'd had several juicy arguments about it, brought to a halt only by the mission itself. All of that rested in the past now. Michael knew very well that today Thomas and Shark were off on a courting date.

He wasn't sure what to call what he and Yuuma were about to embark on. Yuuma asked him to visit a lot but this felt different, special… perhaps with a hint of courting.

But he focused his attention and knocked again. He'd never know what Yuuma wanted if he didn't go in. Probably nothing, he told himself. Just something friendly. Yuuma hadn't ever shown an interest in courting before, even though he was one of the most powerful Healers in the country, if not the actual strongest.

Footsteps pattered quickly from inside and the door jerked open. Yuuma stood there, little bits of flour dotted all over him and what looked suspiciously like a streak of strawberry or cherry across one cheek. He blinked for a second, then grinned that grin as bright as the sun.

"You're here! Come on in." He quickly gestured to suit his words, stepping aside so Michael could enter. Th r re was a definite aroma of strawberry in the air once he entered.

"Well, you asked me to come," Michael pointed out. Had Yuuma been cooking? He'd never known Yuuma could cook. In point of fact, he'd somewhat assumed Yuuma should be kept from kitchens at all costs. Something he'd heard from Shark about ovens blowing up.

Yuuma nodded, guiding him along to the dining room. Astral floated there, greeting Michael as they entered. He, of course, showed no signs of whatever they'd been doing.

"I made these," Yuuma blurted out before Michael could say anything. "Would you like to try them?"

He nodded towards a plate on the table, where several bars of something rested on a plate. Michael knew several Japanese dishes after all this time, but he'd never seen anything like this. They were tinted faintly pink and the strawberry scent definitely came from there.

"Sure… what are they?"

Yuuma didn't hold back the proud grin. "They're strawberry uiro." Something hopeful flickered through his eyes. "I made them myself – for you."

Astral floated nearby and politely coughed. Yuuma glared at him for a second. "All right. Astral helped. He made sure that they didn't burn."

"By reminding you to take them out of the oven at the correct time," Astral pointed out. "He said something about this being a – courting gesture? Unfortunately, I was unable to assist in the taste test portion of this." Astral shrugged; even after five years it appeared there were matters that he didn't fully understand about Healers, Firestarters, and courting gifts.

But the moment Astral said that, Yuuma turned an extremely bright shade of red and stated to sputter. Michael breathed in quietly, not quite feeling a spark, but rather a warmth that bubbled up from deep inside of his heart. This felt right on more than one level – something he'd never thought of before.

He reached over and picked up on of the bars. "I like strawberries," was all he said before he sampled the dessert. He didn't think he'd tasted anything like them before. Sweet and delicious, and made just that much better by the fact it was Yuuma who'd made it for him.

Yuuma's eyes lit up as Micheal ate the little treat. Michael nodded when he finished the first one. "It's delicious!"

"Really? I'm glad you like them," Yuuma grinned, reaching for one of the bars himself. "I've been trying all day to get a batch good enough."

"He has," Astral agreed. "The first thing that he did this morning was go to the grocery store."

Michael savored another one of the bars. "Effort well-spent," he decided, and Yuuma glowed even more at the compliment. Then Michael turned a very serious look on him. "Did you really mean it as a courting gift?"

Cooking for someone that one wished to court as Healer or Firestarter wasn't at all unusual. But it was best to get the meaning of it nailed down as quickly as possible, before attunement started.

"Yeah," Yuuma almost whispered the answer. Then he rallied himself. "Yeah, I do. I – Can we give courting a try? You're -" Yuuma struggled for words before he shrugged. "You're the best Firestarter I ever met. Even more than Shark. Besides, he's all tied up with your brother."

Michael wasn't going to disagree on that. Instead, he regarded Yuuma quietly before he spoke. "Before I say yes or no, I do have a question of my own."

"Huh?" Yuuma didn't often look nervous. But right now he twitched more than a little. "What is it?"

Michael squared up his shoulders. "What do you like to eat?" Because if they were going to do this courting thing, then he wanted to make something for Yuuma too.

Yuuma's eyes widened to the point Michael started to get worried. Then he smiled a smile so sweet that it struck right at Michael's heart. "I like just about anything."

Michael nodded. There were a few recipes that he'd always wanted to try out once he found a Healer that he wanted to court. Now seemed like a good time to try one.

Only one bar remained. Micheal picked it up and broke it In half before offering one half to Yuuma. Yuuma accepted it, warm eyes meeting Michael's as they finished off the snack together.

The End

Notes: I wrote this for SilvorMoon as a tumblr prompt request.