Author's Notes: I have added on to this chapter after an idea hit me and so that things in future fics will make more sense.

Translations: Bento - Like a packed lunch. Food can be put in specialized Bento boxes or in regular storage containers.

Gyudon - A Japanese beef bowl. A comfort food of beef served with eggs, onions, and rice.
Shio Koji Karaage - Japanese fried chicken, seasoned with Shio Koji, a condiment.
Tamagoyaki - Japanese rolled omelette.
zanagi and Izanami - A divine god and goddess couple that came to Earth from the heavens on a rainbow and created the islands of Japan.
Itadakimasu - Translated to "I humbly receive" and most often said before eating, but can be used when receiving anything.
Fūrin - A Japanese wind chime that that generally has a glass bowl -shaped "bell" and a string that hangs down from inside with a piece paper attached with which causes the chiming when it blows in the wind. Zetsu is the name of the "clapper" or piece of metal that is tied to the string and makes the chiming sound. The Tanzaku, or the paper, hangs below the zetsu.

Italics - Thoughts

"What kind of Bento would you like?" Asuka asked laying out all the ingredients she had picked up. They had just returned from their impromptu ice skating date and now they were preparing for the picnic she had planned to have. Shinsuke offered to help, so she suggested they make each other's bentos.

Her boyfriend's face became thoughtful as he looked over the assortment of proteins, vegetables, fruits, grains, and seasonings.

"How about Gyudon? I must admit, it's one of my all-time favorites," he said.

"Gyudon, huh?" she smiled confidently. "I think I can definitely make that work."

"And you, what would you like?"

"Shio Koji Karaage, if you please."

Shinsuke chuckled nervously and rubbed the back of his head. "I've never made that before, but for you, I'll try."

"That's all I ask of you," she reassured, tossing him an apron before putting on one of her own. Shinsuke lifted a brow at the frilly floral printed garment but shrugged and slipped it on anyway.

Seeing him in the apron, Asuka couldn't resist leaning up to kiss him.

"What was that for?" he asked, sounding amused.

"It's customary in America to kiss the cook."

"Oh right." He smirked. "But being that we're both cooks, shouldn't you receive equal treatment?"

She stood straight and looked him in the eye, putting her hands on her hips for good measure. "I'm not stopping you, am I?"

An "eep" of shock escaped her when Shinsuke suddenly hoisted her up. They were face to face now, her feet dangling several inches. Her arms flew around his neck to secure herself.

"Hey—" her words were cut off as he began peppering her face with kisses, quickly dissolving her protest into giggles.

He saved her lips for last, slanting his mouth over hers after a few beats for a deeper taste. A soft sound escaped her throat and he gladly swallowed it down. She was about to wrap her legs around his waist when he slowly lowered her back to her feet.

"There," he told her, thumb caressing her kiss-swollen lower lip. "The cooks have been kissed. Now it is time to get to the cooking."

Asuka had to will herself not to catch his thumb between her teeth. Couldn't they kiss just a little bit longer? She really liked kissing Shinsuke.

Slow it down, she told herself as her senses returned to her. There will be plenty of time for kisses.

"Yes, let's get started," she agreed.

To save time, they decided on the same vegetables, fruits, and other sides. They prepared the spinach Gomaae salad, Tamagoyaki, and rice first, leaving the real cooking for last. Though there was a minor disagreement on who should take on the most work in this case, being that Asuka was the hostess, Shinsuke insisted on dealing with the spinach Gomaae salad and Tamagoyaki, and Asuka took care of the cooking and seasoning of the rice.

Then they moved on to the main courses. While Asuka had the recipe for Gyudon in her head, Shinsuke needed directions for her Shio Koji Karaage. He was about to bring out his phone, but she waved that away and wrote down the recipe from memory.

"You don't trust the internet?" Shinsuke asked with a grin as she handed him the written recipe.

"That's not so much the reason. Just I prefer to rely on how I was taught to cook food." She tapped her head with the butt end of her knife. "I've got a lot of recipes stored up here."

"And I doubt that's all that is up there," he said while setting to work on deboning the chicken thighs. Though he had needed a recipe to follow for the main course, he appeared quite capable in the kitchen.

Asuka paused in slicing her onions. "What's that supposed to mean?" she asked, unsure if he was being serious or messing with her.

"I'm saying you seem like a resourceful woman."

A blush rose to her face at his compliment and at the realization of how incredibly domestic this situation was.

It feels really nice, doing something so mundane with him.

She finished with her onions and moved on to slicing up the beef, then playfully bumped his hip with hers. "You seem pretty resourceful yourself, setting up that ice skating date on the fly like that."

Shinsuke chuckled, playfully hip checking her back. "I guess it helps when you're surf buddies with the owner of the only ice rink in the area. He was just closing up when I came knocking. I didn't tell Derek to set up that snow machine though. I'm really in his debt now."

"For giving your girlfriend snow in the middle of Florida? I would say so!" She smiled then. "I'm really indebted to you and your friend though, for doing something so sweet."

"For sure." He placed the chicken in a bowl to marinate. "But not when it comes to you, Asuka. None of what I've done for you have been to gain any favors out of you. Seeing you happy is enough satisfaction. I don't want you to feel like you need to do nice things for me out of a sense of obligation, but because you truly want to."

Asuka poked him with the handle of the knife. "Are you even real?" She never had a man in her life quite like Shinsuke Nakamura. He was like some rare breed of his ilk.

"I don't know. Are you?" he winked.

"You're a real smooth talker, Kitsune-man." She washed her hands and started her skillet and oil heating. "One of these days I'm going to see your bushy tail through your clever illusion."

"One of these days, maybe," he agreed, he stood behind her and played with the ends of her hair. The nape of her neck tingled pleasantly. "And maybe one of these days a rainbow will trail out from your hair and Izanagi and Izanami will return to earth again." He parted her hair and pressed his lips to her nape.

"A real smooth talker," she said, stirring the onions and pretending that his words and touch didn't have such a profound effect on her.

They continued cooking in relative silence, only speaking when they needed a utensil or ingredient out of reach, or praising the aroma of one another's food.

Yes, I could learn to live with this.

Sometime later Asuka stooped and spread out a large tablecloth onto the lush grassy ground. "Here we are!" she announced. They were occupying a small clearing of Florida woods a short stroll away from her home.

Shinsuke did a three-sixty, then looked up at the pale orb shining down from the heavens. "A nice moon-viewing spot," he said as he set their picnic basket down in the middle of the cloth.

"Oh it is." Asuka bit her lip. "I hope you like it," she said, recalling how they spent the previous hours at the ice skating rink. She hoped that he enjoyed their picnic as much as she had enjoyed skating.

He looked over at her and smiled gently. "For me, it's perfect."

"Great!" She returned his smile, feeling it reach her eyes.

Another momentary silence washed over them as they unpacked the picnic basket. First, they set out battery powered tea lights, then Shinsuke took out their bento boxes, chopsticks, and napkins. Asuka, in turn, pulled out the bottle of wine and the crystal glasses.

"One Gyudon Bento," she lifted out his box.

"And one Shio Koji Karaage Bento," he said picking up hers.

They exchanged Bento boxes and Asuka poured the wine. Together they said "Itadakimasu," before digging into their meals.

"Mmmm, this is quite good, Shinsuke. Shinsuke?"

Asuka looked over to see her boyfriend covering his face as though he were weeping. His body gave a shudder then suddenly he collapsed flat onto his back.

"Shinsuke!" Her Bento forgotten she hopped up and ran over to his side. "Shinsuke?"

"Mmmm…so good~" he opened one languid eye to look at her. "Almost as good as sex."

She giggled blushingly. "Did you just have a foodgasm then?"

"Probably." Shinsuke's lips quirked and he sat back up.

"Here, maybe this will help calm you down," she poured him a glass of wine as well as one for herself.

Shinsuke made a sound of agreement and they clinked glasses in a toast before taking a drink. Asuka couldn't help but peek at him, watching his adam's apple bob up and down.

"Mmmm," he hummed appreciatively, his eyes becoming a little dreamy at the taste.

Asuka hastily turned her attention to back to her food before she decided to crawl over and lick the column of his neck.

Throughout their meal, she had to listen to the delighted sounds he made as he savored each bite of his dinner. It was enough to drive a woman crazy.

He ended up finishing off his entire Bento well before she had made it halfway through hers.

"Wow you sure do put it away," she murmured in awe, a morsel of chicken suspended in front of her mouth between her chopsticks.

It was Shinsuke's turn to blush and he grinned sheepishly. "That's nothing…I used to eat six meals a day back in high school. I had to eat fast."

Her eyes widened. "Six meals a day? Where did you put it all?"

"It all dissolved away with my training. I was on the wrestling team at the time, desperately trying to get bigger and stronger."

"Well you've certainly filled out nicely since then," she said, gazing intently at him over the rim of her wine glass before taking another sip.

Shinsuke's cheeks flushed a little more, but he winked. "I would sure hope so."

"Just don't let it go to your ego," she teased, returning to her Bento.

"Me? Never." He sobered some and rested his chin on his fist, observing her. "So you really think my Shio Koji Karaage was good?"

"Yes. Definitely not bad for your first try," she made a show of relishing her last bite of chicken. The rest she decided to save for later.

His eyes became dreamy again, his lips pulling into a contented smile. "We'll have to cook together again. Next time I will make it taste even better."

"Yes, I would like that…very much," she concurred, her smile bright with excitement at the prospect of a repeat dinner date.

"And your Gyudon, it was spectacular. Much better than mine," he said, then lowered his voice to a whisper, "Even better than my mother's…where did you learn to cook like that?"

"My father," she answered and took another drink of her wine. "Both of my parents cooked, but my father was a real food connoisseur. He started working as a dishwasher at a restaurant when he was young and worked his way all the way up to head chef. Now he owns his own restaurant. All the recipes in my head I got from him."

Shinsuke listened attentively; chin perched on his fist throughout her speech. "Sounds like he's a really great, passionate guy," he remarked after she concluded.

"Oh he is! He's wonderful," she couldn't help but gush about her father. "He really encouraged me as a child to pursue anything and everything I wanted to do; Figure skating, graphic design, and finally wrestling, among many. Even when money was hard or how unlikely the path became, not once did he discourage me from dreaming."

He sat up straighter, yet another affectionate upturn of his lips. "I hope I can meet him one day."

"That would be very nice," Asuka admitted, looking shyly to the side briefly as she imagined the meeting in her mind. Her father could be a bit protective of her when it came to boyfriends, but she believed once he got to know Shinsuke that they would hit it off. She then turned back to him, requesting eagerly, "Tell me about your father, Shinsuke. I'm sure he was a great dad too."

Shinsuke gave a minute wince, the affable smile fading from his mouth as his eyes shifted downwards to stare a hole in the tablecloth. This time the hush that fell over them was touched with awkwardness.

Oh no! Maybe I've made a mistake! Asuka bit her lip and wrung her hands. "Umm…so how about that wine?" she asked with a nervous chuckle.

Shinsuke lay back again, his arm acting as a pillow for his head. The starry sky above seemed to become very interesting to him all of a sudden.

She was about to apologize for bringing up his late father when he spoke up, voice barely audible, "He wasn't the worse father…" he trailed off, making Asuka wonder if that was all he was going to say about the subject, then, "But I wouldn't say he was…great either. Our father-son relationship was a bit complicated."

Confusion swept over her then. "But you said he used to comfort you when you were feeling sad?"

"He did, when I was very young," he replied. "I was the baby of the family so I was afforded some coddling. But it didn't take long for him to change his tune when he realized the only son he had out of three children was such a crybaby."

Asuka said nothing, simply shoved their picnic items aside and lay down next to him, cuddling into his side to show him that she was there for him, listening.

She felt rather than heard the shuddering breath that left his lungs. "He was rarely around because of work. When he was, he could be a little…frightening." Another pause then he continued, "It wasn't like he became violent…but his verbal criticisms could be quite harsh at times. I wasn't manly enough, that I shouldn't be spending my time doodling but playing sports and toughening up. He was a baseball fanatic, and wanted me to get into it so badly."

"Sounds like he was pushing his dreams onto you," Asuka said gently when there was another pause.

Shinsuke nodded a little. He shifted so his unoccupied arm could wrap around her shoulder, bringing her closer.

"But I never became interested in it," he imparted, "Instead, I ended up a wrestling fanatic. I decided that maybe pursuing martial arts and wrestling would make me stronger. He hated the idea of that though."

Asuka quietly wrapped her arm around his torso, her hand gripping his shirt more tightly. Her heart wept for Shinsuke and at the thought that his father had pushed him so hard, yet barely supported any of his endeavors. It was hard for her to come up with words to express her feelings, so she hoped her closeness was enough to comfort him.

As though sensing her concern over him, he said, "Mom was supportive enough though. Still is." Asuka could hear the smile in his tone. "She even let me practice wrestling moves on her."

"Really?" she giggled, feeling relieved that he had some support growing up. "Your mom sounds like a real tough cookie."

"She had to be to have to keep up with me and my sisters, as well as dealing with dad's passing." A bit of sadness returned to his voice. "He and I…we kind of became closer after he got ill. Our relationship seemed to be improving…and then…he…he was gone. I didn't get to say a proper goodbye…"

Asuka pulled him ever closer, yearning to infuse her love and compassion for him into his being.

Love. Did she already love him?

She thought back to him skating with her, their time spent in her kitchen, and everything they had endured together up until now. Yes, her heart already knew the answer to that question.

I love you, she wanted to tell him, but she kept silent. For now, she was happy with simply expressing her feelings through her actions.

When her hand cupped his cheek she felt little tracks of wetness there. "Oh Shin," she said softly, pulling his face to hers and pressing their foreheads together.

Shinsuke expelled some air in the parody of a laugh. "Looks like I can still be a crybaby, huh?"

"Shhh," Asuka kissed each of his eyelids affectionately. "Crying doesn't make you any less of a man. In fact, I would say it makes you even more manly." She kisses his nose then his lips. "And I believe your father would be proud of the man you've become."

His body shifted so that he rested on his side, allowing for his arms to encircle her in a real embrace. A much more welcomed stillness filled the air between them for a small eternity, the only sounds being the chorus of night creatures around them. They both seemed comfortable to just soak each other in.

At first, she marked out his features with her gaze. But it didn't take long for her to begin tracing them with her finger; his eyebrows, broad nose, the light stubble of his beard along his jaw, his full lips – there he kisses the pad of her finger. His dark eyes glistened in the starlight as more tears quietly made their way down his face.

"You're an amazing person, Asuka," his whisper eventually broke through their silence. His tears seemed to have dried. "Thank you." He took her hand and pressed his lips to her palm.

"You're pretty amazing yourself," she replied with a shy smile.

"Think so?"

"I know so." She kissed him again and he sighed happily into it.

They reclined like that for a while longer, talking, sipping wine, and sharing kisses. Suddenly, amidst their romantic bliss, Shinsuke jumped and let out a curse.

"What is it?" Asuka asked, as he rapidly disentangled from her in order to examine one of his hands.

"Something bit me."

"Bit you?" she sat up and looked at his finger.

"Well more like a nibble," he confessed with a pout, "but it scared the shit out of me."

"Hmm, nibble?" she pondered then turned around to look in the direction of what might have nibbled on her boyfriend. "Ohh Tomomi!" she exclaimed.

"Tomomi?" Shinsuke parroted behind her before crawling over on his knees to see what she was talking about.

A full-grown box turtle occupied the spot on the ground close to where Shinsuke had his hands around her only moments prior. It lifted its scaly head and snapped its beak expectantly at them.

Shinsuke flinched a little, causing Asuka to giggle. "He wants something to eat." She explained. "Mind handing me my Bento?"

"A friend of yours?" he asked as he obeyed her request.

"Of course. I met Tomomi when I first moved here." She took out some of her leftover spinach Gomaae salad and hand fed the turtle. Tomomi quickly and happily gobbled up the seasoned greens. "He lives around here and I try to have some food with me when I visit. Would you like to feed him?"

Shinsuke eyed Tomomi a little warily but picked up a piece of the salad. "As long as he doesn't try to snack on my finger again."

Tomomi hesitated, studying Shinsuke's larger hand with calculating reptilian eyes. It was only after deeming Shin trustworthy, that the turtle took the spinach from his fingers without incident.

"Heh," Shinsuke grinned widely. "He's not so bad. Kind of cute actually."

They fed Tomomi until all of the spinach Gomaae salad was gone. After that, the turtle only stayed long enough for both of them to give him a scratch on the head.

"He's like that, only wants the food, a little pet, and then he's done," she said, watching the creature's gradual retreat. "But I don't mind. And he gives me some company."

"He seems alright enough. Glad I got to meet him. And seems I passed the acceptance test." He winked playfully at her.

"Only because we had food to give him," she teased but pecked him on the lips after seeing his pout. "I'm only joking. I'm sure he really likes you."

They decided to pack up their picnic and head back home where together they tackled the task putting of away leftovers, and washing the dirty dishes and cooking utensils.

At one point, Asuka squirted Shinsuke with the faucet's spray attachment by accident. In retaliation, Shinsuke splashed her with some soapy water. It was no accident when she sprayed him a second time. From there a small water war ensued.

He slipped behind her and trapped her in his arms, twisting the spray attachment in her hands so that it got her in the face. Asuka squeaked, flailing a moment before regaining her grip on the attachment and aimed higher so she could get his face instead. Shinsuke sputtered but stubbornly clung onto her. They struggled playfully for a few minutes, laughing and carefree of the mess they were making.

Needless to say, her kitchen was no longer pristine.

"Give up, woman!" he tried to sound commanding in between his laughter.

"Never!" she cried.

"Alright…alright…truce?"

"Hmm…okay…" she loosened her grip on the attachment and he released her. She then whirled and sprayed him one last time.

Shinsuke wiped his wet face with one large hand. "That's it, devil woman."

He advanced on her and she laughingly bolted around the kitchen island, but his long legs carried him to the entryway much faster and he caught her around the waist. From there, he tossed her effortlessly over his shoulder and proceeded to haul into her living room.

"Put me down, you pervert~" she gasped in feigned distress, lightly beating his back with her fists.

"Not until you get your punishment."

The gasp she let out when he spanked her on the ass was much more real than fake. Oh dear god! Her face flushed like a tomato.

"Now how should I discipline you?" he asked himself ponderingly.

Asuka squirmed restlessly in his grip, the wine in her system making her body thrum a little in excited anticipation of his answer.

"Hmm…ah yes I know," he said.

He then unceremoniously dumped her bottom first onto the sofa. Before she could attempt to comprehend what he was going to do, he lifted her shirt and blew a raspberry on her stomach. His beard tickled her skin and the vibrations of his mouth drove her into a fit of giggles.

"Stop it~" she squealed breathlessly.

"You're ticklish too," his smirk mischief and triumph. "How does it feel to endure a direct assault of my Good Vibrations, huh?"

Shinsuke gave her a few more raspberries for good measure, causing her to writhe in laughter. By the time he was done, she was panting for air and he was using her belly as a pillow.

"Mmm, this is a nice spot," he said, voice muffled against her shirt.

"I think you made me laugh the life out of me."

"Oh no!" he hopped onto the sofa next to her. "What can I do to revive you?"

"Mouth…to…mouth…resuscitation…ugh…" she pretended to go unconscious, head lolling to the side.

Soft, warm lips covered her own a moment later. It took all her willpower to remain unresponsive for the sake of their silly little game, but she gave in when he sensually nipped her lower and then upper lip. With a moan, she invited him to plunder her mouth with his tongue.

"How…is…that?" he asked huskily between heated kisses. "Feeling better?"

Their clothes were still wet from their kitchen battle, but his body felt nice and solid and warm pressed against hers. Asuka could only nod her approval, pull him so he lay over her, and carry on kissing him for all he was worth.

Shinsuke was only too happy to oblige, first giving her mouth the attention it sought, then moving his focus to her neck. His lips felt amazing on her pulse point, but just the briefest of brushes against the sensitive area of flesh beneath her ear sent thrills of electricity coursing through her.

She shivered beneath him, hands gripping at his hair and the back of his shirt. He also shivered and kissed her mouth in earnest a bit longer, then slowly, almost reluctantly pulled back from her. They were both breathing hard as though they had run twin marathons.

Part of Asuka wanted to grab Shinsuke and kiss him and touch him again, not caring where their caresses led. But that part was largely influenced by the residual alcohol buzzing in her bloodstream – not that she hadn't thought about jumping his bones while completely sober.

More importantly, she didn't want to rush things, for both their sakes. As much as they had grown comfortable with each other over the past few months, they were both still new to this evolved aspect of their relationship.

"We should probably clean up your kitchen," Shinsuke rasped, eyes seemingly admiring her kiss-bruised lips regardless of his suggestion.

Asuka bit her lip but nodded. "You're probably right."

He let her up and they returned to the kitchen.

After they finished mopping up the puddles of water strewn about her kitchen and drying themselves off as best they could, they whiled away some more time talking in order for both of them to sober up a bit – especially Shinsuke as he had to drive home.

They discussed different things, from simple likes and dislikes, to more detailed subjects such as their influences and early wrestling days. Asuka described her graphic design career before she decided she wanted to pursue wrestling, her early retirement and return to graphic design, and then her ultimate comeback to wrestling, the many promotions she worked for as well as her self-promoted events. Shinsuke shared the challenges he faced starting out as "The Super Rookie" in New Japan, his forays into MMA, his excursions overseas, and telling the story of each scar her fingers managed to find.

He was just finishing up his bloody tale of facing off with "Emperor" Takayama when he looked at his watch. It was nearing midnight.

"So late already?" Asuka asked, astounded with how the time seemed to fly.

"Seems so." Shinsuke rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "Looks like we'll have to save the rest of our war stories for another time."

"Wait, before you go." She ran to her refrigerator, pulling out the leftovers of their cooking. She took out two fresh set of containers and filled them up with a little of everything.

"What's this for?" he asked, taking both containers.

"I can't possibly eat all of these leftovers before we go back on the road," she replied. "So since you loved my food so much I figured you could have some. The other one is for Derek."

"Ah, that I did," he looked longingly the food containers. "Can't I just keep both and give Derek something else?"

"No…" she warned.

"Alright, alright…"

He took the containers to his vehicle, then returned to her doorstep so they could say their goodbyes. When he returned, he presented her with a small neatly wrapped parcel.

"What is this?" she asked, eyeing the little package with the standard hesitation. "You really didn't have to."

"I wanted to. It's just a little something." he blushed cutely while handing her the gift. "I hope you can make some use of it."

Asuka bowed her head to him upon accepting his gift. "Thank you so much~"

He inclined his head in turn. "Thank you for inviting me into your home, Asuka. It is very lovely."

She smiled and stood on tippy toes so she could wrap her arms around his neck. "It was a pleasure to have you. I enjoyed spending my day with you."

"Mmm," he agreed and kissed her once more. "I had a great time too."

The urge to tell him she loved him surged to the tip of her tongue, but she quelled it. "I'm glad~ Well have a good night."

Shinsuke leaned forward, pressed his forehead to hers and nuzzled her nose, the gesture somehow more intimate and profound than the impassioned kisses they had shared earlier. Asuka felt her heart soar in her chest.

She never wanted this moment to end.

"Goodnight, Asuka."

Shinsuke eventually pulled away and made his way to his car, Asuka feeling as though a piece of herself were leaving with him.

He then turned back halfway down her walkway, looking adorably hopeful. "Would you like me to call you tomorrow?"

"Yes," she answered immediately. "I would love that." Well, at least she sort of got to express what she wanted to say.

His face relaxed into a fond smile and he nodded. "Then count on it."

After Shinsuke had gone, Asuka shut her front door and leaned against it. A few moments passed before her focus returned to his gift still clasped in her hand. It was a small red box wrapped in simple red paper and tied with a thin white ribbon.

She hardly wanted to open it for fear of destroying the painstaking work put into the wrapping, but she was also curious as to what he had given her. Carefully she untied the ribbon, peeled away the paper, and opened the box.

Inside was a beautiful fūrin with a rainbow painted on the delicate clear glass exterior, a blue tanzaku with cute printed rainbows hung from the chime's zetsu. Wherever he had gotten it, he had gone to some lengths to get it for her.

She clambered back to her feet and walked out onto her front porch, eager to put the fūrin to immediate use. Her porch wasn't very big but she found a spot for it just beyond her front door. She gingerly secured the wind chime to the overhang of her roof with a thin nail, mindful that the door would not hit it when opened.

Immediately it began to chime in the breeze, making music from the wind. The tinkling sound soothed her much like Shinsuke's presence.

An excited fluttering mirroring that of her new fūrin started up in her chest at the prospect of what tomorrow – and the future – held in store.

Author's notes: All I have to say is, read Shinsuke's book. Again any form of constructive feedback is immensely welcome!