Chapter 3: Anniversary Date Part 2?
Misaki woke up to a dark room, with a streak of light peeking in between the curtains. She let out a yawn and rubbed her eyes.
"Oh, you're awake" Takumi said groggily, rolling over. "Good morning, love."
"Morning, Takumi" Misaki replied, then leaned over to check her phone. 8:37am. She hadn't woken up this late in weeks, but it didn't matter today, since she didn't need to go to work.
Misaki got up and went to the bathroom. Yesterday was all him, now today's my day to make him happy, Misaki thought to herself as she brushed her teeth, a determined look on her face. While washing her face, she thought back to what the hair and makeup girls had advised her to do. She had been thinking about it last night at the museum, and had secretly come up with her own little plan for a part two of the anniversary celebration. Sure, her idea wasn't going to be a day full of flowers, cafes, amusement parks, and fancy museum parties, but that was her own fault for forgetting about their anniversary in the first place, giving her little time to think something up. However, she was going to see her plan through.
"Someone's tired, huh?" Misaki stated, seeing that Takumi was still lying in bed when she came out of the bathroom.
"I'm just worn out from our late-night fun" Takumi answered with a wink.
"Well, yeah, we did stay out at the museum late" Misaki responded, unaware of what her husband was insinuating. She began to flip through shirts in the closet.
"No, I was referring to what we did after that..." He began, adding a lot of emphasis.
"Wh-what?!" Misaki whipped her head around to see her husband with a wide grin on his face. Rolling her eyes, she turned back to the closest. "Geez, Takumi, why do you talk about stuff like that so innocently?"
"I was only being honest" Takumi replied, getting out of bed and giving his wife a quick kiss on her forehead before heading to the bathroom.
Once he had left the room, Misaki began sifting through her clothes quickly. "How do I make my business clothes sexy?" Misaki muttered to herself. This was part one of her plan for the day. Thinking back to what the makeup girl had said, she agreed that one sure way to please her perverted husband would be through what she wore. Unfortunately, wearing 'something sexy' was easier said than done, since Misaki had only packed clothes that were appropriate for work. Frowning slightly, she continued "I'll have to work with what I've got. I have to make this day perfect for Takumi!"
Misaki decided to throw on a white sleeveless button-up blouse first, then proceeded to slip on a gray pencil shirt. She buttoned the shirt up half way, leaving most of her chest exposed, and finished her look with a gray skinny belt. Eyeing the bathroom door to make sure Takumi wasn't on his way out, she quickly ran over to the kitchen and popped two pieces of bread in the toaster. She managed to spread some strawberry jam on the slices of toast before she heard the door creak open.
As soon as Takumi opened the door, his eyes grew wide.
"Ready for breakfast, honey?" Misaki asked, blushing slightly when she noticed the shocked, but amused look on his face. She draped her hands around his neck when he didn't respond and kissed his cheek playfully. "Let's eat, shall we?"
"What is going on..." Takumi wondered aloud, grinning like a child, as Misaki dragged him to the kitchen to find two plates of toast set on the table.
"I know it's nothing fancy, but I made us breakfast." Misaki said, seating her husband.
"No, it's perfect. I love anything made by my Misaki" Takumi said, taking a bite. "But what is going on. I mean, I'm not complaining... just curious."
"Well," Misaki began, glancing down at her chest to see how exposed she was. A little too much, she decided, tugging on her shirt a bit to cover more. "I wanted to thank you for yesterday. So today, I've planned a day for you."
"Hmm, alright Misa-chan. I'm ready."
"Don't call me that-" Misaki began before stopping herself and plastering a smile on. "No, actually, you can call me whatever you'd like today."
"If you say so. Nice shirt by the way" Takumi winked.
"Thanks" Misaki mumbled.
"So, now what?" Takumi asked as they finished their breakfast.
"Now we're going to the grocery store." Misaki replied, taking their plates and utensils over to the sink.
"Hah? What for?"
"I was hoping we could bake something together. Baking is a little easier than cooking, no?" Misaki said, washing the plates.
"Okay."
"If-if you don't want to that's fine" Misaki stammered. "I want you to enjoy today, so it's okay if you want to do something else."
"I thought you said you already planned the day?" Takumi questioned.
"Well- I did, loosely. But if you don't want to bake with me-"
"No, I would love to bake with you. As long as I'm with you, I don't care what we do today."
"Well that makes it sound like you don't really want to!"
"You're confusing yourself. Let's just go to the store" Takumi chuckled, taking his wife's hand and leading her to the door.
"Even after all these years you still manage to cause me confusion, you know?" Misaki sighed as she slipped on a pair of heels. When she turned to open the door, however, she found that her way was blocked. "Takumi? You're standing in the way."
"You think I'm going to let you walk out like that?" Takumi arched an eyebrow as he looked down at her chest. Misaki blushed.
"What?! I thought you liked it!" Misaki exclaimed, raising her hands to cover where his eyes were focused.
"I do like it, very much, but I don't want anyone else to see my Misaki-chan like this" he replied, reaching to button her shirt up.
When he finished the last button, he directed his eyes to hers. "Perfect" He grinned, pressing his lips to his wife's. They headed out the door, and after a short walk they arrived at the grocery store.
"Alright, so what are we baking?" Takumi asked as they walked in.
"That's up to you" Misaki said, leading him inside and picking up a basket. "Cake? Brownies? Cookies?"
"Let's do cupcakes" Takumi replied, dropping a bag of flour into the basket. "That way you'll get multiple tries at decorating them."
"That makes sense" Misaki agreed, grabbing a bag of sugar.
"When's the last time we baked together?" Takumi wondered as he reached for a bottle of vegetable oil.
Misaki thought for a moment. She could remember the last time they cooked- they had been making chicken lasagna. Misaki attempting to cut the chicken is what had caused her to almost cut off her husband's hand. However, she couldn't remember the last time they had baked together. They were both pretty healthy people, so they didn't eat sweets often. They only had cake on special occasions, and even then it was always either store-bought, or made by Takumi alone.
"I don't know. We rarely bake together" She said. "Wait- now I remember! It was those cookies we made when Mom came to visit."
"Ahh, right. You added an extra half-cup of salt, remember?" Takumi chuckled. "We had to warn your Mother before eating since you insisted it would be too wasteful to dump them."
"They didn't taste that bad, honestly" Misaki frowned. "Just a little salty."
Takumi led her around the store so they could get all the ingredients they needed. After buying everything, they made their way back to the hotel, grocery bags in hand.
"Is looking at your phone part of today's schedule?" Takumi asked playfully, since his wife had whipped out her phone after placing the bags down and was focused on whatever was on its screen.
"What? Oh-" Misaki glanced up from the list of restaurants she was scrolling through. "Uh, it's Haruto, my coworker" she lied.
"Even on your day off, you're still worried about work, huh?" Takumi sighed.
"I'm sorry, I'll be done in a sec. Can you start taking out the ingredients?" Misaki asked without looking up from the screen.
"Can I unbutton your shirt again?"
"Geez, could you at least wait until I'm finished?" Misaki muttered, blushing slightly.
"So, is that a yes?" Takumi grinned.
On a normal day, Misaki probably would have slapped him for asking such a question. However, Misaki wanted to make this day amazing as thanks for their anniversary yesterday. So, as much as it annoyed her, she had already decided that she was going to try not to get mad at his comments for today. Biting her tongue to keep from spitting out an insult, she put down her phone and looked at him, her cheeks flushed.
"Go ahead, perv." She put her hands on her hips and rolled her eyes.
Without responding, her husband unbuttoned the first four buttons on her shirt with a boyish grin.
"Okay, can we start now?" Misaki looked away to hide her embarrassment.
"Of course, my lady."
And so they got to work on their cupcakes. When they realized they had no measuring cups, they laughed it off and used the wine glasses and plastic spoons instead. When Misaki mistook the sugar for salt, Takumi noted that their cupcakes would just be extra sweet. When she managed to scoop out all of the batter into the cupcake tin without spilling any, he pulled her in for a hug with a proud look on his face. When the cupcakes had been placed in the oven, he began his 'Misa-chan' jokes again.
When Misaki had gotten tired of the teasing, she dipped a plastic spoon into the bag of flour and flicked it at Takumi. He responded by reaching in with his hand and throwing a handful straight at her. This led to a full-on battle, resulting in an egg cracked over Takumi's head and Misaki coughing up flour, among other things. They both ended up on the floor- Misaki had slipped on some vegetable oil and dragged Takumi down with her- but despite the mess they had made, and their ruined clothes, they were both in tears from laughing so hard.
"You're an idiot, Usui!" Misaki laughed, attempting to wipe some butter off her blouse.
"You're an idiot, Usui" Takumi laughed back, brushing some flour off his shirt.
"Well I supposed we're both idiot Usuis." Misaki giggled, picking pieces of eggshell out of her husband's hair. When Takumi leaned in to kiss her, Misaki pulled back. "Ew! I'm not kissing you, you've got salt all over your lips!"
"Actually this is sugar, Misa-chan. it's sweet." Takumi leaned in once again, and this time Misaki made no effort to refuse.
"Oh, well in that case..." Misaki smiled as their lips met.
ding!
"Oh! The cupcakes are done!" Misaki exclaimed, pulling herself off of Takumi. They had gotten a little carried away after ending up on the floor, and one thing had led to another, leaving them both shirtless.
"Aw, we didn't get to the fun part" Takumi pouted as Misaki got up.
"Hey, are you telling me you didn't enjoy kissing?" Misaki asked with a frown, walking behind him to get to the oven. In place of an oven mitt she used a small towel and reached into the oven to grab the cupcake tin.
"No, but what's even more fun than kissing is the part that comes next. You know, the part where we have s-"
"I know I know!" Misaki blurted out loudly in embarrassment. "Ow! Shit!" She yelped- she had accidentally jerked her hand straight into contact with burning metal.
"What's wrong?" Takumi asked, turning around suddenly. She turned to face him with a glare and held up her right hand. The side of it was all red from where it had touched the metal.
"This is your fault, idiot!" She ran to the sink to run her hand under cold water. Her sudden flare of anger had caught him off guard, but he quickly walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
"I'm sorry. I didn't realize you had your hands in the oven, or I wouldn't have said anything." Takumi apologized, leaning down to kiss her cheek gently.
"Whatever, I guess it's not all your fault" Misaki sighed. "It's not burned that badly either."
"I can run to the convenience store and buy a bandage" Takumi said. With out waiting for her to respond, he let go of her and rushed to the door.
"Wait!" She yelled. He stopped.
"What's the matter?"
"Uh... you don't have a shirt on and you're drenched in everything we put in those cupcakes" Misaki said, looking him up and down.
"I supposed you're right" Takumi realized. "Well, I'll hop in the shower for a minute, then go to the store, okay?"
"Okay" Misaki smiled. "Thank you."
"Anything for you, sweetheart." He flashed a toothy smile before heading into the bathroom.
When Takumi had left the hotel room, Misaki turned off the water and went to grab her phone. She had been planning to lie to Takumi later, saying she had to take a 'business call' to get some time away from him and make reservations for dinner, but this had given her some alone time with out even needing to lie!
"Hello, this is Golden Rose Restaurant, how may I help you?"
"Hi, I was wondering if it was possible to reserve a table for two for tonight? Are there any open times?"
"Actually, we had a couple cancel an hour ago, so we do have a table open at 8, if that works for you."
"Yes, thank you! I suppose I'll reserve it then."
"Alright, name please?"
"Misaki Usui, U-S-U-I."
"Thank you very much! We will see you at 8!"
"Thanks!" Misaki replied happily, before putting her phone back down. She smiled at the thought of how lucky she was. She had looked up that whole list of restaurants earlier, since she figured it would be hard to reserve a table the day of, but the first one she called had an open spot!
She then decided to hop in the shower, since she was still covered in the remnants of their food battle. After she was done, she slipped into a change of clothes- some sweatpants and a tank top- and headed to the kitchen to start cleaning up the mess.
"You shouldn't be cleaning by yourself. How's your hand?" Takumi asked when he walked in.
"It stings a little, but I'm fine" Misaki said, though she winced when her husband took her hand.
"You always act so tough, Misaki" he chuckled as he wrapped her hand.
"Hey! It's not acting, I am tough" she huffed, looking away.
"Well, anyways, I'll help you finish cleaning the kitchen, and then we'll decorate the cupcakes, alright?" Takumi smiled, picking up a towel. She nodded in agreement, and so they cleaned up, then headed to the cupcake tin.
"How about I start?" Takumi said, picking up a tube of vanilla frosting. Misaki observed closely as he gently directed the tube around the little cupcake, starting first with the layer of vanilla, then creating a flower design with purple icing. Of course, it looked perfect. "Alright, your turn. Just do your best" Takumi taunted his wife.
"Shut up! Mine will look better" she snapped.
With shaking hands, she took the tube of vanilla frosting in her hands. I can do this, I can do this she thought to herself. When she had managed to cover the top, she pulled back, proud of her work. It didn't look that bad so far! Next, she picked up the smaller, thinner tube of purple icing. This would be the tricky part- the actual design. Mimicking Takumi's technique, she slowly moved her hands in a spiral motion. However, she accidentally squeezed the tube too much when she was half way through- causing a glob of purple to spurt out and ruin the flower. "Damn it!" she cursed. Her anger only rose when she heard a snicker coming from beside her. "Don't laugh at me!" She yelled, smacking his arm.
"Let's just try again, okay?" Takumi said, trying to cover up his laugh while looking at the purple blob.
Taking another cupcake from the tin, Misaki grabbed the vanilla tube once again and began with the base. This part she could do pretty well, since it was just a flat layer of frosting. Then, she took up the purple tube and carefully began making a flower once again. This time, she was able to maintain a fairly even amount of pressure on the tube, and managed to finish the flower. "Ha! Easy." Misaki smiled.
Takumi looked at the finished cupcake. The vanilla layer was uneven, much different from the smooth layer he had applied. The purple flower was shaky- but at least it was recognizable. "Nice work, my little maid" he grinned, rubbing her head softly. "It looks delicious."
They finished the rest of the cupcakes with the same design. While Takumi's half looked ready to be presented at a formal event, Misaki's were uneven and sloppy. Nonetheless, they turned out better than Takumi had been expecting. She had messed up a few, but the majority were well done, for her standards.
"I'm impressed, Misaki" Takumi said, giving her a kiss on her forehead.
"Thanks!" Misaki beamed. She set them all neatly on a tray. "Let's bring them to the table to eat- ahh!" She had only taken a few steps before she felt her foot slip. It seemed they hadn't managed to clean all the oil off the floor. She braced herself for the impact that never came- Takumi had caught her before she hit the floor.
"Are you alright?" Takumi asked her, helping her back on her feet.
"Yeah, thanks" Misaki sighed. "Wait- the cupcakes!" She looked down at the floor to see that the cupcakes hadn't been saved from the fall. Just her luck- the tin had flipped upside down, allowing all of them to press icing-first into the tile floor.
He looked down. "Oh. That's unfortunate" He noted, bending down to pick up the tin. "Well, we can still eat them if you want- the floor's clean. They're a little squashed and they've lost some icing, but other than that, they'll still taste just as good."
Misaki bent down to help. "Yeah, I guess we can still eat them."
She sighed once again- so far this day was not going well. Not only had she burned her hand, but she had also just ruined the cupcakes they had worked so hard on. I just wanted this day to be perfect, like yesterday Misaki thought to herself. Well, it's only lunch now. I've still got the rest of the day to make it up to him.