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They had been at this for hours. Tamaki’s brows were furrowed in intense concentration, quietly mixing the whipping cream and blueberry puree while Mitsuki watched. Tamaki stopped in an instant, lifting the spatula to see if peaks had started forming in the mixture yet, and Mitsuki smiled. It had taken a couple of tries, but he was learning well, and was a dedicated and attentive student.
However, Tamaki’s concentration was shattered the instant the timer on the oven started to go off.
“It’s ready?” The younger boy’s head popped right up, spinning around and nearly climbing out of his seat. Mitsuki was quick to act, placing a firm hand on his shoulder and pushing down gently.
“To come out of the oven, sure,” Mitsuki said in way of warning. He grabbed for the oven mitts, striding over to the oven and lowering the door. Instantly, heat and aroma flooded the small kitchen area. The smell was rich and fresh, the scent of chocolate and vanilla dancing around the room. Mitsuki grinned, grabbing for the cake and quickly checking for any flaws in the form. “There! Practically perfect, see? All those eggs weren't sacrificed in vain after all, Tamaki!”
It was only a playful tease, but Tamaki’s shoulders still sunk a little bit. “You make cracking those things look easy, Mikki. It’s not fair.” He only pouted for a moment, climbing from his chair to take a look at the cake. “So we decorate next?” There was a small smile on his face, and his eyes were trained on the cake with nothing less than the sparkle of excitement. He had worked hard, after all. Mitsuki decided that a little excitement was in order.
But perhaps, not yet.
“Next, we let it cool,” he said with a wink, and Tamaki only sighed in response. “Hey! No need to rush things, right? After all, you said you wanted to learn. I’m only going to give the best education to my pupils, no matter what!”
Tamaki nodded once, finding no room to argue with Mitsuki’s words. “Can we at least stick it in the fridge or something? To make it cool faster? We’ve been at it all day.”
“It’s barely 2pm,” Mitsuki was quick to fire back. “We’ll let it cool on the rack, to prevent the sponge from breaking and cracking. It shouldn’t take too long. We can hang out together in the meantime!” Mitsuki grabbed for the whipped icing that Tamaki had just finished preparing, putting it back in the fridge as Tamaki sighed again, bored and defeated. Mitsuki decided to ignore it.
They sat back down at the table and let silence settle between them for a long moment. Mitsuki ran over the thoughts in his head, wondering exactly when the best time to start up conversation was. Tamaki was already looking down at his phone, thumbing through pictures and glancing up every couple minutes, over towards the cake waiting for them on the counter.
“Why cake?” Mitsuki finally asked, pulling the boy’s attention back over to him with a start. Tamaki only stared at him, their eyes meeting for a long moment as the younger man waited for Mitsuki to elaborate. Mitsuki cleared his throat, his lips slowly turning into a smile. “You told me you wanted to make a cake. But really, you could have asked me to learn anything. You know that, right? I’m not some kind of one-hit wonder.” The question had been in the back of his mind all afternoon, and even before that. “I could teach you how to make pudding, you know.”
Tamaki blinked, as if in surprise. Mitsuki almost laughed; he wondered if the thought simply hadn’t occurred to the high school boy.
“Why would I do that?” Tamaki than asked, simply, as though it were entirely obvious. “I like Mikki’s pudding. So why would I want to make my own? It’s not like you’re never going to be around to make it for me.”
Mitsuki realized exactly how off-base he had been, and his throat suddenly felt tight. He glanced away from Tamaki, his eyes resting on the cake. It hadn’t nearly been long enough, but he still got out of his chair anyway, to check to see if the sponge had cooled enough to begin.
“Right,” he finally said with a nod. “I’m always going to be here to make you pudding, Tamaki-kun,” he glanced back at him, giving a reassuring smile. Tamaki’s shoulders sunk in relief, and the smallest smile crept across his own lips. Mitsuki examined the cake, narrowing his eyes. Perhaps it wasn’t quite ready to ice, but he could still carve off the excess sponge to make it look a little more presentable. He pulled out his knife, wedging it firmly into the cake. He spun it on the tray quickly, taking off the top layer and revealing the blueberry mousse they had layered inside.
Tamaki let out a small sound of admiration, standing up to get a better look. “Woah,” he muttered, leaning in with nothing less than sheer fascination. He stared at the cake with intensity. “We made all that?”
Mitsuki crossed his arms with a smug grin, nodding happily as he soaked in the indirect praise. “We sure did! Once we teach you how to properly crack an egg, you’re going to be a real contender for star baker. You could become my permanent assistant!” He paused, mulling it over as he looked at Tamaki, still enraptured by the cake. “Iori might get a little jealous though, so we might have to invite him to help out…”
Tamaki finally looked up, as if Iori’s name at broken him out of his trance. “Eh? No…that’s fine. This cake is meant for Iorin anyway, so I don’t want to ruin the surprise.”
Mitsuki almost sputtered. “What?”
“Well yeah, Iorin likes Mikki’s baking the best, right? I can’t compete with your bear pancakes. So I thought this would be fine too.” He said this as though it had been said before, as though Mitsuki had known from the very beginning. Mitsuki’s mind started racing all over again. His original question had finally been answered in full, but suddenly there were so many more that needed to be filled in.
Without thinking, the words started to spill out of him rapid fire. “Why did you suddenly get the urge to make Iori a cake? His birthday was months ago. And why do you feel the need to compete with my bear pancakes? What do you mean that the cake will be ‘fine too’? You could have told me this was for Iori, you know! I would have picked out a recipe that would have suited him better! Or we could have gone shopping for more decorations! Do you like my brother or something?”
“I do. I love him,” Tamaki nodded, with all the straightforward simplicity that he approached everything with. It halted everything Mitsuki had to say in a second, nearly stopping the older man’s heart. Iori never had been particularly popular in school. Even Tamaki noted frequently how few friends the boy had. So for someone to have such steadfast and honest feelings for him…
“Love is a pretty strong word,” Mitsuki trailed off, feeling more than a little dumb. It was just like Tamaki to speak so self-assuredly. “You still could have told me sooner!” He then fired back, not willing to exactly let this go. “I could have helped even more!”
“You’re always helping. And when you’re not, you’re always trying to think of ways that you can help out anyway,” Tamaki pointed out, neither as a compliment nor with any venom in his voice. It was a simple fact, but it still managed to stop Mitsuki in his tracks. “You don’t have to hold my hand this time.”
“…right.” Mitsuki wasn’t exactly sure how to respond to that. It was easy to forget how competent Tamaki really was. He was sometimes childish and simplistic, but he was by no means a child. He had seen and felt just as much as every member of IDOLiSH7, if not even more and even deeper. And he came out of it with a keen understanding of everyone’s emotions. Even his own. It was easy to want to pamper him, and to give him the family he never had. To spoil him and punish him as one would a child.
But when Tamaki looked away from the cake, their eyes met. And Mitsuki could see the young man that he truly was. One who wanted to make sure everyone else was safe and happy. One who wanted to make his baby brother happy. Mitsuki smiled, at the mere thought. And Tamaki sighed, his shoulders sinking as he smiled back.
“Well!” Mitsuki finally said, clapping his hands. “Let’s not hesitate then! I think we’ve both waited long enough, don’t you?” Tamaki only responded with a single nod, but his eyes were fully focused, with fresh determination. Mitsuki grinned, full of new vigor himself. He went to the fridge to grab the frosting again, stirring it to keep it as soft as he could.
When he turned back around, Tamaki was staring at him again, the soft smile still on his face. “Hey, Mikki?”
Mitsuki tilted his head, encouraging him to continue as he set the bowl aside and grabbed for the blueberry garnishes.
“Thanks for that,” Tamaki then said. “For always helping. Iorin likes that about you too. We all do. I want to be like that someday.”
Mitsuki blinked, the words taking longer to sink in than they probably should have. He looked over towards the decorations, searching for the correct words. Tamaki always spoke so frankly. Like everything was so black and white. Like it was so simple. Like Mitsuki was the perfect big brother, always willing to lend a hand, and never truly made mistakes. He took a slow breath, looking up at the youngest member of the unit, smiling until his eyes began to water. “Tamaki…you already are.”