Chapter Text
What a year it had been.
Between rising as Japan’s heroes, defeating kaiju, working for EGIS, and (hopefully) defeating Tregear, it certainly was a busy time for Hiroyuki and the Tri-Squad.
But now things had quieted down a bit. The frequency of kaiju attacks had lessened significantly, so EGIS was mostly hired for bodyguarding these days.
A lot had changed since the fall of Tregear, Taiga thought.
Given the hope given to them by Earth’s people and the time they had to recover, the Tri-Squad- himself, Titas, and Fuma- they were able to regain enough light energy to materialize themselves, albeit only at a small size. Conveniently, they were small enough to operate in an apartment made for human use.
That was why Taiga, self-proclaimed leader of the Tri-Squad, was reclining on a futon in Hiroyuki’s apartment. Hiroyuki had the day off, and was out running errands. Titas and Fuma were in the next room playing Go, Fuma loudly insisting that “that move was totally legal, broski!” and Titas disagreeing. Taiga himself had been asleep when they started (him and Fuma staying up playing video games likely had something to do with it), so he missed out on the game.
As he felt his stomach rumble, Taiga realized that the game wasn’t the only thing he’d missed out on. He stretched himself out and got off the futon, making his way to the kitchen.
Taiga heard something jiggling the door lock, and it soon opened. To his relief, it was just Hiroyuki.
“Hey guys, I’m back!”
“What’s up?” Taiga replied, stifling a yawn.
Hiroyuki frowned. “Did you just wake up, Taiga? It’s noon.”
“Yeah… But I’m up now, aren’t I?”
“I guess you are.” Hiroyuki relented. He was reasonably certain that he did everything he had to do, but he still had the nagging feeling that he was forgetting something.
“Welp,” Taiga went, stretching out again, “I could go for some breakfast.”
“At noon?”
“Rules don’t exist, Hiroyuki.”
Taiga strode over and opened the fridge, Hiroyuki following.
Both of them stared for a few seconds.
Oh, so that’s what I forgot… Hiroyuki thought. “Fridge’s empty.”
“You know what else is empty? My stomach.” Taiga grumbled.
Hiroyuki gave his companion a look. “Wasn’t there a little bit in here after dinner last night?”
“Ah, well… noooo? ” Taiga grinned awkwardly, trying to stamp down the memory of him and Fuma snacking during a heated Tekken match.
“Taiga…”
“Fiiiine. It was Fuma.”
“And?” Hiroyuki stared.
“...and I may have had a little bit too. Maybe.”
Hiroyuki sighed. “Dude, I’ve been out all morning. I just got home, and I’m not in the mood to go grocery shopping.”
“But Hiroyuki, I’m starving!”
“And whose fault is that, Taiga?”
Beat.
“Fuma’s.”
...
“And mine...” Taiga added quietly. “But mostly Fuma.”
“What about me?” The ninja questioned as he and Titas came into the kitchen.
“You ate the last of the food, is what!” Taiga crossed his arms.
“Hey, you were the one who was pigging out last night!”
“Here we go again…” Titas muttered.
Hiroyuki then realized something.
“Hey!” he shouted, interrupting the burgeoning argument. “Did any of you guys eat today?”
A trio of “no”s was his answer. He then heard someone's stomach growl, though he couldn't pinpoint it.
“Okay then…”
Hiroyuki pressed his hand to his forehead. He was too tired to go out again, but his friends were all hungry. His eyes fell on one of the pamphlets he had left on the counter.
He made up his mind. “I’m ordering pizza.”
“Pizza?” Titas asked. “What’s that?”
“You’ll see, Titas.”
Hiroyuki ended up ordering two large pizzas, one cheese and one pepperoni. It was safe to go with the classics, he figured. The two large pizzas were part of a deal that included two sides, so Hiroyuki went with breadsticks and boneless wings. He hoped that would be enough to feed the four of them. A meal of that size normally would feed four people, but that didn’t factor in Taiga and Fuma’s appetites.
“The food should be here in about 45 minutes, they said.” Hiroyuki stated as he put down the phone.
“Eh… could be worse.” Fuma leaned against the fridge. Taiga muttered something about how hungry he was, and Titas left to retrieve the Go board.
45 minutes came and went.
“They should be here by now…” Taiga groaned from his side of the board.
“Patience, Taiga.”
The peal of the doorbell rang through the apartment, the answer to their prayers.
“Looks like the food’s here. Wait here, I’ll go and pay for it.”
The Tri-Squad could hear Hiroyuki talking with somebody else, something about a price, and a “Have a good day, sir”.
“You too.” Hiroyuki responded, and the door locked. He returned with a stack of four flat boxes, two large and two small, which he placed on the coffee table they used in lieu of an actual dining table. “Hey, could one of you guys get some napkins and paper plates?”
After Titas came back with the requested napkins and plates, Hiroyuki set all the boxes out side-by-side. He opened the two large boxes, revealing circular dough confections sliced into eighths and liberally coated with molten cheese everywhere but the edges, which had risen as a thick crust. One of them was polka-dotted with thin, reddish meat slices of some kind on it.
And by the stars, they smelled amazing.
“This is called pizza.” Hiroyuki spoke, unsure if the drooling Taiga and Fuma had even heard him. “I think it’s Italian, but it’s super popular in America.”
He lifted one slice of cheese pizza by the crust, supporting the other end with his hand even as gooey strands of cheese still connected it to the rest of the pizza. “You eat it like this.” he added, taking a bite out of the slice.
That appeared to snap Taiga and Fuma out of their trances. Without hesitation, they each took a slice of pepperoni and dug in.
I think I found my new favorite food~ Taiga thought blissfully, savoring the warm pizza sauce, spicy pepperoni, gooey cheeses and crunchy crust. Fuma would have agreed with him if his mouth wasn’t full.
“So? How do you guys like it?” Hiroyuki inquired.
“Amayshing.” Fuma said, not even stopping to swallow his food. A “yeah” came from Taiga between bites.
“Titas, what about you?”
“It’s good, Hiroyuki. Just… a bit greasy for me.” It’s probably quite unhealthy too, Titas added mentally, but he thought it rude to say out loud.
“Alright. There’s breadsticks and wings in the other boxes too.”
Fuma just about dove for the other two boxes, eager to try more of the tantalizing foods. Taiga also wanted a try, but he was still preoccupied with his slice.
The boneless wings had mild buffalo sauce on the side, in case whoever was eating didn’t like it. They were about the size of a thumb, coated in crispy brown breading and spices. The breadsticks were lightly browned on top, and sprinkled with salt, garlic, and crumbly cheese.
“They don’t look like wings.” Fuma remarked, examining the crispy wing in his hand. “Still looks good though.” He popped it in his mouth, crunching past the savory breading into hot, juicy white meat.
“Oh man Taiga, you have got to try this!”
“You need to try this, Fuma!” Taiga responded, his slice gone and replaced with a buttery, garlicky breadstick.
The rest of the dinner went on like that. Titas had a better time with the wings and breadsticks, and Fuma adored the wings and the pepperoni pizza. Taiga loved them all, especially after he discovered the buffalo sauce, even going so far as to dip pizza in it.
Hiroyuki was hoping for leftovers, but at the rate everything was being eaten, that wasn’t going to happen. Titas ate normally, but dear god Taiga and Fuma were bottomless.
Eventually, the inevitable happened.
All boxes had been emptied, except for a lone slice of cheese pizza. Titas turned it down, as he had already eaten enough. Hiroyuki was content with two slices of pizza and the breadstick he’d managed to grab.
That left Taiga and Fuma, who were now in a heated debate over who should have the last slice of pizza. Astonishing, since they were the ones who had eaten the majority of the food.
Looks like they learned another timeless human tradition, Hiroyuki thought as he laid back on the carpet. The battle for the last pizza slice.
“You two are gonna eat me out of house and home, you realize?”
“No we aren’t.” Taiga retorted. He was distracted just long enough for Fuma to snatch the last slice.
“Hey!”
Fuma just ran away, laughing like a maniac while Taiga chased him around the apartment.
Titas simply opted to let this situation sort itself out. He was just happy to nap on the soft carpet. As he dimmed his eyes, he vaguely realized that he was going to have to up his training regimen to make up for the greasy meal. But he didn’t care, since everyone was full, happy and satisfied.
Hiroyuki thought that Titas had the right idea, closing his own eyes. He quietly entertained the thought of some future pizza days before he too drifted off to sleep.