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“We need a dog,” is Tsutomu’s greeting when Yuutarou gets back from an away game. He’s spent the weekend on the other side of the country, traveled nine hours on the most uncomfortable bus he’s ever sat on, and that’s all he gets from his boyfriend. No kiss, no hug, not ‘Hi, welcome home, Yuutarou’ or ‘I missed you’. Not even ‘Maybe we could adopt a dog’.
Usually, by now Tsutomu would be taking his travel bag from him, taking his hand to pull him towards the couch to relax while he orders them some food. Today, Tsutomu doesn’t seem to have any intention of getting up from where he’s sitting, a determined look on his face as he stares at him.
“We need a dog,” he repeats when all Yuutarou does in response is blink at him from where he’s still standing by the genkan.
“Why?” Yuutarou asks, not entirely surprised by the sudden demand. It’s not like they haven’t talked about it, but still…
“What do you mean why?” Tsutomu looks at him as if the question made no sense whatsoever. “I know you want one, too!”
“That’s—That’s not what I mean,” Yuutarou huffs, taking his shoes off and stepping into their living room, dropping his bag on the floor. “Why now?”
“Why not?” Tsutomu shrugs. “We’re finally done with college, just moved to a bigger apartment, isn’t this like… The perfect time?” Talking faster than usual, Tsutomu keeps avoiding his gaze and that can only mean one thing: he’s trying to get away from saying what’s really in his mind.
“Tsutomu…” Yuutarou raises his eyebrows at him, plopping down on the couch next to him. Tsutomu mutters something under his breath, a blush spreading through his cheeks. Well familiar with this look, Yuutarou scoots closer, wrapping his arms around Tsutomu’s waist and burying his nose in his hair. It smells like lavender and something else he’s never really been able to describe, other than ‘it smells like Tsutomu’. It smells like home. “What is it?”
“I miss you when you’re away for a game…” Tsutomu admits, flustered as though the admission is something new for him, after years of dating.
It still makes Yuutarou’s heart melt, after years of dating. “I miss you too, Tomu, but—”
“You said we could once we both finished college…” Tsutomu cuts him off.
“Let’s sleep on it, yeah?” Yuutarou suggests. He knows that pulling back to look at his face is a mistake. He knows, yet he still does it and as he expected, he’s met with Tsutomu’s big, bright puppy eyes and a pout. He’s never been able to resist that face, not since that first kiss behind the dorms after curfew, hiding from their teammates at training camp.
Tsutomu’s more than aware of that fact, if the grin that takes over his face is anything to go by as he all but jumps to hug him, pushing him down to lie on his back on the couch. He doesn’t even need Yuutarou to say yes, he knows he won, but it doesn’t really feel like losing when it means Tsutomu peppering kisses all over his face, gushing over how much he’s going to pamper Haruna. And it’s so Tsutomu to think of a name for their dog before even agreeing to adopt one. Yuutarou never stood a chance, not when Tsutomu had already made up his mind.
It’s going to be a lot of work and responsibilities, and they’ll have to find someone to take over from them when they’re both away for a game, yet he can’t find it in himself to complain. It’s an idea they’d discussed more than a few times since realizing they were both in for the long run. It had always been maybes, one day. They might as well make it a reality, now. Or tomorrow—tonight he’d rather bask in the warmth of his boyfriend’s weight on top of him, the lips sliding along the line of his jaw or—
“Is something burning?” Yuutarou asks, scrunching his nose.
Tsutomu doesn’t seem to care about the smell at all, much more interested in kissing his neck. Any other day Yuutarou would’ve been more than eager to let him do as he pleases; it’s only been two days but he missed his boyfriend’s gentle touch. But the smell only grows stronger and harder to ignore, and as much as he’d very much like to keep going, they can’t adopt a dog if their apartment burns down.
“Tsutomu,” he insists, patting Tsutomu’s shoulder, “Something’s burning.”
Tsutomu pulls back with a groan, sitting back on Yuutarou’s thighs. He blinks once, twice, until something finally seems to click in his mind. “Shit,” he curses under his breath, jumping to his feet and hurrying to the kitchen.
Despite his better judgment, Yuutarou follows after him only to find Tsutomu kneeling in front of the oven. Stopping on his tracks, Yuutarou just stares at him for a moment, surprised. Not so much at the smoke coming from whatever it was Tsutomu was cooking, but at the fact that Tsutomu was cooking. Tsutomu doesn’t cook. He’s always been terrible at it, as the mess of their kitchen and the smell of burnt food reminds him, yet there he is, frowning at the tray as if it had personally offended him.
“Let me see,” Yuutarou offers, peeking over Tsutomu’s shoulder. It doesn’t look so bad, only… well, burnt.
“I’m sorry I ruined dinner…” Tsutomu mutters, his bangs framing his face as he looks down at the tray.
“You didn’t ruin anything,” Yuutarou says, a fond smile curving his lips. “We just need to scrape away some of it and it will be perfectly fine.” Not moving from his spot, Tsutomu doesn’t seem to be convinced. “Why don’t you start cleaning up while I finish this?” Yuutarou offers, giving him a gentle push.
“Mkay,” Tsutomu nods, shoulders slumped as he drags his feet to the kitchen sink.
Pressing a kiss to his temple as he moves to the counter, Yuutarou sets to work. Salvaging Tsutomu’s attempt at cooking doesn’t take him half as long as he thought it would, and soon enough they’re back on the couch, eating while they watch a re-run of today’s match. Tsutomu’s still quiet, but Yuutarou has long learned he just needs to let him go through whatever is bothering him and he’ll open up once he wants to talk about it.
“Sorry you had to help when you just got back, Yuu…” He says, voice barely above a whisper. “I just wanted to surprise you.”
“It’s okay, Tomu,” Yuutarou tries to reassure him, taking both their empty plates and placing them back on the table. Wrapping an arm around his waist to pull him closer, he brushes his bangs away from his forehead to leave a kiss there. “I appreciate you trying to do something for me.”
“It’s your fault for being so distracting…” Tsutomu says, the corner of his lips quirking up.
“Oh,” Yuutarou huffs a laugh, “I apologize, I’ll keep my distance next time, if you can’t manage to stay away…”
“Yeah…” Tsutomu giggles, leaning in for a short kiss. “You better do that.”
Not giving him time to go chase his lips, Tsutomu pulls back, pressing their foreheads together. He’s biting his bottom lip, the most curious glint in his eyes and Yuutarou doesn’t even need to read his thoughts to know what he’s about to ask. “Are we still getting a dog?”
Yuutarou wants to say they never actually agreed they’d be getting that dog. He wants to say it’s unfair of him to ask when making the most adorable face that he could never dream to say no to. Instead, he kisses the tip of his nose and then his cheek, murmuring against his skin, “Yes, Tomu, we’re still getting a dog.”