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“Wow. They’re calling this the snowstorm of the year!” Kyojuro comments as he watches the news on the TV while sipping his mug of tea. “They’re estimating about 12 to 24 inches of snow in a single day!”
Rolling his eyes, Akaza wanders over to his husband and loops his arms around the other’s waist, replying with amusement, “Y’know, they said that last year too. I feel like every snowstorm is announced as some weather event of the century. We literally live somewhere where weather like this is normal each winter, and yet people flock to grocery stores like it’s their last chance to get food and toiletries for several months!”
Kyojuro leans against Akaza and can’t help but laugh, kissing the other man’s cheek. “I know honey, you hate grocery shopping,” he teases, nosing along Akaza’s cheek until Akaza gets impatient and turns his head to kiss Kyojuro with a huff. “I appreciate you grocery shopping for us last night though!”
“Of course Kyo, I wasn’t expecting you to go grocery shopping after teaching at your iaijutsu dojo all day when I had time.” Akaza presses his lips to Kyojuoro’s jaw and smiles softly. “I was supposed to go in today, but with the snowstorm happening I canceled all my classes,” he adds, “so it looks like we have a snow day.”
Making a noise of delight, Kyojuro turns in Akaza’s arms and exclaims happily, “We can spend today in together then! When was the last time we had a day like that?”
Humming thoughtfully, Akaza tilts his head to the side and says hesitantly, “I think it’s been about a month? To be fair, we’ve both been swamped with many of our students testing to move up their ranks. But, either way,” he kisses a smiling Kyojuro’s cheek and grins, “I’m certainly going to take advantage of all this free time!” Pulling out his phone, Akaza quickly unlocks it and taps away at it with one hand, asking his husband, “Do you still want to try making that strawberry shortcake recipe Tanjiro recommended to you? I picked up all the ingredients for it yesterday and we have enough to double the recipe if you’d like.”
A startled yelp leaves Akaza’s mouth when Kyojuro wraps him up in a crushing hug and lifts him off the floor, voice booming around the house, “I am so lucky to have such a thoughtful husband! To the kitchen!” He throws a cackling Akaza over one shoulder and strides over to the kitchen, miraculously not spilling a single drop of his tea as he does so.
About half an hour in, Akaza is calling Tanjiro on Facetime while Kyojuro scrapes the burnt biscuits off their baking sheet and into the trash can. “Tanjiro!” he smiles when the call connects, smiling brightly at his laptop screen, “we need your help!”
Tilting his head curiously, Tanjiro asks, “What do you need?”
“Well, we’re trying out that strawberry shortcake recipe you recommended, but…we may have burnt the biscuits, and we’re not sure why?” Akaza turns the laptop so Tanjiro can see Kyojuro furiously scrubbing at the baking sheet in the sink. “Honey, that sheet may not be salvageable, which is okay!” he calls out, “We have more!”
Tanjiro can’t help but laugh at the sight of his sensei turning around and pointing at Akaza (and by proxy, him) with a bright yellow sponge gripped in a pink rubber gloved-hand. His hair is tied back in a messy ponytail that almost slaps him in the face with the force of his dramatic turn as he replies jokingly, “That is quitter talk Akaza! We are not quitters!”
“Darling, I love you, but that thing is probably burnt beyond repair,” he brings the laptop over to the sink and points it at the pan lying in the sink, “those burnt rings are not coming off.”
“Oh geez sensei, yeah I agree with Akaza sensei there. What did you do?” Tanjiro asks incredulously, “It’s not like either you or Akaza sensei are particularly bad in the kitchen. You’re both pretty good at cooking and baking, actually!”
With a shrug and a laugh, Kyojuro relents and turns off the water, setting down the sponge and taking off the gloves. “I’m not sure Tanjiro. We followed your biscuit recipe step by step, but something must have gone wrong somewhere. Maybe we misread the temperature or the measurements of something?”
Akaza makes a noise of disbelief. “There’s no way!” Still, he sets down the laptop and joins Kyojuro in intensely looking through the printed copy of the recipe. While they pore over the paper, Tanjiro absentmindedly looks around their kitchen, only to focus in on the oven.
“Uh, sensei,” Tanjiro blinks, then peers closer to the screen, “did you by chance set the oven to ‘broil’ instead of 425 degrees?”
Both men look up at Tanjiro simultaneously, blinking at him. “…come again?” Akaza says blankly.
“Ah, well,” he gestures helplessly to his screen, “I’m not certain, but I think the oven was accidentally set to broil instead of 425?”
As one, they turn to look at the oven where the word ‘BROIL’ is blinking at them in bright green letters where it should say ‘425’. “…Akaza, remember when you bumped against the oven and we heard a beeping sound that we just thought was the timer accidentally getting turned on?” Kyojuro finally mentions.
Rubbing his forehead with a groan, Akaza mutters curses at the oven while Kyojuro and Tanjiro burst into laughter at the pink-haired man aggressively jabbing at the touch-sensitive oven until it reads ‘425’. “I can’t believe it was that, oh my god, I was just trying to help you make the frosting when I hit the buttons with my elbow!” he complains. It isn’t that funny of a comment, but when Akaza inadvertently bumps into the oven again while trying to sit on the counter and it beeps ominously, that does it in.
Tanjiro is caught in a fit of giggles, shoulders shaking and head falling onto the desk with an audible thud. He’s laughing too hard to speak, Kyojuro not that different, and Akaza stands there smiling fondly at these two men as they desperately try to catch their breaths, only to make eye-contact and tumble into laughter again. “Alright boys, I think you guys have laughed at me enough,” he grins when the laughter finally subsides and is replaced with heaving gasps of air. “Able to breathe there Kamado?”
Holding apart his index finger and thumb by an inch, Tanjiro wheezes out, “A little,” and then wipes at his eyes, leaning back in his chair and forcing himself to take deep, controlled breaths. Mimicking his student, Kyojuro stands up straight and breathes deeply, chest rising and falling. “Gods sensei, I don’t think I’ve laughed that hard in a while,” he comments in between deep inhales, massaging his sides. “Feels like I just had an ab workout!”
“I am pleasantly sore,” Kyojuro tacks on, rubbing his chest with a stray laugh, “I’m not sure why that was so funny.”
“Sometimes the universe is unexpectedly funny.” Akaza throws an arm over Kyojuro’s shoulders and kisses his temple. “Anyways, thank you for answering our question Tanjiro! We’ll let you go now. See you later this week, yes?” he waves to the camera, grinning as a familiar flame-colored head of hair pops into view.
“Bye Akaza sensei! Bye aniki!” Senjuro waves, cheeks flushed pink in delight. “Please don’t burn anything else!”
Kyojuro laughs, “No promises otouto! Love you both.”
Tanjiro and Senjuro sign off with twin calls of “Love you!” before they disconnect. It’s oddly silent in the kitchen afterwards, and Akaza notices Kyojuro’s smile falter ever so slightly. “Missing your brother?” he asks understandingly, sliding off the counter to wrap his arms around Kyojuro in a back hug.
Leaning against Akaza with a chuckle, Kyojuro hums, “Just a bit. I know he moved out two years ago, but we’ve lived together for so long, sometimes I miss having him around.” He tilts his head back to brush a kiss over Akaza’s cheek, smiling gently at his husband. “But I know he’s happily living with Tanjiro, and I’m quite content myself. I get to spend the rest of my life with you after all.”
“Sap,” Akaza kisses Kyojuro sweetly, “I’m the lucky one.” They look at each other for a long moment, twin smiles on their faces, before Akaza bumps their noses together and asks, “Want to continue baking?
“Yes!” Turning in Akaza’s arms, Kyojuro guides them over to the kitchen and grabs the recipe, waving it around and half-shouting, half-laughing, “No broiling our biscuits this time! We’ve learned our lesson!”
“Hah!” Akaza buries his laugh in Kyojuro’s shoulder, snickering rather loudly, “That’s the hope anyway, honey. Now let’s go!”
About an hour and a half later, they are cuddled up in front of the television with a slice each of perfectly-made strawberry shortcake. Kyojuro has his tea beside him in a mug, and Akaza is sipping on a tall glass of iced coffee because “he’s one of few people I know who drinks cold things in the winter”. Mulan is playing on the TV, volume softened as the two chat about their respective dojos and their students. Soon though, voices peter out until the only sounds to be heard are from the TV, the wind rattling the house, and the soft breaths of the sleeping couple. Kyojuro is sprawled out on the sofa, plates and cups set aside on the floor, and Akaza is cosied up on his chest, legs intertwined and head tucked into the crook of Kyojuro’s neck.
It’s cold outside, snow piling up and swirling around, but inside it is cozy and warm, fireplace crackling and breaths mingling. Love is present in this home, steady and kind and true, and perhaps that is what makes them the warmest part of the house.
Akaza Soyama and Kyojuro Rengoku. Forever intertwined.