Work Text:
Yuuta lay in bed, his head propped up against a pile of pillows. He idly flipped his book’s page and moved the crumpled receipt that he had been using as a bookmark to the side.
Maki stepped into their room and paused at the peaceful sight of her husband. Well, that wasn’t going to last long, not if she could help it. Moving with stealth, she approached the bed. She couldn’t tell if he even knew she was there; either way, she would proceed with the plan. And she launched herself over the bed so that she landed across his stomach.
“Ooof!” The book fell from Yuuta's hands and landed on top of his startled face.
“Pfft, I’m sorry,” she covered her mouth with her hand in an attempt to curb her laughter.
“No, you’re not,” he plucked the book from his face, which revealed his peeved expression. “Ma’am.”
“Don’t ma’am me, sir,” she raised a brow.
“Don’t sir me, miss.”
“Don’t miss me, buster.”
“Don’t buster me, uh,” he paused, not sure how to complete his sentence.
“Hah, I win,” Maki grinned as she propped her elbows on his chest and rested her face in the palm of her hands.
Despite Yuuta’s initial annoyance, he couldn’t help but return her smile. He never could stay mad at her.
“What are you reading?”
“Was, you mean.”
“Answer the question,” she huffed, but her smile could still be heard in her voice.
“It’s a really good thriller, nice pacing, suspenseful,” he answered breezily.
“I’m curious now,” she reached over and picked up the discarded book only to see that it was an AED manual. “ Yuuta .”
An impish laugh escaped him. A fuzzy feeling formed in her chest, his laughter was one of her favorite things about him. It reminded her of innocence and being carefree. She lowered her hand and brushed his wayward bangs out of his face.
He scrunched his brows together quizzically, an unasked question stuck on his lips.
“Gosh, why are you so cute?”
“Cause I can be,” he wiggled his brows rapidly.
Maki quickly placed her hands over his expressive brows. “I caught them, they’re mine now.”
“Take good care of them, they’re needy creatures.”
“Noted,” she chuckled and leaned closer.
The kitchen timer rang, startling them both.
“Oh, the pizza,” Yuuta turned his head in the direction of the kitchen.
“Wait,” she sat up, annoyed that she had been interrupted so rudely. Wait, she could smell faint traces of a bitter scent. “Is it burnt?” Without waiting for an answer, she jumped up and made her way to the kitchen.
Yuuta quickly followed after her. “Oh—”
A haze filled the kitchen and the stench of carbon stung their nostrils.
“What did you do to the pizza?” Maki demanded as she ran over to the kitchen window and threw it open.
“Tried to cook it?” He offered innocently and he turned off the oven.
His wife made her way over to where he stood. Her eyes grew wide at the sight of the blackened pizza. “You didn’t try to cook it, that was attempted arson.”
“What’s wrong with attempted arson?” Yuuta looked at her with his big, blue puppy eyes, which made him look like the complete opposite of someone who wanted to burn a building down.
“Gah,” Maki scrunched her face up, not wanting to cave to his adorableness. While she normally appreciated his eyes, it didn't bode well with her when he used them to his advantage. “You’re supposed to put out fires, not start them.” She crossed her arms, maintaining her disapproval.
“Toge and I are just EMTs, we have nothing to do with the extinguishing of fires,” he corrected her as he dropped the pizza in the trash. It hit the bottom of the can with a dull thud. “In fact, we are much more likely to start a fire than to put one out . . .” He looked very proud of his statement.
That so? She wasn’t about to let him get away with that declaration unchallenged. “OK, so besides murdering pizza, what are other ways you’ve almost started fires?”
Yuuta's face lit up, delighted that she asked. “Toge showed me this really cool trick,” he held up a finger, “hang on a moment, let me grab a couple of things,” and like that, he disappeared.
“Maybe I shouldn’t have asked . . .” Maki muttered to herself. For the most part, Yuuta was the quiet, calm one and she found that she needed that, given her own intense personality. He was often the voice of reason, but sometimes there were days where she had to fill that role. And she had a feeling that would be happening tonight.
“So,” Yuuta burst back into the kitchen with her can of hair spray and lighter in hand.
“Uh, what?” Maki gave her husband a look that bordered between confusion and disapproval.
Wait . . . Hairspray, alcohol, an aerosol product, and fire. It hit her, Yuuta was about to demonstrate a personal sized flame thrower. Apparently he had used up all of his common sense for the day.
“Yuuta Okkotsu, don’t you fucking dare!”
Yuuta froze. Maki marched up to him and wrenched the items out of his hands.
“H-hey, you asked.”
She took a deep breath and glanced down at the hairspray and lighter. “Yeah, yeah, I did.” She looked back at him with flustered expression. “I swear, you are the most unexpectedly chaotic person I know. And Toge isn’t helping! That imp.”
“So . . . no flame thrower demonstration?” Yuuta asked mournfully. Despite his tone, she could detect his playfulness.
“Sprout,” she sighed, suppressing her smile, “I love you, but no .”
“Gosh darn it, it was worth a try,” he chuckled. “Oh . . . so what are we going to do for dinner now?”
“That’s a good question,” Maki placed the items on the counter, tired from the night's escapades and potentially attempted arson.
“We have another frozen pizza.”
“Alright, but this time, I’m cooking,” she dramatically pointed her finger at him, “you will sit and observe. In fact, I will buy you a pizza cooking manual.”
“Ooh, I'm special," Yuuta grinned at her.
She allowed her smile to fully replace her serious expression. “Of course you are, you always were.”