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“Flour?”
“Check!”
“Eggs?”
“Check!”
“Cream and Yogurt?”
“Check!”
“Butter?”
“Check!”
“Sugar?”
“Check!”
“And most importantly…” Aira checked every ingredient on the list, “Strawberries?”
“All check!” Hiiro raises a whole basket of Strawberries above his head. One strawberry was cheeky and fell off him, earning an ‘Ow!’ from him in the process.
Aira could only groan, “Put those down! Tsk tsk.” He grabbed the fallen strawberry and rinsed it briefly with water before putting it back in the basket. He set up his tablet on the kitchen counter, pulling up a video tutorial online and setting the volume up.
He paused the video, looking at Hiiro. “Wait! Apron check!”
Hiiro’s eyes widen as he runs up to the clothing rack in the kitchen to get an apron, “Right!” He hung the apron on his neck and tied it on his way back until he felt something tug his head down low.
“And you need this for your hair!” He felt a small twinge of pain as the rubber of a hair net slapped his forehead, earning a small ‘Ouch’ from him. “It’s not that painful,” Aira puts his own hair net as well and Hiiro could only giggle. “But it is!” The blonde could only imagine the shit-eating grin he has right now and immediately hisses, “No kisses.”
He turned to a wonderful pout that made him giggle and giddy inside. Only if Kohaku joined them today.
Well, that would ruin the surprise, no?
Although it would have been a waste if Kohaku hadn’t known the things that went today, so he decided to film their little baking session on his phone just on the other side of the room.
“Baking operations, begin!” Hiiro fetched a bowl from the cupboard and looked at the other side of the room. “Hello, everyone! Choriisu~! Today we are cooking Strawberry Shortcake for Crazy:B’s Oukawa Kohaku for his birthday! I’m joined by my beloved unitmate, Shiratori Aira, to help me bake the tastiest cake the world will ever taste!” He giggled as he tried to imitate his Niki-senpai in his cooking show. Aira could only smile at the sight, the impression really needs some work.
“So, my assistant Aira, what would we do first to create our sweet dessert today?” Aira playfully rolled his eyes as he pulled the eggs and sugar on the table. He decided to go along with Hiiro’s antics today, “Well, we’re going to beat two eggs with 60 grams of sugar!” Aira handed Hiiro two eggs and a glint of mischief shone through Hiiro’s eyes.
“Niki-senpai taught me this trick! Watch!” He put the two eggs between his fingers and cracked them open at the same time on the bowl without any eggshells getting in the way. Hiiro gasped as he threw the eggshells away carelessly and started bouncing up and down in happiness. “It worked! It worked!”
“Hiro-kun! Be careful!” Aira warned as the bowl started to move ever so slightly on the counter. Hiiro stopped his celebrations and continued it with giggles of victory. “I’m going to show that to Niki-senpai!”
Aira playfully rolled his eyes as he weighed 60 grams of sugar on a weighing scale before putting it in the bowl along with the eggs. His eyes landed on the electric whisk just beside him as some terrible memories popped up in his mind and immediately handed it to Hiiro.
“H-here’s the whisk, Hiro-kun! I’ll get the hot water for the next step!” His lips curved into a nervous smile while still acting like an assistant but his unusual demeanor was picked up by the red-haired boy.
“Oh? Don’t want to get the whisk to be your enemy again—ow!” Aira slapped his shoulder, his hands on his waist. He’s starting to get red as the strawberry now as Hiiro only laughed while caressing the slapped area. “The last baking session must have traumatized you, Aira!”
“Just don’t get that whisk near me again!” Aira crossed his arms, “Besides, you’re stronger than me. I’m sure that whisk wouldn’t violently attack you.” He fetched the boiling water that they started heating up just earlier and poured it into a container bigger than the bowl Hiiro was starting to beat the eggs and sugar into.
“You just need to get a tight grip on the handle, Aira!” Hiiro slightly shouted among the loud whirls of the mixer as he diligently beat the eggs and the sugar. His eyes wandered to the screen that was starting to be played again to see how the cook in the video did it. Suddenly, the annoying sound of glass clinking against a spinning metal rod puts Hiiro back into his focus and recentered the mixer.
“Yeah, a tight grip and focus, Hiro-kun,” Hiiro only laughed as he moved the bowl to the hot bath water and beat the eggs there while Aira moved to melt 15 grams of unsalted butter on a much smaller ramekin and a smaller bath of hot water. After what seemed to be a minute, Aira reached for the temperature gun just on the pile of equipment he prepared and checked the temperature of the batter. Hiiro tilted his head in curiosity, “Oh? Is that the new temperature thingy to check the temperature of something?”
Aira only smiled at the innocent look on Hiiro’s face as the temperature reader read 34°C, “Yeah, it’s so cool actually.” He motioned Hiiro to continue to beat the eggs out of the hot water bath and set it aside so it didn’t burn anyone from them.
After minutes of mixing, Hiiro looked at Aira while still mixing the batter. “Is this good now, Aira?” The blonde sighed as he pushed the button to turn the mixer off as an idea popped into his head, “I saw the other channels do this when they make sponge cake.” He took the now calmed whisk and raised it on the batter. He moved it in a way that the batter that stuck in the spinners created a heart on the top that cutely stayed.
Aira looked at Hiiro who was only mesmerized by the trick rather than the small message the smaller one wanted to send. “Oh! That’s one way to know if a sponge cake is ready!” Despite the sparkle in his eyes, Aira slightly groaned which confused Hiiro. “Is something wrong, Aira?” The blonde sighed as he set aside the whisk and got the flour, “Nothing…”
He measured the flour as he heard small clinks on the side but opted to ignore them. With sieve on hand and the bowl of flour, he came back to the batter, only to find a second heart on the side slightly joining the one he made earlier. He looked at Hiiro who seemed proud as he didn’t notice he started to blush at the simple move Hiiro made. “Should I make another heart for Kohaku?” He tapped his chin in thought as Aira timidly handed him the sieve. “Let’s add the flour now…”
“Oh, sure!” He placed the sieve atop the batter as Aira slowly poured the flour while his adorable boyfriend made a little swinging motion while saying “Heave Ho!” to sift the flour into the batter. After that, Aira volunteered to fold and mix the mixture while Hiiro fetched the butter for Aira to mix in the batter as well.
“This is better than the last time we made cake!” Hiiro fiddled around the parchment paper and a tin container that would be their cake mold. “The last time Kohaku ate the chocolate before we even had to mix it in the whipped cream…”
“You know this is recorded, right?” Aira sighed as he put rounds of another mix and folded just to ensure no flour was left unmixed.
“Oh, right!” He waved at the camera, “Hello, Kohaku! We love you!”
Aira smiled as he poured the batter onto the cake tin. “Swirl a heart there for Kohaku!” The blonde giggled at the enthusiasm as he indeed swirled a heart on the last flow of the batter and briefly showed it to the camera.
“Now, we bake!” Hiiro grabbed the cake tin before Aira was able to an oven they had pre-heated earlier. “Hiro-kun!” Aira followed him as they fiddled around the settings of the oven to the right temperature.
“Could we use your phone to time this?” Hiiro nodded and handed his phone, “Sure, Aira!”
Aira opened his phone and immediately blushed at his lock screen. Somehow, he was able to figure out how to change his lock screen wallpaper other than the provided wallpaper by the management that gave him his phone to a selfie of Hiiro with him and Kohaku on his back sleeping.
“When did you get this picture!?” Aira looked at Hiiro who was confused as to why he was panicking, “Well, remember when we filmed for Love☆Stars? You two were so tired on our way home and nii-san said you two were cute so I took a picture just like how you take pictures of cute things all the time!”
“It’s always Rinne-senpai…” Aira sighed as he opened the clock app to get the timer going. “Well, while we wait, might as well get the whipped cream going.”
“Yey, more whipping!” Hiiro took the initiative to wash the bowl they used for the cake batter while Aira moved to measure the needed ingredients more or so accurately. After dumping the ingredients, Hiiro was more than happy to whip it to stiff peaks while Aira prepared the sugar syrup to drench the sponge cake with.
Aira snorted at a thought in his head as Hiiro tilted his head slightly to him. “Oh, it’s nothing… It will be just funny to see if you actually hand-whipped this instead of using an electric mixer. It’s a workout as well, you know.”
Hiiro, somehow, sparkled at that idea. “That’s great, Aira!” “Hiiro, wait, no—”
The silly red-haired boy grabbed a whisk on the shelves and pulled the sleeves of his jacket and layers. Aira had to look away blushing as he felt so stupid being mesmerized by Hiiro's biceps he could hear the rapid clinking of the glass as Hiiro imitated an electric whisk. After minutes of agonizing glass clinking, Hiiro stopped, showing a dollop of stiff whipped cream on the end of the whisk.
Aira just sighed, “Oh, Hiiro…”
“Why? That was fun! Maybe I’ll do it again in our next baking session—” Aira puts away the whipped cream and the whisk, “No and I’m sure Kohakucchi will say no as well.” He sighed as he grabbed the strawberry, Hiiro being excited at the implications of it.
“We’re going to cut strawberries—”
“WE’RE GOING TO CUT STRAWBERRIES!”
“Geez, Hiiro-kun… how much sweets have you eaten before we baked today?” Hiiro actually thinks for a second, slightly counting with his fingers. “Kohaku gave me some spoils from their Sweets Fanclub meeting and I kind of… ate them all off earlier…”
Aira’s face puffed, “So you got something while I didn’t!?” Hiiro’s face paled as he scratched his nape, “I may have forgotten Kohaku’s reminder that it was to be shared by you.”
Aira huffed, “That’s it! I’ll cut these strawberries myself!” He slightly put down the basket quite harshly and pulled out a knife. With Aira’s looks, he looks like he is about to be involved in a court case.
“Hey, Aira… let’s be rational here!” Aira rolls his eyes, “Says the one who ate all of OUR sweets!” He started to cut the leaves off the strawberries, quite pissed off by the news he was able to receive.
The boiling kettle suddenly calmed as he felt arms around his torso, earning a small “eep!” from the blonde. “Sorry…” Hiiro whispered in his ears as Aira pushed him slightly. “Hiro-kun!” He sets aside the knife and crosses his arms, “Just… help me here.” He didn’t know his heart could beat faster than it could after that after he saw Hiiro jumped for joy and started to cut some strawberries while Aira took the time to calm himself down.
After waiting out the last few minutes for the cake to finish baking, they pulled out a slightly successful cake. Aira must have misjudged the time with how the top was slightly crumpled and a bit burned, but that was to be hidden by whipped cream later so they ignored it.
After aligning some of those bars used to cut cakes up, the dreaded moment was upon them.
“We can do this, Aira! For Kohaku!” Hiiro cheered on the side as Aira sighed. He started to cut through the cake along the guide, being so careful about it. The dreaded feeling of the cake crumbling apart was in their minds, as proved by their previous baking sessions. A sigh of relief was let out as the first layer was cut, two more to go!
The second one went by with ease as Aira seemingly got to the rhythm of things, however, the third one proved to be more difficult…
Aira hissed as he saw the small portion of the top part slowly tearing, “Not now, please!” However, despite his best efforts to carefully cut the top part, a significant portion of the corner was torn and crumbled apart.
Aira sighed in defeat as he could feel something wrap around his shoulder, “Don’t worry, Aira! It’ll be like clay and we could just put it together with whipped cream.”
“Except this is not a clay pot at all, Hiro-kun.” Aira sighed as Hiiro comforted him, “Don’t give up! Now let’s assemble this!”
Despite being quite bummed with the third layer of the cake, they started to build up the Strawberry Shortcake. Cake layer, whipped cream, and strawberries, and rinse and repeat until they get into the last layer. However, Hiiro proved Aira wrong for a cake not to be a clay pot as he gingerly pieced together the missing portion of the cake with a crumbled cake he glued together using the whipped cream.
“Wha—h-how!?” Aira looked at the cake as if no accident happened, well, apart from the funny-looking side of the cake. “I told you! So, don’t be sad!” Hiiro pulled him into a hug, “Now let’s decorate this!” Aira smiled as they coated the cake with whipped cream, it was as if the magic that the cake looked like it wasn’t just patched up. Although, their coating skills could get some more work. They piped up small dollops of whipped cream on top to frame the strawberries they put next.
After what seems to be centuries, they made a surprisingly decent Strawberry Shortcake!
♠❀♥
“Love-han, ‘tis mask is triggerin’ my flight or fight senses.” Kohaku was completely in the dark, quite both literally and figuratively, on what the “surprise” his boyfriends prepared for his birthday. The last memory he had was Aira suddenly putting the blindfold on his eyes and the lack of Hiiro around was worrying. It was actually taking a long for them to arrive who knows where he is right now and his heart stopped every time Aira said “Careful” while walking down what seemed to be stairs.
Aira only giggled as he kept guiding him diligently, “Don’t worry, Kohakucchi, we’re near!” Kohaku could only sigh, what are these two up to this time?
He suddenly heard the sound of grass crackling beneath his feet and the smooth wind caressing his skin. His mind scrambled at the thought of being outside especially at night as they seemingly didn’t stop from traversing a grassy ground. It’s not he doesn’t trust them, if anything, he trusts them both with his life. However, it was quite intriguing how this is playing out.
Suddenly, they stopped in their tracks, prompting Kohaku that maybe they had arrived. It was immediately confirmed by Aira, “We’re here, Kohakucchi~! Take off your blindfold now!”
After patting the back of his head to find the knot of his blindfold to untie it, he was met by an adorable sight of a picnic setup. The classic red and white checkered cloth laid down the grass, a basket of seemingly just sweets, and the cherry on top—well, more like a strawberry on top—was a big strawberry shortcake with one candle lit up that was held by Hiiro.
“Happy birthday to you~! ♪ Happy birthday to you~! ♪” The two started singing while slowly inching the cake closer to Kohaku. The pink-haired boy was frozen in his place, unable to absorb everything in front of him. A cozy setup, a cake with how it looks so lopsided, probably made by them, and the two people that he was so happy to be able to celebrate this wonderful day with. He was speechless, to say the least.
“Happy birthday, Kohaku!”
“Happy birthday, Kohakucchi~!”
Kohaku couldn’t help but smile wider than he wanted to. “It’s… It’s fer me…?” Hiiro smiles, “Well, you’re the only birthday boy today! So, of course, it’s for you!” Aira slightly nudged him as the red one just chuckled, “Me and Aira made this! That’s why we both aren’t texting you back yesterday…”
“Hiiro, that second part shouldn’t be said!” Kohaku couldn’t help but giggle, “I forgive ya… if ‘tis is what were ya doin’... I didn’t know ya busied yerself just to hold a small celebration fer me… ‘Tis is amazing.” His voice slightly cracked as Aira giggled, “Oh, is Kohakucchi going to tear up now~?”
“Love-han!” Aira laughed as he nudged the cake closer, “Well, make a wish now so we can taste how horrible we made it.” Kohaku shakes his head, “Why are ya sayin’ tha’... Am sure it’s goin’ to be delicious.”
“You’re biased.” Kohaku smirked, “Yeah, ‘cuz I like cakes.” Aira huffed as Kohaku completely evaded the other implications of that statement. Kohaku could only giggle as he closed his eyes before blowing the candle.
“Hey, you didn’t say your wish!” Hiiro tilted his head at Aira, “I thought you’re supposed to not say your wish or it wouldn’t be granted? Am I wrong, Aira?” Kohaku laughed, “Look, even Hiiro-han knows ta cake rules!”
“Come onnnn, that’s so old school… I’m curious!” Aira gripped on Kohaku’s jacket, pleading for him to spill his wish. “Am sure a lot of things didn’t work well when ya don’t follow ta tradition, Love-han.” The blonde pouted, “You just don’t want to say your wish.” Kohaku laughed, “Maybe I do~ Now, let’s eat up!”
Hiiro put the cake down on the picnic mat as the trio sat down. The warm lanterns around them give off a comfy light along with the glow of the moon shining above them. Aira pulled out some utensils they prepared as Hiiro took the initiative to cut some cake slices.
Kohaku could see how well they prepared a picnic on this grassy field that seemed to be just not far off from the dorms and Ensemble Square as a whole. He had once seen HiMERU go out this way as well before, and with how well he was dressed up, he was certain he met two other people. Now he knows more now what could have they done here, as it was such a perfect place to set up a picnic or even just a small camping site. It was surprising that ES hadn’t built any buildings in this space with how much they were scrambling for the underground parts of the land that the idol paradise was in.
“Kohakucchi~ Are you tired from the party earlier?” The pink teen didn’t realize that he spaced out as there was already a small plate in front of him containing one of everything they had brought. Kohaku smiled, “Well, kinda... Fans were all over ta place and I might ‘ave went overboard wit’ ta games part, but it was fun!” He reached the plate and the fork along with it, “But, not tired ‘nough to not enjoy ‘tis night wit’ ya two.”
“Well, we’re just going to eat! It’s great since you must have burned a lot of calories just going around the venue! Aira always says I always have the most energy out of us but you were much more energetic earlier.” Aira giggled, “Maybe because he finally did what he was trying to do for a very long time, play rock, paper, scissors.”
“Hey! Tha’s not just it! Also, you’ll never realize how fun rock, paper, an’ scissors was wit’ multiple people wit’out tryin’ it! An’ I proved tha’!” He could only hear giggles from the two as he opted to just taste the strawberry shortcake that they baked him. A bite was surprisingly difficult to take with actual strawberries among the layers. However, as soon as it got into his mouth, he was met with a symphony of sweet flavors and a harmony of textures. The softness and moistness of the sponge cake, the decadent sweetness from the whipped cream, and the surprisingly softness and fruity flavor from the strawberry, all mixed in one bite. His eyes widen as he chews slowly, savoring every punch of flavor in his mouth like fireworks of sweetness popping off every bite.
“‘Tis is so delicious!” Kohaku’s eyes sparkled along the stars as he munched down more of his slices of the cake. Hiiro and Aira looked at each other with proud smiles on their faces as Kohaku thanked every god out there for the blessing of a wonderful cake. “An’ Love-han wash shayin’ ‘tish ish horribwe!” His cheeks were puffed like a chipmunk storing nuts on his cheeks for winter.
Aira only laughed as he pushed another plate of the cake to him, “Enjoy~!”
Hiiro smiled as he pulled a napkin to wipe off the whipped cream all over Kohaku’s mouth. The pink teen suddenly stopped at the feeling of Hiiro’s thumb over his lips before whimpering as Hiiro pulled away. “Slow down, though. You’re getting messy.” Aira laughed at Kohaku’s beet-red face as Hiiro played to look away and put the napkin away with a smirk on his face. Kohaku gulped the contents in his mouth as he cleared his throat, slightly glaring at Aira. “Why? You were messy!” He could only roll his eyes at the blonde who giggled more. “Ya haven’t touched yer cake, Love-han… You’ll get messy in a minute.”
“There’s still more cake, don’t act like it’s going to get away you two.” Hiiro could only smile at the two as he took a bite of the cake, “Mm! Kohaku was right! I’m surprised the whipped cream stayed like this even if I hand-whipped it…”
“Ya hand-whipped ‘tis!?” Aira sighs, “I was joking that it would be an exercise for him… He tried it anyways.” Hiiro nods, “Umu! But Aira was right! My arm was sore afterward, but it only meant that it was an effective arm exercise. Maybe I’ll tell Buchou about it some time since he’s trying to learn from Niki-senpai as well. That will inspire him more to learn cooking and baking!” He tapped his chin in thought that earned a snort from Kohaku. When Hiiro asked why he was laughing, the pink teen spared him from the truth of how many times Niki had talked about Tetora, mostly in distress on how he mostly burned literal water.
“Well, it made it more special when Hiiro-han got his muscles sore fer ‘tis.”
“So, it wasn’t special that we made this in the first place!?” Kohaku laughed, “Of course, it was already special because ya two made it, Love-han.” He pulled Aira into a hug that left the latter blushing. Hiiro looked at them and promptly squeezed them both into a hug, earning yelps from the two. “I thought it was hug hour!” They could only laugh at Hiiro’s little confusion.
Aira was the one who first pulled away from the hug and set aside the food that remained, leaving the space good for the three of them. As soon as he turned, he was immediately pulled down on the ground to lay beside Kohaku, with Hiiro on his side. “Hey! Don’t just do that! I almost face-planted myself!”
Kohaku chuckles, “Sorry, it’s cold.” Aira smirks, “Oh, Kohakucchi is getting clingy now, is he~?”
The pink teen promptly blushed, suddenly the table turning against him. “Shut up.”
“Hey, it’s your birthday, Kohaku. Calm down.” Kohaku laughs, “Don’t worry.” He swiftly wrapped his arms around Aira’s shoulder and pulled him in a hug, “Just jokin’ ‘round.”
A glimpse of something bright passed the corner of Kohaku’s eye as he looked up. His eyes widen as he can see small streaks of white fall down the sky seemingly, creating a beautiful sight that paints the dark blue void.
“Meteor showers…?”
Aira smiled as he was happy to see his plan work out, “Yeah! I was so excited that I found out that your birthday will feature meteor showers! So, I talked to Hiro-kun to maybe celebrate your birthday outside so we could have the chance to watch it. And we managed to get in time! Talk about being lucky…” Aira playfully rolled his eyes as he looked up to watch as well.
“I guess Rinne-han’s luck is rubbin’ off me.” Kohaku’s mouth was agape as he watched the little show that the sky was giving them.
“It’s my first time seeing this in the city… It feels so different back in my hometown!” Hiiro’s eyes were twinkling along with the stars in awe as the stars fell from the sky. “Nii-san said if you make a wish on them it will come true!” He turned his head to Kohaku, “You’ll get double wishes on your birthday!” Hiiro was clapping in happiness as both he and Aira started chanting ‘Make a wish!’.
Kohaku sighed as he closed his eyes for a little while and opened them again, catching a glimpse of the meteor shower again before the curtains closed and the performance stopped. Whines of disappointment came from the trio as their beautiful view was gone.
“So… since this is not the cake… maybe we could hear your wish this time?”
Kohaku giggled, “Wishes aren’t supposed to be said, Love-han. You’ll jinx it.” Aira pouted, “But since you get two, maybe you could sacrifice the other chance?”
“No, I need both chances, Love-han! I need it to be fulfilled!” Aira’s eyes became glossy as he hit him with his puppy eyes, “Pretty please…?”
“That’s a trap you may not want to fall into, Kohaku.” Hiiro barked a laugh as Aira tried to reach out to him to slap his shoulders again if not for the birthday boy himself shielding him from an angry Aira. “You’re sabotaging me! Aren’t you also curious about Kohaku’s wishes?”
“I am but I want to see it to be granted, Aira!” All response he got was a simple “hmp!” as Aira faced his back against them. Kohaku only chuckled as he pulled Aira close and leaned on Hiiro who promptly wrapped his arms around him. His eyes peered into the vast sea of void twinkled with shining stars and the benevolent moon shining above them. The surroundings were so peaceful that Hiiro and Aira opted to gaze at the stars as well, watching them twinkle in delight as the moon seemingly smiled at their bonds.
“Thank ya… ‘Tis ta best birthday I ever ‘ad…” He muttered in his breath but with the proximity of the three, it was quickly picked up by the two. “You’re welcome!” Hiiro hugged him tight. “Only for Kohakucchi!” He felt a small peck on his cheek that made him blush uncontrollably. “Happy birthday, again!” They both greeted as they shared a laughter, this night couldn’t be more special.
It was such a beautiful celebration. It didn’t really get into his mind to have a picnic in the middle of the night but it was a better way to be able to stargaze. He looked at both Aira and Hiiro who were enjoying pointing out certain stars, with Hiiro blindly guessing which stars which and Aira trying his hardest to create his own constellation with the stars present in the night sky today. He smiled at the adorable sight, with the light of the moon and the lanterns accompanying their happy faces. There’s no gift better than what he was witnessing right now. It was such a peaceful way to end his day, the day he thanked that fate ordained to happen, the day of his birth.
Despite his life being harder than it is with the situations he unwillingly got himself into, he never regretted them. In fact, it made him what he is today. He was taught lessons that he would never let go, he met people he would call a family, and he met two of the people he cherished the most. Even if it may sound silly to wish for it on a birthday cake or a meteor shower, but he’ll take his chances to get his one wish come true. It seems all of his wishes were fulfilled at that point, he has his family, Tsukasa, Crazy:B, Madara, and most especially Hiiro and Aira by his side, but he wanted but one to be granted.
For things to stay that way.