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The meal had ended the way dinners at the Shinonome household usually did.
Empty plates with scraps of the curry they had sat scattered across the dining table, utensils sitting inside the dishes forming a cross—indicating they're all done.
Akito leaned back in his chair with a satisfied sigh, while Toya stacked his partner's plate with his own. Across the table, Ena stacked her plate on top of Akito's without asking, naturally assuming he'd carry everything over anyway.
Kaori stood from her seat first.
"Well," she said with a gentle smile as she picked up her empty cup, "I'm getting sleepy."
Akito glanced up immediately.
"'Night, Mom," he replied.
Ena stretched her arms over her head before yawning. "Goodnight!" she called as she started toward the stairs.
Despite that "Goodnight", they were all aware she'd be awake still until an ungodly hour closer to the morning than nighttime.
Toya quickly stood from his chair before bowing politely.
"Thank you very much for having me over," he said sincerely. "Goodnight, Shinonome-san."
She smiled warmly at him. "Goodnight, Toya-kun."
Just before disappearing upstairs, Ena leaned over the staircase railing.
"Oh!" she called loudly.
Both boys looked up.
"It's your turn to do the dishes!" she sing-songed.
He immediately frowned. "I know."
"And don't make Toya-kun do them!"
Akito scoffed as though personally offended by the suggestion. "The hell d'ya take me for?"
Toya just watched as the siblings bickered. The liveliness of the Shinonome household was something he liked, even if it was constant bickering.
Compared to how distant he was from his own brothers...
He's ever grateful of the fact he has the Tenmas.
Toya snapped out of his thoughts to look back between the siblings—who have apparently calmed down. Either he was out of it for long or the argument ended fast.
Ena rolled her eyes at his partner. "I'm just making sure, geez."
"I wasn't gonna." Akito grumbled.
"Good." she said. Satisfied, Ena disappeared upstairs.
A few moments later, the soft sound of a bedroom door closing echoed through the house.
Akito stood up, gathering the stack of plates into his arms before carrying them toward the sink.
Toya followed behind him with the cups in hand, having had insisted on helping him at the very least carry the dishes to the sink.
The kitchen sink filled up surprisingly quickly.
Toya watched as Akito rolled up the sleeves of his hoodie before turning on the faucet, rinsing off the leftover curry.
Then, just as he was about to get to work—
"Akito."
He glanced over his shoulder.
Toya stood beside him, hands folded neatly in front of himself.
"Can I help?"
Akito blinked, confused, almost as if Toya had suddenly started quizzing him on maths.
"...Huh?"
Toya met his eyes with an earnest expression that somehow made him resemble a hopeful puppy waiting for permission.
"Can I help wash the dishes?"
"Wha—?"
Toya tilted his head ever so slightly. "I'd like to." he replied simply, as if Akito had not just denied the allegations of making Toya help him to his sister.
Akito squinted at him. "...Why?"
Toya thought about it for a moment, before answering with complete sincerity.
"It should improve my singing."
Silence.
A quiet laugh escaped his partner.
"What kinda excuse is that?" Akito asked, shaking his head while covering his mouth with one hand to hide his smile.
Toya blinked once.
Now that I think about it... it is quite selfish.
Even though Ena-san specifically told me I didn't have to help him, I'm pressuring him to
"Dude," Akito called out. "I can hear you overthinkin' it."
"Y'know, you can just..." he gestured vaguely with one hand before searching for the words. "Want to do things."
Toya considered that carefully.
Then he gave a small nod, though his excitement at the mundane task was probably evident to Akito. "Then I want to do the dishes—with you."
Akito quickly turned toward the sink before Toya noticed the warmth spreading across his face.
"...Fine."
Toya smiled. "Thank you, Akito! I'll be careful."
Akito sighed fondly. "I know ya will." he said.
He reached for the sponge resting beside the faucet before holding it up. "Alright." he squeezed it lightly between his fingers. "Step one."
Toya immediately straightened. Akito almost laughed again.
"Grab the sponge."
Toya obediently accepted it with both hands.
"It's..." He examined it for a moment before gently poking one of the frayed corners. "Seen better days."
"My parents are cheapskates, refuse to throw it away. I swear this has been around since I was like... six?"
"...I see."
Akito grabbed the bottle of dish soap before squeezing a generous amount onto the worn sponge.
"There. Just scrub both sides of the plate."
Toya nodded attentively.
He carefully copied Akito's movements, guiding the sponge across the ceramic surface in slow, deliberate circles. "Like this...?"
"A little firmer."
He nodded. "This much?"
"Yeah."
The soft scratching sound of sponge against porcelain filled the kitchen.
"And don't forget the back."
Toya immediately flipped the plate over before repeating the motion just as carefully.
"What about the utensils?" he asked while reaching for a spoon.
"Those're easy." Akito picked up another spoon to demonstrate. "Just run the sponge over 'em a couple times."
He slowly scrubbed both sides before holding it up. "Done."
"Understood."
Within minutes, they had settled into a comfortable rhythm.
Toya washed each dish carefully with soap while Akito stood beside him, rinsing them beneath warm running water before placing them onto the drying rack.
Neither of them rushed.
There wasn't any reason to.
The kitchen gradually filled with the gentle sounds of running water, clinking dishes, and the occasional squeak of a particularly clean plate.
After several quiet minutes, Toya found himself humming under his breath.
It took Akito less than three seconds to recognize the melody.
"Fragile?" he asked.
"...I had to keep my part of the deal," Toya said, trying not to smirk so obviously. "I figured I should hold it up, since Akito let me help him with washing the dishes."
He looked over and saw Akito's face flush, all the way up to his ears.
"'S not that big of a deal..." he mumbled.
Silence washed over them for a bit, before Akito started humming from the beginning. Toya joined in for his parts.
It felt strangely effortless.
Toya smiled. "Perhaps it really is helping my singing," he murmured while scrubbing another bowl.
Akito snorted. "Oi, don't get too ahead of yourself..."
He reached over to rinse the bowl from Toya's hands before setting it onto the rack. "I just said it was a weird excuse."
Toya let out a quiet laugh. "I suppose it was."
Halfway through the dishes, Akito stretched his shoulders. "Alright."
He nudged Toya lightly with his elbow.
"Okay, now we gotta rinse. We just—well we just rinse it."
"Got it."
Toya stepped in front of the sink, hesitating for only a second before reaching beneath the running faucet. Warm water splashed across the spoon in his hand.
He slowly rotated it.
Tiny droplets rolled across the polished metal before slipping away, each bead catching the kitchen light as it fell.
His hand stopped moving.
He watched another stream of water race across the curved surface before splitting into dozens of droplets, spraying outwards.
"...Toya?"
Toya looked up. Akito had finished rinsing another plate before noticing the silence beside him. He held the spoon out just a little.
"The water beads."
Akito looked. "Yeah?"
"They're beautiful."
Akito followed the tiny droplets as they rolled across the polished metal.
For a moment, he didn't say anything.
Then the corner of his mouth lifted into an impossibly fond smile.
"...Yeah," he replied quietly as he handed over another clean plate. "Guess they kinda are."
The spoon remained beneath the warm stream for another few seconds before Toya finally smiled to himself and resumed rinsing the rest of the dishes, the soft melody they'd been humming together gradually returning to fill the quiet kitchen once more.
Akito handed him a singular plate to rinse. It wasn't any more or less difficult than the utensils, but Toya did find a new joy.
"Akito, I did it!" he exclaimed, almost in awe of how shiny the surface of the plate was after washing it.
With his own hands too!
This is amazing...
"'Kay dude, time to dry off now."
"Can we do it again next time?"
...
"Sure..."
After finishing chores, they sat down on the couch with a blanket over their legs, watching a musical Toya was suggested.
Well, for about an hour—give or take.
Aoyagi 'Insomniac' Toya somehow managed to pass out before Akito did.
Akito yawned, trying to shimmy out of the blanket and his partner's grip without waking him up. Which proved more difficult than he thought.
He did get out though. Huzzah.
He stood up and walked over to the kitchen, wanting to grab a glass of water when—
"Sweetheart, are you and Toya-kun not going to move to your room?"
"Gah—!"
Akito jumped, before realizing his mom was sitting there with a mug of tea.
"Oh... nah, I think we're comfy enough on the couch." he responded, not mentioning the fact he liked the feeling of Toya leaning against him despote how sore his shoulder was going to be in the morning.
Kaori hummed. "If that's what you want,"
Silence fell on them, minus the sound of Akito getting water from the dispenser.
"Toya-kun is quite the keeper, hm?" his mom asked casually, stirring her tea.
Akito couldn't stop himself from smiling "Yeah... I guess..." he started before it clicked to him what she was implying. "Oi, what're you talkin' about, Mom."
"You should just marry him someday. I'll give you my blessing! I'll even convince your dad too—he likes Toya-kun—"
"Mom!"