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Organization for Transformative Works
Here is my entry for Day Six of Naegiri Week 2021! The prompt today is "Free Time"! I can't believe tomorrow is already the last day! Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Thanks to @naegiriweek for holding this event, as always!
@naegiriweek, here’s a fanart I commissioned @katiefrog217 to draw for my Naegiri Week Day Seven fanfic, showing Kiki and Mokubo asleep and holding hands as Makoto and Kyoko drive them home after a festival. Thanks a bunch Katie! Likes, comments, and reblogs are much appreciated!
Happy first day of Naegiri Week! Today I bring you the most tooth-rotting fluff I have ever written. Like it is excessively sweet. Still, I even managed to make myself get all giggly and excitable during the editing phase, so I really hope you like it. I have no content warnings to issue this time around. Just pure, sweet Naegiri. I hope you enjoy it!
Kyoko’s lips curled into a smile as she stared at her wide-eyed fiancé, a curt nod punctuating the statement that had caused him the utmost disbelief. Though there were plenty of things that might shock him about her, she never expected for this to be one of them.
“Yes way.”
“No way!” Within a matter of seconds, he’d taken hold of her wrists, shaking them with all of the enthusiasm of a small child. There was a frantic look in his eye as he shook her, clearly too absorbed in his shock to even think about how funny this would look from her end of things. God, her Makoto was a special one. Not that was a bad thing, of course. His little eccentricities were part of the reason why she liked him so much. “No way, no way!”
It was hard to fight off a laugh as she watched his expression; he looked all too serious for the topic of conversation. He always had been a man of rather interesting passions. She had been a witness to many a debate between him and Yasuhiro about seemingly silly things, most of which she did not understand. How he found the energy to argue about flavours of soda pops, which Robocop movie was objectively the best one, and which sitcom had the weirdest actors was beyond her. Still, she found that this one was a bit… much, even for him. On the list of things that she anticipated he might get overly excited about, a topic as childish as candy was not one of them. It was a bit of a strange position to be in, watching the man she loved have a total conniption over her grandfather’s refusal to accommodate her sweet tooth.
“Yes, really,” she did her best to not sound short with him, but she really didn’t see what the big deal was, “I missed out on a lot when I was a girl. I never had a chocoball, or a crunky bar, or caplico… There were even some traditional desserts that I missed out on, too.”
If it were possible for his eyes to open any wider, they would have. He practically gasped at her statement, so horrified that her younger self had been denied the sweets he deemed so precious. “What desserts haven’t you had? I swear, if you’ve never tasted manju, I think I might cry.”
Kyoko chuckled softly, rolling her eyes at him. Had he really forgotten? “No, I’ve had manju before. You made it for me for our first date, remember?”
Makoto exhaled with quiet relief instantly, nodding his head with a nonchalance he hadn’t possessed thirty seconds prior. You’d have thought she had just told him he had not tested positive for a fatal disease or something, with the way his shoulders relaxed. “Right, I did do that,” he paused for a second, “And you liked it, didn’t you?”
She could have laughed at how intense his eyes got over the question. She’d seen troublesome students at Hope’s Peak receive glares less intense than this one. “Yes, it was lovely,” she assured him, brushing some hair away from her face, “The variation of desserts I have yet to taste are more treats like dorayaki, taiyaki, yokan, dango, or coffee jelly.”
To this, Makoto actually cringed. Full-on eyes squeezed shut, teeth clenched, drawing the head back slightly cringed. You’d have thought the man were genuinely pained. “I can’t believe I’m marrying a woman who’s never had dango,” the furrowing of his brows seemed to deepen as the news settled within him, “And coffee jelly! Oh, Kyoko, you would just love coffee jelly!”
“I’ve always thought I would, but I didn’t have much of a chance to try it.”
“Well, that settles it, then.”
“Settles what?” Kyoko blinked, tilting her head to the side.
A new found determination settled in her fiance’s expression; within seconds it seemed his energy had renewed. He practically beamed with elation, a cheery smile stretching across his face. “You and me are going sweet-tasting. Desserts, candies, the whole deal!”
“Wait, Makoto. You don’t have to do this for me,” she fruitlessly attempted to wiggle her wrists out from his grasp, “It’s okay, really-”
“No!” he interrupted her without a second thought, his movements just as dramatic as ever, “I have to. This is a matter of life and death.”
She snickered, finally prying her wrist out from Makoto’s hand with sheer force. “I think that’s a tad dramatic, love,” her now-free hand found her way to her ear, reaching up to tuck some of her lavender hair behind it, “But I suppose… I will indulge you. I don’t imagine you would give me much of a choice otherwise.”
He chuckled. “No, I would not.” His hands rested on his hips as he puffed his chest up proudly, looking a bit like a small child who had just finished tied his shoes for the first time. “Now c’mon and get your coat! We’ve got a shop to visit!”
Kyoko couldn’t help but smile as she and Makoto walked through the crisp winter air, the snowing raining down and settling on top of both of their heads. Fighting off the grin forming on her face as she watched her husband-to-be prancing through the snow was a fruitless endeavour, so she didn’t bother. His fingers were interlaced with her own as he led her down the street, swinging their hands forward together with uncontainable glee. It had been quite awhile since he last saw him ignited with this much energy, and to be honest, she was relishing it. His smile always felt like seeing the sunrise after waiting all night.
“So where is it that you are taking me again?” Though she was not sure whether she should be enthused or slightly fearful, she tried her best to keep up with her fiancé’s delight. It wasn’t particularly hard, getting to see that big smile on his face and hearing the snow crunch cheerfully beneath their winter boots. Admittedly, the promise of many delicious sweets probably had something to do with it, too. After all, her grandfather had been the one to make the choice about whether or not she got them as a child. If a young Kyoko had had things her way, she would have been eating candy and desserts for breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Her sweet tooth was unimaginably huge back then, and if she were to tell the truth… it was still pretty big as an adult, too.
She was sure that Makoto’s smile would deepen if it were capable of getting any bigger. “It’s this combination dessert café-candy shop that lets you taste all of the sweets of your dreams. I was thinking we should start with desserts, and then move onto the candies to take home. I hear they have a great selection.”
“I will take your word for it. You are the candy connoisseur.”
Makoto rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly; his face tinged pink. “I’m not sure if I’d go that far…”
Kyoko smirked. “The dessert director.”
“Alright, Kyoko, stop playing around-”
“The chief of confection.”
His lips twitched, telling her just how badly he wanted to smile. Still, he was trying pretty hard to keep that phony scowl going. She could even see that liar biting his cheeks to keep himself from laughing at her jokes! Oh, she would get him for this falsity later. What a cruel, cruel man her lover could be.
“Are you done now?” He asked, his tone betraying the amusement that his expression wanted to hide. She nodded contentedly, happy to know how easily she could get him to grin. With all of his seriousness about the desserts and candy, she figured that she should be able to take her turn to be silly. So, she didn’t think it so wrong that she could joke around with him, and then press a kiss to his cheek.
“Yes,” she affirmed, “I’m done now. Care to continue on with your sweets speech?”
“Hey!” His tongue poked out at her cheekily from between his lips. “You said you were done with the alliteration!”
A gloved fingertip pressed itself against the space just below her lips, batting her eyelashes at him with all of the innocence she could muster. If she truly desired to portray innocence, she would be doing a horrible job of it… but thankfully, this kind of thing would work when playing around with Makoto. “Whatever are you talking about?”
He half-nudged her shoulder before pulling his phone out from his pocket. For a moment, he swiped fruitlessly over the touch screen with his gloved hand. Then, with all of the lacking grace of a middle school boy, he pried the glove from his hand with his teeth. Sometimes, he really could be so boyish. Not that that was necessarily a bad thing, of course. It was actually something that she liked about him. It made him passionate and interesting in the same way that other people just weren’t. She couldn’t count on both hands the number of men she’d met who took themselves far too seriously, denouncing anything childish and writing horrible love stories in their ugly moleskin journals. Try-hards, she remembered thinking about them. Makoto never seemed to feel like that. In a way, she supposed that was why pleasure from his little dessert desperation blossomed so easily.
“Anyway,” she was so lost in thought that she wouldn’t have noticed him pulling up her options if it weren’t for him shoving the phone four inches in front of her face, “They have a big menu of desserts that you can look at online. You should look at their options and see what you want to try!”
A smirk threatened to overtake her, leaving her wondering just how cheeky she could with him before he got fed up. “I was under the impression that I would simply be trying everything I had yet to try, given that you seemed so serious about it when we first set out. I definitely know that coffee jelly is on the list, though. You know how much adore coffee and anything coffee-flavoured.”
Keeping her mind from drifting to a cup of warm coffee was a struggle. In the midst of the frozen air nipping at their noses, a cup of coffee sounded excellent. Just holding it against her gloves, breathing in that rich aroma… Mmmm. Kyoko hoped that they might serve a cup of coffee or two at the shop. You know, to pair with the desserts. Not because of her own fixation on it or anything.
“Well, ideally, you would try everything. I just wanted to know if there was anything you really wanted. If you don’t like it, I can always eat it for you.”
She shook her head. “I’m sensing a bit of an ulterior motive here, my love.”
Blush rose in his cheeks, prompting him to reach up the scratch at them in that awkward habit he never managed to kick. “I mean, that wasn’t my only plan, but… it is one of the perks, heh.”
“So you say.”
“C’mon, don’t give me a hard time!” The luckster whined, pushing out his lip in the fakest pout he’d given her in a while. “You can’t be mean to the guy who’s getting you desserts and candy.”
A smile played at her lips. “Is he paying for all of it out of his own pocket, or is he snagging some of his rich fiancée’s money?” She asked, quirking an eyebrow at him expectantly. She couldn’t help watching intently to see if his blush from before would strengthen. Perhaps doing so was a tad mean, but she liked to tease him. Getting a reaction out of Makoto was always fun, especially with his tendency to get flustered and stumble over his words. If she were to be honest, she found his embarrassment totally adorable.
To her surprise and slight disappointment, he puffed his chest up at her. Prideful little Makoto who would pay out of his own pocket. “He is treating his special lady today, and so she pays for nothing. Although it should be pointed out that he usually pays for dinner anyway.”
“Alright, alright. You got me there,” she chuckled, leaning over to plant another kiss on his cheek, “Now is this dessert shop very far from here? I fear my nose might start to frost over soon.”
He giggled and reached over to place his hand on her nose. “Aww, your poor little nose,” it was hard not to cringe as he rubbed her nose, “Does this help?”
Admittedly, his mitten-clad hand did help her nose become toastier, but having her fiancé rub her nose in public felt a little embarrassing. Like one of those things that others would judge them for. People already tended to stare at them due to their presence in the School Life of Mutual Killing broadcast, so she preferred to avoid attracting extra attention where she could. She briefly considered whether or not she should swat his hand away, but that nose warmth… it was too good to pass up. Her hands reached up to meet his wrist to keep him there, muffling any words she spoke. “Yes, that is good. You still have yet to answer my question, however.”
“It’s just a few more buildings up the street. Something like four,” he tilted his head to the side, “Can you manage that?”
Kyoko mustered up the biggest possible sigh she could manage. “I suppose,” She complained theatrically, batting her eyelashes at him once again. All her partner could do was snort softly and shake his head at her, keeping his hands on her nose as they ventured towards the combination candy-dessert shop.
The rest of their walk seemed rather short in comparison to the first half; the two of them chattering back and forth lazily the whole way there. The pieces of conversation weren’t anything incredibly impressive – Makoto enthused about the snowflakes that settled within Kyoko’s silvery locks, and Kyoko murmured quietly to him about how cute his pink nose looked in the winter’s cold. A more girlish part of Kyoko squealed at how lovingly domestic this all felt. She prayed that after their wedding in the summer, the same happy feelings would persist. The mere thought of getting to go on adventures like this as a married couple made her heart light itself with new flame. Maybe, if today went well, they could even see about having a sweets bar at their reception. Wouldn’t that just be so nice, she said when she told Makoto. Her soon-to-be-husband had lit up at her suggestion, saying that he’d let her pick out all of her favourites to be displayed on the table. Next thing she knew, they were babbling excitedly about their future desserts table, barely even seeming to notice that they had come upon the dessert shop.
“Here it is!” Makoto announced, throwing his arms open wide, “Chieko Chisu’s Confection Cabin!”
That’s a lot of c’s was Kyoko’s first thought. Following that: this is exactly the kind of shop Makoto would pick out. Seriously, the cabin name was almost literal. The whole store appeared as if it could have been made from bulky cherrywood planks, with a pair of frosted-over, white-trimmed windows being the only clue to the inside. The door appeared to have been fashioned from lumber as well, with a forest-green sign hanging on it. The characters for ‘OPEN’ were written across the sign in someone’s swooping handwriting, portrayed by a white marker. They’d even taken the care to doodle little ice cream cones and bonbons along the sign’s edges. When her eyes found the rim of the roof, it met her with a scattering of multi-coloured lanterns, all featuring hand-painted illustrations. From the way it looked, each of the lanterns was intended to advertise its own type of dessert or candy. The purple ones all had a shiba inu snacking on manju, the yellow with an ezo red fox enjoying dorayaki, the pink featuring a deer nosing around a few choco-balls. They were so childishly sweet that she couldn’t help but grin at them, knowing for sure that they had plenty of young customers. Without going in, she could already feel the warmth radiating off of the place.
“It’s adorable,” she told him, leaning her head on his shoulder, “Did you see the lanterns?”
He nodded and pointed up at them; his finger directed her to one of the green ones. “The field mouse struggling to enjoy the hi-chew is my personal favourite. It’s so chewy it gets stuck in his little mouth.”
Sure enough, there was a depiction of a field mouse with a sticky green candy in his mouth, trying desperately to chew it. She could relate to that one – Hi-chew was just fruity enough that her grandfather let her have it as a treat every once in a while, and she had many memories of it getting stuck in her teeth. “At least he has good taste. The green apple ones were always my favourite.”
“Mine too.”
Expectation might have led one to expect the couple to do something other than smile and take each other by the hand, but that is where it would be wrong. In times like those, sometimes the only thing either of them needed was to take the other by the hand, and lead them to a new moment of happiness.
Kyoko refused to fight off her sigh of relief as the door to the Confection Cabin closed behind them, the homely air soothing her chilled bones. Though she would be the first to confess about having complained, she hadn’t realized how much the winter air affected her. Now that she was inside where it was all cozy, she wanted nothing more than to snuggle up in Makoto’s arms and have a nice, long nap… and perhaps peel off the layers of her coat that suddenly felt very hot. Such things would have to wait, of course, for an incredibly bubbly staff member bombarded them the moment they entered the restaurant.
“Hello there!” The girl chirped, waving almost too enthusiastically at them. “Welcome to Chieko Chisu’s Confection Cabin. My name is Kajitani Anzu-san, and I’ll be looking after you today. How might I help you? Would you like to explore our nummy candies or mouthwatering desserts today?”
Kyoko couldn’t help but glance over at her fiancé helplessly; talking with staff always made her uncomfortable. Not due to any snobby rich girl disdain for them, of course – her generally more closed-off behaviour simply made it more difficult for her to be comfortable with someone who was so obviously ingenuine. Makoto tended to handle it better, and certainly much more naturally than she ever could.
“Actually, if it would be okay, we’d like to try both!” Without warning, he threw his arm around Kyoko’s shoulders, taking her entirely by surprise. She hoped the staff member hadn’t seen her tense in shock. The last thing she wanted was for this random girl to get the wrong impression about her relationship with Makoto. “You see, my fiancée here has been very deprived of sweets all her life.”
Anzu’s hands flew to her face almost comically; her brown eyes as wide as a full moon. “Oh no! We can’t have that!”
Her fiancé nodded in agreement. “Exactly. Which is why we were wondering if it would be possible to start with desserts, and end off with some candy shopping. Would that be okay?”
It became Anzu’s turn to nod as she clapped her hands together enthusiastically. “Of course, of course, sir! We can manage many a treat for you and your sweetheart! A table for two, I presume?”
The only thing Kyoko could think to contribute was an awkward snicker. “Yes, please.”
“Excellent, now if you’ll just follow me…!”
At this point, Kyoko was very close to bursting like a balloon.
Well, maybe that was a bit of an exaggeration, but she sure felt like it. After an hour in the café portion scarfing down Makoto and Anzu’s recommended desserts, her stomach already felt full to the point of discomfort. Their insistence on her attempting to choke down all of the candies and chocolates the store had to offer only worsened the strain, and now, she felt a bit like a beached whale.
She supposed she could take some pleasure in the fact that Makoto seemed to be feeling the same way. He’d become so full while enjoying the desserts with her that he insisted that they call a cab to bring them home, rather than force themselves to walk the full way with the weight of their packed bellies. As embarrassing as it was to admit, she felt so overwhelmed that she had to oblige.
Even so, it was a good trip, all things considered. Just as promised, she and Makoto packed themselves to the brim with all kinds of goodies. Mochi filled with strawberry ice cream, dango of every colour they could manage, some beautiful winter’s nerikiri, delectable banana mushi pan, and the definitely-as-good-as-promised coffee jelly… Her mouth could have watered at the thought of all of those foods, had it not been for the fullness. She could still recall sitting in her booth with Makoto, the two of them sliding dishes to one another across the table and popping treats into their eager mouths.
“Oh my god,” Makoto had exclaimed upon taking his first bite of the mushi pan, “I think this is the best I’ve ever had.”
Kyoko had already been in the process of enjoying her half of the bun cake, and could agree wholeheartedly. The texture was so light and fluffy that it felt as if it melted in her mouth; the sweet but subtle flavour of banana dancing across her tongue like a memory. “Me too,” she mumbled through a muffled full mouth.
“You have nothing to compare it to! This is your first mushi pan.”
She smiled at him with chipmunk cheeks. “And it’s the best I have ever tasted. Pass the coffee jelly, please?”
“Of course,” he chuckled, “I knew you’d love it.”
What a surprise, the answer tempted her far too much. Hopefully, as her fiancé, he would know her that well. Still, she held her tongue, instead choosing to take another spoonful of the jelly he’d just slid over. Pure heaven the moment it entered her mouth. Coffee jelly plus banana mushi pan tasted like breakfast but better. Together, she and Makoto had entered a sugary paradise.
And now they were laying at home, flopped on their plush blue couch, lethargic and exhausted. Yet, strangely, Kyoko honestly couldn’t help feeling happy. The grin on her face was effortless as she laid her head on her partner’s shoulder; the two of them doing their best to ignore their aching tummies. Even if this was the worst shape her stomach had been in in a while, she couldn’t find it within herself to care. Honestly, she wouldn’t even be willing to categorize the scenario as a mistake.
“Ugh…” Makoto groaned, sticking out his lower lip into a childish pout. “I ate way too many desserts.”
She found herself nodding in agreement, reaching over to pat his belly. “You sure packed away a lot. You ate much more than I did… Not that I’m surprised. You always have been better at eating than me.”
His shoulders rose and fell; a smirk snaked across his face. Clear intent to be cheeky. “What can I say? You called me the chief of confection. I had to do my best… I’m paying for it now, though.”
“As am I,” Kyoko sighed and nuzzled her cheek into his shoulder, “But if I have to feel like I’m going to regorge a rainbow with someone, I’m glad that it’s you. Today was really special, my love.”
She knew his cheeks started burning without looking at him. In spite of their engagement, she didn’t always have the confidence to use pet names with him. ‘My love’ was his absolute favourite, and she liked to spring it on him at unexpected moments like these. It always seemed to bring him the greatest joy. When he spoke, she could hear the smile in his voice.
“I’m glad you liked it. I had a really good time with you, too. I hope we can keep doing stuff like this for a long time.”
Kyoko laughed and raised her hand to eye-level, wiggling her fingers in front of his face. The rose-shaped diamond on the ring glittered at them cheerfully, as if to accentuate her point. “I should hope so. That is what you gave me the ring for, is it not?”
“That’s true,” he snickered, “So I can have good times with the woman I love for the rest of my life.”
“Well, I can’t promise you that I won’t spend the night regurgitating all of the desserts we just ate, but I can promise you that.”
He leaned his head down to rest upon hers. “That’s more than good enough for me.”
