A loving reminder | Tai(k)o(u)ra for Valentine's Day
Hello my darlings,
It's almost time for Valentine's Day and that deserves some new writing. It's a Taiora and it's written for this month's Taiora 2022 prompt "Valentine's Day" (by @taioraworld), but I simply had to add some Koushiro to the mix (plus all the others ssssttt)!
You can either read it as a clean Taiora living together with their bestie Koushiro or read it as a romantic!Taikoura. That's your call ;)
Anyway, enjoy the read and wishing you all a great Valentine's Day <3
(Yay for stock images!)
Taiora2022 - February: Valentine's Day | Genre: Love, friendship, comfort, (domestic) fluff | Rating: K+ | Wordcount: 1.500+ words
A loving reminder
The light of the morning sun that seeped through the light curtains made Sora slowly wake up in peace. It was rare sunrays at this time of year, meaning spring would come soon this year. Sora yawned and stretched herself without losing the arms that were wrapped around her thin frame. She wiggled and turned around in his embrace to face her big spoon of that night, the tips of her nose touching his. The nuzzling movement she then made slightly woke up her sleeping buddy with a groan. And who was to blame, after all, it was a Monday morning, their least favorite. It reminded them that the sweet rest and togetherness they usually shared on the weekend was about to end very soon.
“Good morning, sunshine boy,” Sora softly sang, her lips meeting his for a small peck to fully wake him. He immediately dived back in to meet her lips for a longer lock, only leaving hers to return the greeting.
“Morning, Sor,” Taichi said with his usual raspy morning voice. He scraped his throat with his mouth closed, stretching his body like Sora had done earlier, with it letting her go from his embrace and leaving her cold.
Sora shivered.
“You really aren’t one for the cold weather, are you?” Taichi teased, his arms finding its way back to hug her warm. Sora nodded and giggled, her head snuggling back into his chest.
They lay like that for a while, happy and safe in the others arms, cuddling while sharing small, quiet and ordinary conversations. How they weren’t looking forward to this week, knowing they wouldn’t be able to spend much time together due to busy jobs. Usually they had the weekends, but this weekend had been different with Sora being incredibly busy helping her mother out with all the Ikebana orders for Valentine’s Day.
Valentine’s…
“Shit, Taichi, it’s Valentine’s today!” Sora exclaimed, immediately sitting up straight in bed. Her eyes turned big as she looked down on Taichi, remembering how she had wanted to bake that weekend to celebrate Valentine’s, but forgot all about it.
Taichi laughed. “Sor, it’s fine. We know you were going to be super busy these last days and already figured out you would be too caught up with work and preparations.”
“But usually I don’t forget! Taichi, this is a disaster,” Sora whined, her face disappearing in her hands. She felt how Taichi grabbed her wrists and carefully removed the hands, wanting to be able to look in her eyes as he spoke.
“Sora, would you believe if I said that it really is okay?” He sweetly said, his voice low and soft. Sora nodded. “Besides,” Taichi continued, “we might have a little surprise for you.”
With that, Taichi stood and left the bedroom, leaving the door open for Sora to follow.
Sora was in a happy place. Her career was taking off, she had great and supportive friends, her love life was a happy and safe one, but still… Still there was an ache in her chest, especially every time she walked past that basket.
Ever since Piyomon had vanished, her heart had felt as empty as that empty basket Piyomon had left behind. Her mind grew heavy, reminiscing over all the happy moments Sora had shared with her precious partner, a tear holding those memories meandering over her cheek to the floor. Those tears were familiar to Sora by now, she had already freed so many, every tear leaving deep grooves in her face’s skin. They burned, yet sparked joy all the same, like invisible scars telling her the stories of the adventures she had shared with Piyomon over and over again. Sora sniffed.
“Sora-san, are you okay?”
Sora looked up from the basket to the door’s opening where Koushiro had appeared, fully dressed in apron and all. She smiled, hiding away possible new tears that formed behind her eyes. “I’m fine.” Besides, how could she not be fine with Koushiro standing there the way he stood.
She watched him reaching out his hand for hers and with a small smile she took it. He guided her to the living area where she was met with a gorgeous looking and deliciously smelling breakfast and a pinkish envelope with hearts on her plate. She had expected to find Taichi at the table too, but he was nowhere to be found. Curious about the situation, Sora opened her mouth to make a comment, but was stopped by Koushiro.
“Taichi-san asked me to prepare the breakfast for you. He also wants you to open the letter,” Koushiro said, his eyes pointing to the envelope on her plate. Sora shot him a confused look, though not wanting to ask too much questions, she picked up the envelope and opened it without saying a word.
Inside she found a small and beautifully handwritten letter. Her eyes followed the soft curves of the waving letters forming words, forming sentences, her heart filling itself with warmth that spread from her chest through her entire body.
Dearest Sora,
First of all, we want to wish you a happy, beautiful, peaceful, wonderful, great, amazing and lovely Valentine’s Day!
It has been quite a ride for you this last year with all that has happened and your career. We know you have been pushing yourself to extreme limits and amidst you being so incredibly busy, you are always there for everyone. It’s your blessing, we admire you being so obliging, it’s heartwarming. But all of us, including you, know it can also be your curse. We have been watching you taking care of others like a friend, partner and even a mom in a way. However, now it’s time to switch those roles and let us take care of you! Starting with this little gift on the day of Love.
We hope that this gift shows you how much we care for you. We also hope that it reminds you to take care of yourself every once in a while. Be selfish! Take that nap! Eat that last rice ball! Don’t make that call and let someone else check on the others! And please, Sora, allow us to spoil you from time to time.
<3
Her eyes flew over the words again and again, a warm smile on her face. It was funny to her how they had captured the words Piyomon had once said to her in this letter as well, feeling as if she had been there writing this letter along them. Sora looked up from the stationary a playful sigh escaping her.
“I really hope he’s not going to gift me another of those damn hairclips.”
Koushiro laughed. “I made sure he wouldn’t.”
With a nod of his head, Koushiro pointed to something behind her and Sora could hear footsteps and something scraping the ground. She turned around to find Taichi, next to him something that looked like a mobile table with higher legs, a large fabric cloth draped over the top of the… thing. Sora tilted her head, trying to make any sense of the situation and the gift she apparently was going to receive, but it was all vague to her. But when Taichi pulled away the cloth all that Sora could do was gasp.
Underneath the cloth was a big round cage with white bars. In the cage she found a small pinkish bird with tiny little feathers on the top of her little head. The sweet sound the bird made as Taichi pulled away the cloth made Sora’s heart jump with joy, the tears that she had tried to hide immediately forming in her eyes again.
“I know you miss her a lot,” Taichi started, “and I know it’s not Piyomon, nor is it a replacement… But we really wanted to give you this on Valentine’s Day as a reminder of the love she gave you, the love you give us in return and the love that we want to return so desperately.”
This only made Sora cry more, her hand finding its place in front of her mouth as she approached the birdcage to get a closer look at the little bird. It wasn’t a replacement, absolutely not, but it was the sweetest gift she could ask for, thoughtful and heartwarming. One she would cherish for as long as she was able to.
“T-Thank you,” she stuttered, the eyes filled with tears finding Taichi’s worried but proud ones. The hand on her shoulder was Koushiro’s, whom she gave a warm smile through her tears. “Both of you.”
“Don’t just thank us, Sora-san.”
“Right, this is a gift from all of us.”
Sora raised an eyebrow. “All of us?” She remembered not finding any names at the bottom of that letter.
Taichi’s and Koushiro’s eyes found each other’s, their lips turning into grins and smiles.
“You do know that both of our handwritings aren’t that good, right?”
“The words were mostly Taichi-san’s, but this gift is from all eleven of us.”
Sora laughed and shook her head, her body filled with warmth, love and care from her friends. Reminding Sora of Piyomon’s love, how much she loved Piyomon back, how much she loved her friends yesterday, how much she would love her friends today…
“Also little note, unlike Piyomon, this birdie is a guy—ouch!” Taichi said, interrupted by a light slap against the back of his head by Koushiro. Sora laughed.
… and how much she would love them from tomorrow on forever more.
