Breakfast Confessions

[Willoria]

Healing such a gastly wound had been tricky business, and not just because of the amount of rest required. In spite of a disappointing conversation had after Ume had finally been able to express herself physically with Kotaru, she'd still wanted more of the same with him and had to stifle desires in favor of healing. Between the ointments, the stitches, and finally being able to use Iijutsu herself to help along the process Ume had found herself almost fully healed towards the end of the two weeks she had spent with Kotaru. With the healing came more energy, and she started to finally feel more normal.

One morning she finally felt more normal enough to carefully slip out of bed, careful to try not to wake Kotaru, and pull on the robe she'd been borrowing from him. She made her way into the kitchen and immediately started working on breakfast. It wasn't long before the smell of pancakes, eggs, and bacon started wafting through the house. As she cooked she set it out on the kitchen island, knowing the smells were probably going to wake up Kotaru just fine on its own.

In addition to the borrowed robe she didn't wear much, her feet being bare, but her hair was pulled back in a loose braid to keep it out of her face. Her eyes were bright, betraying how much better she was feeling as she put out juice to drink as well and went back to finishing cooking the last of the pancakes.

[Kao]

Kotaru and Ume played house without incident for almost two weeks. It was pleasant, to say the least, having the woman stay with him as she healed. He enjoyed her company more than the thought he would, and it was so easy having her around that he found himself not at all eager to get back into the swing of his daily life. For the first few days of her stay he shirked his responsibilities, but that could only last so long given his position in the village. Eventually he had to get back to work, but he arranged things so that he could correspond with his subordinates and do complete most of his duties from home. When he absolutely had to leave, it was never for more than a few hours at a time.

He made her stay worthwhile. Easy, relaxing. When she needed help with cleaning her wound, with her stitches, or with simple things like running her bath, he was always just a moment away. More than a few times he called upon a chef to come cook their meals. It was an extravagance he had never indulged in before. But he knew the woman liked making meals, and he thought that seeing someone in the kitchen who knew what they were doing would push her toward healing more quickly. It was foreign to him to live every day with someone else in mind, but as her stay came to an end Kotaru found himself comfortable with the change.

On that particular morning he didn't stir when she slipped out of bed. The smell of breakfast soon wafted into the room, and when he finally opened his eyes he realized she was gone and was likely the source of the aroma. The man groaned as he stretched his stiff muscles, and after grabbing a pair of pants from a drawer - he had moved a few of his clothes into her room - he stumbled toward the kitchen. "You're up early," he greeted while scratching his bare chest. "I'd have asked if you were okay to be up cooking but it looks like you're finished."

[Willoria]

Ume was already smirking as she heard Kota make his way into the kitchen. She was glad to hear him up and moving, even if he did seem to be partially asleep still judging by the slight stumble he walked with. She put the last pancake on a plate and put it on the kitchen island before walking over to him and putting her arms around his waist. "Yeah, I'm good." she assured him. She kissed him gently on the chest before moving to kiss him on the chin and looking up at him expectantly for a kiss on the lips with a smile. "I think I'm finally done healing too even..." she mentioned. "Checked it this morning... small scar looks like, a better medic than me can probably clear that up. Important thing is, internal damage is looking healed up. Sometimes I feel a little sore still but I think that's just my mind playing tricks on me, whenever I use Iijutsu to check it, there's nothing wrong." She jerked her head in the direction of the kitchen island as she finished speaking and slipped away from him.

"Come on..." she tugged on the front of his pants as if to pull him along with her. "I finally got to cook for you... so I hope you woke up hungry." she remarked with a slight smirk as she finally let go of him completely and slid onto one of the seats at the island. "I think it's been years since I cooked for you hasn't it? Before the war? Believe it or not, I've gotten better." she tried to assure him.

[Kao]

When see looked up at him Kotaru kissed her without hesitation. He then pulled open her robe to take a look at her wound, nodding in agreement that it had healed up nicely. It took nearly the full two weeks for it to heal, as he expected. "It'll probably still ache for a while. I wouldn't worry about it right now." For a brief moment his brow jutted upward suggestively when she declared herself fully healed, and when she led him by the front of his pants to the island he started to smirk. But then he noticed her attention was firmly on the food she'd prepared, so the thought was quickly tucked away for later.

It was a good breakfast spread, and he immediately went for a piece of bacon and scarfed it down. He hummed, "Mhm, it's been a while. The opportunity didn't come up much for you to cook for me." He poured a bit of syrup over both the bacon and pancakes and started eating. Ume was right to brag. The pancakes were cooked perfectly, fluffy and thick just like he liked them, and the bacon had the perfect amount of crunch without being overdone. The scrambled eggs looked like they could be tasty, especially since she'd added some cheese and pepper, but Kotaru had never much liked eggs so he carefully ate around them.

"The pancakes and bacon are really good," the man said after a while, mouth full of food. She could probably tell that he liked it just by watching how he ate, but after living with her for a couple weeks he'd learned she responded well to verbal affirmations. Kotaru glanced over at her, hoping she wouldn't be too offended that he had skipped over the eggs.

[Willoria]

Her breath hitched briefly as he opened her robe to look at her wound. Two weeks of him being accustomed to simply looking at her without asking like this and she still wasn't entirely used to it. She knew it was just about checking her wound and her scar, but her mind still always went somewhere else. Some part of her always waited for him to reach out and touch her, as well as to do far more, but she had to restrain her own thoughts in the moment. He wasn't the only one tucking thoughts away for later when they went to the food. After all, she had finally cooked for him and hardly wanted any of it to get cold. The eggs especially she knew would get cold fast.

She sat down to eat as well, grinning widely as she saw him eat and she of course took the time to eat as well. Though when she looked over and saw him skipping over the eggs she was worried for a moment. It took her time before she remembered and instantly blushed. "Shit, Kota..." She shook her head and laughed. "Right... you still don't like eggs, huh?" she asked, chuckling to herself as she shook her head again and sighed. "I guess I haven't cooked for you enough to really cement that in my head." She looked over at him for a moment, reaching over to touch his knee gently. "Well I suppose I can make that up to you later... also I'll have to make up for lost time and cook for you more often too..." she added. She already remembered why she liked cooking for him, though the man didn't usually verbalize his compliments the way he was today, just watching him eat gave away how much he liked the food.

So long as she wasn't dumb enough to accidentally give him alcohol again. The memory made her giggle for a moment as she looked at him slyly. "And I promise, no more alcohol in your drinks either." she teased, wondering if he'd remember the accident that had occurred a previous time she had cooked for him.

[Kao]

"I've tried, but they just taste so..." he waved his fork in the air as he searched for the word, eventually only able to settle on, "eggy." He poked at them, briefly debating on whether or not he should give them a try. But he couldn't bring himself to do it. No matter how eggs were cooked the flavor just didn't jive with his taste buds. Instead, he scraped them onto her plate and snatched up one of her pieces of bacon - a fair trade, he thought - and dipped it into the leftover syrup on his plate. When she mentioned alcohol he scrunched up his nose and frowned. He, of course, knew exactly what incident she was referring to. "I haven't had a single drop of alcohol since then. I get shit for not liking it but I don't get it. It tastes awful."

Her words about cooking for him more often echoed in his mind and he hummed thoughtfully. Once his plate was clean, he looked her in the eyes and held her gaze. "It won't be very easy for you to cook for me more often when you move back home. It's a long walk to the clan compound." Kotaru's home was quite purposefully miles away from the Akari compound on the complete opposite side of the village. Of course it wouldn't take long for a jounin like Ume to make the trek, but it was still quite a distance. He looked at her pointedly, waiting for her inevitable comment about her return home in the coming days.

[Willoria]

Ume giggled a bit, watching Kotaru poke at his eggs before he gave up and dumped them on her plate and stole a piece of bacon. She took a bite herself, though as he seemed to grump a bit about her reference to the alcohol incident she couldn't help shaking her head. "I'm not going to get you to laugh about that even once am I?" she asked, smirking at him slightly. Still shaking her head a bit, she had a few more bites of the eggs before pushing the plate back. He brought up the idea of her going back to her home and the woman's expression shifted. She couldn't help frowning a bit herself at the thought. "Yeah, I guess I do have to go back now that I'm healed up... I need to let you get back to your normal day to day." she remarked almost idly, trying to smile at him though it was more of a sad smile than anything. She had enjoyed the time with him more than she cared to admit.

But in addition to losing out spending every day with the man, there was facing the reality of that moment of rejection looming over her head. She knew the reputation he had now, but some part of her had assumed it was some side effect of how she had hurt him. 'Naive of me to think that would stop just because I finally realized I wanted him, and was willing to be with only him...' Yet again she buried the thoughts and shrugged as if she were unbothered at the inevitable shift that would come when she left. "And I'll have to go back to being the only half decent resource for medical care on the compound I guess...if my one room clinic really counts." she added with a bit of a chuckle. "I might be too busy to come out here... maybe you'll have to consider coming to see me instead." she teased, smirking at him slightly.

'Guess I was too late...' Damn thoughts kept creeping in though, no matter how much she buried them.

[Kao]

He was quiet as she spoke. Though she tried to mask it with a smile, sadness had seeped into her expression. It wasn’t the first time during her stay that he’d noticed how hard she tried to put on a brave face. It sometimes crept into her expression when they ate together, or when they walked around the courtyard for exercise. He had even noticed it when they were in bed together, and it wasn’t something he had been able to simply kiss away.

He had a feeling he knew why. Kotaru wasn’t the same asocial kid who didn’t know how to read people and make inferences regarding their emotions. And he certainly wasn’t so dense that he didn’t notice her demeanor had changed after he had avoided the topic of exclusivity. The man let her finish talking and then began his response with a sigh. ”You’re really determined to keep up this Akari clinic thing, huh? Without giving her a chance to comment he continued. “Ume. Most medics don’t live at work. In fact, I’m pretty sure that’s not a thing outside of war time. And needless to say, it’s not a good idea to let certain people into your home, even if you’re just trying to help them.”

He leaned back for a moment, and then with a furrowed brow he gathered their plates and took them to the sink. There was a long pause as he gathered his thoughts and tried to think of the best way to word what was on his mind. ”I think I’ll be fine if this-“ he waved a half-clean knife in the air, ”is part of my day to day life. It hasn’t exactly been an inconvenience having you here.” Kotaru bit his lip, eyes on the soap suds, and then added, “Why not just completely convert your place into a clinic and stay here?”

[Willoria]

Though he didn't give Ume a chance to respond as he asked about the clinic, Ume still nodded even as he continued. His comments about a medic living at work, and even about letting clan members in her home caused her to shrug. "I mean, people trying to kill me in my house isn't exactly uncommon even without the clinic, Kota." she replied, finally giving up and setting down her fork. She picked up her cup of juice for a quick sip before continuing. "I mean hell, it wasn't all that long before this last mission that I woke up from a nightmare about you to find out it was actually some guy trying to-" she suddenly broke off what she was saying and cleared her throat with a blush as she realized the incident she was talking about was while Kotaru had been gone, and after she had upset him. The last thing she wanted to do was talk about that. She simply tried to preoccupy herself by taking a much longer sip of her juice.

She watched him curiously as he suddenly gathered up the dishes and started cleaning them, wondering idly if he was the one trying to distract himself now. She sat quiet, waiting to see what he would say. Though what he did end up saying surprised her, and for a moment she couldn't help but wonder if she was even understanding him right. "Kota... are you suggesting I move in with you?" she asked, almost hesitating to let herself feel excited about the idea. It didn't seem all that long ago he seemed like he wasn't that serious. She looked at him for several moments, staring at his back that was to her as she wondered if she should even ask the question. "...in...in what sense, would you want me here?" She found herself blushing furiously all of a sudden. "I mean..." She couldn't even say it. '...it'd break my heart to think I'm finally getting the chance to be with the one person I want, only to get a front row seat to watch him be with everyone else...' It just remained a thought instead.

[Kao]

Her comment about the nightmare flew miles above Kotaru's head. He was too busy swallowing his nerves, hesitating and wondering if asking Ume to move in was really the best move. But as each second passed, the more the bannin realized that despite his uncertainties about their relationship he wanted to keep her around. He liked having her near and knowing she was safe. He liked waking up next to her, at times with entangled limbs and at other times on opposite ends of the bed because one or both of them got too hot. Even though he at times felt tense, as if he was waiting for shit to once again hit the fan, Kotaru had become so used to her presence that he hated the thought of things going back to "normal."

Finally, he turned around, crossed his arms, and then leaned against the counter. At first his eyes were lowered to the kitchen tile, but eventually he raised his gaze to meet hers. He could tell she was hesitating, but in Kotaru's mind Ume's uncertainty paled in comparison to his. For days he found himself briefly practicing this moment and then quickly swatting away the thoughts and dismissing them as maladaptive fantasy. He didn't know how to answer her question, or what the "right" answer would be. Instead of mulling it over too much, Kotaru spoke honestly. "Yeah. Yeah, I think you should move in with me. I like having you here and it was easier than I thought it would be. As far as in what sense...I don't know yet. But we can start by continuing...whatever this is." That part of his answer probably would not go over well with her. At that thought his throat dried, and he found himself having to swallow thickly to prevent his voice from coming out in a hoarse croak. He was taking a real chance on her - on them - and although the prospect of letting down his guard with her terrified him, Kotaru did his best to not let it show. But despite himself he fidgeted with his hands, touching his fingertips one after another to steady his nerves.

"Look, things won't change overnight. But I won't do anything to make you uncomfortable. If you're still serious about this, about me, then you can stay here and we can figure it out together." After a small pause he added, "But only if you want to."

[Willoria]

Ume found herself practically holding her breath as she watched him turn around to face her, almost scared of what he might say. What he said might not have been quite what she wanted to hear, but it still brought a smile to her face. It was a step closer, and in the moment it was enough for her. Already her mind was working over ideas. The clinic part of her home could be expanding, the living portion condensed down to the size of an apartment in case someone needed to stay overnight or if Masako chose to stay there to keep an eye on the place. After all, if she was staying with Kotaru, she'd hardly need the other woman's protection 24/7 as before, her guardian would actually get some time off here and there again. 'Though I bet she'll spend those nights at Jinsai's...' she thought to herself.

She got up from her chair and walked over to Kotaru as he made it clear it was up to her. Lifting her hands she took both of his in hers and kissed his knuckles gently before smiling up at him. "I want to." she told him. "I am serious about this.... about you, Kota." she assured him. Releasing his hands she'd try to lean against him, wrapping her arms around his waist as she looked up at him. She was still terrified of getting hurt in this, but she knew she'd been ready to prove she was ready to commit to him since she wrote him that letter, since she'd set aside all others for him before that letter, and she had waited this long after all.

[Kao]

And with that, Kotaru gave a rare, genuine grin. He'd thought it was a real possibility that she would decline, that she would either be too dedicated to her clinic to too upset about his hesitation to fully commit to her. Perhaps both. But Kotaru was glad that the two of them agreed that this was a step in the right direction, and when she wrapped her arms around him he reflexively returned the gesture. Then, with his hands around her waist he picked her up to spin her, and at the same time kissed her deeply. In that moment all of his apprehension lay forgotten, displaced by bliss and relief. When he finally pulled away his smile remained and he said to her, "You can start moving in your stuff whenever you want. And if you wanna renovate your old place, I know a few people that can get it done in a week."


After that he pulled her into another hug, and after a long moment passed he kissed her forehead. With his lips still pressed against her skin he murmured, "Welcome home then, Ume."

[Willoria]

There was a moment when he picked her up that the woman couldn't help a small squeak of surprise, almost feeling like a kid again. Kisses he gave were returned immediately, and his smiles made her feel like her heart was fluttering in her chest. She had a smile of her own as she looked up at him. When he pulled her into another hug she she wrapped her arms up around his neck this time, burying her face against his neck and cheek, sighing happily in the moment. As he said those words, welcoming her home, she couldn't help an odd giggle before lifting her head enough to look up at him.

Her gentle smile quickly turned mischievous as she suddenly gave a small hop and suddenly both of her legs were wrapped around his waist and she kissed him deeply. Her hands moved to bury her fingers in his hair as devious thoughts came to the woman's mind. When she finally broke her lips from his she was grinning at him. "I hear its tradition to 'christen' rooms in a new home... how many you think we can get to?" she asked him.

[Kao]

He could feel the way she relaxed in his arms when he welcomed her, and in turn his grin widened. When she hopped up and wrapped her legs around him, he reflexively grabbed the underside of her thighs. When she kissed him again a low, eager moan reverberated in his throat and he massaged his tongue against hers. Her suggestive tone made his heart skip and blood quickly started to rush out of his head. ”Think you’re up for it?” he questioned, brow jutting upward as his lips slowly morphed from a grin to a smirk. “There’s nine rooms to choose from and those are just the bedrooms.” As he finished speaking he adjusted his grip on her thighs by bouncing her slightly, and when Ume shifted in his grip her body pressed against his groin in a way that made him eager to get her out of the kitchen and into a bed.

No matter how she responded, Kotaru would turn out of the kitchen and head upstairs. They nearly didn’t make it. Twice he stopped to press her against a wall, his lips eagerly finding hers. Eventually he backed them into two heavy double doors and into the estate’s master bedroom. The room was huge, more than twice the size of Ume’s room on the first floor. It was decorated in a way the suited him, simple and clean with grey, black, and ocean blue decor. Dark blackout curtains were pulled back enough so that sunlight streamed through the windows, perfectly illuminating his enormous bed. It was on the opposite wall on a raised platform, a couple of large plush pillows laying on top of a thick, unmade comforter.

Kotaru laid Ume on her back and climbed on top of her, his hands trailing down to her waistband and tugging on it until it was halfway down her hips. He was gentle at first, hands trailing back upwards toward her chest and down again. It was a moment he wanted to savor, but it wouldn’t be long before both of their clothes were tossed aside.

[Willoria]

His question only made Ume chuckle, even as her lips were still practically against his. "Well if I'm not... I guess I have some work to do." she replied, letting out a slight squeak again as he adjusted his hold on her. A small gasp escaped her as well, she couldn't help a blush as she looked at him. "Careful where your fingers wind up..." she teased him, shaking her head as she made to kiss him again. It wouldn't be the last time she tried either as he made their way out of the kitchen and upstairs to his bedroom. Ume had been thinking about this almost her entire two weeks there, but she had also wanted these moments with him for much longer.

Every time he stopped on the way up she found herself giggling into a kiss she wanted to take so much farther, always whimpering in disappointment when he'd continued on. If she'd looked around as they finally came to his room she might have been impressed by it, and later on she would have, but in the moment her mind wasn't at all on the decor, or the bed, not even the bedding as he laid her on it. Her mind, like her gaze, was entirely on Kota. When he laid her down she half sat back up to try and kiss him again, biting her lip when she felt his gentle hands on her skin. She was both impatient, and enjoying the moments to come...
[To Be Continued...]