Love as rich as chocolate ~TodoBaku~

Chapter 41: meet cute

Akio Todoroki

You know...you don't actually realise quite how much you love someone until you wake up looking at them. It's the instinctual smile that washes over you that gives it away, warming every part of you at the thought of reciprocal passion. It doesn't go away, just rests on your face. It only grows when they breathe slightly heavier than usual, or they pout a little in their dreams. It gets very wide when they open their eyes, their dreamy blue eyes, which greet you with a tired warmth as they experience exactly the same love.

"Nnnnng...mornin'"

"Morning sleepyhead~" I said, reaching a hand over and ruffling his bedhead. He didn't seem best pleased about that, batting me away even though I persisted.

"Stoooop I've got work this morning!"

"And? You'll be on your own, it's not like you've got coworkers to keep standards for!"

"Yeah, but I want to look nice for the customers!"

"Oh? Tryna replace me already~? Am I that much of a handful for you~?"

In retaliation to my teasing, his arms shot out from the covers and wrapped around me, pulling me down to him into a tight hug.

"m'not letting go until you apologise"

"...ok?"

I mean...why would I want him to let go?

It seemed to dawn on him that he hadn't quite thought his plan through, so he resorted to the next best thing...

...completely abandoning being pissed at me, and kissing my neck softly. Naturally...it worked, and before long any attempt at struggle was long abandoned, and I melted into his grasp, so lost in the moment. I wasn't quite lost enough to remember where we were, or who else was in the house, so eventually I pulled away from him, whispering "maybe later~" in as seductive a tone as I could muster. It seemed to do the job, since the almost evil grin on his face told me that he wanted it. Well...gives me something to think about in class...

Class...OH, right, during dinner last night, I got an email from the prof explaining his absence. Apparently his wife was heavily pregnant and had gone into labour, so naturally he had his priorities. While it was odd that it'd never been raised in class before, since he usually got sidetracked with his family life all the time, I felt quite guilty about my bitterness yesterday. He also told us in advance that he wouldn't be in for at least the rest of the week, so I'm as free as a bird for the time being.

With that in mind...I mean, of course I'm spending the day with Hiro at the coffee shop. Whether I help him when it gets busy, or whether we make out in a booth when the shop is empty, we'll be there until at least 2 o'clock, so we might as well occupy ourselves. It'll be nice to spend so much time with him, although I have to admit there's very few moments I spend without him nowadays. I'm not foolish enough to think that everyone is like this with their flings...but this isn't a fling. A fling would be a failed date, or a one night stand. A fling wouldn't meet your parents within two weeks unless something went catastrophically wrong.

I just...love him. There's no other word that goes anywhere near far enough to describe how I feel than love does. I loved him then, tired and grumpy as he woke from sleep. I loved him as he hurriedly put a shirt on before Dad came in the room to wake us up. I loved him as we walked slowly, hand in hand, on the treacherously icy path to the coffee shop, him doing his best not to laugh at me, the human embodiment of Bambi on Ice. His caring hand was warm, even through my gloves, and he'd explained it away by saying it was much colder in Canada. Which is...believable, but I still don't get how he's acting as if it isn't even there. Still, it meant I got lots of cuddles once we finally arrived at the coffee shop, as well as a nice warm hot chocolate with a generous dollop of cream. It was the perfect drink for the weather, and after Hiro had done the usual checks and put on his adorable apron (that I tied up at the back!), we settled down in one of the booths and awaited a customer. It was a weirdly designed place, half-modern yet half-ancient. The seating area was a bit like a stereotypical American diner, just with a khaki green colour scheme. The counter, however, looked a lot more like a barista setting, so it was contrasted in a strange way. Hiro saw my confusion, and filled me in.

"Place used to be a diner, but when the boss bought it and renovated, he realised he'd only have enough to do some of it, so decided to leave the booths since he 'wouldn't have changed them much anyway'"

"It doesn't look awful...it's just...I could tell...?"

It came out as more of a question since I knew Hiro was quite attached to this little place. He thankfully laughed it off, and hopped into action when he saw an elderly man walking through the door. It didn't take him long to sort out his order, but since the man decided to sit in, we were forced to move our conversation to the counter, appearing as professional as possible. Naturally, this presented me with a wonderful opportunity to tease Hiro, to try and get him excited for my promise for later on.

So, with that promise in mind, I leant on the counter and thrust my hips back, arching my back as far as I dared, making sure I was...aimed(?) directly at the door, so the next person to walk through the door would get an eyeful, unless...well, unless Hiro moved me.

I made as much clear to him, and he sighed, resigned to the fact that in reality, he had little choice. He walked over to the other side of the counter, wrapped two strong arms around my midriff, and lifted me through the gap in the counter, managing to manoeuvre me through despite my efforts to stop him. As we messed about we heard a soft chuckle, one that soon descended into a loud laughter.

At least this old guy is having a good time
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Maaaaaaybe some more spicy spicy next time, we'll see 👀

Writing this on Christmas Eve 😌

Fact of the Day: "morning sleepyhead" is, of course, a Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony reference

Fact of the Day 2: bonus fact - let's say this old guy used to run a coffee shop a good 20 or so years ago...who might that make him?

It's been a while since you got two facts! Maybe the Christmas spirit is getting to me a little