28 DAYS [MakoHaru]

thirty eight → 12/29

Chapter Thirty-Eight: December 29th

Incessant pounding on the bedroom door jolts Makoto awake, and the first thing he sees when his eyes fly open are a pair of baby blues, studying him curiously.

The noise that instinctively flies out of his mouth is both extremely girly and extremely embarrassing, and it seems to amuse Haruka greatly.

"You snore when you sleep," He announces matter-of-factly, a smirk curling on his lips. Makoto realizes he's still pressed up against Haruka, and he appreciates the sharing of body heat, because the house is clearly not heated. The moment Haruka pulls away the comforter, a chill hits Makoto's body and he shivers.

"Yo, bitches! We're having breakfast now, whether you're awake or not!" Asuka shouts from the other side of the door, her voice slightly muffled. Haruka snorts at her words. "We're having blueberry pancakes!"

"We're coming!" Haruka shouts back impatiently. "Calm your tits, Asuka!"

"Yeah, I bet you are," She mutters, but it is loud enough for Makoto to hear. He ignores it, however, and dares to ask the pressing question on his mind.

"What are pancakes?" Makoto echoes in confusion, and Haruka's eyes go wide in utter shock.

"Never ask that question again," He threatens in a deadly serious tone. Makoto blinks, unfazed.

"What?"

"You're disgusting," Haruka dismisses him with a disappointed click of his tongue. "Blueberry pancakes are the best thing to ever exist." He shakes his head.

"Come on, let's go downstairs. Well...." His eyes cast downwards for a second. "After you deal with your problem," He smirks. Before Makoto can say anything, Haruka slides off the bed and trods out of the bedroom.

Makoto looks down.

Fuck.

- - - -

After taking a much-needed shower, Makoto wanders downstairs fifteen minutes later, in a fresh change of clothes and a towel around his neck. He feels more refreshed now, lucky that he's adjusted to the new time zone so quickly.

By the time he heads down the downstairs hallway, a wonderful, but unknown scent hits his nose. He rounds the corner, seeing the entire family bustling around the kitchen to get breakfast. Albert is at the stove, pouring running batter on a griddle with one hand and flipping a flat-shaped disc with a spatula in the other.

Suzuka is situated next to her mother at the dining table, who is cutting up the same disc with a knife and dousing it in sticky brown syrup. Mr. Amakata is at the head of the table, sipping a mug of coffee and reading the newspaper.

And of course, Haruka and Asuka are bantering, seemingly fighting over who gets a certain seat. They're arguing in French, so Makoto doesn't get what they're saying, but he hears his name mentioned a couple times, which makes him anxious.

Instead, he moves towards the food, grabs a plate from the stack on the kitchen island, and awkwardly approaches Albert. He notices Makoto's presence and gives him a warm smile, gesturing to the discs on the griddle.

"You want...?" He asks slowly, tripping over his Japanese. Followed by: "Pancakes?" in a thick French accent.

Makoto nods quickly. "Oui," He smiles kindly. That's probably one of the three French words he does know, so it's a relief to finally know what to say. Albert nods, flipping two pancakes onto his plate. He points to the kitchen counter, where other food awaits to be eaten. It's all extremely uncommon for a typical Japanese person, but he doesn't complain; instead of the standard rice and miso soup for breakfast, there is sliced-up fruit, croissants, jam, and a large pot of black coffee.