"Ueda looked over to see Taguchi resting on the provided sofa in their respected room of the Jimusho. His eyes were closed and a melody with no words was being pushed past his slightly parted lips. He didn’t recognize the tune but it did sound catchy whatever it was.  Ueda knew that Taguchi had been trying to come up with a new single of his own to add to their newest album but hadn’t been able to really find the inspiration. It seems his block had been smashed and ideas were finally coming in.

 

Junno opened his eyes and sat up not realizing he was no longer the only occupant in the room. He walked over sat down at the table. Pulling out a small note pad and pen he tapped the writing utensil against his lip before jotting down a few words. He leaned back humming the tune again adding something more then went back to writing.

 

Ueda had seen that look of determination on Taguchi’s face before. He was brainstorming and didn’t want to be interrupted. Taking a seat on the sofa still feeling the warmth from its earlier occupant Ueda kept his eyes focused on the other man. Whenever Taguchi wrote new songs all goofiness was gone and he was as serious as a heart attack. Ueda loved that look on the other man. When he wanted to Taguchi could melt the heart of any fan no matter how he acted. But one thing Ueda had over the fans was he got to see both sides of the same coin.

 

Junno started muttering the newly written lyrics and adjusted a few lines before smiling brightly. “Yatta!”

 

“You sound happy.” Ueda said chuckling.

 

Junno jumped at the voice. “Oh Uepi what are you doing here?”

 

“Gomen I didn’t mean to scare you.” Ueda said holding his hands up. “I just got in and I saw you working and I didn’t want to bother you so I kept quiet.”

 

Junno nodded. “Arigatou.” He looked down at the freshly born lyrics and back up at Ueda feeling his cheeks slightly darken.

 

“Something wrong?”

 

Junno shook his head. “No I’m just worried that these lyrics may not pass.”

 

“If you don’t think they will then why did you write them?” Ueda asked.

 

“Because I was thinking of you when I wrote them.” Junno admitted sheepishly.

 

“Junno we’ve talked about this. No hinting about our relationship till we know the others will be okay with it.” Ueda warned.

 

“But what if they will never be okay with it? We know what happened with Kazu-chan and Jin. IF those two had spent anymore time together the might have-“ Junoo trailed off. “Look I wrote these lyrics because I want to try something new, something different, something more serious.”

 

Ueda reached out and snatched the paper from the other man. He scanned the text before looking up. “Junno, you do realize this is a love song.”

 

Junno looked away not noticing that Ueda had addressed him by his given name. “Go ahead and laugh I know it sounds terrible.”

 

Ueda looked at the man with a serious expression on his face. “Does it look like I’m going to laugh?” He sat down on the sofa and padded the empty cushion next to him. “Are you trying to tell me something in this song?”

 

Junno sat down next to the smaller man but kept a fair amount of space between the two of them. “Yeah.”

 

“Junno if you want to end it all you have to do is tell me.” Ueda said moving closer to the other man.

 

“No no I don’t want to end it. But how can I end something I’m not even sure if something has even begun.” Junno responded.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“Uepi what am I to you?” Junno asked.

 

“What do you mean?”

 

“It’s a simple question. When you see me what is the first thought that pops into your head?” Junno asked rephrasing the question.

 

“What made me fall in love with you.” Ueda answered quietly.

 

“And what is that?” Junno asked.

 

Ueda moved forward and reached up to trail his fingers down the other man’s jaw line. “Cook dinner for me to dinner tonight and I’ll tell you.”

 

Junno pouted but stepped closer to Ueda, “My place or yours?”

 

“Yours, I think you’d have a little trouble working around the dogs.” Ueda said.

 

“Well what do you have in mind?”

 

“Why not surprise me? You know all my favorite foods.” Ueda responded.

 

“But what do you have in mind for desert?” Junno asked.

 

“I’m looking at it.” Ueda said staring at Junno’s lips. He moved closer, “And whoever made the rule you have to have dinner first then desert was never intrigued by something so sweet.”

 

Junno placed a hand on Ueda’s shoulder to keep him from moving any closer. “Well trust me your dessert will be worth the wait. Just be patient.”

 

Ueda groaned. “You know patience isn’t my strongest virtue.”

 

Junno smiled as he took his song back, “I know but it’s going to be worth the wait trust me.” He reached for his jacket and headed towards the door. “I’ll see you tonight at 7 okay?

 

Ueda nodded before checking his watch. It was 3:00pm now so he had 4 hours to kill. What better way to work up an appetite then work out? Grabbing his own jacket he headed towards his car with the thoughts of stopping at the gym for a good workout planned in his mind.

 

By the time 5:00 came and went Ueda was out of breath and in need for a shower. He jumped into the provided stalls at the gym to get the sweat and grime off his body before changing into his street clothes.  After swinging back to his apartment to quickly feed his dogs and change into a fresh outfit before snatching his keys up again and nearly breaking the speed limit to get to Junno’s. He always liked showing up at the other’s door early, it meant more time spent together.

 

Junno peeked his head out of the kitchen when he heard his front door open. “You’re early….again.”

 

Ueda plopped down on the couch. “I’m not early, I’m hungry.” He sniffed the air and closed his eyes. “And that’s not helping in the least you know.”

 

Junno chuckled  “Well you are only torturing yourself by showing up early. It’s still going to be a few minutes. If you had arrived here at the time I suggested you wouldn’t be putting yourself through this. So you have no one to blame but yourself.”

 

Ueda knew he couldn’t argue with that. “How much longer though?” He looked down to see the kotasu already set with plates, glasses and forks knives and spoons. There was a small chance the meal would be American. Ueda didn’t mind. He had taken a small liking to American cuisine at least few of the foods choices.

 

Junno walked out with a apron that stated ‘It takes more than a kiss for this chef’ scrawled on it. “But this should whet your appetite I should think.” He sat a plate of garlic seasoned toast in front of the other man. “And perhaps give you a hint of what I’m cooking for you.” With that he headed back into the kitchen.

 

Ueda eyed the plate suspiciously. “Don’t tell me you’re making spaghetti.”

 

“Ding ding we have a winner.” Junno said holding a pair of tongs with noodles dangling from them.

 

“Junno there’s only two people who have been able to get the sauce right for my personal spaghetti.” Ueda said biting into the toast. “Well three.”

 

“I’m guessing I’m not one of them?” Junno asked.

 

“Well I haven’t tried yours yet so-“

 

“So don’t judge my cooking until you have the right to criticize it.” Junno argued.

 

“Fair enough.” Ueda sighed. “But if I don’t like it you have to make me something else.”

 

“I forget how picky you can be at times.” Junno said as he turned off the stove and went about draining the noodles for the spaghetti.  He had put together all his favorite seasonings into the sauce and only hoped his appetite was a close match to the other man’s. Once the food was in an appropriate dish he carefully carried it out to the kotatsu and set it down in front of Ueda.

 

“Well it smells good, I’ll give you that much right now.” Ueda said.

 

“I’ll at least take that as a compliment.” Junno said as he removed the apron and hung it on the provided hook before proceeding to dish out a decent helping of noodles and poured a healthy helping of sauce on top. “Oh I almost forgot something.” He walked back into the kitchen and returned with two bottles, “I’m adding this to mine you can add it to yours if you want.”

 

“What exactly is it?” Ueda asked looking at the pasta in front of him.

 

“It’s garlic salt and grated cheese.” Junno said smiling. “He sprinkled a small amount onto his pasta and mixed it up. “Itadakimasu.”

 

Ueda couldn’t help but chuckle after he witnessed Junno take a bit swallow and still look relatively normal in the face. “I guess if you’re still alive I’ll give it a try now.” He picked up his fork and but set it down grabbing the garlic salt and the grated cheese and adding a small amount to his own plate before mixing it up. “Itadakimasu.” He picked up a small portion of the noodles and slowly pushed the fork past his lips.

 

Junno watched and waited with almost no patience to see what his lover’s reaction would be to his cooking. “Well?”

 

“Junno I can’t believe I’m saying this but I think I like this even better than the original recipe.” Ueda said taking a larger bite. “This tastes amazing!”

 

Junno let out a huge sigh of relief, “Kami-sama arigatou. I was afraid I’d have to make you something else.”

 

“Well I could just take back what I just and demand you make me something new.” Ueda warned.

 

“But if you did that you wouldn’t get your dessert.” Junno answered the older man. “I’d be to tired from cooking to satisfy your sweettooth.”

 

“You wouldn’t have to. I’m trying to watch my weight.” Ueda teased taking another forkful of spaghetti.

 

“If it’s the dessert I’m thinking of you wouldn’t have a problem with that.” Junno said as he finished his spaghetti and leaned back against his wrists.

 

“But since I am enjoying myself will I get my dessert?” Ueda asked.

 

“You know there’s a saying I heard. ’You can’t always have your cake and eat it too.’ But in your case I think an exception can be made?” Junno said as he reached over and wiped a small patch of sauce off the corner of Ueda’s lip. “Umai.” He said his lips.

 

Ueda felt his cheeks light a flame. “Why did you just do that?”

 

“For a few reasons.” Junno responded.

 

Ueda set his fork down, “Care to share with the class?”

 

“Well one I wanted to see you blush because contrary to popular belief you do look good in red. And two I wanted to see if you would make the sauce taste any better.” Junno answered.

 

Ueda reached over and playfully punched the other man. “You’re a riot do you know that?”

 

“It’s part of the job description I guess.” Junno said as he took a piece of bread and used it to clean up the remaining sauce on his plate.

 

Ueda did the same his fingers afterwards. “I’ll have to have you cook for me again next time I want spaghetti.”

 

“Well with the main course out of the way, are you going to keep your promise?” Junno asked.

 

“What promise?”

 

“You promised you would tell me what made you fall in love with me…”