Title: it’s always worth it
Rating: T
Fandom: Amnesia Memories
Relationship: Heroine/Ikkyu/Kent
Wordcount: 1707
Short summary: Kent is supposed to return to Japan on December 26 and Anna and Ikki have planned a nice dinner to welcome him home. However it appears Kent put the wrong info into the calendar, forcing Anna and Ikki to make a few adjustments.
Note: the Heroine's name is Anna in this fic.
“Wait, he hasn’t left yet? His plane was delayed?”
“No, I think we got the wrong date of his flight.”
Anna is double-checking the website for flights scheduled from London to Tokyo and frowning. Kent had told them that he was flying on December 26 and according to their shared calendar it showed him landing today around 5 PM. But if that were the case, he should be on a plane, since flights from England that would arrive at 5 PM today should have left by 3 AM Japan time. And it is currently 12 PM Japan time.
Ikki lets out a frustrated sigh. “Damnit. We should have double-checked the flight time ourselves.”
“It’s alright. At least we hadn’t started cooking yet.”
The plan was to welcome Kent back to Japan with a typical Japanese meal with the assumption that, especially with the busy schedule Kent typically keeps full of research and teaching, Kent likely has been eating sandwiches for the past week or two. In terms of Japanese food, maybe Kent’s had sushi or ramen over there, since those are popular foods around the world. But certainly he’s not had oden recently, right? They also planned to make a variety of side dishes but…
“Won’t you be too busy tomorrow? The reason we decided to prepare the meal ourselves was because you wouldn’t be working.”
“It’s alright. Let’s figure out if we can prepare any of this ahead of time.”
It’s not like everything has to be made on the day of consumption, but it would certainly taste better if the dishes were made fresh.
“Or we could just order takeout instead. You know Ken will probably enjoy anything as long as it’s Japanese.”
True, and they could order anything takeout that they had planned to make. But it kind of defeats the point of being a home meal that they are gifting to Kent, at least in Anna’s opinion.
“I still want to…” Anna still wants to make it work.
“Yeah, I get it.” Ikki pats Anna on the head lightly. “Well, let’s at least get started with the dessert?”
**********
The next day, December 27, is when Anna makes her way to the airport. She runs up to him exiting through customs and gives him a big hug. “Welcome home, Kent!”
Kent returns her embrace as best as he can with his left arm while still holding onto his roller bag with his right hand. The embrace lasts a minute before Kent breaks away.
“Wait, why are you at the airport? Aren’t you supposed to be working?”
Anna smiles sheepishly. “I left early.” She playfully pokes at Kent’s chest. “You were the one who gave us the wrong date for your flight home.”
“I’m sorry.” Kent looks down with a guilty expression. “I didn’t put the event into our calendar properly. I almost went to the airport at the wrong time too.”
Anna can’t help but let loose a small laugh. She’s already forgiven Kent for his mistake but especially with that apology. She knew it had been an accidental mistake.
“It’s fine. You made it back.” And that’s the most important part.
“Yes. I missed you.” Kent smiles warmly before taking Anna’s right hand with his left, squeezing it firmly. “You really didn’t have to make the trip out here to meet me,” he comments as they begin their walk out of the airport. “I assume Ikkyu is waiting for us at home?”
“Yeah.”
“You two must have something prepared for me,” Kent states confidently. When Anna stops and looks at him in surprise. “Your expression makes it obvious.”
“Kent…” She doesn’t think her face did anything so it’s probably just a misspeak and he meant her behavior. Well, it didn’t need to be a surprise, but it would have been nice if Kent had been oblivious…
“It’s cute,” Kent comments, likely noticing Anna’s slight frown. “Well, I’ll let Ikkyu know that I’m alive and with you once we get on the train.”
Anna cocks her head. “You aren’t tired?”
“I ended up sleeping a lot on the plane.” Kent shrugs. “I may be up later than planned tonight.”
They make it through the pay gates and onto the train, luckily sitting on a train relatively uncrowded…for now.
“You should take a nap on me. It’ll be a while before we get home, right?”
When Kent says that so sweetly, Anna can’t help but take up his offer. She did get to work early so she could leave early to meet Kent at the airport after all. That’s what she tells herself before cozying up to Kent’s side and closing her eyes, feeling warm and supported as she falls asleep with Kent’s left arm wrapped around her waist.
**********
“Ikkyu!”
“Welcome back, Ken.” Ikki turns away from the table that he’s setting to give Kent a kiss on the lips. He scrunches his nose when he pulls back. “You smell.”
“Like Anna’s perfume?” Kent jokes. Anna shrugs; she hadn’t noticed anything but not only had she fallen asleep on the train, she had snuggled into Kent’s overcoat. “Well, I do feel like a shower. I’ll be quick since I am hungry.”
Without waiting for a response, Kent disappears.
“He’s surprisingly energetic,” Ikki comments once they hear the shower start. Anna lets him know that Kent slept a lot on the plane and thinks he’ll be up later than planned. A sly smile forms on Ikki’s face.
“Huh. Well, we’ll just have to tire him out later.”
Anna smiles back even as her cheeks heat up. Earlier she hadn’t taken Kent’s words as an opportunity for that, but the idea is very…nice. She shows her agreement by giving Ikki a quick kiss on the cheek, just as Kent leaves the bathroom.
“How do I smell now?” Kent asks, now wearing just a T-shirt, once he joins them by the dining table. Anna just rolls her eyes as she watches Ikki embrace Kent and sniff Kent’s neck in an exaggerated manner.
“Good,” Ikki murmurs before he nips the skin above Kent’s left collarbone.
“Hey, can I eat already? I said I was hungry,” Kent grumbles when Ikki starts making a trail of bites around Kent’s neck. “Ikkyu!”
Anna decides to save Kent and pulls at Ikki from behind. She ends up catching a bit of Ikki’s teasing bites in response but Kent’s loud stomach rumble quickly ends that. After properly sitting down and starting the meal in earnest, Ikki portions out the oden while Anna makes sure Kent gets his choice of the side dishes.
“You guys made this, I assume.” Kent smiles. “Thank you. Because I definitely recognize the shapes you guys cut the tofu and fishcakes into.”
Anna blushes a little since it was her idea to cut them into spades and clubs. She’s pleased that Kent has recognized and seemingly enjoys the bit of unique touch.
They take their time eating and chatting, letting Kent talk about anything and everything he wants about England and the university and his research. It’s much nicer to hear the voice without the distortions of a shaky Internet connection, to be able to feel and touch the warmth that is Kent. And it’s well past their normal mealtime when they finally empty their bowls.
“I don’t think I can eat a single bite more, but I have a feeling there is dessert still,” Kent remarks as he is last to put his chopsticks down. He smiles gently. “I’ll have a little I suppose.”
Anna pulls out the pudding from the fridge. Welcome home, Kent is written on top with caramel. Kent seems pleasantly surprised when she places the bowl in front of him.
“This is a lot better than having cake,” Kent says honestly.
Ikki laughs. “We figured you’d be having that with your parents later."
“Hopefully not leftover Christmas cake,” Kent murmurs. He digs his spoon into the pudding and puts a spoonful into his mouth. “Not too sweet. I like it.” He scoops out another portion and holds it out. “Anna?”
Anna moves over obediently to receive the spoon. She isn’t surprised; Kent has never liked sweets that much but instead indulges in sweets to feed them to his lovers. It’s just the way the dynamic works best between the three of them, with Anna receiving the most sweets, Ikki in the middle, and Kent doing the most giving. And Ikki wandering off to put the dishes into the sink while Kent gives Anna the last bit of the pudding.
“Did you enjoy the meal?” Ikki teases when he comes back to retrieve the empty pudding bowl and spoon from Kent’s hands. “Because I still want one more thing tonight.”
“Hmm?” Kent replies with a raised eyebrow. “You must be a glutton.”
Anna can’t help but laugh. Of course Kent knows what Ikki is referring to. He’s already taking Anna by the hand and leading her to the bedroom. Anna reaches out for Ikki’s hand, joining the three of them together physically for the first time tonight. With Kent still being very awake and Ikki having very intentional plans, this is only the start of many times they will be linked together, three as one.
They have one less day than expected to be with Kent before he leaves again for England. They have one less night to spend eating together, talking together, hugging and kissing and lying in bed together. But even now Anna is sensing how…satisfied she feels right now. Even with a little mistake on the calendar, they would have always made this worth it.
It'll be another year or two without Kent around except for short periods like this. It’ll be sad when he’ll have to leave right after New Year’s. But next summer, tentatively, she and Ikki will be making their way to England to see him. They’ll be asking him later this week, planning it out, and hopefully not messing up the time on the shared calendar.
But for tonight at least Anna will soak in the happiness, the contentment of having her two loves with her, her heart full and warm.