The Reality of Love

Shinobu shifted in his sleep. His eye twitched. His nose scrunched up and his forehead furrowed. Sighing deeply, he opened his eyes and turned to regard Miyagi lying beside him with a frown. The older man was sprawled across the bed, lying at a diagonal angle, his arms flung wide and his head tilted back. Mouth open, a horrendous vibrating snore reverberated around the room with each inhalation.

Shinobu squirmed in displeasure. Shifting away from the edge of the bed, over which he seemed to be tottering dangerously, he curled himself around Miyagi's nearest arm as an anchor. Miyagi paused in his snoring and turned himself onto his side, flinging his other arm around Shinobu and pulling him closer. Shinobu stifled a squeak as he found himself with his face pressed into Miyagi's warm, moist armpit, Miyagi's mouth now almost directly above his ear as he gently puffed stale air across Shinobu's cheek between each snore.

Wrinkling his nose, Shinobu pressed his face into the tatty t-shirt covering Miyagi's broad chest and did his best to ignore the assault on his senses in a vain attempt to get to sleep.

"Miyagi!" Shinobu hollered, pounding on the bathroom door. "Miyagi, hurry up in there!" He was standing in his underwear and white t-shirt, his legs pressed tightly together as he jiggled from foot to foot, in urgent need of the lavatory. Leaning his head against the door, he tried again.

"Miyagi, hurry up! Or at least just open the bloody door so I can come in! Miyagi..."

Miyagi made no response; he simply continued belting out 1980s rock songs at the top of his lungs, his tuneless noise almost drowning out the sound of the water flowing from the shower.

Shinobu pounded on the door once more. His hand was starting to turn red from the impact and his voice began to squeak as he became more desperate.

At least another fifteen minutes passed by before the water finally stopped and Miyagi, now humming loudly and wearing only a towel about his waist, yanked open the door amidst a cloud of steam and stopped short at the sight of Shinobu, who was bright red, doubled over and wriggling on the spot.

"Er, Shinobu-chin...?" he began tentatively.

Shinobu merely glared at him before roughly shoving him out of the way, darting into the bathroom and slamming the door shut in Miyagi's confused face.

Shinobu's stomach rumbled as he checked his watch for the twelfth time. His lips pursed. Miyagi had promised him he would be home on time today, especially since they had hardly had any time together over the last week due to Miyagi's busy schedule; however, according to Shinobu's watch, Miyagi was already an hour and fifty minutes late.

Shinobu huffed in frustration. He had rushed home from his lectures earlier, popping quickly to the store to pick up the ingredients for his carefully-planned menu (not a cabbage or pumpkin in sight, as a treat to Miyagi for working so hard). He had since slaved over the hob to ensure the food was neither burned nor left frozen, and now, because Miyagi was so late, it was sitting on their plates, cooling down and congealing into a sticky, lumpy mass. All the while, Shinobu was absolutely starving, having not eaten since the early afternoon.

He pulled his feet up onto the seat of the sofa and wrapped his arms around his knees. Sighing, he rested his head against the soft cushions, closed his eyes and let his mind wander to anything that didn't involve Miyagi.

Someone was shaking him. He made a confused noise in his throat as he peeled his heavy eyelids open and blinked up into Miyagi's amused face.

"Hey, sleepyhead," Miyagi teased, then leaned forward and dropped a quick kiss on Shinobu's dry lips.

"Urgh... What time is it?" Shinobu asked, sitting up and peering around. The curtains were still open, revealing the dark sky and bright neon lights of the city at night.

"It's eleven thirty," Miyagi replied.

Shinobu's eyes widened. "Eleven thirty? Why didn't you wake me sooner?"

"I've only just got home. Sorry, Shinobu-chin, I know I promised I'd be home earlier, but I got stuck at work."

"You were working until the middle of the night?" Shinobu questioned suspiciously.

"Yep, lots of exam questions to think up, always lots of prep to do," Miyagi replied vaguely, but he didn't seem to want to meet Shinobu's eyes as he spoke.

Shinobu narrowed his eyes. Pushing off the sofa, he stalked over to Miyagi, his eyes sweeping over him as he went, noticing the extra creases in his shirt, the flecks of sauce on his tie. Stepping close to his lover, the smell of cheap whisky was undeniable on his breath.

"You went out drinking with Kamijou, didn't you!" he accused him, the evidence clear before him. Miyagi's instantly guilty expression merely confirmed it.

"Ah... Ha ha... Well, yes, I did, but I didn't mean to, Shinobu-chin, I was all set to come home to you, but then he got a call from his boyfriend and looked so upset about something that I really had no choice! It's my responsibility to make sure my staff are fit and able to do their job, which he wouldn't be if he was moping over that guy all the time. A little TLC was required! It was an emergency!" Miyagi pleaded, rubbing a hand through his hair, a sheepish expression on his face.

Shinobu opened his mouth to pour out an angry diatribe, seeing Miyagi tense reflectively in front of him, bracing himself to receive his rebuke. Instead, he snapped his mouth shut and, with a hurt look on his face, said nothing as he turned on his heel and stalked off to the bedroom. For the second time that day, Shinobu slammed a door in Miyagi's face.

Shinobu woke several hours later, still in the middle of the night. He couldn't move. Miyagi had coiled himself tightly around Shinobu's body, pinning him against Miyagi's chest. He was warm, his heart thudding faintly against Shinobu's back. His breath fluttered against the back of Shinobu's neck.

Shinobu bit his lip, still feeling annoyed and upset at Miyagi's behaviour earlier. He started to pull away slowly, disentangling himself from Miyagi's arms, when Miyagi suddenly gave a small moan and yanked him back again, holding him even more tightly against him. Miyagi's large nose nuzzled gently at the nape of his neck and he hummed Shinobu's name softly against his skin. Shinobu shivered at the sensation, and, slowly, he turned his head so he could see Miyagi's face. Miyagi's eyes were closed and he was breathing deeply, his breath on the verge of becoming a snore as he dragged the air into his lungs.

All of a sudden Shinobu stopped thinking about all the small, petty annoyances that had built up through the day, and instead felt his heart swell. Miyagi sure wasn't perfect - but he loved him anyway, flaws and all.