Chapter 3

The cooking lessons go fairly well, and Aizawa’s creations look more and more edible with each session. Still, he can tell that the constant excuses he comes up with to explain his evening absences are clearly starting to worry Hizashi, twisting something unpleasant in Shota’s gut with guilt.

He tries to make up for it by dressing a little nicer, pulling out an old pair of jeans that fit a bit too snugly. Hizashi once told him they give an incredible view of his ass.

Shota wears them on Saturday morning, and Hizashi catches him, pressing him up against the kitchen table and gripping his thighs firmly, so apparently the plan is working.

“My legs are starting to fall asleep,” Shota complains a few minutes into the pleasant sensations (not that most of those “pleasant sensations” aren’t actually the hard edge of the table digging into his stomach).

Hizashi answers by silently leaving a hickey on the back of his neck, and Shota sighs, estimating how long it’ll take to fade. Normally, he doesn’t mind Hizashi marking his neck, but now that he wears his hair tied back more often, hickeys are a little harder to hide.

Then again, maybe that’s exactly the point—maybe Hizashi doesn’t want him to hide them. Shota shivers slightly at the thought. Still, the very last thing he wants is for his students to find out how much fun he had over the weekend. He hopes his scarf will cover most of the marks.

“Hizashi,” Shota grumbles, trying to shift in his grip. “I’ve got things to do today.”

“Are you sure I can’t convince you to spend the entire day in bed?” Hizashi asks, brushing his lips along the sensitive skin of Shota’s neck.

As tempting as that sounds, the main reason Shota needs to go out is to find an anniversary present for Hizashi, and that’s not something he wants to blow off.

“Tomorrow,” Shota says instead, turning to smile at Hizashi. Hizashi stutters a little in response.

“Can I come with you?” Hizashi asks, and if Aizawa were running any other errands, he would say yes—but Hizashi gets far too invested when it comes to shopping, and Shota wants to keep his anniversary plans a surprise this time.

“Didn’t you complain just yesterday about all the essays you have to grade?” Shota replies, raising an eyebrow. For a moment, he thinks he sees a flicker of hurt cross Hizashi’s face, but it’s so fleeting that he must’ve imagined it.

“Alright, alright,” Hizashi sighs. “But tomorrow we’re spending the day together.”

“I thought we already do almost everything together,” Shota snorts, bending down to pick Hizashi’s T-shirt up off the floor.

“You know what I mean,” Hizashi sighs, taking the shirt and pulling it over his head.

“You’ll survive a few hours without me,” Shota says, leaning in for one more kiss. When he pulls back, it almost seems like Hizashi wants to say something, but in the end, he just leaves the kitchen to get on with his errands.

It takes Shota three hours to reach the store where he finally finds the right gift for Hizashi. Hizashi has been complaining for months about how his favorite pair of leather gloves is wearing out, and unfortunately, that model is no longer made by the designer. Of course, with the same level of dedication as Yamada himself, Shota has to comb through store after store across the city, but in the end, he finds the perfect pair: glossy black gloves, with leather lining inside—soft and smooth to the touch.

They’re fairly expensive, of course, but Shota has never thought twice about spending money on gifts for Hizashi.

He’s heading back toward the train station when he spots a shop of a slightly different specialty. For a moment, he considers just walking past—Hizashi is probably starting to wonder where he is by now—but eventually he decides to step inside, just to see if he can find something interesting.

After all, while he now has a gift for Hizashi and a plan for their anniversary lunch, he still hasn’t figured out how exactly he’s going to make the sex more impressive than usual.

Honestly, how does Hizashi manage it every year? It’s exhausting.