storypaint | Comfort Food (Yukito and Kaho friendship)

Title: Comfort Food
Series: Cardcaptor Sakura
Claim: Tsukihiro Yukito and Mizuki Kaho (friendship)
Pairing: Touya/Yukito, past Touya/Kaho, implied Eriol/Kaho
Theme: 2. Chocolate
Word Count: 581
Rating/Warnings: G, main character death, shonen ai
Disclaimer: Cardcaptor Sakura belongs to CLAMP. This fanfic is a derivative of canon material that is not my property. I do not profit from these writings. The opinions and actions expressed in these stories are not necessarily the views and beliefs of the original author(s) or me.

Excerpt: So after the wake, when everyone had drifted home to have a long cry of their own, Kaho rang the doorbell of the apartment Yukito and Touya had shared, and when he opened the door, she handed him a container, still warm from the oven.

Yukito loved to eat, but he wasn't a particularly good cook. Touya had made their meals. He sat at the kitchen table, reflecting on this fact and wondering if he ever wanted to eat again (and for such a question to arise was nearly impossible, but he was terribly depressed). He did not really want to do anything. Perhaps he would just quietly waste away.

Fortunately Kaho remembered the dinners Touya had made for her, as comfortable in her apartment, it seemed, as he was in his own home. He darted through the kitchenette, searching for spices that she'd never heard of, and substituting with exasperated grins. Whatever he made, it tasted good.

So after the wake, when everyone had drifted home to have a long cry of their own, Kaho rang the doorbell of the apartment Yukito and Touya had shared, and when he opened the door, she handed him a container, still warm from the oven. He looked down at it like he wasn't quite sure what to do with it, but she popped open the lid and a rich chocolate aroma arose.

"My mother's recipe for brownies, guaranteed to soothe broken hearts," she said, looking past Yukito into the apartment. The last time she had visited it had been clean-- not unnaturally clean, like they had specifically done so for visitors, but comfortably clean, the cleanliness of a couple proud to have their own space. Whereas now it looked as if a tornado had gone through. There was juice puddled in the corner by the fridge, footprints leading through. Touya had dropped it, when his heart had given up. Yukito hadn't had the inclination to clean yet.

"I appreciate this, Mizuki-san," he replied lifelessly and he was about to shut the door when another voice joined the conversation.

"Yukito!" Nakuru wailed, appearing from behind Kaho. Her eyes were swollen and she seemed out of place wearing black. She seemed unusually muted.

Before either of the others could protest she had pressed past Kaho and flung herself into Yukito's arms, sobbing. The brownie dish pressed heavily into his abdomen, but he managed to lean back and set it on the counter so he could more easily support Nakuru's weight. She sobbed into his shoulder, the pin on her dress poking him, but he let that slide. He wasn't as big as Touya had been, and Touya had always complained about her weight, but she wasn't really heavy with anything but grief.

He looked up at Kaho and met her eyes. She seemed as surprised as he was. She hadn't realized that Nakuru had stuck around in town too. She'd thought that Nakuru had gone back to the hotel with Eriol and Spinel.

But something in Nakuru's frenzied sobs overwhelmed Yukito's shock, and he began to cry too, for the first time since the doctor at the hospital had pronounced Touya dead. He cried silently, the tears rolling down his cheeks and splashing into Nakuru's hair.

And after the crying was done, Kaho cut the brownies, and if they didn't totally soothe a broken heart, they certainly helped. They shared stories about Touya and before she left, she gave him the recipe and a hug.

So the next time Yuki was feeling down, he fished out the flour and the eggs and tried it himself. He left them in the oven too long and they were crunchy, but he ate them anyway, and he thought of Touya, and he smiled.