learashi

Title: 2020 Christmas Drabble #8 - Christmas Cake

Pairing: Aiba/Ohno (main), Sho/Nino

Rating: G

Genre: festive fluff

Summary: Aiba and Ohno search for the perfect Christmas cake. With Aiba in charge, what could possibly go wrong?

Notes: Something different this time with the fluffiest, softest pairing possible. I should write them more often as they are so utterly adorable together. Thanks to

cherryshoko0125 for the prompt.

Aiba pushed the frame of a slightly tinted pair of glasses up his nose and chewed on the end of his pen. “Okay, so I have supplied you with a list of our options and have left enough space next to each for you to indicate your preferences as we conduct our testing process.”

“Why are you wearing those glasses? Jun is going to be angry when he realizes they're missing,” Ohno said as he picked up the clipboard Aiba had set down in front of him and looked at it in confusion. “Is this absolutely necessary? We’re just deciding on a cake.”

Aiba was shocked. “Not just any cake. This is our Christmas cake! And it's not just for us, it's for Arashi, and we all know how Jun gets if things aren't perfect.”

“I don't think that applies to cakes,” Ohno mumbled. “The guys will be happy, no matter what we serve them, although I’d hide those glasses before they get here if I was you.”

Aiba hastily removed the glasses, making a mental note to sneak them back into Jun’s bag when he arrived later. “I know they won’t mind. You’re the one I really want to enjoy the cake the most.”

“That’s why you’re so easy to love,” Ohno said softly as he leaned over and kissed Aiba’s cheek.

“I love you too Satoshi.” Aiba blushed and cleared his throat. “But right now we can’t afford to be distracted from our important work.”

In the kitchen there were four cake boxes each one clearly labelled with their contents and a number which corresponded to Aiba’s checklist.

Ohno grabbed two plates and jiggled eagerly. “Which do we begin with, the mint chocolate, strawberry sponge, mixed berry cheesecake, or bouche de noel?”

Aiba picked up his largest kitchen knife and lifted the first lid. “The strawberry sponge, but we are only going to cut the tiniest of slivers off, just so we can have a tiny taste purely for scientific purposes.”

“I definitely think the mint chocolate triple layer cake is a clear winner,” Ohno said an hour later as he licked a trace of frosting from his lips.

“I totally agree, but maybe we should serve the strawberry vanilla sponge too. I’m not too sure how Jun feels about mint.” Aiba put down his pen and walked over to the cake boxes, planning to arrange the chosen cake on a nice festive serving platter. When he lifted the lids he couldn’t believe what they had done. “Oh no!”

++

“Hi! Merry Christmas!” Aiba hugged his three band mates as they entered the apartment, carrying armfuls of gifts and alcohol.

“Merry Christmas you two,” Sho replied happily. He put down his heavy bags and flexed his fingers to restore the circulation. “Now, where’s this cake you two have been talking up all week? I’m starving.”

Nino smirked in agreement. “Me too. I haven’t eaten all day. Why pay for food when I knew I was getting it for free tonight.”

“Hi! Umm….there’s been a bit of a problem.” Aiba shifted uncomfortably and edged behind Ohno.

Jun looked from one to the other and raised his eyebrows quizzically. “Problem? What sort of problem?”

Nino flopped down on the sofa and tucked his feet underneath him. “You forgot to buy it, didn’t you?”

“Nooooo….” Aiba began, but his voice trailed off and he simply stood there looking guilty.

“What Masaki is trying to say is that there isn’t any cake. We couldn’t decide which one to serve you so we bought one of each to taste test but then we accidentally ate them all,” Ohno said with an apologetic shrug.

Aiba braced himself for his friends’ disappointment, but was surprised when Nino raised his hands over his head in victory and let out a cheer.

“I win!” Nino did a seated victory dance. “Pay up suckers!”

Sho and Jun groaned good-naturedly and pulled some notes out of their wallets. They handed them over to Nino who cheered again and waved them over his head, before carefully stashing them away.

“What just happened?” Aiba wondered what he was missing.

“We had a bet between us as to whether there would be any cake left after your ‘tests’ this afternoon,” Sho explained. “I said there would be enough cake for one piece each.”

Jun sighed and flopped down next to smirky Nino. “For your stomachs’ sake, I hoped that there would be one whole cake leftover.”

“And I knew that there would be nothing left, and I was right as always,” Nino crowed.

Aiba frowned and looked around at the three of them in confusion. “Wait a minute, how did you know about our testing? It was on a super-secret need to know basis which means that only Satoshi and I knew about it.”

Ohno swallowed hard. “I kind of told them about it this morning. You looked so cute wearing your white lab coat and glasses and studying your clipboard, I couldn't resist sending them your photo.”

“Plus Oh-chan sent cake pictures to me on my Line account this afternoon, and by the amount you two were test eating, it was a safe bet that there would be nothing left but a few crumbs,” Nino said smugly, a second before he realized what the consequences of this admission would be.

“Hey! That means that you had an unfair advantage!” Sho complained. “Give me my money back.”

“Nope!” Nino grabbed his wallet and stuffed it down the front of his trousers. This didn’t deter Sho who pounced on him and tried to wrestle it out, while Nino squeaked in protest.

Jun ignored the giggling pair fighting on the sofa and deftly weaved around Nino’s flailing legs as he retrieved a beautifully wrapped box from amongst the presents and handed it to Aiba. “I had a feeling this might happen so I bought this just in case.”

Inside the box was a large round cake; half of it was mint chocolate and the other half was strawberry vanilla sponge.

Aiba pounced on Jun, hugging him tight enough to almost cut off his air supply. “How can I possibly thank you?”

“You could start by returning my missing glasses which I noticed you were wearing in the photo Ohno sent me,” Jun said sternly.

Aiba immediately released him as the colour drained from his face. It seemed as if he wasn’t going to survive long enough to enjoy the rest of Christmas Day.

“I’m kidding. I have plenty of others so you can keep them.” Jun grabbed Aiba and squeezed him just as tightly in return. “Merry Christmas.”

“Merry Christmas, Jun,” Aiba replied, as he sighed with relief.

“Merry Christmas to all!” Ohno echoed.

“Merry Christmas to everyone, except Sho,” Nino added grumpily as he stuffed his depleted wallet back into his pocket.

“Merry Christmas to everyone, including Nino.” Sho handed back the money to Nino who grinned and went to cut Sho the largest piece of cake he’d ever seen.