Chapter Text
Darkness enveloped the outskirts of Funbari in a still motionless night. The moon shone brightly at the endless sky. Winter was announcing that it’s on its way as the cool breeze seeped in every crevice of the household.
Inside the former En Inn lies a young married couple tucked away in the comforts of their warm blankets. The youthful blonde lady was cooped-up within her own little world in her side of the bed. Pillows were propped around her back as she lounged, leaning on the headboard. She was engrossed in what seems to be a book about how to become a successful proprietress. Her husband was already quietly dozing off on the other side of the bed, his back turned against her while buried in the thick sheets.
Or so she thought.
“Aarrgghhhh,” the brunette lad grunted in frustration and proceeded to lie on his back with eyes still closed; his limbs outstretched in an attempt to ‘starfish’ in bed. “This is so annoying, Anna,” he continued.
“Yes, you are annoying,” his wife replied, not even daring to look-up from her book.
After sounding the most exasperated sigh he could muster, the young man rolled over to his side and paused until he was inches away from her side. He was lying on his abdomen, and he propped his chin on his hands, supported by his elbows. An idea popped in his mind and he needed to throw in some of his innate charm to be successful with the mission that he was about to ask from his wife.
A few seconds have passed until Anna finally acknowledged him, “don’t try to be cute.” Turning a page from her ‘novel’, still not looking at him, she added, “what do you want?”
He smirked. His charming antics worked.
“I’m starving. I was thinking of getting a midnight snack.” The young husband declared.
“You just finished all the leftovers from the fridge a while ago,” the blonde replied with an incredulous look.
Yoh gasped then flashed her a pout. “I did no such thing!”
“If you didn’t, then what are you thinking of having for your snack, hm?” Anna challenged, going back to her reading.
“Hmm, let’s see…” Yoh tried to rack his brain for some possible choices of food left in the fridge. He did not want to admit that his wife was right. After not being able to come up with anything, a realisation dawned on him that he will need to cook some side dishes again tomorrow for their convenience, but that’s another problem for another day. He needs to fix his hunger stat.
“Fine. I’ll make instant noodles,” he finished with false conviction.
Anna whacked her book shut which made him flinch.
“Yoh, how many times have we talked about avoiding eating instant noodles before going to bed?” She retorted with a deadly tone.
“B-but Anna, I’m really hungry! Would you let me die of starvation?” He reasoned out and even reached for her right hand to press onto his tummy to prove his point by making her feel the growling sounds of his stomach. His cute pout never leaving his face.
The woman was caught off-guard by her husband’s sudden actions. She wanted to hit him on the head right then and there for interrupting her moments of solitude. However, her focus shifted, and she could not help but feel his toned abs through the fabric of his shirt as her hand remained firmly pressed onto him. She gulped involuntarily.
‘Maybe a snack wouldn’t be bad.’
Anna snapped from her momentary trance and regained her composure. “Shut up. You’ve been through worse,” she muttered while using the back of her hand to lightly knock his belly.
Yoh’s head dropped. He sighed once again but a coy smirk found its way on his lips. He will not accept his defeat. Not just yet.
“Ne, Anna,” his voice was uncharacteristically sultry. He moved closer next to her; his arms found their way to snake around his wife’s tiny waist. His chin found his way to rest on her shoulder taking a whiff of her fragrant hair in the process. “I promise, I won’t go to sleep right after eating it.”
The blonde remained rooted in her position but shot him a side glare through her narrowed eye slits.
“Aaand, I’ll drink lots of water,” he reassured, trying to prove that he is well aware of the possible health implications of eating the said snack.
Anna rolled her eyes. “Fine. Just hurry up. It’s getting too late.” It was all she could muster to avoid falling for his immensely dangerous irresistible aura.
“M’kay!” Her husband beamed with a wide toothy smile after planting a brief kiss on the side of her ear. In a quick movement, he jumped out of the bed motioning towards the door when he asked, “do you also want some?”
Anna shook her head.
“You sure?” he insisted, somehow not convinced.
The blonde shot him a murderous look signalling that she was getting annoyed.
“Ok! Got it!” he sweat-dropped and quickly made his way to the kitchen downstairs.
. . . . . . . . . . .
Several minutes passed and still no Yoh was returning from his ‘hunger game.’ Anna was getting impatient because first, her stupid husband left their room door slightly ajar, so the cold is starting to creep in; and second, she was about to finish her book and wants to call it a day. She has no tolerance left to go through the trouble of getting up just to fix the earlier and especially figure out the latter. She looked at the wall clock to tell the time— 12:45AM.
Or maybe she does.
She groaned as she irritably slid the blankets down her figure, ready to get out of the cozy bed when the brunette finally returned; a cup of steaming instant noodles and a bottled water in his hands.
“Sorry, the hot water kettle took time to boil,” he shrugged.
She did not say anything and went back to finish the remaining pages of her reading material. Her husband sat comfortably next to her in bed and started to eat his food.
A few more minutes passed when Anna inevitably took a waft of the instant noodles’ enticing aroma, the effects of MSG* triggering her brain’s impulse for hunger. Come to think of it, the atmosphere kind of felt warm now. The sound of Yoh’s shameless slurping of the noddles and gulping a large amount of broth also did not help at all.
The blonde’s eyes slowly crept towards the oblivious brunette by her side. She could see small beads of sweat forming on the side of his forehead and some on his neck from the steam produced by the hot cup. Her sight travelled down to his well-formed shoulders and chest which were quite discernible from the thin white shirt he wore to sleep.
Damn, if she caught him doing the same to her, she would have already smacked him on the head and called him a pervert.
The young woman did not notice how long she was staring at her husband for until a pair of chestnut eyes met her honey ones. He blinked a few times, a strand of noodle still hanging from his lips, waiting to be sucked in.
The young man eyed his wife suspiciously and suddenly whipped his instant noodles away from her like a child not wanting to share his candy. “I know that look! You said you didn’t want any!” Yoh blurted out. He ridiculously suspected that she was after his noodles.
‘Yoh, you idiot,’ she thought disbelievingly. He was so focused on his hunger that he was so clueless about his surroundings. She smirked. A playful one at that.
Being always the compassionate one, the brunette looked inside the cup of his instant noodles, “well, there’s still some left if you really want it,” he continued, handing the plastic cup to his wife.
Anna took the cup and placed it on the bedside table in the most alluring way possible, not breaking eye contact with her now puzzled husband. Her book, now long forgotten on the side.
It only took a few seconds to have one hungry mouth crashing into another. Hands skilfully explored each other’s bodies with sounds of greater oral gratification.
His mouth tasted a tad bit salty tonight but that didn’t matter.
They were both hungry after all.