Chapter Text
The morning light shone through a young woman’s bedroom window, butter-colored and warm. Saaya yawned as she turned over in her bed, opening her sleep-encrusted eyes and expecting to see her girlfriend, yet her eyes saw no one else.
“Eh…? O-Tae?” Saaya called for really no reason, as if Tae were hiding underneath the bed.
As expected, no response came back.
Saaya let out a murmur of something along the lines of ‘Jeez, where do you have to go at 6 A.M in the morning on a Saturday?’ but went quiet as she saw a note on her bedside table.
It’s a surprise, read the note in Tae’s usual scrawled handwriting, with her usual scrawled signature. What really warmed Saaya’s heart and brought a soft blush to her cheeks was the heart at the end and a small “ Occhan Jr. says he loves you but he doesn’t love you as much as I do. ”
Shrugging it off but still slightly worried nonetheless, Saaya rolled out of bed and went to go wash up. The day started and after a good thirty minutes of preparing, she tied her hair up with her favorite scrunchie-- a blue one patterned with bunnies that a certain someone gifted to her-- and headed for Yamabuki Bakery.
Saaya, in front of the bakery’s door, fished a key out of her back pocket only after looking around with a warm, happy feeling. The sights around her mesmerized the former drummer, sakura flowers blooming everywhere with the trees raining petals. The sun, as it was in the morning, had a sunshine so perfectly mellow and calm. The air was crisp and refreshing, and almost in a cliché fashion, birds were chirping. If only O-Tae were here.. , she found herself thinking as she let out a sigh and unlocked the door-- only to find out that it was already unlocked. Another small “eh?” escaped from Saaya’s lips as she cautiously opened the door, finding her still-dark bakery.
The main room was still dark and as Saaya crept through the baking-room, she turned on the lights warily. A bright-eyed grinning Tae was staring back at her.
“A-Ah!” Saaya nearly screeched as she jumped back. “O, O-Tae… how did you get in?”
Tae, still grinning, held up a small key that matched the one that Saaya held. “You got me a spare, remember?”
“O-Oh, haha…” Saaya laughed nervously. “So, you opened up for me?”
“Yup. I’m trying to make the dough.”
“T.. the dough for what?”
“Rabbit-shaped hamburger buns,” Tae tilted her head as if it were completely normal. “I couldn’t find the recipe in your bread-menu recipe book.’
Saaya remembered the one day she came home with a bucket of said buns, wanting to surprise her girlfriend. Her heart warmed again knowing that it left a lasting impression on Tae. “Oh, okay. I don’t actually make that one for the bakery, aha, I just brought it home for you that one day as a test..”
The airhead rabbit-lover’s grin twitched up even more. “You should make it then. I love you.”
“W-What? I love you too, but.. okay.” Saaya let out another laugh as she led Tae to the baking station as together, they started properly mixing their dough.
At the end of the day, Saaya started tidying up the bakery, putting away flour and cleaning up the excess left on counters. “O-Tae, take home what you’d like!”
Tae paused before nodding. “Okay. I want to take home the hamburger buns.”
“Oh, okay then. Put it in one of the boxes and I’ll take it home.”
“No, I want to carry it.”
Saaya, confused, nodded her head before shrugging it off. “Okay. You ready?”
“Yep. I’m sure Occhan’s hungry now.”
“Then let’s go~.” The two of them walked home together, talking to each other about what happened and about how Tae took a day off from her job (managing her original studio company similar to SPACE) to help Saaya out with the bakery. When they reached their apartment, Saaya unlocked the door and the couple walked in.
Sitting down on their tatami mat and stretching out on their table, Saaya let out a quiet ‘hm’. “So the hamburger buns are our dinner?”
“Yep. They’re good though,” Tae answered from the doorway, as Saaya turned around to see her girlfriend eating two of them at the same time.
“Ahaha, O-Tae, save some for me!”
“Of course. I have to,” Tae stared at Saaya, the gaze so passionate that Saaya almost felt nervous.
The baker smiled warmly. “Then sit down and let’s eat.”
Tae sat down next to Saaya before taking out a carefully selected bun for Saaya. “Itadakimasu.”
“Itadakimasu!” Saaya joined in. Taking the bun, Saaya took a bite and chewed at it thoughtfully before something hard got caught in her throat. She started coughing as Tae, looking very alarmed, started to perform the Heimlich Maneuver.
After the hard object escaped Saaya’s mouth, the former drummer laughed warily. “Aha, I guess a tough piece got in?”
Tae shook her head as she picked up the object, and Saaya started choking in shock.
It was a shiny, silver ring with a diamond on top in the shape of a donut-- no, it was a scrunchie. Saaya let out another gasp as she felt tears well up in confusion and joy.
The long-haired brunette cleared her throat. “Saaya. I love you a lot, even more than I do Occhan. I want to spend the rest of my life with you, even when we’re old and have slouchy backs. I always thought that automatically, we were gonna get married, but Arisa told me I had to propose so.. you’re going to marry me.” Tae’s proposal was more of a declaration.
Saaya, through the tears, started laughing. “O, O-Taeeeeeeeee~! I, I love you so much, of course I’ll marry you!”
Tae’s eyes lit up as she lunged towards her now fiancée. The two of them locked each other in a warm hug, kissing and laughing and crying.
Saaya pulled away, smiling still and tears still flowing. “O-Tae, where’s your ring?”
Tae bit off a piece of her bun before spitting out a matching ring, but with a diamond rabbit on top. “Here.”
“O- O-Tae, that’s dangerous, you know…”
“But the bun represents how much I love you, like how I love bread.”
“Aha, I really do love you~.”