#THANK YOU CHERRYYY ILY MWAHHHHH ❤❤❤❤

[one-way-dream]

Strawberry Daifuku (Commission)

Rating: General

Words: 3500+

Media: Danganronpa, Super Danganronpa 2, New Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony

Characters/Pairings: Chiaki Nanami, Kaede Akamatsu, Maki Harukawa, Chiaki Nanami/Kaede Akamatsu/Maki Harukawa, Nagito Komaeda (mentioned), Hajime Hinata (mentioned)

Tags: Alternate Universe (Modern, No Killing Game), Polyamory/Polyamorous Relationship, Fluff, Comfort No Hurt, Cooking Together, Cuddling, Lots of Kisses, Established Relationship

Warnings: N/A

Chapter: 1/1

Link to the original work

AO3 Summary/Except:

Kaede, Chiaki, and Maki have a rather lousy night out at a workplace party, but Kaede is determined to make it up to them tenfold.

Commission for Cherry (@cakesplice on Twitter and Tumblr)! ❤ :] Thank you so much again!

The first one to stumble through the front door was a barely conscious Chiaki, followed by Kaede in a similar state, who was being carried by the scruff of her shirt collar by an undeterred Maki. The latter of the three was usually the one cleaning up after her girlfriends, and sometimes that meant dragging them out of a boring party at eleven in the night.

‘Party’ was probably too generous of a word, actually.

Kaede’s colleagues were nice; they were always friendly to Kaede, and in turn, Kaede spoke of nothing but good about them. But maybe they were a bit too nice, as they’d invited the three of them out for a work-related event that they so lovingly called a party.

Maki couldn’t really wipe the grin off her face when Chiaki whispered into her ear that it was more like a glorified funeral. Unexpectedly morbid coming from her, but it kept her mood from souring anyway. But alas, after hours of standing around in toe-pinching heels and staving off the boredom through eating snacks that Kaede is sure she’s seen at a local Lawson’s, the three of them made a half-assed excuse to get away from the boring colleagues and their slightly creepy boyfriends trying to get touchy.

Still, there was probably a better excuse out there besides “Chiaki needs more sleep, so we gotta hit the road” – but Maki’s still grateful for it anyway, even if it isn’t one of Kaede’s better ones. It did the trick well enough, with her co-workers tailing along until the door with a hundred ‘goodbyes’ and ‘be safes’ until they finally scurried out the front door, heaving a heavy sigh in the cool night air.

“We,” Maki starts, jabbing a finger in Kaede’s direction as soon as they make it to their living room, “Are never doing anything like that again.”

Kaede puts her hands up in mock surrender, laughing sheepishly while looking to Chiaki for help. Unfortunately, she finds the girl splayed out over the brown leather couch not unlike a starfish, softly snoring away. It seems a little too suspicious for her to pass out so conveniently, but Kaede draws her lips into a straight line and looks back at Maki, looking like she was about to chew her out big time.

“I didn’t… really expect that it’d turn out like that, y’know?” Kaede nervously defends herself, hands still in the air, “And I especially didn’t expect my co-workers would bring their asshole, judgmental partners along. I didn’t even know they had partners like that given that they’re really good people and all.”

Maki sighs softly, giving up the act of staring daggers into Kaede and instead trudging over to Chiaki, plopping down beside her with resignation. “You can give up the act now, Chiaki, I’m not mad.”

Kaede squints at Chiaki in betrayal, watching as the girl eases into a smile with her eyes still shut and leans on Maki’s shoulder. The latter hesitates for half a moment before giving into the touch and laying her head on top of Chiaki’s.

“…Come here.” Maki finally whispers, scooting Chiaki over to make room for Kaede on the other side. She almost immediately crosses the room and nearly crashes into the sleeping girl from excitement, earning a small glare from Maki. Kaede smiles at the other instead, albeit with a touch of residual guilt from the party, looking between her and Chiaki’s sleeping face before pressing a kiss to the latter’s temple. She doesn’t miss the way the corner of her mouth quirks upwards a little.

The air settles between them, calm and peaceful. Kaede will never tire of coming home to these two; she’ll never tire of the way they slot together so well, even though they all have their flaws. Their home smells like black cherry candles and it always feels comfortably warm, just the way they all like it.

The overhead lights are dim, and it’s enough to lull the last two awake to sleep.

But somehow, Kaede doesn’t want that. Somehow, she’s itching for something more – something to make up for everything before the guilt gnaws away at her.

She quickly glances at the silver clock on the wall, seeing that it was only a quarter past twelve. Kaede scrunches her eyebrows together, sitting upright and steeling her resolve. She just couldn’t let their night end on a crappy note like this, and she’s sure the other two would agree if she could persuade them just right.

Thankfully and surprisingly, she was rather good at getting them to go along with her nonsense ideas most of the time.

“Hey,” she whispers with a mischievous smile, nudging both of them out of their drowsy state, “Do you guys wanna do something fun?”

-x-

Chiaki was still wiping the bleariness out of her eyes as she and Maki walked back from the Lawson’s down the street, three bags of ingredients in hand. Or rather, Chiaki carrying the lightest bag, singular, while Maki insisted on carrying the other two after squabbling with Chiaki over it.

“Hey, Chiaki…” Maki broke through the comfortable silence between them, “Do you have any idea what she’s planning?”

She holds a contemplative hum for a few seconds, playfully bumping shoulders with Maki, the latter only giving her a small smile in return. “Not sure. But I think that whatever she’s thinking, it’ll be fun!”

Maki stays quiet, looking out into the distance to catch a glimpse of the ocean, even though it’d likely be obscured by the white streetlights. Chiaki’s gaze follows, realizing that the other is seeking comfort.

“You’re not… actually upset at Kaede for the party, are you?”

“Wh—? No, of course not, I just… don’t feel comfortable at parties in general, and those guys were… you know.” She sighed, shoulders slouching a little uncharacteristically, “It’s because of Kaede that you and I were able to socialize a bit more and I don’t want to say that this set me back a ways, but… maybe it’ll take a little while to adjust again.”

Chiaki stays silent for a moment, before quickly nabbing the grocery bag Maki was carrying in her right hand and swiftly shifting it to her own, now carrying two bags with one hand. The other looks back at her in surprise, ready to protest until Chiaki grabs her hand, lacing their fingers together.

“It’ll be fine, Maki – you’ll always have us, after all. We’ll get through it together like we always do.”

Maki barely hears Chiaki’s soothing words over the sound of her own heartbeat, even though they’ve been together for years. She clears her throat, willing her voice to steady while trying to shift her attention away from the fact that Chiaki’s hands are so warm. So warm and soft – unlike her own.

“…Is this your idea of romance?” She huffs lightly with a smile, only to have it returned tenfold by the other girl leaning into her as they make their way back home.

“Doesn’t get more romantic than this, I think.”

As the two of them make back and forth conversation, they see their house in the distance and pick up their pace to cover the distance a little quicker.

Chiaki squints under the bright lights as they grow nearer, catching Kaede waving to them from the front porch with enthusiasm like it wasn’t almost one ‘o’ clock in the morning. Still, Chiaki waves back at her with as much enthusiasm as she really feels, knowing Kaede was a little sensitive to that kind of thing.

Kaede rushes off the porch to give the two a smothering group hug, which neither of them struggled out of much to Kaede’s own surprise. “How are my two favourite-est girlfriends in the world?”

“We’re your only girlfriends…?” Maki mumbles confusedly, face slightly flushed.

A breezy laugh slips from Kaede as she leans back slightly to bump noses with her, causing her to blush up to her ears. “I know. I was just missing you both a lot. The house doesn’t feel as nice when it’s empty, y’know?”

Maki’s ears burn as she feels the other’s breath on her face. She swears that she’ll never get used to this, but honestly, she’s not sure if she minds it.

Chiaki gives them both a slight squeeze and pulls away, “Come on now, we won’t get to do anything if we just stay here all night.”

With a quick nod, Kaede relieves her partners of their grocery bags and hauls them into the kitchen, carefully setting them on the granite countertop. One by one she pulls snacks and snack-making ingredients out of the bags, stuffing the three small empty bags inside the stupidly large plastic grocery bag they keep under the sink.

The other two followed her into the kitchen, question marks hovering over their heads because despite their educated guesses, they still couldn’t make out what exactly Kaede wanted to do.

They didn’t need to wait long however, because as soon as she finished sorting out the ingredients into groups across the countertop, the connection was quickly made.

“So how do we feel about strawberry daifuku?” Kaede puffed out her chest, crossing her arms as she waited with bated breath for the other two to answer.

Maki and Chiaki share a momentary glance, Chiaki being the first to break out into a smile and nod along to the idea. The other also gives in rather easily, fiddling with the ends of her twintails, “Sure, I guess it’d be nice to make it for once instead of buying it.”

Kaede beams, positively over the moon as she starts unwrapping all the ingredients. Maki immediately rushes over to her, arms outstretched to keep her from causing an accident as she rushes back and forth between the fridge, pantry, and countertop. The sight of those two fumbling over each other was enough to make Chiaki laugh, only to earn a short scolding from Maki for sitting around instead of helping.

She shuffles off the barstool, but not without a huff, as she reaches into the depths of the countertop cupboard for a mixing bowl, tray, and plastic wrap. Once she sets them on the countertop, the three of them take turns washing their hands at the sink, but not before Kaede pulls up the recipe on her phone.

Maki shoots her a questioning glance, to which Kaede only puffs her cheek and ignores her as she continues poking around for the right recipe. “Look, I want to be accurate, okay?”

“…Uh-huh.”

“I’m serious! Do you want another baking disaster like last time? Because I’m pretty sure you were the one that added baking soda instead of baking powder.”

“I—” Maki opens her mouth, then shuts it, and then opens it again, “That… was my fault, yeah, but baking is different than making mochi.” She argues, lips pressed into a thin line, “I thought this’d be more straightforward.’

“Mm, I’m sure it is but it doesn’t hurt to have a recipe out, does it?” Chiaki supplied, setting the anko aside in a small bowl, “I know that Hajime and Nagito still have trouble making kusamochi, and that’s Hajime’s favourite snack of all time. Unless you make it pretty often, it’s kinda hard to have the measurements memorized.”

“Well, Hinata is a bit of a perfectionist and Komaeda is… Komaeda , but I guess I can understand needing a reference.”

Kaede gives Chiaki a grateful smile as she pulls up her favourite recipe, setting her phone on the pastel pink holder so the three of them could see it properly as they worked. She lets out a satisfied huff as she surveils the countertop, keeping track of everything they’d need to get to work.

“Alright, then!” Kaede slams her palms down on the countertop with a hard slap, startling Chiaki out of a daze in the process and making Maki jolt ramrod straight. Suddenly the room was charged with energy from that simple action; it felt like the lights were brighter, their minds clearer, and their spirits much livelier than they’d been all evening. Sometimes the other two would swear that their partner had magical powers of some sort.

“I’ll look over everything and handle the strawberries, but Chiaki, you’ll handle the anko,” She points at the sorry-looking bag of azuki beans before redirecting herself to Maki, wide grin on her face “And you will handle the shiratamako and you will make it into the best mochi in the world.”

“Yeah?” Maki smirks back at her, crossing her arms and leaning against the counter, “And why is that?”

“Because I have full faith in your perfectionist tendencies, and I have even more faith in your feelings for me!” She declares with blazing confidence.

The smirk slides right off of Maki’s face, leaving an unreadable expression which she wore for no longer than a few seconds before she sighs and rolls up her sleeves. “You are actually impossible.”

“But you love her!” Chiaki chips in with a sing-song voice.

She scoffs, ignoring the way her mouth feels a little dry as she pours out the rice flour and gets to work on the mochi, which she will by no means put all her effort into for Kaede’s sake. Not at all.

“ Maybe .”

The three of them got to work, going back and forth in perfect harmony, as they each did their part, only needing one break in between for some coffee-boosted hot chocolate. Chiaki looked over the other two, feeling pride swell in her chest as she watched them work side by side.

The kitchen light overhead was artificial but golden nonetheless, making them glow in a way only she could see and comprehend. Standing there at some ungodly hour of the night making an easily-bought store snack with her two girlfriends wasn’t part of her weekend plan, but really, she would rather give up every console she’s ever owned than give up this moment – even her limited-edition Sonic the Hedgehog Dreamcast.

Which is why she’s conflicted to bring up the next question.

“…Kaede, why are you doing all this anyway?”

The girl in question freezes, anko spread over the forefingers of one hand and a half-coated strawberry in the other. She chews her bottom lip, gaze stuck between the bright red fruit and the glare of the kitchen light reflecting off the countertop, until she finally puts the strawberry down and relents.

“I just… felt bad for putting you two through that.” She confesses, unable to look either of them in the eye as the suffocating pressure sets in bit by bit, “I mean, I swear I never knew it’d turn out so bad given that my colleagues are sweet and it’s usually less… frustrating when we meet up with the guys from high school.”

Maki opens her mouth to say something but stops, realizing that Kaede was swimming in her own thoughts, and that she wouldn’t be able to come out until she got everything off her chest.

“I mean, we could’ve just ignored it and stayed home from the beginning and I just… I didn’t know that the party would be such a drag or that it’d have creepy men making comments about us, b-but I can’t apologize enough for it.”

Chiaki hums in understanding, turning towards Kaede, before cupping her jaw and placing a feather light kiss while on her tip-toes. “It’s alright, there’s no way you would’ve known.”

And just like that, the tension is broken. On the other side, Maki slips her hand into Kaede’s silently, intertwining their fingers together and squeezing lightly, uncaring about the bit of anko she feels on her fingertips, “I think you’re being too sentimental about this, but… she’s right. Besides, we’re home now, aren’t we?”

Kaede sniffles, blinking away the mistiness in her eyes as she squeezes back with a small smile, “You’re right, you’re right – we are home…”

“Then… let’s wrap this up then, shall we?”

The two of them nod at Maki’s words, although they barely manage to hide their surprise at her taking the lead. Kaede starts up again, elbows deep into digging right back into the rice dough with furrowed eyebrows and rigid movements. Chiaki hums for a moment with a thoughtful look on her face, lightly nudging her girlfriend to a stop with her elbow.

“Hey, please be nicer to the mochi from here on out; don’t work bad feelings into your food or it won’t taste as good.”

Maki and Kaede laugh lightly at that, but Kaede’s hands still for a moment anyway, “Who told you that?”

“No one. It’s just a hunch.” Chiaki answered simply, looking back up at them with nothing short of pure adoration, “I just don’t want either of you to have bad memories of our time together, that’s all.”

-x-

Besides the first two daifuku coming out a little stickier than the rest, the dessert was a major success.

Kaede split the first one, insistent on the other two getting the first taste, but instead of giving it to them right then and there, she had one last surprise up her sleeve apparently.

They take the plate of twelve strawberry daifuku along with the other convenience store snacks and drinks in additional carry bags – making it easier to throw trash out without it getting spread all over… wherever Kaede was leading them.

Once they make it to the hallway, she pushes the door open to the master bedroom, where several plush pillows, comforters, stuffed toys, and blankets were laid out on the floor in front of the TV, right by the foot of their king-sized bed. Small fairy lights were strung from corner to corner, giving the room a warm and ambient glow besides the light of the television’s screensaver. A shimmery sheer cloth was draped overhead, catching the golden-white light within its pearly threads, the corners held up by some careful string work and a prayer, probably. But it did the trick nonetheless; the whole scene felt magical, like it was straight out of a lonely child’s sleepover fantasy.

Truth be told, it was probably the case for the three of them.

“You… did all this?”

Kaede nods her head gleefully.

“For us…?”

She nods her head again, twice as fast, and full of joy.

Maki is the first to start tripping over her words, always tongue-tied when it came to expressing the depths of her gratitude, but Chiaki knew her just as well as she knew herself, pulling the three of them into a tight hug – giving Maki a quick nudge in Kaede’s direction, before she quickly picked up the hint that this was her best chance, and placed a kiss between the taller girl’s lilac eyes.

“Oh,” Chiaki murmured as she pulled away from the both of them, “Who’s sitting in the middle?”

Kaede and Maki share a knowing look behind her, a grin forming on their faces.

“I think that you deserve the honours tonight, Chiaki!” Kaede declared, gently pushing the both of them towards the makeshift bed, picking up the bags of snacks and plate of mochi from the table so the other girls could have their hands free as they settled in.

Chiaki let out a muffled yelp as she was soon pulled down into the mess of blankets, although the feeling was more like being on a cloud than anything. She adjusted herself, tucking her legs under the comforter directly under her as the other two shuffled as close as possible, but not before Kaede grabbed three PlayStation 2 DualShock controllers and set them in front of everyone.

She looked at Kaede and then at Maki, who sat wordlessly with a small smile on her face, “So… can I ask why I’m in the middle today?”

“Nope!” An immediate sure-fire answer from Kaede.

Maki shuffles closer, looping an arm around Chiaki’s and nuzzling up to her warm, plush, body – not unlike a cat seeking warmth, “Maybe not everything needs an explanation. Sometimes it’s just nice to… love you, I suppose. You’re easy to love.”

“Mhmm!” Kaede agreed from the other side of Chiaki, cuddling up in a similar fashion, “You did a lot today and you worked hard. We’ll all get a turn in the middle, but today it’s just you. It’s you, always supporting us from the sidelines, always being the first to join our hands together.”

Chiaki blushed up to her ears and felt something bloom in her chest, cheeks burning warm enough that she was sure the other two could feel the heat radiating off of her, “Well, when you put it that way…” She mumbles bashfully.

She never does finish her sentence, and she never quite gets to hear why she was really put in the middle after all.

But as she finally sets her controller in her lap and reaches for a freshly made strawberry daifuku, Chiaki supposes that at the end of the day, it really doesn’t matter; there were three hundred and sixty-six days in a year, and more than enough time to share her love with them both.

She takes a bite – a delicate balance of mellow sweetness and tart coating her tastebuds, and unrestrained affection overwhelming all her other senses.