First Morning
“Hngh…” Kaoru stirred in his sleep, a soft groan escaping his lips. Every muscle in his body ached with a pleasant, deep-seated fatigue, his joints feeling pleasantly loose and heavy, as if his very soul had been floating somewhere distant and was only now sinking back into his limbs. A sudden, cool draft brushed against his bare arm, making him shiver slightly.
“Ugh, cold…” he mumbled, shifting and pushing himself up into a sitting position. The blanket that had been draped over his torso slipped down, pooling around his waist and revealing his completely bare chest and shoulders.
“Hmm? Why am I shirtless?” A wave of sleepy confusion washed over him. He didn't make a habit of sleeping without a top. But as his gaze drifted down, his eyes caught sight of faint, reddish marks scattered across his stomach and hips. The sight immediately dissolved his confusion, replacing it with dawning warmth that spread from his heart. A soft smile curved his lips.
“Ah…” he breathed out, the sound a mixture of amusement at his own momentary forgetfulness. How could he have forgotten, even for a second? Last night… last night had been nothing short of magnificent, a night spent with his wife.
His wife. The thought sent another, stronger wave of warmth crashing through him. His eyes drifted to his left hand, to the elegant white gold band gracing his ring finger, a small, deep red ruby glittering quietly in the morning light. Yesterday, he had finally, officially married the woman of his dreams. His chest tightened with overwhelming affection as the memories of the previous day flooded back—the ceremony, the vows, the tears, the laughter, the triumphant culmination of a love story that had weathered its own unique storms. All their struggles had led to this sweet, perfect beginning.
Speaking of his wife… He realized the space beside him in their large bed was empty and cool. Where had his little wife wandered off to? A ridiculous, fleeting fear—that it had all been an impossibly vivid dream—tried to surface, but he shook his head, dismissing it with another smile. He could still feel her warmth, smell her scent on the sheets. It was all gloriously real.
Pushing himself fully out of bed, he found his discarded clothes from the night before neatly folded on a chair, he pulled them on. Once dressed, he padded out of their bedroom, intent on finding her.
He didn’t have to look far. The frustrated voice coming from the kitchen led him right to her. And there she was, standing in the middle of their kitchen, locked in an intense staring contest with a whole, raw chicken lying defiantly on the cutting board.
“Shii-chan, what are you doing?” Kaoru asked, leaning against the wall.
Shii, who had been laser-focused on the poultry, jerked her head up. “Ah, you’re awake! Good! Help me deal with this chicken!! It’s impossible to cut! Stupid, weird chicken. Look what it did to my hand!” she exclaimed, holding up her palm to reveal a rather nasty-looking cut running across it. She had clearly tried to clean it, but a fresh bead of blood was welling up from the gash.
“You…” Kaoru was by her side in an instant, gently taking her injured hand to examine it. The very first day as husband and wife, and she’s already managed to injure herself.
“How did this even happen?” he asked softly as he guided her away from the battlefield. He led her to the mini bar in their kitchen, lifted her onto one of the high stools, and immediately went to fetch the first-aid kit.
“I lost the fight against that chicken,” Shii declared matter-of-factly. Under any other circumstances, Kaoru would have laughed out loud at the sheer randomness of her statement. But right now, with her hand bleeding, he only felt concern.
“The chicken isn’t even alive, Shii-chan,” he pointed out gently, returning with the white kit. He carefully cleaned the wound with antiseptic. He felt her flinch as the stinging liquid made contact.
“Shh…” Shii whimpered quietly, the antiseptic somehow hurting more than the initial cut from the knife.
“Just bear with it for a moment,” Kaoru murmured. Once the wound was clean, he expertly applied a gauze pad and secured it with medical tape.
“All done,” he sighed in relief. Thankfully, the cut wasn’t too deep. It would have been terribly unromantic to spend their first post-wedding morning in a hospital emergency room.
“Huh.” Shii lifted her hand, studying his handiwork with a critical eye. “Pretty neat,” she concluded with an approving nod.
Kaoru could only release another resigned sigh. This woman would test his patience like no one else. Good thing his reserves of it were far deeper than, say, Koga’s or Izumi’s.
“Shii-chan, please be more careful next time. But why on earth were you trying to butcher a whole chicken all of a sudden?” he asked as he tidied up the first-aid kit.
“To cook, of course! I’m… ehem, I-I-I’m a w-wife now,” she stammered, her cheeks flushing adorably. She was still getting used to the titles.
“So I should be taking care of m-my husband, right?”
Kaoru sighed again, a sound now fondly familiar. He walked back to her and placed his hands gently on her shoulders, looking her straight in the eyes. “I didn’t marry you so you could serve me. I married you to be my partner, to be with me, because I love you. More than anything, if you get hurt just trying to ‘serve’ me, what kind of husband would that make me? I’d feel like a terrible boss, not a partner.”
Shii could see the utter sincerity in his eyes. It was so heartfelt it made the tips of her ears burn with a mix of embarrassment and profound love.
“O-okay… but don’t complain later if I never cook for you,” she mumbled, looking away.
Kaoru let out a soft chuckle and said, “Don’t worry, I’m not hopeless enough to not be able to cook for myself. From now on, you can only cook with microwave, no chopping, no stove.”
Shii’s face lit up with a bright, radiant smile. It was the same smile that had captured his heart from the very beginning.
“In that case, I’ll happily embrace my privilege and become a very lazy wife~” she declared with a mischievous glint. Being a wife who got to lounge around didn’t sound bad.
Kaoru couldn’t help but smile back. His wife was truly a master of witty comebacks. He gave her forehead a gentle flick. “You’re really something.”
Shii just responded with that cheeky grin of hers.
“Alright, fine. I’ll have a lazy wife, as long as she’s not a hurt wife,” he conceded, his hand coming up to cup her cheek, his thumb stroking her skin softly, and then he closed the small distance between them, leaning in to place a sweet, soft kiss on her lips, a proper, gentle good morning kiss to officially start their first morning as husband and wife.
“I love you, Hakaze Shiina,” he whispered against her lips, the new name still a wonderful, miraculous sound on his tongue.