dinner

So, how did things go yesterday?" Hiroaki asks after he is finished talking about the day's events.

"Everything went pretty well," Natsu replies with a nod.

"That's good. Did you enjoy yourselves?"

"Yeah, we did!" He replies happily.

"That's good. How does my cooking taste today?"

"Pretty good," he says, grinning happily.

"Great! Now let's eat," Hiroaki says and then turns towards the stove to turn the fire on.

Natsu follows his dad into the kitchen and begins setting the table. Once they have finished putting the food on the table, Hiroaki turns to his son and asks him, "Do you want some juice, too?"

"Yes, please," Natsu replies enthusiastically.

Hiroaki picks up the juice jug and fills the glass with juice. He hands it to Natsu and watches as his son eagerly takes the glass and gulps down almost half of it before he sets it down.

Hiroki smiles warmly at Natsu and asks, "Would you like me to feed you, too?"

Natsu nods eagerly as he replies, "Yes, please!"

Hiroaki chuckles lightly before reaching out and grabbing the bowl of rice and ladling some of it into it. He feeds it to his son.

Natsu eats quietly as he waits for his dad to feed him. He finishes eating in record time and he asks, "More?"

Hiroki gives him another piece of rice.

While Natsu eats his second piece of rice, Hiroaki clears off the plates and returns them to the dishwasher. Afterward, he grabs the bowls and starts to clean them.

By the time that he is finished cleaning, Natsu is sitting on the couch, watching television with his uncle.

Just as Hiroaki is about to get ready for work, his phone rings.

"Hello, hello." He answers, greeting his boss.

"Good morning, Mr. Hiroaki. It's Mr. Sakaguchi." He introduces himself.

"Good morning, Mr. Sakaguchi. Please tell me why you called?"

"Well, I wanted to ask if you wanted to join me and my colleagues for dinner tonight."

Hiroaki smiles in understanding.

"We'd love to, but we can't tonight." He replies apologetically.

"That's alright. We'll just meet up with you some other time."

"Alright," Hiroaki agrees.

Mr. Sakaguchi bids him goodbye before ending the call. Hiroaki hangs up and turns to face Natsu.

"Mr. Sakaguchi wants us to join him and his team for dinner tonight."

Natsu nods excitedly as he responds, "Cool!"

"Yeah," Hiroaki says smiling.

"Will you come, too?" Natsu asks hopefully.

"Of course, kiddo. We'll make sure you're ready by tonight!"

"Okay!" Natsu says enthusiastically.

Hiroaki ruffles his hair affectionately and walks past him.

Natsu giggles and turns around and looks at his uncle with an expectant expression.

Hiroaki stops walking and says, "Come here, kiddo."

Natsu jumps down from the couch and rushes over to Hiroaki, wrapping his arms around his legs. He hugs him tightly as he says, "Thanks, uncle!"

Hiroaki smiles softly and pats his head before picking Natsu up, carrying him toward the bathroom. He places Natsu on the countertop and tells him, "Get yourself cleaned up while I start breakfast."

"Okay!" Natsu says, releasing his uncle. He hops off the counter and runs into the bathroom and shuts the door.

Hiroaki goes about getting breakfast ready as he listens to the sound of Natsu running around in the bathroom.

After several minutes laterHiroaki hears the shower turn on and Natsu's voice asking him if he wants him to help. Hiroaki doesn't respond right away, instead choosing to wait until Natsu comes out of the bathroom.

After about ten or fifteen minutes, he opens the bathroom door and steps outside. There are only steam coming from the bathroom because of the hot water that had been left behind from the shower.

He takes a glance in the direction of the kitchen, where the smell of pancakes fills the air. As soon as Natsu notices him stepping out, he makes a beeline to him.

"Pancakes! Pancakes!" Natsu exclaims.

Hiroaki chuckles and says, "Yes, pancakes. You should probably hurry up and wash your face now."

Natsu nods happily as he hurries over to the sink to do as his uncle said.

Hiroaki heads to the refrigerator and pulls out the eggs and milk. While waiting for the eggs to cook, he decides to look through the kitchen drawers and find the pancake mix he needed for pancakes. When he finds it, he checks the expiration date on the bag. It says 5 weeks old.

He opens the package and puts the pancake mix inside the bag and then closes the container again.