Chapter Text
Hinata had just finished placing the last plate on the dining table when the door opened, only it wasn’t who he was expecting. Or rather, someone was missing.
“Prince Osamu? You’re eating dinner alone tonight?” Hinata asked when he saw Atsumu wasn’t following right behind his twin. The two usually ate dinner together, so seeing just one of them in the huge dining room felt a little off.
“Tsumu had paperwork to do. It was gonna take ‘im forever and I’m starving, so ain’t waiting.”
Hinata couldn’t help but laugh at that. When he first came to the castle, the Miya princes seemed from another dimension. After all, how could they be normal when they were only a year older than Hinata, and yet they held the future of the country on their shoulders? It was only after getting to know them that Hinata realized they were just as human as anyone else. It was quite refreshing to see them bicker like any other siblings.
And boy, did they bicker a lot. Especially when it came to food.
Hinata made a move to take Atsumu’s plates and chopsticks off the table. It was such a pity, the table had enough food for two since the chef had expected both twins to come. Tonight, they’d be eating a variety of nigiri sushi, with each little piece intricately decorated to look like a tiny jewel. The display was not only beautiful, it also looked absolutely mouthwatering.
It was almost ridiculous to imagine Osamu eating an entire platter of sushi by himself. Osamu had a big appetite, sure, but this was enough to feed both twins, and Atsumu could eat just as much as his brother. Then there’s also the fact that Osamu would be sitting alone, it would be quiet. The idea made Hinata feel a little sad.
“I still wish Prince Atsumu could join you though. Isn’t it lonely to eat all this food by yourself?” Hinata didn’t eat alone after all. Back at home, he always had dinner with his family, and here, he’d eat with the rest of the servants. Hinata would eat alone if he was just snacking or in a hurry, but there’s always something about having meal time with others that made it much more enjoyable. “After all, meals taste better when you share them with other people, don’t they?”
“I don’t miss that jerk-face,” Osamu immediately responded with absolutely no remorse.
‘You two… have the same face?’ Hinata thought to himself.
“But I guess I do see your point. Dinner is always the meal I look forward to most somehow. Never thought about it that way before...” Osamu stared at the many dishes in front of him, and then back at his servant. A sly grin spread across his lips. “How ‘bout you join me for dinner, Shouyou?”
“H-Huh?” Hinata takes a second to process the prince’s words before he stammers, “I can’t! I’m n-not allowed to do that…”
He was just a servant after all, he could never bring himself to sit down so casually with the prince, much less eat dinner with him.
“Says who?” Osamu asked, looking genuinely curious, like the laws of the castle meant nothing to him. Most likely they didn’t.
“I, um, have other duties to attend to…?” Because even if he didn’t, Hinata could surely find something else to do.
“It can wait ‘til tomorrow. C’mere and sit with me.”
Not a question, a command. Hinata couldn’t not comply.
Reluctantly, he sat down next to the prince, the seat where Prince Atsumu usually sat. It felt so wrong to Hinata, but Osamu seemed pleased by this action if his smile was anything to go by, and Hinata just couldn’t look him in the eye. There was something about Osamu’s smile that made Hinata’s heart beat just a little faster.
Osamu poured soy sauce into his dish, completely unfazed unlike Hinata, who was at the verge of a mental breakdown. Had he ever had a meal as lavish as this? Most certainly not.
“Hmm? Feel free to dig in. Everything’s fresh.”
“I-I can’t… I shouldn’t…” he muttered, very embarrassed. This meal looked more expensive than his entire salary.
But Osamu wouldn't take a no for an answer. Picking up a piece of nigiri with his chopsticks, he brought it up to Hinata’s lips. “‘Course you can. Here, say ‘ahhh’.”
Hinata gawked at the sushi in front of him and then at the prince. Osamu’s stare was firm, like he wouldn’t put down the chopsticks until Hinata ate.
With no other choice, he opened his mouth and accepted the piece.
And in that very moment, every single bit of tension in his body left as the fatty fish seemingly melted in his mouth. How could so much flavor be packed into such a tiny bite of food? And that texture, oh god, the texture was to die for. The little bit of wasabi topping the piece gave it a little bit of a kick, perfectly complimenting the flavor of the fish.
It was sadly over before Hinata even realized he’d already chewed and swallowed the sushi. Actually, had he even chewed? Hinata couldn’t tell. Once he came to, Hinata opened his eyes, unaware that he had closed them, and found Osamu staring right at him, eyes wide with something Hinata couldn’t quite name.
The expression was quickly gone though, replaced with a placid look, “Didya like it? Fatty tuna is Tsumu’s favorite,” Osamu said as he reached for a piece for himself and plopped it into his mouth like it was nothing, like Hinata hadn’t just had the single best bite of food in his life, given to him by none other than the prince of Inarizaki himself.
Oh no. Hinata’s soul almost left his body at the realization that he’d just used Osamu’s chopsticks. Chopsticks the prince himself was using again just now.
“I-It was really good.” Really good wasn’t nearly enough to describe the out of body experience Hinata had just had, but Hinata had never been the best with words, and his brain was still reeling from the fact that he’d just shared an indirect kiss with Prince Osamu of all people.
Speaking of which, Osamu picked up another piece for Hinata. “Try this too, the wild salmon’s really fresh.”
Before he could attempt to say something and stop Osamu, the wild salmon nigiri was already in Hinata’s mouth, a completely different experience than the previous fatty tuna, but just as mind-blowingly delicious.
Hinata wasn’t given enough time to breathe as the next piece came, and then the next, and piece by piece, Osamu continued his onslaught until the two finished clearing the nigiri sushi tray. Satisfied, Osamu turned to Hinata, whose blush hadn’t left his face for the entirety of the meal.
“Which was your favorite?”
Hinata couldn’t even think, much less put out a coherent answer. He just blurted out the first thing that came to mind, “T-the sweet egg…”
Osamu nodded, a hand on his chin as if he were deep in thought, as if this were important information he had to make sure he remembered.
“B-but everything was really good!”
“Yeah, I can never decide what’s my favorite. Everything’s good.” Osamu smiled at Hinata with that soft, pleased smile he had after eating a good meal, and before Hinata could suffer from heart failure, he quickly pushed himself off his seat.
“I-I’ll clean up!”
Hinata did quick work of all the dishes and trays, and in a blink of an eye, he was booking it out of the room.
He didn’t get the chance to catch Osamu wistfully staring at his retreating figure, feeling hungry for an entirely different reason.