Saturday (5)

"Wow, these are amazing!" Haruna squealed, popping another macaron into her mouth.

While Yui was still in the bathroom, Reiji had whipped up some coffee for her as well, and they were now relaxing for a bit with the sweets he'd made.

"I'm glad," he replied, getting up from his seat to start prepping lunch.

Haruna turned to him, placing her cup down and finally getting to the question he had been dreading.

"Why didn't you tell me she was going to be here beforehand? I was so confused, you know?"

"About that.... My bad. I was going to tell you yesterday before you left, but I got that call, remember? I got distracted by that, and it slipped my mind."

"Oh! That makes sense, I guess. What was the call about anyway?"

"Um... Nothing important," he mumbled, dodging the answer.

He didn't really want to tell her the truth because it might draw attention to his shoulder if she started asking too many questions, and that would create a whole host of unnecessary problems.

But it was clear that Haruna figured it out due to his evasiveness.

Her face scrunched up with worry as she studied his face.

"....Are you okay?" she asked softly.

"Why wouldn't I be? Don't I look fine?"

"You look like a zombie. I was wondering what was wrong with you, but that pretty Senpai popped out of nowhere."

"....Ouch, do I really look that bad?"

"Pfft, I first thought you put on makeup and stopped halfway through. You're so pale, and those eyebags are kinda dark," she giggled, but there wasn't much humor within her green eyes, which had dimmed considerably.

"Meh, I just didn't sleep well. With all the MMA training and studying, I've been pretty tired, that's all," Reiji shrugged, moving into the kitchen.

Haruna stood up and followed behind him, clutching her glass tightly.

She lifted her hand, reaching for his forehead when she got close, but Reiji leaned away in surprise.

"What're you doing?"

"Checking your temperature, stay still," she snapped.

"Geez, I'm fine! You want me to do jumping jacks to prove it to you?" he joked, dodging again with a smile.

".....Okay, do 30 jumping jacks."

"Huh?"

Reiji froze, taken aback by her actually going with it.

'But I can't do it....'

He could barely even lift his arm above his shoulder.

"Go on, give me 30," she goaded, crossing her arms authoritatively.

"Alright, I give in. I have a tiny fever, but it's no big deal," he sighed, leaning back against the counter.

Haruna didn't reply, her brows furrowing as she stood on tiptoes to check his temperature. Reiji didn't avoid her this time, resigning himself to his fate.

"....You call this a tiny fever? You're burning up!" she hissed, her voice dropping impossibly low as the anger on her face made him want to back away.

Unfortunately, he was blocked by the counter, leaving him no choice but to face her wrath.

"I-It's not that bad," he muttered, placing his own hand against his skin.

"It doesn't work like that, you idiot! You should get into bed right now!"

Seeing her getting worked up, Reiji poked her head backwards, lightly nudging her with his finger.

"Haruna, I'm fine. I still need to cook, and we have a lot of studying to do. I won't overdo it, I promise."

".....Why do you insist on taking on everything by yourself?" she asked.

"I'm not doing anything like that, I genuinely feel okay! I took some medicine already, so it'll probably go away in a few hours on its own."

"Fine, you won't listen anyway...."

"You know me so well," Reiji chuckled, ruffling her hair playfully.

"Tch."

Haruna still looked mad, but she calmed herself down at his words, though not without making her displeasure more than clear.

"Oh, don't tell Yui about this. No reason for her to worry, too."

***

*SIZZLE SIZZLE*

The stovetops were fulfilling their purpose quite well when Yui returned from the bathroom, where she saw both Reiji and Haruna cooking together in the kitchen.

She made a face when she saw such a harmonious scene and stomped over to them.

Reiji glanced at her and grinned.

"You took so long, were you taking a shit? I hope you didn't destroy my bathroom."

Her furious steps faltered as she wobbled in place.

".....With all that talk about me getting my black belt, why don't I show my junior a few moves. Reiji, you'll act as the training dummy," she laughed with zero emotion, her gaze focused on Haruna, who was struggling to contain her amusement.

"No thanks, I'm busy with cooking, so I'll take a raincheck," he replied.

"You really think you have a choice?"

Yui put another foot forward, her lips curving with a devious grin.

Reiji stopped chopping the onions on his cutting board and smiled back.

"I thought you liked the macarons I made?"

"...What does that mean?" she wavered, her smirk fading as fast as it came.

"It would be such a shame if you could never have them again, wouldn't it?"

"Y-You!"

Yui glared at him in disbelief, the betrayal killing her momentum. Haruna also stared in utter horror at the blatant threat.

"Reiji-tan, you monster!"

"Monster is an understatement! Reiji, you're the devil himself. No.... even he wouldn't do something as terrible as this!" Yui added.

"Wait, why am I the one being persecuted here?? She was the one who wanted to fight in the first place," Reiji defended, pointing at the redhead in exasperation.

"Meh, you deserve it," Haruna shrugged.

"See, even she agrees! Thank you, whatever your name is," Yui clapped, nodding at her with approval.

".....It's Haruna."

"I don't care."

"Reiji-tan, on second thought, I think no more sweets is a fair punishment for Senpai."

"WHA- YOU TRAITOR!"

Reiji shook his head, a little happy at the fact that they seemed to be getting along.

After all, are you really friends if you aren't at each other's throats now and then?

That was his consoling thought anyway.

***

Yui frowned, her small mouth jutting out in a pout as she focused intensely on her chopping board.

The knife in her hand hovered over the sad little onion, which was awaiting its execution.

She lowered the weapon slowly, but the tremor going through her arms and the tears running down her cheeks forced the knife to cut at a terrible angle, slicing only half of the intended area as it smacked into the chopping board instead.

"Chef Gramsey would put two slices of bread on each side of your head," Reiji muttered, facepalming himself when he noticed.

"...What the fuck does that even mean?"

"Don't worry about it."

"This is stupid, I don't like this!"

Yui dropped the knife onto the counter forcefully and walked out of the kitchen in a huff.

She had wanted to join in and help them cook, so Reiji had asked her to make a simple salad.

But he grimaced at the mess she had left behind.

An open bottle of soy sauce spilled over the counter when she was opening it, three different sets of vegetables that were so badly dismembered that it looked like a crime scene, and a bent knife that somehow seemed to be cursing him for abandoning it.

'How did she even manage to bend a knife???'

He glanced at Haruna, who was looking at him with astonishment due to the traumatic remains.

'Gusteau was wrong..... Not everyone can cook.'

What was sad was that she hadn't even gotten to the cooking part, and he shivered in terror at the mere thought of what she might manage to create if this was just her prep-work.

Just because she was fiery doesn't mean she'd do well with fire.

And he didn't want to burn down his house.

"Reiji, I'm hungry," Yui called out, lounging on the living room couch.

"....Just two more minutes, we're almost done here."

The lovely aromas from the pizza that they had been baking spread through the kitchen when the oven door opened, making them forget about the mess for a brief moment.

"I'll take it out. Can you bring the plates?" Haruna said while popping on the mitts.

"Sure."

Soon enough, a large pizza was laid out on the table, with a gooey blend of mozzarella and cheddar, topped with onions, mushrooms, and chicken that he had marinated overnight.

Reiji also placed a variety of dipping sauces next to it before sitting down in his chair.

Haruna sat in front, while Yui bounded over and took the chair beside him.

"Ohhh, that looks so good!"

"It's Reiji-tan's recipe, I just helped," Haruna chuckled.

"Dig in, I hope it turned out okay."

They each peeled off a slice without hesitation, and Reiji bit into his without adding any condiments.

'Hmmm.... Not bad, but could use a little more seasoning next time,' he mused.

"Mmmm! This is awesome!"

"Nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom"

Well, the other two clearly didn't agree, because they were chowing down on it with blissful expressions.

"So, do the second-years have midterms this week as well?" Reiji asked, trying to start a conversation.

"Yeah, but I don't care about them," Yui responded, her attention on the pizza slice.

"Haruna, do you feel prepared?" he asked, turning to the blonde who was also in a daze.

"Umm..." she mumbled, snapping out of her state. "Kind of? I know I can do it, but what if I make those same mistakes again?"

"It's all in the confidence. If you act so scared, then it'll affect your thinking process."

"True...."

"Okay, forget about that. Anything happen today? How's Granny?"

"She's fine. I just feel bad because Riku-tan invited me over to Hina-tan's house to study again, and I had to turn them down."

"Riku? Huh.... That asshole had the same name," Yui interjected, perking up at the words.

".....What?"

Reiji snapped his neck towards her, a questioning look on his face.

"Remember that asshole from the mall? I met the creep on my way to your house this morning," she replied, leaning back in her chair.

'.....What the fuck??'