“You know, maybe you really should take some time to learn this.” Youta continued his cooking, albeit with Mitora by his side as they chatted and enjoyed themselves as if nothing bad had happened prior.

“Maybe if I had a good teacher.” She responded coyly as they had plenty of fun. One would almost forget it wasn’t just the two of them in the kitchen right now. Even Fuwaka nearly forgot this fact as she sat at the counter, watching them quietly.

She couldn’t bring herself to walk up and join them. As despite him allowing her into his home, it felt that the guilt which forgiveness lifts still weighed on her shoulders. So in her mind, it didn’t seem right to being in his presence, let alone talk to him.

Though watching Mitora hanging around next to him without a care in the world only served to make her more jealous of their relationship. So this was the power of childhood friend? Where even after a falling out, they could move on like it was nothing. Not to mention she certain was far behind Mitora when it came to interaction with him thanks to all that time.

“Here, how about you cut the carrots?” She continued to watch as he began to show Mitora a few things about cooking. She wished she could’ve been the one to learn from him, but the last and only time she had seen him cooking had her stuck doing homework. “It’s a lot easier than it sounds, so go ahead.” The boy stepped aside to allow his friend a chance.

“Yeah, I can do that!” Mitora enthusiastically took his spot and grabbed the knife haphazardly.

“Be careful, that’s not a toy.” He warned her, his heart skipped a beat seeing her pick the knife up as it wasn’t just her own health he was concerned about. If she wasn’t paying attention, she could just as easily injure him as she supervised the cutting.

“It’s just cutting carrots.” She took his advice lightly and began chopping quickly the carrots. She truly found it easy to slice the veggies into more manageable bite sized pieces. However she also went much too fast for her skill level as she slipped up once, cutting into her own finger. “Ow!” She yelped, dropping the knife as it fortunately landed on the counter.

“Let me see.” He quickly leaped into action, pulling her injuries hand and checked to see how bad the cut was. “Thankfully it looks like you didn’t go deep.” He said, taking a close look as blood dripped down. “Hang on, I have a first aid kit.” He immediately rushed to one of the kitchen cabinets where such medical equipment was kept.

One would think it was his mother whom kept that there for safety precautions, but it was actually Youta who purchased this and kept it here for his own safety. After all, he still considered himself inexperienced in cooking, so he wanted to make sure he’d be fine when at home alone.

Fuwaka, who hadn’t had anywhere else to look anyway, saw his mood change in an instant. One moment he was laughing alone, all relaxed. Yet now that he saw his friend was hurt, he had a dead serious look in his eyes as he produced the first aid kit, placing it on the counter and grabbed all the necessary items. “This is going to sting, but we can’t have this get infected.”

“Okay…” She grimaced as he applied alcohol on her cut. After applying some ointment, he would then wrap it with gauze to complete the quick fix.

“There.” He said once he finished. “That should be all good now, but you really need to be more careful.”

“I will.” She hung her head down as she replied. Though after all the years he knew her, Youta figured this song and dance would have to happen again.

“You’re really good at that.” Fuwaka commented once he had completed putting away the kit. “The only people I see that fast are the medical staff that helps the athletes.”

“I’ve cut myself before, so it’s an important skill to have.” He didn’t tell them the full story on when the first time he had a kitchen mishap. Youta ran crying to his mom about it, but she laughed at him after taking a closer look and telling him he barely even broke his skin. After his pride was shattered, the boy promised himself that he’d have to be the one to take care of himself should something bad happen.

“I guess I’ll have to sit back and let you do the cooking now.” Said Mitora, who still grasped her hand. The other two believed it to be about her cut, but in actuality it was due to Youta holding her hands. “Actually, I need to use the bathroom.” She walked away, heading to the bathroom that was just down the hall.

“Make sure not to get that gauze wet.” He told her as she left from view. Now that he was left alone with Fuwaka, Youta thought now was a good time to talk to her directly. “So, how have you been?”

“I think I’m going to leave now.” She ignored his question, instead choosing to make her exit now that Mitora was gone. “I just finished my food, so there’s no reason for me to stick around.” Since she hadn’t been talking, there had been nothing else for the girl to do but eat. So she ended up doing that much quicker than anticipated.

“But I haven’t even finished cooking yet.” Despite her already saying she wouldn’t eat his food. Youta had hoped they’d be able to talk for a bit. It would make up for lost time after he spent the past few days giving her the silent treatment as well. “Did something important come up?”

“It’s not that.” She admitted. “I just think that coming here was a mistake.” It was bold of her to tell the truth of her feelings. “You’re a kind boy, but it just doesn’t feel right still.” She got up from her seat and began to walk away, but he quickly grabbed her arm.

“Don’t go.” He said, frowning from her actions. “I didn’t say it properly before, so maybe that’s why it doesn’t feel right to you. But I’m really not mad at you anymore. There’s no problem between us.”

“That just doesn’t make sense to me.” She pulled her arm from his grip. “I guess I’m just not good with… When relationships get rocky.” Fuwaka sighed, realizing she was out of her element when it came to him. “And when I see you and Mitora together. It just doesn’t seem like it’s normal, is it?”

“I wish I could say Mitora was normal.” He chuckled nervously. “This isn’t like you, but making friends isn’t you either. Of all the things I know about you, that’s pretty obvious.” After all, it was how he met her in the first place. “It’s like when you learn something new, you have to think before doing. But with Mitora, it’s all natural. I almost never have to think of anything.”

It was ironic coming from him. Just days before he had commented on Takame’s supposed immaturity for feeling confident with him.

“Lucky you.” She responded. “It’s like trying to swim against the ocean’s waves when I’m with you. That’s not a good thing, but yet I keep trying.” In reality, going against the ocean’s waves was futile. Which only served to worry her more that her attempts to get closer to him was useless. That maybe her feelings to him were pointless.

“Eh, you get used to it.” He shrugged his shoulders. There was no facts nor logic to him trying to convince her. All they had were whatever they felt about the other. “That must be why you were so quiet before.”

“You noticed?”

“No.” He only realized it after hearing her concerns. Thinking back, it really felt to him that only Mitora was with him. Youta actually forgot about Fuwaka until she spoke up about his medical skills. “But if you’re interested in making some proper lunches, I could show you some pointers.”

“That sounds nice.” She accepted his offer and joined him in the kitchen. It was at this point when Mitora made her return.

“Well, I’m back and…” She then saw she had been quickly replaced by Fuwaka. “What? But, I can still help you with cooking, right?”

“You got hurt, so I figured you’d want to take a break.” He didn’t think she’d want to cook again after it caused her much pain. “Also that gauze gets in the way, doesn’t it?” Admittedly he went a bit overboard when it came to wrapping her up. So it was thicker than it should’ve been.

“I can still do a few things.” She quickly walked up to his side, where the boy found himself now flanked on both sides. “Did you know that you can crack eggs with just one hand?” Using a factoid she learned a long time ago, Mitora grabbed an egg and slammed it onto the counter.

She then took the cracked egg and tried to open it up and release the yolk into the bowl he had set out. However she had no grace and instead squeezed too hard with her single hand that it exploded in her hand.

“You know, maybe I shouldn’t have let you two in my house.” He sighed, looking at the mess his kitchen was about to be turned into.