Unnoticeable Things

Part Two

Sitting in a stool in the kitchen, you had been grinding cumin with a pestle for the past half hour. It was a mindless task, and so you had a magazine you recently purchased to alleviate your boredom. Now, however, you were facing an obstacle: turning the page. It wasn't a difficult thing, but you didn't want to move your hands – they were set in a very nice rhythm that you worried you wouldn't be able to pick back up if you stopped – and so you jut out your elbow in an attempt to flip the page with the crook of your arm. It's a few minutes of useless floundering and you huff in exasperation, contemplating stopping your rhythm, when you feel a presence behind you and a weight on your shoulder. Akira peers at the magazine, head resting lightly near your neck as the scent of cinnamon wafts over you,

"What're you doing?"

"Ah, Akira-kun," you smile at him as he straightens up, head relieving your shoulder of its weight, "would you do me a favor and flip the page? I've got a really good rhythm going and I don't really want to stop."

He raises his eyebrow and looks down at what you're reading before he turns the magazine to its cover, ignoring your slight squawk of protest,

"Dokidoki Hearts? What's this magazine about?"

His voice has taken a teasing lilt, and you feel like you've been caught doing something questionable when you avert your eyes and stare at the powder forming in your mortar,

"Gosh, i-it's my guilty pleasure, okay? T-they're weekly love stories written by novice authors," you mumble defensively, scowling at him through the pink tinging your cheeks, "now flip the page already– the story's reaching its climax and I want to see how the main character reacts."

His chuckle is muted, but he does as you ask, turning the page with lithe fingers. You smile at him in appreciation, expecting him to leave and go about whatever he had been previously. It's a bit surprising when his head rests on your shoulder again, his eyes drinking up the story's plot as you adjust your movements with his added weight.

"Akira-kun, you could bring another chair over," you suggest, sighing softly when he barely shakes his head before continuing, "This position has got to be uncomfortable."

"It's okay," his voice is distracted as his eyes continue trekking across the page, and you sigh in resignation, about to join him in finishing the story when the silence is broken by Jun's voice,

"Hayama-kun! You have guests!"

He tenses, and you wonder curiously about the twitch in his eyebrow when boisterous yet unfamiliar laughter fills the hallway before he sighs and leaves the room.

A few minutes later, Jun enters the kitchen, bustling about as she looks for tea. When her eyes meet you, the relief in the air is palpable as she asks you where the tea leaves are.

"Jun, are those Akira-kun's friends in the other room?" Your voice is curious when you hand her the jar she's looking for, and she pauses before gasping,

"Oh right! You've never met them! They're the runner ups for the Autumn Election; Yukihira Souma and Kurokiba Ryou," she explains, "Souma-kun has been here before but I guess that was when you were out."

Nodding your head at the new information, you share a smile with her as you hand her the cookies that were somehow hidden in the back of the pantry, "I'm glad Akira-kun's finally making friends."

She grins in reply before taking the tray out, and it's not a few minutes before you hear Akira angrily shouting,

"Hey! Don't dump them all in your mouth!"

 You stifle a laugh as you open the fridge, taking out a plate of cinnamon infused chocolates you had just made earlier in the afternoon before walking into the room. If they were able to make Akira so expressive, you wanted to meet them.