(A/N: my deepest apologies for any of my roshidere ff readers, i promise on literally everything that it isn't discontinued; i just have more motivation to update newer things for whatever reason. call me weird if youd like ig idfk
also give suggestions on what photos i should use for the banner thing on the top cus i think that it magically boosts reads if you add one; if it doesnt dont tell me, just let me live in my delusions)
(lowkey i kinda forgot that i was supposed to write this fanfic mb gng)
| Ayanokouji's POV |
The rice porridge was good.
Like, really good. On par with Matsuo's good, perhaps even better. That's not an easy feat.
"What kind of witchcraft did you study to make something of this level?"
"Well, I'm glad you enjoy it," Shiina simply replied, taking a spoonful of her own rice porridge and putting it into her mouth, looking as if she was about to immediately spit it out from the heat. "H-hot..." she muttered, fanning her own mouth, a faint colour appearing on her cheeks. It was quite an adorable sight, if you ask me.
"You should have waited a bit before digging in," I casually remarked, putting a spoonful of the porridge into my mouth, letting my taste buds taste the flavours of the porridge before finally swallowing.
"How in the world do you not burn yourself while eating hot food..." Shiina asked, still recovering from the burning sensation she had brought upon herself.
"Genetics or whatever. Heat doesn't stop me from inhaling good food."
"Lucky..."
We continued to eat our food, mostly in silence, only interrupted by the peaceful sounds of the wind outside and occasional small talk between the two of us. Luckily, Shiina actually blew on her porridge a bit before taking a bite this time so that she would no longer be setting her own mouth on fire. Good for her.
"Your space is surprisingly clean for a teenaged boy who lives alone," Shiina remarked, looking around my apartment in slight curiosity. "And quite bland, may I add." She wasn't wrong on either of her deductions; I try to keep my apartment tidy, but that didn't mean I had much going around here in the first place. I only really had the necessities, plus a gaming pc and a ps5. Going online on random games, destroying the living hell out of random kids reminds me of my time spent in the white room, in a way. Entertains me quite a bit.
"I value cleanliness. I can work more efficiently in clean spaces."
"Not everyone has the same mindset as you, you know. I've heard that many people have their laundry and trash thrown everywhere around their rooms. The thought of a dirty home like that scares me quite a bit, actually," Shiina mentioned, feigning thought.
"From that last statement, I'm assuming your the type to like to keep everything neat and tidy, right?" I asked, just making sure on some simple facts. After all, we were neighbours, so it'd be nice to get to know each other a bit more.
"You are correct on your assumption, Ayanokouji-kun."
I spooned up the last scoop of the porridge in my bowl, slowly placing it into my mouth, making sure not to swallow, letting the flavour linger around as the porridge slowly melted in my mouth. I sighed lightly, already missing the flavours of Shiina's cooking. That also got me wondering: if her rice porridge was this good, how good would her other dishes be...? Is she a Michelin Star chef in disguise as a high school student, perhaps?
"Would you like more? I made extra just in case," Shiina explained, which caused me to practically drool on the inside.
"If you wouldn't mind, I'd definitely like some more of your delicious cooking."
"Stop with the flattery already, you won't get anywhere with it," Shiina stated with a sigh, taking my bowl from me as she made her way into the kitchen, using a ladle to scoop some more of that delicious porridge into it.
"It's not just flattery. I genuinely think your cooking is phenomenal. I'm considering to ask you to teach me." I noticed a bit of color spread onto Shiina's cheeks as she processed my statement, trying to cover it up by clearing her throat, though I don't see how that helps in the slightest.
"W-well, that's good to know..." Shiina mumbled, carrying the now-refilled bowl of porridge as she made her way back to her seat, gently handing me the bowl, which I quickly started devouring.
After that sentence, we went back to pure silence once again. There weren't any small talk, no birds chirping, just occasionally a bit of clinging between our silverware and bowls. It wasn't necessarily uncomfortable, per say, more so just... awkward. Quite obviously, neither of us expected this to happen just days prior, yet life seems to want to spice things up a bit for the two of us.
"...How's life going for you...?" I asked, trying to make some small talk, yet my attempt felt as if it made the situation even more awkward than it already was.
"...Not bad, I guess," was her response, her expression unchanging. "What about you?"
"Not bad, I guess."
"...Is this some kind of funny joke to you...?"
"No, it's more that I don't have any other way to describe my life other than 'not bad, I guess'."
"...Ayanokouji-kun, you're weird."
| Time Skip - After Dinner |
The time I spent with the angel didn't last much longer after we finished our food.
We talked a bit, argued about who was going to wash the dishes before it was already time for Shiina to head back home.
Luckily for me, it seems my fever has gone down by a large amount since I awoken. That probably meant that I was able to return to school the next day, which I wasn't too eager about, yet it wasn't as if it was the end of the world or anything.
I highly doubt that I'd ever really interact with Shiina again, however, considering that she was technically numerous leagues above me. She was the most popular and influential figure at our school, while I made myself a nobody that gets average grades on every subject. We'll most likely be back to strangers by the very next day. I didn't mind very much, however; befriending Shiina would likely cause the entire school to chase a nonexistent bounty on my back, which I wouldn't like in the slightest.
Though, her help today was still appreciated nonetheless. It would've truly been a bother had she not arrived in time to help me back into my apartment. Perhaps I should try paying her back sometime...?
| Time Skip - Saturday Afternoon (the day right after) |
I decided to head outside for non-school purposes today for the first time in a while.
The white room never taught us students to cook at all; we were never required to do so, as they had private chefs to make food for us.
Unfortunately, that meant that even now in high school, now living alone by myself, I am unable to make myself a meal to eat, having to resort to either ordering take out or getting a quick meal from the nearby convenience store.
I decided on the third option today, not really bothering to go all the way to a mall or something of the sorts. Sure, I wasn't DoorDashing food straight to my place today, but that didn't mean I couldn't feel lazy.
After reaching out for my bag that had a couple essentials inside of it and swinging it over my shoulders, I opened the door and started heading out towards the apartment's elevator.
The convenience store wasn't far at all, only around 5 or so minutes of walking. A nice, calm walk is always welcomed as well.
Despite how rainy it was just yesterday, it seems that today was completely devoid of rain. It was still quite cloudy, however, blocking out most of the sun. The wind was also quite strong today, and when also considering the fact that it was nearing sunset made the walk to the convenience store very cool and refreshing. Days like these are the ones I enjoy the most.
The convenience store quickly came in sight as I lightly sighed, having enjoyed the trip here. The door automatically opened up as I walked close to it, the wave of the cooling ac washing over my body. True refreshment right here.
The store greeted me with isles upon isles of different snacks and foods, yet I walked past them all, only stopping by the bento section of the convenience store. There were a whole selection of different bentos; kaarage bowls, beef bowls, pre-made noodles, even boxes of sushi. And, they were all appetising in their own ways, so it was quite difficult for me to settle on one choice.
I eventually gave up and instead opted for a bowl of instant noodles, something I've never actually tried before, but have been told tasted good. It seemed quite cheap, too, costing 400 yen for one 'premium' bowl. I have no idea if this was a good deal or not, but the image on the cover of the bowl looked quite good. There were even pieces of chashu on it, from what I saw.
After deciding on the bowl, I stood back up from my squatting position as I made my way to the self checkout, though I paused as I noticed a familiar figure in the corner of my eyes in front of the convenience store. Slim body, silky natural hair. The angel.
Our eyes connected as I waved at the girl, who waved back and betrayed a bit of a relieved look. I wasn't too surprised to see her; we were neighbours after all, and this was the closest convenience store to our apartment complex.
I noticed her gaze dropping down towards the bowl of instant noodles I had in my hands as she walked closer towards me, an apathetic and aloof look returning to her face, the same one I saw just yesterday, completely unlike her school persona.
"...Instant noodles?" She asked as she approached closer to me until we were at conversation distance.
"Mhm," I said, holding the bowl up as I pretended to observe it. "I don't really know how to cook."
"That's odd," Shiina replied, yet her expression stayed apathetic and collected. "Don't you live alone, by yourself?" She asked, betraying her curious side.
"Affirmative, though I usually just doordash food over honestly..." I muttered, looking back at Shiina again. "I just decided that I wanted to try instant noodles today. I've actually never had this kind of thing before." My words seemed to slightly surprise the angelic figure, as her eyes widened slightly at this revelation.
"I actually haven't tried instant noodles before either," she revealed, glancing at the bowl I was holding in my hands. "It's quite unhealthy... lots of sodium."
"I'm aware," I said in response, starting to feel as if she was sounding like a mother figure. Or what I thought seemed like a mother figure.
"So, your eating that for dinner?"
"Affirmative," I responded, causing Shiina to look at me with a slightly disappointed look as she shook her head. "...What's wrong?"
"So, what your saying is, that you've been eating nothing but doordash ever since you moved here...?" She asked, now seeming even more disappointed. Is this what it's like to have a normal, disappointed parent?
"...That, or getting a pre-made bento from here."
"That's quite the unhealthy lifestyle you have there..." Shiina muttered out as she sighed lightly. "You can't expect to live healthily with that kind of diet, can you?"
"...I mean..." Shiina only continued to look at me with the same, disappointed expression.
"No," she calmly responded with a sigh, her disappointment turning into what seemed to be determination, "I can't just let you live like this..." the angel muttered out as she took the bowl of noodles from my hands and forcibly placed it back as I just looked at her in confusion.
"...So, your grand plan is just... making me starve to death...?" I asked, observing her movements as she grabbed a box of cookies. "And, I don't think cookies are the healthiest food item either..."
"Firstly, these are just for dessert to treat myself," she explained, turning her head to look at me again. "Secondly, do you think I'm that cruel of a person?"
"...I mean, not really, but you did just forcefully take what was supposed to be my meal for today away." Shiina only sighed to my response,
"...I'll give you some of my leftover food. You have a microwave, right?" She offered, causing me to raise an eyebrow.
"...Yeah, I do," I said, confused by her gesture. "But are you sure?"
"Why wouldn't I be?" The girl replied as she finally paid for her biscuits, walking out the store's doors and gesturing for me to follow. "After all, you did borrow me your umbrella. You prevented me from getting sick like you did. I still owe you for that."
"Didn't you take care of me yesterday? Wasn't that paying back your non-existent dept?"
"For you, sure, but for me I feel like I still need to repay you back even more." I only sighed at her determination.
"Your insistence is admirable."
We continued to walk towards our apartment building in awkward silence, the neither of us knowing what to say to each other as we made our way into the apartment's lobby and into the elevator. As the elevator's doors opened for the second time, the two of us stepped out onto the corridor of apartment doors as Shiina took out her key and started opening her door.
"Just wait here," she explained before entering her apartment, closing the door behind her. I sighed as she entered her room, still slightly confused as to why she was doing such a gesture. Yet, seeing how good her rice porridge was, I was quite excited to try whatever she had prepared.
After a moment of waiting, the angel finally emerged out of her place with a plastic container containing a bit of rice, some stir-fried beef and veggies and a singular cookie in a separate compartment, likely the same ones that she had bought just today. She extended the arm she was holding the container in as I took it from her hands, bowing slightly in gratitude.
"You have my thanks," I said, looking down at the container of food before looking back up at her, the savoury smell of the food entering my nose. "I'll try and pay you back sometime."
"I'll be looking forward to that," the angel replied before retreating into her apartment again, once again closing her door as I turned around towards my own apartment door, making my way back into the comforts of the AC.
(A/N: the end was lowkey trash forgive me 😭)
Word Count: 2446 Words