free

Deciding to take the subject off his injury for the meantime Rin chuckles. “To surprise you of course” he says happily before pulling away. He then gets out the small present he had in his pocket and hands it over. 

“See. I even got you something, Haru” he says happily. He really hopes that this will distract him from the reason why he is back in Rosedale. But know how perceptive Haru is it probably wont be long till he ends up revealing why. For now though he isn’t going to say anything unless he really wants to know. “Come on open it. I got it because it reminded me of you” he says happily.

(He saw Rin’s eyes widen when he asked--Rin had never been good at hiding his emotions--but with the way Rin responded, he must not want to tell him just yet. He’ll find out soon enough, though. Rin won’t be able to keep it hidden forever.)

“A gift?”

As Haru unwrapped his gift, he briefly wondered if Rin had gotten gifts for everyone else. He probably did; he does that sort of thing all the time. Upon seeing the dolphin figurine within, though, Haru couldn’t help the smile that took to his face, happy that Rin had thought of him with this. 

“Thanks, Rin. I’ll take good care of this.”

He put it to his lips and blew, to test out how it sounded. It sounded pretty nice. 

Rin grabbed his keys, wallet, his phone and the little bag with a present he got at Australia for Haru and left the house. He would have got something for Marluxia but he had no idea he would be in town. Taking the quicker route to his house he arrives in record time.

Immediately because he really couldn’t wait to see him he rings the doorbell.  At first he just waits but when still no one comes to the door he rings it again multiple times. “Come on Haru open up” he mutters to himself.

Suddenly however the door opens and he is met with blue eyes. Rin could tell that he surely was surprised to see him and that makes him chuckle. “What? You didn’t expect to see me?” he teases. 

“Mind if I come in?” he asks, though he already was walking into the house. Rin shuffles inside and looks around the house before looking back at Haru. He chuckles. “I know you’re surprised but it hasn’t been that long has it?” he says before walking up to him. Rin then pulls the male into a hug. “I’ve missed you, Haru” he says.

It had also been too long since he got to hear Rin laugh--even if it were just a chuckle--as well, but thinking about that fact made Rin catch him off guard in a hug. And hearing that Rin had missed him made him feel like a burst of warmth was spreading from inside his chest, as he tentatively raised his arms to rest on Rin’s back.

“... I missed you too, Rin.” 

Looking at the list of things she needed to purchase, Suzume had already bought everything. And eagerly, the brunette made a quick beeline towards the fish stall that was located slightly near to the docks. Spotting the familiar green stall umbrella, Suzume’s features brighten a little. Her imaginations running slightly wild at the thought of seafood.

Blue eyes scanning, various sight of fishes and whatnot greeted the brunette. Ranging from your common Yellowfin tuna to live Crustacean of crabs and lobster, to expensive Caviar you see being cooked in fancy restaurant and also Molluscs like Oyster and Cockle kept in a box full of ice. And last but not least, there was the False Trevally, Suzume gushed internally.

All kept cool and fresh and ready to be cooked.

Now, there were many reasons why Suzume liked this particular fish stall. The seafood were fresh but also, the owner sells some of the most interesting type of fishes in the sea. And Suzume wasn’t sure when, but she had started to take note that there was also someone else besides her, who also shared the same taste of food choice like her.

Suzume had remembered a few encounters where she had asked for some seafood delicacies like Jellied Eels, Haddock and Monkfish, only to be told in return that a certain someone had bought all of them. Even the average Mackerel had been ‘stolen’ away from her a couple of times. Leaving her slightly grumpy and frustrated each time she went home.

But perhaps this time, Suzume would get the upper hand. Reaching forward, the brunette pointed at the False Trevally, “I would like this please.”

What?

Suzume blinked in surprise and looked to the side, blue eyes seeing a black-haired teen who had said the same thing as her.

As Haru considered his options, the False Trevally caught his eye. He knew a couple of good recipes he could use with the False Trevally--like curry, or a good fish fry--and decided that he would buy some of that for today. Knowing that some of his friends really like curry played no part in his decision-making.

However, as he asked for the False Trevally, he realized that someone else had made that exact same request, and he looked over, slightly surprised.

Seafood isn’t all that popular here in general, and the rarer the fish was, the less likely he’d find any competition, so seeing that someone else planned on getting the same fish was a surprise. Though he does usually go earlier than this, in order to get the fish at its prime, so maybe he’d just missed any other seafood connoisseurs in town. That said, he wanted the fish, and he didn’t know how much the girl wanted. He hoped there was enough for both of them, but if not....

Then again, maybe she had that mindset because she had never had mackerel since ever. It wasn’t an everyday–weekly, monthly or even yearly–fish her mother oftentimes cooked for the family. 

And speaking of cooking, there he went again, taking note of her basket once more. He was adamant about figuring out why she had so much food in her basket. And it didn’t help that the woman at the tuna stand started to call for her.

Damn. 

Muttering “Wait here”, she whipped around to pick up her order. After a successful exchange, carefully placing the wrapped up tuna between her vegetables and fruits, Kou returned to the mackerel stand once more.

(Did Kou even like tuna? If she could be so adamant about mackerel, would she really like tuna all that much more? After all, mackerel was clearly superior, but maybe she likes one more than the other? Or it was for something else entirely, which... the amount of food she had might indicate.)

Well. He was curious, of course, but if she really didn’t want to tell him that was fine. But when she came back, it seemed like maybe she was preparing to tell him what she was planning. Maybe. 

As she walked back to her table after getting her water, her eyes drifted over to the drawing the student at the table next to her was working on.

Huh?

Her eyebrows raised. While the piece was well drawn, the subject wasn’t something she had ever seen. At least, she didn’t think she had seen any humanoid-birds-wearing-a-swimsuit before.

After setting her cup down, she turned to the guy sitting next to her. Chiyo had seen him around and spoken to him briefly a few times, but she didn’t know much about him besides his name. In all honesty, she wasn’t sure if he was just quiet or was secretly living a double life and was afraid of getting too close to his classmates.

Ah. Haru looked up. Before this, he had mostly drawn things that involved water--from a view of the ocean, to a still life study that included a glass of water--but today Haru had decided to draw his favorite mascot character, Iwatobi-chan. 

“Thanks.” His grandmother had always told him to be polite, after all.

As he heard the girl--whom he vaguely knew to be a classmate of his, a year younger than him, with really great still life studies--ask who Iwatobi-chan was, Haru felt a little miffed. Not know who Iwatobi-chan is? Unbelievable. 

It’s okay though, he can fill her in.

“This is Iwatobi-chan.”

“He’s only just about one of the best mascot characters ever. He’s part bird, part rock, and has an incredibly nuanced backstory.” 

Iwatobi-chan was rather popular at his grandmother’s hometown, and she was the one who had told him all about him. This made Haru start to make his own Iwatobi-chan designs, and even come up with a spin-off series with the Iwamoge monster villain versus the dark hero Iwatobi-chan. Maybe one day, he’ll share this story in detail, but for now, things were very much just in the planning stages. 

She sighed in relief, happy that she wouldn’t have to do the cooking. She was sure that cooking one meal wouldn’t automatically make people thing she was completely different at home, but by not cooking, that small possibility was gone.

Now that they figured out who was doing what, the two needed to figure out details. She took out a piece of paper, a pencil, and an eraser. She looked up at Haru, holding the pencil in her hand. “Lets make  lists!” She drew a vertical line through the middle of the paper, labeling one side as “essay” and the other line as “possible dishes.”

He didn’t really have anything else to add about the essay; for such a relaxed assignment, Hori could really write on anything she pleased. What she suggested sounded alright, anyway. As far as recipes go, though...

“I’m going to make a mackerel dish.”

Haru could refer to one of his many cookbooks for a mackerel dish he hadn’t made in a while. Also, this way he could pass on a recipe to her instead.

It wasn’t that Kou hated him. She just found him…unbearable, in a sense. Their ideals were so different from one another, their personalities the complete opposite. Whether he showed emotion or not, they constantly butt heads in one-sided fights. 

Kou’s side, mind you.

One of the many things they ‘fought’ over was his love of mackerel. And while the subject may seem silly, it’s very much real; his undying love (seriously, she is convinced) for said fish is all too fishy for her taste. 

“Mackerel is good once in a great while. You eat it everyday as if it were a religious practice,” Kou answers him bitterly.  

“Does it matter?” 

“I like eating it, and it’s good for you. As long as I’m still swimming fine, it shouldn't matter to you.”

The only way Haru would stop having mackerel would be when the world ran out of mackerel, but he hoped that day would never come. Either way, it was nice and fresh here, and even on sale, so there really wasn’t any reason for him not to get mackerel.

Anyway. 

“... Really? At least half of your basket would go bad before you could finish it all, by yourself.” 

Desperate to hide her intentions, she not-so-casually hid the large basket behind her. She looked up at him with inquisitive dark amber eyes, almost as if knew not of what he was talking about.

“I haven’t stocked up in a while,” she lied. Kou was always on point with her grocery shopping. Never was the house deprived of common necessities and food items. God forbid she run out of one item; she’d be devastated.

Not stocking up in a while didn’t quite sound like her–though Haru couldn’t say that he knew her living and cooking habits, judging by the way she manages the team, she would always be prepared. Though it’s not like stocking up every now and then isn’t necessary, but Haru knew all too well how much food to get, and when to get it. Her basket, Haru had observed, just had way too much food for her to just “stock up” on. Some of it would go bad before she ate it, if it were just for her. 

“Mackerel is good for you. This mackerel is both fresh and on sale at this time, so it’s even better.” Haru nods. 

“How to do it?” She hadn’t really thought of a way where they could split up the work. She thought of how they would present it and prepare for the presentation. “I guess one of us can write some sort of essay, and the other can get a recipe. Then the person who picked the recipe can cook it while the other summarizes the essay to the class. Does that sound good?”

While she waited for Haru to answer, she thought of what part she could do if they went with her idea. Although she was fine with either role, she would prefer to write the essay.

Everyday Hori would go home and take care of her little brother, which included cooking for him. There was no doubt in her mind that she can handle that part of the project, but she wouldn’t want to. She liked being a different person at school than at home, and didn’t really want the two to mix.

“That sounds alright to me.”

“... Do you mind if I cooked, then?” Also, if he cooked, he could probably pick the recipe out of one of his countless mackerel recipe books... maybe choose a recipe he hadn't made in a while.

With the work divided up like this, Haru wouldn't necessarily have to teach Hori how to cook, which Haru was happy about. Less effort required.