Title: Yuichiro’s Counterattack!
“Wow, Mika-San… Your lunch is…”
On Mikaela’s lap was a boxed lunch whose aesthetics Yoichi could only describe as pitiful. The rice was chunky, held together by a pasty-substance. The underside of the bread was soggy, yet burnt. Hiding beneath a dry assortment of vegetables were pieces of chicken that, too, didn’t escape the tide of poorly contained miso sauce.
Yuichiro’s face contorted, and he took to observing the scenery.
Second Shibuya High’s rooftop provided a picturesque view of the city. The sky was a lovely gradient and, having dropped their supply of rain, the clouds rolled off towards the horizon. The shower lifted the essence of mulch planted around the shrubbery.
What a shame, he mused, that enjoying it was impossible.
“You’re being too kind, Yoichi!” Shinoa cried, feigning emotional turmoil and clasping her convenience store sandwiches.
She hovered over Yuichiro to gaze at the tragedy one lap over.
He didn’t have to stare at Mikaela to know he wore that smile; his lighthearted, ‘pleased-with-himself’ smirk.
“Duh! What happened to the perfect ratios of carbs, protein, and vegetables!? The color diversity!? And who needs rice and bread!? The dressing wasn’t drained, either! Could it be Yu-San’s bad cooking is contag—”
“Enough already!” Yuichiro said, pride in shambles.
His assumption had been correct. There Mikaela sat, lips curved and brows raised as if to say, ‘Why are you looking at me? I’ve done nothing to you!’
To feign innocence when it was his idea they make each other’s lunches the previous night… he refused to let him get away with it.
“I-I never said I was a great cook! Mika wanted a lunch from me!”
Yoichi, his sole ally on the rooftop, got to work tending to his ego.
“C’mon guys, I know it doesn’t look the best, but maybe it tastes good!”
“Sure!” Shinoa chimed, not out of agreement, but an eagerness to prove the contrary.
The second Mikaela collected a sample of rice and chicken, they all inched closer to their object of interest, awaiting his every word.
Yuichiro was especially fixated.
“Well?” He said right as his food was swallowed, “How’d I do!?”
“Let’s see… for starters, the rice is gloppy, like it was stirred a lot.”
It was. Quite vigorously.
“And it’s under-cooked, ironically from cooking it too fast. Low heat would’ve kept the kernels intact.”
That wasn’t his fault. The first batch was ruined through happenstance.
“The chicken’s kinda tough, too. But…”
To Yuichiro’s surprise, however, he lifted another helping into his mouth.
Mikaela’s grin turned into something gentler, a promise he was incapable of any real malice towards his family.
“Yu-Chan worked really hard on it, so I’m going to finish it, anyway.”
Yuichiro let out a bashful chuckle, massaging the back of his neck.
“Well?” Shinoa broke in, drumming her fingers across the lid of his own box, “Let’s see what yours is like!”
She unlidded his meal at once, revealing a stunning display that earned a gasp from both her and Yoichi.
The perfection she had come to expect from Mikaela’s lunch had returned.
Rolled egg filled with eel, daikon with tomatoes, glazed salmon on handpicked watercress, and strawberries sprinkled with sugar were divided into colorful, silicone cups.
Upon the rice was a design composed of leftover seaweed: the phrase ‘I ♥ Mika,’ with the heart crafted from red pepper.
“Woah… what loving craftsmanship,” Yoichi said under his breath.
At this, Mikaela laughed, grabbing the chopsticks he had packed with it.
“If you want, I can feed it to you—”
He swiped back his eating utensils, stuffing his mouth with golden rice that was seasoned to an exact science.
He knew what this game was.
Mikaela picked a grain off Yuichiro’s chin, popping it into his mouth and taking joy in the blood rushing to the latter’s face.
“Sheesh, you’re not a little kid anymore.”
For someone who shrank away from the smallest displays of romantic affection, he certainly had the boldness to tease him.
His boyfriend was all talk.
And that’s precisely why he wouldn’t lose.
He snuck a couple grains from Mikaela’s lunch, noting the difference in texture and sticking them on his cheek.
“You missed a spot, too.”
He cut Mikaela’s words short, halted his breath, when he removed the rice with a kiss.
Mortified, face burning, and in the presence of Shinoa and Yoichi’s ‘ooo’s and ‘ahh’s, Yuichiro’s counterattack was flawless.
He may have dished out a lot, but he definitely couldn’t take it.
“Really, Mika. Thanks. Your food was incredible!” He said, voice brimming with tenderness and wearing the grin he knew he loved most.
“Sorry mine wasn’t very good. Next time, I’ll work even harder! I love you after all.”
Mikaela was speechless, eyes darting until he retreated to his crudely made lunch, eating it without a word.
Thoroughly impressed, Shinoa and Yoichi exchanged multiple glances of incredulity.
“… That was evil, Yu-San.”
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