AO3 user Dantheriolu wanted art of Makoto defending Touko from Togami, so here we are! ^_^ I took some liberties with it, admittedly.

DRS Hype Cards (Naekawa Edition)

Ayyyy, bet you weren’t expecting another one of these, eh? ^_^

Yeah, I feel bad that it’s been so long since I updated this series. And I had some spare ideas lying around, so I figured why not.

Sorry for the lack of updates, btw. Most of my efforts have been focused on a new original novel. And that’s when I actually have energy after work. If possible, I’ll try and put out more of these whenever I can.

*

According to the recipe Celestia Ludenberg provided, the best Royal Milk tea requires a gram of good, high-quality loose leaves - preferrably Assam or Oolong, though Ceylon and Darjeeling work fine as well. A saucepan of water is to be boiled and then brought down to low heat so the leaves can simmer gently, for about thirty seconds to a minute. It is absolutely vital to not let it boil for too long, lest the drink become tannic and over-extracted. Really, the process wasn't all that different from how Fukawa liked to make her teas, minus the inclusion of milk. A one-to-one ratio of that was needed. With honey or sugar to taste.

Normally, Fukawa would have been fine with her usual blend. But if there was one thing she learnt from Naegi, it's that it was good to try new things every once in a while.

She watched fondly as her boyfriend slipped on a pair of oven mitts and strained the creamy mixture into a kettle, savouring the rich fragrance that wafted in the air. With the number of times that he helped brew tea during her long, busy nights of writing, he had become quite an expert at it. The smile on Naegi's face as he set a porcelain cup down in front of her said that he didn't mind doing it in the least. It was a labour of love.

"Careful now," he said. "It's hot."

She took a seat at her dining table and blew on it as he poured himself a helping, tentatively taking a sip. With a contented sigh: "That's actually n-not bad. T-Thank you, Makoto..."

"You're welcome, dear." He took a sip himself and winced a little. "Hm. Needs more sugar..."

"Ugh." Fukawa rolled her eyes, amused. "Tea's not supposed to be sweet, you barbarian." And they both laughed.

"Yeah, well, it's my tea now, and I can do whatever I want." He reached for the little jar of straw packets at the centre of the table. Fukawa felt a species of dismay seeing him pour in not just one packet but two, before drinking again. “Much better.”

“Barbarian,” she repeated with a snicker. “Why do you need so much s-sugar anyway? You’re sweet enough a-as is.”

The slight reddening of Naegi’s cheeks did not go unnoticed. She had been hoping for that exact reaction.

“Oh that was smooth,” he grinned.

“Thanks. I’ve b-been practicing.” Which was to say, she Googled pickup lines last night as research for her new novel. She was glad to see that at least one of them was effective.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” Smirking: “As soon as I’ve m-mastered flirting, I’m dumping your ass f-for someone better.”

More laughter. Her hand slid over to his, so that he’d know she was only teasing. He returned the gesture warmly.

“So, what other lines do you have?”

Her smile became bashful. “Um… some really s-stupid ones. Like this: Did we go to school together? I c-could swear we had chemistry.”

Her boyfriend chuckled. “We definitely did, you and me.” Suddenly, that line didn’t seem so stupid anymore.

“O-Okay, how bout this one: They say nothing lasts f-forever. Will you be my nothing?”

“…That was awful.”

“Yeah, I know, right?” She rubbed her chin for a moment. “This n-next one is actually kinda cute: Wanna go outside for s-some fresh air? You t-took my breath away.”

“D’awww,” he put a hand on his chest dramatically. “You’re melting my heart, Touko-chan.”

A bloom of heat crept up her neck. “What about you?” She asked. “Do you k-know any pickup lines?”

With a flourish and not a second of hesitation, Naegi pointed a pair of finger guns at her. “Hey cutie, have we met before? Because you look exactly like my next girlfriend!”

The heat spread further up.

“Oh gosh, it actually worked on you.” His eyes widened a little. Her heart was fluttering the way it did the first time he asked her out.

“Don’t judge,” she said shyly. “A-aside from you, no one ever flirts with m-me…”

He grinned again, finger guns at the ready. “I never believed in love at first sight. But that’s before I met you.”

“Stooopppp,” Fukawa’s face was beet red now, buried beneath her hands.

“You’re so fine, you made me forget my pickup line.”

She looked up at him. “That one just sucks. It’s s-such a copout.”

“Heh. I wasn’t flirting that time.” Instantly, her face went back to her hands as she made a noise of embarrassment. He kept at it for a while, giggling the whole time. Long enough for the tea to turn cold.