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Yukina was glaring at Lisa.
She hadn’t said anything wrong, right? Usually, Yukina would be eagerly staring at her with stars in her eyes whenever she overheard Lisa’s plans to bake cookies.
“Yukina, is there a particular flavour you’d want me to bake? Double chocolate fudge? Mocha-flavoured with extra sugar?”
“Why are you asking me? I thought you were baking them with Sayo.”
Okay, now Lisa understood the reason for Yukina’s anger. Was she jealous Lisa was spending time with others and not her again? Lisa wrapped an arm around Yukina, causing the latter’s glare to intensify.
“Aww…Yukina, I’ll spend more time with you next week to make up for abandoning you this weekend.”
“Haaa?”
Yukina looked genuinely confused. Had Lisa been wrong in her assumption? Hmm…that was weird…
At that moment, Sayo re-emerged into the studio with Rinko, each with a green tea latte in hand; Rinko was talking much more passionately than she usually did, explaining the wonders of the Fire Wizard Class she played on NFO to a surprisingly interested Sayo. Sayo was nodding to Rinko’s rant, asking questions whenever she paused, which led Rinko to talk more and more, her free hand moving around in gestures that Lisa had no idea what they meant but Sayo seemed to understand.
Crack. Lisa snapped her head to the source of the sound and found that Yukina had singlehandedly dented her water bottle. This was Yukina. The Yukina who couldn’t do a single pull-up (she couldn’t even hang herself from the bar for more than a quarter-second). Ooooooh…so Yukina wasn’t jealous that Lisa would be spending time with somebody else instead of her – she was jealous that she herself wouldn’t be the one spending time with Sayo…
“Say…are you in love with Sayo?” Lisa whispered in Yukina’s ear. Yukina’s eyes shot wide and her cheeks grew pink.
“E-Excuse me!?”
“There is no point in denying it. I know you too well. You can’t hide these things from me.”
“I am not hiding anything!” Yukina’s response was indignant but seemed genuine enough. She shifted her gaze off Lisa, but when it grazed Sayo, she awkwardly turned it towards the ceiling. “Is…Is that what this is?” she muttered hesitantly.
Seeing as it was Yukina they were talking about, it was entirely possible that she didn’t even realize her own feelings.
“Let’s talk about this after practice,” Lisa said.
Lisa was determined to be her best friend’s cupid.
……………
Lisa dragged Yukina to the Hazawa Café after practice. Yukina grabbed a heavily-sweetened cappuccino, one that Lisa had made while flirting with Tsugumi. When Lisa returned to the table, Yukina sighed.
“You don’t have to help me, you know? You have better things to do with your time,” Yukina said, taking a sip.
“If you mean hanging out with Tsugumi, don’t worry about it. I have reserved a lot of time for her – I can afford to spare a few minutes.”
Yukina narrowed her eyes. “I do not need you to spare me your precious time.”
“You know that wasn’t what I meant!” Lisa whined, though her grin made it obvious that she didn’t actually care. “So, how’s my cappuccino?”
“I can’t believe I am saying this, but too sweet. What did you put in there? Molasses? Oh right, it’s the overflow from your saccharine TsuguLisa love…” Yukina pushed away the cappuccino with a shudder.
“You know you’re just jealous. That’s why you’re now so desperate for your own romance. So, Sayo, is it?”
Yukina’s face was an interesting sight. Tsugumi might’ve stifled a giggle. “I…I didn’t say anything like that…” Yukina stammered.
“You should see your own face.” Lisa’s smile was so evil that she could be mistaken for a hungry tigress. “You know what? Here’s a mirror.”
Yukina tried to push Lisa’s hand mirror away. Too late. She had definitely seen her own face, as she then buried it in her hand.
“This is not me.”
“Oh, it sure is.” Lisa then reached a hand onto Yukina’s left chest, eliciting a yelp from the latter. “Ooo…and your heart is pounding.”
“O-Of course it is! If it weren’t I would be dead!”
Lisa ignored Yukina’s protest. She then hugged Yukina close and whispered onto the exposed skin on the side of Yukina’s neck. “And would you imagine yourself held like this by Sayo? Imagine her breath on your skin, her hands wandering…”
“No, I would not!”
It was only when Tsugumi fixed a scrutinizing gaze at Lisa that Lisa finally pulled away.
“But admit it, you have at least stared at Sayo before.”
“Why wouldn’t I look at her? She is my band member!”
“But you think she is pretty.”
“Th-That is just objective!”
“But you will not like it if other people think she is pretty.”
At this, Yukina became strangely silent. One more push. One more push and Yukina’s stubborn wall of denial would crumble.
“You admire her. You admire her devotion. You admire her integrity. You admire her talents. You want the whole world to see how great she is, but when others visibly show the same admiration as yours and Sayo thanks them for their goodwill, you’ll feel all weird and sour inside.”
The epiphany hit Yukina like a truck. She looked shocked and cutely embarrassed at the same time.
“A-Am I really in…in love with Sayo…?”
Love was such a powerful disease to bring the great Lone Wolf Songstress to a stuttering mess. Then again, Lisa had always wondered about the lone wolf nickname. Wasn’t “lone cat” more appropriate?
“So? Are you willing to admit it now? What do you plan on doing now that you understand your own feelings?”
Yukina tried to reclaim her cool. Not working. She just ended up looking like a frozen peach. “D-Do I have to do something?”
“Umm…Yukina-senpai,” Tsugumi came over with a new cup of cappuccino, this one just slightly sweeter than average instead of Lisa’s lovesick disaster of a coffee, “If I may suggest, perhaps you could spend more time with Sayo-san by cooking for her?”
“Oh, that’s a bold but brilliant idea! Nice job, Tsugumi!” Lisa exclaimed, high-fiving Tsugumi before turning to face Yukina again. “There is no better way to win a woman’s heart than to win over her stomach.”
“Can you stop sounding like a love expert when you have successfully courted a single person in your life who also happens to be a better cook than you?” Yukina rebuked. Tsugumi gave a cute chuckle, muttering something about Lisa being a great cook too. Yes, we all understand. TsuguLisa is the ultimate food ship. Imagine if they teamed up with Saaya and Hagumi too. The Café-Bakery-Meat Bun Shop Cartel. Say goodbye to fair pricing of food in the shopping district. Capitalism wins again.
“Well, do you want my advice or not?” Lisa continued. Yukina struggled, occupying her mouth with finishing the whole cup of coffee at once. She put the empty cup down. Tsugumi refilled it. Then Yukina said a quiet “okay”.
She might’ve been pretending to just be ok-ing Tsugumi’s coffee refill, but Lisa knew better. She patted Yukina’s back and gave her a wink.
……………
“Sorry, Yukina. I can’t make it to the Hikawa’s to help you out. There is this new romance movie out and Tsugumi and I have been dying to see it for a while now…”
“Some friend you are,” Yukina cut Lisa off with her retort. They were speaking on the phone, Yukina just steps away from the Hikawa Residence. Lisa had helped her arrange with Hina a time she could go to the Hikawa’s to cook for Sayo. Tonight was the time. The Hikawa parents would be out for the entire evening, and it was Hina’s turn to make dinner. Hina offered the task to Yukina instead.
“Did you at least bring all the ingredients?” Lisa asked. To be fair, Lisa had gone shopping with Yukina beforehand, making sure all the very specific ingredients were purchased in ample quantities enough for Yukina to ruin ten pots of curry. Yukina had thought curry powder and curry roux were the same things, and that it didn’t matter if you cooked chicken breast or chicken thigh. Who knew cooking was so convoluted? But the crazy amount they bought was really heavy. Yukina had to pack it all into a suitcase and wheel it to the Hikawa Residence instead. Luckily, the house was within walking distance – Yukina wouldn’t have been able to get on a train like this.
“I am sure I did not miss anything. I would know, because I am dying from the weight here…”
“Okay. Good.” Good? Yukina wanted to throw her suitcase atop Lisa’s face, not that she could lift it up to do that though. “So, did you also bring my ‘Love Love Curry’ recipe?”
Yukina rolled her eyes. “Yes. I did, in fact, bring your quote Love Love Curry end-quote recipe. Could you not have thought of a better name?”
“But it’s a recipe I’m sure would foster your love love fortunes with a certain guitarist, thus the name.”
“I regret ever having believed a single word to come out of your mouth,” Yukina deadpanned. She had at last arrived at the Hikawa’s doorstep. “I am ringing the bell now. Talk later-”
“Wait!” Lisa stopped Yukina from cutting off the line.
“What?”
“I haven’t even told you the most important thing yet!”
“Well, say it first next time.”
“Alright, alright. Next time. Anyway, I’m sending you a video I recorded this morning of how to make the Love Love Curry. Just follow the instructions down to the word. Down to every single letter of every single word, you hear? No improvisation. If you do just that, then even you can make this. I mean, it’s curry from premade roux. It’s literally just dumping the roux in hot water with some veggies and meat and letting it all cook. If you have questions, ask Hina. She might look crazy, but at least she can make edible food when she tries.”
“That does not sound convincing…”
“I told Hina that I will throw out all her junk from the Astronomy Clubroom if she doesn’t help you produce a satisfactory meal for Sayo. Besides, Hina has to eat it too, so she does have some motivation in helping you. She also says that you’d be a boppin’ sister-in-law, so…”
Yukina’s face boiled as she cut the call and blocked Lisa on her phone. She was here to cook, not to get married! This was ridiculous.
She rang the doorbell. Weird metallic clangs sounded within the building, and after a while, Hina emerged from the other side of the door with wires and unrecognizable gadgets tangled by her feet. “Welcome, Yukina-chan!” she greeted while struggling to open the door. Yukina stared at her for a second, debating whether to ask if she was okay. Then again, she probably was. She was the genius – she could fix herself if she smashed up her arm or something, so long as her brain was intact.
“Thank you for having me. Here is a gift for you and your family,” Yukina said, handing her the box of assorted mochi her parents suggested that she bring out of polite appreciation. Hina did not hesitate to take them. In fact, the “your family” part might have been completely ignored, as Hina started gobbling them right then and there.
“*nomnom* This is so good, Yukina-chan!” When Yukina nodded and stared at the hall behind Hina, Hina finally took the hint to gesture her inside. “Oh right, come on in. The kitchen is right at the end of the hall.”
Yukina took care to step around the tangle of wires by Hina’s feet and reached the kitchen as instructed, where she started to set up her stuff. Hina helped her take the ingredients out of the suitcase. Well…the word “help” might be used a little liberally here. Hina was just digging through the suitcase for readily-edible food while tossing the rest on the counter. She stole an apple and started munching on it.
“Sooo…Lisa-chi said that you have the *crunchcruch* biggest crush on my Onee-chan and wanna *crunchcrunch* make her some delicious love love curry?”
Yukina would be ready for denial if she hadn’t been so preoccupied by Hina saying onomatopoeias along with actually crunching an apple between her teeth. She could just nod instead. “Eee…that is my intention.”
“That’s so rurururuuun!” Hina bobbed over to Yukina’s side and set up a monitor there. “…Lisa-chi said she has a video to show you how to make the curry. I mean, why would you need that? So simple! But seeing as it’s Yukina-chan, might as well watch it anyway since Lisa-chi said you’re useless at anything not music…”
Yukina was going to kill Lisa after this…
For the time being, all she could do was to glare at the image of Lisa on the screen Hina set up. Lisa was grinning like Garfield as usual, waving and saying “hello” when it was completely unnecessary. “Can you see and hear me clearly?” Lisa sounded over the audio feed. What even was the point? If she hadn’t seen or heard clearly, she wouldn’t have been able to understand what Lisa said anyway, not that there was anything that could be done about it at that stage since this wasn’t a livestream but a recording. Yukina was tired of her own sarcastic musings though. She tried to ignore Lisa’s usual antics and focus on the main points addressed by the video.
Okay, so first, deal with the potatoes. Yukina couldn’t make sense of exactly what Lisa was doing with the knife, and she had little patience to listen to her explanation – complete with not-so-funny jokes and horrible analogies – so she supposed chopping them up to pieces would do. Then came the onion. Yukina made a cut into it, the juices flew everywhere, Hina bounced away in time to avoid the spray but Yukina was caught in the onion mist that, of course, sent her crying in an instant. This was suicide. She decided that a whole onion and chopped onion was probably the same thing – she tossed it whole into the pot along with the potatoes from before. Alright, now came the apples, which Lisa had chosen to replace Sayo’s hated carrots. Still blinded, there was no way Yukina could cut the apple either, so she just tossed it whole into the pot too. Same thing with the boneless chicken thighs. Yukina expected that the next step would be adding water and roux, but Lisa explained that the onions and chicken thigh pieces needed to be fried first before the other ingredients were added. Too late, they were already in the pot. Yukina skipped that step – what was the difference when they would all come out cooked in the end? She just topped the ingredients with water, tossed a piece of roux in there, closed the lid and turned up the stove to maximum – why a lower heat when a higher one could cook things faster? Alright, now wait for it to boil. This really was simple enough, Yukina mused.
Blub blub blub blub…
“Ah, Yukina-chan, it’s boiling!” Hina said, pointing at the pot. Yukina had her back to it, her mind occupied with silly thoughts of Sayo savouring her homecooked meal.
“Yukina-chan…”
“Yukina-chan! It’s boiling over!”
“What do you mean boiling oooo…” Yukina’s voice trailed off when she finally heard Hina and turned to see liquid bubble and spill from the pot with each jump of the lid, pushed open by the escaping steam. Yukina tried closing the lid by force. Hot! She nearly burnt her hand.
“Turn off the stove,” Hina suggested, laughing. Yukina followed the instructions dumbly. The liquid was still spilling out of the pot and pooled all over the surface of the stove. “You’ve gotta remove the pot from the stove. Wear the oven mitts or you’d burn yourself again. Hahahaha, seriously, Yukina-chan? You’re such a clutz!”
They finally managed to secure the pot in a place where it wasn’t actively erupting like a volcano. Yukina glared at Hina’s so-called help – her brutal jibes always made after the disaster already happened. “Eat it,” Yukina commanded, shoving a whole chicken thigh in Hina’s face. Hina jumped back.
“Not happening. Eating raw chicken would make me sick!”
“What do you mean raw? It was boiled.”
“The water boiled, but the chicken hasn’t been cooked through. Just look at where you have your fork jabbed into the meat. There is literally blood beading out from the holes!”
Yukina tossed the chicken thigh unceremoniously into the trash. She then filled a bowl with the “curry” and shoved that to Hina instead.
“Then try the rest of it. The part that boiled.”
“Oh come on, just accept that you ruined this pot. The roux hasn’t even completely dissolved yet and you added too little of it. The potatoes weren’t even peeled, and you dumped a whole onion and a whole apple into the pot. A whole apple, like stem and core and all! I was gonna say your pot looks like a salad sitting in diarrhea, but that’s a little overgenerous.”
Yukina kept glaring, but she had to admit, Hina was right. So the problems were peeling the potatoes, cutting up the onion and apple, and boiling it all for longer. She tried to start from the peeling potatoes part. Lisa peeled it with a knife on the video. Yukina tried to copy Lisa’s actions, but the knife slipped every two seconds and she found her left thumb precariously close to getting clipped off by the blade. Hina was watching her like watching penguins slide off a cliff. “My goodness. You are just soooooooooo interesting, Yukina-chan! How can you be that dumb?”
Yukina didn’t think to argue. No point. She took only the most straightforward path to her goal.
“…Astronomy Clubroom,” she muttered under her breath.
“Haa?”
“Astronomy Clubroom.”
Hina definitely heard her the second time around. Her face paled. “Nonono, Lisa-chi and you are definitely not gonna touch my precious senpai diaries!”
“I didn’t say I would.” Yukina’s smile was so artificial Hina shuddered. Good. Yukina’s plan was working.
“Fine, fine, fine. I’ll help you! Give me a sec…”
Hina vanished upstairs briefly before returning with a bunch of gadgets in her hands. “Okay, here is the potato peeler and cutter, this one is for the apple, this one for onions. I even have one for the chicken thighs. All automated. You can’t mess this up anymore, Yukina-chan.”
Yukina had got to admit, Hina’s intelligence was impressive. The gadgets worked wonderfully. Everything was peeled and chopped nicely this time. Yukina fried the onions and chicken thighs – Lisa said they should be a little golden but a slightly darker hue should still be fine, right? Then came the rest of the ingredients, water, and roux. More roux for this pot. And it had to boil longer than last time. Guess Yukina would keep the lid closed by holding it down while wearing oven mitts. This should do.
The next pot was finally done. It might’ve still boiled over a bit, but at least it looked sort of like curry? And everything was cooked. Yukina checked.
“Why do you still refuse to eat it?” Yukina asked Hina who kept grinning like a Cheshire.
Hina jabbed a pair of chopsticks into the bowl Yukina had served her. The chopsticks stayed stuck in vertical position. “Yukina-chan, how many boxes of roux did you add this time?”
“I’m not sure. I lost count.”
“Now that might be a problem…” Hina then fished something out of the bowl of extra-concentrated curry paste. “And what would this happen to be?”
It was black. Hina squished it on a clean plate and it bounced like rubber.
“Um…” Yukina wasn’t so sure of herself anymore. “Chicken?”
“I’d rather eat an eraser.”
At Hina’s verdict, Yukina sulked. She did realize her “pot of curry” looked very questionable. If somebody else had produced it, she would’ve been inclined to believe that person did not put any effort. But Yukina did try, no matter how difficult that might be for others to believe. She didn’t understand where she went wrong or how to fix it.
“Aww…I said I’d help, so don’t worry, Hina-chan has got this!” Hina exclaimed before dashing upstairs again. This time, it took a little longer before she returned. Yukina heard some weird sounds. Cling Clang Bing Bong Ding…What greeted her when Hina returned was not a handful of gadgets but a humanoid robot.
“How do you do, Milady?”
This was beyond the realm of a normal genius. This was deus ex machina.
“Alright, Robot, follow that video and make the perfect curry,” Hina said to the robot, unfazed.
“As you command, Milady.”
The robot got to work. Chop chop chop, plop plop plop, sizzle sizzle, blub blub… It was doing everything perfectly, except with a single flaw – the way it said “Chop chop chop, plop plop plop, sizzle sizzle, blub blub…” along with the actual sounds made. Did Hina seriously have to program the robot to be as annoying as her?
Yukina would not complain. She was ashamed of her own uselessness. “…B-But what’s the point of me being here then?”
Hina discarded her usual chiding façade and gave a soft, genuine smile, one hand on Yukina’s shoulder. “Be the one to serve the food to Onee-chan. I’m sure that alone would make her very happy.”
……………
Sayo had worked at school even on this weekend day; the cultural festival was coming up and she needed to be there with the students making last minute preparations to make sure discipline was kept and rules were followed. It had been a long day – she came home exhausted, sighing even as she unlocked the front door and stepped in. “I’m home,” she groaned.
“Welcome home, Sayo.”
That was not Hina’s voice.
Sayo snapped her head up and found Yukina facing her, a small smile tugging at the corners of her mouth. Sayo nearly lost her balance. She fell back to the door, her hands searching it for some grip to keep her standing. “Mi…Minato-saaaaaan!?”
“Is…Is this a bad time to come visit?” Yukina asked. Sayo shook her head. Hard.
“Of…Of course not! Minato-san is always welcome!”
Sayo stole a glance over to Hina who was in the corner giggling. Sayo glared down her sister; Hina just shrugged. Sayo kept glaring, trying to use their twin telepathy to force Hina into an explanation. Hina finally answered.
“Yukina-chan is here to cook for you.”
“Cook? For me?”
Sayo’s eyes met with Yukina’s briefly before Yukina turned to the side awkwardly. “Well…I…uhh…was invited by Hina to come over for dinner because my parents are also away, and…umm…there was a lot of food in my fridge, so I thought I’d bring them here…”
This was a face of Yukina that Sayo had never seen. Yukina was usually confident and decisive. This rambling explanation was the opposite of that. Sayo didn’t know exactly how to react. She was a little worried if Yukina was okay.
“It’s okay, Minato-san. You do not need to explain. I am happy that you have come,” Sayo reassured. At this, Hina gave Yukina a suspicious elbow jab. Since when were the two so close? Yukina stumbled forward, closing the distance with Sayo.
“Umm…Sayo, please sit down first.”
“Err…Okay.”
Sayo stepped into the living room where the dining table was already set, her legs felt too long all of a sudden and she struggled to move them naturally. She marched the rest of the way to the chair and fell onto it, back rigid while she waited for something to happen. There must be something, right? Hina’s smirking expression was more than enough evidence.
Yukina went into the kitchen and came out again with a dish of curry rice. She was moving just as stiffly as Sayo had, the plate rattling dangerously in her shaking hand. “I…uhh…didn’t actually make this. I wanted to, but…umm…things happened, and…well…I hope you’re alright with me just serving it to yoooooooooo…”
As Yukina neared, she kicked her toe on the leg of the dining table and down fell the rest of her body along with the plate of curry rice all over Sayo’s front. Sayo rushed to catch Yukina. She managed to stop Yukina’s fall. “Are you alright, Minato-san?”
“No…that’s a question I should be asking,” Yukina said, hurriedly grabbing the napkin from the table to wipe away the mess of curry on Sayo’s chest. The curry soaked through the napkin quickly – it lost its form and Yukina’s fingers brushed Sayo as though there were little barrier between them. She might’ve accidentally touched a sensitive spot, as Sayo gave a startled “kyah!” that caused Yukina to flinch back with a reddened face and apologize profusely.
“I…I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to…”
“It’s…It’s okay, Minato-san. I’m fine. Don’t worry about it.”
They sat there just staring at each other for a second. Sayo, too, felt her cheeks heat up.
“Umm, Onee-chan, shouldn’t you go get a change of clothes?” Hina asked, then slyly added. “I know you love Yukina-chan(’s curry) and all, but if you don’t get it off your uniform, it’d leave a stain…”
“Be quiet, Hina,” Sayo snapped. She turned back to Yukina. “Umm, I will be right back.”
Sayo dashed upstairs, threw her dirtied uniform to soak in some detergent, and retreated into her room, slamming the door behind her. She was so confused. What the hell was going on? Why did Yukina show up at her house to cook for her? And why was the cool songstress acting so strange?
A certain reddish-brown haired bassist came to mind. She’d most definitely know what was going on with her childhood friend – might’ve even played a role in this whole incident. Sayo grabbed her phone and texted:
Sayo: Imai-san, do you know why Minato-san is at my house right now?”
Lisa: To cook for you? Don’t tell me that failed.
Sayo: That is besides the point. I am asking why.
Lisa: Because she likes you?
Sayo wanted to scream. Minato-san? Liked her? As in…as in a band member, right? She was definitely overthinking this. There was no way Yukina would share her pathetic, unprofessional feelings…
Sayo: Please do not joke with me, Imai-san.
Sayo: I understand Minato-san likes me as a fellow band member.
Sayo: That still does not explain her behaviour. I am sincerely worried. Please tell me the truth.
Sayo glared at her phone waiting for an answer. It came three minutes later.
Lisa: You sure are dense, Sayo.
Lisa: I am saying Yukina wants you to be her girlfriend. Is that clear enough?
Sayo dropped her phone. It hit her toe, but her brain was so preoccupied thinking over what Lisa had texted that she was a second late to say “ouch!”
She finally picked up her phone from the floor.
Sayo: You are kidding.
Lisa: I am not.
Lisa: If you don’t believe me, ask Yukina yourself.
Lisa: Oh, and I’d suggest kabedon’ing her while you are at it.
Lisa was serious. She really thought Yukina was…was…in love with Sayo!?
Sayo squatted there staring at her phone. She reread Lisa’s message three times until interrupted by Hina’s voice from outside her door.
“Onee-chan, whatcha doin’ in there? You’ve been inside for a loooooooooong time.”
Crap. She totally forgot that Yukina was still waiting for her downstairs, and the fact that she herself was still in her undies after removing her curry-soaked uniform. She had to put on something presentable and get back down there. She scrambled through her wardrobe. A dress? Or just pants? Something formal? Something casual? Those ripped jeans she bought in America? Nonono…she’d just look stupid. She grabbed something randomly and paled at the sight of it. Her Roselia stage costume.
“Onee-chan…?”
“Coming!”
She forced herself to put it on anyway. When she opened the door, Hina looked at her from top to bottom and bottom back to the top, then erupted in laughter.
“What!?” Sayo shouted indignantly.
“Onee-chan…are you for real?”
“I feel most at ease in this. It helps me concentrate. That’s all!”
Stupid explanation, she knew, but Hina was the least of her concerns now. She ran back downstairs and saw Yukina also staring her with jaws dropped. She quickly hid her dress with an apron.
“I am sure everyone is hungry. Let me make more curry,” Sayo said, fleeing to the kitchen. Thankfully, Hina did not follow, but Yukina did, settling to a spot a step behind Sayo.
“Minato-san?”
“I want to keep you company.”
Sayo felt her cheeks burn now that she understood the meaning of Yukina’s actions. She could just nod as she concentrated on making the curry. Although Yukina said she was there to keep Sayo company, they didn’t really speak throughout the whole time. Both were too embarrassed, Sayo pretending to be transfixed with peeling potatoes while Yukina tried to find a hidden pattern amongst the lines on the marble counter. The new pot of curry was finally made (if Sayo and Yukina were less absorbed in being an idiot pre-couple, they might’ve noticed that the pot Hina’s robot had made was still sitting in the corner). Sayo scooped a bit of the sauce into a spoon and turned towards Yukina.
“Umm…would you like to taste it and tell me if it is to your liking?” Sayo asked.
Yukina nodded, reaching out for the spoon, but Sayo withheld it from her hand, instead pointing it directly to Yukina’s mouth. Realizing Sayo’s intention, Yukina grew even more timid. She avoided direct gaze and reluctantly opened her mouth so Sayo could feed her.
“It’s…delicious,” Yukina muttered. She stole the spoon from Sayo at that point and was about to get some curry with it. “Do you want to try some too?”
“Yes, I will have some.”
Kabedon, kabedon, kabedon, kabedon!
Sayo cursed the voice in her head that sounded vaguely like Lisa’s. It was all the damn fault of that last message she sent.
Sayo would not admit that it was her own will that propelled her to grab Yukina’s hand, lower that spoon, push Yukina back against the wall, and pound her other hand on said wall with a clear “Don!” sound.
“May I?” Sayo asked, her face so close to Yukina’s that there was no ambiguity to what she was planning. She saw Yukina visibly gulp before nodding. With that, Sayo closed the remaining distance with her lips, pressing them against Yukina’s and then tried pressing them again from another angle. She came to a hard realization that she didn’t know what she was doing and neither did Yukina.
But Yukina wouldn’t let her go. She had her hands clenched around Sayo’s collar, bringing her down to her height. “I don’t think you’ve had a good taste of the curry yet,” she said, craning her neck up for another kiss. Sayo acquiesced.
The actual pot of curry lay there forgotten. Hina crept into the kitchen and posed in front of the two pots and snapped a selfie of herself with YukiSayo still kissing innocently in the far background.
“Plan successful!” She texted Lisa the selfie. “All the more curry for me! Yum yum!”