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"Honestly, Mitsuru-chan. A gift to your loved one should be from the heart, so you need to decide for yourself. But, if you're really that worried, then why don't you make a homemade bento?"
“A bento?”
“Of course! Cooking is a wonderful way to show how much you care about the other person. Especially when it’s made with love.”
Furrowing his brows, Mitsuru pondered the idea for a moment. He had made chocolate for everyone he cared about during Chocofes, but he knew that this would be different compared to what he made back then. Sora was his first boyfriend after all, so he wanted to really impress him. Unfortunately, however, he wasn’t all too confident about his cooking skills. He had enough practice making chocolate, but making an entire bento was unfamiliar territory for him.
“Don’t worry so much about it! I’m sure Sora-chan would love anything you make for him. He’s a sweet boy who cares a lot about you.”
He wasn’t fully convinced, but it was true that Sora would probably be happy over the fact that he made something in the first place. Honestly, it was because of that kind heart that Mitsuru found himself drawn to him to begin with. Just thinking about it brought a smile to his face causing Arashi to squeal excitedly at the sight for a moment before quickly composing herself to provide him with a bit more advice.
“I know you don’t like to rely on others for things like this, so how about I make a suggestion?”
“Hm?”
“Instead of trying to make a variety of different dishes, how about you make onigiri instead? It’ll still contain all the main components of a bento, and you can mold them into different shapes to add style to it. And for dessert, you can make chocolate since you’re familiar with making them now.”
Mitsuru nodded—his eyes sparkling with interest over the idea. Onigiri didn’t seem too difficult and the idea of shaping the rice into fun shapes did sound appealing him. Now if he could figure out how to add color to them, then it would be perfect. He remembered seeing various cookbooks in the kitchen before, so it shouldn’t be too hard to find something he could work with. Feeling confident, he hastily thanked Arashi for her advice before quickly taking off in the direction of the school’s kitchen.
Hmm… Arashi-chan-senpai suggested that I make onigiri, but there’s just so many options! They all sound really good too.
Unable to decide what to make, Mitsuru continued to skim through the various cookbooks until he came across a couple of sticky notes stuck onto the last page of one particularly worn out book. Curious, he closely examined each one to find a variety of recipes tailored for the three youngest members of Ra*bits with the interests and diets of each one in mind. There were protein-based meals for him, rolled omelettes for Tomoya, and hearty foods for Hajime—all written with love and care as they even noted their reactions to certain foods. And at the end of each recipe, he recognized the familiar drawing of a rabbit from Nazuna’s autograph.
Mitsuru couldn’t help but smile at the sight of it as he remembered the lunch Nazuna made for him the day he decided to give Sora a response to his confession. He had attached a small note to one of the toothpicks sticking out of the meatballs that read “I’m rooting for you, Mitsuru-chin” followed by a drawing of a rabbit. Even though he didn’t know what was going through his mind, Nazuna still supported him from the sidelines as he always did. It was his way of showing his love towards the people he cared about, but it was a different kind of love compared to how he felt towards Sora. Seeing that message helped him realize that.
He loved Ra*bits and the track team in the same way he loved his family, but for Sora, there was more than that. Mitsuru wanted to see him smile all the time. He wanted to hold hands with him, kiss his cheeks, hold him close, and laugh alongside him every day. Mitsuru didn’t know if it was because of the spell he had cast the day he confessed to him, but he knew for a fact that his feelings were undeniable. Sora-chan, I love you too.
That’s why I want to do this for you.
Forcibly breaking away from his thoughts, Mitsuru quickly copied down Nazuna’s notes related to onigiri before messily placing the books back where he found them, and then hurrying out the door to get to the grocery store. There wasn’t any reason for him to be in such a rush, but he wanted to start practicing as soon as possible. Of course, he should’ve expected his family to be surprised at the sight of him carrying ingredients for something he intended to make himself. In fact, they almost tried to interfere and help him out, but Mitsuru insisted that he wanted to practice on his own.
Preparing everything was the easy part. Because of all the practice he put into learning how to make truffles, he was able to chop up the shiso leaves rather cleanly while the rice cooked. The rest of the steps mostly involved mixing, molding, and adding the umeboshi filling, so he didn’t have much trouble there either (aside from a few misshapen stars he had made). All that was left to do now was to grill the onigiri just enough to be slightly charred.
And what a challenge that turned out to be.
Nearly every single batch he made came out completely black, and when he tried to scrape off the burnt bits, he ended up destroying the onigiri entirely. Not only that, but a lot of them also ended up sticking to the pan so bits of rice kept breaking off when he tried to remove them. The shape didn’t make it any easier as it was more likely to fall apart if he even tried to pick off the excess char from the edges. And after a large number of failures, Mitsuru decided to take a break for a while and start working on the truffles while occasionally looking over his notes.
He knew that he didn’t make any major mistakes when preparing all the ingredients, so all he could think of was the temperature of the pan. Adjusting the heat did make a bit of a difference, but it didn’t really change the overall result. Was there something he was missing? Any ingredients or important info?
Important info…
“Ah!”
Written off to the side of the recipe, Mitsuru spotted a reminder he had messily copied. It read, Note: Be sure to keep a close eye on the onigiri as they cook, or the miso will burn. Also, use parchment paper to keep them from sticking.
Parchment paper!
While it didn’t solve the problem of the miso burning, it did make it easier for him to remove the rice from the pan. With a bit more effort, he was sure that he would be able to make a successful batch. There was still a good amount of ingredients left for him to practice with as well, so he felt a little more energetic again as he continued to work until he was satisfied enough to stop for the night.
I hope Sora-chan likes the batch I make tomorrow.
Yaki miso onigiri just a bit overcooked...
Some chocolate truffles in a variety of colors…
And a wish for your happiness to top it all off.
It was a sweet dream that brought a smile to his face, but he was certain that reality would be even better.
“What a relief. They turned out well today.”
Mitsuru nodded in approval as he carefully packaged the onigiri and the truffles before hurrying off to school to meet up with Sora at the school gate. He could feel his excitement overflow at the sight of him to the point that he almost couldn’t resist giving away the surprise. If only time would go by quicker, then he wouldn’t have to wait so long. But it didn’t really matter since he ended up spacing out until class ended as per usual.
“Mitsu-chan, your color looks really bright today! Did something good happen?”
He grinned and hummed proudly as he presented Sora with the bento he put so much effort into making. “I made these for you.”
Sora’s eyes sparkled as he curiously examined the contents before thanking Mitsuru with a pleased smile. Much to his surprise, however, Sora apparently had something for him as well. On the surface, it seemed like an ordinary gift bag, but on the inside, there was what appeared to be some homemade anpan in the shape of a rabbit.
“It seems Sora had the same idea as Mitsu-chan~!” Sora commented with a laugh before taking a bite out of one of the onigiri. “This tastes really good! Sora likes it a lot!”
Pleased by the compliment, Mitsuru followed suit and took a bite out of the bread Sora made for him only to be amazed by how delicious it was. The burnt bits were proof that it wasn’t perfect, but regardless of that fact, he still loved it because he knew that it was made with love.
“Hey, Sora-chan?”
“Hm?”
“I love you.”
Sora leaned his head against Mitsuru’s shoulder as he allowed himself to be enveloped by his bright pink color.
“Sora loves you too.”