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“Hey! Yukihira!” Takumi waved at him as he walked closer.
“Oh, Hi Takumi!” Why did his voice sound so... Weird? He could feel his face quickly growing flushed.
“Are you okay Souma?” Takumi grinned, “Your face is starting to match your hair! I hope you aren’t developing a fever,” his smile faltered slightly. Takumi moved the back of his hand to Souma’s forehead, testing his temperature. HIs mouth was strangely close to Souma’s; there was no way Takumi needed to lean in that far. Or for his tongue to be sticking out like that. Souma snapped his own eyes upward to Takumi’s and was in awe of the intelligence behind those unnaturally blue eyes.
“Ah, your temperature’s just a bit high. You should be okay, but be sure to get some sleep tonight. I can’t have you fainting on me, Yukihira Souma,” he smirked and folded his arms. Was his shirt tighter? Why did Takumi’s arms look so... Ahh.
“It’s late enough. I should get going! Nice seeing you Yukihira,” Takumi turned to leave, and Souma realized that he hadn’t spoken for a good while.
“Right! Bye Takumi!” Souma finally looked away from Takumi, only to glance back one last time. He tried to savor the image of the beautiful being in front of him. How lucky was he to know and be sorta-friends with Takumi Aldini?
They saw each other again about two hours later in class. Souma was exceptionally happy that he was able to watch Takumi cook. There was pretty much nothing he loved more than seeing someone create something beautiful out of simple ingredients. The fact that it was Takumi only made it better.
He loved seeing the thought behind each move, the logic behind the process. He loved watching Takumi bend over a soup pot and taste his food. He loved noticing the calculation of what could improve a dish, and how Takumi chose to do so. He loved the sweat that dripped off Takumi’s collarbone yet never into the food. He loved absolutely everything about Takumi and his cooking, and God damn him to hell if Takumi was really that unobservant of Souma to notice how he watched him.
Not that Souma was observant himself. When Nikumi developed a crush on him, he had absolutely no idea. He was blunt! If others weren’t and he didn’t notice, then he certainly couldn’t be held accountable. Maybe. Souma only hoped that Takumi wasn’t as dense as he was and would just notice. Souma’s. Crush. Already. He was fairly certain that everyone, including Isami, knew of his crush at this point.
Ah, but what was there to do? If either of them were expelled and the other was too attached, both might end up leaving the academy. That simply couldn’t happen. Souma wouldn’t let it. If his hot-headedness got the better of him, he wouldn’t want Takumi to leave because of him! So, he had to suffer as a result of his high morals.
He sighed. Better start the dish.
Sometimes Takumi was jealous of Megumi. She got to cook with Souma regularly, after all! He also hoped that Souma knew that there was no way she could ever like him in the romantic sense. Not because he was jealous! Just so Souma wouldn’t get his hopes up. Takumi didn’t miss the content looks Souma sent Megumi when she made an especially homey meal, or the small smiles he would share with her. Souma was not the best when it came to reading others’ emotions, so he probably didn’t notice how affectionately she looked at Erina. (That also wasn’t meant to be, Erina and Hisako were far too close.) Souma definitely didn’t fucking notice when Takumi fell for him.
At times, it was overpowering how strongly Takumi felt for Souma. But he was okay with that! As long as he could still have a weird friend-rival thing with Souma, he would still be able to watch him cook. And “take his temperature” when he desperately needed to be near Souma. This was beginning to become a regular occurrence. Takumi needed to come up with a new excuse soon.
Souma wasn’t sure when or why Takumi had bought tighter pants. They were incredibly distracting. He almost told Takumi so, yet managed to stop himself. It was getting harder and harder to ignore how his heart leaped when he saw Takumi cooking late at night, how he couldn’t stop thinking about just walking up to him, and how he just wanted to ask him out already. Morals be damned, if he gets kicked out he’ll find a way to prevent Takumi from leaving too.
He turned a corner and saw Takumi working hard in one of the classrooms.
"Now or never, I suppose,” Souma moved towards him. Soon he was next to Takumi, with an arm slung across his shoulders.
“Hey, Takumi! What’re you making? Smells good,” Souma smiled wide; he wasn’t lying at all.
“Oh! Um, hi Souma,” He wasn’t sure when Takumi began referring to him by his first name. Souma didn’t mind at all though. “It’s a mushroom risotto, an Italian dish Dad used to make. There’s nothing special about it; it just reminds me of home,” Takumi smiled. He could see how at ease his friend was, his shoulders were relaxed and he was almost slouching.
“It’ll be done soon, so if you can wait for a bit I’ll have some for you,” Takumi said, his attention already back to the stove.
“Yeah, of course! I’d love to,” Souma sat on the counter behind him. He had always enjoyed watching Takumi in class, but this was different. This was Takumi cooking something that he wanted to, because he wanted to, when he wanted to. Souma could feel himself falling deeper for Takumi. He was slipping slowly.
Oh shit.
He fell off the counter and onto the hard marble. Souma looked up, and saw Takumi, laughing? This was definitely his favorite sound now. Souma grinned and started laughing too. Takumi turned back around.
“Wow. That was a nasty fall. Are you okay? How on Earth did you slip off the counter? I’m impressed.” Takumi was still slightly laughing.
“I’m fine!” Souma rubbed the back of his neck, “I guess I got slightly distracted.”
“Well, the food’s done,” Takumi said, holding out a plate of risotto.
“Oh wow…” Souma’s breath was taken away. Never before had he seen something that felt so incredibly Takumi. He took a forkful, and moaned. God almighty above he was weak.
“Are you alright?” Takumi was bright red.
“Yeah! Yeah. I’m perfectly fine. Just, jeez Takumi, this is amazing. I should eat your food more often,” Souma breathed. In, out. One, two. “Actually Takumi, um, I was wondering…” Souma trailed off. Was this a bad idea? What if Takumi said no? Would they still be friends?
“Yeah?” Takumi looked hopeful.
“I was wondering if you’d like to go out sometime? I dunno maybe see a movie or even go stargazing…” Souma mentally smacked himself. There was no reason for him to be speaking this quickly! Calm down!
“Oh! Yes! Sure!” Takumi recovered quickly, “I’d love to.” He was grinning now. Both their faces matched Souma’s hair, but neither of them cared in the slightest.
“Great! Awesome, yeah. Wow. Okay. Um, thanks for the food! It was amazing. I’ll, uh, go to bed now. Bye Takumi!”
“Bye Souma!” Takumi waved. Souma was overjoyed that he didn’t bite his tongue.
“Hey, remember that time I technically got myself expelled? And yet I didn’t. Because of my amazing charm.”
“If I recall, it was because of Megumi’s cooking and caring. It had almost nothing to do with you. Now shut up.”
“But Takumi....” Souma dragged out the name, “I’m bored.”
“There's better things to do than reminisce about first year. Besides, it’s embarrassing.”
“Oh! And then afterward, how angry you were with me? All because I almost left Totsuki!”
“But you didn’t, and I wasn’t that worried. Don’t over-exaggerate,” Takumi rolled his eyes.
“If I remember correctly, your exact words were ‘How dare you risk leaving Totsuki without settling the score with me?!’”
“Souma, shut up. I had a crush, that’s all,” He huffed and crossed his arms. Souma could see a faint blush dusting Takumi’s cheeks, which was adorable and perfect.
“Aw, embarrassed Takumi!”
“... shut up.”
“Also! There was the day after, when I almost get expelled again for being an idiot.”
“Souma, you are an idiot. You almost got expelled basically every week. I got overly worried every week. Now please, for the love of God,” Takumi smiled and shook his head, “shut up.”
Souma blinked. He pulled his boyfriend into a long kiss, smiling the entire time. They pulled away eventually.
“There was that one other time…”
“Souma,” Takumi sighed. He started giggling, and ended up on the floor laughing. Souma rolled off the bed as well and hugging Takumi, smiling contently.
“I’m lucky to have you,” Souma said.
“I’m lucky to have you,” Takumi replied. They didn’t get off the floor for a long time.