Chapter Text
It was forty five minutes past noon and Rin was not even halfway through his detention. He thought he would be used to it after four sessions, but he wasn’t. He still resented every minute of it, just as much as he resented this school and pretty much everyone in it.
He was on his way to get lunch when he recognized the distant scent of burnt bread. He perked his head in alertness and sprint down the corridor. The smell came from the HomeEcon room, which was very strange. Afterall, it was Saturday and with the exception of the sport clubs, the school was supposed to be empty.
Rin pushed the door open and stared in disconcert. The usually spotless room was all over the place, and in the midst of it all, there was a boy with lavender hair rushing from the sink all the way to the oven. The moment he yanked the door open the stench of smoke filled the room and Rin was able to look at the funny looking circles he had extracted from inside. It was just then that the boy repaired on his presence. He jumped and dropped the tray, scattering the contents messily.
“I’m sorry. You startled me.” he explained nervously as he got to his knees to gather the pieces.
Rin said nothing. He had had that effect on the students ever since the incident that had landed him here. Instead, he spared a hesitant look at the oven before grabbing a nearby rag and reaching down to pick up the hot tray.
“What are you doing here? This room is closed for the students on the weekends."
"I-I know that. But I have special permission."
The boy pulled out a crumpled piece of paper and presented it to him.
"What are you showing me that for? I don't care.”
Rin went ahead and placed the tray on the sink, letting the water run to cool down the surface. He noticed the boy had followed him and was currently leaning over the sink rather close.
“I am here because of tomorrow’s Festival. I didn’t think it would be so much work! It was easier last year that we got Cards and Flowers. But I’m a second year now, and we get Confections. Of course, it’s still nothing compared to Games. Third years must have it twice as hard.”
Rin actually stopped what he was doing and turned to stare at him skeptically.
“Are you new here or something?”
“Oh, no! Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself. My name is Nitori Aiichirou, class 2C. Nice to meet you!”
Now that Rin thought about it he vaguely recalled seeing this boy before, happily going about his business both in the cafeteria and the library.
“Matsuoka Rin.” He stated defiantly.
“Oh, I know who you are! You’re 3A’s transfer student from abroad Matsuoka Rin! You’re ranked 2nd on the swimming team and top of your class!”
He blinked at the boy in utter disconcert. All of what he had said was true, but that was definitely not what people knew Rin for.
“Anyways, I’m sorry I got in Matsuoka-Senpai’s way. Did you need something from the kitchen?”
Rin was a total loss as of why this boy remained ignorant of his reputation, but he was rather determined to keep it like that.
“Why are you here by yourself? Shouldn’t the rest of your group be doing this too?”
“Well the Uehara twins had their sister’s wedding. Tzusuki-chan is sick, and Rikawa-kun and Komatsu-chan are not answering their phones…”
“So you are doing the assigned batch of…” he looked around trying to draw a conclusion “What even is it that you’re doing?”
“Makaron!”
“What?” Rin chuckled.
“It’s a French confection that-”
“I know what they are.” He took another glance at the room paying close attention to some of the ingredients. “You’re kidding, right?”
“No, Senpai. The school requires each group to make a batch of 50 of the confec-”
“You’re trying to make 50 macarons, for tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“All by yourself?”
“Well, yes…”
“Are you bad in the head?”
“N-No, why…?”
“Because making macarons is a pain in the ass? Because even accomplished bakers know that? Who even came up with such stupid idea?”
The boy lowered his eyes in mortification, and Rin let out an exasperated sigh.
“Everyone else agreed! Uehara-chan said it was a great idea because our group’s confections would definitely stand out from the others…”
“Yeah, charred goods is everyone Valentine’s dream…” Rin commented as he pointedly looked at a lonely burnt piece on the floor.
“I-I’ll get better I just need some time to practice and-”
“I don’t think so. Go home, kid. There’s no way in hell you can make this happen.”
Rin made sure the oven was turned off and made his way to the door, but when he heard a soft sob he immediately turned to fix his eyes on the boy’s trembling back.
“Are you… crying?”
The boy shook his head and hurriedly wiped his face. Apparently living with the reputation of being a jerk had finally caught up with Rin and now he had actually started to become one. He took a hand to his neck and cautiously approached Nitori.
“Look, I just meant to save you time. It’s an impossible task, take my word for it. Besides, you don’t have to do this on your own. Just come up with some excuse like the rest of your teammates."
“No!” Nitori's eyes were flashing with determination. “We said we would! We took responsibility for this, so the least I can do is try!”
Rin pressed a palm to his forehead.
“Say, forget about high level cuisine. Have you ever even baked anything before?”
“No… but this was my third attempt at Makaron. I can’t believe I’m still ruining them…”
Rin could. His eyes followed him curiously as the boy moved to the next table to retrieve his cellphone.
“I don’t understand how can this be happening. I’ve watched this at least fifteen times. What am I doing wrong?”
“Those things never work.”
Nitori raised his head up and looked at Rin questioningly.
"Tutorials. You're getting nowhere with those. Don’t you have a recipe instead?”
The boy reached for his bag and leaned over the table to hand Rin a bunch of scrunched up papers.
“What the hell is this? Why are you giving me all this trash for?”
“Those are the recipes. I wasn’t sure which one to use so I figured I’d try all of them until one worked…”
Rin breathed in and spread papers on a clear space of the table. He really couldn't decide who was he feeling more frustrated with: this clueless kid that evidently had no idea about life, or the rest of the group that had left him to fend for himself.
“Got a pen?”
Nitori rummaged inside his bag and presented Rin a ballpoint pen with a small rosy-cheeked duckling on top. Rin eyed it warily and took it from Nitori’s hand with a sigh.
“All right. We’re going to stick to this one recipe, but we need to do some changes first. This is wrong. This is not even necessary. And the temperature should be this. Also you add the colorant before you do this, and after this you need to sprinkle water on the tray to avoid overcooking.”
He put the pen down and Nitori reached for the paper with trembling hands.
“A-Amazing! How come Matsuoka-Senpai knows so much about this? I don’t understand.”
“My mother owns a bakery. I’ve seen her doing these a thousand times before.”
“Really?” the boy exclaimed eyes eager and full of wonder.
“Uh-Yeah...”
“Senpai, that is so cool! Of course Matsuoka-senpai’s mom would have such a cool job! I bet she makes really good and delicious stuff!”
Rin faltered and tried to hide an inadvertent smile as he piled up some pots and plates and handled them to Nitori.
"Yeah. Anyways, you need to clean up this table. I can’t even distinguish one mess from the other...”
"Oh. Well, I can use this other table to-"
"No, you can’t. You clean this one. Stop scattering things around, contain your disaster. Now, where are the aprons?"
"I'm already wearing an apron, Senpai."
"Tch. I meant for me."
"What?"
"Well, I'm obviously going to have to show you how to do it…"
"Wha-Really?!"
~*~*~
Really. This kid was a mess and it was on Rin’s best interest to prevent a fire hazard. Not to mention, doing this was slightly better than spending the remaining four hours in the library. Afterall, he still was going to have do that next Saturday and the next… Besides, Rin was fully aware he could’ve done much worse than this boy on the subject of unexpected company.
Sure, cleaning Nitori’s mess hadn’t been easy and had taken way longer than expected; time during which Rin found out he was the kind of person that would blabber about every single detail that crossed his mind, couldn’t stay still for a full two secons, and was even more naïve that what Rin had alredy gathered from the first impression. But he also found out the boy had the sweetest laugh, was refreshingly honest and was far from being hard in the eye.
“Oi. Don’t you get tired of fluttering around all over the place like that?”
“S-Sorry! I didn’t mean to bother you, Senpai. I’ll stop now. It’s just, I’m so happy! I can’t believe my luck.”
“Look, I don’t particulaly mind this 'effervescent' thing of yours, as long as you understand that we have pretty hard work ahead. If you even as much as dare think I’ll let your ass get away with getting tired and leaving me to do all the work-”
“Of course not! I’d never do that, Matsuoka- Senpai! I’ll work very hard! I promise. I’ll do anything you ask me to.”
“All right! No need to be so… convincing. I just wanted us to be clear. Now let’s see what you’ve got here… You’ve run out of eggs, and we’re definitely gonna need those. Also the jam, two jars are not enough to make the filling for fifty.”
“Oh! Well, that’s alright! I have money” Nitori explained as he went around the table to fetch the duckling pen and a piece of paper. “There’s a convinience store two blocks from here. I’ll go right now! What else you need me to buy, Matsuoka-senpai?”
Rin spared a look at the wallclock.
“I'm coming with you."
"What? T-That's really not necessary, Senpai!"
“It is. It’s one hour past lunch time. I’m hungry, I want to eat something.”
“Oh! Oh….”
Rin noticed the dismayed expression on Nitori’s face and rolled his eyes knowingly.
"You forgot to bring lunch, didn’t you?"
"I…I figured I could just eat some of the Makaron leftovers…”
He chuckled and found himself giving Nitori a wry smile.
"Come on, grab your bag."
"A-Are we really going out for lunch?"
“Yeah. There’s a small ramen shop around the corner.”
“But, Senpai…” Nitori was pulling at the strap of his bag in a hesitant gesture.
“What? What is it?”
"I...I thought you weren’t allowed to leave the school. Won’t you be in trouble if we do?”
Rin froze. So he did know. He had known from the start and yet, he had still willingly approached him. Rin fixed his eyes on him trying find something and got nothing. Nothing but the warm stare of Nitori's eyes.
“It’s fine. They won’t notice.” He assured him pulling the hood of his jacket over his head. “Now let’s go, I’m starving.”
~*~*~
They sat at the bar of the shop and placed their orders: Beef and Extra Spicy for Rin and Chicken Miso for Nitori. The latter entertained Rin with ramblings ranking from the true meaning of life to the description of a journal where he kept track of the doings of some water bug. Rin quietly stared at him during the whole time. Both confused and fascinated by the likes of Nitori and even more confused and fascinated with the effect he was having on him.
Nitori drank down the remnants of the soup and put the bowl over the counter with a satisfied expression.
“Ah! This was so good. Thank you very much for bringing me here, Matsuoka-senpai!”
“You liked it?”
“Yes! This place is really nice. I can’t believe it’s so close to the school and yet I had never seen it before!”
“That’s because it’s new. I just found out about it two weeks ago. I’ve been coming here every Saturday ever since...”
Rin took his glass to his mouth as he realized he had unnecesarily gone back to that subject. He considered that at this point he probably owed Nitori some sort of explanation and so he braced himself for the uncomfortable questions... but they never came. Nitori just nodded and went back to commenting on the quality of the restaurant.
Five minutes, later Rin asked the owner for the check; and when she extended it over, Nitori immediately reached for his bag.
"Leave it. It's on me."
“What? No way, Senpai! I couldn’t possibly…” But the lady had already taken Rin’s money and was thanking him with a bow “WAHH! No, Ma’m, please wait!”
Rin hopped off the stool.
"Seriously, leave it. Save your money for what we need to get from the store."
"B-But, Senpai! You are already going out of your way to help me. If anything it's me me who should be-"
“Fine. I'm leaving you behind then.”
“Ah! No, Senpai! Please, don't leave me!”
Nitori almost knocked down the stool trying to catch up with him. And while he hurriedly apologized to the owner, Rin couldn’t help but smile to himself fondly.
~*~*~
When they stepped inside the store, however, Nitori was still hanging on the subject.
"Leave it..."
“Well since Matsuoka-senpai treated me to lunch, maybe I can get you something from the convenience store. How about a nice hot chocolate? Or maybe you prefer coffee?”
“I don’t want any of that! I already need to use the bathroom as it is...”
“Oh, okay. Go ahead then. I’ll go get the jam and the eggs in the meantime.”
“Forget about the jam. What we need is more sugar. Make sure it’s powdered and not regular, though. We're going to need some buter too. Get two of the biggest packs you find, and don’t forget the eggs.”
“Got it!”
Nitori turned around to grab a basket and happily sprinted off . Rin watched after him trying to understand how on earth had he even managed to get involved with this boy.
Once he finished his bathroom business, Rin went to look for Nitori over the dairy products. He was just about to turn down the next aisle when he heard a group of agitated voices talking behind the shelves.
“… you doing with that guy, Nitori?”
Rin froze. He heard Nitori utter a reply but his heart was beating so loud the words were lost on him.
“Well, nobody in the school really likes him.” A shy girl's voice said.
"Why would you say that, Tatsumi-chan?"
“Because she knows what he did to Endo-senpai.”
This was yet another girl’s voice. She sounded really pissed. And apparently so was Nitori judging by the way he had scoffed at her.
“He and his friends ganged upon him, it was only natural for him to fight back.”
“Endo-senpai would never attack someone! He got the worse out of that fight! I can't even imagine what would have happened if Saotome-sensei hadn’t gotten there in time to stop them!”
“Yeah. I too wonder what would have happened to that cat if Matsuoka-senpai hadn’t gotten there in time…”
“There was no cat! Matsuoka Rin attacked them unprovoked!”
“Matsuoka-senpai is a student on a scholarship. Endo-san’s father payed for the new computer lab! Of course no one is mentioning the cat!”
“Mika-chan, Nitori-kun. Please don’t fight!”
“Eira-chan is right." Nitori's male friend interrupted "This is no place to be fighting. We didn’t mean to upset you, we were just concerned. Even if what you say it's true, you have to admit, Matsuoka Rin is a bit… weird.”
There was a heavy pause.
“What did you say?”
“Well, I just-”
“Matsuoka Rin is isolated, taciturn and thinks he’s better than everyone else... That’s what he said.”
“O-Oi! I didn't-"
“You obviously don’t know what you’re talking about. Matsuoka-senpai, is smart, hard working and very nice! He’s the coolest person I know!
“N-Nitori-kun, please don’t get mad. Like Shoji-kun said, we were just concerned about-”
“No. He's amazing and you’re just jealous of him!”
There was a small yelp and a scoff and then angry sound of stomping as Nitori shoved past them. Rin immediately hurried to other side of the store.
He blindly made his way through the aisles. Heart racing at the fierce and unwavering way Nitori had stood up for him. Chest burning with an undescribable but overwhelming feeling of wanting to cry, longing for something and bursting with pride all at the same time.
“Oh! there you are, Senpai!”
Rin heard his voice and snapped out of it; blinking foolishly when noticed he had inadvertently walked himself to the register.
“Uh…yeah sorry, I just… did you get everything we need?”
“Yes! And hot chocolate! Are you sure you don’t want something for yourself, Senpai?”
Nitori smiled at him brightly, hand reaching over the counter to grab the bag. And in that moment Rin fell for him, hard.
"I’m fine...”
“Okay. Let’s head back and get to work then!”
He felt his face flushing and his heart beating wildly. He wanted to say something but he didn’t know anything appropiate enough. He caught up with Nitori at the exit, and took the bag from his hand instead. Their fingers brushed briefly and Rin's whole body felt a little warmer.
“Ah! Y-You don’t have to do that! I can carry it myself, Matsuoka-senpai”
“I want to.” He mumbled adjusting his hoodie to hide his face “And just Rin is fine.”
~*~*~