"AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"
"Why are yelling all of a sudden like you're in pain? It's honestly pretty pitiful."
"No, it's different. There's bamboo shoots, bamboo shoots!"
"So now you're stuck yelling bamboo shoots, great. I'm sure they'll take pity on you too."
"Like I said, it's not what I mean."
Without missing a beat, I point at Rin's homemade bento. My index finger is pointing right at the glittering light brown brilliance laid on top of the rice.
"Bamboo shoot rice! I was craving some this morning!"
"Ah, that makes sense."
Rin seems to understand and nods her head. But she seems a bit more merry than usual. Rin's face looks like she's some housewife watching her husband build a Gundam set.
"This definitely has to be telepathy."
I'm about 70% serious.
Damn it. I'm totally setting myself up to be harshly insulted by Rin. I brace myself for it.
"Well, we're childhood friends... I learned your likes and dislikes over the years."
It really is telepathy after all. Rin suddenly looks away and covers her mouth with her hand. Her reaction is surprisingly cute. My heart starts throbbing, there's no way I can stop it.
"H-hey, wait. Don't stroke me so suddenly, haa..."
I let my emotions get the better of me again, as I find that I'm stroking Rin's face with my hand, harder than usual. The sound that comes from my rubbing is a soothing one. Rin's sweet scent hits my nose. With my hand, I delicately start playing with Rin's hair.
"J-just what exactly are you doing!? Don't tell me you're going to fap to that later on."
"Heh!? Come on, give me a break."
I separate my hand from her. Rin takes a deep breath, her cheeks flushed bright red, like an apple.
"Come on, let's eat already, hgh..."
Her voice becomes a little high-pitched as she looks at me pleadingly. Her cheeks are puffed out, but it doesn't really fit the whole vibe she was getting at before. I obediently begin to dig into Rin's bento, in hopes to move on from the accusations of my fap material.
Will say, this bento really is the best.
___________________
"You know, no matter how you put, your cooking really is the best Rin."
After I finish eating, I tell Rin my honest impressions. We've been friends for so long, but for whatever reason, this is the first time I ate this kind of bento from Rin. And Rin is able to determine exactly what I like in just a few days and create something this good. It takes a lot of culinary skill to do something like that. Her face shows a hint of doubt for a moment before she speaks up.
"I used to make a lot for other people before ... Well, lately, someone's been teaching me a lot."
"Oooh, who?
"Hiyorin."
"Ah, Arimura-san."
Hiyori Arimura. She's the top beauty at our school and one of Rin's few friends. She's pretty bubbly and energetic, she definitely seems like the polar opposite of Rin, though I guess that's why they're so close.
"Is she good at cooking?"
"She's definitely a pro. Her boyfriend completely surrendered to her."
"Eh, she has a boyfriend?"
"They're like next door neighbours or something."
"This is starting to feel more like a TV drama with every second."
"He's also four years older."
"What, he's in university?"
"Umm..."
Of course I would be interested in learning more about a classmate's love life. Well, it's been a while since I talked with Rin like this where we can amuse ourselves, it really is a lot of fun. After our short detour, we return to talking about cooking. Not really thinking of anything in particular, I start speaking.
"Well regardless, your homemade bento is really good. The fact that it's fresh too makes it even better."
I give Rin a casual response. I'm sure this bento would still be great even if it wasn't as warm as it is now. Even so, eating it fresh like this is probably making me even more happy. Those are my honest and genuine feelings. There's about 10 seconds of silence as we stare at each other. Rin looks right in my eyes, seemingly full of determination.
"Wanna... come and eat?"
"Huh?" Her words catch me off guard and I'm left all flustered. Rin's eyes start to flutter about, but she continues on with her proposal.
"This Saturday, want to come over my house to eat lunch?"