"That was yummy!" Fuwaka proclaimed once she had finished up consuming his homemade breakfast for her. "If you cooked for me everyday, then maybe doing my homework wouldn't be so bad."
"Not gonna happen." While Youta appreciated that someone greatly appreciated his cooking. There would be no way he'd make himself a slave just for the sake of improvising someone else's grades. "But now that you're done, how about you start focusing more on that homework of yours?"
"Ah, the fun had to end eventually, right?" She sighed and resumed reading over the paperwork. There were a plethora of different subjects and concepts she needed to catch up on. Not to mention dozens, if not hundreds of questions to answer, whether it be solving a math equation or knowing what specific thing happened in a story.
Fortunately it wasn't all bad for her as Youta was hovering over to help her every step of the way. Any time she got stuck, he'd provide a hint to point her in the right direction. He even explained all the confusing science terminology she had never heard before. Even if the topics weren't interesting for her, at least being with him was.
"I think this is a good spot to take a break." He took a deep sigh of relief, looking up to the clock to see it had turned into afternoon. Youta had no clue just how challenging all this would be, but now wasn't the time to give up. "I'm not cooking again though. Think I'll just run on over to the convenience store to grab us some easy eats." After their grueling morning, he had lost much of his energy and enthusiasm. So expecting him to repeat his performance was a pipe dream.
"Aww…" While she figured this would be the case, this didn't stop Fuwaka from becoming disappointed as she laid her head down on the counter. "I don't want to go with you. I just want a nap."
"That's fine, go get some rest." While he too wished he could just lay out on the couch and turn on the TV. Youta had to respect his responsibilities for her and as sports manager by making some sacrifices. "Just know that as soon as we're done eating. It's straight back to work." She didn't respond to his statement. Instead Fuwaka made a beeline for the couch and immediately laid down.
He didn't need confirmation from the girl as their future plans would happen regardless on if she wanted it or not. So Youta quietly left through the front door and went on his way without much thought. Time passed slowly as she kept her eyes closed and took deep breaths to slowly find her consciousness slipping away into a tender sleep.
This would unfortunately get interrupted by the sudden knocking on the door. She sat up in her groggy state, wondering if time slipped by faster than she realized and that Youta was already back home. Except it didn't make much sense that he'd be knocking, as this was his house.
"Did you forget your keys or something?" She said as she opened the door. However it wasn't Youta standing before her and instead it was a tan young girl her age. Of course she had already seen her before, knowing that this was Mitora, his friend.
"Huh? It's you again." Unexpectedly Mitora had some shock in seeing her again. While they had never met each other formally, they did see one another enough to recognize their looks. "What are you doing here?"
"Doing some homework with Youta." She peeked out the door to see if the boy would be returning soon, but there was no sign of him. "He left to go get us some food. What about you? You need something from him?"
"I was hoping to see if he wanted to have lunch together." After her learning that he had become sports manager with the goal of spending more time with her. Mitora realized they should've already been doing that during the precious time they weren't busy with something. So she figured a good start was some lunch during the weekend, but now here she was learning he would be spending such time with this pretty girl.
"I don't know if he'll grab anything extra, but might as well come in and wait for him." Fuwaka saw no issue with allowing this girl inside a home that was not her own. After all, she had already been made aware this was his friend. However Mitora had her own doubts as she accepted the suggestion anyway.
She didn't wish to intrude, but at the same time there now was growing suspension on his relationship with this girl she had never met before. Youta wasn't known as a popular guy, just one who went with the flow when it came to school life.
"Wow, I'm surprised the kitchen's such a mess." She commented as she walked into the living room, seeing all the papers strewn about on the counters. Though it wasn't the homework she made her observation on, but rather the sink. Which was filled with various pots, pans, and plates. "Youta's usually pretty neat."
"That's because he cooked us breakfast, then we've just been doing homework since. So not really much time for cleaning." Now that Fuwaka thought about it, after how kind he was earlier. She should return the favor by cleaning up the place after they were finished. Even if all she wanted to do was nap.
"Cook you breakfast!?" Though this off handed comment meant much more for Mitora. "He's never done that for me before. I didn't even know he could cook…"
"Oh yeah, he's a great cook." Without thinking, she spoke in a manner as if rubbing in this fact to her face. That somehow this girl who should've only barely known him managed to get such service provided to her that someone who grew up with the guy never got.
Fuwaka would then describe the breakfast she shared with the boy to her. Which only served to grow more jealousy within, but nothing could be said and Mitora could only simply nod politely as she heard her continuing to talk as if bragging. "If I could, I wish I could make him my personal chef if he cooked like that all the time."
"Eh, but he probably doesn't…" She simply smiled when giving her response. Finally after an agonizingly long time, Youta made his return with a couple bags in tow.
"Okay, this stuff should be easy to munch on while we multitask…" He spoke until stopping when he saw Mitora in the room. "Mitora? What are you doing here?" The boy couldn't help but get those nerves once more. Despite knowing he had done nothing wrong, there was concern that a repeat of before may happen.
"I just wanted to see if you wanted to hang out." She answered as they all stood around the couch. "But I see that sports manger stuff is here at home too."
"I'm so sorry." He hung his head down as a means to apologize to her. Of all things, Youta would've loved to spend a day with her, especially during this off time. Were this any other day, he would've taken this offer without hesitation. "I would've loved to be with you."
"She's cool though." Said Fuwaka. "I don't mind if she sticks around, it's not going to be a problem for me."
"No, she should leave." He replied.
"Huh?" The two girls both gave their confused response. After his lament, they both figured he would've jumped for joy that she gave him permission. Instead he was the one against the idea.
"It'll be a big distraction if she's here. I mean, what's there for Mitora to do other than talk? And if she turns on the TV, then good luck getting anything done."
"You really don't want me to stay?" Said Mitora, giving him a sad pout in a futile attempt to beg him to change his mind.
"There's a reason why we don't do homework together anymore." While it would've been easy to chalk it up to her being busy with track and him just getting it out of the way early after going home from school. Youta couldn't deny that even growing up and going through elementary and junior high, she continually slowed him down and held him back with either needing help or just being a plain distraction due to her hyper-activeness. "I really am sorry, but you have to go home."
"Okay…" She hung her head down as the girl slowly walked out through the front door. Even Fuwaka couldn't believe her eyes, but understood this was his seriousness acting as sports manager instead of just being a friend now.
The rest of the homework session would be completed without issue. It certainly lacked any entertainment for Fuwaka, but she could be glad to have somewhat caught up to the rest of her classmates.
For Youta, today was a success. Even if his heart didn't feel the same way.