Ch 54 - Food

(Alicia POV)

"Hey Yuki," said Alicia to Yuki who was sitting beside her on the couch.

"Hmm?" asked Yuki who was lazily browsing through her phone.

"… Nothing," said Alicia as she browsed through her own phone when they heard footsteps that came from upstairs as Rintarou's figure was seen heading downstairs wearing a white shirt and black pants with the shirt being quite large compared to his figure and presumably a size or two higher than what his actual size is.

"Hey," said Rintarou as Yuki look towards him and felt her heart skipping a beat with Rintarou's change in appearance, but then she also suddenly felt a pang of familiarity with his face, as if she knew him or something.

"Hello," said Yuki as she looks back on her phone.

"Hey Rintarou!" said Alicia with a smile as she stood up and walked over towards the kitchen where Rintarou was going into.

"Hey," said Rintarou with a smile as they entered the kitchen and saw that Rintarou was putting on an apron and became slightly entranced as she saw Rintarou's defined figure behind those baggy clothes for a split second.

"So what do you want for dinner? We have some chicken, some beef, some pork, some vegetables, some …" said Rintarou as he listed out the ingredients inside the fridge.

"Anything is fine with me," said Alicia as she suddenly hugs Rintarou who was turned around and took him by surprise.

"Hey Rintarou," said Alicia as she leaned her head towards Rintarou's back.

"Hmm?" said Rintarou who was looking at some meat on his hands.

"I just want to say that I'm really happy that I get to meet you again," said Alicia as he felt tears drip down her eyes and chuckled.

"I'm happy too," said Rintarou with a caring smile as his hands became clean with the help of some quirks and turned around to meet Alicia face to face and patted her head.

"Hehe, you know, when we first met, I thought you didn't like me or anything, I was even scared to talk to you," said Rintarou with a chuckle as she blushes and hugged him tighter.

"But you know, I've been wanting to ask you this for a while now," said Rintarou while patting her head.

"Hmm?" said Alicia as she looked up to make eye contact with him.

"Why did you instantly warm up to me when we first met each other? You know, I'm not that likable and I'm not handsome, so are we like…" said Rintarou as Alicia instantly knew what he was going to say.

"Were we like friends in a past life or something?" said Rintarou with a curious face and felt dumbfounded for a moment until she let out a huge chuckle.

"Hahaha," said Alicia while she hugged him tighter.

"Hey, what's funny about my question?" said Rintarou as Alicia wiped away her tears of laughter.

"Nothing, well you should ask Yuki what she wants for dinner," said Alicia as she walked back towards the couch while Rintarou followed along.

"Hey Yuki, what do you want for dinner?" said Rintarou as she looks back to see more of a familiar feeling with him that was different from before because of Rintarou wearing a face mask for some unknown purpose.

"Hmm, I'm okay with fried chicken and some salad," said Yuki as she whips back her head to her phone while having a face deep in thought, trying to find out that pang of familiarity she felt with Rintarou.

"Okay, see you later," said Rintarou as he walked back to the kitchen leaving the duo alone to talk to each other.

"Hey Alicia," said Yuki from the side.

"Hmm?" said Alicia.

"Why did you go to the kitchen with Rintarou?" said Yuki with a raised eyebrow.

"… Secret," said Alicia with a teasing smile.

"Fine, but another question," said Yuki as Alicia nodded.

"I've been getting this sense of familiarity with Rintarou lately, and I don't know why, do you think I know him or something?" said Yuki in confusion as Alicia wore a weird smile.

"I don't know," said Alicia with a smile.

"Hmm, well it doesn't matter much, I'll let fate decide what will happen," said Yuki with a shrug as they talked about other topics for a few more minutes until they saw Rintarou entering the room with two plates of food and smelled the delicious aroma of chicken.

"Ngh, here's your dinner, I'll call Nari over real quick," said Rintarou as he took off his apron and left the living room leaving the both of them with their food on the plate.

"Sniff, uwah, it smells so good!" said Alicia with a wide smile as she was happy to know that Rintarou can cook well.

"Hmm, this does look delicious," said Yuki as she picks up the chopsticks and took a bit of the chicken and bit into it, and as she bit into the chicken, a flood of flavor entered her mouth and as if falling under an illusion, she saw herself in a land of crispy chicken skin and flying chicken drums on the sky like from a certain food anime.

"It's so good!" said Yuki with a flushed face while Alicia chuckled from the side as she also had the same reaction just like her when she ate the bento box Rintarou gave to her this afternoon.

"I didn't know he can cook this well!" said Yuki as she hastily ate the food like no tomorrow and heard chuckles beside her to see Rintarou and Nari entering the living room and sitting beside them.

"You like the food?" said Rintarou as he went inside the kitchen and took out more chicken and some bowls of rice and vegetables as Yuki's face flushed red in embarrassment.

"Yes, your food is indeed great," said Yuki with a cough as Rintarou chuckled and gave her another piece of chicken.

"Eat as much as you like, I take pride in my cooking you see," said Rintarou as he went to the kitchen again and went back to the living room holding a bowl that was covered with his hand and hastily went upstairs.

"Finally finish," said Rintarou while he headed back downstairs and sat beside Alicia as he also took his own food as they talked with each other while eating for a few good minutes until they finished their food.

"Ngh, I'm so full… Gasp! It's almost 7:30 already!" said Rintarou as Nari shot out of her slump figure devoured by the couch and instantly took out her phone and also gasped in surprise.

"Eh herm, well now that we're done eating, I'll wash the dishes for you guys," said Rintarou as he hurriedly took the dishes with him to the kitchen.

"Eh herm, well I'll be going now, thanks for the dinner," said Nari as she stood up and headed outside to her own house leaving the both of them confused.

"Huh," said Yuki with a suspicious tone.

"Well, I'll be going back to my room now," said Alicia as she went to her new room with Yuki following along as Rintarou hastily washed the dishes and rushed back to his room.

AN: So future NoNameDeity here, the next arc is already being written and it's quite clusterfuck.

The Sword of Damocles hangs above each and everyone one of you with its ever present threat of despair, so send me some power stones with your power of friendship and save the thousands perhaps even millions to come who will read this masterpiece immortalized in the tunnels of time.

(March 8, 2022 – 104th day of writing)