notes: i'm actually not happy w/ this bc i feel like you can tell how out of practice i am lol but i just had to finish it bc ive had the idea stuck my head ever since i saw the episode

It's been a good day, Takumi thinks. He'd always believed in Yukihira's abilities—even with those disastrous first days—but to really see it come to fruition, and to beat an Elite Ten member to boot, was truly something else entirely. And if Takumi's reasons for helping out had more to do with enjoying himself by working side by side with a certain someone… Well, he's sure Yukihira hadn't minded.

In fact, Takumi might just have to come back again tomorrow. Yukihira might have come out on top today, but only just barely; he's bound to get in trouble again, and that wouldn't do. Yes, Takumi should definitely lend a hand. Isami is more than capable of handling their booth, which is more than he can say for his rival. Really, it's a wonder he and Tadokoro had lasted that long. But with Takumi's help, things should run much smoother. Perhaps he and Yukihira might even create a recipe together…

"Hey, Aldini!"

Takumi bristles at the voice, his good mood rapidly crumbling. He composes himself quickly; he's still quite far enough to feign ignorance, and, provided he walk quickly, manage to get away—but, alas, he sees Isami has already turned and greeted the newcomer, so now Takumi has to, too. Great.

"Yes, did you want something, Mimasaka?" he drawls, trying to sound only half as disdainful as he really feels.

Mimasaka, either oblivious, or, more likely, shameless, simply nods in agreement. "Yeah, just wanted to ask you about your performance earlier. I have to admit, I never expected you to be so good at Tracing."

Takumi decides to take the compliment, backhanded as it is. "Well, what can I say? I'm a man of many talents."

"So, how did you do it? I know you've been busy with your own booth for the past few days… And Yukihira only gave the request last night so it's not as if you could have known to trail him in advance… But, then again… Oh! Silly me, I'm going about this the way I would have. No doubt you have your own method. Ah, who knew how great if would feel to have someone to talk to about it; not many people here are fond of the art, you see."

"Er… Well…" Takumi trails off, a bit overwhelmed. "I don't really have a method, per se…"

"Going by instinct, then?" Mimasaka hums. "Oho, how bold! You must have a really good impression of Yukihira to be able to rely on your feelings like that!"

Takumi flushes. "M-M-My f-f-fee…"

"Oh, yes!" Isami pipes in, and Takumi tries to put aside his mortification for a moment to glare at his brother. It was Isami's fault they were sucked into this blasted conversation in the first place! "Nii-chan feels very strongly about Yukihira. He thinks about him all the time!"

"Isami!"

"My, how dedicated!" Mimasaka leers. "Was it just for this festival or were you planning for something ahead? I haven't sensed his style in any of your dishes so far, but you managed it quite well today! Just how long have you been targeting him exactly, huh?"

"I— You— I haven't—"

"Nii-chan's been obsessed with Yukihira since he first saw him," Isami contributes. "I don't think a day has gone by since then that Nii-chan hasn't mentioned him at least once. It's especially bad when hasn't seen Yukihira-kun that day; one time, Nii-chan even started cry—"

"I did NOT!" Takumi shrieks, hurriedly covering his soon-to-be-late brother's mouth, lest any more blatant lies come out. "You take that back. And you," he turns to Mimasaka, who wasn't even trying not to laugh, the bastard. "Stop laughing! This isn't funny!"

"What's not funny?"

"Nothing!" Takumi answers quickly, because of course, Yukihira would show up now.

"Hmm…" Yukihira doesn't look convinced, most likely because Mimasaka is still fucking laughing and Isami is letting out muffled noises beneath Takumi's hand. "So," he asks, "what are you guys still doing out here?"

"Nothing!" "Msbrfmgmrf" "HAHAHAHAHA"

Yukihira looks at the three of them like one might a crazy person, which, Takumi concedes, isn't entirely uncalled for. "Well, alright then," he shrugs. "I was just headed back to the dorm. Do you guys wanna come with? We're planning on making hotpot with all our leftover ingredients."

"But we already put all of ours away," Takumi replies, because he's an idiot.

"That's alright," Yukihira says. "As long as you help out. The main point is to have fun, anyway. I think we deserve a little celebration after today, don't you?"

Yukihira is smiling at him, and Takumi's traitorous heart does a little dance. "O-Oh, yes, of course." Takumi coughs, trying to bring himself under control. "I'm still quite shocked you managed to get the top spot. Though, with me helping out, I suppose it was only natural."

"Heh, good one," Yukihira grins, slapping him on the back. "You know, I don't think I've thanked you enough for helping out today." He brings his hand up to Takumi's shoulder and gives it a gentle squeeze. It's very warm and very solid, and Takumi thinks his blush might never go away. "We made a pretty good team."

"I— Yeah, I guess we di—"

"And of course, you too, Isami, Mimasaka," Yukihira continues, still smiling, as if he hadn't just ruined everything. "Oh! We should get going. Tadokoro might be worried; I told her I'd only be a while."

Yukihira cheerfully leads the way with Isami and Mimasaka following close behind. Takumi chooses to move at a more sedate pace, having no desire to get within range of his brother and apparent new best friend; no doubt they'd have even more ammunition from earlier's stunt. He sighs. How has his life gotten so out of control in just the span of a few minutes? Things had been going so well, too.

"Hey, what are you doing skulking around back here?" a voice cuts through his thoughts. It's Yukihira, of course. He wouldn't be if he wasn't constantly popping up during the most inconvenient times.

"I'm not skulking," Takumi automatically retorts, though he's still a bit annoyed about earlier and wishes he could have ignored him instead. "I was just thinking about things."

"What kind of things?"

Just you. "You know, things. Anyway, I don't want to talk about it." He keeps his voice low, worried the other two might overhear, though thankfully they seem to be far enough ahead.

"Oh, is this what you guys were arguing about earlier?"

"We weren't arguing. Anyway, what part of 'I don't want to talk about it' don't you understand?"

"Alright, alright," Yukihira chuckles, slinging his arm around Takumi's shoulder. "Just cheer up a little, would ya. You've been acting kinda weird since earlier."

Takumi's first instinct is to insist that he's been acting perfectly normally thank you, but Yukihira's smiling at him in that way of his, and his arm is pulling them together so close, that instead he takes the comfort for what it is, settles for a quiet, "okay," and leans in.

Maybe today hasn't been all bad, after all.