notes: this fic has been literal years in the making, and still isn't finished. the next chapter will cover shiemi's perspective. i value honesty and constructive criticism, so feel free to review. enjoy!
If Rin hadn't known any better, he would've thought they were on a date. He was beginning to think that a lot these days, not that he was doing it on purpose or anything. Just that whenever he was with Shiemi, whether they were on a mission or studying together or going to Pon-chan for monjayaki, that's kinda what it felt like. Not to mention that lately, all their little get-togethers had been her idea, as if she was the one doing it on purpose or something.
Today was no different.
Their Demon Pharmaceuticals class had ended surprinsingly early today, as they'd only had to go over last night's homework and review for next week's exam. He meant to go straight home, train with Kuro, and take a long nap, especially since he hadn't done so swell on his homework, but then he remembered that Yukio wanted him to stop at the store on the way home from cram school, since he would be too busy to do it himself. Rin was starting to notice that Mr. Moles and Glasses was "too busy" to do a lot of things these days, but he let it slide, only because he'd already needed to stop there for dinner anyway. Well that, and Yukio's arm and ribs were still kinda broken from their last mission. (Rin made sure to put an extra bottle of mineral water in the basket, just for him).
That was when Shiemi had asked if she could tag along.
Rin didn't know if he was reading too much into it or what, but the feeling he was getting from it all was definitely weird. It wasn't as if it was the first time they'd ever been shopping together or anything, but that wasn't really the point.
"Wait for me."
That was what she'd said.
Even now, as he walked the aisles of the grocer, filling his basket with spices and seafood, his head kept replaying those three little words over and over and over again in her sweet voice, like a recorder. Ever since then, it seemed like Shiemi went out of her way to be with him. They spent more and more time together, alone, doing things like studying and sitting next to each other in cram school and eating lunch and going home. It didn't help either that Rin felt like his friends knew something he didn't about the whole thing.
He could still hear Shima's dumb, sarcastic voice going, "Congratulations, Okumura-kun. She didn't turn you down. That's gotta count for something, right?" Konekomaru and Paku seemed to cheer him on and Suguro wished him luck, and while Izumo gave him a look that would haunt his nightmares forever, even she told him, "You'd better not this screw up, Okumura." (Something told Rin to keep it a secret from Yukio, for now anyway).
He didn't wanna get his hopes up or anything, but Rin couldn't help but think that maybe Shiemi was starting to, well, like him; like like him like him, as more than a friend.
He didn't mind, of course, that she wanted him to "wait," whatever that meant. He'd actually expected her to flat out reject him at the time, so it'd caught him completely off guard when she'd asked him at all - that was, until Umaimon showed up and ruined everything. It wasn't until the bell had rung and she'd disappeared down the hall for class that he was able to really react to what had happened. He'd ended up thirty minutes late because of it.
Man, the whole thing was just too weird!
"Are you going to buy that, Rin?"
Rin jumped at the sound of Shiemi's voice with a strangled yipe and just barely managed to catch the aforementioned item before it could hit the ground. It didn't really dawn on him that he'd been standing in front of an open freezer like some kind of an idiot, with a melting popsicle in his hand, completely lost in thought. Shiemi only smiled at him, in that way she always does that made his heart race and face feel like it was on fire, and, without thinking, he quickly swapped out his ice lolly for a fresh one, dropping it in his basket and slamming the freezer door shut with enough strength to rattle the other items inside.
"Uh, yeah, I am," he replied with a loud, forced laugh, not that Shiemi seemed to mind. "I think I got everything I need. How 'bout you?" His eyes flickered to the basket in her hands; her small box of raspberry-vanilla tea and herbal cookies looked like nothing compared to his basket full of groceries.
She almost seemed embarrassed when she held up her cart. "Yeah. I've been meaning to try these, ever since I came here with Kamiki-san, but I always forgot to buy them until now. Shall we?"
Shiemi gestured towards the register, and Rin, with a boisterous "okay," obediently followed.
If Rin thought he felt like an idiot before, then he definitely felt like an even bigger one now. He always pegged himself as a naturally warm person, more so now ever since he learned how to control his flames. Where the average person - or half-person, in his case - needed fifty layers of clothes just to walk to the park on a cold morning, Rin could easily sport a t-shirt and pair of shorts to shovel snow if he wanted. A part of him kinda wished he could wear that right now, since the cold December air felt more like a steaming hot day in July, walking alongside Shiemi. On top of that, something in his brain actually told him that it would be a good idea to open that popsicle and split half of it with her, and she looked even colder than he knew it felt outside, if her rosy red cheeks were anything to go by.
It wasn't his fault, he tried to reason with himself. He was just so damn nervous!
No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't help but think that they were on a date. And Shiemi wasn't making things any better, not that he was blaming her or anything. Rin liked to think he knew her well enough to know that she wasn't doing any of this on purpose, that she was only being her nice, friendly self. It wasn't like it meant anything when she smiled at him (like he was only the thing that mattered at that moment) and said "thank you" (like he'd won her the biggest teddybear at the festival) or when she accidently brushed her fingers against his when she reached for her half of Gori-Gori-kun (he really tried not to think about what that could've possibly meant).
Nope, that was all Rin and his dumb, overthinking brain's fault, he thought, taking a huge bite out of his ice pop. God, he really needed to get a grip.
"You really like Gori-Gori-kun, don't you, Rin?"
For the second time that evening, Rin jumped at the sound of Shiemi's voice, his eyes going wide as saucers as he nearly choked on his pop. He saw her flinch out of the corner of his eye, her smile dropping like a weight, and he quickly flashed her a reassuring grin to let her know he was okay. Sure enough, the corners of her mouth lifted again and they were trading smiles. Seriously, there should be a limit to how stupid he could be in one day, he thought, ears burning like someone threw them on a barbecue grill.
"What makes ya say that?" asked Rin, taking another bite of his pop.
"You can even eat it while it's cold out like this." As if to prove her point, Shiemi blew out a long puff of breath in the chilly air, trying hard not to laugh.
"W-well," Rin shot back with a noise, pointing at hers with his half-eaten one, "you're doing the same thing as me, so that makes you no different." He couldn't really tell her that he'd bought it without thinking or that the only reason he was eating it in the first place was to cool himself down, since the winter chill wasn't doing a very good job at it.
"Nu-uh, you can even it bite into it," she giggled, watching him bemusedly.
Rin finished his popsicle off in a matter of three chomps, as if it was the most natural thing in the world. "What?" he paused, pulling the last bits from the popsicle stick with his front teeth. "You can't do it?"
"Of course not!" Shiemi blurted, and the next thing Rin knew, she was bursting into an uncontrollable fit of laughter.
She tried, horribly, Rin thought with a flush, to hide it behind her bangs and what was left of her melting popsicle, but her shoulders were shaking like crazy and he could see all of her pretty, white teeth, and her cheeks were bright and pink. She tried to catch her breath, smoky puffs of air forming a halo around her head, but with each gasp she took, it seemed to only make it that much harder to stop as she wiped away the tears gathering at the corners of her eyes. Rin didn't think it was that funny, especially since she was laughing at him, but for some strange reason, he couldn't find it in himself to care at all.
She was beautiful, and Rin was captivated.
"Can I kiss you, Shiemi?"