Reminders:
- Warning! Thisfeatures a very, very crack pairing. You might get weirded out lol
- This is like a fanfiction to a fanfiction.You need to read a fanfic series first before reading this. :) I suggest you read it because it is very well written and the plot is fantastic. For the fanfic series this fanfic is based on, please go to pseudocitrus' tumblr and look up her Armistice fanfic.
Notes:
This is a short fic (if you can call it that lol) I have written hastily since an idea came up and I want to write it immediately in order not to forget it lol XD Dedicated to the amazing pseudocitrus since she made me ship this crack pairing and this fic is kinda an "indirect extension" of Armistice. No, this isn't the smut fic yet lol (still working on it though XD)
Thanks for the Kishouka fics, by the way!
"That doesn't look so appetizing."
"Well, you don't eat this kind of stuff."
"Don't you cook your own food?" Touka asks, eyeing the empty containers Arima had thrown in the trash bin. It's been days since she observed that Arima is always eating convenience store food. Though it is not her place to say, she thinks that eating food like that isn't healthy.
That's no good, since you're still growing. You have to eat things that are nutritious!
Instantly, she remembered Yoriko. She felt a small stab in her heart. She was, however, snapped out of her thought when Arima gave her a reply.
"No," he answers. "It's too much of a bother. Well then, I'll be going now."
The door shuts in front of her, leaving Touka alone in the room.
She sighs and walks over to the refrigerator. She opens it and finds the package wrapped for her. It was only then she realized that it was the only thing sitting in the fridge. She takes it.
"He has a fridge, but there's nothing inside," she says to herself. "Pathetic."
For some reason, she ended up wandering in the supermarket.
Touka wasn't supposed to end up here, but for some reason, her legs brought her to the place. She was just taking her usual walk. She takes a deep breath, annoyed with herself.
"Why am I even doing here," she mutters, scratching her head and sighing. "Well, I guess I'll do some shopping since I'm here already."
She placed her hands in her pockets, and again, for some reason, there was money there. She unconsciously put them in there this morning. She doesn't even remember where she got it.
Touka takes a deep breath again. She takes a step forward and gets a grocery basket. Noticing the display shelves beside the stack of baskets, she pulls out a random book from it. She flips through the recipe book, scanning for recipes that seem easy to do.
"You're Kirishima Touka-chan, right?" someone's voice materialized.
"Huh?" Touka looks to her right, and some middle-aged woman gazes at her smilingly. She is carrying a grocery basket with a few items inside.
"Oh, I'm sorry," the woman says, smiling more at her. "I often saw you on TV. You're a ghoul, right?"
Touka was taken aback by the fact that someone actually talked to her outside of Arima's house. There were always cameramen or media people tailing her but it's the first time someone ordinary talked to her.
"I am," she replies with little hesitation.
"It's surprising to see you here. I hope you don't mind me talking to you."
Touka kept silent, still surprised.
"It's really surprising to see you in person. And to find you in a supermarket, at that."
She couldn't figure out what the woman is saying, until after a moment, she realized what she was talking about.
A ghoul. In a supermarket.
"Oh, I didn't mean it in a rude way!" the woman seemed to read her thoughts. "It's just that I don't often see famous people easily. You're quite the celebrity now, aren't you?"
Touka forces a smile. "Well… I guess I a-am."
"Oh?" the woman peers over the book Touka is holding, and she suddenly slams it shut.
"I see!" the woman happily exclaims. "You're cooking for your boyfriend?"
Her face heats upon hearing the word boyfriend, but it was dispelled almost immediately when she realized that she was indeed looking at recipes without a reason.
Shit, she thinks. I read this book without thinking. Wait, I even went here without thinking!
"I g-guess," was the only thing she could answer. The unknown woman clapped her hands.
"That's so sweet of you!" the woman says. "I never seen a ghoul cook for a human before, but now that I thought about it, it seems so sweet!"
Touka's face flushes again, but it does seem that she unconsciously went here out of her concern of Arima's nutrition intake.
"I hope you don't mind me asking, but what food are you going to make for him?"
Touka glances at the recipe book in her hands. "Well, actually… I don't know yet."
"Oh? Do you want some help?" the woman steps closer to her, holding out her hand. Touka opens the book and gives the other end to the woman. "Let's see…"
Both she and the woman flip through the recipe book in silence. From time to time, the woman smiles and comments on certain recipes they see. After some time, a certain recipe caught her attention.
"Hm?" the woman seemed to notice Touka's attention drifting off. "You want to do this?"
"Well…!" Touka exclaims as she comes to her senses. "It's just that—this food seems familiar. I think a friend of mine from a long time ago served me something like this…"
She gazes at the photo, and it was, no doubt, the recipe of the food that Yoriko gave her years ago. Her heart felt like it was being clamped. She gulps.
"It's a little hard to do, but I guess it would be very nice if you'd make this for him," the woman smiles as she completely hands the book to Touka. "Well, then, good luck, Touka-chan! I need to go now. It's really nice talking to you."
The woman gives her one last smile and walks away. Touka looks at her, then at the recipe book. She breaths deeply, and shoves the book into the grocery basket.
"I can't believe I'm doing this."
"Why wouldn't you want to spar with me today?"
Arima's question made Touka nervous. She fidgets as she tries to make up an answer, her eyes turning away from him.
"Well… I don't feel like doing it," she says, brushing her finger against her cheek. Arima glances at her, and Touka immediately hides her hands behind her back.
It didn't come to her mind that her fingers are covered in adhesive plasters, and she was stupid enough to let Arima see it. It's just been hours when she came back from the supermarket and attempted to cook for him, and expectedly, she failed. It resulted in a messy kitchen and bloody fingers.
"What happened to your fingers?" he queries, standing up and walking over to her.
"It's nothing!"
Arima stops in front of her. He looks at her nonchalantly, she makes her blush.
"W-What are you l-looking at? Go back to whatever you're doing!"
Arima stares at her more, and suddenly, he reaches out to her, grabbing her arms and gripping her wrist. He examines Touka's fingers.
"Hey!" she protests, trying to pull her arm away, but Arima's clutching it tightly.
"What did you do?" he asks, rubbing Touka's fingers with his own.
"Ow—hey, it hurts! Don't pull on them," she says, irritated. Arima's grip seems to loosen when she said it hurts, and Touka was able to pull her hand away from him.
"What happened?" he asks again, staring at Touka as she rubs her wrist.
"It's none of your business," she mumbles. "I was bored to death, and I tried something."
"Tell me," Arima offers.
"No way. I don't want to."
There's no way she's going to tell him that she's trying to cook for him.
Arima gazes at her, and sighs. "Very well," he says, giving up. "If that makes you glad. But I wouldn't tolerate this thing of yours if it gets in the way of our activities."
He leaves the room.
And for the second time, she's in the supermarket. It makes her feel annoyed at she wants to continue attempting to cook for him, but she doesn't have anything to do at his home.
She scans the food stalls for ingredients. She has read the recipe book for tips on choosing ingredients, and she wishes that the foods in her grocery basket are good enough for cooking.
"Oh, Touka-chan, we meet again!" the woman from the other day materializes beside her. "Shopping again, I see?"
She nods. It makes her a bit happy that she is comfortable with this human. "I tried doing the recipe from the other day, and well… it didn't turn out great."
"Did he say it tastes bad?"
"Uhm… I didn't give it to him."
"Oh," the woman nods, looking at her basket. "Maybe you should try starting at simpler recipes?"
"Maybe I should."
"Why don't you try making a bento? He's a working man, no?"
The idea of making a bento for him and Arima bringing it to work made Touka blush. "B-Bento?"
"Yes. In my opinion, it's very simple to do and he'll probably be thrilled about it. Plus, it seems very romantic to do!"
Touka's face heats, but she shakes her head to get rid of it. "I guess I'll do it."
The woman smiles. "But first, we have to work on the quality of ingredients you choose."
She forces a smile.
Only God knows how much food she wasted.
It's the third time. The third time she tried cooking, and finally, she did it.
Touka stares at the wrapped bento box in her hands, her body trembling in nervousness as she gathers the courage to give it to Arima.
"A-Arima!" she calls out to him.
"Hm?" Arima turns around, his hands on his necktie. It's obvious that he's preparing to go to work, and it's the perfect time to give him the food.
"W-Well," Touka tries to look at him straight. "Are you going to eat on work?"
"That's obvious," Arima says, tightening his tie. "What is it?"
"Where do you eat? Don't you t-think it's too e-expensive to eat outside?"
Arima stares at her. "If you have something to tell me, Kirishima-san, tell me now. I'm in a hurry."
Touka's face heats up. "I'm trying to tell you something important!"
"Then, tell me now."
"W-Wait! Just let me… let me—"
"Please hurry up."
"Ugh!" Touka shoves the bento box into Arima's chest in frustration. "You're annoying, just take this!"
Arima glances at her, and then at the bento box. "Did you make this?"
"Obviously, I did! Are you an idiot or what?" Touka says, blushing. She looks away from him.
Arima continues to stare at the bento box. "Is that why—"
"Yes, that's the reason why I cut my fingers! Jeez, don't state the obvious!"
"This explains why the trash bin is full. And why your fingers were all wrapped in adhesive plasters. Why did you try to cook for me?"
"Jeez, I told you already—I was bored. I had nothing to do," she says, blushing. "And I noticed that you were always eating convenience store food. You have to eat real food from time to time too, -y-you know."
He looks at her. "You went all this way just to cook for me."
Touka blushes. "Sheesh, if you don't want it, then just give it back to me!"
She reaches out for the bento box but Arima raises it higher. "I'll take this. I'm sure you worked hard on it."
He lowers the bento box and pulls out the chopsticks in between the wrapper. He unwraps the box.
"Hey, what are you doing?"
Arima continues unwrapping the box, and opens it. He holds the chopsticks in his hand and stares at the contents.
"O-Oi, don't e-eat it here! It's for your—"
Touka gets cut off as Arima shoves an egg roll from the bento box into his mouth.
He chews the food quietly, and swallows it. He sets the bento box on the table and places the chopsticks on top of the box.
He loosens his tie and removes it completely. Arima takes a deep breath.
"It tastes horrible," he comments.
Touka blushes. "You should've at least tried to be less honest about it! Is it so bad that you have to take off your necktie to breathe again?"
"No," he says. "I took it off because I'm not going to work anymore."
"What?" she was taken aback. "Why not?"
"Kirishima-san," Arima looks at her. "We're going to the supermarket to shop."
"H-Huh?" her face heats.
"We're going to cook for me," he says. "Together."
Touka wished she didn't attempt to cook for Arima in the first place. But for some reason, she felt her heart jump in delight.
