"I'd like to have lunch here."
She stopped and looked up from her box with rice sticking to her lips. Eli stood over her holding her school bag. Her eyes were gentle and her voice modest. Beneath it she felt her reluctance, saw her tense poised to run at an insult. A pause heavier than a stick of butter floated between them. She continued chewing the cheap convenience store rice and gestured toward the seat beside her. Eli's eyes widened.
The order of the U shaped council tables was broken; in the blink of an eye she caught the scent of a sweet detergent and flour. From the corner of her vision she saw Eli pull the lid from a container. Six round dumplings arranged in rows of three were lined beside two fattened cabbage leaves. An orange sauce dressed them and drew her attention. Bits of ground meat spilled from the leaves as Eli plucked one with her chopsticks.
Her own food had gone cold by the time she felt Eli take her turn to stare. Her face soured biting a piece of bland mackerel. She swallowed, sighed, and fiddled absentmindedly with her food. The smell of fried dough, tomato paste, onion, and salted pork charmed her tongue to salivate. Without thinking she drilled holes into Eli's lunch by looking.
"Would you…like some?"
"Oh you don't have to. I'm alright."
Eli squinted suspiciously and piled two of her dumplings onto Nozomi's rice.
"What are these?"
"Pelmeni, I made them myself this morning."
She poked them and quickly ate when no imperfections were found. Eli watched in alarm as her cheeks bulged; her mouth became buried under swipes of food. Slowly she inched away nervously smiling while inspecting Nozomi's body. It was disturbingly thin beneath her ridiculously large breasts in comparison. For the first time, she saw the tight stretching of their uniform blazer over Nozomi's ribs. Eli gasped discreetly and stuffed food into her mouth before more sound escaped. Her face gnarled in worry.
Nozomi picked up her lunch box and began shoveling mouthfuls drenched in the remains of Eli's offerings. Eli moved forward and opened her mouth to speak, but turned away. The sounds of scrapping and chewing drowned out all else until minutes later silence returned with a shy welcome. At last Nozomi set down the empty box picked remarkably clean. She dabbed her lips with paper napkins and met Eli's prying eyes. Without thought Eli had begun to gnaw on the ends of her chopsticks, too mesmerized to care.
"Sorry about that, I guess I was hungrier than I thought. Did you really make all of those?" Nozomi asked as she leaned over Eli's meal. Eli's eyes widened when she heard her dejected tone so small it could've disappeared.
"Yes. It's pelmeni and golubtsy, my mother taught me when my grandmother insisted years ago."
"A family recipe then, Elicchi is very lucky."
Eli's face relaxed, confused by the nickname but accepting it in stride. There were far greater things that compelled her to stifle an urge to cry. She swallowed hard and spoke just soft enough to capture Nozomi's attention.
"Do you know how to cook? Did anyone teach you?"
"Convenience store food is enough for me; I'm afraid boiling water for tea is the most I can be proud of."
"…Would you want me to bring you something extra? Whenever I can afford to of course, but it's something nonetheless."
They studied one another until Nozomi leaned close enough for Eli to veer backward. A light switch turned on in her brain and lit up her expression. The pensive sadness vanished as if it'd been an illusion. For an instant Eli wondered if she'd ever noticed it at all.
"Can you really do that? I wouldn't want to be a burden. I could pay for anything it'd cost you, promise."
"No no absolutely not. I'd be more than willing and it was my suggestion."
She placed her hand atop Nozomi's and frowned. Her face set grim, harder than stone. Nozomi flinched then contemplated in a daze. Somewhere then she saw the gears of her mind whirl and click. The last shreds of hestitation left her calm voice as Nozomi slowly nodded. A smile that took root on her face infected Eli over the quiet sound of a barrier breaking.
"Alright then, I'll leave it to you."
A/N: I've headcanoned for a long time that Nozomi likely doesn't know or prioritize self care since no one taught her (until Eli and her teenage years). She raised herself while still being reliant on her parents money; as such she's Very used to just buying pre-made food at a convenience store or takeout. Her body and mentality would obviously suffer from this, that's the cliffnotes version of my rationale behind why she's often depicted in canon material to not be able to cook.