Fictober Day 24: "Patience... is not something I'm known for."
Yukio wasn't sure why he agreed to this.
His students were currently all in the commons area—save Rin, who was preparing supper for all of them—and they were supposed to be studying. That was what they all agreed on before coming over here. Yukio thought it might have been a good idea because maybe, just maybe, it would encourage Rin to study as well.
But then.
Then Shima brought over that stupid board game. And that plan of getting his brother to study went right out the window.
"...a game like this takes patience, Izumo-chan," he was saying, grinning slyly. "Why don't you watch the pro, hmm?"
A scoff. "Patience is not something I'm known for, geek. And I doubt you're a pro."
"Shima-kun..." Miwa murmured hesitantly. "She said she doesn't want to play. I think you should leave her be."
"Oh, she'll come around, Koneko."
Suguro snorted. "Yeah, right."
The banter went on for a while, with Shima making suggestive comments that made Kamiki seethe and glare. Even Suguro seemed annoyed. Shiemi and Miwa just looked like they weren't sure what to do.
Yukio heaved out a sigh of defeat, rubbing his temple. He should have known it would have ended up like this. He supposed they did make a little bit of progress before Shima pulled the game out, but it was before Rin even got a chance to open his textbook.
This was going to be a long night.
The conversation was quickly cut short when they heard a startled yelp, followed by a loud clank of Rin dropping some dish. Yukio's eyes popped and he was immediately darting toward the kitchen. The sound of shuffling and footsteps confirmed that he wasn't the only one.
"Nii-san? Are you—oh."
Rin was on the floor, but his sheepish expression was enough to tell him that he was fine. Especially when he rubbed the back of his neck, tail twitching nervously. Classic 'oops' expression. "Sorry for all the noise."
"What happened, Rin?" Shiemi asked, squeezing by to come help him up.
But Rin was already pushing himself off the floor, sweeping back down to grab the steel dish he'd dropped. "Oh, I uh... heh heh. I was getting ready to wash this and thought I saw something, and it spooked me, but... turns out it was just my shadow. Heh."
Yukio blinked. And blinked again. But Rin's embarrassed but wide grin didn't fade. He seriously wasn't joking.
Suguro grumbled something under his breath. Then: "Only this kid."
Yukio sighed again, lips pursing into a thin line. "You're not wrong."
This was definitely going to be a long night.