Author's notes: Man, I first wrote this in 2016, and I'm just starting to remember just how much of a chokehold KnB had me on. I always found it a pity that I had so many unfinished works that I never published, so I decided to rectify that regret by finally posting this. Honestly, I feel a little out of touch with the characters now, but I still really loved them, and writing about that, at some point.

To anyone out there in the fandom that's still reading, thank you.


The lunch bell rings. Nijimura sets his lunch box on the table next to his - which is currently empty - as he tries to pack his own desk. It's bursting with textbooks and pieces of paper. Unfortunately, literature has never been his strongest suit, nor a subject he was particularly interested in. The disastrous state of his desk was enough to prove that.

Nijimura ends up shoving most of his belongings under the table. He is hungry, and his mood has not improved since yesterday. Haizaki had ditched practice yet again, and being late this morning meant that he had not been able to ensure that the grey-haired player would attend practice later. While Haizaki's skill was not in that dire a need for practice, his discipline was. Nijimura knows that he will ultimately make the cut for the team, for as poor as his attitude was, he was a skilled basketball player. Which is why he's doggedly taking every opportunity he has to drill discipline into Haizaki's head. He's bound to have to do it one day, so to be earlier than later would save him some trouble and headaches in the long run.

When Nijimura finally makes it to the table that he usually has his lunch at, the regulars of the Teikō basketball team are already there. Upon seeing that Haizaki is not present, Nijimura feels his irritation rising. He grabs the only empty seat next to Kise and sits down heavily, shoveling the contents of his bento box into his mouth as he curses Haizaki's rowdiness.

"That idiot, thinking he can get away with anything..."

"Senpai..."

"I swear if he ditches practice again I'm going to kill him..."

"Senpai"

"It's unfortunate that he's a halfway decent player... but that attitude of his is complete sh—"

"Nijimura-senpai—"

"What?!" Nijimura demands irritably, his annoyance hitting the roof. Really, underclassmen and their habits of interrupting—

"Say… I don't think that's your lunch box."

"Hm?" Nijimura glances down at his food in confusion. The black lunch box seems entirely similar to his own - until he realises that there is a large name sticker attached to its cover. That's strange. He has never stuck anything there before. Come to think of it, today's food does taste different from his usual lunches. The fried rice is far more fragrant, though he has nearly eaten half of it without being able to savour it, such was how annoyed he is at Haizaki. Nijimura picks up the lunch box cover and squints at the surface.

"Tachibana... Natsuko."

"Eh, Nijimura-senpai stole someone else's lunch box?" Kise asks, his eyes wide. Nijimura scowls at him for jumping to conclusions, though on a literal aspect, he is not exactly wrong.

"I didn't steal it! I must have taken it by accident. Geez..." This is troublesome. He wonders if the owner of his lunch box is eating his bento now. He would have to return it to her - even though a large part of it has been demolished now.

"Oh? That looks good!" A familiar voice sniggers. Nijimura narrows his eyes. "Don't touch it, Haizaki."

"Wasn't going to. It looks terrible anyway." Nijimura quells the urge to grab Haizaki's collar. As much as his personality needed fixing, it wasn't technically his responsibility it outside the court. Besides, Nijimura had more important things to tend to. Like return a half-eaten lunch and try explaining the situation to its owner.

"What a pain in the neck…" Nijimura grumbles quietly under his breath as he leaves. Though not before barking rigid instructions to the rest of the Seidō regulars to do everything in their power to drag Haizaki to basketball practice after school. Even via more extreme methods of kidnaping and manhandling.

"Tachibana Natsuko?" When he goes back to class, there are a few students mingling inside. In the vague impressions of his memory, Nijimura remembers Natsuko to be the girl sitting at the back of the class. He walks up to the table and calls out her name hesitantly, trying to spy a piece of stationery or name tag - any belonging, really - to reaffirm his assumption that this girl was indeed Natsuko.

"Yes?" The girl that turns to him is not easy to miss. She has a head of orange hair, one that is not unlike her surname. Her wide brown eyes seem almost fearful when she sees him. Nijimura frowns. It is not like he is that intimidating.

"I took your lunch box today by accident. My bad…" he hands her the empty lunch box, a little guilty. The girl's eyes only widen as she stares at the unopened lunch box in her own hands, as if she's only just starting to comprehend that it is in fact not hers. Nijimura is certain that the one she is holding is actually his own, but he finds it unexpected that she did not end up eating it after all. Especially when they are more than halfway through lunch break.

"Y— You ate my lunch?"

"Yea... Sorry about that. If you want I can buy you something to make up for it—"

"N— No, it's okay." Suddenly, Natsuko looks uncharacteristically happy. "I'm sorry for asking but…" she takes a deep breath, as if the words are physically difficult to get out. "Did it taste... Okay?"

"Hm?" Nijimura is bemused by her words. How is she not in the littlest bit upset when he has demolished her lunch and left her hungry with none for her own? She has not even touched his lunch box. "It tasted quite good, actually," he mumbles back.

"I— I see." Nijimura's irritation wells. How long would it be before she stops stammering? They're in the same class and year, after all. She shouldn't be so unnerved in his presence. In the wake of her nervousness, Nijimura half-wishes that the basketball juniors would be a little more like her. That would make them a lot easier to discipline.

"Stop stammering. I'm not going to eat you!" Nijimura snaps, though he realises his tone is rather poor. Natsuko flinches and he regrets it immediately. Particularly when he remembers that he is technically the one in the wrong. But just as Nijimura is about to apologise, an unexpectedly determined look enters Natsuko's brown eyes.

"A— all right." She takes a deep breath... and sinks into a sudden bow. "Nijimura-san, please continue to eat my lunch from now on!"

Nijimura stares at Natsuko in almost comical surprise, his jaw slack. Her head is still bowed, her orange locks hanging downwards. When Natsuko looks up, Nijimura is even more stunned - and frankly, alarmed - to find that her brown eyes are brimming with tears. As bad-tempered as he is, this has to be the first time he's made a girl cry.

"It's selfish of me, but if it doesn't taste too bad, I would appreciate it if I can make you lunch from today onwards." Now, Nijimura is at an utter lost. The girl is an enigma to him. She is not angry at him for finishing her lunch without asking, and is almost begging him to accept her food from now on. The tears welling in her eyes almost seem ready to fall - and he wants to snark at her to stop looking like a wounded puppy. Yet, Nijimura resigns to his fate. There is little else he can do since he technically owes her something now. Coupled with the fact that having a girl bowing to him in tears is definitely not a good look.

"I don't get why you would want to do that," Nijimura mutters, hastily continuing when he sees the crestfallen look in Natsuko's eyes. "But if it stops you from crying right now, then fine, you can make me lunch from today onwards if you want."

Nijimura is somewhat reluctant to agree to such a bizarre exchange, but he is nowhere prepared for the smile that lights up Natsuko's face when he says those words. She looks contented and happy. It confirms Nijimura's perception. This girl is, by far, the strangest person he has ever come across in Teiko. Even with eccentric people like Midorima and Murasakibara stuck in his life.

"T— Thank you! My name is T— Tachibana Natsuko." She introduces herself, almost belatedly. Nijimura grunts, a nonchalant look on his face.

"I know. I'm Nijimura Shuzo."


Natsuko is true to her word. She never fails to hand him a lunch box every day when the lunch bell rings - though she always scampers off before he can say as much. The food always tastes surprisingly good, though he finds the octopus-cut sausages a little too childish and flamboyant for his taste. Aomine is the first to notice this.

"Nijimura... That doesn't look like your usual lunch." He seems almost chagrined that Nijimura has received such a meticulously prepared lunch box when he has to deal with Momoi's food, which, today, seems to consist of a mishmash of fried rice and an assortment of questionable ingredients that no one can identify. Nijimura waves it off nonchalantly.

"Someone gave it to me."

"Oh, who?" Kise asks, all ears. Trust him to be invested when there's gossip to be shared, Nijimura grumbles to himself sourly. Still, he finds himself hesitating briefly, not quite knowing how to answer without drawing questions.

"A classmate."

When Kise's eyebrows look like they are going to shoot off his forehead, Nijimura frowns in irritations and elaborates reluctantly.

"Tachibana Natsuko."

"The girl whose lunch box you took by accident the last time?"

"… Yes." It was probably too much to hope that Akashi, who is sitting right next to him, wouldn't comment on it. The boy was too perceptive for his own good. Though it certainly lends itself to his character. And maybe the position of a future captain, Nijimura privately thinks.

"Why would she be giving you her lunch daily then?" Akashi asks, a look of mild surprise upon his face. Nijimura shrugs. It is a question he has often posed to himself, after all.

"I don't know. She still has her own lunch box so I'm guessing she makes two sets. She's… weird," he mutters, playing about with the food. Though it does taste fairly good, so he cannot complain.

"Does she always do that?" Haizaki drawls. It is rare that he is sitting with them for lunch, but Nijimura is satisfied that he can at least keep an eye on him for now. "I'd want her to make one for me too. It looks good."

Nijimura frowns in reply. "Don't bother her, Haizaki."

"Whatever, I bet it doesn't taste that good," Haizaki grunts, making a show of yawning. It is all Nijimura can do to restrain himself from plugging the guy's face. As much as Haizaki's attitude frustrates him, he has to remind himself that outside the basketball court, he should limit himself as to how much he should discipline him.

"Ah, Tachibana?" Murasakibara suddenly pipes up. The inhabitants of the table turn to him, surprised by his participation. "I heard that her parents are famous chefs. She's related to the Tachibana Cookhouse."

Under the weight of everybody's curious glances, Murasakibara only deigns to shrug lazily.

"Wonder if her food is anywhere as good as her parents."

Nijimura wonders if fate is playing tricks on him when he sees the classroom duty roster later. It is rather coincidental that the two of them are assigned for cleaning duty after school on this very day. Nijimura sighs impatiently and hurriedly sets to sweeping the floor. He does not want to miss basketball practice - especially since there is a high chance that Haizaki will be skipping again. Absorbed in his thoughts, it takes him a while before he realises that Natsuko is staring at him curiously, the blackboard duster in her hands.

"What?" She seems startled when he suddenly speaks. Nijimura frowns automatically in response. He doesn't quite know how to communicate with Natsuko when she tenses up at every little thing he says. Is it really his tone? Or is it his face? He tries to soften his expression hastily, only to find that his eyebrows are still furrowed.

"Um... It's okay. I can clean up the classroom on my own. Nijimura-san has basketball practice, right? So I'll take over for you."

Nijimura stares at Natsuko, surprised. For someone as reserved and timid as her, he never would have expected her to recognise him as the captain of the basketball team. She barely seems to know who her classmates are in school, and he cannot imagine her being a member of any club. Which would probably explain her rather awkward social skills.

When Nijimura hesitates, Natsuko pipes up again. "It's the least I can do after you've helped me out so much."

"Help you out so much? I've only been eating the lunch you make for the past week," Nijimura points out. He is almost suspicious of Natsuko's intentions. Nobody is kind enough to be handing out free food to classmates they've had had no contact with prior.

"Exactly!" Natsuko's matter-of-fact tone only fuels his bemusement further.

"What?"

"Because Nijimura-san is the first person to say that it's good."

A tentative silence settles between them. Nijimura can feel his confusion mounting - if only because the brief exchange leaves him more perplexed than ever. But Natsuko seems to have closed the topic, or assumed her words to be sufficient. She finishes cleaning the blackboard swiftly and walks over to Nijimura, beckoning for him to hand her the broom.

"I— I'm sorry, I've been rambling. Nijimura-san is in a hurry to leave for basketball practice, right? Please go ahead. Like I've said, I can handle the rest." Nijimura gives a small start when he looks at the time. It is true that he was in a hurry to leave - but in his curiosity regarding Natsuko, and her strange insistence to make him lunch, he had forgotten about it for a short while.

"Yea..." He turns to grab his bag and leave, trying to ignore the slight tinge of guilt he feels when he looks back to find Natsuko austerely taking over his job.

Nijimura knows that he should be delighted that he is able to go for basketball practice early now. But every step he takes feels hesitant. As he finally reaches the door, Nijimura suddenly stops in his tracks and turns.

"Hey, I don't know how many people you've cooked for before… But your food is really good. Better than what I can make for myself, definitely. So…" Nijimura doesn't quite know what else to say. But he is certain that there's more to Natsuko than meets the eye, or that, at the very least, her lack of confidence seems related to her cooking. It makes him think of what Murasakibara had mentioned prior - that her parents are established cooks.

"So thanks for making me lunch every day. I really… appreciate it."

Natsuko stares at him in silence, pausing mid-sweep as she continues holding onto the broomstick. She gapes at him, a dazed expression on her face, and Nijimura can feel heat crawl up his neck. What is he saying? To a girl he does not even know that well, to boot. He has never been this honest with anyone, much less a girl. Nijimura immediately turns away to leave, feeling unusually flustered.

But before he does, Natsuko bestows him with the widest smile he has ever seen.

"Thank you… Nijimura-san."

It is the first time she has looked at him in the face fully and said his name. Despite everything, Nijimura feels himself mirroring her smile as well.

"See you tomorrow, Tachibana."