▃▃▃▃▃ "do you like matcha tea?", yumie asked.

     "o-of course! I-I've never really had different types of tea before, but I'm sure it's good!!", etsuko smiled.

     "oh? why's that?", the old woman asked, dropping a bit of matcha powder into a cup of boiling hot water and whisking away.

     "I...umm...my mother and I've always lived in poverty, so we've never really gotten the luxury to drink tea", etsuko shyly explained, to which yumie had felt a bit bad for asking.

     "my apologies for inquiring, dear".

     "oh no no!! it's quite alright. I mean, it's not like it's a secret or anything", etsuko chuckled, to which yumie had appreciated how positive the girl was despite her current condition.

     "well you can come over anytime and I'll make you as much sweets and tea as you'd like, dear. also, don't hesitate to ask shin-chan for help. though he's very expressionless at times, he's actually very caring", yumie smiled.

before etsuko could say anything else, suna and kita had returned with the food that yumie had sent them out to retrieve.

the three had decided to stay for dinner as curfew was later than usual on weekends.

"will you be cooking personally today?", etsuko asked, to which the old woman had nodded.

"it's been a while since I've made anything for shin-chan. plus, I wish for you two to taste my cooking", yumie smiled, making etsuko's heart clench.

'so precious...must protect at all costs!!'

"I'll help!!", etsuko offered.

"are you sure dear?"

"mhm! back at home, I usually do all the cooking since my mom's unwell most of the time. though it's not very good, I'm sure I can help at least a little", etsuko smiled.

     "well then, come with me dear", yumie motioned as etsuko followed the old woman towards the kitchen, which was down the hall.

     kita glanced at where the two were before sitting down at the table with suna.

     "your granny seems to really like haru-san", suna stated, to which kita just hummed.

     "pity he isn't a girl".

     kita thought for a moment, wondering what etsuko would supposedly look like as a girl. the boy only came up with the conclusion that etsuko would just be having longer hair, as everything else about her was quite feminine.

     "why pity?", kita asked.

     "because maybe she could've married in and taken good care of granny", suna answered, pouring himself a cup of tea that yumie had made.

     "don't be foolish. even if he were a girl, I doubt I'd be able to marry them anyways", kita realistically said.

     suna sighed. "status doesn't matter when it comes to love, kita".

     kita looked over at the male, intrigued. "have you experienced love before? how do you know?", the boy genuinely asked.

     sure he's dated shimizu before, but that was only because their families had a prior engagement before they were even born.

     however, as kita entered the academy, shimizu had decided to break it off, as the boy didn't give her much attention from the very beginning.

     kita shinsuke didn't know how to date, and that had taken a toll on shimizu.

     the boy didn't blame her in the slightest. in fact, he had felt a bit relieved as he didn't have to worry about marrying someone so soon.

     "no, but you just know. once you truly like someone, you will overlook past their status, their flaws, and all their inadequacies".

     kita raised a brow. "that seems illogical".

     suna simply looked away as it was impossible to explain to kita.

     as the two waited a bit more in silence, etsuko and yumie finally arrived with places of steaming food and bowls of rice along with some dashi soup.

     "itadakimasu!", everyone clapped in sync as they picked up their chopsticks.

     "thank you for helping today, haru", yumie smiled as she grabbed some beef for the girl.

     "you need to eat some more. look how skinny you are! shin-chan, you need to take better care of your roommate", the old woman reprimanded.

     "noted, granny", kita responded as he loudly slurped his soup.

     "you should eat some more too, granny!", etsuko said as she got some vegetables and fish for the old woman.

"fish is good for the skin. it keeps you looking young", etsuko stated, to which yumie had chuckled.

"I'm already so old, you silly child".

"age is just a number", etsuko laughed. "plus, you don't look a day older than 55, granny!!"

yumie shook her head as she continued laughing, making kita glad.

"you've got such a sweet way with words! I might just adopt you and have you as my second grandson", yumie joked.

etsuko awkwardly laughed. 'granddaughter, but yeah...'

"as long as you'll take me", etsuko nodded, to which kita wasn't sure whether he was happy about that or not.

"looks like you have some competition, kita", suna snorted, eating some more rice.

▃▃▃▃▃

as the three had bid granny goodbye, they had swiftly returned back to the academy a good 30 minutes before curfew.

"see you tomorrow suna!", etsuko laughed as the male just nodded with a smile.

"later haru, kita".

the dark-haired male and etsuko had decided after dinner that they'd be better off calling each other without much formalities. after all, they had both benefitted from today.

as etsuko sighed, she entered her shared room with kita following behind.

the brown-haired girl set her clothes out as she waited for kita to leave first, since she typically woke up and showered at midnight so no one suspected her of her true gender.

though kita did not leave. instead, the boy just stared at etsuko, making her slightly weirded out.

etsuko suddenly understood why suna and the miya twins become so intimidated when kita looked into their soul with his coffee brown eyes that didn't seem to blink in the slightest.

"um...c-can I help you?", etsuko asked.

"I just wanted to...thank you", kita slightly mumbled, his gaze shifting downwards as he suddenly found it a bit hard to look the girl in the eyes, which was quite unusual.

     "huh? what'd I do?", etsuko chuckled, scratching the back of her head in confusion.

     "you made granny happy", kita stated.

     "h-huh? that's all??"

     kita shook his head. "ever since my parents left, granny was the one that raised me and gave me a memorable childhood. she would teach me everything and I promised myself that I would make her happy and let her live luxuriously.

     however when I entered school, it seems that I had miscalculated how much time I'd be able to spend with granny.

     my point being, I'm glad we went to see her today. she seemed very...happy..."

     etsuko's eyes widened as her rounds eyes gawked at kita, who was still looking away.

     'kita? kita shinsuke? this actually him?!?'

     kita cleared his throat as he hastily grabbed his night clothes, heading towards the door.

"I'm going to go shower. I'll be right back", kita informed as he shut the door, leaving etsuko alone and wondering what kita had just said.

the girl squatted down where she stood, curling up into a ball as she wrapped her hands around her head.

"okay but why does kita actually look kind of adorable like that?", etsuko whispered to herself, internally screaming as she had bonked her head repeatedly.

     'calm thyself etsuko! he doesn't even know that you're a girl. you probably just seem like another one of his buddies'.

     etsuko sighed. "man, I cannot with this shit. I'm going to bed".

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セレンディピティ
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