food for your heart? | miya osamu

9

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The bell dismisses you, releasing you from your desk for an hour for lunch. You and Aya head out together, and take a quick stop at your lockers to put your books away. When you open your locker, you see another letter and small bag that gives off a slightly sweet scent.

Aya, who finished putting her books away, closes her locker and faces your confused face. She watches as you examine the familiar-looking envelope. On the back, you see your name written in blue ink, and a small onigiri doodle. Your hands gently open the envelope, revealing the letter inside.

"Who's it from?" Aya asks, watching intently.

You quickly scan the letter and find the name of the recipient. Your eyes widen with shock and you tell Aya it's from Osamu.

Her lips curl into a smile and she replies, "Oh so now he's the one sending you a letter."

"I'm not really sure what's happening, but I guess he sent another one. I'll read it aloud.

"Dear y/n,
I hope you have been doing well. I'll try to keep this letter as short as possible, so I don't waste your time or anything.

"I'm just writing to say that, those cookies you gave me the first time you wrote me a letter have been really in my mind lately. So I tried to replicate them, but each recipe I tried just didn't seem good enough. Atsumu kept laughing at me while I was making the different batches and he kept telling me that 'I wasn't making them with enough love so they didn't taste as good.' So after I threw a volleyball at him, I decided to try and make a batch without a recipe.

"I had an idea of what is supposed to be there from the other recipes I tried, and surprisingly this batch actually turned out the best. They still don't taste quite like the ones you made me, but if I were to rank them, I would say mine are a distant second. Like they're kinda close, but not close at the same time.

"Anyways, I lost track of what I was saying, but I wanted to send you some cookies, since you were the one who inspired me to make some. I hope you enjoy them.

"Best wishes,
Osamu."

You finish reading the letter and place it back in its envelope. You try to analyze Aya's blank face and see what she's thinking, but give up. After placing the envelope back in your locker, you open up the small bag filled with cookies, and take a bite out of one.

An overwhelming sweet taste fills your mouth, and is shortly followed by a bitter chocolate. The balance of the overall sweetness of the cookie balanced by the bitter chocolate caused a perfect taste on your tongue. You silently hand Aya and cookie and watch her face fill with delight when she takes a bite.

"Heyo, how are my favourite people doing," Tae smiles, walking up to you and Aya. She stops moving once she sees the cookie in your hands. After taking a look into your locker and seeing the envelope, a mischievous grin forms on her face.

"Oh does someone have their own secret admirer now," she teases, while taking a cookie from you.

"It's from Osamu," Aya states.

"YOU'RE KIDDING, IS IT ACTUALLY?" She excitedly yells.

"Yea, here's the letter if you wanna read it, it's just cause he wanted to replicate the cookies I made him. It's not a secret admirer type thing," you tell her while handing her the letter.

"Okay okay, yea right, I'll see for myself," She says, her eyes quickly scanning through the letter, her smile growing bigger with each sentence. "Okay, you're right, it's not a secret admirer type thing, but you are definitely on his mind."

"Definitely," Aya agrees, nodding her head.

"Okay, but what am I supposed to do about that? I don't know what I should do. I can't face him."

"He's just a human. It's not like he's some horrifying monster who runs into villages and eats all their food and then eats all the villagers after tormenting them and yelling at them for their lack of food, even though he ate all their food," Tae reassures you.

"Yea, Tae's right," Aya adds, "He has emotions like everyone else, he's not as distant as you think he is. I saw him scream over a tiny bug once when he thought he was alone, but when he noticed me there his face went red and he awkwardly walked away. So he is capable of human emotions."

"Are you guys trying to encourage me or hint at your hatred for Osamu, cause those descriptions were something else," you jokingly question, "But seriously, I know it's all in my head, but especially after hearing how other girls' confession to him went, I'm afraid."

"Okay, that's a reasonable fear, but I think the fact that he thanked you is a good sign," Tae mentions.

"I think you should send him a letter back, like you did beforehand. I'm not sure what it'll help with, but something good might come of it. Maybe it'll help you gain confidence," Aya suggests.

"YES! Send him a letter again, maybe he'll send one back and then it could be like those cute penpal tropes in romance movies," Tae gushes, "Those are almost always guaranteed to end in a relationship."

Aya nods her head in agreement. You look at your friend's encouraging faces and question what you should do next. A small part of you wants to forget about this entire thing and live in the shadows again, but a larger part of you wants to step out of the dark and live your life that way you want to, without being scared.

"I guess I need to figure out what I'm baking next then," you sigh.