"You'll stay in the same room as before, and you are free to come and go as you please." Ruki pushed open the door to Akira's former bedroom. She nodded, barely able to contain her excitement. "I know, thank you."
Ruki ducked his head, turning to shut her door as he exited. "Your brothers have already sent your baggage over." He stopped short as he glance at his watch and grimaced. Akira cocked her head. "What's wrong?"
He shook his head. "It's nothing. I forgot to start making dinner. Excuse me."
Akira raised her hand. "Let me help you. I can cook, I swear!"
Short on time and with no extra hands, Ruki had no choice but to relent. Akira found herself standing in the kitchen with him. "What are we making?"
Ruki bustled around the kitchen, pulling various pots and pans and ingredients from their respective places. "Something simple," he told her, deftly tying a cutesy pink apron around his waist. "Soba and tempura, with the vegetables from the garden." The pink ruffles, combined with his serious expression and tone made Akira's lip quirk. Sometimes, Ruki reminded her of a mama bear. Less strict than Reiji but still definitely with a stick up his arse.
"Boil the noodles while I make the tempura." Ruki instructed, immediately diving into the task with full concentration. Obediently, Akira complied. While she waited for the water to boil, she whipped out the chopping board. The tomato's, fresh from Yuma's garden, glistened with drops of water. She began slicing them up to put into the salad, her brain going on autopilot mode as her hands handled the knife flawlessly through years of muscle memory. Her eyes slowly wandered over to Ruki, diligently and skillfully brushing eggwash over the prawns before coating them in generous amounts of panko. With the setting sun highlighting his angular features with golden light and his lashes castibg spidery shadows over his cheekbones, he looked like a sculpted mare statue, perfect at any angle and radiant in all its glory.
Her train of thought was broken as she felt a sharp sting. The knife clattered to the floor, along with thick crimson splattering the chopping board. Akira gasped and stumbled back into Ruki, the point of the knife missing her bare feet by an inch. "What's wrong?" Ruki scented the blood, and grabbed her wrist. His mouth thinned as he took in the blood gushing from her finger. Akira winced as the cut throbbed more painfully. "Ow."
"Does it hurt?" Akira nodded. She had been careless. Keeping his gaze locked on her, he slowly raised her finger to his lips. She watched, entranced as his hot, wet mouth sealed over the cut, lapping away the blood and sucking for more. Even after it was all gone, he lingering for a moment before pulling away, the phantom sensation of his warm breath making the skin of her hand tingle. "There." As a fonal touch, he gently blow on the wound. Face heating at his intense gaze, she pointed shakily to the half-chopped tomatoes. "Um, I think some blood got in there."
Ruki dropped her hand and smirked. "Go take a break. I'll eat the ones with your blood on it. Livestock is meant for consumption, anyway."
