omoikiri // harumaki

nine

"Jo-chan didn't come to school today..."

Harua locked his phone with a pout, stuffing the device into his pocket before walking onto the school grounds. He saw Yudai and Yuma and quickly hurried over to them, waving his hand as he stopped by their sides.

"Oh, Haru-kun," Yuma greeted. "Jo isn't coming in today?"

"I don't know if he slept in or not - it's not like him to be this late," Harua noted with a sigh. "I can't make all the cupcakes on my own. I'll have Maki to help, but I'm screwed if I make 200 cupcakes on my own this afternoon!"

"Only you and Maki?" Yuma asked with a childish lilt. "Oi, Yudai, you know what that means, right?"

"Harucchi's going to be all alone with his crush~!"

"T-that's not true!" Harua exclaimed quickly as he softly punched Yuma's arm. "Maki's just my friend. I'd rather not make things awkward between us, in any case. Maki is also a new student, so I just want to make him as comfortable as p-"

"If you put their names together, it's HaruMaki."

"Wah, I'm actually craving harumaki today. I'll ask my mom to make some."

"Bring some to the festival tomorrow~"

"You two aren't even listening to me!"

•

Maki waited quietly outside the home economics kitchen, tapping away at his phone to occupy himself. He had been waiting for almost ten minutes, but perhaps he had arrived a little earlier than planned. The class was unlocked, but he wanted to wait for Harua rather than enter on his own.

"Maki-chan!"

Maki looked up from his phone as Harua ran over to him, arriving from the staircase not too far from where he stood. "You're late."

Harua was heaving and panting as he stopped in front of him. "I'm sorry, Maki-chan - the thing is-"

"We don't have long - let's go."

Maki entered the kitchen quietly and Harua sighed, following the other with sunken shoulders. "Sometimes I wonder how we became friends..."

"I wonder as well." Maki took his backpack off, eyeing the ingredients and utensils already laid out on the tables. "Who prepared this?"

"I dropped off everything yesterday and the home economics teacher laid everything out because she said that she had nothing better to do," Harua answered as he placed his bag beside Maki's. "Did you memorise the recipe?"

"As best as I could," Maki answered, "but I brought my iPad to show the recipe just in case we forget."

"Wah, so smart. Please don't glare at me."

•

Harua sighed heavily as he leaned against the counter, wiping his hands on a kitchen towel as he waited for Maki to join him. "Well, that's batch number three. Let's rest a bit."

Maki raised himself to sit on the counter, using the same towel to dry his hands after he had washed them. He and Harua made quiet eye contact for a moment, causing a smile to spread on Maki's lips. "This was surprisingly fun."

"It's always fun when I'm around," Harua smiled at the other. "Do you feel like talking yet? I understand if you'd like to wait a bit longer."

Maki was silent for a moment before sighing softly. "I, uhm... I already told you that I had a forced transfer due to violence - it's true to a certain extent. I was caught fighting for a silly reason and I guess the school decided I was unsafe to be around. This school accepted the transfer and I managed to get in. I'm not always fighting, I just... I wanted to protect someone. I just wanted to help, but it went south real quick."

Harua hummed as he nodded, confirming that he was listening carefully. "So they misunderstood your intentions?"

"Oh no, I had clear intentions of wanting to hurt that boy."

Harua stared at Maki with horrified eyes.

"But I fought with him because it was necessary," Maki continued. "He had hurt those kids too many times, so I had to draw a line instead of sitting by idly. I guess it went a little bit too far and I was forced to transfer. I was allowed to transfer here on the basis that I made as little friends as possible."

"But if you're friends with Murata-kun, then you can't be a bad person," Harua noted with a smile. "Thank you for helping me, Maki-chan. You're a good friend."

Maki remained silent for a bit before clearing his throat and getting off the counter. "I-I'll head to the bathroom — be right back."

Harua watched as the boy walked off, leaving him all alone in the kitchen. He sighed softly to himself — did he really have a crush on Maki? Was he just an attractive guy? Or did Harua see something deeper? Maybe his looks started the initial attraction — but Harua quite admired Maki and his bravery.

Harua liked Maki.

Maki, in the meantime, came across Fuma coordinating instructions to a group of classmates. He couldn't write pick up the topic, but they seemed to nod before walking off. Maki waved his hand towards his friend and Fuma gave him a warm smile. "Hirota-kun — are you and Harua-chan doing okay?"

"We're managing — well, we haven't burnt anything yet, so that's good enough," Maki responded with a chuckle. "You look busy."

"Well, one of the other exchange students in another class has decided to help our class, seeing as he has nothing to do with his class," Fuma answered. "Nicholas is a good kid, so I trust him. He's off with Nakakita-kun and Takayama-kun to assemble the stands inside the gym."

"It really seems like you're friends with everyone, Murata-san," Maki hummed as he stuffed his hands into his pockets.

Fuma only laughed in return. "I'm not really friends with everyone — but being class captain really makes it seem that way. I am your friend, though — and I'm glad you've settled in."

"It's a work in progress..."

"I spoke with our teacher and he can see that you're not as violent as the report said you were," Fuma continued. "Even though I'm technically monitoring you, I told them that we can trust you a lot more than we think — especially because you helped Harua-chan."

Maki smiled as he shrugged. "It was only decent of me."

"Ah, that reminds me — class D's Sanganomiya Himiko wants to have a word with you. She didn't mention the urgency of it, but told me to ask you whenever I saw you. She's in the gym preparing with her class, so take a moment when you can."

Maki nodded, bowing his head slightly as Yuma walked off with a wave of his hand. Maki's expression darkened — he knew exactly why Himiko was calling him — which would explain the strange note he had gotten in his locker two days before. He sighed, continuing his walk down the corridor. "There should be bathrooms this side as well..."