Silver's Effect

Ryoma

we were all three sweaty and panting by the time we heard my mom call out to us from the house.

"dinners ready!" she yelled and momo somehow managed to gain most of his energy back immediately.

clenching his fists he sprinted forward with the determination of a bull after a red cape.

i heard koyuki giggle a little before she scooped her phone and speaker up and put them in her pocket.

i glanced at her over my shoulder to make sure she was coming inside and noticed the smile on her face.

her cheeks were slightly flushed and she was sweaty so her hair was trying to stick to her face and neck; but what seemed to catch my attention the most was the fact that her eyes seemed to sparkle and shine more blue than usual.

a tightening in my chest made me look away as my cheeks felt warmer than they did a moment ago.

picking up my pace i got to the door before her and slid it open.

after stepping inside i waited until she was beside me to close it behind her. 

when i turned my attention from her i saw mom setting the table with a smirk as she watched us.

furrowing my brow i gave her a questioning look that she ignored before pointed to the kitchen sink and saying "go wash your hands, momo is already in the bathroom so i don't think there will be room for you two in there."

i nodded as koyuki smiled and turned to the sink at the same time i did.

when we got to the sink she turned the water on and i grabbed to little bottle of pump soap.

she held her hands out in a 'give me' sort of way and i couldn't help the chuckle that fell out as i pumped two squirts into her hands before doing the same for my own.

she was still smiling as she started to wash her hands all the way up to her elbows and i did the same.

once we were done i pulled a dish cloth from a nearby drawer and dried my hands before passing the small towel to her.

once done she refolded it and smiled as momo came in ready for food.

as we all went to the table i couldn't help but notice that mom and dad were already seated and momo was making his way to a seat at the end of the table leaving only three choices.

i sat beside momo with my mom in front of me and koyuki sat beside me in front of my dad so the other chair on the end was empty.

once we thanked mom for the food we started to fix our own plates. 

mom was asking all of us about school when koyuki leaned closer to me to grab a piece of fried fish from the plate in front of me.

the sweet smell of vanilla filled my nose as she laughed at something my dad said and leaned back to her seat, not noticing that i had momentarily frozen.

i blinked before shaking the fogginess that seemed to have settled over my brain away and continuing dinner, not noticing the knowing smirk that lite up my mom's face.

 once we had all finished dinner koyuki smiled and pulled my plate closer to her, picking it up she placed it on top of her own and started to gather the other empty dishes.

mom seemed to realize what she was doing before anyone else as she said "oh dear, you don't have to clean up! i can do that myself!"

koyuki shook her head with a charming smile and said "its fine, after all you cooked for me so the least i can do is the dishes!"

mom grinned before turning and asking "well why don't you help her ryoma? i think your dad wanted to play a match against momo tonight anyway."

i glanced at momo to see him already excited to play my dad before shrugging and taking the medium sized stack of dishes from koyuki and leading her back to the kitchen sink.

we set up the water to start washing them and she said "i'll wash if you want to rinse."

i just shrugged as we both set to work in a comfortable silence.

after a few minutes of quiet i heard her say quietly "thank you, by the way."

i looked down at her slightly confused as she continued "for letting me come over i mean. i had a lot of fun."

i smiled softly at her as i said "momo is the one who invited you."

she paused before saying "but you let him. if you didn't want me to come you would have said or done something to change my mind."

 i can't really argue with that, if i didn't want her here then i would have probably told her not to come.

why is it that she seems to bother me less than most other people?

she finished the last dish and i rinsed it and put it in the drain.

she let the water out and dried her hands before smiling and saying "well, i guess i need to go home now. have fun with momo!"

i was about to nod and go outside when mom came in with a small bag.

"her dear, i packed you some leftovers! just incase you get hungry later!" she said cheerfully.

koyuki smiled and took the bag while saying "thank you! dinner was delicious thank you for letting me eat with you all!"

moms smile grew and she said "any time! i hope you decide to come by for dinner again soon dear! oh, and let ryoma walk you home! it's not safe for a girl your age to be walking home alone in the dark!"

i blinked before looking down at koyuki to see a light blush dusting her cheeks as she said "i don't want to be a bother! its ok, really! im sure ryoma would prefer to go watch momo and his dad play!"

momo looked at me as i shrugged and said "i don't mind."

koyuki looked down before nodding her head slowly, as if giving in and saying "ok, thank you."