A Spice in Life (Shokugeki no Soma x Fem!Reader)

Chapter 29- Summer's End

(Name)'s POV

I wish I could say Ryou and I hit it off right away. That we clicked and went back to normal, if you could even consider our early bantering that.

But it wasn't that simple. Whenever the two of us were together, it wasn't uncommon for an awkward silence to befall us.

Take right now for example.

"...Is it that good?" Ryou asked, looking achingly out of place in his seat.

He had visited Seichōmura today to see Hibiki, a common occurrence nowadays, and the farmer had declared a sudden hunger for food and led us here to my family's restaurant.

It was both amusing and strange to see the boy in my house, and I was conflicted over how I should act.

Be nice, I told myself. Hibiki will be back in a few minutes once he's done doing his business.

I looked down at the food I was slurping down and realized how sloppily I was eating it. Whoops.

Placing down the (favorite food), I wiped my face with a napkin and cleared my throat. I straightened my back and placed the napkin on my lap, folding both hands over it before looking at the male across from me.

"...Yes, it is." I replied blandly.

I sweatdropped internally at my boring response and beat myself up for the lack of effort. An uncomfortable drop of sweat dripped down Ryou's face as well, and I decided to try again.

"Would you like some?" I held up the bowl/plate and offered it to him.

He should be honored I'm offering to share my precious (favorite food).

"Er, no thanks. It's yours." He waved his hand in front of him in refusal.

I shrugged and resumed my eating. More for me, then.

"Hey guys, I'm back! How are you two doing?" Hibiki approached with an expectant(?) grin, greeting us as if he'd just arrived and wasn't using the restroom only moments prior.

"Eyy, Hibi-kun, what took so long? Had to poo?" I asked jokingly, halting my feast.

Hibiki's ears flushed red as Ryou turned to me and frowned.

"Hey, don't tease him." Hibiki relaxed slightly at Ryou's words. "We all gotta sh*t at some point. It's natural--"

"I wasn't pooping!" Hibiki denied in embarrassment, and the two of us laughed at his dispense.

"H-hey..." Hibiki protested weakly, but his resolve seemed to fade at the sight of me and Ryou laughing together.

I wasn't the only one to realize this, apparently, when Ryou stopped and tried to pass his chuckles as coughs.

The two of us exchanged a look before I quickly dug back into my food and he stubbornly frowned at the wall to his right.

"Ryou."

The brunette looked up at the mention of his name, and I watched as his eye twitched in aggravation at the swear jar in Hibiki's hand.

"Where were you even keeping that!?"

"¥25, Ryou." Hibiki ordered, and the boy ruffled through his pockets before coming up empty.

"I don't--"

I pulled a coin out of my pocket and pressed it into his open palm. "You can pay me back later."

"Oh, no! I'm not taking your money!" Ryou tossed the coin back at me, and it hit my forehead before falling into my lap. "Last time you loaned me money, you charged me an insane interest rate!"