17 Dinner Together

Reaching my apartment I opened the door and placed all the last minute items I bought from the supermarket. It included some spices that I didn't have and some extra ones since I was unsure which ones Mahiru was going to use. I began to change out of my uniform and wore a white shirt with some joggers.

*Ding Dong

I heard my door ring and opened it to let Mahiru into my apartment.

"Welcome to my humble abode. I made sure to clean up the entire place so that it won't look messy when you come over!" I smiled and carried the bags that Mahiru was holding with her.

"Why do you sound like a kid wanting to be praised by his parents.." Mahiru was deadpanned by my words and looked around the place. She seemed satisfied to see that my words were actually true.

"With the way you always nag me you certainly act like you were my mother." I responded back to her which earned me a quick glare. I placed all the items she brought into the kitchen and Mahiru began to look around for the cooking utensils.

"It looks like you used the pans before, that's a huge surprise for me." She gave an exaggerated face which irked me. She chuckled seeing my expression and began to cook dinner. While biting onto her hair tie she gathered her hair and tied it in a low ponytail and covered her body in a red apron. I stood by the counter across from her and admired the way she moved around the kitchen.

'Seeing her wear an apron really suits her well..' I thought to myself as watching her cook in it really suits her image.

"Are you just going to stand there and watch me cook this entire time?" Her words snapped me out of my thoughts as I saw her start staring at me.

"Don't mind me, I just want to see what magic you use to make such good food." She heard my words and after a while continued on with her cooking. Mahiru began cutting the ingredients she brought and I sat down by the table near the kitchen while watching a video of the practice match we had at Aoba Johsai.

I replayed certain parts of the video to see if I could have made a better move at this one moment and analyzed my passing form. I remembered how Nishinoya was able to platform his arms in a way that was able to cut the momentum off Kageyama's serve and I began to wonder if I could incorporate it into my own form thus improving my passing skills.

"What are you watching there? Was that the match you played a few days ago?." Deep in my thoughts I heard a faint voice behind me and a soft fragrance entered my nose. I turned around and saw Mahiru looking over my shoulder glancing at the video on my phone.

"Yeah, it's the practice game we had with Aoba Johsai. I wanted to look back and reflect on my actions during my match and what I could have done better during certain moments." I replied back to her turning my gaze back onto my phone. I tried to return my focus back onto the phone but feeling her presence behind me made it a bit hard for me to. Mahiru went back to the kitchen after watching for a bit.

A few minutes later Mahiru said that she was done cooking. Since setting the table was at least something I could do to assist her, I got up from the table and did so. When I got to the kitchen I saw a variety of dishes and began to slightly drool seeing the steam that came off some of them.

Both of us sat down on the table and in front of me was some miso soup, sesame spinach, a piece of miso salmon, rolled omelet and a bowl of white rice. I thanked her for the meal and began to eat. As I was eating the flavors of the miso sauce on the salmon was light and savory while the fish itself was tender and juicy. The miso soup had a clean and comforting flavor making me even more hungry for what's on the table. Getting the opportunity to eat an amazing meal like this was thanks to Mahiru.

"It's absolutely delicious Shiina. Thank you for cooking this." I gave a grateful smile to her, thanking her for making the meal.

As I was indulging myself before thanking her I wasn't able to realize the gaze she had on me. It had a mix of unease and nervousness since she was seeing someone in person try out her cooking. When she heard my thanks and compliments on her cooking she gave a small sigh of relief before giving a sweet gentle smile.

"Thank you for the compliment, I'm glad that you like it." Seeing the smile she gave I paused my eating. I started to think that I might have gotten full just by seeing that smile.

"Watanabe?" she saw me pause and I told her it was nothing and began eating again to distract myself from the slight embarrassment I felt seeing her smile.

"Haah I don't think I can taste any other food now. Take responsibility okay." I told her since I don't think I can go back once I tasted her home cooked meal.

"Hmm? For some reason I suddenly don't feel like cooking anymore, weird." She replied calmly, to which I denied quickly. I would be crazy if I were to go back from this. We continued to eat with a light tone between us and kept each other company.

***

"Do you want to have some tea?" I asked Mahiru as she sat down at the table while I was washing the dishes from the dinner we ate. She looked at me and raised an eyebrow.

"Will you be fine? just don't burn down the kitchen when you boil the water okay." She said lightly and turned back to the book she was reading. I looked at her and thought to myself 'does she really think I will cause an incident when I'm just boiling water?'. I shook my head in disbelief and got the kettle.

After a few minutes I brought back two cups of green tea and placed it down in front of her. I sat across from her and I had the sudden urge to tease her for what she said earlier.

"Do you need something? I can feel your stare from a mile away you know." Mahiru took her attention away from the book and glanced at me.

"Haaah no I was just thinking to myself I must have done something good recently to have a meal cooked by an angel." I gave an exaggerated sigh while I spoke. I saw her blush slightly and glare in my direction. Hehe plan successful.

"You.. I told you not to call me tha-" As she spoke she suddenly stopped and gave an ominous grin. I didn't like the look of that smile.

"You know that earlier today I heard something pretty interesting? That three students came over to the third year's classroom and one in particular got the attention of many people." She began to tell me a story with a big grin on her face.

"They found out that he was in the volleyball club and they seem to have made some names for him. Like "Prince of the Volleyball club" and "Volleyball Heartthrob". Oh there was also one calle-"

"Stooopp stopp! Don't say another one please, I'm dying of cringe." My face was red from embarrassment from hearing those names. Who the hell calls someone a "prince" and would anyone actually want to be called that. I drank my cup of tea and covered my face trying to erase the nicknames I heard from my head.

I was able to hear Mahiru giggle louder than usual and I made a note to myself not to say her nickname anymore unless I was ready to hear more of the awful nicknames I was also being given.

The end of their first dinner together ended with the sound of banter and laughter filling the house.

***

Mahiru is too cute in an apron. I may take a few days off since irl problems popped up. Dw I definitely won't drop. Peacu.