What Are You Doing Here?

The weekend snuck up and so did Miyo's realization of the state of her apartment.

Dishes piled up, trash had not been taken out, and clothes flung over her furniture.

Her first time having people over and it finally dawned on her that her place was not the neatest.

The entire Saturday morning, Miyo spent her time making sure her place was presentable. Not a speck of dust was found... at least not in her bathroom or living room.

Miyo looked between the time, the disarray of her room, and her mostly empty fridge. I don't have the time to clean my room and get groceries before they get here... It's not like anyone would go in there anyway.

Without another thought, Miyo left to get groceries to prepare snacks for her guests.

-

The doorbell rang.

Miyo's hands froze mid-mix of her cookie dough. 

"Huh...?"

She glanced at the clock.

12:00pm.

"Wait. Already? It's too early."

A wave of panic filled her chest as she remembered her messy bedroom, the not ready food, and the confusion of who would be here at this time.

She hurried to close her bedroom door and then to the front door.

When Miyo opened the door, she paused.

"Akio?"

He stood there with a casual smile like it was the most normal thing.

"What are you doing here?" Miyo's voice was somewhere between confusion and defensiveness. "I thought we said at one?"

"We did." Akio shrugged lightly. "But if I'm trying to make it look like I'm interested in you then shouldn't I be here early?"

"You couldn't show up like ten minutes early?" She asked dryly.

"Showing up an hour early makes a better impression."

"It makes it a problem." She stepped more into the doorway as if trying to physically block him from seeing the inside. "I'm not ready."

Akio tried to look past her shoulder. "That bad?"

"I haven't had people over before. I want to make sure everything's perfect."

"It doesn't have to be perfect for it to be good, you know." He titled his head. "Besides, I'm on your side, remember? You're not trying to impress me so if you need help then let me help."

Silence fell between them for a moment before Miyo eventually sighed and stepped aside to let Akio in.

Akio stepped inside and neatly placed his shoes to the side. He carefully looked around the apartment from the entryway. "It looks fine to me, what's the issue?"

Miyo made her way back to the kitchen. "I haven't had time to finish everything I wanted to. I still need to make the food and clean the kitchen after. Then there's also my room that's still a mess..."

"Why would you be worried about your room?" A smirk teased his lips. "You planning to invite Shinichi in there?"

"What? No." Her voice came out squeakier than she expected. "I-I just don't want it to be messy."

"Right." Akio said, unconvinced. 

He then joined Miyo in the kitchen, rolling his sleeves. "So, what are we making?"

"We?"

"It'll go by quicker if we work together."

"Do you know how to cook?" 

"Of course I can. I cook every day."

She gave him a look that screamed she didn't believe him. "You do?"

"Is it that unbelievable?"

"You don't exactly look like someone that would cook."

"What do I look like then?"

"The type that lives off ramen noodles." 

He chuckled. "You're not completely wrong. I used to so I'll give you that, but I have to cook for my younger sister, so I picked it up over time." 

"Oh. I didn't know you had a sister."

"Yeah. She started high school last year and stays with me for a closer commute." He let out a dramatic sigh. "But it's rough having to make all those meals. I swear she eats more than me."

A smile tugged at Miyo's lips. "It's nice you take care of her."

"Of course I would. She's my sister. Besides, I want her to have a good high school experience..." 

Miyo couldn't help but wonder why his tone carried such heaviness.

"But anyway, I'm quite confident in my cooking skills." He continued. "I have a tough customer to please, so I had to get good."

"I assume you're good at onigiri then?"

He smirked. "Naturally. What kind?"

Miyo took out a jar. "Pickled plum. I also have some flower furikake that I thought were cute and would match the spa client's floral theme." She glanced at the cookie dough. "The rice should be a good temperature now if you could help start the onigiri. I need to get the cookies in the oven."

Akio watched her as she spoke, a small smile forming. "You really put a lot of thought into this."

"It's really not much." She chuckled awkwardly. "I just thought it would be nice if the food somewhat reflected the client's products since that's what we're testing today..."

"Well let's get started."

The two of them worked side by side. Miyo cutting the cookie dough into flower shapes and Akio filling and molding the rice.

Once Miyo put the cookies in the oven, she helped Akio with the onigiri, though her shapes weren't as neat as Akio's.

Akio noticed her struggle and leaned slightly closer. "Here, try shaping your hands like this." His hands wrapped around hers as he helped guide her. 

The warmth of his hand caught Miyo off guard. "Thank you..." She tried shaping the onigiri the way Akio showed her and it came out better than the ones before, her face brightened at the sight. "It looks much better."

"It looks perfect." He gave her a small teasing wink.

By the time they made enough onigiri and cleaned the kitchen, the cookies were ready to be taken out and let cool. 

Miyo's face beamed at how perfect the cookies looked. "I'm so glad they came out well."

"Sakura cookies? Continuing with the flower theme I see. What else do you have planned?"

She opened her cabinets and took out some tea supplies. "I also have some sakura green tea that I'll brew."

Akio looked in the cabinet. "Wow you have so many different kinds of tea."

"I love trying different kinds of tea. Though, I'm more of a citrus fan than a floral fan though."

The doorbell rang.

They both glanced between the clock and the door.

12:50pm.

"Oh, they must be here."

"You go ahead and brew the tea. I'll get the door." Akio turned to the door.

Miyo nodded as she started on the tea. "Thank you."

-

Out in the hall, Shinichi and Kenta waited for the door to open.

Shinichi turned to Kenta. "Remember, I need to get a moment alone with this Akio guy to figure out his intentions with Miyo. You try and see how she feels about him."

"I don't know... " Kenta ran a hand through his hair. "I barely know Sanada-san. It would be super weird to talk to her about that sort of thing. Besides, I'm more concerned about how much Akio knows about you and us. He's probably the one that helped her take you home that one night. Who knows what you might've said or what he might've seen."

Shinichi placed his hand on Kenta's shoulder. "I'm sure we can find a way to find out if he knows anything and make sure he isn't some creep bothering Miyo."

Just then, the door opened.

Akio leaned against the door frame; eyebrows raised at them.

Shinichi quickly withdrew his hand, his eyes narrowing at the sight of Akio opening Miyo's door. "What are you doing here?"