inordertobelieve

That's fortunate.

[He'll assume that Teru's assessment there is correct. It's not as though he's committed this stuff to memory, considering his non academic work load]

It'll make carrying things less cumbersome. [They do still have their uni books, after all.]

Have you made it before?

Once, but it's been a long while ago in home economics class. I'm confident it will turn out fine, though. I'm going to be careful.

[ He's not exactly a master chef, but he's able to follow recipes quite well. ]

[That gets a soft kind of laugh.]

So you're planning on cooking alone, huh? I suppose that would free up some time for me to finish some work for the case....

[Shaking his head slightly:]

Matsuda-san's productivity leaves residual work to do as usual.

[ On cue, Teru rolls his eyes when Matsuda is mentioned. He has only met the man so many times, but he sympathizes with Light's struggle immediately. ]

Since you're the person being celebrated, I figured it would be natural for me to do the preparations.

[ Not that he would really say no to Light cooking with him - a frivolous thought, when he knows that doing work is so much more of a priority, of course. But it's nice to do it together. ]

[The smirk from before is gentler after a moment.]

You really are spoiling me at this rate.

[Never mind the fact that he's technically the primary source of income for thm at the moment.]

I don't mind helping. You'll be helping me out later anyway.

[ Immediately, excitement floods Teru again. He feels elated, electrified even, knowing that he'll be able to contribute to God's mission in such a direct way. To think that only a year ago, he'd not known how happy he could be... ]

That is hardly effort though. I'm looking forward to doing it.

So I take it I'll hear no complaints about hand cramps later then.

[Though intended as a joke, Light recognizes a split second late that it was in poor taste.]

I'm glad I can trust you with this.

[ Mentally Teru is about halfway through protesting 'I work in an office job, you know' but then that dies on his tongue. ]

Of course you can. I'm always at your service.

[ .. ah, this is a weird thing to say in public. Though it's not like anyone is truly listening in on them walking down a street. ]

But more talk of this tonight.

[The excessive formality and ease of that sentiment gets a raised eyebrow.]

Do stop, you'll make me blush.

[He will do no such thing, but hearing these overtly romantically based things said this casually in public as they're surrounded by people on on the streets on either side of them on their way to the grocery store feels more off than the murder innuendos.]

Talk to me about something else. Are you and Takada-san still sharing general classes together?

Only one, this semester. We haven't been talking a lot recently, but she initiates small talk once in a while...

[ The reason for this distance is of course Light's absence, but there is no need to spell it out. Avoiding questions had become too much of a hindrance and Teru found it easier to just isolate himself entirely. ]

She appears to be doing well. Apparently she's met someone in the news-casting branch who might turn out to be valuable contact for her future career.

[This gets a fractional smile.]

That sounds like seiso-Takada, alright. Making connections early with the right people. [A beat.] Admittedly, those times we talked together as a group were fond early college memories.

[Even if it did get awkward at times between her attraction to one or both of them. But again.. halcyon days only in retrospect.]

I wonder if trying to replicate those times would be a mistake.

[ Teru pauses, trying to figure out an appropriate way to reply to this comment. He doesn't want to talk about Takada's concealed nosiness and he doesn't want to think about the looks she'd be giving Light. ]

I doubt anything can be replicated that easily. A lot has happened for us and even if it were the same, it might not feel that way.

[ One part of his mind loses debate with another here, so he adds: ]

We can certainly go to have a coffee with her sometime though. I imagine there is a lot happening in her life she'd like to catch us up on.

[ And the reverse, but they wouldn't be as forthcoming. ]

She is very talkative, yes. [A beat and a correction:] No. Rather she's very opinionated around the right people.

[There are girls, after all, who do nothing but talk ears off. He spares a single distant thought for a certain blonde idol and her annoying shinigami. To Takada's credit, she was always a class above Misa.]

But you're right. It's foolish to think the past can really be replicated. [Daily reminders of that should've beaten this out of him really, but in the spirit of nostalgia it'd seemed pleasant in theory.] I expect she'll want to know if I owed the yakuza some money.

[At the very least, he does superficialy seem more amused than not. Teru might see through that one though.]

Edited 2017-03-27 05:27 (UTC)

[ Teru shoots Light a short silent glance before he responds to that. The bitterness is certainly not lost on him. ]

That's a discredit to her people judgement... and I'd like for her to not prove me wrong on that front.

[ Vague optimism.....

It's welcome that they're reached the nearby grocery store at this point. Soon aisles and aisles of mundane products will distract them from gloomy reflection. ]

I don't have the same confidence about all kinds of remarks, however.

[Light's tone doesn't change.]

True, she's likely to be more discreet. It's not as though I can fault her for basic human curiosity. That is her planned future career when it comes down to it.
[They make a right and enter the store. It's a slow-ish business hour in the afternoon, and the store is mostly populated with housewives and small children buying their evening meal.

An underpaid store greeter wearing a pink uniform bows and welcomes them inside with forced enthusiasm. Light simply inclines his head in passing and picks up a shopping basket. It's not as though they have many purchases to make or heavy ones at that.]

Still, as they say. Don't burn bridges that needn't be destroyed.

Thinking about it, I'd be surprised if she didn't approach you out of own volition now that you're back around - might as well accept her invitation to coffee then and see how it goes.

[ He steps over to the fruit selection at the grocery store's entrance, eyes glancing over the displayed pears for the brand that they bought last time, because Teru is nothing if not a creature of habit. ]

[Light sets the basket down and picks out a particularly round looking pear. In the back of his mind, he can practically hear the word "juicy" which causes him to frown and set the fruit back down.]

Does she know, by the way?

[About us being together, he means. Not that it makes a difference, but he'd rather not be caught off guard by it being potentially brought up either.]

[ Seeing that Light is apparently dissatisfied with that specific pear, Teru will just point towards the familiar brand with a questioning look. Out loud, he continues the pear-unrelated conversation. ]

She may have a hunch, but she's never asked and I saw no reason to update her on private matters.

[Light snags one of the pears Teru is pointing at, and spins the fruit in his hand to quickly glance over for any bruises or defects. While he talks, he gently tosses the pear up a few centimeters into the air and catches it again neatly in his open palm.]

For the best. I don't see why it'd have to be any different.

[More carefully he puts the pear in the basket and picks them both up.]

I know it isn't pear season nown, but 270 yen... what's next?

Green tea. Then salt.

[ Neither of these things take especially long to grab - the movements are as routinized as can be when one needs these household items on a daily basis. Teru flies by the shelves, dropping both into Light's basket as he goes. ]

Toilet paper, now.

Mm.

[They make their way over to that section of the store, passing by a frazzled looking middle aged woman and a screaming toddler. Light makes no eye contact, and instead mutters a barely audible noise of disapproval.

They reach the aisle with toilet paper, but perhaps to Teru's dismay, the usual brand is out of stock. What's present however is: this and this. Light merely raises an eyebrow at Teru when he sees this is the case.]

[ Teru stares silently for a moment, then he mutters to himself: ]

This is absurd...

[ He's never in his life seen a more bizarre arrangement of toilet paper for sale. What would even cause the usual to go out of stock like this? He hasn't heard about any diarrhea waves in town, certainly. ]

That can't be all.

[ He says this full of determination and pushes two packages of Hello Kitty aside, absolutely unwilling to face the horror. Why is there so much Hello Kitty here anyway?

In the end, nothing much surfaces except for one single lone package of this. The only effect it has on Teru is to make the other two look a little more harmless.

In silence, he restacks the Hello Kitty packages and in silence he reaches out for the purple brand. He's a broken man. ]

[Light's eyebrow remains raised throughout this whole process, somehow torn between amusement and annoyance. Out of all the available choices, the purple brand is the least offensive, but it's still slightly ridiculous. Spoken with notable incredulity:]

I'm not sure which is more disturbing. The fact that we're actually buying this or the fact that the one printed with lips was apparently popular enough to be close to sold out.

[ Part of Teru just wants to suggest checking for normal toilet paper at another store, but he realizes that this is more effort than this ultimately trivial matter deserves. ]

People have a very juvenile sense of humor.

[ With the tone he says it in, you'd think it was a federal offense. ]

[Well, with the purple toilet paper now soon to be an imminent reality of their daily lives for a short while, Light merely looks at the roll in Teru's hand and mentally shakes his head.]

Is that a change you'd like to see for the future? No more ridiculous toilet paper?

[His tone isn't serious, though he doesn't sound overtly amused either.]

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