Work Text:
Confectionaries
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Mamoru learned.
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That Igawa had known more.
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More about his future from Haruka, but he remained still.
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In the end it was Mamoru himself who slowly realized his future with Haruka when she grew up every year.
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It was Sierra who dropped every little hint about Haruka constantly blushing when he couldn't even see her reddened face. Many people had commented on her beauty, which he had predicted, but could not admire for himself. A shame really, though viewing her contours was more than enough for him.
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Once Igawa and him had overheard Juliett complaining to Haruka that the girl had no talent in applying make-up to her face. The girl quietly answered she never wore make-up on daily basis.
"I'm sure she's fine without," Mamoru said with much indifference.
"It's not like you can see her!" Juliett argued.
He had shrugged.
It was the truth, and something about that truth made Igawa laugh.
"Oh Haruka-chan, you're so cute~."
"Shu-shut up, Igawa-san!"
Mamoru couldn't understand the reason behind his amusement and why Haruka kept on stuttering that day to him; he blamed that on being an insider's joke.
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Though when they had started to practice kendo, he had caught a whiff of a sweet scent of perfume, and halted her wavering whack to the head with his hand.
"Mamoru-san?"
"Hm."
He bent down near her ear and could feel her shiver next to him. The scent was extremely sweet, almost caught between the point of being pleasant and sickening, but he could handle anything of that matter.
"...is that strawberry?" he asked.
"....what?"
He could see her mouth dropping slightly. Interesting. Mamoru knew the fact of that she happened to use scents vigorously on her body, but never knew about the fact she didn't use make-up. When he was able to see back in the day, women and even girls like Haruka used lipstick and of that sort to attract the attention of men. Although he'd have no idea why Haruka did it the other way around. On top of that it was dangerous for her to even have it in her mind to get a boyfriend anytime soon. As a guardian he would have to disapprove of such an act, and now he was glad she did not do that.
"Never mind."
He heard Haruka sigh.
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After the training Mamoru asked her to accompany him to the bakery and chocolaterie around the corner. Her first reaction was confusion, but in the end she complied. It wasn't every day that he would take her out in the open, but she enjoyed every moment when they did.
Today was different. She wasn't exactly keen about both Igawa and Sierra subtly letting on something he shouldn't have known; it made her regret that she had ever let them in on that extremely embarrassing part.
After all, Haruka was most afraid that Mamoru caught onto something. Besides having a thick skull he was also extremely observant in a way beyond his disability. When he stopped her bokuto's swing to the head and mentioned 'strawberry' as he leaned down a little bit too close to her face it made her insides tingle.
Mamoru quit the training when he noticed she had turned into a puddle of goo and complained that she could have been pretty darned good if it hadn't been for her poor concentration every time they attempted to go for the next level. He commented that it had been easier to train her when she was a younger teen and wondered out loud what happened to her.
Haruka quit the training when she stuck out her tongue and said to stop annoying her. It took all of her patience to not answer to his question with one word.
Puberty.
Now he had dragged her to the bakery, next to the chocolaterie.
A friendly-looking woman in her fifties welcomed them.
"Welcome, nice to see you again!"
Again. Haruka wasn't surprised he came her almost every week. He had brought in all kinds of baked goods into the house since the day they moved in. It was crazy.
"Is that your girlfriend? She's pretty," she eyed the girl, who flushed a bright red shade.
"What do you want?" Mamoru bluntly asked Haruka, completely ignoring what the woman said.
"Eh?"
He sighed.
"Cake."
"Well, we have chocolate, banana, caramel, vanilla..." The woman smiled, slightly unsure what to make of Mamoru's reaction.
"Strawberry."
Haruka flinched at his choice and looked away.
"Anything else?"
Mamoru was thinking briefly, and then turned his head to where she was standing.
"Haru....na, get some chocolate next door."
He shoved some money into her hand.
"Sure," she said and fled out of the bakery and then into the chocolaterie, thinking it was extremely embarrassing. She ordered chocolate, making sure she didn't get anything that contained strawberries or those cute heart-shaped ones. In a different timeline she'd definitely ordered that, but with the way Mamoru was it couldn't be that.
When she left the store, she saw Mamoru sitting at a table in front of the bakery. The same woman approached him and served him two dishes.
"Well, what are you waiting for?"
A wordless Haruka simply stared at the waffles when she sat down in the chair next to him. Haruka couldn't believe he ordered waffles topped with strawberries, whipped cream and chocolate paste.
"What did you order?" Mamoru asked as he picked into a strawberry with a small fork.
"Truffles, pralines and black chocolate," she scowled.
Mamoru promptly dropped his fork with the strawberry still attached to it.
"Are you kidding me?"
"No."
He picked up the fork and proceeded to eat, but stopped when she didn't do the same.
"Eat up."
"I'm not a dog."
"A very stubborn dog."
"Shut up."
She decided to eat that damn thing.
"Mamoru, about last week's flavor…" She asked halfway the waffle.
"Cinnamon."
"Right," Haruka was remembering last week's perfume and cut a strawberry diligently into pieces to his dismay, "Is it just me, or are you trying to cheer me up?"
"What if I am?"
"No way…"
Mamoru pieced his divided waffle back together.
"I can't think of any reason why you do well working and training with the likes of Igawa, Juliett and so on… and fail miserably with someone like me. If you had been keeping up like when we started three years ago you would have-"
"I know, I know! It's my fault, I'm sorry. Please don't worry about that!" She apologized.
"Then what am I supposed to do? Sit back and do nothing? I'm not stupid," he retorted.
"…"
"Be honest. This is just my guts telling me… but is this about what the others have been going on about earlier? Is that why you're uncomfortable around me?"
"I don't feel uncomfortable around you."
"Stop lying Haruka. In combat training you have Juliett and Sierra, and Igawa's a technician, which leaves only me."
She sighed and smiled a little.
"It's really okay. I wasn't aware this was bothering you so much, I'll do my best next time."
Mamoru adjusted his shades up his nose, not completely convinced.
"If it's not Mamoru, then I wouldn't," she grinned.
"What?"
"Just kidding!"
"In that case… let's finish this and go home," he decided, even though he didn't know what she was trying to imply. He'd found out sooner or later anyway.
Haruka nodded and took a bite from her strawberry.
The end.