Hate To Love You... (Hawks/Keigo Takami x Reader)

Chapter 10

Smiling softly to myself, I lean against the kitchen counter flicking through my social media page as I wait for the pork loin steaks to cook. Waiting to cook the meat off before I sear it off in the pan, the rice steaming away in the rice cooker. A large bowl of freshly made salad sitting in the middle of the dining table, a pair of tongs beside it, awaiting to be pulled apart to be added to our main dinner. My nails tapping against the counter as I begin to fill the plates with the freshly cooked rice. Three plates sat on the counter, waiting to be filled. One for my sister. One for me. One for Rumi.

From time to time, Rumi eats dinner with Amai and I instead of at home, alone, in her apartment. The Number Five Hero preferred to spend her time with us instead of being on her own. Besides, she wants to hear all of the gossip to keep up with everything and she, obviously, wants to hear all the juicy details of being Hawks' personal makeup artist. She's been texting me nearly every day, asking questions upon questions. She's even text Hawks! During our working hours!

Old habits die hard, I suppose...

As the oven timer goes off, I grab the pan and turn up the gas, setting the three steaks onto the pan. Searing them off, the meat hissing in the pan while I season them, the butter melting beside it and seeping into the tender meat. The delicious smell of pork flitting around the kitchen as I turn off the heat. Gently resting the meat on a plate before placing it on top of the rice, topping the meal off with a little sprinkle of herbs. My stomach already happily growling for the yummy dish before me.

"Mmm~ Something smells delicious!" Rumi exclaims excitedly as she licks her lips and sits down at the table, grinning toward me as I lay her dinner in front of her, "Mmm! Mmm! Mmm! This looks and smells amazing! I love you, (Y/n),"

"I love you too, Rumi," I reply as I set Amai's dinner on the table, sitting down at my place to eat, "Oi! Dinners ready!"

"Don't you 'oi' me, you bitch," my sister grumbles as she walks in and sits down at the table, her phone in hand as she looks at her schedule, cursing under her breath as she realises she has to conduct a spin class for her colleague who's ill, "This smells amazing, (Y/n),"

"Thanks," I hum, smiling toward the two girls who happily dig into their meal, humming in delight as they engulf the pork loin steak on the plate. Hungrily, I cut open the pork and begin to chew up the delicious tenderness while Rumi grabs a big chunk of the salad from the centre to put onto her plate, "Hungry, Rumi?"

"God, yeah, I could eat a horse," Rumi says with a grin, scoffing down the salad with hungry intent, cooing toward Angel who sits happily by our feet, waiting for us to feed her some food (although I've already fed her!), "So~ Miss Personal Makeup Artist~ How's working for the biggest dick in the universe?"

"Better than I expected," I reply with a small smile, taking a mouthful of rice as Rumi leans over her meal to listen intently, grinning toward me as I move my rice around the place, playing with it, "He's still a dick but he's not as bad as what he was in high school, he's apologised for what he's done... so that's a positive,"

"He apologised, is the Takami Keigo capable of such things?" My sister asks, incredulously, almost in disbelief as she gawks toward me with wide eyes, dropping her chopsticks onto the table with a clatter for effect, "Oh my god, did you slip something into his drink?"

"Keigo isn't that bad, I promise you," Rumi says with a giggle, the girl has worked with him longer than I have, so she knows the winged male more than I do (despite me knowing him for longer), "You know how boys can be when they like someone,"

Upon hearing that, I almost choke on my drink of water, spitting the mouthful back into the cup as I stare at Rumi. Is she serious?! How, on a God's Grace of an Earth, would Keigo Takami like me like that? It's not possible. He made my high school life miserable. You don't do that if you like someone.

She had to be joking.

Amai tilts her head as she looks toward Rumi, absolutely confused. Leaning her chin on her hand, the confusion merging into a feeling of wonder and almost intrigued. Just as interested as I was. Wanting to know how, when we knew how Keigo was, he liked me. Maybe it was a joke. Rumi always likes to crack a couple now and then.

"What do you mean by 'it's what boys do'?" My sister asks cautiously, leaning toward the sun kissed female who shrugs and takes a bite out of the lettuce from the salad, "Rumi, do you know something?"

"I may know something," Rumi says with a small, wry grin. The sound of lettuce crunching against her teeth filling the pregnant silence between us. She's joking. Of course, she is. My sister arching a brow as Rumi plays with her food, "After all, Keigo talks to me a lot,"

"So you're saying that he likes her?" My sister asks, pointing her chopsticks toward me as I silently nitpick at my food, my mind whirring a thousand miles per minute, "You got to be kidding, right?"

"I'm not kidding, Keigo talks about her all the time," Rumi replies, giggling as I gawk at her, there's no way he would. Why would he? There was nothing to say about me, "He absolutely adores you,"

"Did he pay you to do this?" Amai asks, jabbing her chopsticks in Rumi's direction, her eyebrow twitching in frustration as Rumi giggles at her, "Because if this is a joke, it isn't funny,"

"I'm being serious, why else would he be a dick toward you? He likes you," Rumi says, close to bursting into a fit of laughter as I shake my head in disbelief. There's no way that would happen. Not in a million years. A small sigh leaving my lips, "He apologised, didn't he? That shows he's willing to change for you,"

"He doesn't like me like that, so there's no point dwelling on it," I reply softly, gulping silently as I finish my meal, my appetite lost during the conversation, "He's just being polite, that's all. We're making light out of a bad situation and instead of arguing, we're rolling with it... doesn't mean he likes me,"

"You obviously don't know Hawks like I do," Rumi replies with a shrug, setting the chopsticks on her empty plate, settling for grabbing the remaining slices of cucumber with her hands instead, taking a bite out of the food, "You'll see it yourself, soon enough, trust me,"

"She's not dating him," Amai says bluntly, shaking her head as she puts her chopsticks down, "After what he put her through, he can fuck off,"

"He's not that bad, Amai," Rumi says with a small laugh, defending her friend, defending her colleague, her partner in crime. Trying to hold a laugh as Amai glares at her, "He wants to have fun, it's harmless,"

"Really? Was it harmless when she came home crying everyday?" Amai asks, growing increasingly agitated, slamming her hand on the table as she stands up and glares at Rumi, "Was it harmless when he stole the bracelet that our grandmother gave to her so she could remember dad?!"

"Amai, please," I groan, rubbing my temple as I look toward my sister (anyone would think she was the one bullied), "I don't want any bad blood between us, we started fresh... sure, that doesn't mean everything he did just disappears but I don't wanna think about it. I don't want to get back into that rut... okay? So can we please stop talking about him...."

Amai couldn't believe it when I told her I forgave him. She almost lost it. She refused to forgive him like I did (she doesn't need to). Amai was protective. It wasn't unknown... But being a makeup artist was my dream. It's not like I was friends with him. We were just working with one another. Not like I was sleeping with him or anything. We were just working. Nothing more.

Why Amai needed to make a fuss was beyond me.

"Fine," Amai says, through the skin of her teeth, sitting back down and leaning back against the chair, "His name isn't allowed to be spoken in this house, don't wanna hear his hero or his real name,"

"Yes Amai,"...

"You're being way too protective,"...