Food For Thought - Chapter 3: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Dessert After Midnight)

Food for Thought - Chapter 3: Gimme! Gimme! Gimme! (A Dessert After Midnight)

Chapter 1 | Chapter 2

Summary: You often wonder why you feel so alone even when you spend time with other people. An outsider even in a packed room. But a chance work project with Urahara Kisuke provides a strange comfort... so strange that you continue to spend time with him after your project is over.

CW: self-esteem issues, kissing, alcohol consumption, embarassment

Read on AO3 here.

Monday scaries were very real to you. As your alarm rang, you rushed through your apartment trying to get ready. Thankfully your commute wasn’t long, and you were at your desk in no time.

You weren’t the first one in the office, but as others trickled in, you nodded to them as you began to focus on your work for today.

“How was your weekend?” Hanatarou asked innocuously.

“My weekend,” your brain flashed at the thought of you making out with Kisuke yesterday, your face heating up in the process. “Um, well, it was fine! Nothing new or exciting” you laughed nervously.

Hantarou nodded, “sometimes you need those weekends. I had the same as well.” You thanked the heavens that Hanatarou minded his own business, as he got into his own work for the day.

The two of you, and the rest of your unit, were so engrossed in work. You were absorbed with your analyses and debugging that you didn’t realize it was lunchtime already. You glanced at your phone and saw a text from Kisuke. Sighing deeply, you closed your phone; you weren’t ready to face him.

But your stomach growled as you went back to your work. It was no use working on an empty stomach. You peered over your cubicle and whispered, “Hanatarou, why don’t we have lunch together?” To which he nodded. The two of you went to a place he preferred to eat at.

Kisuke frowned as he saw that you didn’t read his message. Lunch was ticking away, and you didn’t respond.

You were ignoring him.

As Kisuke left his office, he wandered through the halls to the balcony overseeing some of the other units, where he noticed you and another employee. He narrowed his eyes as you were laughing at something your companion had said.

Kisuke didn’t like the relaxed look on the man’s face. Or the way you were at ease around the man. Kisuke walked back to his office, his computer screen mirroring yours as he looked through your files. He set an alarm on his phone for a few hours from now, as he went back to his project.

You got out of your seat and stretched your back, sighing as you saw the time, 2:30… still have some ways to go. You wondered about getting a coffee to stretch out your legs.

“There you are,” your body tensed as you turned around, Kisuke at the entrance to your unit, “I texted you, but you didn’t respond.” He sheepishly laughed.

You could see some of your coworkers’ gaze curiously at him and then back at you.

No, no, no! I don’t want this attention. You began to panic. “I didn’t see it, sorry – I had lunch with Hanatarou today.” Hanatarou nodded his head politely at Kisuke, before returning to his work, his headphones blasting music.

“I didn’t text about lunch,” Kisuke smiled, playing it cool. Your face got warmer as you fished for your phone. His text to you was sincere, “I hope you have a good day today. Yesterday was fun. Hope we can talk sometime later in the day.”

And now you feel guilty. Why am I avoiding him?

“I came by asking if you wanted some coffee?”

Without saying a word, you grabbed your things and pushed him out into the hallway. Kisuke grinned as he held your hand. You shook his hand from yours as the two of you made your way towards the elevators. You were frazzled by his appearance, but didn’t say anything, looking at the ground away from him. Your face felt hot again as memories of yesterday flooded your mind.

But the ding of the elevator snapped you back to reality. You were on autopilot as you pushed the down button – Kisuke was talking, but you weren’t registering what he was saying.

“You didn’t answer my question,” he laughed.

“Huh? Sorry, what was it?” You asked, confused.

“Let’s date.” He gave a sly smile, leaning down. Your heart raced as you tried to comprehend what he just said. Date? Me?! No way. Nope. Nope.

“That’s not a question.” You blurted out. But before he could respond, the elevator pinged opened, and you quickly jumped in.

Unfortunately for Kisuke, but fortunately for you, other people had the same idea of leaving the building for a break. People were chatting away as the elevator dinged along, while you and Kisuke stood next to each other in silence.

Once the elevator reached ground level, you immediately rushed through and quickly walked as Kisuke tried to catch up to you. He frowned that you weren’t looking at him – he had to change his plan.

“I have another recipe I want to try.”

“I don’t believe you.” You remarked, still refusing to look at him. You bolted into the coffee shop, with Kisuke fast behind you.

As you stood in line, you felt guilt welling up inside you. Kisuke was trying to talk to you, and for all intents and purposes, he probably was as flustered as you. Shouldn’t you give him a chance?

You took a deep breath, the line slowly moving in front of you. You turned to Kisuke, “let’s talk more once we grab our drinks, ok?”

“Alright, but I’m paying.”

You couldn’t say no to that.

The two of you walked to a parkette near the office. It was a big enough space that people can pass freely through, and it gave you enough space to talk freely in private. You sipped your drink as Kisuke drank his. No words spoken between you two as you stared at the small fountain in the centre of the park.

“So… what’s this recipe you wanna try this time?” You asked, giving him a glance.

“How do you feel about oyakodon?” Kisuke asked, taking another sip.

Your eyes immediately lit up, “it’s one of my favourites!”

Kisuke gave a small smile as he saw your reaction, “it’s mine too, actually.” He lied.

“I’m more than happy to teach you then.” You gave a shy smile, “just no… funny business, ok?”

“Funny business? What do you mean?” He teased, inching closer towards you. Your body felt warm again, as you struggled with the different thoughts racing through your mind.

He’s just being a jerk.

But what if he isn’t lying?

No one really likes me.

And with that thought, you didn’t notice you gave a sad smile. Kisuke frowned.

Your mind raced and drifted between your insecurity and hope. “Do you want to come over Saturday or Sunday next weekend?” You asked.

“Let’s do Saturday, I’ll bring the groceries again.” Kisuke gave a small smile.

“You can just buy the chicken, I already have the other ingredients.” You said, making a note in your phone – this time you won’t be surprised.

You knew you should head back to the office, but you wanted to stay with him some more. “I can’t stay for long, so I’m gonna go back up.”

Kisuke nodded, a lazy smile on his face, “don’t keep me waiting tomorrow” he teased.

What happened next surprised him – you gave him a quick goodbye kiss on the cheek and dashed back inside. He lightly touched the spot where your lips were, a blush growing across his face. For once he was shocked, surprised even – what a curious woman he thought.

You felt flushed and anxious as you went back to your cubicle. You chugged your coffee as you quickly skimmed your emails and work messages. No, you totally didn’t kiss Kisuke goodbye, nope. It was just you slipping forward and your lips coincided with his cheek.

Your face got hotter after realizing what you had done. You quickly reached for your phone, typing an apology to him, but you stopped typing as you saw him typing something.

“Next time, you can greet me with a kiss too” he texted, a laughing emoji followed.

Your face had never felt this hot before. You decided to turn off your phone and go back to work.

After work, you agreed to grab drinks with Rangiku and whoever she could wrangle to join for a Monday night bar run. With what had transpired during your afternoon break, you wanted a drink to ease your nerves. You sat with her in a booth, a few glasses between you two, as the two of you watched Izuru and Shuhei from the Legal and Compliance division play a drinking game.

Maybe I should ask Rangiku about what I should do you thought to yourself.

You took a large sip of your drink, the alcohol burning your throat.

“Woah, not like you to drink that much that quickly!” Rangiku commented.

“I have a question –“ you felt a bit lightheaded, but kept going, “and if it’s personal, don’t answer it.” You took another large gulp of your drink.

Rangiku’s eyes widened, and then she gave a sly smile, “what do you wanna know?”

“How long did it take for you and your partner to have your first kiss.”

Rangiku blinked at the question, then gave a hearty laugh.

“I’m serious!”

“I know, I know!” She said, fanning herself, “it’s just a cute question.”

You remained silent, waiting for her to answer.

“I think it just… happened?” She shrugged her shoulders. “There wasn’t a particular thing we were doing, there wasn’t anything special we had done” she said, her eyes softening. “We were just in my apartment watching a movie and I thought how lucky I was to have someone who made me so happy” Rangiku giggled, “and it didn’t help that he’s so handsome.” She lowered her voice, a gentle smile on her face as she reminisced, “I just gave him a big kiss then.”

“How long did it take you to kiss him?”

“My, my, is there someone you want to kiss?” Rangiku teased.

“NO!” You shouted, getting the attention of Izuru and Shuhei, you gave a nervous laugh.

Rangiku raised her eyebrows, but was too curious to stop, “you can tell me…”

You downed the remaining alcohol in your glass, coughing from the burn, all the alcohol you consumed was finally hitting you at full force, “yes – I like kissing him a lot.” You mumbled, mishearing her question.

“Who?”

But the alcohol was too much for you at this point. You couldn’t focus on Rangiku or her question, the room felt like it was spinning. Rangiku frowned and immediately called a ride home for you.

Rangiku was surprised you held in your alcohol for the duration of the ride. You seemed, content, staring off out the window of the car. She didn’t press further about who your crush was, but she also couldn’t hold back her curiosity.

Thankfully your home wasn’t far from the bar. She kept you close, worried you would stumble around.

“Does he know you like kissing him?” Rangiku asked as the two of you approached your unit.

“No… he probably thinks I don’t like him.” You mumbled; your eyes began to water.

“Why don’t you tell him you like him?” She asked, helping you take off your shoes.

“’s too hard…” you muttered, “He probably doesn’t like me…”

Rangiku sighed loudly, “I wish you saw yourself the way me, and this lucky guy, sees you.” She gave you a tight hug, petting your hair. “Sometimes you’re your own worst enemy.” She scolded, dragging you to your bedroom.

“Fine… fine,” you grumbled as you reached for your phone.

Your eyes were getting heavy and tired, but luckily Kisuke was still at the top of your messages. Rangiku could only watch as you mumbled and typed something into your phone, then fall over into your bed.

Rangiku gently smiled as she tucked you in, “I hope you dream of your lover boy.”

You woke up to the sound of birds chirping and an incredibly dry mouth. You jolted out of bed, feeling the immediate rush of pain.

You remembered drinking with Rangiku, and her helping you home. You grabbed your phone to thank her for last night.

But the colour of your face drained when you saw what you had texted last night.

“I really, really like kissing you.”

“A LOT.”

Kisuke Urahara had read your messages.

Thanks for your patience and to @worldsetfree for beta-reading this chapter! I hope you guys enjoy this :D.