“Do you like hot cocoa, Mikan-senpai?”
Her eyes are glancing at her inquisitively. Mikan blushed, heat rising to her cheeks from where she sits by the window looking at the snow.
“I've never had it,” she admits, to which Junko raised her eyebrows.
“Never?” She asks her, before she shakes her head, seemingly coming to the answer herself. “Well, why don't we change that?”
Mikan blinked, as Junko hummed a tune as she marched to the school kitchen.
“Um… Junko-chan, I'm not sure we're allowed in there—”
Mikan started to rise, but a quick, sharp look from Junko froze her in place. “Nu-uh, missy, sit your cute butt back down,” she demanded, and Mikan squeaked, obeying with heat flaring even more to her reddened cheeks. “I'm making you hot cocoa, even if I have to break some rules to do it. Besides, I do this all the time—the cooks love me!”
“Um… I-If you're sure…”
“I am!” Junko grinned, hands on her hips, and Mikan sunk into her scarf, flushed. “Now, just wait a bit, okay? It'll be done soon!”
“Okay… Jun-chan…”
Junko smiled brilliantly, as fresh and white as the falling snow, and then turned on her heels back into the kitchen.
Mikan stared after her, for a moment. She could barely make out her form, busling in the kitchen. Then, with a sigh, she tugged at her scarf and went back to watching the snow falling.
She hated the outfit she was wearing, even if Junko complimented it earlier. Oversized things were never her favorite. It reminded her of—
Don't think about it.
She shivered, her hand falling from her scarf. At least it was a sweater, and not a jersey, or a night shirt. At least—
Shut up, she growled at her brain, you're with Junko, now, and she would never do that to you.
Mikan jumped, as a clicking sound jostled her out of her thoughts. She looked up; there Junko was, with a grin, placing a mug of hot cocoa in front of her. “I could hear you thinking from the kitchen,” she teases, “Hot Cocoa for your thoughts?”
“Um… It’s, it’s… n-nothing….”
Junko frowned, “Let me guess, your sweater is bugging you? It looks super cute, but those things can be itchy as hell.”
“S-Something like that.”
Junko raises a brow, something knowing in her gaze, and Mikan gets the sense that her reasoning was less a true deduction and more an out for Mikan herself. Mikan shifted her eyes away, but Junko merely grinned, pushing the hot cocoa closer to her.
“Enough about sweaters,” She dismissed, “Try your hot chocolate.”
Hesitantly, Mikan nodded, picking up the drink. She sipped it, eyes widening at the flavor, before chugging it down, as if scared it would be taken from her.
“Hey, hey, slow down,” Junko booped her on the nose to get her attention, and Mikan looked up at her. Instead of sitting in the chair across from her, Junko sat on the table itself, staring down at her in concern. “It will still be there, even if you go slower. I promise; I won’t let anyone take it from you.”
Mikan relaxed some. “Right… S-Sorry…”
Junko frowned, briefly, before she smiled, grabbing a napkin from the center of the table. “Here,” she wiped her face tenderly, “You have a bit of chocolate…”
She paused at the wonderstruck look on Mikan’s face, her own rapidly growing red. She looked away, her hand pulling away in a rush. “A-Anyway! I take it to mean you enjoyed it?” She glanced back at her shyly.
“It was wonderful, Jun-chan…”
She puffed up proudly. “My own recipe! Muku-nee and I spent eons perfecting it.”
Mikan licked her lips, and Junko flushed a little bit more, her eyes following the action. “It was the perfect temperature, too… Warm, but not too hot.”
“Well, that’s just my analysis talent for ya!” She laughed it off, waving her hands. Mikan smiled sweetly, and the flush spread, trailing to Junko's neck. She looked away, once more, grabbing her own cup of cocoa and hiding her face in it as she drank.
Mikan giggled, and her eyes flickered back to her as if she couldn’t look away for long. Despite everything, despite the cold weather and her stupid sweater, looking at Junko acting so shy and drinking hot cocoa with her as they watched the snow fall…
Mikan Tsumiki felt truly warm.