Work Text:
S is for sweet tooth
Sato had been taught that the way to someone’s heart was through their stomach. He liked finding his way to people’s hearts, offering his hard work in the form of cookies and treats in order to make friends.
His mother had always chided him for using too much sugar and making stuff far too sweet for normal folk, but he’d found he wasn’t the only one with a massive sweet tooth.
Training under Lunch Rush had taught him a lot about flavor, about the normal levels of sweetness to have in food, but Sato was only human. He had been granted special permission by the school to have an oven and other kitchen items in his dorm. (They told him not to advertise it, nobody wanted another microwave incident.)
After a long day of class and training, with his muscles aching and his limbs heavy, he would bake for just him.
At first, when they were all still settling into dorm life, the smell would lure a few waywards students, but they had quickly learned that Sato’s personal baked goods were practically inedible to anyone but him.
Now he just ate his monstrosities alone in his room, listening to the quiet racket outside his little bubble.
The knocking had startled him, hesitant and light and very low on the door.
He’d rolled his eyes seeing Minoru, for once separate from his other half in Denki. The two had once attempted to coerce him into teaching them how to bake because “Chicks dig a guy that can bake” but they had both been such disasters he’d banned them from his room and the kitchen.
Mineta had looked up at him with nervous determination, hands tightly clasped in front of him.
“Mineta I already told you-” Sato started, hand on his hip in what the others called his mom pose.
“No, it's not about that! Denki and I have decided to never attempt to bake again, I just…” He looked down, leaving Sato to just stare down at his strange hair. “Can I try what you made? It’s purin, right?” He looked hopefully up at him, straining his neck to meet Sato’s eyes.
He was a bit impressed that Mineta had guessed the desert from just the smell, but he was hesitant.
“You probably won't like it.” He sighed, but he let the door open a few more inches and Mineta slipped in like a breeze. Not for the first time he wondered why Minoru didn’t enroll in stealth extra curriculars, he was very small and sneaky.
Mineta shrugged, looking around the room where everything was so much bigger than him with awe. This wasn’t the first time he’d been in there, but he looked at a lot of things like that. LIke he was seeing them for the first time.
“The smell was making me homesick, I had to ask. My Ma used to make the best purin on our street. Store bought just doesn’t taste right.” He sounded wistful, and there was definitely a story there.
Sato was hesitant. He liked sharing, even with less savory students, and he had always let the others try his overly sweet treats to make that decision themselves. They always hated it, but he’d let them decide that. He just really hoped that his overly sweet version wouldn't ruin the dessert for Mineta forever. He made his carmel sweet instead of bitter and his custard was very firm from how much sugar he put in the mix.
He had just removed the purin from its bain marie and set the single mold in his ice chest to cool it, hoping the rapid cooling wouldn't ruin it. He usually preferred to let his custard sit out to cool on it’s own time, but Minoru was practically vibrating.
Minoru watched him mix the caramel with interest, quietly prattling about his mother making dozens of little molds for all the kids on his street, how she was amazing with delicate desserts.
“She would make me one special, because I was so much smaller and couldn't play with other kids. It was our little secret.” Mineta had a soft smile on his face as he looked off into space, into a memory. Sato felt like an intruder to a moment he wasn’t privy to, but then those dark eyes were on him and he knew Minoru was letting him into this moment on purpose.
“Thank you.” Voice thick with something deep and profound as Sato topped off the purin and brought it over to his little table. He had meant to eat alone, but he cut a quarter and set it on a plate for his peer. He even set aside a small cup of leftover caramel.
He knew Mineta was going to hate it, making that same face of disgust that all his classmates made with his overly sweet desserts. He felt guilty, seeing Mineta looking at his plate with anticipation and hope.
“If you don’t like it I can make you normal purin another night.” Sato fidgeted, hoping this wouldn’t burn any bridges. Maybe if he made the whole class custard so it wasn’t so personal? He’d need more eggs and milk, but surely-
“Mmmmm!” He was startled from his thoughts as Mineta moaned around his fork. He was used to Denki and Mineta making all sorts of inappropriate noises to joke around, but this sound was so genuine and real.
“You like it?” He gaped as Mineta hurriedly ate his portion. He hadn’t expected that. They all knew Mineta could pack away more calories than should be humanly possible with his tiny body, but he seemed to have normal taste buds until now.
Another thing Sato had learned from baking was that food made people feel things. Tastes and smells from memories, old family recipes being remade with a new generation, people reliving being young and tasting something amazing for the first time. Some people craved the chicken soup their mother made when they were sick, or their grandma's mochi that was the staple of every family gathering.
For Minoru, it seemed, purin was the way to his heart.
Sato watched in awe as Minoru let out a tiny sniffle, scrubbing at misty eyes and setting his fork down gently. It wasn’t all that strange to see Mineta cry, they all had at one point, but this felt different.
“Thanks.” He whispered, voice thick and face a bit red. “I tried, but I could never make it like she did. I was the only one she ever made that special kind for, and it kinda died with her.” Here was Mineta Minoru, the one note kid in his class that was easy to overlook. He never talked about his family, he just listened to everyone else and did his best to be memorable. Sato had never looked too hard until now, and he wondered for the first time what stories Mineta had in those tense shoulders and dark eyes. Surely he was more than a pervert, if he cried over the butchered recipe of custard.
Catching Rikido’s eye he choked out a giggle, beaming when Sato silently cut another quarter of his purin to put on Mineta’s plate. He even added more caramel, letting his fork cut through the soft fluffy custard with delicacy.
“I know you make things sweet, Denki told me the horror stories, but I need sugars and fat to produce my balls, protein does nothing for me. My mother used to give me sugar water to keep me from getting sick, called me a hummingbird.” His voice was almost musical as he talked, still smiling and slowly eating like he was trying to savor every second. “That’s why I drink so many sports drinks and stuff. Plants need sugars to make energy.”
Sato had never noticed, and looking back he wondered what else he had overlooked. Had his opinion of Minoru’s less than savory interest really made it okay to ignore him as a person?
Minoru seemed oblivious to his existential crisis, telling a story of how a bully had once tried to steal his purin and had nearly thrown up.
“I’ll show you how.” Rikido startled them both as he blurted that out, face growing warm as Mineta blinked at him like a deer in headlights.
“Huh? I thought I was banned from even looking at the kitchen?” He tilted his head with a confused little smile.
“I'm still never letting you shape my cookies ever again.” He would never forget the expertly shaped busts Minoru had made out of sugar cookie mix, or the cackling when the baking his reduced the curvy bodies to shapeless blobs. It was almost amusing, if not for Lunch Rush staring at them in horror. “But I’ll teach you the way I make purin, so you can make it like your mom did.” He knew his face was bright red now, but seeing Mineta light up was worth it. He was teary eyed again, scrubbing at his eyes with his sleeve.
“You know something Rikido?” Mineta asked softly, getting up and putting his plate in the sink with some difficulty. “You’re good people.” He had a look about him that was almost conspiratorial, but Sato couldn’t bring himself to over analyze right now.
Mineta practically skipped out of his dorm room, looking far lighter than Sato had ever seen him. Maybe a good memory was all he needed. Sato would personally be his sugar dealer if it made him any less…him.
“Next Friday then, it's a date.” Minoru told him with a cheesy wink and finger guns, giggling before running off to cause havoc.
Then again, maybe Mineta was always going to be like that.
Sato started on the dishes, trying not to smile at finding a kindred spirit. This was going to be an adventure for sure, but he had a feeling that Minoru had a lot more to him than most of the class saw.
And sue him, Sato was curious to find out.