kitchen time chaos

Curiously, Ryuuji watched as the younger girl laughed. It seemed that his statement earlier was indeed a little funny. Too random in fact. He blabbered too much. Though, from the looks of it as well, the younger girl seemed to not mind it at all, agreeing to the words that he had said. "Was it?" He asked, looking like a kid now, though of course, he was still a kid too. He watched as Ai searched for the ingredients that they would need. Once again, they were baking, and this time around, he's not an spectator, he was the one who will bake. Pray that he'll be successful on first tr, pray that he won't make a mess. He just nodded when the younger girl announced that she had found the cheese and the chocolate chips. "Oh, found the vinegar and vegetable oil too.. now I wonder where the cocoa powder is?" He took the oil and vinegar from the cabinet and placed it in the counter, getting on his knees as he searched the lower cabinets of the kitchen. He was still in this position when he saw Ai approached him, "Maah... the North tower seemed to be a perfect place for meeting new people eh? The view there is really nice after all." He said, looking up before he scanned the lower cabinets again, still searching for the only ingredient that is left to be missing still.​
 
Ai nodded in agreement and said, "Hai, hai. What Nii-san said was true, although, it was a bit random Ryuuji-niisan," as she let out a slight giggle once more. The young girl laid down the ingredients she found together with the leftover ingredients they used in baking the cookies. There were indeed more than enough, "Oh, yeah. I forgot the muffin cups and paper liners, I saw them a while ago," she said rushing to one of the cabinets near the far end of the kitchen. She ran back to her station and settled down what she had picked. The young girl watched as her senpai continued to search for the cocoa powder which even she haven't caught a glimpse of when she was searching. "I agree, it is a nice place to relax as well," she added to Ryuuji-niisan's comment on the North Tower.
 
"Random indeed." Ryuuji said as tilting his head to the side before he let out a small chuckle. The words that he had just said earlier were really random indeed. He can't help it though, those words just came out without him fully realizing it anyways, it's like it just formed out of the blue and he barely had the time to organize them. Blame him for speaking out his thought out loud. See, that's why he had decided a long time ago to fix this habit of his. He should control himself.

Ryuuji cheered as he finally caught sight of the cocoa powder. It as cleverly hidden behind other containers. It was hard to spot it if one would not move all the other containers. Seriously, who put it there?Some student? He doubt that it would be the house elves, they were pretty organized after all. "Found it Ai-chan!" He quickly stood up, only to have his head bumped into the edge of the counter. Clumsy indeed. It was pretty funny rally, how he was really agile and flexible and athletic outside, yet inside this kitchen, he was being all over the place, really clumsy. "Ittai..." He muttered under his breath, rubbing the spot above his head before smiling innocently at the younger girl. "Start?'​
 
Ai smiled when her senpai agreed that his statement was indeed, random. "Well it is one of the characteristics that make Ryuuji-niisan, Ryuuji-niisan," she said with a smile. Then she realized, she was now the one saying random things, "Gomen, now I'm the one saying things randomly," she apologized as she turned red for a little bit. The young girl watched as Ryuuji-niisan found the cocoa powder but suddenly bumped into the counter. "Nii-san!" the young girl panicked. "Uh. Ice! Yes, that's right! Ice, onegai!" she said in a quite loud voice as she ran frantically and got some and put it on her senpai's head. "Daijobu, Nii-san?" she asked worriedly. "Hai, let's start," Ai agreed, "First, turn on the oven at 350 degrees Fahrenheit or 175 degrees Celsius, then we line up the muffin cups and put some paper liner in them," she continued and waited for what her senpai would do.
 
Ryuuji cannot help but to laugh at the younger girl's statement. So being random makes him who he is then? That's quite an interesting thought. Randomness equals Ryuuji Tsukino. Not necessarily flattering to others, but for Ryuuji, it's anything but offensive. It's pretty funny actually. And he takes it as a compliment too. "Hai. Hai." He said merrily, bouncing his head in agreement with Ai's comment. "Random Ai-chan is random... but's it's adorable." He pat the younger girl's head, eyes lightly closed from smiling.

Ryuuji continued to rub his head before he almost slip once again as he saw the younger girl panicked. She was almost shouting really, and if it was another person, he may have think that the situation before him is funny. But no, this is Ai that he is talking about, and for such a pure and innocent girl that she is, when she's acting like that, he was sure that she was really panicking and scared. "Ai-chan, be careful.." He called after her, watching as she ran around to search for some ice to help his head get better. "Shinpai shinaide Ai-chan.... Nii-san's just.. pretty clumsy today." He said, reassuring her that there really was not need to panic as he had not suffered any major injury at all.

Ryuuji nodded to show that he understood the younger girl's instruction. Well, here they go now. They were about to start that hardest lesson ever. At least for him that is. Really, this is way harder than the exams that he had to take before. He tried to follow every word, lining up that muffin cups just like how he was told, and putting paper liners in it. "Did I do right Ai-chan?"​
 
Ai couldn't help but turn red a little more when her senpai told her that she was adorable. She was getting a lot of compliments from the older boy and it's getting her a bit embarrassed. Well, it's fine since she it was her senpai who she now treats as an older brother. Thoughts ran around the young girl mind and she smiled at the boy who made her day. Ai felt really, really relieved that Ryuuji-niisan was fine. "Yokatta," she said with a smile on her face. She watched carefully checking for any mistakes her senpai would make in making the cupcakes, and so far so good. She nodded as a sign that Ryuuji-niisan had done it right. "Now we have to mix three cups of flour, two cups of sugar, half a cup of cocoa powder, a teaspoon of salt and two teaspoons of baking soda in a large bowl. Remember to use the strainer Ryuuji-niisan," she said and reminded her senpai watching out for any mistakes.
 
Ryuuji sighed in relief when he was told that what he was doing is right. Great, he's on the right track then, hopefully, this would continue. "Flour, sugar, cocoa powder, salt and baking soda, got it Ai-chan." Ryuuji pointed at the ingredients placed at the table as he announced their names. He barely heard the young girl reminding him about the use of strainer. Only when he was about to pour the entire bag of lour into the bowl and caught sight of the white powder still decorating his sleeves did he realize that he was about to make the same mistake again. "Etto.... strainer, Ai-chan?" He said a little childishly as he smiled light at the younger girl, hands still in midair before he placed the bag of flour back in the table. "Strainer.. strainer.." He muttered continuously as he looked for the said utensil and cheered when he finally found it. He looked for the cup that he would need to measure the ingredients as well, after all, it's not like he could just guess right? "Three cups, right ai-chan?" He then scooped some flour, carefully measuring it so as to not put to much in the bowl. "One, two, three...." He said, pouring the flour into the bowl, of course, with the help of his trusted strainer then. He then put the remaining ingredients next. Smiling proudly at his work, he waited for what it was that he was supposed to do next.​
 
Ai watched as her senpai had remembered all the ingredients, it was a bit funny, really. Although, Ryuuji-niisan was serious so she couldn't bring herself to laugh and she just nodded when her senpai had memorized them all. "Hai, hai. Strainer, Ryuuji-niisan," she said smiling a bit because the older boy almost forgot why he needed the strainer and it was good that he remembered. The young girl was proud of her senpai that had done the work properly and without any mistakes, making her wonder why Ryuuji-niisan's sister gave up on teaching him. It was quite fun, actually. "Now, Nii-san. You have to add a two-third cup of vegetable oil, two cups of water, two tablespoons of vinegar and two teaspoons of vanilla extract. Then you mix them very, very carefully," she said as she watched in excitement what the older boy was going to do.
 
It was amazing how everything was going smoothly for Ryuuji, how he was not messing everything up. It's not usually like this after all. Before, when his sister used to teach him, he cannot do any single thing right, why is precisely the reason why she had given up on him, but right now, he seemed to be comfortable with what he was doing. He wasn't sure if he should be complacent or not, it's like, it's just to smooth sailing. Hopefully, this is not something which forebode an impending bad luck for him. What if everything was being fine because later, he'll set the kitchen on fire? What if luck was just pitying him at the moment and was preparing something worse for him. He shook his head, trying to get rid of those negative thoughts. No, everything would be fine. It should be fine. "Ah? What was it again Ai-chan?" He asked, clarifying the younger girl's statement. Because of him worrying about what might happen, he wasn't able to hear the girl's statement that clearly at all. He bit his lips, this is not the start of him messing up again, is it? Hopefully, not. "Can you repeat what I should do again Ai-chan?'​
 
Ai feigned a slight frown when her senpai asked her to repeat it again. "Nii-san's not listening," she said then quickly put a smile back on, "Just kidding," she said as she playfully sticked out her tongue. Ai nodded in agreement to repeat what she has said just a few minutes ago. "I said, Nii-san should add a two-third cup of vegetable oil, two cups of water, two tablespoons of vinegar and two teaspoons of vanilla extract. Then he should mix them carefully. Very carefully," she said, repeating her instructions a while ago.
 
"Gomen ne Ai-chan... Nii-san's just, a bit too engrossed with his thoughts" Ryuuji then smiled as he lightly hit his head. Ai was right, he wasn't fully listening to the things that she was saying. Blame all these negative thoughts who seemed to have decided that it is fun to scare him right now. well, he's not letting them get into him. He'll hope for the best, not for the worst. "Two-third cup of vegetable oil, two cups of water, two tablespoons of vinegar, two teaspoons of vanilla extract." He said as he followed the instruction carefully. See? he was doing very well, thank you. He wasn't going to mess this up. Ai's being kind in helping him right now, and he'll return the favor by being a good student. "Mix them eh?" He said, interest and excitement showing in his eyes as he looked for something that he should use to mix the ingredients. He found a wooden spoon near him and decided that it would suffice. "This would do, right Ai-chan?" He said before he started mixing the ingredients. Doing rotary motion in quite a fast manner that some of the ingredients are already spilling out of the bowl. Great, too much for having a smooth day for him. "Ah.. gomen Ai-chan.. Nii-san's too excited.." He said, bowing a full ninety degree. In his mind, he could hear the negative thoughts laughing at him for what had happened, which caused him to frown. "I'll do it again. I'll be more careful now Ai-chan."​
 
Ai shook her head stating that she didn't mind her senpai's lack of attention and concentration. After all, Ryuuji-niisan did seem nervous. "Ie, it's alright. Shinpai shinaide," she reassured. She watched as her senpai memorized what he needed and Ai could only nod in agreement since it was correct. Her eyes followed the Ravenclaw as he fetched a wooden spoon and mixed in quite fast. "Ah! Nii-san! If you mix it too fast the cupcakes are going to get hard once they're done," she told her senpai when he mixed the batter. "It's okay, Ryuuji-niisan, try again." The young girl sensed that her senpai was worrying about something but she didn't need to fully use her ability to know what it was. "Shinpai shinaide, Nii-san. It's gonna work out. And we're going to have a delicious snack once they're done," she encouraged and hope it helped.
 
Ryuuji cannot believe what is happening. NO. Scratch that. He had expected things to turn out this way since earlier. He knew it. The smooth was that things are moving earlier is not so good at all. See how fast luck had left him? Now, he's messing everything up. He's not really being himself now. The usual calm him is slowly starting to be replaced by this clumsy Ryuuji. Which is not good at all. Cooking changes him somehow. But being the competitive person that he is, he won't lose to it. Ever. Cooking may not be his forte, but it will soon be. And when Ryuuji wants something, he can do everything just to get it. And right now, out of anything else, he wanted to learn this thing. Who cares if people would say that it was something that only women should do. When faced with a challenge, Ryuuji will face it proudly. He'll not bow down to this opponent which goes by the name cooking. He admires women now, how skillful they are in the kitchen. Really. "Hard?" He asked with confusion. How can mixing the mixture so fast make the cupcakes hard? Whatever the reason is, he didn't have the time to think of it at the moment. He didn't want to eat hard cupcakes though. So right at the moment, what he needs to do is to be calm and do things the Ryuuji-way. The normal Ryuuji-way, not the clumsy one. He took a deep breath, holding the wooden spoon in his hand, and slowly, he began to make rotary motions once again, this time in a slow and steady pace. "Is this good enough Ai-chan?"​
 
"Uh-oh," is what the young girl thought when she had told Ryuuji-niisan that the cupcakes were going to get hard. This is because her senpai now looked more worried than ever. "Uhm. Hai. Hard." she answered she wasn't sure why but she knew it was bound to happen. At least her senpai stopped early and had avoided that scenario. She watched as her senpai mixed the batter slowly. And, she nodded in agreement that it was indeed good enough. "Now, Ryuuji-niisan has to put some batter onto the muffin cups. They have to be at least two-third full," she told her senpai and watched carefully.
 
"Why only two-thirds full Ai-chan?" Ryuuji may have seemed like a clueless little kid with all these questions right now. But well, he can't help it. When inside the kitchen, Ryuuji's not the serene, collected person that he usually is. When inside the kitchen, he's just a little kid. A little kid who knows nothing about cooking, much less, baking. He figured though that the batter would expand anyway once put into the oven, that's probably why they can't possibly fill the muffin cups all over. So he just followed as he was told, careful as to not spill anything. He had messed up enough already, and he's determined not to make any mistakes again. Slowly, he filled the muffin cups, two thirds just like what the younger girl told him. Hopefully, he crossed his fingers, hopefully, everything would turn out just fine.​
 
"Well, that's because we still have to add the filling and the cupcakes will expand when they're being baked in the oven," the young girl explained as she watched the Ravenclaw slowly follow instructions. It was indeed a bit slow, but she didn't mind, since Ryuuji-niisan was being careful not to mess anything up and she appreciated that. When Ryuuji-niisan was done, the young girl continued to give out instructions. "Now, Ryuuji-niisan, in a separate bowl, beat the cream cheese, an egg, half a cup of sugar and one-fourth teaspoon of salt until seems to be light and fluffy," she said and waited for what her senpai would do.
 
Ryuuji just nodded his head in understanding and listened to the younger girl's next instructions. Alright, cooking or baking for that matter, seemed to be a tedious task. There's a lot of things to do and he needs to do everything in the right order. Apply the right strength as in the case of mixing the ingredients, and he needed to be patient and very careful too so as to not waste anything. Now, he understands why his sister kicked him out of the kitchen when he almost burnt their house down. Now he knows why her sister was so proud once she baked something successfully. Cause really, baking is not something that one should take lightly. See, it's not as easy as ABC as what everyone was telling. Just like what he was told, Ryuuji beat the cream cheese, egg, applied with half a cup of sugar and one fourth teaspoon of salt into a separate bowl. He did it a bit slowly too so as to not make the same mistake again. He must remind himself, he didn't want to eat a hard cupcake. No. ​
 
Ai was very proud of her senpai. He seemed and looked to be doing everything right. Everything was perfect and she was feeling nice. She knew baking was not an easy task at first, but once you get used to it, it is as easy as eating what you baked. After following her instructions, Ai nodded and said, "Sugoi, Ryuuji-niisan. Now, for every cupcake put a teaspoon of filling on top then put it in the oven. Be careful, since the oven is already preheated," she reminded her senpai and watched in case of any need of guidance.
 
It was an understatement to say that Ryuuji was very well pleased. No, he was just so happy that he could just hug every house elf in the kitchen right now. Or maybe not, he's pretty sure that they don't want to be bothered at all. But even so, to see that he was not messing up again was something that really makes him proud. Even more proud than when he would accomplish perfect scores in his exams. Yes, just learning how to bake properly is enough to make him really happy and accomplished. "Arigatou Ai-chan." He said happily as he carefully put a teaspoon of filing on top of the batter just like he was told to do. If he would choose, he would have put more, but then again, that might not be good at all. He wasn't sure. For now, he'll just follow what Ai was saying, after all, she's his professor now. "Hai, Hai. Ai-sensei... I'll be really careful." With another smile, Ryuuji placed the muffin cups in the oven. He's pretty satisfied now despite the mistakes that he did earlier. "nii-san is really, really happy right now, Ai-chan!" Ryuuji exclaimed, and in a matter of seconds, he hugged the younger girl. Hugged her to show how much he appreciated her help.​
 
"Dou itashimashite, Ryuuji-niisan," she replied to her senpai's thanks. It was no problem, really, since cooking and baking were one of her hobbies, so she didn't mind at all. When her Ryuuji-niisan told her that he would be careful, Ai was quite surprised when she was called sensei. "Mou, Nii-san! Don't call me Sensei , it doesn't suit me at all!" she said while laughing a bit. "Congratulations, Ryuuji-niisan," she said as she was hugged by her senpai. And in exchange, the young girl gave him a kiss on the cheek, which maybe made her turn red a little.
 
The kiss on the cheek was really unexpected. Not because it was awkward because Ryuuji's already used to such things with his sister doting on him, but because it was Ai who gave it. The shy little girl that he had met earlier in the tower. Just thinking about how much closer he was now to knowing her, and how quickly they became friends, Ryuuji cannot help but to smile. He finally found a family here at Hogwarts. Sure, his co-Ravenclaws are his family too, but Ai is like a blood relative. The younger sister that he never had. "Arigatou Ai-chan." He thanked her once again as he pat her head once more. Laughing when he saw her cheeks turned a little red. He worried if it was because of the heat coming from the oven or if the younger girl was tired, so he reached out his hand to check her temperature just like he did earlier. "Ai-chan, daijoubou ka?" He asked, hand still at the younger girl's forehead. ​
 
The young girl had heard her senpai thank him yet again. "It's fine, Ryuuji-niisan," she said. The young girl was quite surprised when the Ravenclaw had checked her temperature again. Really, her senpai had thought that she was not feeling well, instead, of thinking that she was blushing. This thought made Ai laugh. It made her laugh to her heart's content. "Ah, gomen, gomen, Nii-san, I'm fine," she said trying to catch her breath from all the laughing.
 
Ryuuji tilted his head in confusion when he heard the younger girl laugh. Had he done something funny? Maybe he did, cause Ai was really laughing so much now. Her laughter was really contagious that he ended up laughing too despite him not knowing the reason for it. "Hmm.. alright then." He said as he wiped the side of his eyes. He cannot possibly change this, he tears up whenever he laughs too much, he didn't mind it though. Cause as they say, laughing makes one's life longer. He wanted to believe that. He didn't want to die young after all. And if laughing can extend his life, then he was sure that he was a pretty long one. "How long should we wait Ai-sensei?" He gestured at the oven. He cannot wait to taste the cupcakes that he had baked. Hopefully, it would turn out good. Not perfect maybe, but just fine. So long as it is edible, he's proud.​
 
Ai was happy to see that her senpai was laughing too. Despite not knowing the reason, her senpai continurd laughing with her, it was such a wonderful thought. When she was asked how long they still had to wait, Ai looked at her watched and said, "Well, it's only been ten minutes so there are still fifteen minutes left. What do you want to do, Ryuuji-niisan?" the young girl asked innocently. She wanted to do something while waiting for the cupcakes and she just couldn't think of any.
 
"What should we do? I don't really have any other idea Ai-chan." Ryuuji said as he pulled a wooden stool and sat, eyes currently glued at the cupcakes being baked. He can only hope that everything would turn out just fine. Cause really, cooking is probably his number one weakness. He continued to watch as the cupcakes started to expand a little, barely hearing anything around him and barely noticing how the house elves would occasionally pass in front of him. They didn't seem to be bothered by how him and the younger girl was staying in the kitchen. He shouldn't have doubted though, after all, he had had trips in the kitchen a few times before, and yes, the house elves were pretty welcoming. He tilted his head to look at the younger girl then, as if asking her a silent question. If they would still have to wait for a few more minutes, then might as well spend their time more wisely.​
 
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