Syaoran placed the thick, heavy reference book down on the desk, then let his forehead rest upon it. His eyes ached from reading it the past four days. He scooted back his chair and sat up straight, running his hand through his short, brown hair. He sighed when he stood up, a little wobbly though his mind felt numb from all the reading.
He slowly walked to the bedroom door and yawned deeply. He squinted when he open the door; the light of the outside world pained his eyes. Despite his decent build, he looked very small in his orange t-shirt and dark green pajama bottoms, both which were both three sizes too big for the 16 year old. He walked down the stairs to the kitchen. He planned to grab something to eat, head back up, and go back to work. He was so wrapped up in his thoughts that he didn't notice a certain blonde mage cracking eggs into a bowl.
"Ah! So Syaoran-kun finally ventures out of his room!" Fai joked when he saw the drained teen. When Syaoran jumped with a start, he couldn't help but laugh.
"H-hello, Fai-san. Sorry, I wasn't paying attention, I didn't notice you were there," Syaoran apologized. Fai looked at the teen with a worried look. Syaoran looked very pale and the bags under his eyes could carry groceries. It looked as if he hadn't slept in the last three nights. Fai walked over to Syaoran's side, removing the Trix cereal bar from his hand. Syaoran looked up at the blonde man with tired, amber eyes.
"How much sleep did you get last night, Syaoran-kun?" Fai asked Motherly.
Syaoran remained silent at the thin man's question. Fai judge from Syaoran silence, he really hadn't slept during the time he was locked up in his room. Fai sighed heavily.
"Well, knowing you and your love for books, if I let you go back up there, you'll continue your research and stay up again," Fai deduced, placing a hand on his hip, the Trix cereal bar in his mouth to the dismay of Syaoran.
"Um, Fai-san, I'm going back ups-" Syaoran started until Fai placed a slender finger on Fai's lips. Syaoran became immensely confused when the blue eyed mage slipped a white egg into his hands. "Um, what's this for?"
"Crack it," Fai simply instructed, dragging the boy to the counter where the bowl egg goo sat. The puzzled boy looked up at the blonde before pathetically smashing the innocent egg on the rim of the bowl, egg dripping onto the counter and hand. Syaoran panicked.
"I-I'm sorry, Fai-san!" Syaoran quickly spoke as he grasped some paper towel to clean up the goo. Fai smiled his signature grin. He placed his hand's on the brunette's shoulder and said optimistically, "it's okay, Syaoran-kun. I'm sure you'll get it right next time!", shoving another egg into the teen's hand. This time, Fai showed Syaoran how he should be cracking the egg and let Syaoran try again. In a swift movement, the two split the shell in half, letting the gooey substance plop mostly in the bowl.
"See, Syaoran-kun!" Fai encouraged. He had enjoyed teaching Sakura how to cook, so he was happy he coud do a little teaching with the teen. Syaoran nodded slightly, cautiously picking up another egg. Syaoran cracked the egg far more neater this time, although it still dripped over the rim a bit. Syaoran could help but smile brightly. Fai laughed.
"Now you're going to pour cake mix powder into the eggs," Fai instructed, placing a red cake mix package onto the counter in front of the brunette. Syaoran simply stood there as Fai got out slabs of meat from the refrigerator.
"Um, Fai-san... I really should go back upstairs," Syaoran said, knowing he was too tired to be of much help. Fai gave an over-dramatized, fake, hurt expression, phony tears welling up in his blue eyes.
"Fine! I guess my little boy is too grown up to cook with his mommy!" Fai cried dramatically, turning away to 'weep'. The brunette panicked at the blonde distress.
"I-it's okay, Fai-san! I'll be glad to help you out!" the guilty teen responded quickly, picking up the box. Fai turned around with a freakishly bright smile on his pretty face, deep blue eyes bone dry. He threw up his arms in joy for Syaoran's cooperation.
"Yay! Syaoran-kun still loves his mommy!" Fai cheered as he place more ingredients in front of the brunette. The mage pointed to the back of the box. "Now just follow the instructions printed here and everything should go well. Let's make a delicious meal for Sakura-chan and Kuro-daddy!" Fai sang out cheerfully. Syaoran, still not used to idea of the two older men as his mother and father, nodded his head in agreement.
While Fai began to season the long pieces of meat, Syaoran was busy trying to decipher the instructions an measurements. It was twenty minutes until the cake batter was ready to pour into the pan. Fai couldn't contain his laughter when he saw the usually serious teen desperately trying to pour the batter into the pan, trying hard not to make too much of a mess, but to no avail. The walls near where he worked had globs of the mix all over them from the use of the electric mixture, he even had it in his hair and on face. When the batter was finally in the pan, Fai clapped his hands together and beamed with pride.
"Very good, Syaoran-kun! Now I'll just put it n real quick," Fai praise, sliding the pan into the preheated oven, closing it. He turned around to face his "son" when a look of horror spread across his face. Syaoran was puttin the cake bowl into the sink!
"WAYYYAAAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING SYAORAN-KUN!" Fai cried out in alarm. The brunet jumped in surprise and nearly dropping the bowl.
"What's wrong?" Syaoran asked alarmed. His brown eyes were large with fear.
"You're putting the bowl and utensils into the sink!" Fai explained as if it was a horrid crime. Syaoran grew less frightened and more confused.
"I...What…?"
"Why would you do that?" Fai questioned. The brunette wasn't sure if the man was kidding or actually being serious.
"Um, because they are dirty..." Syaoran answered cautiously. Dirty things needed to be washed, right?
"You can clean it all you want, but there is something we must do first," Fai said. The teen watched as the mage stuck his whole hand into the bowl and wiped the batter around. He brought the goo covered finger up to his mouth and noisily licked away the cake batter. He closed his eyes when he tasted how much sugar was in the batter. Obviously the teen had trouble with understanding the measurements. Not that Fai minded since he loved extra sugary things. He pointed to Syaoran, urging him to join in.
"No tha-" Syaoran was cut off by Fai shoving a cake batter spatula into his mouth. The sugar practically slapped him in the face, but it tasted surprisingly good. He took hold of the clean handle and licked off the batter like it was a lollipop, but better.
After devoring the remnants of the delicious cake batter, Fai convinced the teen to help him with the meat while the cake was baking. A little more enthusiastic Syaoran agreed to help the blonde.
The book Syaoran had been so focused on became forgotten.
"We're back!" called a female voice from the front door. Syaoran looked up from putting the food on the table. "Welcome back!" Syaoran greeted as Sakura, Kurogane, and Mokona walked into the room. Syaoran gave the princess a small one armed hug while the dark haired ninja placed several large bags onto the counter. Three of these bags were alcohol. Fai gave Kurogane a happy but curious look.
"I just spent the whole day shopping with the princess and the damn pork bun! I need this," the tall ninja complained. He was about to grab the bottle's neck when Fai slapped it away.
"You can have some AFTER dinner, Kuro-wanwan!' Fai teased, taking the bags away from the very angry man. Grabbing him by the wrist, Fai had to practically had to drag him to his chair.
Everyone except the grumpy ninja place both hands together in front of their chest and said "itadkimasuboth!" before they began to dig into their delicious meal.
"Wow, Fai! go-chisō-sama deshita!" Mokona, Syaoran and Sakura said. Kurogane, who didn't skip on seconds, remained silent.
"Why thank you Mokona!" Fai thanked cheerfully as he cleared the table. When Sakura got up to assist, the mage shook his head.
"Sit back down princess. We still have desert!" Fai exclaimed with a wide grin. At the news of a desert, Mokona screamed with joy as Sakura happily clapped. Kurogane, hating anything sweet, stuck out his tongue in disgust while Syaoran proceded to bang his head on the hard surfaced table.
"I don't want any of your sugary crap! Just give me my damn sake!" Kurogane protested, making a face.
"Awwwww, don't be so mean Kuro-chi!" Fai giggled. In his hands was a cake, rectangular with a messy frosting job. In the center was a plump strawberry. The mage place it on the table.
"That's KUROGANE! YOU FUCKING MORON!" Kurogane screamed at the blonde. Before he could continue yelling, Fai stuck a forkful of vanilla cake into his mouth. Kurogane, nearly choking, swallow it.
"WHAT THE HELL! YOU BASTARD! THIS CRAP IS EVEN SWEETER THAN NORMAL! ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL ME!" Syaoran covered his face in embarrassment.
"I didn't make the cake though, Kuro-scary-Gane," Fai said with a faint smile. Mokona swallowed her slice of cake in one gulp and Sakura poked her piece total uncertainty. The girl was not used to any sweets not made by the mage. The blonde pointed to the incredibly embarrassed brunette boy.
"What?" Sakura was confused.
"Our little Syaoran-kun made it! Aren't you proud Kuro-daddy-san?" Although his face was shielded by his arms, one could see his ears turning a bright red. The room went quiet except for Mokona's noises of satisfaction. Kurogane sighed.
"It's not good," the ninja bluntly stated. Syaoran lifted his head slightly so that his amber eyes were visable above his arms. "But it isn't bad either..." Kurogane finished with a grumble. He didn't want to but he stuck another bite into his mouth. Although Sakura and Fai knew this was an obvious lie, Syaoran grinned ear to ear. The others decided to join in the cake eating too. With the exception of a few eggshells and extra sugar, the cake was delicious!
FIN