Dear Reader,
first of all, thank you for taking the time to read the story. The idea came to me this easter. Our neighbour had given us an ostrich egg as a present. After this experience, I can confirm both, their edibility and their enormous size. While thinking about the fabulous breakfast my family and I had that day, I thought that it would be interesting if the TRC family could experience it as well. So, I began to write. In each chapter, the characters will encounter a new obscure type of food in a different world. This is the first time I'm writing about a CLAMP work and I hope to do their title justice. Normally, I don't interact much with my readers but I would like to change that. Was their anything you liked or disliked in particular? Do you have any advice for me to improve? Are you excited for the next chapters and do you maybe even have a suggestion for what food the characters should try or special clothes you would like to see them in? (Side note: the outfit that Sakura wears in this chapter is actually what I wore that day~) Please leave a review and tell me what you think! Reviews alone don't determine whether I will update but they really do help me write faster. I hope to hear from you!
-FFDT
Chapter summary: With nothing else but a mysterious egg for breakfast, the group attempts the first unusual course.
"That sure is one giant egg, if I do say so myself."
With that, Kurogane had just exclaimed what everyone in the room had been thinking in silence. The family was standing around the dining table, staring down at the little cardboard box in front of them, which contained a soft bed of hay, on it a ginormous egg. The shell, white and even like porcelain, filled out nearly all of the box, safe for the corners, and the ridiculous size brought a doubt to everyone's mind, whether this was actually a real egg or an actual porcelain pig.
"Perhaps it is normal-sized for this world?" Fai considered. They had arrived here rather late into the previous night, so the group was quite lucky to have found a hideaway in this small cottage, seemingly in the middle of the woods, in the middle of nowhere, nowhere in particular. Being grateful for even a bed to sleep in, the family had decided to call it a night and worry about everything else in the morning. But now that morning was actually here, everyone seemed rather at a loss for what to think. After having examined the house without the luck of finding any food at all, Syaoran and Kurogane had decided to step out and look for something to eat, a badger to trade with, a small town, anything really. However, the two of them had to look no further than the doorstep for that was where the little box had been displayed. Despite the darkness of the night of their arrival, the group had come to the conclusion that the egg hadn't been there before, therefore someone must have placed it at the front door, probably in an attempt to feed whoever was supposed to be in here right now. And since the house had definitely been empty until last night, the group had considered it their responsibility to examine this unusual gift.
"So… what do we do with it?" asked Syaoran. At that, everyone lifted their gaze from the egg to look at each other. It was already well into the morning, the day was going to be a hot one and the entire team was hungry. Should this egg be a real one, it would surely satisfy everyone. If it turned out to be fake, they could always go out to look for something edible, so they were unlikely to be successful in their search, given that they were cut off from all civilisation and had no way of transport other than walking, which would take too long and also be hard to do on an empty stomach. At least there was no need to worry about a disguise since the previous owner of the little cottage had left enough clothes here for everyone to get dressed. Syaoran wore baggy cargo shorts with an avalanche of pockets on and in them, paired with a thin cotton white hoody t-shirt, and black combat boots with socks of the same colour. He felt appropriate in this muted and practical outfit, even if it posed a total contrast to what Sakura was wearing: rose-gold glasses sat in the middle of her nose, their roundness bringing out the soft shape of her small face, a rainbow gradient tattoo choker adorned her slender neck above the oversized white t-shirt with the orange numbers printed on the chest, tucked into an obnoxious pair of wide-legged overalls, their indigo blue colour clashing with the warm tones of the rest of her brighter outfit. She was roaming around barefoot much like Kurogane who was wearing black skinny jeans and a horrible, bright-red velvet dress shirt with a pair of nice-looking glasses. That wasn't exactly his choice, but the frames had been placed with the only set of clothing that fit him well, so to avoid being spotted as a foreigner from others, he had put them on. Kurogane looked oddly good with glasses, which had made Fai giggle. The blond himself was wearing a pastel pink sweater with grey sweatpants and matching grey house slippers witch his hair tied up, but what took the cake was the frilly apron he had decided to adorn himself with. They were dressed to venture out into public eye, however, cracking the egg was still their best bet since they could do it right now and here, without interfering with anyone.
"We should cook and eat it, I suppose," recommended Sakura. She was rather comfortable in the little cottage and didn't see any problems with just staying in. And it really was a nice place: the walls, ceiling and floor were unpolished wood, carpets lay out in every room, potted plants in every corner, simple furniture, all in all a shabby but cozy place to live.
"Mokona has spotted a yum-yum! Mokona will feast!" shouted the bun and lounged down onto the egg but even her wide-open mouth couldn't fit all of it, so she was just stuck on it, unable to eat or move away from it. Her overbearing joy turning into immediate despair was a rather impressive sight.
"Seems like we need to hurry and make something of it, doesn't it?
-But Fai, what if the egg cracks from the pressure?!
-Oh, that's right, Syaoran. We'll have to do something about that. You two can help me with it, yes?"
The guys and Sakura then proceeded to grab Mokona's little body and attempted to pull her away from the egg by holding onto each other, with Fai grabbing Mokona and Sakura as the last in the row. Despite their combined effort, the attempt was unsuccessful and the three of them gave up after several minutes of pulling.
"It seems," Fai huffed in exhaustion, "to be tougher than we thought, the egg that it.
There has to be a better way," Syaoran thought out loud, standing back up straight after having regained his composure.
Sakura just let out a little puff, still being too exhausted to figure out how to handle the sturdy egg that was giving them so much trouble. Suddenly, the sound of heavy footsteps came in from the other side of the half-opened door and she whipped her head around in the direction to see who it was.
"If we can't get off the damn bun," Kurogane bragged while storming into the kitchen with his sword in hand, "we'll just have to get off the egg!
-Hyuu, what a brilliant idea! Don't worry about it kids, Daddy can handle it just fine-
-HEY! Don't just hand me all the work you moron, it wasn't my idea to eat this ridiculous thing!
-Oh, come on Kuro-dad! Don't be like that," Fai whined, attempting to sound helpless, but the round smile on his face betrayed him. The moment after speaking those words, he turned around to avoid facing Kurogane's raging outburst and started giving Sakura and Syaoran instructions for preparing the meal:
"Please go ahead and prepare the table wear in the living room for later, also try to look around the storage room next door and see if you can find any spices, yes?" and with that, he themed the conflict as settled.
Realising that there was no point in taking his argument any further, Kurogane returned to muttering his insults while asserting the egg with the sword. However, since Mokona was still unmoving and stuck to the shell, this turned out to be more difficult than necessary. The insults turned to curses and eventually, Kurogane resorted to picking up the egg and shaking it in a violent back-and-forth motion which caused Mokona to flop along with it. At one point Fai began to fear for her actual life and decided to assist in praying the egg open. They settled on a rather complex but effectivity-proven construction: Fai was holding Mokona upside down by the middle part of her body - which was almost the same size as the egg itself – above a frying pan while Kurogane bend over the stove looking upwards, pointing the sword at the bottom cusp of the egg from the side and then started puckering it.
"And? Can our Kuro-sama really crack this tough nut?
-Don't sputter jokes at me when I'm trying to get your breakfast, you- ARGH!
-Did it break yet? Nice one, Kuro-won!
-Don't you dare laugh! And no, the shell is so hard, it's near impossible to crack in this position. Are you sure this thing is really edible?
-Only one way to find out, am I right? Besides, it's not just about our breakfast anymore. We have to get the egg out of Mokona or else we'll be stuck here forever. Also, please be careful when fiddling around with a weapon so close to Mokona's face! You don't want to slip off and hurt her, do you? And could you hurry up a little bit, Kuro-tan? It's getting really tiresome to hold her up in this position.
-And would you like me to pre-chew your meal as well while I'm at it, or…?
-No, thank you very much, I can do that myself. But it was very sweet of you to offer your services to help me, Kuro-chi!
-Damn, you little- Hurgh!" he grunted and with that, the egg fell out of its shell into the pan, just soon enough for Kurogane to pull away before it landed right on his face.
At that instant, the hollow shell flattened inside Mokonas mouth and Fai removed it with skilled fingers before examining the result of his teamwork with Kurogane: the ninja had cut a circular opening into the shell which had opened towards the side, leaving the yolk and egg white to slide out. And really, the whole thing was now frying up to make a nice meal. He gave it a few quick scrambles before lowering the stove to a medium heat and letting it simmer for a couple minutes, whistling a tune to pass the remaining time, much to the dismay of Kurogane who he had left the disposal of the shell to. He returned just as the egg finished cooking, still grunting in disapproval of Fai's earlier actions.
"Did you really have to- why are you holding a fork out into my direction- I don't even want to- No.
-Know what?
-I'M NOT TESTING THIS WEIRD EGG YOU JUST COOKED UP.
-Well, somebody's got to do it. No need to sound so serious, Kuro-pan!
-I SAID I WON'T DO IT.
-Oh? Don't tell me you're… Afraid? Of this little chicken egg?" teased Fai.
Kurogane fell silent at that, nevertheless aware of how unreasonable the argument was: the egg was definitely not from a chicken and it hadn't been little for certain, even now the breakfast scramble still filled up the entire pan even though it was a giant one. But then again, he was no chicken either. Better to get sick from taking a dare than having to deal with being Fai's biggest source of amusement until the end of his days – nevertheless, he already suspected that Fai wouldn't cease to find new reasons to use him for that purpose, assuming they would even spend that much time together. However, at the very least Kurogane would have something to say back to him. But would Fai even care? Screw that, this was a matter of pride. Dare it was. He opened his mouth and quickly snatched the piece of egg from the fork that Fai was still holding up. After a moment of letting Kurogane chew, Fai eventually reovered from the moment of surprise and asked:
"So? How is it, Kuro-sama?
-It tastes, mh… like egg.
-Yay, I'm so glad you like it! But don't eat it all yet, okay?
-Who said I would-! And no, I just said it tasted like egg, that's all. Don't get so excited, damn it!
-Don't you mean… Eggcited?" chirped Mokona from the ground, after having recovered from her previous state of facial disfigurement.
"That was just…
-Absolutely brilliant!" completed Fai, not letting Kurogane finish whatever he had been meaning to say.
"Uhm, Fai… we finished preparing everything," announced Syaoran who was peeking into the kitchen through the half-opened door, followed by Sakura right behind.
"Ah, that's just the perfect timing!" smiled Fai and grabbed the pan, taking it off the stove as to announce that it was now time to eat. Accepting that as a given, everyone left the kitchen and assembled at the table. All in all, the breakfast they had prepared was not too shabby at all, they had fresh vegetables and a nice selection of different spices to go with the egg. It looked really appetizing and they wasted no time to dig in. Everyone tasted a bite of the egg at the same time and they all nodded at each other in agreement that it really was tasty.
"Fai, this is very good!" commmented Sakura before taking another bite, all suspiciousness of the egg's edibility had vanished from her mind.
"See, Kuro-chan? Sakura likes my cooking as well!" Fai teased. But to his own surprise, Kurogane didn't have anything to say back. Fai was just a good cook, maybe even excellent. Something about his cooking was so different but still very familiar. Sure, it was not quite like the food he was used to eating, but on a journey like this one, he couldn't really complain about the food served to him not being what he was used to. This, however, was so delicious, it almost reminded him of the past, when he was younger - well, of course Kurogane was still young - of something like... home. Really, it had been a long time since he had eaten the food somebody had made for him together with others like this. Maybe that was the difference.
He glanced over at Syaoran who seemed to be thinking the same thing. Or at least Kurogane guessed he was feeling something rather similiar to that, judging by the content smile on his otherwise so ernest face. Then, Fai interrupted his train of thought:
"It's really nice, isn't it, Syaoran?" he smiled, earning him a surprised look from the boy.
Sakura, on the other hand, was happy to agree with him at once while Kurogane himself simply looked down. Syaoran looked at each of them, all the people that were around him, with him even, in this moment.
"Yeah. It really is."
And before he knew it, Mokona had stolen food from his plate - again. The bun disappeared back under the table with her theft while giggling over her own skill, having outsmarted Syaoran. Sakura was giggling, too, Fai laughed and Syaoran could have sworn he saw the tiniest smirk play over Kurogane's face. And he laughed with them, truly greatful for the time he spend together with them.