Crunch by Orenji Yume
A xxxHOLiC one-shot fic, Watanuki/Doumeki
A/N: A simple one-shot meant for amusement. Coffee has made me spurn this at one go.
MILD SPOILERS (for Volume 10). Mild shounen-ai themes too, but nothing concerning adult issues are touched on. If you don't like it, then please don't read it, thank you...
STORY: At Doumeki's request, Watanuki finds himself with him in the kitchen. What else but to teach Doumeki to prepare a dessert/snack? Sorry if anyone seems OOC. Enjoy!
DISCLAIMER: I do not own xxxHOLiC, CLAMP does.
It is after school. Watanuki finds himself alone in the home economics room, waiting. He should have headed straight to Yuuko's by now. But upon hearing his request, she readily acceded to it. In fact, she was too pleasant about it.
Pushing his school bag to one corner, he prepared himself for what was to come. He took an apron from a neat pile and put it on. In any case, he was here already and should quickly return the favour, no matter how quirky it seemed.
At that moment, the bespectacled boy heard the door open and remarked, "You're late!" But when he turned around, he saw a girl instead, a very familiar-looking girl.
"Ah, I'm sorry. I was just…looking for the notebook I left behind…"
Surprised to see his crush, Watanuki had a 180-degree change of attitude, "Hi-Himawari-san!" He struggled to find his next words. "I…you…I'll help you look for it!"
Giggling, Himawari walked to the nearby table and picked up a bright notebook, "It's here." She paused for a moment and suddenly recalled something. "Oh, you are waiting for him right? He should be here soon as I saw him just now. You two have become so close."
"No we aren't!" Watanuki immediately corrected.
As usual, she merely smiled and continued, "What are you two making? Be sure to let me have some tomorrow!"
"Um…I don't know actually," He blushed a little. "I don't think it'll be much…but since Himawari-san wants some, I'll do my best!" And he proceeded to punch his fist in the air, his mood lightened with sparkles in his eyes.
Just then, Doumeki appeared behind Himawari, to which the girl took as a cue to leave and waved, "I should be going now. Have fun!"
"Alright, Himawari-san!" Watanuki waved back fervently. But as the door closed, he added to himself. 'It's just that I can't have any fun with him!'
"Are we starting?"
Turning around, he saw that his 'partner' had already put on an apron and was waiting for him to begin. Somehow Watanuki felt a sense of injustice since he was the one who had waited for 10 minutes previously.
"Yes! The sooner the better!" He coughed and turned his head to one side. 'So what is it exactly? He merely mentioned that it was a dessert or a snack. But he always makes me prepare impossible dishes for him…' As the boy mulled over this, he failed to notice Doumeki laying out the ingredients on the table. 'I'm ready for it! Whether it be good old mochi, or some rich and creamy dessert or—'
"Here," A piece of paper was shoved into his hands.
Alarmed, Watanuki jumped a bit at the contact, but promptly recovered to meet his challenge of the day: Chocolate Almond Crunch
A long pause filled the room. The shocked boy decided to read the rest of the details, lest he had underestimated the simple name. But after a few minutes, he still could not comprehend what was given to him. He had painstakingly booked the home economics room, gave up some of his work time where he actually earns wages from cooking (though half of the time it is deducted to miserable numbers) in order to prepare this. A straightforward snack that any 8-year-old could do at the first try, just by following the instructions. And it would turn out to be an overwhelming success. In fact, he suspected that this came from a website with recipes targeted at children.
He wanted to scream at Doumeki, he really did. But upon turning to him and opening his mouth to tell him off, he stopped. Doumeki was staring back at him seriously. In fact he always does so. But this time, Watanuki sensed something else, sincerity. He flinched. That did not feel right at all.
"So are we starting?" The taller boy stepped back. "I've taken out all the ingredients already. It's just the utensils left because I don't know where they are."
Shifting his gaze to the table, Watanuki took note of the ingredients. His past anger had diminished, "How many are you planning to make?"
"100,"
"Don't be crazy!!" Watanuki exclaimed.
"70,"
"No!!"
"50,"
"30!!" Watanuki finalised. "Let's have that as our target. We don't have that much ingredients to begin with." Folding up the instructions, the bespectacled boy stuffed it into his apron pocket and proceeded with the preparations. "I'll take the utensils out. You open the packet of paper cups."
Doumeki obediently did so and Watanuki could only observe with wonder. He was actually listening to him without any questions! Feeling a sense of control, the boy revealed a smug smile. 'Maybe it won't be that bad…maybe as Himawari-san said I could actually enjoy myself.' Settling the necessary utensils on the table, Watanuki's smile widened. 'It'd be better if Himawari-san was here though!'
"What next?"
"Didn't you read the instructions?" Pushing a tray towards Doumeki, Watanuki proceeded to wash his hands and lay out the cups on the tray neatly. "Wash your hands first and let's get this done."
Once again, Doumeki dutifully obeyed his instructions. He slowly followed what Watanuki was doing. However, time seemed to slow down and so after a matter of minutes, Watanuki could not stand the silence. His mind started to wander to a point where a burning question had formed inside him.
He cleared his throat to alert Doumeki of his presence, "Are you feeling better?"
"What do you mean?"
Though annoyed at his indifference, Watanuki managed to restrain his sharp tongue and tried again, "I mean…you lost a lot of blood." He stopped, hesitating at the last two words. "For me…"
"…I'm better after sleeping most of the weekend away,"
Relieved, Watanuki relaxed a little, "That's good to hear." After all, he was the party that started the trouble. And now he was doing this in return for Doumeki's help. (Somehow he always found himself doing such favours.) Even though Watanuki consciously denied it, he knew that there was a closely linked relationship between them.
Placing the last cup down, the 'teacher' gave out his next set of instructions, "Open the bar of chocolate." As he said that, Watanuki started to wrap a piece of aluminium foil over a small tray. But peace did not persist. When he was done, he saw Doumeki sneaking a bite and, instinctively, smacked his hand.
"Don't eat them!!"
The expressionless boy replied, "I'm feeling hungry."
"That's your problem!" Watanuki retorted. He took hold of the small tray and pointed to it. "Put it down here. Now." Anyone watching them by the side could see Watanuki being overly domineering. Perhaps it is merely a sign of affection.
It took a while to remove the bar of chocolate from Doumeki's hands. As soon as Watanuki succeeded, he rushed over to the toaster and put the brown treat to heat. He looked as if he had just save an innocent deer from the jaws of the lion.
"You can open the packet of cornflakes now." Following that, he himself opened the packet of almonds. Being particular about cleanliness, Watanuki took out two pairs of plastic gloves from his bag. "Wear them first and we can continue."
After that was done, Watanuki reached over to grab a handful of cornflakes, distributing them over the paper cups. Next, he took a bit of almonds and did the same thing. "Now, that's what you need to do."
Silently, Doumeki did the same thing, but just a bit more clumsily. His large hands looked like they were going to crush the cornflakes any moment too. Watching over Doumeki like a patient teacher to his student, Watanuki could not help but feel slightly amused. Yes, amused over his so-called rival.
In a false ticked-off tone, the boy commented, "There's no need to put so much of it in one cups. Spread them out evenly into smaller clusters. Then they will be bite-sized."
At this, quietly Doumeki did so. Somehow Watanuki was feeling proud. Of himself or of Doumeki, he was not sure. Normally, he would have remarked that not everyone had as big a mouth as the sullen boy did. Doumeki would have refused to budge. 'Maybe I'm becoming a better person! And this is reflecting off Doumeki too! Yes, Yuuko must have thought the same thing too.' Or maybe Watanuki was naively thinking too much with all the silence.
But this time, the other boy broke the stillness, "Are you feeling better?"
"Uh…? Oh!" The bespectacled boy nodded. "Yes, I am."
The conversation ended soon enough. So it went quiet once more, save for the constant crunching of cornflakes, almonds and plastic. Without fail, Watanuki's vivid imagination spawned a whole chain of humourous thoughts.
He began to wonder why Doumeki had requested this of him. Why not just prepare some other dish for him and pass it to him in school for lunch? He did so every other time. This was a first. And for Watanuki, it just made him more curious. It did not help that the crunching was distracting him from what he was doing, and made him wonder more. As this continued, somehow the confused boy found himself reddening.
"Are you alright?" A sudden flash of concern made Watanuki divert his attention over. He felt something warm press against his forehead. Watanuki realised that Doumeki had his forehead against his and hastily averted his gaze. He started to feel the heat of his own cheeks. He was being silly and he knew it. But he could not help it.
"You're not feverish," The seemingly oblivious boy distanced himself and bluntly added. "But you look redder."
That statement did not help Watanuki at all, who could only stutter, "W-why, why did put your forehead against mine?!"
Blankly, Doumeki raised both of his gloved hands, "I know you're picky about hygiene and all…and I didn't feel inclined to do otherwise."
Upon hearing this, Watanuki recovered from the shock fully and glared, "You're just lazy to remove them!" Before he could go on though, a bright 'ding' sounded throughout the room. "Ah! The chocolate's done!"
He immediately removed his gloves and shoved them in Doumeki's hands. Like a mouse sensing cheese, Watanuki was led towards to toaster, pleased to see the chocolate melted thoroughly. He took the pair of thick mittens hanging at the side and swiftly put them on. He was feeling excited, something he always felt whenever cooking. Though this was simple, he had to admit that he was actually enjoying himself.
Watanuki had taken out the tray of heavenly substance, but he instantly shook his head and started waving his free hand wildly around his head. 'No! What am I thinking?!'
To all this, Doumeki merely pointed out, "What are you doing?" Pausing for a moment, he tried to be thoughtful. "Do you see spirits? I don't see them."
"No!!" Watanuki cried out. He responded once again to Doumeki's words, it just worked every time. Striding over, the boy grabbed a spoon and got to work. "Watch me."
It was something he was going to regret saying. As he carefully dripped chocolate over each little cluster, he could feel Doumeki intensely observing his every move. For the easily agitated boy, it was overwhelming.
Feeling pressurised, Watanuki stopped midway and firmly said, "You can try now." He removed a mitten and stuffed it on Doumeki's hand. Without further prompting, the 'student' took the spoon and started scooping chocolate.
Maybe it was the terribly fragrant aroma, or maybe the other presence was too close for comfort. But Watanuki still felt his senses prickling. It dawned on him that he still had not asked Doumeki's reason behind this strange request. So what exactly were the hidden reasons? He could be thinking far too much. But before he could go on, he realised that Doumeki was suddenly licking the spoon.
Widening his eyes in astonishment, Watanuki switched from his pensive mode to his default mode, "What are you doing?!"
Without thinking, he snatched the spoon away. Before Doumeki could react, Watanuki had the spoon in his mouth already, polishing the spoon of any remaining chocolate. When he was finished, he held the clean spoon with sense of triumph, "There! That'll teach you!!"
"…The chocolate was overflowing and I didn't want to make a mess on the food,"
"…" The ignorant boy froze.
"So the easiest way was to lick it,"
"…" He blinked. And finally, it registered to him what foolish action he just did.
"Anyway, I'm done," It seemed that for once, Doumeki was the one having a one-sided conversation. "So now what do I do? Put it in the fridge right?"
"…Yes…yes, I asked the teacher. She said that we could leave our food here till tomorrow if needed,"
"That's good," Doumeki took the tray and placed it in the fridge. In those few minutes, the reigns of control been too great for Watanuki and tossed him off board, leaving Doumeki in charge. "I guess we can clear up now."
He did not wait for an answer and proceeded on with his work. And so Watanuki stayed still for a while more before venturing, "W-why did you ask me to do this instead of just cook you a dish like you always do?"
The bespectacled boy saw Doumeki pause to shift his attention on him, "Well, you still don't look well, so I thought that we could prepare something simple together. Besides, I like chocolate."
"…Oh…"
"Why?" The taller boy pushed further. "I can always make us prepare more complicated dishes later on. Since you're always getting into trouble…"
"I—" Watanuki stopped. He was right. Though he hated to agree, he was always the troublemaker. "…Thank you…" He seemed to be offering this phrase to his 'arch enemy' more and more frequently now. Was his heart softening for him?
Doumeki quickly replied, "If you want to thank me…" He saw Watanuki stiffening, preparing himself to have some great challenge thrown at him. "Just eat more of the chocolate almond crunches tomorrow."
A laugh escaped the other boy's mouth, "Sure thing." Maybe he was not that bad after all.
……The next day during lunch break……
"Oh wow! It looks nice!"
"Doesn't it, Himawari-san?" A cheerful answer came. "Have some more then!"
"Didn't you say that you'll have more of it?"
Turning around, Watanuki shot back, "Fine!"
Himawari chuckled, "You two seemed to have grown closer!" She took a bite of the snack and remarked, "Delicious! You two must have put in a lot of effort!"
"Of course!" The smiling boy paused and the smile faded off. "But I did most of the work."
Doumeki calmly rebutted, "I'm the apprentice."
Flailing his arms about, Watanuki cried out in defence, "So what? Shouldn't you be the one doing most of the work as an apprentice?"
"Then I'll practise," Doumeki replied in a deadpan tone. "Like I'll prepare it on your birthdays, Christmas—"
"Nooo," Watanuki protested, failing to realise that he was being lured into a trap. "How could you do that? That'll be thoughtless of you!"
"Oh, so you're willing to teach me more?"
"…"
Himawari clapped her hands together, "I'll be looking forward!"
Inside, Watanuki could only cry. 'Nooo, Himawari-san, don't be cheated by him. He has evil intentions in mind after all.'
END
A/N: I forgot what they were called! Those little paper holders where you put pastries. So I called them paper cups since…you call cupcakes 'cupcakes'. If anyone knows an actual name, don't hesitate to tell me! Thanks! Haha. And I did prepare this snack when I was quite young in case you're curious. I hoped you enjoyed it! I highly doubt I'll be doing more chapters on this but if response if good I may do a series on this… No flames please, just constructive criticism, thanks!