AN: Inspired about certain talks of chocolate cakes and marshmallows and kaitous falling from the roof. Hope it is liked.
Roasted Marshmallows
#15- The one who was given everything
Word Count: 1018
Dedicated to Ten-chan: The original baker of the chocolate cake.
Cake, everyone loves cake. They're sweet, soft, tender in the center and a little crunchy on the surface if baked just right. In the right stores, made by the perfect master, a piece could sell for a whole week's salary, and people would still buy them too.
There was one of those stores just around the corner of Ekoda High, and Kaito would walk past it every day when he walked home. Every so often he would stop by its wall sized windows and stare at the rows of specialty pieces with their plastic ribbon wrapping and little chocolate flakes on top. Anyone suggesting he even paid them half a mind would get an earful of vehement denial, but Aoko had seen him at it more than once. And Aoko knew, from a best- friend- growing- up- together point of view, that Kaito indeed loved cake.
It would be Kaito's 18th birthday tomorrow, and in a showoff sense of generosity, he had invited his whole class to celebrate the occasion. The invitations were sent out last week, but the day before and Aoko still haven't figured out a suitable gift to get him. When even Keiko declared she found the latest Kaitou Kid item she knew Kuroba-kun would like, her situation was desperate.
Which was why, in a moment of inspiration, she came to the conclusion that she could make a cake for his birthday party next weekend. It was perfect, she thought, and this way she could save money on his present too.
Yes, it was decided, she would make him his birthday cake.
------
"Let's see... Kaito really likes chocolate..." Aoko murmured while walking down the aisle of baking goodies. Little packages, in all the colors of the rainbow and then some, sat neatly in ordered rows. Pick me! their vivid cellophane shouted while window opportunities offered to show their wares inside.
Aoko took up a packet of suspicious green chips labeled specialty chocolate. "He would deserve it for making my bag smell like pigeon poop," she mused as she glanced the packaging over. Most of it was covered by the brightly bolded lettering on the wrap. After seeing the gaudy border of dancing cartoon limes around, she wasn't too sorry to drop it back on the shelf. As much as she wanted revenge, even she couldn't stomach a molten chocolate cake looking neon green with the advertised 'lime explosion' flavors.
A pack of ground chocolate powder would do nicely, and she threw one to join the butter in her basket. She had the flour, eggs, and sugar at home. Good, she had everything.
------
"Aaiiii!"
In a series of quick action that would have made even Kaito proud, Aoko wrenched out the cake, slammed closed the oven door, threw the cake down on the nearest heat mat, and turned on the cold water to as icy as she could get it. The water was a chilling balm to the hot burn on her arm and she could only watch sullenly as the redness receded under its blast.
That idiot Kaito, stupid KaitoShe glared at the cake while imagining the chocolate swirls were the boy's brown hair. She then imagined how satisfying it would be to smash her broom into those grinning swirls. Why did he have to like cake of all things?
Aoko stared at the food item until she started seeing an irritating grin in those swirls and it was and thought that she better stop. If she continued her current train of thought, the item would be a flattened piece of dessert before she got it to Kaito's party. Wouldn't it just be the thing, to introduce the molten chocolate cake as the "Melted Chocolate cake."
Why couldn't Kaito have been drooling over boxes of Pocky or something.
The small thin cookie sticks would be hard to make though, but it would be fun to dip them into chocolate... She shook her head to clear that thought. What was she thinking? No one could make Pocky.
At least her burn was feeling better now. Or numb, as the lack of feelings in her fingers told her.
It was time to decorate it.
------
The cake she carried to Kaito's house the afternoon of the 21st was carefully wrapped in a white box tied with blue ribbons. It was placed amongst all the other presents although Aoko took care to make sure it was placed both neatly and upwards.
Everyone showed up, even Hakuba-kun although he had to be dragged to participate in most of the party games. The party proceeded at a full blast and it was late evening when the presents opening ceremony came about.
Kaito had sped through most of the gifts, receiving things from magic books to baseball caps despite he hadn't worn a single one since entering high school. Aoko couldn't understand why anyone would give him even more playing cards either when it was obvious he had several decks up his sleeves.
However, the birthday boy didn't seem to think so and placed the cap on his head backwards the way he used to in grade school and performed another impromptu show for his audience with his new cards and apparatus. When that was all over, it would seem as if only Aoko's present was left unwrapped.
A feeling apprehension filled her as she watched him take up that present. She blamed the wasabi swallowed earlier for the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. If Kaito had grinned at the strangest presents, even Hakuba's pair of handcuffs, she saw no reason why this would be different.
Until the grin actually fell off Kaito's mouth.
"Strange combination," Akako-chan commented.
"And it's lopsided," another's voice added.
"...I'm sure it doesn't taste bad...?" Keiko tried with a hesitant laugh. But even she was eyeing the revealed box with certain wariness.
Still there was no expression on Kaito's face.
But then slowly, the brightest smile bloomed on his features and a grin which threatened to split his face flashed across it. "Chokoreeto keeki!" Kaito exclaimed.
"How could he tell under all the marshmallows?" Someone was whispering in the background.
While Hakuba-kun winced at the bad English, Aoko could only grin back. She knew Kaito loved chocolate cake... and he liked marshmallows too.
-Omake-
Aoko watched with apprehension as Kaito picked up the cake. He looked at it first from the left, then circled around to glance from the right. With a feeling of misgiving, she watched as he held the box up... "No!! Don't shake it!!!"
Hakuba observed the mass of white and brown that was spread all over the box Kaito opened. "Too late," he murmured as he extended a clean handkerchief to the cake covered birthday boy.
