Just for Fun

Series: Mai Hime

Pairing: light Natsuki/Shizuru

Rating: PG 13

Summary: Right after the cake contest, Shizuru persuades Natsuki into baking a cake together in order to pass their cooking exam.

Despite the grueling effort that it had taken, participants within the Cooking make-up exam all received failing grades. The decision was unanimous from the food poisoning that overtook the entire taste-testing committee, whose members will not be released from the hospital for another two days. However, in consideration of the commotion that disrupted the event, the nine girls were all given yet another chance. Cake was the theme again with three days to perfect their art in pairs.

Suzushiro Haruka, for one, had already started an intense after school training in an attempt to best her ultimate rival. Yukino was most supportive of her efforts if not overwhelmed. Mikoto was also esthetic as her roommate, Mai, promised her sole proprietorship of the final product.

Of course, there are quite a few who are either negligent or plain annoyed at this arrangement. And if it weren't for her friend's persuasive insistence, Kuga Natsuki would have simply ignored this second make-up exam all together.

"This is so stupid," mumbled Natsuki, arms crossed, glaring at the ingredients laid out upon the counter. There were eggs, milk, butter, measuring cups and other various common baking ingredients and utensils spread out in their offensive stance as if taunting her. She suggested Betty Crocker but her partner in this exam had insisted they do it the "right way".

"Think of it as the easy way to pull up your average," said Shizuru as she rolled up her sleeves.

Natsuki allowed her silence to be her answer, the simple logic grumbling in her head. As much as she hated to admit it, her marks were suffering from her sporadic attendance. The only reason she managed to pass year after year was last-minute all-night cramming sessions, enhanced by proficient upperclassman tutoring (aka Shizuru). In this sort of dangerous academic situation, every little bit does count.

"Don't worry. We are going for a simple cake. The recipe we're using is really easy with step by step instructions," reassured Shizuru.

"You know I can't cook," grumbled Natsuki as she sprayed the "Bakers Joy" onto her pan of parchment paper. Despite acknowledging the situation, she felt entitled to some sort of final resilience.

"It's too bad because you look adorable in that apron," remarked Shizuru.

As expected, that comment immediately extracted a quick blush from the brooding girl, a pink that matched the fabric tied around her waist. Shizuru smiled as she set aside the oiled pans, turning around to preheat the oven as instructed.

She really wished her friend wouldn't belittle her feminity like that. Cooking and household chores were but stereotyped attributes of feminity and to her, Natsuki was the epitome of female beauty. Despite the motorcycle and tough attitude, Shizuru knew the gentle and normal girl beneath it all. A short pang of pride can't help but rise in her chest as she was the one who had witnessed and contributed to that development for the past four years.

"Let's see…In a medium bowl combine 6 egg yolks, 1/4 cup of milk, and vanilla extract," read Shizuru.

Natsuki grunted as Shizuru's smile and eyes directed her to the task. She sighed before grabbing the bowl to her left and the carton of eggs. Pursing her lips, Natsuki skeptically examined the light brown oval then knocked it onto the edge. CRACK! And the egg was split cleanly into two, half in her right hand and the other in the bowl. Her brows immediately twitched as history repeated itself right before her eyes. With further irritation, she reached for the next one until a hand stopped her.

Natsuki turned and looked to her project partner, whose soft smile immediately removed the burning irritation that was present just seconds ago as she stared in confusion.

"You can't use brute force," said Shizuru, her voice removed of its light playfulness, moving like soothing sand.

Natsuki can feel the presence of her friend glide behind her, a light warmth touching her back. Arms moved to take her hands with soft assertiveness, pressing an egg into her tensing digits. Guiding them with fluid ease, Natsuki watched in amazement as the shell effortlessly cracked midway under the first contact on the edge of the bowl. Her left hand was then gently manipulated to take the other end, completely opening the egg into two clean parts. With patient nimbleness, the yolk was shifted between the two broken halves. The egg white easily slipped away, leaving the yellow centre by itself, unscathed and dropped into a separate bowl.

"A combination of force and gentleness. Ying and yang."

Those words brushed just the side of her ear. She didn't realize how close Shizuru was until that moment. The husky tone, close to a whisper, lent the teasing accent she was used to an unusual quality of magnetism.

Another egg was taken up and the previous maneuvers were repeated, her hands guided under a sort of hypnosis that cooperated without an ounce of resistance. She tried to concentrate on the act itself but found herself more conscious about the encompassing warmth that seemed to be all around her.

"Your turn."

The contact was abruptly broken under a wisp of bareness, as if Shizuru had suddenly disappeared. Natsuki unconsciously swallowed, taking note of her dry mouth and racing heart as she reached for another egg as instructed.

Unfortunately, the moment she made contact with the bowl, the whole half of the egg dropped straight in, along with unwanted fragments. Immediately breaking out of her reverie, Natsuki swore as she tossed away her failed attempt.

"Why don't you just finish the eggs? I'll do that other thing," snipped Natsuki, brusquely. It was as Nao said. She can't even break a single egg… not like the latter can do it either but a part of her still shook her head in shame.

"That'll be missing the point," pointed Shizuru, "Now try again."

She truly was ready to give up but the smile that Shizuru offered immediately cut off the rest of her complaint, prompting her hand to reach for the next one. It would be so much easier to just mess this one up as well and pass the job to the one who can do it but just as she was about to make the crack, Shizuru's hand slid out to rest upon her own.

"Don't rush it. Take your time."

The lingering touch brought her mind back to just moments of ago. Miraculously, her shoulders and fingers lost its tightness as she recalled the directing pressure. A flick of the wrist with a quick bounce broke the shell perfectly. Next came the split and under intense concentration, it broke as intended, exacting the lingering memory. Juggling the yolk with just the right amount of care and balance, the yellow blob was freed and transferred to join its sibling.

"See. All you needed was a little effort and faith."

Natsuki sighed as she renewed her breathing, a relieved and proud smile lighting her face, which she quickly hid from the girl close by her.

"So? What's next?" she asked, trying to inject indifference to her accomplishment.

"You finish up the eggs. I'll take care of the dry ingredients."

Natsuki nodded and continued with her newly learned skill. But her endeavor was only half-hearted as she found her interest pulled to the fluid movements of her friend, mixing and pouring various ingredients. This was exactly that special something that made the student council president the winner of the last two years' elections with the biggest majority in Fuuka Academy's history. Among her various qualities, the most impressive one was her way of making the most demanding undertaking look effortless and elegant. (Although, she had yet to see Shizuru perform any manual labour. There was always someone else who offered or ended up doing it for her.) No wonder her friend was so popular at school, although she sometimes wondered why her female fan base was so much larger than the male one. Would she be one of those screaming fan girls if it weren't for her single-minded goal? She found it hard to imagine although the possibility haunted the back of her mind.

The next twenty minutes were spent on combining and blending all the ingredients. After that was completed, the mixture was poured onto the pans and popped straight into the heated oven. They took turns poking toothpicks into the baking cake to test its readiness and after thirty minutes with an additional ten for cooling, the moment of truth had finally arrived.

With sufficient oiling, the light yellow slabs easily slid out of the pans with an appetizing smell of butter wafting in the air, bursting a surge of pride and light-heartedness into her cooking confidence. They have done it. An overriding smile couldn't help but sneak onto Natsuki's face, its presence only noticed by her companion standing nearby.

Taking a knife, the first cuts was made and out came a small square ready for tasting. Natsuki didn't even hesitate as she popped the piece straight into her mouth, her smile immediately taking a drastic change.

"This is… disgusting," managed Natsuki.

"Oh my… You're right," agreed Shizuru, her usual smile slightly distorted at the indescribably awkward taste and texture rummaging through her taste buds, "I wonder what went wrong…"

Spitting out the sickening glob from her mouth, Natsuki turned her attention to her make-up exam partner.

"I thought you were good at this!"

The older girl blinked then looked to her fuming friend with perplexed curiosity.

"Why would I be? I've never baked before."

"WHAT!" burst Natsuki, "Then where did that recipe come from!"

"Joyofbaking dot com."

"You had us bake from some random internet source!"

"The name sounded happy," shrugged Shizuru, "And it seemed like fun."

"FUN! Wasn't yesterday enough!"

"But I was drinking tea the whole time."

Natsuki simply stared, a strange glitch blocking her ability to process this information. Perhaps it was the impossibility of this outcome or the simple knowledge that this incident had proved.

"Anyways, I think good effort should also be rewarded," smiled Shizuru. Turning around, she moved towards the refrigerator and extracted a cardboard box from the top shelf. The yellow bow was quickly untied with a tug to reveal the cake she had purposely bought for this occasion. Taking out the plastic fork that came with the package, Shizuru allowed the edge to mar the perfect cocoa coating and dug deep into the moist flesh of the tiramisu, one of Natsuki's favourite desserts. Her friend continued to stare as the first bite went into her mouth.

"Hmm! This is good. You've got to try it, Natsuki."

Unheeding the murderous glare that was sizzling in her direction, Shizuru offered a second forkful of the tiramisu just two inches away from those tightly pressed lips. But instead of an embarrassed blush that she had expected, Natsuki clamped her mouth smartly around the fork and took it all in one bite.

"Oh, it really is," smirked Natsuki, feeling pay back's sweet reward. The uncharacteristic wide eyes and open "o" mouth on the Kyoto girl's face was something to be savoured.

Shizuru blinked, her stunned gaze meeting the triumphant sparkle in those emerald greens. The suite kitchen took on a silence until the council president finally regained her voice.

"Indirect kiss."

The previous leer was immediately lost as Natsuki tried in vain to hold in her blush.

"What are you! THREE!"

Shizuru merely chuckled in response.

"You and your kindergarten jokes…" grumbled the flushing girl to regain some sort of footing.

"Ara, I feel so honoured. Natsuki's first kiss."

"Shizuru!"

"So sweet," added Shizuru with a quick wink.

"SHIZURUU!"

Entirely ignoring her yelling companion, Shizuru went for another spoonful, a large grin spreading across her lips as she took another bite on the same fork.

"Double indirect kiss!"

Even ripe tomatoes couldn't begin to compare to the extreme redness boiling on Natsuki's cheeks as she let loose a loud string of insults that echoed straight out the council president's suite.

Quick Epilogue:

And in case you were all wondering, Shizuru and Natsuki both did pass the make-up exam. Betty Crocker to the rescue. When the teacher turned around, they switched the messed up product with Betty Crocker goodness. (Shizuru is always up for shortcuts. :p)

Mai and Mikoto passed with flying colours. Mikoto's egg-cracking ability proved to be quite handy.

Shiho and Miyu, under awkward circumstances, completed the project safely as well. Mostly due to Miyu's impeccable perfection.

Haruka's strive for extravagance did cost them some marks but Yukino's common sense and logic managed to save them from a tragic end. Although the executive director made sure to declare this a tie between her and Fujino.

END

More Natsuki/Shizuru fluff. Shizuru! I'm still rooting for you! No matter what, I'm still your fan! If Natsuki ends up rejecting you, I'm always available! (j/k… I'm shameless )