Baking

Summary: On New Year's Eve, Tezuka tries his hand at baking the night's brownies. [TezukaxFuji]

Disclaimer: (long forgotten. Gomen.) Prince of Tennis is not mine. We should all know that by now.

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Around the house, it was either Tezuka's female cousin or his mother who had a knack for bustling around the kitchen baking brownies for a get-together or just for the heck of it (the latter of which was done by his cousin). The stoic youth had watched the two prepare the chocolate dessert so many times in the past, he wondered how it would turn out if he had made them.

'Not as well as theirs, no doubt…' he immediately concluded to himself. Not that he had any intention of actually making brownies.

That is, until tonight.

It was dinner time, and he was sitting down with his parents and his female cousin – his other cousin refused to eat to save his appetite for the food that was going to be served at midnight. Towards the end of it, his mother had asked his cousin to bake the brownies.

"You're better at it than I am," his mother teased.

"You're just saying that because you're lazy, aren't you?" came the reply.

"I could do it…" Tezuka interjected, not realizing what he had offered until it had already left his mouth.

His mother beamed. "Alright, then, Kunimitsu," she said enthusiastically.

Tezuka's father chuckled. "Let's see how well you can bake, son," he teased.

Tezuka frowned. "Just tell me what to do…" he said quietly.

"All you have to do is just follow the instructions on the box," his cousin commented.

Tezuka brought his gaze of to his cousin but offered no reply.

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After dinner, Tezuka followed his mother to the kitchen. The things that were needed were quickly prepared. Later on, Tezuka was measuring water and poured it into the mix. He then proceeded to crack the eggs.

"Just tap it gently," his mother instructed him.

He did so with the wooden spoon. He was successful with the first egg, but wasn't quite so with the second.

His father made a face expressing mock disgust. "Doesn't that feel gross, Kunimitsu?" he asked.

Tezuka fought the urge to roll his eyes at his father's comment as he proceeded to measure the cooking oil and poured into the mix before mixing it all together. After a few good minutes of mixing, he was tasked to grease the baking pan with oil before pouring the mix into it, leveling it some walnuts were added before it was set in the oven.

Tezuka heaved a sigh of relief. 'That wasn't as bad as I expected…' he admitted to himself as he proceeded upstairs for a while. He wasn't able to chat with Fuji online due to the tensai's connection problems. The stoic youth took Sasha from the bed and sat himself down in front of his open laptop. "If the brownies I just made turn out alright… Perhaps I should make him some…" he told the stuffed dog. "Don't you think so?" The dog stared back at him before he nodded to himself. "Right, we'll have to wait until I've tasted the brownies before I even consider doing this again…"

EDIT:

Tezuka's aunt and one of his cousins arrived to celebrate the New Year celebration with them. Over the midnight feast, his aunt – who was seated beside him at the dinner table - nudged him in the ribs and said, "Congratulations, Kunimitsu."

Tezuka blinked. "What for?"

She indicated the brownies. "They're delicious," she complimented with a warm smile.

Tezuka gave a solemn nod of gratitude. 'Well, it looks like I'll be bustling around the kitchen making these again in the near future, Syusuke…'

TBC