I had been going around the school, talking with everyone and seeing how they were doing. And since we were slowly nearing dinner time, I thought to go see how Aoi and Ryo were handling themselves. Pretty well, probably. On the way to the cafeteria I suddenly remembered that Saki had asked me to pass on a message. She wanted to talk with Aoi about something. What, I'd decided not to ask. It probably wasn't meant for me, anyway. But I'd happily agreed to let Aoi know. And so I knocked on the cafeteria door before opening it and walking in.

- Takuma..! What brings you here all of a sudden?

Aoi asked as she looked at me, so I decided to let her know right away.

- Well, I just thought I'd come to check on you guys, and, well.. Aoi, Saki wanted to talk with you about something. She said she's waiting for you in the gym.

Aoi blinked.

- Wait, you mean, right now?

she asked and I nodded. She then looked at Ryo.

- We were just about to start working on dinner.. Ryo, is it okay if I go to check on Saki?

she politely asked.

- Fine by me. Takuma's here now, anyway,

he responded. I felt quite nervous all of a sudden as Aoi hurried out the door with Labramon following closely behind.

- Wait, what?!

I wondered out loud, looking at Ryo.

- Aoi left, so you can help me instead,

he said, spelling it out word by word.

- But.. I don't really know how to cook, and.. I thought you didn't want me around here after yesterday,

I explained, almost able to feel the cold sweat run down my temples.

- Well, I know you can get things done. And the invitation was only for you. Minoru's not involved, so I think we'll be fine. I'll show you what to do,

Ryo told me. Kunemon was looking at us. I tried to decipher what he was thinking, but really couldn't.

- Uh.. right,

I then said, chuckling a little. It seemed like Ryo had things already started. He was doing something, although I wasn't quite sure what it was. I had never been a wizard in the kitchen.

- Please keep it simple, I'm not really sure what to do and when.

- Yeah, I got it. You can start by going and washing your hands,

Ryo gave me my first instructions. That I at least could handle.

- Sure. Uhm, hey.. what are we making, anyway?

I thought to ask. It was probably good to know what I was getting myself into.

- Vegetable curry,

the head chef said.

- Kunemon and the others found all those vegetables the other day, so Aoi thought we should use them as soon as possible.

- Ah.. yeah, I see,

I said as I washed my hands before returning to Ryo.

- Leave your sleeves up, you don't want them getting in the food,

he then said before I could ask anything else.

- Right.. I sure don't. So.. I see you've already got something underway. What can I do?

I asked him. Ryo nodded at the pile of veggies on the side table. There were some onions, something that looked like tomatoes.. I saw at least carrots and bell peppers, too. And potatoes, I was pretty sure.

- You can cut all of those.

I nodded as I went to my work station.

- Should I cut them.. how big?

was my next question. I really didn't know a whole lot about cooking. Only some little things. Mom always cooked for us back home and rarely let me partake. I could just about boil water.

- Use your best judgement. Not too small, not too huge,

Ryo just said. I didn't want to start nitpicking so I just let it slide, took a knife and started cutting the veggies.

- Hey, Ryo...

I spoke up after some minutes of focusing on my work.

- Mm?

he said, letting me know that he was listening. Agumon was very interested and curious to see me like this, and was sure to cheer me on along the way.

- I was quite surprised when I first saw you here, assisting Aoi. I guess I never really thought you could cook.

I tried to word my thoughts carefully, because under no circumstances did I want to insult Ryo. So, I tensed up momentarily, but relaxed again as he spoke.

- I took to it back home.. it became something I started taking care of on a daily basis,

he revealed, looking at me.

- Ah, right..

I responded, nodding. I was feeling a little awkward, almost like walking on egg shells. But Ryo was cool with me being here, and seemed to think I was doing a good job. So I finished cutting up the potatoes and carrots and diced the tomatoes. I was pretty happy about how I was doing so far. Without thinking much about it I peeled the first onion and cut into it. It felt like mere seconds later my eyes were watering up, and it was getting hard to see clearly. Agumon seemed worried, he didn't understand what was causing this.

- Takuma..! Why are you crying?!

he called out, getting Ryo's attention right away. He came over.

- What's wrong with him?

Agumon kept asking, but Ryo proceeded to calm him down.

- That's normal. I'll spare you from the science lesson, but onions do have the tendency of making people cry. Hey, Takuma.. stop for a moment. Take a break and sit down, I can take care of the onions for you and then put the vegetables to cook. Hey.. make sure to wash your hands well once you're ready to continue.

- Alright, I will. Thank you, Ryo.

Agumon followed me as I went to take a little breather. My eyes were quite red and irritated. I almost felt embarrassed as I sat down because Agumon truly seemed to worried about me.

- Takuma... are you okay?

he kept asking. And I kept telling him that it was okay, it really was just the onions and nothing else was wrong. Agumon seemed to believe me, but never once left my side. He stayed with me until I was ready to continue, which to my slight embarrassment took quite a bit longer than I had anticipated. During my break Ryo had already cooked the vegetables.

- I really am such a baby...

I muttered as I washed my hands. Agumon strongly disagreed, wording my thoughts out for Ryo and Kunemon to hear.

- Takuma is not a baby!

I wished he didn't yell quite so loudly, I would have rather just kept that between us. But Ryo said nothing about it, thankfully.

- Ready to continue? You can cook the rice, the water's already boiling. We just need the rice and then we're just about done.

Agumon followed me like a shadow as I went to pour the rice in. Not too long after that the cafeteria door slid open. It was Minoru.

- Hey heyy! Takuma, I heard you got to assist the master chef here,

he said, grinning.

- Can I do anything?

- No,

Ryo said before Minoru could get another word in.

- I was only wondering.. no need to be sour,

he groaned, causing Ryo to suddenly rethink his approach.

- I mean that we're actually almost done here,

he said, actually sounding friendly.

- You can let everyone know.

With that knowledge Minoru ran off to spread the word that dinner was just about ready to be served. I breathed out.

- Nice save.. thank you for not saying anything about the onion episode,

I spoke up, feeling like a little thanks were in order. Ryo even smiled back at me.

- It wasn't my place to say anything. You can tell him yourself if you ever want to.

Minoru wasted no time spreading the word, and soon everyone flooded into the cafeteria. Aoi seemed quite impressed as Ryo told her about how well I'd done. I felt embarrassed with all the attention on me, to say the least.

- Guys, stop.. it's not that big of a deal..

I mumbled, trying to hide how red my face was getting. Hearing everyone praise the food was getting a bit too much, and I wanted to give Ryo the credit he deserved.

- It was mostly Ryo, anyway.. I just cut up some vegetables, that's about it,

I said that, hoping to get out of the sudden spotlight.

After dinner, as everyone started going their own ways again, Ryo stopped me before I could escape, and said in a low tone:

- Takuma. You should know that you're welcome to help me again if you ever want to. Just say the word.

- Kewww, kew!

Kunemon said in agreement.