"You don't know how to make spaghetti?"
He looks at me in that adorably childish way and smiles sweetly,
glancing right into my eyes. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom around his
grandparent's home, but he doesn't seem to notice the beauty of the day. In
fact, the only thing he had really noticed at all was the fact that he does not
eat well when his grandparents are out of town. He was SURE to note this simple
reality many, many times in the course of a single school day. He's such a
sucker for food.
"Truth is that I don't know how to cook much more than instant ramen
and frozen dumplings," he admitted with a small shrug. Brown eyes smile up at me.
"I just happened to think, well, since you're cooking Sakura-chan a spaghetti
dinner tonight, maybe you could...teach me?"
Most of the time, with most people, I wouldn't even consider saying yes.
In fact, most of the time, and with most people, I would say no immediately,
without even giving it a thought. I certainly have better things to do than play
culinary expert with people, no matter how much I may or may like the people in
question.
But something about him makes me melt as I stand, and the word "no" just
can't possibly form on my lips.
A smile, on the other hand, has no problem doing so.
----------------
A Cooking Lesson
A Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfiction
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler (duncan@avenew.com)
----------------
"Then, once the water comes to a boil, you put the noodles in," I
explained indulgently, gently slipping a few handfuls of the hard, straight
pasta into a pot. He watched intently, his eyes never leaving the water.
I try to suppress a blush as he smiles up at me, his eyes slanted shut
in contentment. Why is it that he makes me react this way? Not even Kaho could
do such things me, and I had been with her for an entire year! Is this what she
meant by me liking someone else when she came back?
No! I chided myself, scowling at my own stupid, stupid thoughts. Kaho
just was sick of being with a boy so many years her junior. She is gone, and she
isn't coming back. All those things she said about me finding someone else
was a clever lie to get her out of the relationship. That was the only reality
to it. She just didn't want me, and decided to let me down easy.
But, then, if it was all a lie, why in the world does Y -
"What about the sauce, Touya?" he questions suddenly, cutting into my
inner soliloquy. "Should we add anything to it?"
I blink for a moment, trying to think of what he's talking about.
Reality slowly tumbles back into place, the reality of the boiling water and the
slowly-heating sauce coming back to me, piece by piece. Flushing slightly, I
grab the nearest spoon and begin to furiously stir the thick, red-brown paste.
"I usually like to taste test it before I really worry too much about changing
it," I inform him, bringing the spoon to my lips and slurping just the tiniest
bit off the edge. He watches me intently, his gaze almost disturbingly attentive.
I wonder why he cares so much about cooking...
"Let me taste, too," he insisted, leaning forward and sipping a bit of
sauce from the other side of the spoon. My heart leap into my throat, strangling
me, and yet, I couldn't bring myself to move away from the spoon. My only
coherent thought was that I was grateful he'd closed his eyes to taste the red
substance; that simple fact allowed me to blush freely.
He pulled his lips away from the cool metal after just a brief second
of taste, but he didn't recoil far. Our noses were almost touching as he smiled
at me, kindness sparkling in those alluring brown eyes. "I think it tastes
amazing, Touya," he breathes, voice soft and almost seductive as he looks up
at me. "There's really only one thing in the universe I can imagine as tasting
better."
Even now, I don't know who moved first. It may have been me, intoxicated
by his proximity, my mind drunk from the feel of his soft breath across the
spoon. Or perhaps it was him, acting on an impulse that I will never
understand, unable to resist an urge. I do not know.
What I do know is that the sauce-coated spoon slid from my hands and
to the floor as my lips were pressed desperately against his, our mouths dueling
for supremacy, the taste of tomato caught between us. His fingers buried in my
hair, pulling me closer, refusing to let go. Not that the action particularly
bothered me; my arms were wrapped around his neck, drawing him into me, tugging
him as close as he could be.
My mind raced with unanswered questions, questions I didn't understand.
Questions about what was happening, what was going to happen, what I was doing,
what I could do, what he was doing.... All of them dancing in my head. What
would Sakura think? What would my father think? What would my schoolmates - all
sophomores, just like he and I, and all very conservative - think? Would my
reputation be ruined? Would I be ostracized?
Did it matter?
"I'm home!" cried a voice, and I felt myself go pulling backwards
immediately. Slipper-clad feet thumped against the floor as my little sister -
energy incarnate, really - came tearing into the kitchen with that adorable
third-grade gumption that could not be reproduced in any environment.
Luckily, I was too busy on wiping up the floor for her to really take
notice of me...or of the fact that my face was *bright* red.
"Yukito-san!" gushed Sakura, staring up at my best friend with the
biggest grin on her face that the world could muster. Usually, I would have
mocked her immediately, but not today. Today, somehow, wiping up the now-clean
floor tile was INFINITELY more important that anything else. "Are you spending
dinner here with Touya and me?"
He smiled sweetly at the girl, brown eyes sparkling. My face reddens
again as I rise and ruffle her hair, trying desperately to maintain my cool.
"I'm teaching him to make spaghetti," I informed her in my usual, gruff manner.
I expected her to stay, but it was then that Yukito ran a hand through
his gray-white hair and bent down, smiling. "Why don't you start working on
your homework, Sakura-chan?" he suggested sweetly, as though he meant nothing
but goodness and light. "That way, we can all go out for ice cream after dinner."
"Okay!" she grinned, taking off through the doorway. "I will make you
proud, Yukito-san!"
Her slippered footfalls thundered through the house and into her room,
where she promptly slammed the door.
Sighing, I glanced toward my long-time friend, pressing down the blush
that was building in my cheeks. "Yuki, what in the world just happened?" I
questioned, ignoring the water that was splashing off the spoon and onto the
countertop. "I... I..."
He smiled and picked up a fork, idly stirring the still-bubbling pot
of pasta. "Should we test and see if the noodles are ready?" he replied with
a raised eyebrow, still smiling.
I can't help but smile back at him as I bend over the stove, our
shoulders touching as I reach down to extract a few soft strands of pasta from
the boiling water. There's something comfortable about the closeness, even if
my face is still warm from my blushing. "Sounds like a good idea to me."
There's a moment of silence as I dangle a steaming noodle from my
fingertips. He reaches forward and gently takes it from my hand with his before
devouring it. "Still a bit hard," he decides after a moment of silence, "but
good none the less." His smile grows as he moves back to the sauce, staring at
it. "You know, Touya," he thought aloud, a sly and yet honest expression
crossing his face, "I think I learned about a lot more than cooking today."
He moves to look into my eyes, and I look into his. Our faces near,
lips touch gently, if only for a moment, the second kiss after what seemed to
be an eternity's wait.
His breath is heavy against my lips as I pull away, my fingers tracing
over his cheekbone softly. "I think I did, too."
----
Fin.
----
Author's notes: Just a brief little moment I thought up when I was bored. ^^
He looks at me in that adorably childish way and smiles sweetly,
glancing right into my eyes. The cherry blossoms are in full bloom around his
grandparent's home, but he doesn't seem to notice the beauty of the day. In
fact, the only thing he had really noticed at all was the fact that he does not
eat well when his grandparents are out of town. He was SURE to note this simple
reality many, many times in the course of a single school day. He's such a
sucker for food.
"Truth is that I don't know how to cook much more than instant ramen
and frozen dumplings," he admitted with a small shrug. Brown eyes smile up at me.
"I just happened to think, well, since you're cooking Sakura-chan a spaghetti
dinner tonight, maybe you could...teach me?"
Most of the time, with most people, I wouldn't even consider saying yes.
In fact, most of the time, and with most people, I would say no immediately,
without even giving it a thought. I certainly have better things to do than play
culinary expert with people, no matter how much I may or may like the people in
question.
But something about him makes me melt as I stand, and the word "no" just
can't possibly form on my lips.
A smile, on the other hand, has no problem doing so.
----------------
A Cooking Lesson
A Cardcaptor Sakura Fanfiction
Written by Kate "SuperKate" Butler (duncan@avenew.com)
----------------
"Then, once the water comes to a boil, you put the noodles in," I
explained indulgently, gently slipping a few handfuls of the hard, straight
pasta into a pot. He watched intently, his eyes never leaving the water.
I try to suppress a blush as he smiles up at me, his eyes slanted shut
in contentment. Why is it that he makes me react this way? Not even Kaho could
do such things me, and I had been with her for an entire year! Is this what she
meant by me liking someone else when she came back?
No! I chided myself, scowling at my own stupid, stupid thoughts. Kaho
just was sick of being with a boy so many years her junior. She is gone, and she
isn't coming back. All those things she said about me finding someone else
was a clever lie to get her out of the relationship. That was the only reality
to it. She just didn't want me, and decided to let me down easy.
But, then, if it was all a lie, why in the world does Y -
"What about the sauce, Touya?" he questions suddenly, cutting into my
inner soliloquy. "Should we add anything to it?"
I blink for a moment, trying to think of what he's talking about.
Reality slowly tumbles back into place, the reality of the boiling water and the
slowly-heating sauce coming back to me, piece by piece. Flushing slightly, I
grab the nearest spoon and begin to furiously stir the thick, red-brown paste.
"I usually like to taste test it before I really worry too much about changing
it," I inform him, bringing the spoon to my lips and slurping just the tiniest
bit off the edge. He watches me intently, his gaze almost disturbingly attentive.
I wonder why he cares so much about cooking...
"Let me taste, too," he insisted, leaning forward and sipping a bit of
sauce from the other side of the spoon. My heart leap into my throat, strangling
me, and yet, I couldn't bring myself to move away from the spoon. My only
coherent thought was that I was grateful he'd closed his eyes to taste the red
substance; that simple fact allowed me to blush freely.
He pulled his lips away from the cool metal after just a brief second
of taste, but he didn't recoil far. Our noses were almost touching as he smiled
at me, kindness sparkling in those alluring brown eyes. "I think it tastes
amazing, Touya," he breathes, voice soft and almost seductive as he looks up
at me. "There's really only one thing in the universe I can imagine as tasting
better."
Even now, I don't know who moved first. It may have been me, intoxicated
by his proximity, my mind drunk from the feel of his soft breath across the
spoon. Or perhaps it was him, acting on an impulse that I will never
understand, unable to resist an urge. I do not know.
What I do know is that the sauce-coated spoon slid from my hands and
to the floor as my lips were pressed desperately against his, our mouths dueling
for supremacy, the taste of tomato caught between us. His fingers buried in my
hair, pulling me closer, refusing to let go. Not that the action particularly
bothered me; my arms were wrapped around his neck, drawing him into me, tugging
him as close as he could be.
My mind raced with unanswered questions, questions I didn't understand.
Questions about what was happening, what was going to happen, what I was doing,
what I could do, what he was doing.... All of them dancing in my head. What
would Sakura think? What would my father think? What would my schoolmates - all
sophomores, just like he and I, and all very conservative - think? Would my
reputation be ruined? Would I be ostracized?
Did it matter?
"I'm home!" cried a voice, and I felt myself go pulling backwards
immediately. Slipper-clad feet thumped against the floor as my little sister -
energy incarnate, really - came tearing into the kitchen with that adorable
third-grade gumption that could not be reproduced in any environment.
Luckily, I was too busy on wiping up the floor for her to really take
notice of me...or of the fact that my face was *bright* red.
"Yukito-san!" gushed Sakura, staring up at my best friend with the
biggest grin on her face that the world could muster. Usually, I would have
mocked her immediately, but not today. Today, somehow, wiping up the now-clean
floor tile was INFINITELY more important that anything else. "Are you spending
dinner here with Touya and me?"
He smiled sweetly at the girl, brown eyes sparkling. My face reddens
again as I rise and ruffle her hair, trying desperately to maintain my cool.
"I'm teaching him to make spaghetti," I informed her in my usual, gruff manner.
I expected her to stay, but it was then that Yukito ran a hand through
his gray-white hair and bent down, smiling. "Why don't you start working on
your homework, Sakura-chan?" he suggested sweetly, as though he meant nothing
but goodness and light. "That way, we can all go out for ice cream after dinner."
"Okay!" she grinned, taking off through the doorway. "I will make you
proud, Yukito-san!"
Her slippered footfalls thundered through the house and into her room,
where she promptly slammed the door.
Sighing, I glanced toward my long-time friend, pressing down the blush
that was building in my cheeks. "Yuki, what in the world just happened?" I
questioned, ignoring the water that was splashing off the spoon and onto the
countertop. "I... I..."
He smiled and picked up a fork, idly stirring the still-bubbling pot
of pasta. "Should we test and see if the noodles are ready?" he replied with
a raised eyebrow, still smiling.
I can't help but smile back at him as I bend over the stove, our
shoulders touching as I reach down to extract a few soft strands of pasta from
the boiling water. There's something comfortable about the closeness, even if
my face is still warm from my blushing. "Sounds like a good idea to me."
There's a moment of silence as I dangle a steaming noodle from my
fingertips. He reaches forward and gently takes it from my hand with his before
devouring it. "Still a bit hard," he decides after a moment of silence, "but
good none the less." His smile grows as he moves back to the sauce, staring at
it. "You know, Touya," he thought aloud, a sly and yet honest expression
crossing his face, "I think I learned about a lot more than cooking today."
He moves to look into my eyes, and I look into his. Our faces near,
lips touch gently, if only for a moment, the second kiss after what seemed to
be an eternity's wait.
His breath is heavy against my lips as I pull away, my fingers tracing
over his cheekbone softly. "I think I did, too."
----
Fin.
----
Author's notes: Just a brief little moment I thought up when I was bored. ^^