This one-shot was done as a request for Tsu-chan. There's not much fluff, and Keichiiro may be slightly ooc, but I hope you enjoy it anyway. Kimiko belongs to Tsu-chan and Tokyo Mew Mew belongs to Mia Ikumi and Reiko Yoshida.
Cooking is so Fun!
"Keichiiro, does this look okay?" Kimiko question, sliding the bowl that she had been previously mixing ingredients in over to the older man.
Keichiiro frowned slightly; it looked rather bumpy, but he supposed that was to be expected for Kimiko's first try at baking a cake.
"It looks fine," he replied, giving her a gentle smile.
Hunched over the worn cookbook that had been given to her for use in her cooking lessons, Kimiko squinted her eyes, trying to make out the small, faded text. One cup of baking powder, that was a lot, wasn't it? Shrugging, she started to ask Keichiiro is she was really expected to mix in a whole cup of baking powder, but stopped. She was going to prove that she was competent enough to do something as simple as baking a cake, with as little, if any, advice from anyone else as possible. Turning around, the brunette began to rummage through the top cabinets, finally coming across an open box of baking power. She held it carefully over the measuring cup, and hitting the base of the almost empty box with the palm of her hand, she filled it up to the one-fourth cup mark.
"Keichiiro, do we have any more baking powder?"
The chef glanced up and replied, somewhat quizzically, "That's odd…You should have more than enough."
"Well, I don't," Kimiko responded as she held the empty box up for him to see.
"There should be more in the back of the cabinet."
Tossing the container into the trashcan, the waitress pulled out an unopened box and measured the remaining amounts, before pouring the baking powder into the bowl.
"Let's see…What's next?" The waitress hurriedly skimmed over the remainder of the faded page, finally coming across the list of instructions. "Slowly pour in milk, stirring every couple of seconds."
"Is there anything you need help with, Kimiko-san?"
Kimiko nodded and hastily replied, "Could you get the milk out of the refrigerator?"
Her employer swung the refrigerator door open and began to push aside various containers, finally grabbing the milk carton that resided in the far corner.
"Is there anything else you need?"
"No…" Kimiko replied slowly, quickly adding, "Actually, I think I'm done with the mix."
Kimiko motioned to a pan that had been set out on the counter, already greased and ready for someone to pour the mixture into. She picked the bowl up in both hands and slowly began to pour the lumpy mix in.
Resting his hand on the employee's shoulder, the older man peered over her, his eyebrows arched skeptically.
"Are you sure you followed the instructions exactly?"
"Of course!" Kimiko exclaimed, anger rising in the girl's voice. "Are you implying that I didn't?"
"No, of course not." The brown-haired man gave Kimiko a gentle smile, instantly relieving her of her anger. "I just wanted to make sure. Now let's put this into the oven, shall we?"
"Fine…" the mew huffed, trying her best to sound furious. Maybe the pastry chef wouldn't notice the red tint that was rapidly beginning to spread across her face…If he did notice, Keichiiro didn't mention it, and the kitchen remained silent as Kimiko opened the oven door, carefully pushing the metal pan onto the first shelf.
Within a few minutes, the smell of something burning began to fill the room, gradually growing stronger as Kimiko's cake continued to bake.
Coughing harshly, Kimiko pushed a window open, filling the room with fresh, cool air, and slightly lessening the intensity of the stench, although not completely extinguishing it. She then kneeled down so that her hazel eyes were at the same level with her creation, which was now beginning to rise steadily. Batter dripped down the side, and made a soft hissing noise as it hit the oven floor.
"Ano…" Kimiko began, one hand now clutched over her nose. "Akasaka-san, is the cake supposed to make this smell?"
Keichiiro approached, sniffing the air curiously.
"Cakes don't usually have this smell and..."
He was cut off by a loud popping noise, and redirecting her attention to her creation, Kimiko let out a grown of dismay. Numerous drops of batter stuck to the sides of the oven, and the top of the cake had collapsed, emanating a stench even stronger than earlier.
"Kimiko-san?" Keichiiro began as he stared at the cake with a mixture of confusion and bewilderment.
"But I did follow the directions! Two eggs, a half-cup of butter, one cup of baking powder…"
"One cup?" the chef interrupted, reaching for the cookbook and flipping through the pages to the recipe for the pound cake. He scanned the list of needed ingredients and placed a finger on the words that read "1 Tbs. baking powder. The words were smudged together so that they could easily have been misread by someone who was merely skimming the text.
"Kimiko-san, would you like to try again tomorrow?"
Kimiko nodded, giving off a shy smile as her shoulder length hair bobbed up and down. "Of course!"
The End!
I've actually put two cups of baking powder in a cake once…;; Anyway, I hoped you enjoyed it, and please review.
