Lunamugetsu: I do not own Toriko. Also I'm going to talk about something important at the end of this chapter.
Zebra: Why the fuck am I here!
Lunamugetsu: …Reasons (grabs Kimiko and hides behind her)
Kimiko: Enjoy the chapter
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Previously:
"I'm sorry, Kimi. I was a fool, that didn't think about how you felt" Toriko told her, "I promise, that I won't make you cry tears of worry." He gave a kiss to her forehead as she continued to hug him.
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Toriko was walking back towards his home with a contemplative look on his face.
While he had apologized to Kimiko and stayed at her workplace the rest of the day, he still felt like Kimiko was keeping him at a distance. He gave a sigh as he walked up to where his house. A house that now has a vacant lot. Well, where his house was.
"WHERE DID MY HOUSE GO!" Toriko ran around the empty space."It's nowhere in sight, there's nothing left!" he then stopped in his tracks, "well, it was made out of candy. Not to mention, I'm pretty sure I ate half of my house the other day." He then gave a groan as he sat down on the ground, "if I look at this in another way, I suppose this could be a form of karma, for me being so inconsiderate of Kimiko's feelings."
Crunch! Crunch!
Toriko turned toward the sound to see a two headed reptilian beast that was currently chewing on a gigantic cookie that looks suspiciously like a door. A door that looked exactly like the front door to his house.
"Obusaurus you ate it!" Toriko yelled as the beast just kept on chewing on the cookie looking completely innocent of his crime. "Why you-"
BARK! BARK!
Toriko was then bombarded by Terry who was currently licking his face in greeting, happy to see that her partner was okay.
"Terry!" Toriko laughed as the Battlewolf continued to lick his face. After a couple of minutes he pushed Terry off of him and sighed as he now had no home to sleep in.
Looks like I'm going to have to call Smile-san again. He'll probably say that he want the Century Soup as part of his payment, like last time, Toriko thought and then took out his phone as Terry had turned her attention to Obusaurus who was now playing with her.
"Hey, Kimi." Toriko said into his phone.
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"Are you sure? Okay, I'll make sure to bring it to you, bye." Kimiko ended the call on her cellphone with a confused look. She gave a sigh before laying her head on the table that she was sitting at.
"Something wrong, Kimiko-chan?" Coco walked into the room with a tray of tea. Kimiko took her head off the table as Coco handed her a cup of tea.
"Thank you, Coco-san. I'm sorry for coming to your house on such short notice. You must have been busy training," Kimiko took a sip of the tea and sighed at the mellow flavor of jasmine in the drink.
"It's fine, Kimiko-chan. After all, it's also important to be able to rest one's body in order for it to grow. So taking breaks aren't harmful, especially if the breaks include being able to have a nice conversation with a person I like," Coco told her as he sat down in the chair across from her, "and besides you brought me some delicious mochi, how could I possibly be angry at that."
"It's nothing special, anybody could have made mochi" Kimiko told Coco as he placed the mochi on a plate in front of them.
"Even so, it surprises me that you'd come and see me. After all, I heard that Toriko had gone into the Gourmet World," said Coco.
"Yeah, he apologized to me when he came back though. So it's perfectly fine," Kimiko reassured him.
"You have a kind heart, to be able to forgive him so easily," Coco told her making Kimiko blush.
"My parents always told me that I shouldn't hold grudges," Kimiko told him. Coco frowned as the electromagnetic waves that Kimiko gave off started to fluctuate. In all of his years of fortunetelling, Coco could tell that electromagnetic waves only fluctuate under certain circumstances; when they're under stress, confused, or uncertain. To Coco he could tell at the way Kimiko's waves fluctuated he could identify that the little chef was uncertain about something. Even though he hadn't seen the chef in awhile he could tell what was weighing on her mind.
"Kimiko-chan," the chef looked at Coco, "Could it be, that you haven't forgiven Toriko about what he's done?"
"What?" Kimiko said completely surprised at Coco's question. "It's not like that, it's just." Coco gave her a sympathetic smile as Kimiko tried to explain herself.
"While I do not exactly know what is going on, what I do know is that communication is one of the best tools to clear up misunderstandings." Coco said making Kimiko look at him, "Kimiko-chan, even though avoiding confrontation may seem easier now, I believe talking to your combo partner is the only solution to settle your uncertainty."
"I thought so," Kimiko sighed, "I'm sorry Coco-san, I became a nuisance to you because I didn't want to talk to Toriko-san."
"If I may ask, what caused you to come to me?"
"Well," Kimiko blushed, "Whenever I feel uncertain about anything, I tend to go somewhere where I feel comfortable and safe."
"You feel safe with me?" Coco looked at the blushing chef as she tried to explain herself.
"I-It's just that you're so dependable Coco-san, that I know that I can always trust you. I know you wouldn't do anything without a good reason, and you're a good person," Kimiko told him making Coco smile.
"Thank you, Kimiko-chan," Coco said, "by the way, if I may ask? Who called you before?"
"Huh? The phone call? That was Toriko-san, it seems like his house got eaten again. He wanted me to make more Century Soup as payment for Smile-san. For some strange reason he wanted me to give it to him instead of directly to Smile-san, I wonder why?" Kimiko pondered, "I gave the Century Soup to Smile-san before, I guess Toriko-san just didn't want anyone to bother Smile-san when he's working on the house."
"Yeah, that's probably it," Coco told her, for the poison man knew Toriko's true intentions of not wanting Kimiko to see Smile-san.
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FLASHBACK
It was about a week after Toriko had put the Century Soup on his Full Course Menu that he had found out that his house had been completely eaten. Naturally he called his architect that always designed and built his house, this time with the Century Soup as part of his payment. Naturally everyone gathered to see Toriko's new home, which looked like a gigantic mansion. While everyone had gone off to explore Toriko's house, Kimiko had stayed in the kitchen in order to serve Smile-san the Century Soup. Which was where the problem began.
"This is the Century Soup!" Toriko paused from chomping on part of the roof as he heard Smile's voice on the other side of the wall.
"Hey Toriko, that's where you were," Sunny and Coco had walked up to the blue haired glutton only to stop as he raised his hand and pointed to the window that let them see into the kitchen from the outside.
"Please dig in, Smile-san," The three Heavenly Kings all crowded around the window as they saw Smile pick up a spoonful of the soup and smelled it.
"Such a deep, harmonious aroma, this is the Century Soup" Smile sighed in bliss, "Itadakimasu." He took a sip of the soup and immediately the corners of the lips started to pull up making the architect smile. Although to Kimiko it kind of looked like he was drunk.
"Smile-san, are you okay?" she asked as Smile was somewhat lost in his mind.
"I see, so this is what a smile is," Smile said out loud and sighed, "To think, I almost forgot how to smile."
"Smile-san, could it be, that you wanted the Century Soup because you wanted to smile again," Kimiko guessed
"Yup, works been so stressful that I didn't even bother smiling," Smile grumbled as the effects of the Century Soup wore off.
"That's a shame, Smile-san," Kimiko said making the man look at her, "You've worked yourself to the point that you don't like doing your job."
"I could say the same for you, isn't cooking really tiring, not to mention you cook for Toriko on some occasions," Smile asked.
"While it may be hard work, I wouldn't trade it for the world. Because to me, it's not work at all. Because I enjoy what I do," Kimiko explained, "It's like that saying where if you enjoy what you do, you're not working, you're just having fun. That's probably why you first became an architect, right Smile-san?"
"Why I first became an architect," Smile then started remembering when he was just a child and how he had always wanted to build the most beautiful buildings for everyone to see. All the drawings that he made of buildings that he would make into reality. The sleepless nights of studying architecture while in school. The looks of awe from the crowd as he unveiled the first building he had designed. While the memories ran through his mind Smile started to give a happy grin.
"You really do love designing don't you, Smile-san. A person wouldn't have a face like that if they hated what they did," Kimiko said making Smile look at her. "Even though it takes a lot of work, we still do it because we love it,right?" She gave him a smile.
Oh no, Toriko, Coco, and Sunny thought as they watched Smile blush at the grinning chef.
"Yeah, you're right," Smile said while looking at the chef, "by the way, Chef Kimiko, may I ask you a question?"
"Uh sure, and you can call me Kimiko, you don't have to be so formal," the chef told him.
"Well, Kimiko, are you currently seeing anyone?" Smile said quickly getting the attention of the Three Heavenly Kings. Toriko, Sunny, and Coco all turned to each other and gave a quick nod.
"Huh? Well, no actually," Kimiko said confused at the question.
"Then by any chance, do you want to go o-" Smile never got to finish his sentence as Toriko, Sunny, and Coco had bit into the wall completely obliterating it as they started to eat the rest of the house.
"Guys!" Kimiko exclaimed as the three men were currently chomping on the wall.
"Hey Kimi/Miko/Kimiko-chan," the three men said in unison as they ate the wall.
"Wait! If you keep on eating at that pace, you're going to eat the whole house!" Smile-san yelled as the Three Heavenly Kings ignored his yelling and continued eating.
END FLASHBACK
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"Probably," Coco laughed as Kimiko took a sip of her tea. "Anyway, when did Toriko tell you to meet him?"
"Toriko-san said that he wanted me to come over around six in the evening, he wanted to give Smile-san enough time to design and build his house."
"I see," Coco grinned, "Then Kimiko-chan, could you perhaps assist me with something."
"Sure, if it's something I can help you with." she replied
"I have some berries that I received as a gift from one of my customers. My problem is that they're pretty sour and I don't know what to do with them. Do you by any chance have any ideas?" Coco said making Kimiko perk up.
"Can I see them, I'd like to taste how sour they are before choosing what to do with them."
"It would be no problem, here I'll show you to my kitchen," Coco stood up and walked to the kitchen with Kimiko followed him. The kitchen was pretty cozy with only having kitchen stove with oven, the fridge stood in the corner besides the cupboards and cabinets. Kimiko noticed that the kitchen counters and cupboards were scaled up so that Coco could be able to prepare food comfortably. Coco walked towards his fridge and took out a container that was filled with different colored berries that ranged from blueberries, raspberries, strawberries, and blackberries. Looking closer she saw that all of the berries had somewhat of a bell shape to them.
"These are called Jingle Berries, they grow in bunches and whenever somebody picks them off the plant the berries will produce a bell sound." Coco explained, "One could tell that the more melodic the sound that the berries make the sweeter they taste. Except that my client is a bit hard of hearing, so I'm guessing she couldn't hear the sounds of the berries when she picked them. She's a nice old woman, so I didn't have the heart to tell her that these were sour."
"They do look good though," Kimiko took a blackberry and plopped it in her mouth to taste, immediately her face scrunched up at the sourness that assaulted her tongue.
"See," Coco said as Kimiko swallowed the fruit.
"Yeah, these are pretty sour when you bite into them but I can taste a hint of their flavor a little after," Kimiko said, "One of the most common mistakes people would do when trying to use sour berries is that they make a dessert that's made for the berries, but add in more sugar to make up for the sourness. By adding more sugar they're just making the dessert taste sugary and not actually changing the taste of the berries. Not to mention those desserts are made for when the berries are ripe and sweet."
"I see, it's kind of like how people put in obscene amount of sugar in their tea because they don't like the bitter taste," Coco suggested
"In a way, the best way to use the berries is to pair it up with a dish that can balance them out. Like a sweet dessert that needs some tartness from the berries," Kimiko explained.
"The first sweet dessert that comes to my mind is a cake," Coco said, "Any chance you would make that?"
"I'd be happy to," Kimiko said with a smile making Coco smile in return.
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"So what are you making?" Coco asked as Kimiko was gathering the ingredients and putting them on the kitchen island so that she could measure them beforehand.
"I'm making a chiffon cake with buttercream frosting and the berries will be used for decoration and for the middle of the cake" Kimiko told him as she proceeded to measure out the flour, sugar, and salt.
"That sounds pretty good, would you like any assistance?"
"Sure, just wash your hands first and you can help me to seperate the egg white and yolks." Kimiko told him as she mixed the dry ingredients together. After Coco had quickly washed and dried his hands he saw that Kimiko was struggling to reach the bowls that were placed in the hanging cabinets. Kimiko was standing on her tippy toes as she stretched her hand out as far as it could go just barely reaching the shelves of the cabinet.
"Here, I'll get it for you," Coco reached up and took a couple of bowls and handed it to her.
"Thank you, Coco-san. I'm sorry, I thought I could reach it," Kimiko said as she placed the bowls on the island counter.
"It's fine, the kitchen is a bit taller than the average one. Would you like me to give you a stool for you to stand on? That way it'll be easier for you to work with."
"Yes, please," Kimiko blushed in embarrassment. She knew that she was a bit on the short side being barely five feet tall, but she never felt that she was really short in her everyday life. Yet here she is having to use a stool so that she could be at a comfortable height to prepare food.
"Here you go," Coco placed the wooden stool at her feet.
"Thank you, Coco-san," Kimiko said as Coco went to wash his hands again as he had gotten them dirty getting the wooden stool.
"So, you're separating the egg yolks from the egg whites." Coco said as Kimiko placed a bowl in front of him.
"Yeah, I need to whip up the egg whites into a meringue, so be careful to not break the egg yolks. If any yolk gets into the egg whites, it prevents the egg whites from forming a meringue" Kimiko said as Coco started lightly tapping the egg on the side of the bowl only for the egg to break upon contact with the bowl and breaking the yolk as the egg fell into the bowl with bits of egg shell mixed in with it.
"Oops, my apologies," Coco said as he picked up the broken egg shells.
"That's okay, everybody makes mistakes. You must have used too much strength. If anything you could make scrambled eggs with this," Kimiko joked as she picked up the bowl and replaced it with a new one, "Wash your hands and I'll help you with the next one. Coco gave a nod as red spread across his cheeks. After a quick wash and dry he went back to Kimiko who had prepared another egg for him to crack. "C'mon, let's try again, I'll help you this time."
"I'm sorry, separating the egg yolk from the whites are supposed to be a simple task, yet you have to help me," Coco apologized as Kimiko handed him the egg.
"Don't apologize, egg yolks breaking happens to me a lot more than you think," Kimiko told him, "how about you lightly tap the egg on the counter first, the edge of the bowl might break the egg a bit more than you want." Coco went to tap the egg on the counter and picked it up as he saw the little crack appear. "The most common way to separate the eggs is to break the egg in half and to toss the egg yolk in-between the shells so that the egg white drains from it." Coco proceeded to do what she had told him, tossing the egg yolk between the shells. It was going great until he accidently gripped onto one of the egg shell halves too hard and cracked it along with the egg yolk that was in it.
"Oops," Coco said as he blushed in embarrassment at his mistake.
"Maybe if we go with a different method of separating eggs," Kimiko suggested, "Coco-san, you go clean your hands and we'll try again." After getting ready for his third attempt of separating the egg yolk and white. Kimiko had now moved the stool a bit closer to him so now they were standing right next to each other. "Could you give me your hand?"
"Huh?" Coco said confused at her question.
"Could you give me your hand?" Kimiko repeated as she held her hand out. Coco blushed and slowly offered his left hand to her. Kimiko placed her hand against his, palm to palm, her hand practically dwarfing in his large one.
"Kimiko-chan?" Coco asked as he continued to blush at her proximity.
"You're using too much strength when you're trying to separate the egg. We can try to use a different method of separating the egg, but it's a bit messy. "
"Don't worry, I'm no stranger to getting dirty," Coco told her
"I can try to crack the egg into the palm of your hand. The egg whites will be able to slip through the gaps between your fingers but the yolk will stay in your hand. People usually don't like separating eggs using this method, because it's messy and they think it's unsanitary. But as long as you properly clean your hands there's nothing to worry about."
"It's worth a try." Kimiko gave Coco a warm smile and placed another bowl in front of him. Coco placed his hand above the bowl, palm side facing up as Kimiko cracked the egg into his hand. He watched as the egg whites slowly started to seep out between his fingers, Coco carefully tilted his hand so that the rest of the egg white that was clinging onto the yolk also started to fall off into the bowl. After a couple of seconds Coco was left with a lone egg yolk in the palm of his hand.
"You did it!" Kimiko exclaimed jumping off her stool and wrapping her arms around his neck making Coco yell in surprise.
"Kimiko-chan!" Coco said as he quickly steadied both of them and placed the egg yolk into another bowl before he could crush it.
"Aren't you happy Coco-san? You did it," Kimiko said as a cute aura started to surround her.
"Y-Yeah," Coco managed to say while trying to hide his blush, "shall we continue?"
"Sure!"
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As Coco was folding the meringue into the cake batter he looked over at Kimiko who was currently taking out the butter from the refrigerator.
"Kimiko-chan," Kimiko looked over at Coco, "do you really not mind being around me? Doesn't my poison bother you?"
Kimiko smiled and placed the butter on the counter. She had yet to say anything as she walked over to Coco, she placed her hand over his making him drop the spatula. As Coco continued to wait for her answer, Kimiko turned around and hugged Coco.
"Coco-san, there's no reason for me to mind being around you. Your poison is a part of you, and I know that you'd never hurt me," Kimiko lifted her head to look up to him and smiled.
"Kimiko-chan."
"It looks like you're done with mixing the batter, let's pour it into the cake pans and bake them," Kimiko said as she laid out the cake pans for him.
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"This actually turned out really well," Coco said as he stared at the two layered cake that had berries in-between the layers along with a sweet buttercream frosting. The berries that were placed on top of the cake provided a splash a color that contrasted with the yellow of the cake and cream color of the frosting. Coco took a forkful of the cake and ate it. His face brightened up at the lightness of the cake, that had the sweetness of the buttercream that was then balanced out by the sourness of the berries.
"I was a bit hesitant with using buttercream frosting, since I usually use whipped cream as frosting for light cakes, but the sweetness from the buttercream goes well with the sourness of the berries." Kimiko said as she took another bite from her slice of cake.
"Well, it's nice to see that our efforts paid off, right Kimiko-chan," Coco was greeted with the sight of Kimiko happily munching on the cake, her electromagnetic waves giving off a happy aura. The chef gave a nod as she kept on eating the cake. Her gaze then drifted towards to the clock that was showing that it was almost two o'clock.
"I should get to the restaurant," Kimiko said making Coco look to see what the time was, "I have to see if they have any Century Soup left, and if they don't, I'll still have time to make another batch."
"I see," Coco placed his plate on the table, "I'll take you there."
"It's okay, you don't have to trouble yourself. I'm pretty sure that I can just take the train," Coco didn't say anything and only went to grab his cloak and hand Kimiko her jacket.
"Kimiko-chan, please indulge me by allowing me to spend a little more time with you before I go back to training," Coco held out his hand to her.
"Okay, Coco-san," Kimiko reached out and took his hand as they went outside to be greeted by Kiss. The crow gave a cry in greeting the young chef as Kimiko waved to him. The last time she had seen Kiss was during the time Toriko and her were looking for the Century Soup.
"Can you carry us, Kiss?" Coco got a confident caw from the crow as the Emperor Crow then lowered his head so that they could get on easier. Coco then picked up Kimiko and placed her on Kiss's neck and then took his seat behind her, being sure to have his arms be around Kimiko's sides as he grabbed onto Kiss's feathers for stability.
"Kimiko-chan, grab onto Kiss's feathers so you don't fall off," Kimiko nodded and copied what Coco was doing, Looking back to Coco she gave a nod confirming that she was okay, Coco smiled, "Okay Kiss, time to go to the Hotel Gourmet!"
The Emperor Crow gave a cry before spreading his wings and setting off into the sky.
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"Here we are, Kimiko-chan," Coco got off Kiss as soon as the Emperor Crow landed landed on the roof of the Hotel Gourmet. He reached out towards Kimiko, picking her up off of Kiss and setting her down.
"Thank you, Coco-san," Kimiko said Coco making the poison man smile. Coco then leaned down and kissed Kimiko on the forehead.
"I hope you resolve your problem with Toriko, I wish you the best of luck," Kimiko smiled and hugged Coco.
"Good luck on your training, thank you," Kimiko said as Coco got back onto Kiss waved to her as he set into the air.
"Until we meet again, Kimiko-chan!" Kimiko smiled as she saw Coco fly off, after he was out of sight she went into the hotel.
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After making a quick batch of Century Soup for Toriko and the restaurant. Kimiko was currently pouring the soup into the Gourmet Case, while Yun was watching her.
"Yun! Yun! Yun!" the penguin chirped as she closed the Gourmet Case.
"Do you want to come with me to see Toriko-san?" She got a exuberant nod in response to her question. Kimiko let out a small chuckle at the wall penguins response. "I made some treats for us, why don't we eat them while we get on the train." Yun then gave a quick chirp before flapping his wings in happiness. "C'mon, let's go." She picked up the Gourmet Case and a brown bag at which she had put the snacks in. Watching to see if Yun was following her, she gave a smile as Yun had grabbed onto her shirt as to not to lose her. Kimiko readjusted the bag she was carrying and put it under her arm. She then reached out with her hand grabbed onto Yun's flipper so they were walking hand in hand. Yun gave a happy chirp as they left the Hotel Gourmet and headed for the train station.
Yun chirped as he and Kimiko were waiting for the train to arrive. He made sure to be by Kimiko's side as more people started to walk into the train station trying to make sure that they didn't miss the train. As Kimiko and Yun stood behind the yellow line, a growling sound caught Kimiko's attention. Looking toward the source of the sound she saw it was a man whose face was obscured by the hood of the jacket that he was wearing and was wearing black slacks and shoes. Kimiko hid her smile as the man turned his head away as to try to not to acknowledge that he was hungry. The man stood there completely silent until he heard some rustling and then saw that the woman next to him was offering him something.
"Would you like some?" the chef asked while Yun gave a chirp. The man remained silent as Kimiko held out the offered food. "They're steamed red bean buns. I made them myself, you're more than welcome to try."
The man stood there for a couple moments looking at the still steaming concoctions. They steamed red bean buns were still warm and Kimiko had taken the liberty to shape them to look like little bunnies. He stared at the red bean buns before taking one, muttering a quick thanks to Kimiko he took a bite. Kimiko and Yun just stared at the man as he paused for a moment and then he quickly ate the rest of the bun in a couple of bites. Kimiko smiled as she offered him two more before giving the bag to Yun. The man grabbed the red bean buns as the announcement that the train was coming echoed through the speakers.
"Looks like we'll have to go. I hope you enjoy the steamed red bean buns." Kimiko grabbed onto Yun's flipper as the train pulled up to the station. The man only held onto the red bean buns as he saw the chef and the penguin get on the train and leave the station. When they were out of sight he pulled down his hood letting his black hair be seen. He gave a smile as he looked at the rabbit shaped red bean bun.
"Until we meet again, little chef," he said before turning around and taking a bite of the treat in his hand.
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Kimiko and Yun were walking up to Toriko's candy house, she gave a sigh as she saw that Toriko's house had bite marks in it. While his house was the size of the mansion, she could tell that Toriko had already taken to snacking on it. Kimiko walked up to the front door and knocked while Yun was currently munching on the last of the steamed red bean buns.
"Come on in Kimi!" Toriko's voice said from inside the house. Kimiko went and opened the door with Yun following right after her. Walking into the house, it seemed to be the same design as the house that Smile had made when she first saw Toriko's house. She saw that the hallways and the doors were scaled up to be able to accommodate Toriko's height.
Bark! Bark!
"Terry!" Kimiko yelled as she saw the Battlewolf run up to her and Yun. Yun gave a happy chirp as he ran up to the Battlewolf and waved his flippers back and forth. Terry responded by nuzzling the baby Wall Penguin making Yun chirp. Kimiko laughed as she walked over to Terry and scratched her behind the ear, she gave a grin as she saw that Terry's tail was wagging back and forth.
"Hey Kimi!" Kimiko looked up to see Toriko walking towards her in his white sleeveless t shirt and orange pants, he was currently eating some cotton candy that looked suspiciously like a pillow.
"Looks like you're wasting no time in eating your house," Kimiko smiled as Terry went over to nuzzle her side making the chef go back to scratching her behind the ear.
"I can't help it, when there's food surrounding me, the only logical thing to do is eat it," Toriko said while shoving the rest of the cotton candy into his mouth. "Cool it looks like you brought the Century Soup with you. C'mon you can put it in the kitchen." Toriko motioned for her to follow him. He led them to a spacious kitchen that had open shelving with faucets coming out of the walls that had different labels for each one. Kimiko went and put the Gourmet Case on the counter as she looked at the cabinets that were made out of gigantic chocolate bars. There was a kitchen island that was made out of sandwich cream cookies. Kimiko placed her hands on the kitchen island only to notice something.
It's at the perfect height for me, she thought and looked over to Toriko who was currently trying to see if he could eat the red bean bun that Yun was still holding onto. This is way too short for Toriko-san to cook comfortably with. I wonder why Smile-san didn't design the kitchen to be perfect for Toriko-san's height.
"Hey Kimi, you made steamed red bean buns," Toriko cried as Yun shoved the rest of the bun into his beak before Toriko could grab it.
"Don't worry, I'll make you some, when I have time," Kimiko said as Yun waddled over to her and showed her the now empty bag that had housed the red bean buns. "Good job at eating them, Yun." the penguin chirped at his accomplishment. Kimiko gave a laugh at his antics and then looked over at Toriko.
"Something wrong, Kimi?" Kimiko fidgeted with her hands as she tried to muster up the courage to tell him.
"I," she took a breath, "Toriko-san, we need to talk."
The bluenette looked at her and then gave a nod. The penguin chirped at what Kimiko was talking about. Kimiko gave a smile at the baby wall penguin she gave him a pat on the head before turning to Terry.
"Terry, could you show Yun the rest of the house while I talk to Toriko-san," Terry gave a bark before nudging Yun out of the room leaving the two alone. Kimiko started to fidget as the room was filled with silence.
WHY AREN'T I SAYING ANYTHING?! HURRY UP AND TELL HIM HOW YOU FEEL! Kimiko mentally berated herself as she looked at Toriko was leaning on the kitchen island.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Toriko asked. Kimiko said nothing for a couple of seconds before looking straight at Toriko.
"Toriko-san. I want to be honest with you," Kimiko fidgeted with her hands as she tried to find her words, "I'm not strong like you. I can't fight, all I do is hide or run from danger. I always get emotional over everything. Heck, I'm not even tall. The only thing I'm decent at is cooking."
"Kimi-"
"Please let me finish," she interrupted him, "Toriko-san, when you asked me to be in a combo with you, that was one of the happiest days of my life. I thought that you saw that I could be helpful to you. That my skills make me good enough to be called your partner. I completely trust you and your skills. Then you went and did something as reckless as going into the Gourmet World, without even so much as a goodbye to me. I know that you're the type of person that tends to dive headfirst into things, but when you wanted us to be partners, I thought." tears started to gather around her eyes, "I thought, that you trusted me. I know that you apologized to me, but is it bad for me to ask something of you. I'm not asking to know every single thing in your life. It's just, if you're going to go somewhere dangerous, all I want is for you to tell me, so that I'll at least know. I just, I just want to know if you're going to be okay. That's all I want to know." Before she could shed any tears she was immediately picked up by Toriko. He brought her closer to his face making them eye level to each other.
"Kimiko," Toriko leaned his forehead against hers making her hold her breath. "This is what you wanted to tell me?"
"Yeah." Toriko gave her a small smile.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to make you worry." Toriko then placed Kimiko on the kitchen island, letting her use it as a seat as he leaned against it. "Kimiko, I promise, that I'll tell you. Because we're combo partners and I trust you. That way you won't have to worry about me. Sound good." Toriko turned to her and grinned.
"Yeah," Kimiko said and smiled making Toriko pat her head as she swung her legs back and forth.
"By the way, Kimi. Thanks for bringing the Century Soup to me, I hope it didn't cause you any trouble."
"Don't worry, the manager and staff were kind enough to let me use the kitchen," Toriko raised an eyebrow at her statement.
"You weren't at work today?" He asked.
"No, I was visiting Coco-san. He had some berries that he wanted to eat, so we made a chiffon cake together. He had a bit of difficulty separating the eggs but the cake turned out great," Kimiko said.
"Really," Toriko said as he broke off a piece of the kitchen island and took a bite out of it.
"Toriko-san," Kimiko sighed as the Bishokuya ate his cookie furniture.
"Hey, Kimi," Toriko said getting her attention, "Want to stay over for dinner? Terry and I gathered a lot of ingredients while Smile was working on the house."
"You just want to eat my cooking, don't you," Kimiko said making Toriko laugh while blushing.
"Yup," he said as Kimiko gave him a small smile.
"I'll make dinner, it'll give me a chance to see how Smile-san designed the kitchen." Kimiko jumped off the kitchen island and looked around.
"I'll go bring the ingredients to you, then" Toriko said as he went to leave the room, he turned his head slightly so that he could see Kimiko looking through the drawers. He smiled before leaving the kitchen.
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"Hey Kimi," Toriko said as the two washed the dishes, "Why don't you stay the night. It's already late in the evening, plus the train might have stopped now."
"Huh?" Kimiko said, "I don't want to be a bother, plus I also have to take care of Yun."
"It's no bother at all, this place is huge. Yun can bunk with Terry. Smile designed a bedroom for her. Isn't that nice." Toriko said as they placed the last of the dishes on the drying rack.
"What do you think Yun," Kimiko asked the baby wall penguin that was currently at her side. He gave a chirp before nodding his head up and down. "I guess that's alright. Ah, but I don't have any night clothes with me." she gestured to the green shirt and black shorts she was wearing.
"No problem, you can wear one of my shirts as like a nightgown or something like that," Toriko said as he ruffled her hair making her pout.
"Fine, I'm going to make sure Yun is comfortable first," Kimiko said as Yun chirped. "I'll go meet up with you when I'm done."
"Sure, no problem." Toriko said as Kimiko followed Terry and Yun out of the room. After going down the hallway of the house, Terry led her to a room that had no door and led to an open room that had a gigantic pillow on the floor that looked like it was made out of cotton candy. Looking around, Kimiko could see that there was a large doggy door, big enough for Terry, that led to the walked over onto the cotton candy pillow, circled around it for a second before settling herself in the middle of it. Yun in response at seeing the bed gleefully chirped before waddling over to Terry and snuggling up to the wolf as he tried to find a comfortable spot.
"Are you comfortable, Yun?" Kimiko said as she walked onto the gigantic pillow. The penguin gave a chirp before snuggling into Terry's fluffy coat. "Thank you for letting Yun sleep with you, Terry." Kimiko scratched the Battlewolf behind her ears, "I'm counting on you to take care of him while I'm with Toriko-san." Terry gave a bark before she laying her head down on the pillow with Yun. Kimiko gave a smile looking at the two animals before leaving the room. "Goodnight."
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"Toriko-san," Kimiko called out in the house as she didn't find him in the kitchen.
"Up here, Kimi," Toriko called from the upstairs floor. Kimiko went up the stairs and into the room with the open door to see that he was shirtless only wearing orange pajama shorts. "Here Kimi," Toriko tossed her one of his white shirts as he sat on his large bed, "You can change in the bathroom, it's over there." He pointed to the door that joined another room to his.
"Thanks Toriko-san," Kimiko said as she walked into the bathroom. She took off her clothes and put on Toriko's shirt. She gave a sigh as the shirt was barely clinging onto her shoulders.
I'll be lucky if this shirt doesn't fall off of me, Kimiko thought as she smoothed the shirt out before picking up her clothes and leaving the bathroom.
"Toriko-san," the man looked at her, "Which room am I going to sleep in?"
"Huh? What are you talking about? You're sleeping right next to me," Toriko pointed to the bed that he was sitting.
"EH!" Kimiko exclaimed, "B-But, don't you have other rooms that have beds?"
"Well, I ate the furniture in the other rooms," Toriko answered making Kimiko blanch at the statement.
"I suppose I should have seen that coming," Kimiko sighed.
"C'mon, it's not going to be weird, just think of it like the times we slept together when we were on our food journey. Except this time we have a comfy bed instead." Toriko picked up Kimiko and placed her on the bed right next to him. "See, it's nothing strange." he patted her head before lying down on the bed and pulling up the blankets. "Is this okay?"
"It's fine," Kimiko said as she looked at the cotton candy blanket, she then settled her head against her cotton candy pillow. "Fluffy." she muttered in complete bliss at the softness of the pillow as it cradled her head. Toriko smiled before turning off the light and settling into bed.
"Hey Kimi-" he stopped his sentence as he saw that the little chef had already fallen asleep, snuggling into her pillow. Toriko gave a small smile before looking out the window. The moon being the only source of light for him to see. That was when a thought struck him.
Wait a minute. Coco knows how to cook, he could totally separate eggs by himself. Why would he, Toriko was halted from his thoughts as he heard Kimiko shift around in her sleep. He gave a grin as he saw that she was snuggling herself deeper into the pillow. Of course, he probably wanted to spend as much time as he could with Kimi. That cunning poison man, if I'm not careful he would have her heart in no time.
Toriko gave a sigh before shifting his position in bed, he reached out his arm and brought Kimiko closer to him. The sleeping woman only moved for a second before settling herself right next to Toriko.
But, I'm not giving up on her so easily.
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Lunamugetsu: well that took a lot longer than I thought. Anyway time for my announcement. I have decided to rewrite An Unexpected Variable. I'm going to edit and replace the chapters so that they'll be easier to read and you'll have somewhat of a better idea of what's going on in that story.
Kimiko: I see, that's wonderful, writer-san.
Lunamugetsu: Yes, but that's not all. For I am also going to rewrite some of the chapters from Toriko with a slight difference!
Kimiko: Really?!
Lunamugetsu: Uh… well..you see. (starts to sweat nervously) I've come across a bit of a problem. For I,,,uh.
Zebra: the cocky writer forgot to save the files.
Lunamugetsu: I didn't meant to! Anyway while I do have the files for An Unexpected Variable, which makes it easier for me to rewrite. I don't have any for the earlier chapters of Toriko with a slight difference. So I'm asking my fellow readers for a favor. For those who have the time and are willing to copy and type down all of the Toriko with a slight difference chapters, starting from the beginning right to the end of the Regal Mammoth arc on either a Word Document or a Google Doc to send it to me, please PM me first
Zebra: you're not actually thinking that people are actually going to do this stuff for you.
Lunamugetsu: You're right. To the person who is willing to do all of that stuff, they can send me a list of things that they want to happen in Toriko with a slight difference. It doesn't matter how long the list is or how absurd the request is. If you want a tap dancing Zebra, I'll write in a tap dancing Zebra.
Zeba: HELL NO!
Lunamugetsu: Although if multiple people want to work on it, then I might have to shorten your list, due to the possibility of overlapping or conflicting requests
Kimiko: But writer-san, what if they ask for (whispers something into lunamugetsu's ear)
Lunamugetsu: huh? What was that? Say it out loud, I can't hear you.
Kimiko: (blushes before handing the writer an item)
Lunamugetsu: Did you just give me a lemon? Why did you give me a lemon? What does that have to- OH. Well I'll guess I'll have to change the rating of this fic to an M then. (laughs)
Kimiko: You're serious!
Lunamugetsu: well that's up to the person's request. By the way Kimiko, how do you feel about adding a woman to your evergrowing harem?
Kimiko: (blushes) WHAT?!
Zebra: You readers better review. DON'T YOU DARE GET COCKY!