The first week of summer was strange as Shizuru and Kuwabara tried to get used to being in the house by themselves. They'd never been left alone all day like this before; they knew their dad hated it, but he had to work.
One morning when Kuwabara went in the kitchen for breakfast, he found Shizuru waiting for him with one of their mother's flowery aprons. Handing him the apron, Shizuru said, "Put that on. I'm going to teach you how to cook something."
Kuwabara balked. "Why do I need to learn how to cook? That's what girls do!"
Kuwabara wished he could take the words back as Shizuru glared at him. "You're learning because I'm not going to baby you, and at nine you ought to be able to do something. Now put the apron on!"
Kuwabara quickly put the apron on, eager to avert her wrath.
"I'll teach you something easy today, cheese toast and scrambled eggs," Shizuru said.
The cheese toast was easy to make; just some slices of cheese on a piece of bread stuck in the oven. The eggs proved to be a bit trickier. Kuwabara burned the first batch, but his second batch, though not as light and fluffy as his mother or even Shizuru made them, was at least edible.
And even though it was girl's work, Kuwabara found that it was actually fun cooking with Shizuru, and he felt a sense of accomplishment when the meal was ready. "Will you teach me how to make more stuff?" Kuwabara asked as they sat down to eat.
Shizuru rolled her eyes. "Of course," she said, as if it was the most obvious thing in the world. "You can't live off of just cheese toast and eggs."
Kuwabara smiled at her. "Of course."
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