A/N: hey y'all! Sorry if my update took too long…this chapter was lengthy and I could find time to type it…so anyway…here it is! Enjoy!xD
Warning: This is a very WEIRD chapter and contains a number of Yakitate!Japan cameos. If 'weird' is your middle name…well…ah heck, read it! All of you!xD
My Porcelain Doll
Chapter Seventeen
"I don't want to train today! I simply don't!" Oliver folded his arms across his chest and flopped on the large couch of Robert's living room. "Tyson won last year's championships fair and square. Boris is in jail and the Demolition Boys are fine! Why does Robert need to push us like this!"
Enrique groaned, flopping too on the couch beside him. "The next European preliminaries are AGES away…"
"My point exactly…" The frenchie replied.
"We'll be playing again in two months…" Robert informed them curtly as he passed by. "Get your asses off the couch and in the dungeons…"
"Yes ma'am…" the pair said and stood up, then sat down again as soon as the German disappeared.
"Oh what are we going to do?" Oliver asked. Enrique looked at him and thought for a moment.
"Let's bake bread…" he said with a mischievous smile.
The chef looked at his incredulously. "What?"
"Come on!" The Italian jumped up and grabbed his arm. "This bread shall be our perfect escape! Let's go to the forge…"
"Robert has a forge?" the grass-haired boy asked as they left the modern rooms of the castle and entered the untouched 16th century hallways.
"What ARE you looking for?" Oliver asked as they arrived at the said forge. "How is baking bread going to be our perfect escape?"
"Perfect!" Enrique exclaimed, not noticing his companion's questions. "A cement mixer!" He pointed to a very modern machine, quite out of place in the medieval setting.
"You don't have cement…" the greenette mumbled, but withdrew what he said as he saw two heaps of sacks, one of which Enrique was already opening and pouring a small amount of into the mixer.
"Hey…could you get two buckets of water?" he asked Oliver, indicating an ancient well behind him.
"Oh sure…" the frenchie replied, getting to work. "But won't that be a tad bit too much?"
"No…" the blonde said, fishing out a fairly medium sized sack from wherever in his clothing. "I've still got my own stash to add…"
"And what is that?" the chef smirked.
"Magic powder…"
"Oh get real…"
--
The end result was a sort of cement board about two inches thick and just the right size for any oven. Oliver and Enrique smiled at their own handiwork.
"This material looks familiar…" the chef replied. "It's like the stone used to build those traditional stone ovens…but different…"
The Italian smiled. "I've always wanted my own betalite board…"
"Well…let's wash up and get baking…" Oliver declared. "Wait…what ARE we baking?" he asked.
"Betalite bread…" Enrique said as they left the forge. "Hence the board…"
His companion blinked. "All right, I'm stumped. What on earth is that?"
The blonde shrugged. "Your typical pan de pugon with a twist…" he smiled mischievously yet again and tapped the cement board.
"Oh…the recipe for that is easy and tasty too!" the chef bounced. "You should've been there when Robert first ate it…he totally flipped!"
"Where was I?" Enri asked, not seeming to recall such a memory.
"You were in Japan with your girlfriends…"
They reached the kitchen and Enrique locked all the doors.
"So the servants won't come in…" he answered Oliver's raised eyebrow.
"It's not like we're doing anything illegal…" the greenette replied.
Enrique considered him for a moment. "We're ditching training right? Then nobody should know that we're here…"
Oliver shrugged. "Works for me…"
The dough was made and panned; our blonde Italian fixed his betalite board in the oven and the bread was already baking. A most delicious smell circulated the closed room and greeted the happily chatting pair sitting on the counter.
"Wow…that's incredible!" Oliver remarked as he sniffed the air. "What is in that board?"
"It's a metalloid which multiplies infrared heat…and a jumble of other chemistry stuff I didn't bother to remember…" Enrique replied.
"Who taught you this?" the pro chef asked as the timer ting-ed and he took out the bread.
"My girls and I went to Japan, right? We met this weird bunch of fantastic bakers…all we ended up doing there was eat bread…but damn the bread was good." the blonde replied reminiscently. "DON'T EAT IT YET!"
Oli lowered his bun for he was about to take a bite. "What?"
Enrique got his own bun from the pan and returned the rest to the oven. "Let's just put this back to keep it warm…"
"What for?" the greenette asked. "We're eating bread; it's not like…" he trailed off at the realization. "There was something in that board than spiked the bread! We're going to die!"
Enrique shut the oven door. "Nobody dies of eating bread, Oliver…" he sighed when the French boy hesitated. "Look, let's eat it together okay?"
That consoled him. "Nobody dies of eating bread? I'll trust you with that…"
"You can count on it…" The Italian nodded and they held hands, just in case they'd get blown away or something.
And so with the buns in their free hands and their determined, uneasy gazes on each other's faces, Oliver and Enrique both took a bite on the enchanted bread on the count of three.
--
I am ready to die. It is sad for I am merely fifteen. I don't mind because I have tasted the most delicious bread that man could ever bake. In my short career as a chef, this is my biggest success; and no others could top it. I have no reason to go on living…
--
"Where are they?" Johnny asked Robert. The pair was waiting in the dungeons and had a bit of foreplay given their bit of privacy. But the two youngest members of their team were taking a tad bit too long.
"They're in a tight spot." Robert answered darkly. "They won't be able to worm their way out of this one."
They ascended the stairs to look for them.
After a few minutes…
"They're nowhere!" Robert said astounded, having just received a report from all his servants that searched the castle.
"John, could you check the other rooms? I'll just go to the underground." he told his lover.
"Underground?" the Scott asked.
"It's where the forge is…Enri knows that place, so they might be down there…" the purple-haired teen filled in.
"How come he knows you have a forge?" Johnny asked suspiciously.
"We repair you guys' armor…"
"Oh…"
They separated ways and met again some thirty minutes later; Robert was panting, having just run up the stairs.
"They've used the cement mixer!" he said when he saw Johnny.
"The kitchen's locked!" the other replied.
"Bingo.."
The German's cook handed him the keys to the kitchen, explaining that nobody could get in since three hours ago.
"Three hours ago?" Johnny ogled as the cook left.
Robert shrugged and opened the door.
"Johnny? Johnny!"
"…oh my God…"
--
"Where are we?" Oliver asked Enrique. The two were standing in the middle of a large meadow littered with shady trees and bushes of flowers and fruits. To their left was a lake with waters of the clearest kind. And to the far right were green towering mountains with snow-white tops.
"This ain't the place where I went before…" the Italian muttered.
"Where are we supposed to be?" the frenchie then said.
"It's a sort of pub in which you stay in first while angels decide whether you're going to die altogether…"
"But…we aren't there…" the green-haired chef said smiling before dragging him to the lake.
"It's a beautiful here…" Enrique remarked as he looked around, failing to notice Oliver shrug off his trench coat, roll up his sleeves and pant legs, kick off his shoes and socks and wade in the water of the lake…until a large sprinkle of ice cold substance splashed his cheek.
He wheeled around and immediately blushed, but then shook if off, removing his jacket, rolling his sleeves before too wading in the water.
"Oli…" the blonde warned. The frenchie giggled and soon screamed when he got soaked.
The pair tackled each other in the lake, getting wet enough to call it swimming. Their roughhousing gave Enrique the opportunity to contemplate Oliver more and sort out his feelings as well as bond with the boy and have fun.
They dried themselves off by chasing butterflies under the sun and smelling flowers in the meadow.
They rolled around a lot in the grass, feeling very much like kids. There was one point when Oliver pinned Enri to the ground; both were panting yet smiling. Their faces were inches apart and the Italian found himself wanting to kiss him…but then the greenette pulled him up and they both ran down a steep hill.
"Enri, why are there sunsets in this place between heaven and earth?" Oliver asked as they both lay on the grass watching the breathtaking array of colors emanating from the horizon, signaling the set of sun.
The blonde thought for a moment, before replying, "So that people wouldn't forget how beautiful they are even when they're gone…"
…
"I'm pooped…" the frenchie said after a pause and Enrique smirked.
"But damn this is so much better than training," he countered, looking at Oliver for affirmation but to his surprise, the young chef was asleep.
Enrique smiled tenderly and rolled over, rubbing the boy's shoulder gently.
"Oli?" he cooed. But the other boy only cuddled closer to him in response.
It was then when Enrique knew what he really felt.
…and that presented problems.
--
Johnny was trying his best not to cry. He was accessing the security camera in the kitchen by cable and Robert's laptop. The two couldn't bring themselves to the leave the cooking area nor call an ambulance nor tell another soul. They just couldn't believe that Oliver and Enrique were dead…
Video footage was playing over and over on the laptop's monitor.
"They just ate bread Robert! Nobody dies of eating bread!" the Scott told him for the umpteenth time.
"I know…" Robert answered, voice cracking as he half-heartedly examined the bodies again.
Tears fell from deep blue-violet eyes as Johnny watched how the Frenchman and Italian were chatting happily and baking bread, how they held hands before eating the buns, how they seemingly fainted after taking a bite…and that being the last thing they'd ever do.
Robert hugged the redhead, comforting them both as they yet AGAIN watched the last moments of their friends.
"John…Let's stop this…Let's face it…" the German sighed.
"NO!"
"Enrique?"
The two elders immediately turned to the direction of the voice. Oliver was groggily 'waking up' holding the bread bun in one hand and Enrique's in the other. The blonde, in response, squeezed the chef's hand, causing the boy to yelp and slip in spilt flour, resulting in Enrique catching him.
Johnny stared before coming to and hugging them tightly, then without another word, he moved away to keep the laptop.
It was then when the two youngest Majestics took in what was happening and they were unable to speak at the expression on their team mates' faces.
"Don't ever do that again…" Robert said, sniffing a bit and clearing his throat.
"Sorry…" Oliver said sheepishly. "We didn't want to train today…"
"We were going to tell you we were calling it off…" Johnny answered. "But then you died…"
"Y'know you should try it…" Enrique suggested out of the blue and took out the bread pan from the oven.
"Hey…It's still warm…" Oliver commented. "Good idea keeping it in the oven…" he handed a bun to a clueless Rob and Johnny. "Try it."
"Try what?" the redhead asked. "Dying?"
"Nobody dies of eating bread…" Enrique smiled. "Besides, the experience'll grant you limitless shag time in a top quality environment with the most secluded privacy."
Robert and Johnny looked at each other, considering the offer.
"I guess you two've been stressed all day, so you deserve a break." the French boy added. "Plus you can have post-shag moments if you eat the bread on that couch…" he pointed to the large couch in the living room.
"What'll you two do?" the German asked them, still concerned for their welfare.
"Don't worry…" the chef reassured. "A three-course supper shall be waiting by the time you come to."
Enrique looked at him then nodded at Robert and Johnny. "What he said…"
The Scott smiled. "I'll leave you two to it…"
And the couple went to the living room and died. Oliver and Enrique did a high five.
TBCA/N: was it too weird? hn…I don't think anything's too weird…anyway, tell me what y'all think! Enjoy!xD Ciao!