Chapter 2! Thanks Hikari no Destany for the theme :) Thanks also to Sin Oan for the suggestions and also Mew Aqua Spirit for reviewing XD
Please keep submitting words...otherwise I'll have to find one myself, and that will probably take ages because I'm so indecisive, so...
Enjoy! :3
Love Letters
B is for BISCUIT
"Say that again." Suiseiseki stares at the fifth doll of the Rozen Maiden standing before her. Shinku makes a small noise of frustration, and looks down sideways, blushing awkwardly before muttering again.
"Please...teach me...how to make biscuits."
Suiseiseki continues to gape at Shinku as if the blonde has just grown an extra head. A rather uncomfortable silence descends on the room. Hinaichigo drops her crayon midway through creating an artistic rendition on the floor of Jun 'dancing in a field of flowers' (only it looks more like a fat black blob surrounded by lots of multicoloured scribbled squiggles). Souseiseki blinks.
"W-well?" Shinku huffs, abruptly breaking the silence and turning several more shades of red. A teasing grin slowly spreads across Suiseiseki's face as this incredible revelation finally sinks in.
"Ohohoh, desu...so you've finally realised how awful you're cooking is, and you've come to seek the guidance and wisdom of the greatest maestro chef Suiseiseki, have you?" The Gardener places her hands on her hips and leers down at the crimson doll. Shinku looks as if she is about to come up with a retort, but instead her lips tighten and she remains silent.
"Hahaha, as I expected, desu. Well, if it's baking biscuits you want, then you've come to the right person." Whilst none of the Rozen Maiden are particularly adept at cooking, Suiseiseki is at least indeed, very good at baking things; cakes, biscuits, cookies, pastries...unfortunately, her talent stops only there, and she can't very well cook other foodstuffs, like boiling eggs or making pasta. Still, Shinku surmises, the ability of baking biscuits is enough.
"Heh. Who would've thought? Shinku making biscuits of her own accord. The Armageddon must be approaching," Suiseiseki laughs gleefully, poking her twin in the ribs as they sit at the kitchen table, watching Shinku work away.
"Don't be mean, Suiseiseki. I'm sure Shinku has a very important reason for baking those."
Souseiseki is several times more observant than her twin when it comes to matters such as these. Indeed, it has always been that Souseiseki seems to be the only one to notice Shinku's subtle and understated, and sometimes somewhat strange and unpredictable mood swings. Of course, though she would never say anything aloud, Souseiseki already has her suspicions as to the real purpose and intention of Shinku's sudden interest in biscuit baking.
~Three days ago~
The doorbell rings, and Jun trudges downstairs to answer it.
"Oh, hello Tomoe."
"Uh, hi Jun. I just wanted to drop this off..."
Jun stares down at the box Tomoe dumps in his hand. He lifts the lid to find several slices of what must have once been an exquisite-looking cake.
"I had some left over, you see, so I thought..."
"Wow, that must have been a great cake." Jun takes a bite out of one of the slices. His face instantly lights up. "Amazing! That is one hell of a cake."
"Really? You think so? I made it myself."
"Are you serious? Whoa, Tomoe, you're an incredible cook. This cake is just..." Jun takes several more bites, and with every mouthful he looks like he is enjoying himself more and more. Tomoe smiles.
"Well, I'm really glad you liked it. I'll give you a whole one next time, to share with the dolls..."
"Thanks, Tomoe. This is really..." the look on Jun's face, that wide smile, is enough to say it all. As the door shuts after Tomoe, Jun turns around, still gobbling down bits of cake.
"I must be really lucky to be able to taste Tomoe's handmade cooking." His expression is radiant; unbelievably happy.
And from the top of the stairs, Shinku watches.
~Present time~
"I'm sorry, could you repeat that? I swear I just thought I heard you say you baked biscuits for me, or something crazy like that." Jun swivels around in his chair to find Shinku glaring at him, the corner of her mouth twitching with annoyance.
"It is impolite to not give a lady your full attention when she is speaking to you," Shinku pauses, and her eyes flicker away from Jun, a fine red flush blossoming across her cheeks. "You – you did not mishear. I – I would like to invite you to eat these biscuits I baked for you." She holds up the tray she is holding and Jun sees that it is laden with...
Well, Shinku called them biscuits just now, but they really look more like...actually, Jun can't quite tell what they look like, but the most certainly aren't physically recognisable in even the slightest way as biscuits.
"Er..." The medium hesitates, the full realisation of his situation having not quite sunk in yet. His mind is still unable to completely register the fact that Shinku has gone to the trouble of actually making biscuits for him.
What in the name of God is going on...?
"Ah, Shinku? Are you feeling well today?"
"What do you mean, servant? Of course I am feeling fine! Now will you eat one or not?" she snaps, looking more irritated with every passing second. Fortunately, or perhaps unfortunately, Jun can't really tell with the circumstances, Suiseiseki chooses at that moment to enter the room.
"Oh, so this is why you asked me to teach you how to make biscuits."
"Y-You taught her?" There is no doubt about it now, at least from Jun's perspective. "You're trying to poison me, you evil!"
"Me? Poison you? No, that's Shinku, all by herself, desu."
"I – I am not! The very idea..."
"Ha! The chibi would die if he ate your biscuits regardless of whether you intended to poison him in the first place or not, your cooking is that bad, desu." Suiseiseki turns to Jun, suddenly very eagerly describing the rather horrendous process of Shinku trying, and failing, to cook. "Honestly, I swear, half the time went by with acts of spectacular violence that would shock the rest of the culinary world if they were to see it, desu...there was exploding, funny gas emissions, colour changes...Jun will have to renovate the kitchen, now that it's in ruins..."
"It – it wasn't that bad – you're exaggerating!"
"The chibi will end up like Kanaria, traumatised, scarred for life, unable to go within ten metres of a cookie without breaking out in a terrible rash..."
"S-Suiseiseki!" Shinku manages to momentarily silence the Gardener with a well-aimed hair slap to the back of the head. She holds out the tray of...baked goods...almost beseechingly to Jun. He edges back a little, looking incredibly nervous.
"Ahh..." He is expecting her slap to come at any time, and maybe some demand of "as my servant I command you to eat this," but it never comes. Instead, as he looks up, he is astonished to see Shinku's head lowered, her hair falling lightly over her eyes like a soft, silky curtain.
When Tomoe...he didn't...
"Still...no good, I gather?" her voice is almost a whisper; so soft that Jun has to strain to be able to distinguish the words. It is the side of Shinku that he rarely sees – this vulnerable, unguarded side of the proud and dignified fifth Rozen Maiden. Yet, whenever she does expose herself to him like this, he can't help but feel the sudden, almost instinctual urge to protect her, to gather her up in his arms and just hold her. Jun hesitates for a moment, redirecting his gaze down to the tray of biscuits in Shinku's hands. The 'biscuits' are of all sorts of different strange colours and shapes, and he swears one of them resembles the shape of a skull and bones. An omen?
C-can this even be called food anymore?
But then he glances up and catches for a brief moment the sad glimmer in the depths of those sky blue eyes, and that alone is enough to make him discard all his hesitation and doubt. To see her standing there looking so small and forlorn – an unfamiliar and slightly distressing sight to him, Jun feels a slight pang, a sting of anguish stir in his chest.
She went to all the trouble of making them for me...
Just for me...
I can't refuse something she put so much effort into...even when she knows this kind of thing is difficult for her...she still...for my sake...
Suiseiseki's eyes almost pop out of her head in shock when Jun reaches out and takes a 'biscuit' from the tray. Shinku gasps faintly and lifts her head to stare at him.
Because they were made for me...
He inspects the biscuit he has picked up – it looks suspiciously like a deformed, mutated, horribly twisted bar of soap, and as he takes a generous bite out of it he confirms that it tastes like one too.
Holy CRAP.
Oh GOD WHAT THE HELL DID THE SHE PUT IN THIS?
Still, even as his bloodcurdling mental screams echo through the corridors of his head, he forces himself to swallow and take another bite.
I, Sakurada Jun, am about to die.
And another.
I'm dying...
Just...one more...
Already. Dead.
This biscuit is probably one of the worst-tasting things Jun has ever had the misfortune to put in his mouth in his entire life. To think that such a small object could hold such an awful taste...he shudders to think exactly what Shinku put into these...baked substances. And yet, despite the fact that Jun will probably be unable to even look at another biscuit in his life ever again, despite that fact that there is now a great likelihood that he will drop down dead right here and now at any moment from poisoning, he finds that it is all worth it to see Shinku smile like that.
To see that smile, which lights up her whole face like the first rays of dawn breaking over the horizon, like the beautiful sunrise which touches the world with shining gold...
It is that kind of smile he wishes to see. It is that kind of smile he wants to protect.
These biscuits...he knows that however atrocious they look or taste, Shinku must have poured all of her effort, all of her heart into making them by her own hand, for him. After all, he understands that Shinku herself is all too aware of her lack of cooking skills. Yet, the fact that she knew she is horrible at cooking, and still works even harder despite that to actually make biscuits for him, unexpectedly touches something deep within his heart.
These biscuits are physical proof. They are labours of love. They aren't something that can be taken lightly because they were made with such strong feelings. With real, earnest, true feelings. These biscuits were born out of her care for him. In the end, Jun thinks, it isn't how good the biscuits themselves actually taste, but how hard she tried, how much care she put into them, how much love she poured into the creation, that makes them worth eating. The very fact that Shinku made them for just him is enough.
Shinku is still standing there, looking at him expectantly, and he swallows the last of the biscuit with incredibly difficulty, and manages to strain a smile. She tilts her head questioningly, doubt still playing in her eyes, and at that moment she just looks so unbearably, adorably cute that it is all Jun can do to restrain himself from just throwing his arms around her and hugging her to his chest, all thoughts and traces of biscuit-criticism lost.
"Very good, Shinku. They're delicious."
It has been a while since Suiseiseki has spoken, and the reason is because she passed out from shock quite some time back. Thus, no one is there to deny or contradict Jun's statement. On the other hand, his compliment seems to hit its intended mark as Shinku's lips curve into a full, genuine smile. Jun almost feels as if that incredibly sweet expression on her face is like a physical blow to his body.
Goddammit, he wants to kiss her so badly right now...
"Well, I suppose you should be feeling privileged as such a lowly servant as yourself was able to taste the biscuits that your master went to the trouble of making just for you...yes, you must feel incredibly privileged..."
I do.
Because these biscuits were an acknowledgement of how important he is to her. How much she will do, how far she will go, to secure his happiness. Because he actually means something significant to her.
Jun sighs as Shinku's momentary smile melts back into her usual haughty countenance, and she resumes that loft tone of hers once more. As expected of his proud, abusive, beloved doll. Even so, he can't help but smile himself.
"Thank you, Shinku." And then, despite everything else, "I'd love to have more of your biscuits. Please make more for me."
I wouldn't rather any other in the world.
"We shall see, servant."
You will always mean the most.
He would be willing to eat them all day even without her asking.
After all, it is not the taste of the biscuits that is important...
But the feelings carried within them.
Whoa, I just realise how looong that was. Well, I hope you guys could put up with it :)
Next letter: 'C'. Flood me with all of your 'C' words~! XD
