In a better mood, Kagami started humming along with the upbeat song on the radio.

"I like this song. It reminds me of the opening of that one anime. With the giant robots fighting for each country? The Gundam one?"

Tendou looked at him blankly.

Well, there were a lot of different series…Kagami tried one of the poses he remembered from it.

"You know…uh…'This hand of mine…is BURNING RED'!!! That one.'"

Tendou raised an eyebrow but didn't stop peeling, like he surmised Kagami had gone crazy but wasn't sure if he should be concerned or amused. Kagami bravely forged on with the conversation, however.

"Ah…you didn't like giant robot anime? What kinds did you watch when you were a kid then?"

"I didn't really watch television" Tendou went back to his apples.

"..Oh" Well…Tendou did seemed to be from one of those well-to-do families. Feeling a bit awkward, Kagami started peeling his own apples. Sorting through safe topics that everyone should have something to say about, he was surprised when Tendou was the one who broke the silence.

"So…just why is the recipe so special?" his voice took an amused tone, "Did you train with Tibetan monks for two years to perfect it?" Kagami appreciated the attempt at humor to lighten the mood, though it surprised him Tendou even bothered with it. Perhaps the man was genuinely curious.

"No…it was my Mother's."

"Ah. She must be an amazing cook," Tendou responded coolly.

"…She was."

He hadn't meant to respond so…somberly but it still seemed to cause Tendou to lapse into silence. Ah…safe topic, safe topic…

"Well…ah….I bet your mother is exceptional! I mean…uh I bet you have a lot of her recipes…"

"…My parents died when I was young."

Kagami's head whipped up. Mortified and apologetic he'd accidentally brought up such a thing, but Tendou was continuing to deal with his apples as if Kagami hadn't said anything at all.. So…he and Tendou had some things in common after all. But now the man sitting across from him looked absorbed in his own thoughts. Not pleasant things. How could he recover the slightly friendly atmosphere? Positive, positive…uh…Ah!

"I bet your younger sister was really cute when she was little!" Kagami smiled. It was easy to see Tendou doted on her.

Tendou's reaction caught Kagami by surprise.

He had stopped peeling the apple altogether and had looked up sharply at him. Kagami's smile faded at the expression. It looked...suspicious…no…more like…guarded. And a little frightening in its seriousness.

Did he say something wrong?

"Ah…was….Jyuka a handful back then?" Kagami ventured.

"…Jyuka…" Tendou blinked…and then the expression was gone like it had never been there before. He even returned to peeling and chopping as he hadn't just seriously put Kagami on edge for a moment there.

"…No more a handful than any other precocious little girl. And she is still cute."

Kagami stared at the bowed head for a while. What had that been about?

"…Tendou?"

"What do we do next? How small do we cut them?"

"Eh?" Kagami looked down, completely forgetting his train of thought. AH! He still had several apples to finish peeling for his pie! Working quickly, he told Tendou that he should core the apples before chopping them into bite sized pieces. Tendou smiled a bit, doing it perfectly enough for Kagami to mentally whap himself on the forehead. How could he forget he was talking to a man "better than a professional chef"?

"And then, we sprinkle a little lemon juice on them."

"…To prevent brown spots. Yes." Tendou agreed, getting up to fetch the small bottle from the counter. He then walked over to Kagami's oven and asked what temperature he wanted it to be.

"Ah, about 275 degrees-Ow!" Kagami winced. He'd been in such a hurry to catch up with Tendou that he'd accidentally peeled his thumb! Sucking on the wounded digit he started to wonder why he'd been so gung ho to keep pace with the man…Maybe he was an idiot after all.

"What is it?"

"It's nothing, I cut myself with the knife"

"Ooh. What a clumsy fellow. I thought you were the apple pro."

Kagami grumbled at him even as Tendou saddled up to his side.

"Show me."

A bit wary for some reason, Kagami tentatively gave Tendou his hand. For a brief moment, as Tendou brought the injured finger closer to his face, Kagami thought the man was going to put it on his mouth. Kagami wondered if anyone actually ever did the latter outside of manga or anime. But, if Tendou did that…Kagami felt his face heat at the thought. As if the evening hadn't become weird enough. The only interest the Man Who Walked the Path of Heaven had for him was that he happened to make a decent dessert.

Kagami was surprised he felt a bit depressed at that thought.

In the meantime, Tendou had managed to produce a small first aid kit from somewhere on his person, cleaned the cut, and had applied a band-aid to it.

Kagami gave him a weird look.

"Neon patterned band-aids are trendy this season in school," quoted Tendou. It took Kagami a moment to get it.

"Ah! Jyuka-chan got you to buy them?" Kagami grinned, amused at the mental image of the smaller girl dragging her brother along the store aisles.

"Band-aids are band-aids, no matter the design and color."

"But that's nice. That you get along with Jyuka-chan so well." Kagami finally finished his pile of apples and pushed himself up.

Tendou made a noncommittal noise as he finished coring his apples before reaching over to do the same to Kagami's pile. Kagami almost protested, but if Tendou wanted to work together now…or maybe the guy just thought Kagami was annoyingly slow.

Well! Then Kagami would get the spices for the filling from the cabinet. Reaching into the cabinet he pulled out the cinnamon and other spices he'd gotten for free when he'd bought the a "Super Bargain Kitchen Pack" from the neighborhood shopping arcade. Nothing too complicated. He also set out two bowls for mixing and the tins they'd cook the pies in. Then, he walked over to fetch sugar and flour for the crust. Pausing for a moment, he went back to the table; Tendou wanted to see every step, right? The man had treated him to quite a few tasty meals since he'd met him. The least way he could repay him was to show him Mom's special trick. She'd always did admire gourmet cooks, always trying different dishes out. It was one of the reasons Dad had married her, she'd joked.