"Okay, now to add the seasoning." Kagami set down the little set of spices on the table. Tendou picked up the powdered ginger and raised an eyebrow but said nothing. Well, he only got them three months ago, they should still be good. Right?

"How much of each do you add?" Tendou wasn't saying anything about not using fresh ginger. Besides, it wasn't like Kagami could go zip off to the convenience store to pick some up at this hour.

"Well, actually it depends on what the apples I use…it's all 'to taste', you know?"

Well, now that he thought of it, he probably didn't really have to explain that sort of thing to Tendou. He probably even figured out just which spices had been used in the pie. Kagami picked up one of the freshly sliced apples and bit it. Mmm. The orchard owners really knew what they were doing. He wasn't a poetic type, but he could just taste the sun-kissed goodness of the fruit. He grinned broadly at Tendou's wondering look.

"See, my mom's favorite apples used to be the green tart ones that grew from the tree in our backyard. I always liked the sweeter kinds, though." Kagami chomped on the rest of the slice. It was lightly sweet with a bit of sour.

Tendou was watching him so seriously that Kagami was starting to feel a bit embarrassed again. Hoping he wasn't blushing, Kagami explained the different ratios you could use to get the same affect and what would happen if you used too much of one thing.

"So, if you make it for someone, you can mix it to their personal tastes."

"Is that what you do?"

"Ha?"

"Do you always make it to someone else's tastes?

"Well…of course. I mean, usually I make it by request only."

"Oh? And how do you prefer it?"

"I haven't made one I didn't like."

"Ah."

They were silent for a few minutes as they mixed the ingredients together in two separate bowls. Suddenly Kagami chuckled, remembering something. Tendou looked up at him curiously.

"I remember this one time when I was little… I'd exchange the apple slices for some of my little toys. Mom was pretty surprised when she realized she had a pie full of Doraemon figurines. It's a good thing she found out before she baked it."

"It certainly would have made a colorful pie," Tendou snorted.

"Well, it was kind of hard not to see since I had also started swiping parts of the crust…It was Swiss cheese by the time I was done."

Tendou seemed amused at this and said he wasn't surprised about learning a fact like that. Spluttering a bit at the vague ribbing, Kagami demanded to know one of Tendou's childhood eccentricities.

"Haa…I don't recall anything really. I was a pretty serious child back then…"

"O-oh. Right. Sorry." Kagami went back to stirring his mixture.

"…Ah, there was one thing…"

Kagami glanced up. Tendou was looking off somewhere, eyes half lidded and a slight smile on his face.

"My father…his hobby was photography. He used to take pictures of us in various places. Mother enjoyed it too."

"Oh? Well that sounds-"

"They liked dressing me up."

Kagami paused.

"You mean, like…little tuxedos and such."

"In costume."

"…Ah. I…I see…" And Kagami had to duck his head when his mind was suddenly mentally barraged by various costume possibilities for what a photo-loving parent would dress their child in. Oh, the penguin was cute, but how could he ever move around in the pumpkin one? His shoulders started to shake at the repressed laughter.

"…Is it really that amusing?" Tendou asked dryly, sparing a look up from his work.

Kagami grinned at him. "N-not really, no." Well, maybe a little.

"It's just…you're so…well you, you know? I mean, you're always walking around perfectly…like you're some legendary figure from all those folktales…I wouldn't be surprised if you told me popped out of some giant peach full grown or something…"

Tendou gave him an odd look. Kagami was collecting a lot of those tonight. Well, served the guy right getting him involved with sugar at such a late hour. At least he had a day off of both his jobs tomorrow.

"Ooh, and then collect a small bevy of animals to battle the Worms?" Tendou quipped.

Okay, that was too much. Picturing a mini Tendou dolled up as Momotaro, battling various Worm with a dog, pheasant and monkey was…..Kagami bent his face towards the table surface, melting into guffaws.

"Haa…now I'm wondering just what you put in your spice to make you silly like this"

"I-I'm sorry…heheh…it's just…haha…it's just if anyone could do it that way…it'd be Tendou Souji."

"Well…I'm not sure if that's a compliment or an insult?"

Kagami wiped a tear from his cheek, settling down. "Do you really care about such things like that?"

"Not really." Tendou smirked at him. "What next?"

"My favorite part: the crust."