"What…are you doing exactly?" Tendou asked this in what Kagami interpreted as being in awe. Or doubt.

"This is my Mom's secret ingredient to make the crust flakey," he replied, sprinkling a couple tablespoons of vinegar into the dough.

"I see. I don't think even I could have figured that one out," Tendou muttered, mirroring Kagami's actions on his side of the tabletop. But, even if he couldn't have debunked the mysteries of the crust, Tendou was still a more practiced chef than Kagami; not needing any instruction on flouring the surface of the table and flattening it with a rolling pin in a smooth, practiced motion.

Kagami watched this a bit enviously. Compared to Tendou's movement, Kagami seemed like the student here. But then, the man was one of those naturally graceful people. As his mother had once told him, there was no point in being envious of such things. Better to turn your energy towards strengthening your own personality she said, because negative thinking could only lead to negative situations.

She'd wanted her sons to grow up to be good and strong. Kagami wondered sometimes how his mother would have felt about how he turned out. He immediately thought of her last hour in the hospital, holding her hand as she tried to pass down to him all the wisdom she'd attained in her too short life in her last precious moments. He especially recalled the very last talk he'd had with her; it had been just the two of them: Ryou succumbing to three days lack of sleep and their father having to return to the city because he'd been away from his job for too long.

"Arata…Take…care of Ryou, won't you?"

"Of course." He remembered looking at her hand, unable to reach her gaze, unable to let her see the tears streaming down his face.

"And…your father…"

"He should be here!" Even if Kagami had accepted his father's reason that he had to worry about supporting his sons now…paying the hospital bills…it wasn't right that she didn't have him by her side!

"It's…all right." Her hand had slipped from his to caress his cheek, guiding him to look at her, smiling tiredly.

"When you love someone…you're…never really separated from them…as long as you remember your…precious person…they will always have a treasured place…" her hand slid to a point on his chest.

"…In your heart, Arata"

"Mother…" And then he had finally been overcome with his grief, sobbing, his head pressed against her side saying he was sorry over and over and over. Sorry she'd had to suffer, sorry that he couldn't drag his father to be by his side, sorry he couldn't save her; numerous things he couldn't control. She'd just quietly murmured to him, stroking his hair; still the pillar of gentle strength until the very end. She'd been fighting the illness for so long and had never complained on the unfairness of it all even once.

"There…are things that can't change, Arata…but…don't…don't ever…give up…until you've…fought…as hard as you can…ne?" Her voice had started growing weaker then, her breathing shallower. He'd asked the nurse to wake Ryou up and bring him.

"I won't. I promise" he'd said, clasping her hand once again.

He had refused to let his crying face be the last thing she saw. He hadn't looked away from her face even as the door to the room had clicked open and he'd heard the shuffling footsteps of his brother. Kagami didn't have to look to know his brother was pale and drawn; he'd seen it for the past few days. Silently, Ryou had walked over to grip their mother's other hand.

"I…had a happy life…with the three of you." She'd said softly, looking upward, eyes growing dimmer with every passing moment. She'd then gripped their hands with the last bit of strength she had.

"I'm going on ahead…Riku…please…live…happily…my darling children…"

And then her eyes had slid shut and her life had slipped away from them.

"…Kagami"

Pulled back to the present, Kagami looked up to see the rolling pin being offered to him.

"I'm done with it."

"A-ah, thanks" Taking it, he ducked his head surreptitiously dragging his sleeve across his eyes.

"Is something wrong?"

"It's nothing…I got some flour in my eyes"

"Ah." Kagami didn't ponder if Tendou believed him or not and quickly rolled out his own pie crust. Then he stood up to rinse it off at the sink.

Ahh…why was he remembering such sad things tonight? It wasn't healthy to grieve forever, right? Mother wouldn't have been happy about it. But...

…he hadn't been able to carry out her last wishes. The family had drifted apart and, just when Kagami had pulled them together again…Ryou had…

And father…! He relaxed the grip on the rolling pin when he realized his hand was shaking. He pinched the bridge of his nose, rubbing the skin there.

"Tired?"

Kagami slumped over the sink a bit, anger flowing out of him like the water down the drain. How did Tendou manage to do that? Must be a part of that natural grace thing. His mom was kind of like that, too. Ah, that's why. Wait…that was kind of disturbing thought, right? He rubbed his eyes. It was too late at night to be thinking weird thoughts!

"I am a little tired. It's...been a long day."

"…I apologize for the late hour…I wanted it ready for Jyuka's breakfast tomorrow."

"It's fine." Kagami collecting the two pie tins he'd set aside on the counter earlier. Rubbing in some butter onto the surface of the tins with a paper towel, he walked back to the table.

"I was feeling pretty stressed out anyway. This is kind of relaxing."

Handing one of the tins to Tendou, Kagami tilted his over the rolled out dough and used it as a template to cut a circle slightly bigger then the pie tin itself. Pulling the excess away from the dough, he folded the circle gently twice. Transporting it to the pan, he unfolded the dough carefully; it was now perfectly centered. Glancing over to see if Tendou was done with his, he grabbed his apple-filled bowl and started scooping the mixture into the crust.

Now…what design to make with the crust on this pie? This was the most enjoyable part of the baking process. For Yumi-san he'd just cut out leaf shapes, but since he was at home…He grinned. He looked over at Tendou, who was absorbed in be cutting some shapes out of his leftover dough.

Kagami grinned to himself. He had an idea.