I own none of these characters except my own. All the official Fairy Tail characters are owned by Hiro Mashima.
Ch 9: Cut Fingers Make Blood Sting"Okay Hatsune this isn't that bad.. Yeah I can totally save this and Celestia would eat it! I'm sure this won't kill her!" She cried as she stared at the blackened soupy creation known as a cheesecake rest in its cake pan. Picking up the piece of paper she left beside her, she looked through the instructions and tried to find out what she had done wrong. The paper had been misplaced multiple times throughout the procedure and it was caked with splatters of butter, sugar, flour, and cream cheese. Flicking the curdled bits off, she revealed the covered letters on the paper and she groaned in despair with tears in her eyes when she encountered a list of mistakes. She spilled so many ingredients on the paper that when she checked for the amount she had to second guess since she was unable to see and her hands were caked in dough. She doubled the wet ingredients and only added half or one third of the dry ingredients needed. To add on top of it, she used to the wrong tools and baked the pie for a short amount of time under a heat that's too hot.
Knowing Celestia wouldn't be able to eat this without Hatsune's being accused of poisoning, she dumped her burning creation into the trash using a mitten after prying the burned creation from the pan. Scrapping her original project, she decided to start with an easier dish. A peppy smile spread across her face when she reminisced about how much Celestia and her loved eating macaroni and cheese together. It was something special between them. Feeling more excited than before, her mood switched around instantly and energy seemed to buzz from her body. Jumping on the tips of her toes, she hopped to the back of the classroom to the closet which contained all the ingredients needed for most recipes. A pair of red, watchful eyes followed her to the back and a look of curiosity come over.
Usually at this time, Rogue would be heading home as his duties in the "go home club". However his parents had other ideas for him. They wanted Rogue to do something "productive" with his time and recommended that he joined soccer with his younger twin but Rogue doesn't like the sport to that extent. Being a pretty darn good cook and baker, he was able to apply for the alternative which was being the supervisor for any students who want to work on their assignments after school. In his opinion, the gig wasn't as bad as others thought. He only had to make sure none of the students chop any body parts off or burn down the school and he was able to do his homework quietly in the back. Well that was the case until the current situation.
Dumping the uncooked pasta noodles into a pot of water, she placed the heavy pot on top of the stove at her work station and turned the switch to power the gas stove to high. Finishing her prep work, she turned her back to the pot and focused her attention to the table full of ingredients in front of her. Gently pushing some of ingredients aside, she made room to examine the recipe which she held in her hand. Leaning on her elbows, she tucked her arms under her chest and carefully read each words of the instructions. Okay I can do this! She encouraged herself and pumped her arms in front of her chest. Being the klutz she is, she decided to read over the recipe ten times to make sure she doesn't make any mistakes.
Step 1) Boil the macaroni in one pot. While the macaroni is boiling shred the cheese for the sauce. Two minutes passed with the first read finished and the water had just started boiling the noodles. Step 2) Place all the cheese into a saucepan under low heat Five minutes has passed by the third read through and steam started to escape under the lid of the pot. The water level had started to boil down. Step 3) Add milk to the melted cheese mixture Note: Make sure to ALWAYS check on the macaroni She nodded her head at how the notes were good reminders to keep in mind while ironically the water in the pot all boiled leaving only overcooked macaroni left. Step 4) Season the sauce with salt and pepper and gently stir the mixture until smooth A dark smoky smell wafted from the crack between the lid of the pot and black ash soon trickled out. Flames licked the top of the pot and as Hatsune whipped around to see what was wrong, she was met with a sudden heat pushing her back. She had set the stove on fire from boiling noodles. It took Hatsune a full second to realize that she had set the pot on fire but before she could panic, a thick dark blanket fell over her head and she felt someone carefully but firmly move her away.
A few seconds later, she heard the sharp hiss of the fire extinguisher go off and the blaze of the fire was quelled. Throwing the heavy covering off her head, she looked down at it in her hands and realized it was one of the fire blankets kept in class. The person who saved her was very practical and is a quick-thinker just like Celestia. Her eyes quickly swept up to see who it who saved her and they landed on a mop of black hair just a few inches taller than her. It was her project partner from Ichiya's class, the guy who sits next to her in first period.
I think his name was Rogue. She thought while he placed the fire extinguisher on the ground before he quickly turned around to face her. In a kind but worried tone, he asked, "Are you okay? Do you have any burns? Did you inhale any smoke? Did the fire hurt you in any way?" A wave of nostalgia washed over her as she recollected all the times Celestia and Yuuta have said the same words to her so many times. She started to shake thinking of Celestia. She had failed her once again. Why did she choose such a worthless person as her lady-in-waiting? She couldn't do anything to help her and she only created more trouble.
"Hey are you okay?" Rogue asked again but more urgently this time. Snapping out of her trance, she nodded her head while rubbing her arms. "Yeah thanks to the fire blanket you threw on me. I didn't get burned too bad." Taking a step back, she lowered her head into a bow and apologized in a tight tone, "I'm so sorry for almost setting fire to the school. Please excuse my recklessness." Tears started to form in her eyes and she shut them tight to stop them from spilling. She could her lips starting to blubber and she clenched her teeth in annoyance wishing her emotions weren't so open. Taking a deep breath, she tried to calm herself down, expertly counting down seconds to slow her heartbeat from experience. After ten seconds, she had stopped shaking but still had tears in her eyes.
"Hey don't worry about the pot. It's probably not that burnt. We can just scrape the burnt macaroni off the bottom." Rogue reassured her as he turned the heat off.. His kind tone made Hatsune feel better and she appreciated how he didn't try to touch her. Forcing a smile to her face, she chirped back in a sickly sweet tone, "Yeah that's great! Sorry for worrying you. Don't worry about helping me. I don't want to trouble you anymore." Rogue paused and was silent, a thoughtful look on his face. After pondering for a few moments, he questioned in a calmly with careful wording, "You don't have to pretend you're okay around me. It's okay to have weaknesses. I think when your usual bubbly energy is much better than your stiff projection."
Her expression dropped and a more natural worried look came over her. Her eyebrows furrowed together and she pressed her lips together, cheeks puffed in annoyance at herself. Not caring about her image anymore, she released her anguish to him, "I wanted to make something nice for a close friend of mine. S-She is an amazing person and is incredibly kind to me… I tried making a dish we ate a lot from when we were young b-but I failed! I'm so useless!"
She wailed the last part and her hands clenched into tight fists like she wanted to hit something. Once again, she completed the three important steps to calm her rising heartbeat. After wiping her eyes out of habit, she shook her head and clapped her cheeks, "Okay thanks for the pep talk. I'll just clean up this mess and go home early. I don't want to make more trouble for the school."
She placed the fire blanket on top of the abandoned fire extinguisher and after putting on mittens, she moved the pot into the sink where she cooled it down with cold water (see she knows fire safety). Steam rose from the hot metal and using a spoon, she painstakingly scrapped the burnt macaroni from the bottom. Her hold on the spoon was loose and she ended up smacking her hand against the side of the pot, scrapping her knuckles. Hissing, she held her hand to her chest, the pain intensifying from the soap. Before Rogue could offer her an help, she wiped her hand clean of the soap and put gloves on without checking the injury. A determined look on her face, she managed to scrape and clean the bowl without another mishap.
Rogue knew he should have stopped her but he couldn't when she looked so stubborn. When she finished, he spoke up, "You should check your scrape. It could get infected. I'll show you where the first aid kit is so you can treat it." He retracted a kit from below her workstation and motioned for her to take a seat on a nearby stool. When she sat down, he slowly took her hand into his and after he peeled her glove off, he carefully cleaned the scrape before placing a band-aid on it. Hatsune was silent the entire time Rogue tended to her with a bewildered look on her face. Not a lot of people outside her friend group really looked after her and usually just ignored her after her initial rejection. Rogue was different. He was kind. A soft blush came across her cheeks and she could feel a grin peeking at her lips. That is until she thought about the unmade dish.
"There all wrapped up. You should be more careful from now on." He brushed over her fingers when he was putting the band-aid on and upon closer inspection, he noticed a bunch of little marks and scars on her knuckles and palms. He was impressed. It's been a while since he's seen such a hard-working person. "How adorable," He thought to himself as she gave off the nature of a small child to him with calluses all over her palms. With this observation, he made the inference that Hatsune was very diligent with tasks which he found credible. He wondered why she needed to work so much and who she was. Besides her being his partner and seatmate, he didn't know much about her. Though thinking back, he has heard a few rumors about her such as her musical talents. Looking closer at her, she really resembled a small child with her big eyes, button nose, and apple red cheeks. She reminded him of Sting when he was little and was a small cute boy who couldn't do anything for himself. Rolling his eyes, he thought of the current Sting who still couldn't do anything for himself.
Feeling a little reminiscent, he gave a proposal while putting the kit back under the counter, "You don't have to clean up early. It'd be a shame for you to do all this work but bring home nothing with you. I'll help you make the dish. It's suppose to be my job anyways-"
His offer was interrupted by Hatsune's hands which grabbed his wrists and pumped his own hands up and down. With a big dazzling smile, she exclaimed with pure joy on her face, "Really! That would be so amazing! Thank you so much!" Baffled at her levels of enthusiasm, Rogue simply nodded his head in response before carefully removing his hands from her grip and putting on an apron.
"Let's get started shall we?"
"Yes Instructor Rogue!"
In all his years of baking and being a teacher's assistant, he has never seen someone as clumsy as Hatsune. She had trouble doing simple tasks and has tripped on nothing about three times in the past five minutes. She fumbled with mixing, skipped details in the recipe, and her attention span was spotty. It is a surprise they have made it through the entire recipe without a major mess up. Despite her clumsiness, she was determined to finish it to the end and didn't let any of her small mistakes discourage her. He was impressed at how many times she kept getting up and felt inspired by her. He wished he was as determined and strong-willed as she was and was incredibly proud of the dish they created together in the end. They had placed it in the oven to bake one last time and after the timer beeped, he took it out of the oven, letting the gooey cheesy smell wash over them.
"AHHHH!" Hatsune screeched, clutching her hands to her chest, and jumped up and down in glee. Tears of happiness peeked the edges of her eyes and a huge grin cracked across her face. "I can't believe I did this!" Whirling around, she wrapped Rogue in a big hug and flashed him one of her blinding smiles, her apple red cheeks flushed with happiness, "Thank you so much for not giving up on me, Instructor Rogue! I couldn't have done this without you!"
"I-It's no problem." He stuttered with a deep flush across his cheeks too. Remember when Rogue thought she was a little kid. Yeah scratch that. Her large bust pressed against him during the hug and Rogue found it hard to keep a straight face in the embrace. Hatsune was definitely not a little girl. Coughing, he looked the other direction and lied through his teeth, "I'm sorry but can you let go, I am unable to breath."
Immediately releasing her hold, Hatsune quickly bowed her head to apologize, "Oh my- I'm so sorry! I must have been so inappropriate hugging you like that/ Please excuse my behavior!" Stepping back, she created a space between her and the dark prince. Feeling embarrassed, she peeked at him with downcast eyes and harbored a small cuter version of her enormous grin, "In any case, I am very thankful for your act of kindness."
Rogue felt a tightening in his chest and a flash of head across his cheeks from her compliment and couldn't help but notice how her smile dazed him. Looking down, he scratched the back of his head and covered his tomato red face, "Don't worry about it. It's my job as the student advisor. I hope your close friend appreciates the hard work you put into the dish."
Hatsune merely flashed him a small thumbs-up and held up the container of the dish Rogue had prepared for her. (What a man. Where can you get a house husband like this?) "Of course! My friend eats everything I make… even if it could kill her-" Rogue laughed at her commentary and gave her one of his rare grins, "Well I'm sure this dish won't kill her this time."
"Hatsune are you here? Let's go home!"