Chapter 13

"Home Economics"

After one of the more mortifying conversations I've ever had, Touya and I walked in an awkward silence towards the classroom. We had missed our first class of the night, history. We sat through a minute or so of our maths lesson before Ichijou and Shiki came walking in. Ichijou looked right to me with that apologetic expression still on his face as he moved to his usual seat.

I spend almost all night avoiding everyone and focusing solely on my schoolwork. It didn't matter what class we had, I could still see Ichijou out of the corner of my eye, staring at me. It was time for our very last class, home economics, and today we were moving to the student kitchens for a cooking class.

"Today we are making a simple omurice (omelette with rice). It's going to be a group effort, so please gather in groups of four to a table. The ingredients are in the cupboards and the refrigerators." The teacher seemed pretty slack to be honest. They leaned back in their chair, not even bothering to show us how to do anything. "The recipes are on the tables but feel free to add whatever you feel would make yours better."

Wow, Cross needs to filter out some of these teachers…

I looked around the room, watching as students joined others at the different prep tables, wondering where I was supposed to go. Surely no one here would be interested in having me in their group.

I guess I spoke too soon since a hand pulled at my arm from behind me. I turned around to see Ichijou, Shiki, and Touya once again. It was Ichijou who'd grabbed my arm. "Kiryuu-kun, please, join our group. We still need one more." He spoke with a bright smile. "I suppose I don't have much of a choice…" I replied. "Do any of you know how to cook?" I was a little apprehensive about all of this.

"Well, I've got some experience from our previous baking class, and that didn't go so terrible." He spoke. Shiki shoved his arm a bit, "Didn't go so terrible? You burned the brownies."

"Well, you weren't much help either." Ichijou puffed.

I looked over to Touya, hoping at least one of these people knew anything about cooking, but she was already munching on some cookies that she pulled from god knows where.

Great… Looks like I'm the only one who knows how to do anything.

"Touya, where did you get those from?" It was a completely normal question, yet she looked at me like I should already know.

"Well, yesterday, some of Senri's fans gave them to me to give to him."

"So, you are eating them yourself rather than giving to him?"

Her reply was a simple "Yup".

Shaking my head, I slid the recipe towards myself, checking it over. It was simple enough but pretty boring. I think it must be simple since these nobles don't really need to know anything too complicated. They have private chefs and shit for a reason.

Deciding that that I didn't need the recipe, I left the others to bicker while I grabbed some things from the cupboard and fridge that I thought would go well in the omurice.

I may as well make it the way I like it.

It took me a couple of trips, but eventually I had all the ingredients laid out on the prep table. Touya seemed to take notice of what I was doing, as she smacked the others on the arm, distracting them from their pointless argument. "Oh, right. I guess we should help Kiryuu-kun get started." Ichijou looked at everything I had out then over to the forgotten recipe. "Uhh, Kiryuu-kun, I don't mean to be rude, but this is a lot more than the recipe asks for…"

"Takuma, I think he might actually know what he's doing…" Touya's comment was apparently not loud enough since he began picking up items and inspecting them further.

"Feel free to make your own using the recipe then." I just wanted to finish this and get it over with.

I began by washing the rice several times and adding it and some water into a ceramic rice pot to steam. While waiting for the rice to finish, I watched as Touya continued to snack on the cookies while Ichijou and Shiki seemed to be making a mess. Shiki, though, had at least started on the onion.

I worked on my own onion, dicing it then slicing some chicken into small bites then frying them. I added the rice once it finished and tipped some premade demi-glace sauce to stir in. I put a lid on that and set it off to the side while I made the egg mixture.

I beat some eggs and strained it to make it smooth. Looking over my shoulder once more, I could see that Ichijou's rice was bubbling over and Shiki was trying to calm him down. Touya seemed to be staring at me though…

"You going to help make yours?" I asked.

"Why bother? You look like you know what you are doing." She smiled and nodded towards the others. "I don't know about you, but I don't wanna eat what they make." I can't say I disagree. With a final look over at the others, who now had sauce spilled over the recipe and table, I turned back to the stove.

I heated a frying pan to the correct temperature, and poured half the eggs into it. As the pan cooked it, I used chopsticks to continue to beat the eggs carefully. I didn't let it fully cook though, before I started to fold both sides into the centre before flipping it so it cooked shut.

I began plating up the rice and slid the omelette on top before making the second one.

"Kiryuu-kun is finished already?!" It was loud enough that the other students in class all looked over at me. Ichijou really can't keep quiet, can he…

I had to swipe Touya's hand away as I was plating the other serving. "It's not quite ready yet." I heated up the leftover sauce quickly before bringing it all over to our prep table. Touya had at least helped Ichijou and Shiki clean up some of their mess, so we could eat at our table. I set the second serving onto the table as Ichijou and Shiki stepped closer to see better. "There's no way Kiryuu would be done yet. Its probably uncooked still." I could hear Aidou speaking from the next table over. He was grouped with Souen, Kain, and Kuran. "Even if it is cooked, it's probably poisoned. I wouldn't eat it." Souen spoke, purposely loud enough for our group to hear.

Ignoring the whispers, I pulled a knife from a drawer under the table and cut a shallow slice down the centre of each omelette. The ones who were watching, stared as the outside of the omelette flopped down to fully cover the rice, showing off the perfectly soft cooked egg. I then poured half of the remaining sauce on top and added a pinch of parsley, sliding it over to Touya then proceed to do the same to my own serve. "For the record, I won't poison perfectly good food." Some were gaping at it, probably wondering how someone like me could possibly make something so appealing.

Kuran seemed unimpressed, but as Touya took her first bite Shiki asked "Is it any good?" but she stayed quiet for a second, her face not giving anything away. Shiki slowly reached towards Touya's food, but she pulled it back before he could get to it. "No! It's mine!"

He pulled back quickly, his eyes wide and just staring at her in surprise. This aggressive side felt weird coming from the normally placid girl. He then looked towards my plate…

Sighing, I grab another plate and two more spoons then cut my omelette down the middle and slide one half onto the new plate. I slide it over to them and Shiki looks almost as surprised as Ichijou. I began eating my own half while the others begin with small, slow bites.

"This is so good, Kiryuu-kun!" Exclaimed Ichijou, a huge smile on his face. "Where did you learn to cook?" Thinking about it hurt. I learned from my mother, but I didn't reply, rather, I smelt something burning. I think the others did also since Ichijou turned back to his stove, where his, now forgotten, eggs were giving off a small plume of smoke. Lucky for me, they forgot all about the question and once the class was over, we all moved on.


The third lesson with Souen was about how to present myself. Honestly, it wasn't much different from the other lessons. In fact, tonight I have my revision lesson. I really didn't want to go, but I mustered up the energy and walked to the library. Souen was already set up like usual.

"You were almost late." She stated. "You should show up earlier so as to actually appear interested and ready to learn." She looked sternly at me.

"Yes mother." I replied sarcastically. She glared at me again but said nothing.

We went on with the lesson as usual but it was taking a while since she was trying to beat what id already learned into me. We would have been roughly half way through when my bladder decided that now was the perfect time to relieve myself. Standing up, I guess Souen thought I was trying to flunk. "Where do you THINK you are going? We have things you still need to do." She was like a real teacher, telling off a troublesome pupil.

"If you must know, I need to take a piss. So, unless you want me to use that pot plant to relieve myself, you should let me find a bathroom." Her face was priceless. Her eyes were wide and her cheeks flushed. I can't tell if it was embarrassment or if she was mad at my language, but I didn't care.

"Well… You better come back afterwards. And next time, you should ask before getting up."

"Ask? You aren't a real teacher; I don't need to ask you for a bathroom break."

Once again, she looked flushed but this time she was speechless. "Fine, go already." So, I did.

I didn't take long, and after washing my hands, a thought came to me. I could flunk. There's no real reason to go back. I was quite tired and it would be nice to catch up on some extra sleep time…

Damnit! I just KNOW she'd freak out at me when she sees me next. I don't wanna deal with that.

Making up my mind, I did go back and she actually looked surprised when I opened the door again. Taking my seat again, I asked her to begin once more. The rest of the lesson seemed easier after that.