Summary: Fuuka isn't the only one who wants to learn how to cook from Shinji. As they say the way to one's heart is through their stomach. Mitsuru/Kikuno

A Dash of Love and a Dollop of Cream

A soft polite knock caught Aragaki's attention as he quickly turned the channel on the tv. The door opened and a woman in uniformed entered. His brows knitted as he skimmed her. One glance over and he could tell who she worked for before the introduction. He didn't need to wait long for her name. "Allow me to introduce myself my name is Saikawa Kikuno an attendant of Lady Mitsuru. First off thank you for all you do taking care of everyone. I know Milady can be a handful at times. Thank you for everything." The servant bowed politely trying to gain his favor. "I would like to ask a favor of you." His frown deepened fighting the urge to recoil back in dread as he remained silent while waiting for her to speak.

The retainer's impeccable posture shifted as her shoulders dropped slightly. "If it's not too much trouble, I would love for you to teach me to cook a few things. I know offering monetary value isn't going to tempt you. So give me time to find a way to repay you for it. I don't want to be a great chief or anything. I just want to master a few of Milady's favorites."

This seemed like a bother; in fact he didn't hide how his own shoulders dropped at the request. It really seems like the only thing anyone wants for him is too cook. However, the offer was enticing. The idea of being owed a favor by a Kirijo maid was kind of nice, though he didn't think she could do anything for him. Unless she cooks for everyone every time Akihiko whined. Or perhaps she could get the president off his back the next time Mitsuru was feeling naggy. The brunet sighed, still every fiber in his being screamed at him to reject. It was too much trouble. If Yamagishi taught him anything it's not to underestimate the power of someone who couldn't cook.

He also made the mistake of making eye contact with the pleading maid. "Alright, let's make some scrambled eggs."

"Can you teach me something harder like pancakes?" She didn't want to sound ungrateful. Mitsuru was fond of having fruits for breakfast. Instead of always serving fruit salads for breakfast the dark haired woman wanted to be able to serve blueberry or strawberry pancakes. Not to mention the various types of parfaits she could come up with. And if she could master pancakes she could probably make crepes next.

"That's harder? Fine, whatever." He muttered to himself pulling out a small cookbook. He flipped to the breakfast section and found a simple batter recipe. "Do not deviate from the recipe. Got it?" The assistant nodded and immediately gathered all the ingredients and measuring cups.

Like a hawk the lanky man watched her every move. Every move the maid made was graceful and more importantly correct. She read the recipe multiple times and followed the instructions without deviating from it. When measuring the flour she ran a butter knife against the top to level measuring cup perfectly. When it came to the liquids she stopped pouring and bent over to see the tic marks at eye level calculating the meniscus.

It was kind of unnecessary in something like pancakes but the boy felt truly impressed. For some reason it was rather satisfying for him to watch. He didn't have to give out a single commend.

The batter wasn't over-mixed and incorporated effortlessly. She managed to form and flip perfectly round pancakes and plate them with artistic presentation. It was ready to have a photo taken topped with sliced strawberries, whip cream and strawberry sauce. The factotum put the plate down in front of him serving him like she would the Kirijos. She made a plate for herself sitting next to him.

There was a small smile on his face as he held onto his eating utensils. He looked forward to taking a bite. Finally, a student who can read directions and follow them to a T and the kitchen wasn't on fire. Why was he needed again? They took a bite at the same time. Aragaki's eyes widened his smile gone. Kikuno on the other hand knitted her brows. She put the fork down and pushed the plate aside. Her forehead hit the table in utter defeat. She was trying to hide her sulking face from him.

"You know, when Yamagishi cooks. I can see her mistake salt and granulated sugar or all-purpose flour with powder sugar. You, on the other hand did everything perfectly and it still tastes like shit." She kept the stove on low but the edges tasted burnt. The outside was a perfect golden brown but the inside was under-cooked. "That's kinda impressive in its own right." She didn't reply, how could she? Her fingers nails dug into the table cloth clenching it irritably. The sickly boy sighed. If Yamagishi could eventually make onigiri it wasn't hopeless for the Kirijo servant. "Want to attempt something else?" They still had time before SEES got out of school.

She sat up thinking about what desserts Mitsuru would enjoy eating. "A fancy cake?" Tuxedo Mouse cake, German chocolate, Mont Blanc, cheesecake.

"Maybe you should start with a simple box mix first…"


Shinjiro sat down in the lobby using his beanie to cover his eyes. He could feel a headache coming on. Kikuno was in the kitchen washing the dishes and cleaning up. The maid assured him that she could clean without help and she made all the utensil and pans sparkles like new. After a few minutes she joined him in the lobby area. "Thank you for today." 'Especially since it didn't go as planned.' The last part wasn't needed to be spoken verbally.

The boy understood why she wanted to learn. There was a certain feeling a cook gets when people enjoy eating your meal. It was the reason he learned in the first place. For the late Miki, for Akihiko, and more importantly for Koromaru. A light smile graced his lips. The unbridled joy on the dog's face and tail as he waited for his bowl every meal.

His thought shifted towards all the steps Saikawa took. There was nothing wrong with anything she did. The recipe came from a book so that wasn't the problem. She didn't seem too tense –well, not at the beginning anyway. As she made recipe after recipe her actions started to hesitate. Her confidence definitely took a critical hit. That was doing more damage than anything.

Casually she placed an elbow on the table and leaned against her hand. The factotum tapped her finger against the table. "So am I not putting enough love into it or something?"

"If anything maybe you're putting too much in." Though, it wasn't as if she wasn't improving. While most of the food ended up in the trash the last batch of cookies were left on the table for the others to safely enjoy. With each try there was a significantly better taste. However, it seems as though he was the only one who thought that way. On the other hand the maid felt like she was getting worse.

Kikuno blinked shifting her gaze towards her teacher. "Can that happen?" If that's truly the case she is a lost cause.

"…No." The sickly boy rubbed his face trying to find motivation to cheer her up. "Alright, let's go shopping. I have an idea." Without voicing her curiosity the servant trailed after him. They arrived at the market.

"What do we need?"

"Grab some chocolate, dark and semi-sweet, skewers, a flower pot and some styrofoam to fit inside. I'll be in the produce section." Kikuno, while extremely curious didn't question it. She ran to the floral section for an empty flower vase, grabbed styrofoam from the non foods aisle then headed back into the baking section. Securing the last two items the dark haired girl returned to find the lanky boy with a small cart of fruit.

She noticed the way other customers stared at Aragaki. He was taking his time to inspect the produce quality, more than the normal person. He definitely got a snicker when he sniffed the berries for ripeness. The two of them together must have looked like a joke setup. A thug and a maid walked into a market…

"I retrieved everything." He skimmed her items and gave a nod of approval. She put everything in his cart and watched as he threw in a few more things. "Alright, let's go."

They checked out, paid, and split the bags to carry back. "What are we doing with all of this stuff?" The servant started to unpack everything placing it on the counter.

"You're going to make something great that will improve your mindset."

"What?"

"Look, I know what your problem is. You're holding yourself to an insanely high expectation. Essentially, you're your own worst critic. Well since the only thing you probably eat are meals from Michelin Star Chefs for every meal of course you would think yourself worse in comparison and nothing will ever come close. The last dessert you made was great, I saw Takeba grab when she came back. She even blamed me for ruining her diet. So basically, stop trying to be a perfectionist." Her eyes shifted towards the plate of cookies. Most of them were gone now.

He threw the small package of dates towards her and she caught them with ease. "Pit them and toss them in the blender then add some peanut butter." She obeyed his instructions without questions. Dripping a few drops of oil on her hands to form balls out of the sticky paste. "Freeze them for now and come help me cut fruit."

The sickly boy pulled out cookie cutters. "All you need to do is get the courage to give her something." The cutters were all generic shapes. "This will work." Intrigued by the idea her excitement perked her up.

In the end they had made a small but impressive edible arrangement of fruits. The date mixture was dipped in chocolate while white chocolate was drizzled on top and topped with chopped nuts. Three were placed on a stick making it look similar to takoyaki. Something that Mitsuru had told her she just started to enjoy. Some of the berries were topped with chopped nuts or coconut shavings. The heart shaped watermelon and cantaloupe shaped stars were left plain.

Aragaki put the finishing touch of wrapping a cute ribbon (where did that come from?) around the lip of the vase. After a few seconds of admiring there work he turned to make room in the fridge till the redhead returned. "How do you feel right now?"

The maid contemplated her emotions. She placed a hand over her chest. "My heart is beating loudly."

"Are you proud? Think you'll be able to give it to her?"

"Yes, besides I wouldn't waste all your good will out of insecurity." It would be a disservice.

"Good will?! It's not that!" The brunet vehemently denied it his cheeks slightly pink. "The more people who know how to cook around here the better and you owe me!" She smiled knowing not to point out the fact that she didn't live with SEES. She turned to clean up the mess hearing him grumble and walk upstairs to retreat to his room.

There wasn't much time until Mitsuru came home from after school work. Mostly everyone was back beside her and Sanada. The attendant sat in the lobby to wait. The shiba inu immediately joined her on the couch curling up on her lap to keep her company. Her hands went to scratch behind his ear affectionately. "Thank you for the encouragement."

"Arf."

It was only a fifteen minute wait before the last two came back. Koro perked up immediately and rushed to the door to greet them. The boxer spared her a quick glance and greeting before taking the dog out for his walk.

The short haired woman walked over to greet the empress properly. "Kikuno, I didn't realize you were stopping by." Her words weren't unhappy nearly starting a fact. If it was anything truly important she knew Kikuno would have called her. The warm smile on Mitsuru's face meant that her stopping by wasn't an unwelcome surprise.

"I made something for you." The smaller girl walked into the kitchen and reappeared holding a bouquet of fruit.

"Thank you, but why? Nothing special is coming up." The taller girl wasn't ungrateful for the surprise. It did certainly brighten up her long day.

"I just wanted to make you something you'd enjoy eating. Please accept." With a light tint to her cheeks she handed over the edible bouquet. "Well as to why…" She paused wanting to express her feelings in a way someone couldn't misunderstand. "I won't beat around the bush. You probably haven't noticed but… I am very...romantically interested in you."

The few seconds of Mitsuru's speechlessness were hard to swallow. However she stood proud and didn't look away. Finally she spoke, "I promise to give you a proper reply tomorrow after I think about it. I don't want to give you a rushed answer. Kikuno, will you come back tomorrow?"

"Yes of course, I understand." The maid bowed politely and left. She leaned against the door and exhaled trying to relax her tense body. All things considered it went well but the rest of the night was going to be hard on her. The way Mitsuru stared at the fruits didn't install confidence.

The empress didn't let her gaze wonder from the vase even when she heard the front door close.

Aragaki frowned with a sigh in disappointment catching her attention. Cold red eyes shifted towards the taller persona user who stood on the steps. Was he eavesdropping from upstairs? "Was it really that hard to give her an answer now?"

"I have to take my standing into consideration."

If his frown got any bigger it would consume his whole face. He reached up for his beanie and pulled it down more clicking his tongue. "Really? For that…?" He turned to leave muttering something about her happiness and something else she couldn't make out. He clearly wanted to say more to her face but didn't.

She pulled on the pineapple skewers out and bit into one of its points. There was a slight bitterness to the chocolate then the acidic juice and sweetness from the fruit covered her taste buds. Swallowing she headed into the kitchen.


The next morning Kikuno felt better after sleeping. Even if she got an unfavorable response it wouldn't be the end of their relationship. Since betrayal didn't ruin their relationship she was certain romantic feelings wouldn't come between them either. She was far too professional for it. For the whole day Kikuno couldn't stop thinking about what type of answer she'll get. The closer it got to meeting time the more she played good scenarios as well as bad ones in her head on repeat.

Taking a deep breath she politely she knocked on the front door before automatically entering the lobby. From the kitchen she heard the president's voice "I'm glad you're here, I made you something, come sit." Curiously Kikuno headed towards the table to sit. Mitsuru came out with a plate of scrambled eggs putting it in front of her.

"This is?"

"My response." Kikuno's face light up with delight. The heiress wasn't going to say anything about wishing to eat her cooking every day or something cliché. She just wanted to return the thought and feelings behind it. Mitsuru handed her a fork and watched with bated breath for her first bite. When she did a warm genuine smile spread over her face.

"Best egg I've ever eaten."

"Highly unlikely!" An unseen male voice shouted from the kitchen. "I watched her make it. She didn't add anything, no herbs or any type of fat for creaminess, not even salt and pepper. That egg could only be decent at best because at least she didn't burn it. Unlike her first attempt yesterday when the fire alarms even went off." Mitsuru grimaced sending a glare he couldn't even see his way. And they all knew even if she had burned it Kikuno would still eat it with a smile and warm feeling in her chest.

The maid quickly finished the rest. "My Lady, perhaps next time we can cook something together?"

"I wouldn't mind that."


Kikuno wouldn't have seen this coming. A special moment in general made better by the fact she would be the only one to ever see. She sliced apples into small bite sized chunks for a salad topper. With an amused giggle she glanced towards the redhead. Mitsuru-wearing a peach colored apron- was watching the takoyaki maker. Mitsuru really does look good in everything. "The pan is ready."

The maid walked over bringing the bowl of cut octopus chunks. Mitsuru poured the batter while she added the filling. The president would flinch and frown whenever the batter spilled over the sides making a mess. "Should we add other things? Octopia adds other things into their takoyaki."

"No, I'm sorry. I'm under orders not to deviate from the recipe." Aragaki had warned her about it. Before leaving the couple alone for the night he went through everything. Things like taking creative liberties might ruin everything so just stick to the recipe.

Before leaving he grabbed her by the shoulders leaning down to her eye level. "Listen Saikawa, everything should be fine if you stay calm and avoid letting Mitsuru near the heat source. Remember fire alarms going off don't mean they're cheering you on just because you don't see fire breaking out." He even reinforced the knowledge to where the fire extinguisher was kept.

The attendant handed over some money for him to take the other Sees members out for the night. This would be the first time she was alone in a kitchen without him. It was rather exciting.

They worked together to flip the balls over cook on the other side. A few more minutes and it would be ready. The assistant quickly finished the salad and set the table. When the balls were ready the empress split them and topped them with condiments.

It wasn't anything fancy or special but they certainly sat to admire the work they did together. So it didn't really matter that it wasn't impressive since the company was great. They sat across from each other and started eating in comfortable silence. They started with the salad while the takoyaki cooled off.

Kikuno reached for main meal with excitement. It wasn't the prettiest in presentation but they still made it together. She looked over at the persona user who wore a similar expression of awe. "We did it, it's really good." The smaller girl happily took another one.

"It's surprisingly better than commercial. I guess I don't really need to return to Octopia." The heiress voiced taking another.

"It's not uncommon that homemade food is better than a restaurant." As long as the ingredient quality was up to par that is.

"Next time shall we try to make a dessert to go with dinner?" Kikuno's eyes widened at Mitsuru's suggestion. She didn't think the president would be so willing to go back in the kitchen. The retainer suggested making whipped cream to go with some of the extra fruits. The heiress turned on the stand mixer immediately on full speed splattering dollops of heavy cream everywhere.

"Can't wait."