The Perfect Recipe

"Hey, did you notice?" Redhead Kikumaru Eiji asked his kouhai, Momoshiro Takeshi. It was a sunny Monday afternoon and they were having their usual tennis practice after class. But today was somehow different-- so different that it was scary.

Momoshiro's senpai nudged him and pointed towards the other end of the court. He saw his other senpai, Inui Sadaharu, standing and observing the other tennis team members and jotting down information on his trusty notebook. But Inui had been emitting this unusual aura that it gave them the creeps. Momoshiro winced.

"I wonder what's with Inui-senpai," he asked. Kikumaru shrugged his shoulders. They were then approached by the ever-smiling Fuji Syuusuke and Oishi Syuichirou, who had just finished their practice match a couple of minutes ago. Oishi went towards his doubles partners and saw that Kikumaru (and even Momoshiro) were looking at Inui, although they were also trying to avoid his gaze.

Fuji smiled and tapped Oishi's shoulder. "It seems that they noticed it too." Oishi turned to asked what Fuji meant when he stopped and remembered their short conversation during lunch. "It seems that Inui finally got what he wanted, huh?"

Kikumaru and Momoshiro looked at Oishi. "What do you mean?"

Fuji answered their question. "Remember that seniors get to sign up for two elective classes for the whole year, right? Well, Inui is already done with his first elective since he completed it last semester, so he has to take another one."

"And he has been waiting for this class, and now that he's already enrolled in it..." Oishi continued, but did not continue with his sentence.

"What class is it?" Momoshiro asked his senpai-tachi. Oishi and Fuji looked at each other, and with uneasiness creeping up on their faces, they answered Momo's question.

"Home economics class. Specifically, the culinary class."

**********

Inui was jotting down some notes, but he also noticed that some of his friends were talking to each other. He smirked and continued to write down notes. He did not care if his friends were talking about him. Today was his lucky day and no one can mess it up.

He knew that he needed to improve his juice-making skills so he decided to sign up and attend the culinary class this second semester. By attending that class not only would he get the skill in picking the right ingredients to make the freshest juices, but he would also be free from being too analytical since he has been focusing on math and sciences a lot. And to think that he can "torment" his teammates by making new juices...

With that thought, Inui fixed his glasses and let out a very scary grin.

**********

Inui had been paying full attention in his culinary class ever since he started attending it a couple of days ago. The class was mainly composed by students from the culinary club, and most of them were really good cooks. He was lucky that some people were taking the class to learn, and not because they already knew how to cook, so he was not left behind. Nevertheless, the students in that class were very friendly and were willing to lend a helping hand.

That day, they were going to make cheesecakes and the dessert would be done in pairs. Inui tied his apron and approached the assigned workstation when he saw that a girl was already standing there. The girl seemed to notice his presence so she turned around and looked at him. Inui went towards her.

"Hajimemashite, Inui Sadaharu, from 3-11." Inui extended his hand. The girl looked at his hand and then shook it lightly. Inui noticed that the girl's hand was soft and was probably not used to cooking.

" , from 3-1, nice to meet you," she said, and then continued, "I see that the famous dataman of the tennis team is in the culinary class. That's strange." She blushed a little.

After talking for a couple of minutes, the class waited for few more instructions from their teacher, and they were off. and Inui decided to make two cookie-filled cheesecakes. While Inui crushed the cookies and prepared the utensils, he decided to observe his cooking partner at the corner of his eye.

Inui was surprised to see that despite the small and soft hands of , her concentration on cooking was amazing. While she looked really shy (and somewhat ditzy, if you asked him), her facial expression changed dramatically. Her movements were swift yet somewhat graceful, and Inui wondered if there was such a thing as gracefulness in cooking.

What Inui didn't know was that was also observing him.

**********

was really surprised when she found out that Inui Sadaharu as her cooking partner. For her, it was a joke, since most of the third years knew that he was famous for tormenting his teammates, thanks to his unusual concoctions. But she noticed that Inui worked really hard and was really looking forward to this class. She smiled to herself. This was far more interesting than she thought.

Right after culinary class was lunch break, so after the teacher tasted and graded the food, the students were free to take it home, or share it with their friends for lunch. and Inui decided to divide the cakes. Inui wanted to share it with his teammates, and he asked if she could help him bring it to his classroom. agrees.

**********

"I wonder what Inui is up to." Fuji asked. Oishi, Kikumaru, Echizen, Momoshiro, Kaidou, Kawamura and Tezuka were all inside class 11's room, waiting for Inui to arrive. Momoshiro and Kaidou were starting to feel uneasy.

"I have a bad feeling about this, Mamushi." Momoshiro commented. Kaidou nodded in agreement.

"Now, now, don't be so mean. Inui is an intelligent student so I am sure he learned something in his class." Kawamura commented. The two sophomores bowed in embarrassment.

"Demo, it's Inui-senpai. We don't know what he's going to do." Echizen commented. Kikumaru patted the first year's head much to the latter's annoyance. Oishi sighed and turned to Tezuka, "What do you think?" Tezuka just nodded his head.

Just then Inui arrived at the classroom, followed by . Fuji noticed that was also carrying a glass tray, which could mean that Inui was not the only one who made the food. Inui cleared his throat and turned to his teammates.

"This is -san. She's my cooking partner in the culinary class... and also Tezuka's classmate." The guys turned to Tezuka and then to . The girl smiled at them and bowed. "I hope you'll like the cheesecake that we made as a dessert. It's not that much but..."

"You mean the two of you made the cake?" Momoshiro asked. The girl nodded. Kaidou and Oishi looked relieved. Fuji chuckled, "Then it's safe to eat it, isn't it?" Inui glared at Fuji.

"Then what are we waiting for? Itadakimasu!" Kikumaru said as he jumped around , excited to taste the cake. was pleased to see that everyone seem excited so she started distributing the disposable forks and plates and cut the cake into serving pieces.

**********

"I didn't expect that it would turn out so well." Inui commented. He offered to take home since she still had to carry the other tray of cake that they made that morning.

let out a smile. "Hard work sure pays off, right?" Inui looked at her questioningly. walked ahead a little and then turned around to face her classmate. "I see that you're working hard in that class, so obviously things will turn out okay, since you're trying so hard."

Inui smiled a little. He had to admit that he was enjoying 's company. He asked her questions while they continued walking.

"-san, how about you? Why did you take the culinary class?" Inui asked. looked at him and then smiled. "Me? Well," she paused for a while. "Well, I already know how to cook, it's just an elective really, just to past time. And probably to learn more techniques. Wait a minute..." Again she paused. Inui kept silent. looked at Inui.

"H-hai?" Inui asked.

chuckled. "It seems weird, to hear Inui-san asking questions directly instead of taking information secretly. Not that I mind." She smiled. For some reason Inui blushed at her comment. They kept on walking until they reached a coffee shop that was near their school.

"My stop's here," said. Inui looked confused.

"We own this place. I stay here after class to help my parents," smiled. Inui seemed to understand this, so he handed in the cake tray when asked for it. "See you around, Inui-san."

"Ja." Inui said. He was about to head home when he noticed a familiar brown-haired boy inside the coffee shop. The guy was with a girl from Kikumaru's class, and it seems that they were both reviewing for the upcoming math competition. Inui grinned and was glad to have gathered a new data. ^[1]

**********

For the past few weeks Inui and have been spending a lot of time together even after their classes. realized that, even though Inui was somewhat obsessed with his data-collecting, he presented a different side inside the kitchen. On the other hand, Inui noticed that was a very determined and hardworking person despite being shy and naive.

and Inui were not stupid not to realize their feelings for each other. The problem was, who was going to admit it first?

**********

Inui had been trying to figure out ways how to tell how he feels for her but was unable to do so. For one, the tennis competitions were keeping him pre-occupied. He also had to review for his high school entrance exam. He was thinking of where he could get time to confess, and how he should present himself.

Inui was thinking about this when he remembered that he should check the mailbox. He went outside their apartment and checked if there was any mail for his family. He noticed that there was a cooking magazine addressed to his mother. He saw the cover and then an idea struck him. He smiled to himself and went inside his room.

**********

let out a sigh and then looked outside the classroom window. They did not have a culinary class that day, so she had enough free time to do... nothing. She felt bad because she was not able to see Inui that day. And add the fact that she didn't have the guts to tell him how she felt, it was one gloomy day for her. Just then, an idea struck her. She went to her culinary teacher and after she got his approval, a wide smile crept on her lips as she ran towards the cooking room.

**********

A couple of hours later, the class bell rang that signals that it was time for lunch. ran, carrying a small tray of non-fat brownies, and went towards class 11. She was about to enter the classroom when she bumped into none other than Inui Sadaharu, who was carrying two bento boxes. Both looked surprised and stared at each other.

"Anou..." both uttered at the same time. smiled, Inui blushed.

"You go first," Inui said.

"Is that okay?" asked. Inui nodded.

"Anou, I want to tell you something, but it seems that you're going out," she said, looking at the two bento boxes. Her heart sank as ugly conclusions started to flood her mind.

Inui nodded. "No problem. I was about to talk to you as well." looked at Inui and she saw the uneasiness on his face. Inui and went upstairs to the rooftop. They took a seat on the floor. No one wanted to speak first.

Finally, Inui got the courage to break the silence and offered one of the bento boxes that he brought. "Here," he said. "I just learned a new recipe from my mom's cooking magazine."

took the box and smiled. "Thank you. Also..." She took the tray of brownies and handed it to Inui. "I'm sorry I wasn't able to put it in a box. I had nothing else to do during my spare time, and... Anyway... I hope you like it," she said.

and Inui ate in silence. They were trying to figure out which one would talk first. Inui thought that was being stubborn, while thought that Inui was probably stupid for making her wait.

gave up first. "We can't go on like this, right?" Inui looked at her and then nodded lightly.

"I like you," and Inui said in unison. They looked at each others eyes and laughed softly. Inui took 's hand and held it tightly. They didn't realize that Fuji, Oishi and Tezuka were also on the rooftop, enjoying the cool afternoon breeze.

Fuji smiled. "It took them a while to figure out that they already have the perfect recipe, right?" Oishi and Tezuka nodded in agreement as they looked at their friend and his newfound love.

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^[1] Who is this brown-haired boy? Please check "1+1 = You and Me" to read what is it all about. XD