A Private Lesson | Chise

"Oh, no, you're just in time!" Haruto responded, perhaps a little too quickly. ""I just got in a little bit early to start preparing, is all." Although, his preparations had only taken a few minutes, and he really should have just shown up on time. At least then he wouldn't have had that fit of nervous pacing- No, he had come early because of the nerves as well, so, perhaps it wouldn't have helped.

Still, if he'd hoped that Chise's arrival would help with that, he was forced to admit he was right. There was just something soothing about the Vice President's face, her luxurious locks of curly hair. But that didn't help much, when the sight of her sent his heart into a frenzy. Fortunately, he was an old hand at looking calm despite feeling anything but, and his feelings probably did not show on his face.

The other's attire didn't help at all. It wasn't like Haruto hadn't tried to look nice for this- Who wouldn't? But, his wardrobe was unfortunately lacking, as was his fashion sense- Though, at the very least, he'd managed to drop the descriptor "delinquent" from his appearance! Still, looking at Chise, in her floral skirt- Haruto just felt underdressed. Or perhaps it was what was under the clothes that mattered here? It was a challenging task to keep from staring- After all, Chise was just too cute! No matter how much effort Haruto put in, he couldn't possibly match up, or so he felt...

He scratched the back of his neck nervously as he forced himself back to the task at hand- Not for the first time, and certainly not for the last. If he could keep from distraction when faced with Chise, well, he wouldn't be having this problem in the first place! But now was not the time for such thoughts. He shook it out, and got back on track.

"So, well, we didn't really have a chance to talk about it before... What exactly were you hoping I could teach you? Not baking, of course- I'd be the one asking you to teach me that! But did you have anything specific in mind that you wanted to learn?" By treating her as a student, like Miku, or Tetsuko, it was easier on Haruto than if he thought of her as Chise. A little bit, at any rate.

This had been so sudden, Haruto wasn't exactly prepared with a lesson plan. Doubly so, since he'd been too nervous to properly ask Chise what she wanted him to teach when she texted! Besides, Chise was a fair bit ahead of the other two when it came to the kitchen... Was he really capable of teaching her anything?

Well, it had gone well so far, hadn't it? With Miku and Tetsu, at any rate. Hadn't he been nervous then, as well? He'd done fine. He would do fine here, too.

Oh, she hadn’t had anything in mind? Then, why had she asked him to teach her? Ah, not that he was complaining, or anything! He had just assumed that she would have something in mind when she asked, was all! But, for an excuse to spend time with Chise, what reason could Haruto possibly have to complain!? “Ah, alright then, let me look around and see what we’ve got going on here, then.” As Chise strapped on her apron, the white haired club president took to browsing the various cupboards, shelves, and the refrigerator. lBut you know, you shouldn’t worry that much about it! When it comes to the kitchen, you are anything but a klutz. I’m sure you’ll do fine!” He knew what he was talking about- He had tried Chise’s work. While cooking wasn’t baking, he knew that his Vice President could handle it!

”Oh, this ground pork will go bad soon, we should use it. Hmm, what else do we have...” Certainly, that made the decision easier. He browsed a bit more. ”Gyoza wrappers? Well, it would be more fun if we made them ourselves, but... Hmm...” Honestly, gyoza sounded nice. It wouldn’t be hard, other than the wrapping, and it would definitely be delicious! While he set the wrappers aside, he kept coming back to them. ”Alright, Ishihara-san, how does gyoza sound?” Haruto called over. After all, his craving meant nothing if Chise wasn’t interested!

He found that thinking about food made an excellent distraction from the other thoughts that ran rampant through his head. ”Ah, I should probably wear an apron as well?” In his distraction, the thought had slipped his mind. But he would definitely need to wear one as well! He quickly grabbed and strapped on a plain white apron- A stark contrast to Chise’s cutely patterned one. If they made gyoza, it would help to protect him from any splashing oil- And if not, well, an apron was still an important thing to wear. He was glad Chise couldn’t see his thoughts as he berated himself- On a normal day, how could he have forgotten?

"Ah, well, for starters, let's get our ingredients, shall we? Obviously we'll want to use the pork, some cabbage... Carrots and mushrooms... Maybe some peas? Scallions, of course... What do you like in yours, Ishihara-san?" Dumplings like this were quite broad in what you could use as filling, and Haruto wasn't known for being picky. He'd let Chise suggest things, and get what they needed.

As Chise walked back over from washing her hands, Haruto had gathered just about everything they would need. He would casually swap places with her, washing off his own hands. "See, you don't even need me to teach you! I'll help, as well." Haruto remarked, grabbing a portion of the ingredients to wash. He had learned his lesson from previous attempts at teaching- He had grabbed the ingredients, but didn't explain the reasoning for each one as he had with Tetsuko. The information overload was a bit too much, so it was a better idea to start off more simply, he felt.

"So, from here, I'm going to let you work on your own. I'll tell you if there's something to fix, but you'll be the one cooking. Is that all right with you?" Haruto asked. This was his usual method of teaching, and it had worked so far- After all, practice was the best teacher, so all he really needed to do was make sure no bad habits were being formed.

Focusing on the task at hand turned out to be much simpler once they actually got started, and Haruto's nerves began to settle. It wouldn't be as daunting a task as he'd imagined while pacing earlier. He just had to pretend she was Tetsuko, or Miku. Easy!

”A good call. You can never go wrong with garlic! Would you prefer a garlic press, or do you want to mince it by hand?” A garlic press was much faster and simply convenient, but, Haruto felt it tasted better when he did it by hand. But for Chise, who was more used to baking, the simpler method was probably more appropriate. In the end, it was up to her, though. lAh, did not feel pressed to put everything I’ve mentioned in. As they say, too many cooks ruin the broth- For Gyoza, it would be better to use just a few of them, in order to better bring out the character of each, see?” He did not miss the look that flashed on Chise’s face as he listed the options, saying that she didn’t care for some of them.

Eh? She seemed somewhat disappointed when he said that he’d be watching? Why? Haruto scratched his head, but who knew what others were thinking? In any case, he noted that she had set aside the cabbage when starting to prepare the dumplings. Did she not care for it? He would have to keep that in mind if he was cooking for her in the future! Err, well, if he cooked for her in the future, beyond, you know, baked good gifts. And those wouldn’t have cabbages anyways! Blah, he needed to keep his head in the game instead of indulging in fantasies.

Without needing a prompt from him, Chise began cutting the freshly washed vegetables. She was careful, but, her cuts were still uneven, belying her lack of experience with vegetables. Still, she did rather better than some he could think of- She was unused to vegetables, not to knives! ”Ah, Ishihara-san, stop for a moment, please.” Waiting for Chise to stop, for the sake of avoiding accidents, Haruto walked up behind her. ”Here, watch me.” He said, reaching his arms around the girl and taking the knife from her hand. With Chise being so much smaller than him, He could easily see what he was doing over her head.

... Speaking of her head, her hair smelled absolutely wonderful. He had noticed it before, last time they were this close- Fortunately, he was behind Chise, and she couldn’t see how the heat rose to his face at the memory. He shook it out- Again, now was not the time! He quickly regathered himself, focusing on the cutting board in front of him. ”Try holding the knife like this, see?” He explained, showing Chise the ‘proper’ technique for holding a knife he had learned many years ago when he looked it up on the internet- The pinky through middle fingers wrapped around the handle, and thumb and forefinger pinching the blade.

”And I use my other hand both to hold the vegetable, like this, and as a guide. Note how my fingers are curled back, away from the blade- This way, they won’t accidentally get cut. By using my knuckles as a guide, see how my cuts are kept evenly?” Haruto explained more calmly than he felt, as he demonstrated his words with a cut. He hoped Chise couldn’t hear his heartbeat right now- Standing so close to her, how could he not be affected? Why had he thought that standing behind her like this was in any way, shape, or form, a good idea?

But he sidelined that thought. ”Here, now you try.l He passed the knife back into Chise’s hands, carefully teasing her fingers into the position for the grip he had just shown. But even this brief contact between their hands sent his heart into a flutter anew.

Haruto went ahead and fetched out the press, in case Chise decided to use it. “Oh, there’s no need to make two separate fillings. I’m not picky, so just put whatever you like in it!” It was true, Haruto had never particularly disliked any foods. Although, on the same note, he wasn’t sure he could especially pick one out as his favorite. Though, he had to admit a soft spot for meals with unusual preparations. Trying new things was always fun!

Well, not always. Take right now, for instance- While it was cute in fiction, actually trying to teach someone while standing behind them like this was just way too distracting! While he managed to keep himself focused on teaching- It felt like an electric shock every time he brushed up against Chise. And while he couldn’t exactly say he hated it, how uncomfortable it must be for Chise! He kept waiting for her to get angry and push him away- But she never did. Of course not- Chise was far too kind to do that, even if she wanted to. But surely, this was even more awkward for her than it was for him!

After all, his feelings were only a one sided crush.

As soon as Chise took the knife, Haruto stepped away. He didn’t want to make Chise any more uncomfortable than he already had- And, more importantly, didn’t want for her to have any more chances to notice the pounding in his chest, to notice the feelings inside. But even so, he could still smell the scent of her hair, that sweet irresistible scent which he had never forgotten, and probably never would. It lingered about, and although he had stepped back, it seemed his heartbeat had only increased rather than slowed. He turned his head, so that if Chise turned around, she would not see how brightly colored it was.

But all good things must pass, and both the scent and Haruto’s blush faded away. He took a look at the cut vegetables- The point at which he had taught her was clear in the pieces that remained. Some pieces were cut unevenly, in rather irregular shapes- The ones that had been cut before Haruto’s example. Then, a set of neatly diced, small pieces- The least in number, as they were the ones Haruto had cut as an example. And lastly, in the greatest number, were the pieces that lay between the two- The ones cut by Chise, but after she adjusted her grip. ”Very good!l Haruto praised. ”Keep this up, and you’ll be better than me in no time!”

Okay, so that may be a bit of an exaggeration- But some positive reinforcement never killed anyone!

Oblivious to the thoughts running through Chise’s Head, Haruto returned his mind to the recipe. It was his method to hide the thoughts running through his own- Of how badly he missed standing so closely to Chise, the scent of her hair. Even the awkwardness he felt every time he brushed against her, was twisted in memory into something positive. But how could he forgive himself if he were to subject Chise to that again? And so he shook his head, and focused. ”Next, you’ll want to mix it all together, the meat and the vegetables. Now, normally you’d just mash it all together with your hands- If you’re concerned about getting them sticky, of course, feel free to wear gloves.” The club room was, of course, stocked with disposable gloves- But, this wasn’t a restaurant, so it wasn’t exactly necessary to wear them. Chisels hands were perfectly clean, after all!

”And, after that, it’ll just be wrapping them, and frying them! Oh, and who can forget the most important part- Eating them!”

Haruto couldn’t help but laugh. ”Why, you’re already better than me when it comes to baked goods! It’s not like Ike some unsurpassable monolith... Yet!” Haruto couldn’t help but tease a little. He was good at cooking, but had no objective method to say how good- And with cooking being a hobby, it wasn’t as though he had reason to look for one. To find out that he was more than capable of winning even large cooking competitions, would certainly be met with incredulity from Haruto. And as he thought of his skills as merely being normal, it was only natural for him to expect Chise to catch up sooner, rather than later. Of course, this distorted worldview could only come about due to her existence, as he would never expect to be called a genius chef when Chise was still better at him at baking!

There wasn’t much to say about the mixing of ingredients, and it was clear that Chise had experience with folding dough over a filling from her baking experience. Haruto could only rub the back of his head and ask, ”Seriously, did you even need me to teach you anything in the first place? Other than holding a knife, you’re a natural at this!” Haruto was loose with his praise, but only because it was true. He was impressed by how quickly and easily Chise had picked everything up!

”Of course! Start by adding some oil to the pan and heating it up, of course. When it’s hot, you’ll add the gyoza in one layer. Let’s see... Give it a few minutes, then add water and steamm it for a few minutes, until the water’s boiled off and the dumplings are cooked, then remove the cover, add some more oil, and cook just a bit more to crisp up the outside! While you do that, I’ll toss together some sauce, okay?”

True to his word, Haruto would whip up a simple dipping sauce, of the type traditionally served with gyoza, using soy sauce as a base. He certainly looked forward to trying Chise’s gyoza, once they were finished! Although, since he was supposed to be teaching her, hadn’t he rather lost sight of his goals?