Tweak

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Tweak says, "There are four lights."

Ito Keiichi (伊藤慶一) (keiito) wrote in disappear_rpg,
@ 2010-05-09 21:38:00

Entry tags:

WHO: Keiichi, Renju, possibly the rest of cooking club eventually
WHAT: Cooking Club! It exists!
WHERE: Cooking Club room
WHEN: Cooking Club Day!
WHY: Cause cooking is afoot, and Renju is back!

In the Cooking Club room, Keiichi ran about this way and that, trying to make sure that everything was in order. Today was a basic lesson: cupcakes. He figured the chances of people burning down the school with cupcakes were minimal.

Still, turnout was its usual...low quantity. And quality, for that matter.

Keiichi sighed. Why did everyone hate his club, anyway?

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lotus_beyond
2010-05-12 03:27 am UTC (link)

Normally Renju was never late to club meetings. She was either precisely on time or a bit early, depending on whether she was new enough to the specific club to not be sick of it yet.

Normally she didn't come back after inevitably dropping out, either.

But both of those were broken in this case--she'd shown up a few minutes late to a club she had very definitively dropped. It was already underway, but there was no shortage of workspaces for her to occupy, as always. She did so without any fuss, slipping in and doing her best to catch up on what she'd missed. No sense in bothering Keiichi once he'd started the lesson; she'd talk to him afterwards about reinstating her.

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keiito
2010-06-08 12:33 am UTC (link)

A tray of chocolate cupcakes had just been put into one of the cooking club' ovens. Most of the rest of the club was making other flavors; Keiichi's love of chocolate, however, dictated that his would be different.

As he glanced around, Keiichi was startled to find another member of the club there -- well, a thought to be former member of it, anyway.

With his cupcakes baking, he crossed the room, and nodded at Renju. "Heya," he said, still looking surprised. "What brings you to the humble cooking club room?"

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-08 01:04 am UTC (link)

Renju had just been adding a generous amount of cinnamon to her dough when Keiichi approached her, looking about as surprised as she'd thought he would. He might not listen to rumors, but she was sure her reputation in this regard had gotten around to him, at least.

"I've decided to rejoin the club," she answered simply, adding another dose of spice to the bowl. It was looking a bit darker at this point than it probably should, but there was rarely such a thing as too much spice for her. "I hope that's acceptable."

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	keiito 2010-06-08 01:22 am UTC (link)
	"Of course it is," Keiichi said, agreeably. "You're one of the best club members. Especially since, well...Aoi-san and I are somewhat cooler with each other than we used to be." That was an issue he really needed to deal with sooner or later. Glancing at Renju's dough, he chuckled. "You love your spices, don't you?" (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lotus_beyond
2010-06-08 02:58 am UTC (link)

"I can't taste it otherwise," Renju responded, grimacing slightly. Really, it was sort of ironic that she'd ended up back in Cooking Club, of all places, now that she thought about it. The one place she wouldn't really be able to enjoy the fruits of her labors...

Then again, she didn't necessarily have to, right? That was what she was trying to teach herself, among other things. Not everything had to be done with some end goal in mind. She didn't even necessarily have to be good at it. The thought was still a bit foreign to her, but she was learning.

"And thank you." Apparently Cooking Club had the same quality of members as it had when she'd left it. She couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Keiichi. "You haven't had any more join?" She hadn't really noticed when she'd walked in, being a bit preoccupied with her own thoughts.

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keiito
2010-06-17 12:30 am UTC (link)

"Maybe we should do a Thai or Indian day then," he mused. "They have spicier cuisine, and curry tends to be something a lot of us enjoy. I'd have to find a cookbook, but it would be something different."

Maybe the library would have one. Or the used bookstore.

"Well, we have Yamada-san. He's pretty solid," Keiichi admitted. "Other than him, though, not really, no."

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-17 01:04 am UTC (link)

"I think I would like Thai." She'd never really had it, since her own meals tended to be no-frills affairs (just with a lot of pepper and shichimi piled on). Maybe other experiences would help keep her more interested in the actual cooking.

There was a metaphor there, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"Oh, I do seem to recall Yamada-san mentioning this, when he first transferred in." She'd had that brief exchange and then entirely forgotten about it until just now. Perhaps she should speak to Kai, too, at some point. "Have you tried advertising?"

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	keiito 2010-06-17 01:11 am UTC (link)
	"I've done some advertising, yes," Keiichi admitted. "Ikebana-club runs on the same days, though, or at least most of them. It's gotten really popular this year. I wonder why." It wasn't even sarcastic, that last bit. He really wondered. "And I'll see what I can do about Thai. I'm just happy to have you back." (Reply to this) (Parent) (Thread)

lotus_beyond
2010-06-17 01:38 am UTC (link)

"... thank you."

Renju returned her attention to her stirring for a bit after this last. Even with everything with Kozue, she still wasn't really used to people actually caring about her presence, let alone wanting to see more of her in a context that didn't involve her brain being needed for something.

Then again, odd and blustery as he could be, Keiichi was kind to everyone (well, almost), so it wasn't entirely surprising. And he seemed to consider her a friend--certainly he was one of the closest things Renju had to one, and she considered herself more able to confide in him than in just about anyone else. But still...

"I didn't expect to come back," she finally said, breaking the momentary silence that had fallen. "Not before everything that happened this summer."

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keiito
2010-06-17 08:20 pm UTC (link)

"It was quite the summer, wasn't it," Keiichi asked. After all, they both had taken their turns in Paradise over the break, and for one reason or another, both had likely traumatized the team as much as anyone.

"Might I ask why you did come back," he queried. "I mean, I'm really happy to have you, but rumors...not that I always trust them, of course...sort of say it was kind of your thing, really."

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-18 01:06 am UTC (link)

"More than rumors." She saw the way club leaders groaned or rolled their eyes when she joined. Among them, at least, she didn't have the most sterling reputation, to put it lightly. Keiichi had been one of the few to welcome her; now she knew why.

But that was, she hoped, all in the past. "I'm trying to... teach myself, I suppose, that clubs can be good for more than just trying to find a life path. I never joined them for the social aspect."

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keiito
2010-06-21 11:47 pm UTC (link)

"Life path? I don't have one of those yet." Keiichi grinned at her, a bit stupidly. "I just wander around and see what happens, really. It usually involves cooking. Or wrestling."

Truer words were never spoken.

"Oh!" Keiichi suddenly remembered. "I got something for you. A present, I guess. From the idol competition. Let me go get it!"

With that, he went over to his backpack, and pulled out a folder. In it was the 8 x 10 glossy promotional photo of Kondo-chan he had bought for her. "For you," Keiichi nodded. "I hope you like it."

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-24 01:03 am UTC (link)

There was a period of several seconds in which Renju's brain simply could not register what it was she was holding. Her eyes swung up from the picture (Kozue really had looked good in that skirt...) to Keiichi and back again a few times. And then there came a sudden flurry of activity as picture of Kozue and middle of club intersected in her brain and she stuffed the folder into her bag, tucking it between two of her larger books so as to minimize damage.

"W-what was that for!?" she hissed, ears pink, trying to cover her embarrassment by returning to her dough and stirring it just a bit harder than she probably ought to. Had he been paying attention during that game in Kozue's place? Had he even been there? That shouldn't have meant anything, and anyway, why would he go to the trouble, even if it did? This was not helping her try to put the whole thing past her.

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keiito
2010-06-24 08:41 pm UTC (link)

Renju wasn't one for mistakes, normally.

However, in this instance, she'd made an important error. As Keiichi watched her fidget, realization dawned on him. Why would she be so embarrassed about this? Certainly, the game of Never Have I Ever indicated that Renju was attracted to Kozue in some form or another.

But this? Seeing her ears go an adorable shade of pink, and her hissing, and the stuffing of the picture into the bag, and the stirstirstir of her dough?

"You," Keiichi proclaimed, at least doing her the dignity of lowering his voice, to the point where he was almost whispering the last few words in her ear, "aren't especially good at hiding things."

He shrugged, and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Besides, I got one for myself too. I'm thinking of getting her to autograph it."

Somehow, Keiichi doubted that would be much consolation.

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-28 12:48 am UTC (link)

It wasn't. Renju started carefully pouring the cupcake dough into her tray, using the carefully controlled motions to help calm herself. "I had assumed you knew." She had assumed everyone did, but it seemed she was wrong. She'd have to be a bit more cautious about it in the future... well, if she was capable of it, which she wasn't sure she was. Apparently. "Why else would you have given it to me?"

She probably should've saved this for after club, in retrospect; if she were more clear-headed, she would've. But this was something she was just beginning to learn to deal with, and it was far more difficult than she'd expected.

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keiito
2010-06-28 01:46 am UTC (link)

"You act as if it's a bad thing," Keiichi said, placing a hand on her shoulder. Had it not been public, he'd have been tempted to gather her up in a hug like the one he gave her following her dungeon.

She seemed to have difficulty with certain emotions, Keiichi thought. It was understandable, all things considered. "I sort of knew, I guess?" he said. "But there's a difference between having a thing for someone, and it making your ears go pink and and act all adorable like that."

Keiichi watched as she poured the dough. "She's really attractive, Sonozaki-san. I don't think anyone would ever say otherwise. There's nothing to be ashamed of."

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lotus_beyond
2010-06-29 02:49 am UTC (link)

"Adorable?" Something about that word seemed to set her off, and she wasn't quite sure what. It reminded her of Nayuki being pleased about her being able to attract boys via her club endeavors, or Reizo calling her "moe" (something that still stunned her at the very thought of it). It was irritating and confusing, and it was only because it was Keiichi that she had even the faintest suspicion it might be sincere.

"That's not the--" She took a deep, calming breath as she slid the cupcakes into the oven and managed not to shrug off the hand on her shoulder. "It's pointless, at any rate. She's not interested in me." And to Renju, that was quite definitively that.

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keiito
2010-06-29 09:43 pm UTC (link)

"You are adorable," he insisted, even though it probably wasn't the most logical strategy given the way she reacted. "You just don't notice."

With the cupcakes slid into the oven, Keiichi kept the hand on her shoulder. He had considered removing it, but he figured comforting couldn't hurt in this situation.

"You don't *know* that," Keiichi pointed out. This was all a very...odd sort of inquiry, given his current not-status with the woman in question. "There's only one way to find out, isn't there? I mean...to most people, you'd probably have a significantly better chance with her than I do, and I managed to date her for a while."

The smile that he gave her was sort of "isn't the world strange sometimes," though in truth, he liked to think that he had dated (and now not-dated) Kondo Kozue for a reason.

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lotus_beyond
2010-07-01 12:17 am UTC (link)

Renju would have fought the 'adorable' matter more, but one thing she was starting to learn was how to better pick her battles. At any rate, his other assertion was significantly easier to counter.

With her cupcakes in the oven, she could start working on the frosting, and she started carefully weighing butter while continuing to speak to Keiichi without looking at him. "We've already spoken about it. I'm certain that if she were interested, she'd have said as much when the topic was aired." The butter was taken care of quickly enough, and Renju set it into the bowl and set to work on the sugar, which took a bit longer. "She doesn't want this to affect our--er--friendship, nor do I."

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keiito
2010-07-01 01:19 am UTC (link)

"I'm not entirely sure she would say something," Keiichi wondered aloud, scratching at his chin. "It's a delicate situation all around, you know. But she's not dating anyone right now. Who knows?"

Really strange at this point, but he thought they might be good for one another. They were both getting stronger on their own. Having someone to stand with, and learn with, was always important.

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