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“Good morning,” Izuku greets Tenya cheerfully as he turns on the stove. “How’d you sleep last night?”
“I slept well, thank you for asking,” Tenya answers. He starts to fill his water bottle and asks Izuku, “I trust that you also slept well?”
”Yeah,” Izuku answers with a yawn. He rubs his eyes and adds on, “I’m still pretty tired though.”
Tenya frowns and attempts to console Izuku, “If you’d like, I can prepare your water bottle as well?”
“Actually,” Izuku blushes, “If you wouldn’t mind, could you make breakfast today? I don’t want to burn the food on accident.”
”Cook?” Tenya repeats softly.
“Yeah!” Izuku exclaims. Hastily, he adds, “You don’t have to cook if you don’t want to, though!”
”I wouldn’t mind, but I don’t know how to cook,” Tenya admits quietly.
Izuku blinks in shock and incredulously repeats, “You don’t know how to cook? How is that possible?”
Tenya shrugs and puts the cap on his water bottle as he answers, “At home we had a chef who did the cooking.” With a start, Izuku remembers that Tenya comes from a long line of Pro Heroes; it makes sense that his family has chefs.
“What about the training camp?” Izuku asks after a moment. “We all cooked there.”
Tenya shakes his head, “I just supervised the cooking.” Izuku lets out a small groan and collapses back against the counter.
“I can teach you how to cook later, if you want?” Izuku offers easily. “I’d start now, but I’m too tired.”
”That sounds reasonable,” Tenya agrees. He reaches to the cabinet above Izuku’s head and pulls out a bright blue box. “Poptart?”
Mid-afternoon the next weekend, everyone else is out of the dorms, so Izuku and Tenya meet in the kitchen for Tenya’s first cooking lesson.
“Are you ready?” Izuku checks one final time. Cooking unprepared is never a good idea, after all.
“Yes,” Tenya says confidently. He bows slightly and exclaims, “Please take care of me!”
Izuku waves his hands and exclaims, “Of course, Tenya! There’s no need to bow, though!” Tenya shakes his head slightly but doesn’t argue with Izuku. He’s grateful that Izuku is helping him at all.
Izuku clasps his hands together and exclaims, “First things first! Do you know any of the rules of cooking?”
Tenya shakes his head, and Izuku sighs before patting Tenya consolingly. He was attempting to give Tenya a headpat, but he is too short and instead ends up awkwardly patting the other boys elbow.
“I can teach you then!” Izuku exclaims energetically. “That’s what you’re here for, after all!”
Tenya nods in determination, and with that, his training begins.
Rule one: Find your ingredients
“Isn’t that obvious, though?” Tenya asks in confusion.
“You would think so, right?” Izuku agrees. Then, his face falls slightly and he murmurs, “But I know the consequences of not getting your ingredients out beforehand all too well, Tenya.”
Tenya almost doesn’t want to know, but his curiosity overwhelms him and he hesitantly inquires, “What happened?”
Izuku’s eyes focus on something that Tenya can’t see, and he solemnly recounts his sad tale.
It was mid-afternoon when Izuku got the text from his mom. It told Izuku that he was the one cooking dinner, and he was ecstatic; that text meant he could make Katsudon for dinner!
So Izuku set about cooking. He cut and seasoned the chicken, and he chopped up various vegetables for the sauce. Mom got home right as he was sliding the chicken into the oven, and she beamed at how far Izuku had gotten. She then kissed his cheek, and left Izuku to his cooking.
Finally, the time came for Izuku to make the sauce. Cheese, butter, and vegetables mixed together, with milk added in as the finishing touch. Everything had been going so well. The cheese and butter mixed together perfectly and the vegetables added just a hint of flavor.
So Izuku walked to the fridge. He opened the door. And he stared in horror at the empty space where the milk should be.
"And that's why you always find your ingredients beforehand," Izuku finishes his story with a small wave of his hand, and Tenya is broken out of his entranced state.
He nods along to Izuku's words, then interjects his own question; "Is the second rule to check the recipe?"
"What? No," Izuku refutes immediately. Tenya winces, then gestures curiously as if asking what the second rule could be.
Rule two: stay out of the chef's way.
"That's a rule?" Tenya asks, shocked.
Izuku nods and explains a bit more, "You would not believe how easy it is to mess up a chef's meal. Usually, different chefs run their kitchens differently, so staying out of the way when possible is always good."
Tenya nods, his curiosity sated. He raises an eyebrow and asks, "What is rule three?"
Izuku swivels his head around and stares at Tenya like he's crazy. "There is no rule three, Tenya."
"But what about following the recipe?" Tenya bursts out. Izuku gasps in shock, but Tenya carries on, "Surely that's important enough to be a rule!"
Izuku slowly shakes his head and murmurs, "Don't you know? I don't cook with recipies. That's the main reason why I can't just tell you what to do. Cooking comes from the heart." Izuku brings a hand up to rest over his heart,and Tenya subconsiously does the same.
"I see," Tenya murmurs. He brightens and exclaims, "Let's begin cooking, then! We have to have dinner prepared for the others when they get back tonight!"
After dinner that night, Class 1-A agrees that this is the best dorm-cooked meal they've had so far, though none of them know why. Midoriya was the only one cooking tonight, right?
From inside the kitchen, Tenya and Izuku grin at each other. They hadn’t told anyone Tenya was the one cooking in case something went wrong, but it looks like in this case, something went right.