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“Are we going to be able to make everything by tomorrow?” Kyo peers over at Tohru from across the kitchen. She’s shuffling around with bags of flour and sugar in her arms as she’s quietly talking to herself. “If it was only 50 cookies, I would have been done by now,” Tohru finally responds to him.
“Did you misread the announcement?” Kyo asks her as he’s cracking eggs into a bowl.
“I thought it said 50. But when I went to look over it again after coming home from walking Itaru to your dad’s, I was shocked to see the extra 0… That’s why I rushed right back out of the house,” Tohru explains with a short chuckle, embarrassed that she had misread it.
“You’re lucky that I don’t have to go to the dojo today and Shiso was willing enough to watch Itaru for the day,” Kyo tells her, “or you would’ve had to make all these cookies by yourself or have to constantly stop to entertain your youngest,” he adds as he tosses away the tray of cracked eggshells into the trash can.
“Today, you are my right hand man in making sure that all these cookies are all baked in time!” Tohru gives him a thumbs up with a wide grin forming on her lips.
Tohru places the bags of flour and sugar on the table in the center of the kitchen and she counts how many cookies are currently on the cooling rack. “So we only have about 120 cookies in total, including the batch that is currently in the oven,” she says to herself.
Kyo glances over at her as he’s kneading the cookie dough in the bowl with his hand. The window in front of the sink is open, allowing a cool breeze to enter the kitchen, along with wafting the smell of the butter cookies to fill the whole house. “At least they’re easy to make…” Tohru mumbles to herself as she focuses on pulsing more sugar and flour in the food processor.
She hums quietly along with the jingle that plays from the TV that Kyo left on to be able to watch from where he is sitting in the kitchen. She starts to slowly add squares of butter into the processor and presses the button in pulses. The TV starts to get drowned out by the food processor once she adds the other wet ingredients into the machine.
“When are we going to start making the chocolate dough?” Kyo asks her curiously.
“Well, each block of dough that we’ve made so far yields about thirty cookies? There are currently three more in the fridge cooling. You’re kneading another block. The batch I am working on right now is another. So, after this batch, I’ll start making the chocolate one. We’ll end up with a bit of extra for each, but that’s okay!” Tohru explains with a calculated expression on her face as she did all that math in her head.
Kyo can’t help but chuckle because she looks flustered, he is afraid her brain might short circuit just from that. “So maybe we won’t need to stay up late tonight making cookies,” he says reassuringly.
“Well, we’re going to have to take a break soon. I need to cook lunch!” Tohru reminds him.
“Let’s order pizza instead. We haven’t had that in awhile.”
“Ooh! Okay, let’s do that!” She responds to him cheerfully.
“Shall I order that now?”
She nods her head and Kyo gets up from the stool and side steps in front of the sink to wash his hands. Tohru listens to his footsteps retreat out of the kitchen as she takes over for Kyo. She walks the bowl over to the dining table and holds it on its side to scoop out the dough to let it fall onto the plastic mat. She sits down on the chair and starts to form the dough into a square block. She transfers the dough onto the cling wrap spread flat beside it and carefully wraps it up before putting it into the fridge.
The timer in the middle of the table rings and Tohru opens the oven and whips her head to the side when the heat sweeps up. She whimpers softly then slips on an oven mitt to remove one cookie sheet, turning at her waist to place it on top of the hot pads on the table. She does the same for the second one and closes the oven.
“Okay! Pizza has been ordered! It should be here in about thirty minutes!” Kyo walks back into the kitchen and wraps his arms around Tohru’s waist from behind.
Tohru giggles and pats his hands resting on her stomach with the oven mitts still on. “That’s more than enough time to get another block into the oven,” she turns her head slightly to get a glance of his face.
“I’ll get started on that right now,” he tells her before placing a gentle kiss on her cheek. His arms slip off her waist and he walks to the sink first to wash his hands, then goes to the fridge to retrieve another block of dough and unwraps it. He places it on the plastic mat that is the other half of the table and starts to cut it into thin pieces.
Tohru on the other hand is removing the fresh baked cookies off the cookie sheets and placing them on the cooling rack so Kyo has something to put the new batch onto once he’s done cutting. “Oh!” Tohru pauses, holding the spatula up in the air.
Kyo looks up from what he’s doing and tilts his head to the side.
“I forgot to mention! Hajime said he’s going to walk home with his classmate after school. They have to stay a little later to prepare for the festival. We won’t have to worry about getting him!” Tohru remembers.
“Good, then we won’t have to worry about stopping. We can just keep baking.” Kyo nods his head before refocusing on his task.
Once the cookie sheets are emptied, she carefully slides them across the table toward Kyo and he thanks her and he starts to place the thin squares onto the sheets. Tohru settles down into the chair and rests her head back then closes her eyes. She listens to Kyo move around the kitchen, followed by the sound of the oven opening and the cookie sheets sliding in. Next, the clicks of the timer being wound back to set the time for the cookies cuts through the silence.
All of a sudden, she feels a weight on her shoulders and she blinks her eyes open. Kyo is standing behind her with his hands resting on her and he is leaning down to place a gentle kiss on her forehead. She smiles softly and she moves her arm up to place her hand on the side of his neck. She rubs the skin with her thumb tenderly. She can’t help but chuckle when she hears a soft purr emit from her husband.
“No longer possessed by the cat, but you still purr like one,” Tohru teases him.
“You ruined a sweet moment,” Kyo mutters as he pulls away from her forehead. Moments later the doorbell rings. “I’ll go get that.” He squeezes her shoulders softly before shuffling out of the kitchen to retrieve their lunch.
Tohru gets up from the chair and retrieves plates out of the cabinet before she walks to the living space just to sit back down on the floor in front of their low table. Kyo returns and places the pizza box on the table and another container beside it. “I hope you don’t mind, I also ordered nuggets,” he tells her as he opens the boxes and goes to wash his hands and to also get forks.
She eyes the pizza and she reaches forward to get a piece for herself. She holds it over the plate and leans in to take a bite out of it. “How is it?” Kyo asks her as he gets himself a piece and settles beside her.
“It’s good!” She says in between chews.
The two of them enjoy their lunch as they watch TV. Twenty minutes into their meal, the timer goes off, making both of them jump in their spots. “Almost forgot we were baking cookies,” Kyo mumbles to himself. Tohru is about to get up, but he puts a hand on her shoulder and tells her he’ll take care of it. “Thank you, Kyo~” She says to him before poking a nugget with her fork to eat.
Once Kyo finishes putting another batch into the oven, he rejoins her. “I don’t want to bake for a long time after this,” he grumbles as he gets another piece of pizza.
“I don’t know which is worse, making all that onigiri back in high school or all these cookies,” Tohru says with a small laugh.
“Making those paper flowers was probably the worst,” Kyo interjects.
The two share a laugh, both thinking about the time when all the flowers they made had disappeared because of the fangirls, resulting in them having to make more. “Yeah, maybe that was worse..” Tohru agrees. She turns to look at Kyo and smiles fondly at him.
His expression is soft and warm when he meets her eyes. But it quickly changes into a serious one. “It’s already 145.. We should probably think of a game plan for once Hajime gets home. We are going to have to take a break to cook dinner and help him with his homework,” Kyo says to his wife.
“Hmm. Your dad said he’s okay with Itaru staying the night, right?” She questions first.
Kyo nods his head.
“Okay, so maybe we should stop baking after this batch and focus on making the batches for the chocolate dough. Then hopefully by the time we are done, Hajime will get home and that’s when I’ll start cooking dinner. Afterwards, if Hajime needs it, you can help with his homework, I can resume baking..” Tohru draws up a plan, then nods.
“I’ll get him ready for bed tonight as well, then I’ll help you finish up whatever is left.”
“That sounds like a plan~”
The two proceed to clear off the table and Kyo transfers the remaining pizza slices on a plate since the box is too big to fit in the already full fridge. He exits the house to throw out the box and when he returns, Tohru is already back to work. The timer goes off for the sixth time and Kyo drags his feet to the oven to remove the cookies and turn off the oven.
“Are we bagging these also or just putting them into a container?” Kyo asks.
“I think it would be better to just put them in a container. I didn’t buy baggies when I went to the grocery store.”
“Simple enough.”
“Ah!” Tohru says in surprise when she opens the container of cocoa powder.
“Are you okay?” Kyo rushes to her side.
Tohru looks up and she has a bit of cocoa powder on her cheek.
Kyo snickers. “You have a bit on your cheek, Tohru,” he says as he dusts her cheek off gently.
“I shouldn’t have held the container the way that I did. But I was having a hard time getting the seal off and I peeled it back too hard and some of it flew up,” she explains between laughs.
“You should have just asked me to help you,” he gazes at her face, his hand resting on her cheek.
“Too late now~” She sticks out her tongue at him and laughs some more.
He shakes his head then moves his hand to lightly knock his knuckles against her forehead. “Dummy.”
She resumes what she is doing and Kyo helps with forming the dough into blocks before putting them into the fridge to set. By the time they get everything prepared, right on schedule, Hajime comes home from school. “Mom, dad! I’m home!” His small footsteps approach the kitchen. “Wow! It smells so good here!”
“Welcome home, Hajime!” Tohru greets him happily.
“Your mom didn’t realize that she needed to bake 500 cookies, so we’ve been working our butts off since this morning,” Kyo walks up to him to ruffle his hair.
“How was school today? His mother asks him curiously.
“We were preparing the classroom for the festival. We transformed the classroom into a makeshift bakery,” Hajime nods. “You’ll get to see it tomorrow~”
He peeks over at the table where the container of cookies are and he glances up at his dad. “Can I try one?” He asks.
Kyo gives him a look and Hajime chuckles softly. “Please?” He adds.
“Go for it. But just one.”
“Thank you!” He steps toward the table and picks up one of the cookies between his fingers and takes a bite out of it.
Tohru can’t help but gaze at him, awaiting his reaction.
His eyes brighten and he swallows before he muses over his parents’ cookies. “These are really good!”
“Really?!” Tohru steps close to her son, her own eyes reflecting his.
He gives her a thumbs up. “I think the guests will enjoy these a lot!”
“I sure hope so!”
---
Tohru proceeds to cook dinner for them. Once it is prepared and they eat, the three of them rest for a bit before Kyo starts to pick up the dishes as he tells Hajime to wipe down the surface so he can start his homework. Tohru walks back into the kitchen and she turns the oven back on. She hums quietly as she walks around the kitchen to prepare the new batch of cookies. “Can I help, mom?” Hajime stands behind her chair as he watches her cut the dough into squares.
“Go wash your hands and then you can line up the cookies onto the cookie sheet,” Tohru tells him.
He listens and Kyo stops washing the dishes to move out of the way for Hajime to wash his hands. He hops back to his mom’s side and he carefully puts the thin squares onto the cookie sheet. He has his tongue sticking out as he concentrates to put them down evenly apart. Tohru glances up at him to watch him and smiles to herself when she sees how focused he is to do the task well.
When the two finish, Hajime steps away from the table. “Done!”
“Now carefully put the two sheets into the oven, then set the timer for 20 minutes,” Tohru instructs him. “Thank you for helping!”
He nods his head and does as she says. After he sets the timer, he washes his hands again and walks out of the kitchen to finally start his homework. Kyo joins him after he’s done washing the dishes. The three of them work quietly on their tasks with the TV playing in the background. Periodically, Hajime laughs from whatever is on the screen and Tohru is scrolling through her phone between batches.
“Looks like Itaru had pizza for dinner with grandpa,” Tohru says with a small chuckle. “Kunimitsu sent me a picture of the three of them enjoying their meal.”
Kyo stands up to go by her to peer over her shoulder to look at the picture. “Kunimitsu probably stopped him from burning down the dojo that’s why. You know he can’t cook..”
The two laugh together and Kyo places a kiss on the top of her head.
“Hajime is almost done with his homework. I’ll get him ready for bed then we can wrap this up.” He tells her.
Tohru yawns softly as she nods her head. She resumes scrolling through her phone and waits for the timer to go off. She decides to text her group chat with Uotani and Hanajima a picture of the cookies that she has on the table.
The three of them exchange messages while Tohru continues to wait for the cookies to finish baking. She chuckles when Uotani cracks a joke and Hanajima replies with something equally funny. Before she knows it, the timer goes off and she jumps in her seat, nearly dropping her phone in surprise.
She gets up from the seat and she starts the routine all over again. After getting the batch cleared off the cookie sheets, she gets the other block of dough out. As she’s cutting it, her eyes get a little blurry and she has to blink away her tiredness.
Nearly an hour and a half has passed and Kyo finally rejoins her in the kitchen to help her finish off the rest of the cookies.
“Okay, Hajime is in bed and we are now free of any other responsibilities. How many more batches?” He asks.
“I believe three more,” Tohru answers with a yawn. She glances at the clock hanging on the wall. “When did it get to 9PM?” She mutters, “it was just 9AM…”
Kyo starts to place the raw dough on the cookie sheets and chuckles. “Why don’t you go sit under the kotatsu and take a small nap?” He suggests. “I’ll take over from here.”
Tohru lets out another yawn and takes his suggestion. She drags herself into the living room and shimmies herself under the thick blanket and she lays her head down on the table. Almost instantly she falls asleep. Kyo gazes over at her, impressed that she had fallen asleep so quickly.
As he got through the last three batches, another hour had passed and he let Tohru get her rest since she had been up since early this morning. When he finally gets all the cookies transferred into the large container with the rest, he seals it with the cover and he smacks the top of it. “500 cookies was no big deal,” he says to himself.
“Kyo?” He turns his head to the side when he hears Tohru call out to him. She’s on her feet, rubbing her eyes with the back of her hand. “Did you end up finishing?” Her voice is heavy with sleep and her feet are dragging her forward.
“Mm, I was able to get everything done. All I have to do is clean up the kitchen.” He tells her.
“Let me help, so we can get done faster.”
He nods and he hands her a clean rag. “You dry. I don’t trust you to wash. You might not be able to get a good grasp on the dishes as you’re washing since you’re still drunk off of sleep.”
The two of them work together to get everything cleaned up. After everything is done, Kyo places a hand on her lower back, leading her out of the kitchen. He turns off the light and they walk through the living room, Tohru flipping the light switch off.
The pair walk quietly up the stairs, then down the hallway. Tohru goes off into the bathroom to wash up and Kyo goes to the bedroom. After she freshens up, she follows into the bedroom and she slips under cover right beside Kyo. He wraps her arm around her waist to pull her close to him.
“We did a good job,” Tohru mumbles sleepily.
“Mm, we did. Now let’s go to sleep.” Kyo tucks his chin into the top of her head.
“Good night, Kyo.”
“Good night, Tohru. I love you.”
“I love you, too.”