Oh No! (Twisted Wonderland X Male Reader)

~Why Would I Help?~

3rd Person POV:

The group of first-years strolled into the school's kitchen with baskets full of chestnuts in their arms. Trey was patiently waiting for them, greeting the four with a smirk once he saw them. Standing next to him was a tired-looking Y/n who had taken the opportunity to lean on the green-haired third-year. At the sound of the group entering the room, the h/c-haired second-year stood up straight and let out a silent sigh.

"Welcome back. Looks like you got plenty!" Trey told the first-years, making Ace irritatedly mumble.

"No thanks to Y/n..." the collared student muttered, his words heard by everyone, including Y/n himself. He boredly looked at the orangish red-haired boy, his eyes fixed on the bulky collar sitting around the younger student's neck.

"When I get a collar around my neck, I'll make a tart just for Riddle and pick all the ingredients while you watch over me. Sound good? And besides, you didn't ask for help," Y/n responded, choosing to lean on Trey again. Lucky for him, third-year didn't mind the touch.

"You're going to help them peel, right?" Trey asked, practically telling the h/c-haired sophomore that he needed to help.

"Yep. But I won't use magic to honour Puffy Hair over there," Y/n remarked with a mischievous smile. Ace glared at him, but Y/n shrugged it off. "Those nuts aren't gonna peel themselves. Chop chop!" he ordered, encouraging everyone in the room to begin the laborious work of peeling chestnuts.

Yuu, Grim, and Ace peeled the nuts by hand with all the others used their magic. Midway through the peeling, a competition of who could peel the fastest commenced, but Y/n paid no attention to that; he was very focused on his deshelling progress to listen to what was going on around him. Once the last chestnut had been peeled, the first-years cried out in joy before they realized they would have to puree all the nuts.

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Y/n POV:

There! Finally got 'em all pureed!" Ace tiredly exclaimed, looking like he was about to fall over.

"My arm is killing me..." Deuce added on, gently rubbing his right arm to massage his muscles. I was thankful I used my chains to stir the mixer for me, or else I might have actually needed Cater to give me a back AND arm rub.

"Nice work. It'll be all the sweeter for your pain!" Trey chuckled as I stood beside him, intently watching as he worked with the ingredients. All the ingredients were laid out on the counter, neatly placed and organized.

"The smell alone already has me droolin'," Grim groaned out, a hungry look plastered on his face. The pleasant aroma of chestnut paste filled the kitchen, and I couldn't help but want to dip my finger in Trey's bowl and taste the mixture. I reached my hand towards the bowl, giving in to my temptation, but was quickly slapped away by the older Heartslabyul student. Trey explained the process that needed to be done, completely disregarding how I had attempted to taste the paste.

"I just need to add butter and sugar to the chestnut paste, and a sensible splash of oyster sauce—that's my secret ingredient!" Trey exclaimed, utterly shocking the first years as a look of disgust crossed my face.

"Oyster sauce?!" Ace and Deuce exclaimed and for a moment, an amused smirk crossed over Trey's face. At that point, I knew he was only toying with them. While I could have said something, I was curious to see how it would play out.

"Yep. The umami of the oysters gives the cream a deep, savoury flavour," Trey continued, his hand reaching across the counter towards a small bottle of black liquid. "I use this one here: Walrus-brand Young Oyster Sauce. All the best bakers use it in their tarts," he explained while the younger students still looked flabbergasted.