10 Year Mishap

20

Tsuna woke up the next morning in an unfamiliar room. Quickly sitting up and rubbing the dryness and tired from his eyes, he looked around to see if anything was familiar to him. A voice in his head told him he was safe, but he didn't believe it until he saw Mukuro sleeping on the couch. Knowing for a fact that the man wouldn't let anything happen to him, he left the bed and went to the bathroom. When he came back out, Mukuro was awake.

"How did you sleep?" Mukuro asked.

Not really in the mood for verbal communications, Tsuna held up his hand in a so-so gesture.

Mukuro understood. "You feeling any better today?" The answer was a shrug. With a hidden sigh, the Mist asked, "Are you hungry?" Another shrug. "We can go eat in the kitchen if you'd like."

Tsuna thought about the offer for a few moments. Finally, he nodded and grabbed the Mists' hand. He was going to stick to him like glue for as long as he wasn't a bother. A small voice - different from the one who told him he was safe - sneered at him and said that he was already being a bother. He paid it no mind.

"Alright, let's head to the kitchens then." Mukuro led the way to the desired room. There was an entrance thought the dining room, but he doubted Tsuna would want to be around a lot of people. Instead, he took him through a set of narrow hallways and to the staff entrance to the kitchen. He talked quietly with one of the chefs and the duo was led to a small table in the corner. It was usually used for paperwork, but the exception of eating there could be made during meal times for Tsuna.

During the meal, Tusna couldn't keep his eyes from wandering the new room he found himself in. He'd never been in a kitchen before! He was wary of the knives and anything else that as sharp, but he found himself constantly watching the cooks as they worked to finish cooking and start cleaning.

Mukuro had noticed Tsuna's attention diverting around the room and found himself amused. His boss had always loved cooking and baking, despite not learning how until Reborn showed up and made sure he knew how to make five-star meals. He wondered if young parallel Tsuna would like to learn. "Do you want to spend the day here?" he asked, knowing full well that the chefs were listening in, "I'm sure the chefs would be able to teach you a few things. Would you like that?" The slight brightening in the young Sky's eyes was worth throwing the staff under the bus. He knew they wouldn't mind, but he had an escape plan in case they did mind. He was lucky that the kitchen staff seemed more than happy at the prospect of being able to spend the day with the tiny version of their boss.

Tsuna quickly finished his meal and waited at the table with Mukuro. He'd get to learn something! He'd never been taught a thing before. Well, he'd been taught not to be loud or complain or go where he wasn't supposed to, but those didn't count. He was actually going to learn something useful! Though, because he'd never been in this kind of situation, he was going to wait for someone to tell him what to do.

Mukuro stood from his seat and picked up the empty dishes, intending to take them to be washed. On his way back to the small table, he pulled the head chef to the side. "I've got some work to do, but I'll be back to have lunch with Tsuna. I offered for him to stay in here for the day and the others seem to agree." he quickly explained, "No loud noises, nothing sharp near or pointed at him unless he grabs it first, and someone needs to be with him at all times."

The head chef laughed loudly. "You sound like a worried mother!" She clapped him on the shoulder and stated to usher him out of the kitchen and into the dining room. "Don't worry, we'll take good care of him." She closed the door behind him before he could say anything and she made her way over to the table in the corner where the young Sky sat. "My name is Layla. May I sit here?" Tsuna nodded. "I hear you had a bad night." It was true. The entire staff was aware of what happened the night before with the gunshot and none were too happy with Reborn at the moment. "Mukuro said you're gonna be spending the day with us. Is there anything in particular you wanted to learn?"

It took a few moments for Tsuna to answer. When he did, it was a quiet whisper. "I wanna make cookies for everyone."

Layla smiled. "Well, then, let's get started." She stood up and walked a few paces away from the child. "Alright, gang!" she called out and everyone turned to face her. "Per Tsuna's request, we're gonna make cookies for everyone! I want this kitchen spotless and ingredients out in fifteen minutes!" The entire kitchen staff shouted a quick 'Yes, Chef!' and got to work with their duties.

Tsuna couldn't help the look of awe on his face. These people - there had to be at least twenty of them - were working together like a well oiled machine. He had no idea that teamwork like this was possible! What an awesome thing to bare witness to!

Layla smirked at the look on Tsuna's face. It was always a nice feeling to inspire young minds in the kitchen or with food. She took the child's hand - after offering him hers - and led him over to her personal workstation. She helped him wash his hands and asked, "What kind of cookies do you want to make?" She'd relay the information to her chefs in a few minutes. They were still cleaning up breakfast.

"Um..." he thought for a minute. He knew very little about what kind off cookies there were, but there was one kind that he'd seen people eat before so he wanted to try those. "I think they're called chocolate chocolate chip."

Now having an answer, Layla shouted the child's order to her staff before getting the stuff to make a small batch. She was going to make sure these were the best damn cookies this kid would ever eat, and she was going to teach him to bake in the process. If they were lucky maybe he'd spend the whole day in the kitchen and she'd get to teach him to cook, too. But, that was a future matter. For now, chocolate chocolate chip cookies were her priority.