Flufftober 2021

Day 8: Cooking Lessons

Bakugou was heading downstairs the next morning to get his own breakfast when he heard some clangs, crashing, and cursing in the kitchen. When he looked inside, he saw his minty-haired classmate making a huge mess and looking at a cooking book with such disgust that she looked like she was about to throw it into the fire itself.

"What the hell are you doing?" Bakugou grunted and he slightly smirked when the girl squeaked and looked up in surprise.

"Jesus, Pommy!" Cortez gasped, glowering at her schoolmate briefly before looking concerned. "Did I wake you?"

"Nah, my stomach was the one that woke me. Normally, I am NOT a morning person." Bakugou replied and walked forward to the cookbook and raised his eyebrow. "Katsudon?"

"Yeah, Bunny still looked pretty down yesterday after that fiasco with Shouto and I wanted to do something to perk him up," Cortez said, and again tended to the meat cooking on the stove and cursed again. "How the hell do I keep burning the pork cutlets??"

Bakugou moved behind her and hovered his hand over the pot. "...You have the oil too hot." He then looked at the pork and then clicked his tongue. "And the pork is too thick in some places. They have to be 1 centimeter thick, lightly floured, then coated in panko after dipping both sides with the egg batter."

Cortez snapped her fingers and realized she was missing an ingredient. "Damn, I forgot the panko. I thought I had everything, and as for making the pork thin, it...is kind of hard right now..."

"Hah?" Bakugou said in disbelief. "What is so hard about beating the meat?"

"...."

He then looked at her hands and noticed they were still wrapped in support braces, just like Deku's arm. "You are still having trouble building strength in your arms?"

"Papa's Quirk is Hypocalcemia, sucks the calcium out of anything he touches, and that is including bones. He had attacked my wings first to prevent me from flying away before grabbing my arms. As a result, the arms are still pretty brittle since my body prioritized my wing recovery." Cortez said and rubbed one of her forearms. "They are fine on most days, but on others I feel like I am constantly being stabbed."

"That would explain why IcyHot was yelling at you when you were trying to train with Deku." Cortez had a small tick mark and growled, she still did not forgive him for the outburst. "Anyway, let's leave things alone for a bit, I can hear your stomach growling too, so I will make breakfast and clean up the dishes. Once I'm done we can look at the book and provide pointers on how to cook them properly."

This surprised the Climate teen but smiled all the same. 'Sheep in wolf's clothing' she thought as she remembered Tsuyu-chan's jab. So she turned off the heat, grabbed the book, and sat at the table. "Thank you, Katsuki-Kun."

"Yeah, yeah." Bakugou said and started breakfast. He then looked back slightly and stared at his green-eyed classmate. "In return, you need to tell me how you made that menodo so damn delicious."

"It's pronounced me-nu-dou, and of course!" Cortez said and she smiled happily, with a slight blush. "To tell you the truth I was worried that none of you would like it. Before I moved here from North Carolina I would have gotten a lot of backlash when I mentioned the ingredients then they would refuse to eat."

"Hah? All because of the damn ingredients?" Bakugou said and he looked pissed. "Here you should never waste food unless it is necessary, like it has been spoiled or poisoned. We don't waste anything!"

"I know, I realized that when Momo-Chan tried to cook curry at the training camp." Cortez giggled and Bakugou nodded.

"At least she tried though, and we didn't die." Bakugou added and the minty-haired girl laughed even louder.

"Right." She said as her schoolmate walked over and handed over a perfectly cooked Omurice. "That looks and smells delicious!"

"What do you want to drink? Milk?"

Cortez grimaces at the thought of milk. "I was told off by Recovery Girl when I got back and I have been drinking milk for calcium for 2 months!" Cortez then gave a look she usually saves for her boyfriend. Bakugou jolted in surprise. "I'm sick of milk, is there anything else I can drink that might be calcium rich?"

Bakugou then gained a tick mark, but still had a slight blush on his cheeks. "W-why do you have that puppy-dog look? It looks weird on a tough chick like you."

"Tough chick?" Cortez tilted her head at the positive comment, and Bakugou blushed again.

"I didn't say nothin!" He denied it and then walked towards the fridge. "Well, I still think you will need some Calcium but you also need Vitamin D to absorb it into your system. Are your wings still absorbing the calcium?"

"Only when my wings need to heal or regrow. Otherwise my Quirk focuses on my metabolism."

Bakugou grunted. "There is V8 Splash Tropical Colada, Sunny D, Soymilk..." Cortez shuddered, and he picked up on it. "Ok, nix the Soymilk...Coffee with some creamer if you want something warm?"

Cortez thought for a few moments then said. "The V8 Splash sounds good."

"Got it."

"So, you told me I had the oil too hot for the pork. What should be the ideal temp?"

"Only enough for the panko to immediately sizzle but not turn brown in a few seconds." Bakugou said as he sat down. "Speaking of panko, I have an extra box you can use since you forgot."

"Thank you." Cortez smiled, then looked back at her cookbook. "Ton-katsu?"

"It is the word we use for the fried pork cutlets."

"Ah, some of the words are unusual." She said and took another bite of her rice. "But I feel like the phonetics are not that different in Spanish."

"So, how do you say Pork Cutlet in Spanish?"

"Chuleta de Cerdo."

"Chyu-re-ta de se-a-do?" Bakugou repeated, and it sounded cute when he became slightly flustered.

"Pretty close." Cortez smiled and Bakugou smirked.

"Ok, now tell me how you made the menudo so perfect."

The girl smiled even wider and looked excited. "The secret to the dish is of course preparation, the kinds of meat you use, time, and of course the chili's base. Oh, and don't forget to spoon off the oily fat when it cooks, they can either make or break the soup,"

The two continued to talk about the dishes well past the mornings and everyone else was busy doing their own things until later that evening Bakugou helped her prepare the pork to the correct size and cut up the other ingredients for dinner that very same day. The lesson paid off, as the Katsudon they made was so perfect that even the green-haired Bunny was crying in bliss.