GenderSwitchs Vol. 5 (English)

Chapter 8: Love, chocolate and...

It was already the next day. Specifically, it was already 5:40 PM.

Ki-chan and I were buying everything that would be needed to make homemade chocolates, such as powdered milk, sugar, dark chocolate to melt, butter, etc; on the other hand, I took some extra things from my kitchen, such as some small molds with heart and star shapes, or the apron that Ki-chan gave me for Christmas.

Once we had done that, we headed towards Ki-chan's house, where a perpetual silence would be present. One could notice the absence of Ki-chan's mother in the place, 'cause without her, it looked like a ghost house.

"S-Sorry for the intrusion..." I said quietly as I was surrounded by a slightly warmer atmosphere than the one outside, which was somewhat cold from the winter. It seemed to be that the heater inside the house was on, and it gave a little more comfort to be there.

Heading towards the kitchen, and pulling out everything we would be using, Ki-chan started pulling out various metal containers, some pots and pans that we would be using, and also a pastry spatula that she had among the cutlery.

"Uhm... Ki-chan, can I ask you something?"

As I watched her do that, I could tell she had a bit of a lost stare as she searched for what she needed to prepare the chocolate.

"Hm?"

"... Uhm, have you ever prepared homemade chocolate before?"

"... Not really."

"Huh?" Perplexed at her response, I was left with a dazed and confused look on my face.

"I mean, I always had the idea of making it in mind, but it never occurred to me to make it before. Anyway, don't underestimate your master on the kitchen." She said with full of pride, as she picked up the pastry spatula, which was made of silicone and not metal, and pointed it at me. "Relax, I already know more or less how to do this."

"...I-In that case, I'll be in your care, Ki-chan-sensei." I said as I bowed somewhat awkwardly, while getting a little nervous.

After getting everything ready, I took off my uniform jacket, and put on my apron, rolled my hair into a ponytail, and rolled up the sleeves of the off-white shirt that was covering my upper torso. After that, both Ki-chan and I started preparing the chocolates.

The process at first was quite simple: melt the chocolate. We could easily do this in the microwave, but as she was looking to teach me how to prepare these things on my own, Ki-chan decided to use the more time-consuming method.

We started by setting up a pot with some milk, sugar and a little butter, using a medium flame so that the milk wouldn't boil. While that mixture took some heat, we went about chopping the large chocolate bars we had brought in into small thin slices, preparing them to add it to the pot we had put on to heat. Once it was hot enough, we added the chopped chocolate, and mixed them with the silicone spatula, so that the mixture began to take on a lighter color than the dark chocolate had at first. Shortly after, at Ki-chan's suggestion, we added a little condensed milk, to give it a slightly sweet flavor.

Once the mixture was ready, we carefully took it out of the pots, and put it into some hollow containers, so that it would be easier to mix the thick, light brown dough, and easier to put it into the molds we would use. Once we finished mixing everything, we took out the molds I had brought, and we put the chocolate mixture there, and let it rest at room temperature, and then we put it into some containers that Ki-chan bought, because according to her, they were "airtight". Then, once we transferred them to those containers, we put the chocolates in the freezer to let them settle well, for at least a few hours.