Two Souls, One Story

Chapter 18

"Welcome to my home!" Orihime cheered, happily stepping aside so Rukia and Ichigo could home in, each hand carrying a grocery back. "Ready to cook, Rukia?"

"What on earth are you two even going to make?" Ichigo asked, taking off his shoes at the door and already making his way to the kitchen. "Why am I even here?"

"You dear, Ichi-chan..." Rukia chirped excitedly, "are going to be our taste tester!!" She grinned cheekily and helped Orihime set everything on the counter.

Ichigo paused, looking at the two girls with large, seemingly terrified eyes. "Urgh... Try not to poison me... I'm going to watch the baseball game." He shuffled away to the living room with a mini LCD TV in his hand, accepting his fate.

"Okay!" Orihime agreed happily and yanked out a package of noodles. "Hmmm... what should we start with? There's so many options too!" She pulled out a very American box of mac and cheese, "What's this?"

"Only the greatest comfort food to ever exist!" Rukia chirped, taking the box. "Mac n' cheese!" She squealed, "I haven't had this in years!!" She was so glad she found this at the store. She immediately grabbed six boxes of it- much to the horror of the Kuchiki family's maids.

Rukia turned around and found Orihime holding a large tub of mayonnaise with large, curious eyes. "Mayonnaise is a comfort food." She stated matter-of-factly. "Think they'd go together?"

Rukia's eyes lit up. "Maybe! It might make it creamier!"

"Let's do it!" Orihime collected a pot from her oddly organized cupboard. She filled it with an unspecified amount of water and turned on her stove. "Hope I don't burn the water again..."

"I'm here! You won't!" Rukia chirped matter-of-factly.

"Have you ever worked in a kitchen, Rukia?!" Ichigo called from the living room. "Never seen you use the stove at home!"

Rukia laughed nervously. "Not in a while." She admitted. "But it's not that hard to boil water!"

There is immediately smoke coming from the pot of barely simmering liquid and then the whole thing is engulfed in flames.

Rukia yelped and ran to the fire extinguisher. She was glad she convinced Orihime to get one the last time she almost burned down her kitchen.

"Oh! Ummm..... Uh... Soten Kisshun!" Orihime shouted. Her hairclips break off revealing two confused little fae creatures. They boxed the flame in a shield. "I reject!" At the same time, she reached over and turned off the stove, killing the gas that was feeding it.

With no oxygen and no heat, the flames slowly shrank. Revealing a charred metal pot.

"'Not that hard to boil water', eh?" Ichigo said from the doorway, leaning against it with a raised brow.

Rukia laughed again, "Well, it's not normally this hard... Orihime's kitchen is probably cursed or something." She smiled nervously. "Even though she cooks decent food."

"If you need to boil water, why not just use the kettle?" Ichigo jabbed his thumb at the unused thing. He went over and picked up the pot. "It still has the packing plastic on it."

"You have to cook noodles on the stove-top." Rukia frowned, crossing her arms. "It's like a sacred art, okay?"

He went to the cupboard and procured another pan. He examined it closely, scratching it with his fingernail until he pulled off the protective store sealing. A quick rinse and it was filled with water. This time around, Ichigo stayed with them until the water started bubbling, then walked away like nothing happened.

Orihime happily dumped the pasta into the water. While it was cooking, she dug around the grocery bags for more fun ideas. She produced a package of chicken nuggets and chocolate pudding. "Did you two go to the American shop down the road?"