Fired Up [Kumirei | Hibike! Euphonium]

Kumirei one shot

'Cooking works a lot better when you also turn on the stove.'

Kumiko looked up from her attempt at a meal. The voice belonged to another one of the girls. She had long black hair that was tied back in a knot and intelligent blue eyes. Obviously, she was the only one in the cooking class who knew what she was doing.

Kumiko tried to attach a name to the pretty face, but she'd already forgotten. The tone of her remark had been friendly, but she really didn't a reminder that she was embarassing herself.

She looked at her half-prepared pasta and noticed that the fire was indeed unlit. She cursed internally and put the stove on. The water started warming up again, but now she would certainly be last to finish.

The girl who had pointed out her mistake was leaning over the counter. Her dish was already done. She was always the first one. The other girls saw her as competition. There were plently of rumors about her. Kumiko believed none of them. She was just very good at cooking. And she looked gorgeous, which also may have influenced her inability to say anything bad about her.

'So, why are you taking these cooking classes?' Kumiko asked. She obviously didn't need them. She now remembered the girl's name too: Reina.

Reina smiled and told her that she was training to be an instructor. She only attended these classes because she had to learn how to teach. That made sense. She would probably be a better cook and instructor than the one they had now.

She walked around the counter. Kumiko still hadn't finished cutting her vegetables. She felt a soft hand gripping hers. She felt her nerves come to life as butterflies swarmed her chest and stomach.

'Here, let me help you.' The voice sounded genuinely helpful and not condescending. Kumiko nodded. Reina guided her hand and the improvement in both speed and quality was immediate.

Reina's body was pressed against her back. She smelled like pine tree and cinnamon, a strange but wonderful combination. Kumiko was glad she was facing the vegetables so Reina couldn't see her blushing. The warmth she felt had nothing to do with the now burning fire.

After a while everything was done. Now they only had to wait until it was cooked. Reina turned to Kumiko and smiled.

'Well, I think we did a pretty good job after all.'

'Yeah, it'll be fine like this. Thank you.' Kumiko answered. She tried to sound happy, but her disappointment at the loss of Reina's touch was a bit stronger than her joy.

Reina waved her thanks away with a gesture of her hand.

'No thanks necessary. This was good training for my job later! Maybe if I have my own class you can join. I'll show you how to do this all by yourself. And maybe after,' she said, leaning towards the still blushing girl, 'I can take you out to a good restaurant? In fact, I don't even think that has to wait...'

The offer didn't quite reach Kumiko's brain for some time. When it did, all she could do was stutter a hopeful response.

'Yes! Tha- yes, that would be great!' She nervously combed a strand of hair behind her ear and put her hand on the counter for support.

Reina's heart jumped. Despite her cool appearance, this girl was ridiculously cute. A soft blush colored her cheeks pink. She nodded as gracefully as she could manage.

'Well then, it's a date!', she exclaimed.