A chef and a devil

Disclaimer: I don't own anything

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I open my eyes.

Normally this wouldn't really be something that should be needed to be mentioned so clearly, but this time this deceivingly simple sounding action was a lot more difficult than you might think.

This was because, for some reason, there was a light shining straight into them. It was extremely unpleasant. In fact it can probably be comparable to something like having someone jump on you when you're trying to sleep, although that's not that big a deal for me though, since that's how my sister usually wakes me up. I think that whatever bad mood I might be in during the early hours of the day can be explained by this habit of hers. It's just not a pleasant way to wake up.

The light that's currently trying to burn my eyes to charcoal seems to actually be coming from the window.

That's odd… if sunlight actually makes it's way through my window it must be way past the time when I usually wake up. Did my little sister decide not to try and wake me up this morning?

There's no way. She wouldn't consider it for a second, I've started to think that one of her greatest pleasures is waking me up in the morning, with as much violence as humanly possible. I wonder if the reason that she gets along with Haruhi so well is somehow related to this sadistic streak they both seem to share?

Anyway, I guess I'm getting off track. I'm supposed to think about why I'm still in bed. Is it a weekend? No I don't think so. Do we have some sort of special holiday today, like the school being closed for repairs or something? Nope, not ringing any bells on that one either.

Well, I'm fresh out of ideas. I guess this means that it's an ordinary school day. So why am I still in bed?

Wait. Now that I think about it, the reason for my current situation is not really important. Since it's a school day, then no matter the circumstances I still have to get out of bed.

Damn, I don't want to get out of bed… maybe I can just turn over and pretend I was never awake in the first place? Actually, possibly due to my sleepiness, that seems like a wonderful idea.

Some time passes, and my inability to fall back asleep is starting to get on my nerves. I'm tired dammit! Let me sleep!

Finally understanding that sleep is something that is unattainable for me, I start to drag myself out of bed. The dragging part can't be stressed enough, I might not be able to sleep but I'm still clearly resisting giving up on my comfortable bed.

Grumbling under my breath I manage to fall out of the bed in a slow and controlled manner, I don't feel like walking. Upon realizing how cold my room is at the moment I regret my decision however, quickly dragging my blanket along with me, hoping that it will be enough to stave off the unpleasant cold of my room.

The blanket now protectively wrapped around me, I begin my exploration of the house. Why didn't anyone try to wake me up despite this being an ordinary school day for me? Is anyone other than me still at home? Is this somehow Haruhi's fault or can I blame something – or someone – else for a change?

All of these questions needed answering. And the only way to do that was to gain more information.

After a brief check, I concluded that, except for me, there was no one else on the second floor. So I began my journey down the stairs, taking extra care since the blanket made it somewhat difficult to see what I was currently stepping on.

You might be wondering why I'm acting so calmly, despite the obvious fact that I'm obviously late for school, very late in fact. The reason is simply that even if I panicked and started running immediately I probably wouldn't arrive before lunch, maybe even after that. So why bother panicking?

There doesn't really seem to be anyone downstairs either, leaving me free to wander aimlessly throughout the house. This, as you might have guessed, soon grows boring, and I decide to find something else to do. But therein lies the question. What would be good, or simply enjoyable, to do now?

The TV? No, it's too cold to watch the TV. Bear with me on that reasoning, I don't seem to be fully awake yet, but I probably wouldn't be saying something like that without meaning it.

Clean the house? No way in hell am I doing that voluntarily.

So, what does that leave us with?

A growling noise suddenly breaks the silence of my contemplation, instantly telling me my next course of action. Apparently, I'm going to be cooking. Wish me luck you poor empty stomach of mine.

I would never tell anyone that I'm a master cook, because that would be lying, I can, however, cook a decent meal. And seeing as I've got nothing else to do – going to school, or doing homework, is an absolute no-no – I might as well distract myself with cooking.

As I make my way to the kitchen I suddenly remember the reason as to why nobody woke me up this morning. Apparently my parents decided to go on a vacation with my little sister, the reason for me not coming with them had something to do with me being old enough to fall seriously behind in school if I were to suddenly go on vacation for a week.

An entire week without my family here. I hope Haruhi doesn't find out, she'd probably do something bad if she did.

Finding some random ingredients in the kitchen, I begin my pastime whilst secretly praying that a certain Brigade leader won't be too upset about me skipping school for a day.

And so, as I'm close to finishing preparing the meal – which turned out a lot larger than I originally intended – I suddenly hear the doorbell. Now, it should be noted that, although I left the blanket out in the living room since it got in the way of my cooking, I still haven't changed out of my pajamas. Thus I'm hardly in a state in which to answer the door.

Should I just ignore it? No, that would probably be a bad idea since I don't know if it's anything important. Then maybe I should change into real clothes? No, considering that the ringing noises aren't diminishing and are instead actually growing more frequent by every passing second, the person on the other side of the door doesn't seem like they'd be patient enough to allow me to do that.

Opening the door whilst still in my pajamas it is. I just hope that it's not… no. Let's not finish that sentence, it'd be bad if the whole 'speak of the devil' thing actually comes true.

I walk over to the door and open it – it was locked so I was forced to unlock it before opening it, but that's details. The important thing is the person on the other side of the door. Because I was having trouble containing my sudden wish to take off running.

Behind that door, was the devil herself… Koizumi was definitely wrong on this one, there's no way someone like her could be a god. The role of the devil suits her much better. In fact, it was suiting her so well that I was struck by a sudden need for some sort of crucifix in order to keep her at bay.

"Where the hell have you been!?" Haruhi's voice boomed through the empty house behind me, causing me to cringe a little.

Where do you think? I'm wearing my pajamas for Pete's sake, where do you think I could've been located whilst still wearing something like that? The question should be what the hell you're doing here!

"Since you didn't show up for the Brigade meeting, I've come to penalize you!" she states it as if it should be obvious.

Which is completely wrong, no one would consider that normal enough to be expected. Although, knowing Haruhi, I guess I'm not really that surprised about it.

Just as I'm about to complain about her faulty logic however, she suddenly seems to sort of trail off, her eyes staring intently on the pajamas I'm wearing.

"Why the hell are you wearing a pajamas!? It's after school already!"

It's times like these that I question if you really are as bright as your grades indicate, don't get me wrong I still know that you're brilliant, but sometimes your reaction time is just so slow.

I think I should hurry up and come up with some sort of excuse as to why I'm still wearing a pajamas, but I don't think I'd be able to lie to her. She might be a bit slow sometimes, but those are the exceptions. Normally she'd be able to cut diamonds with her mind as if they were made out of butter. Lying to her is a freaking death sentence. The exception being only when she doesn't actually believe the truth, thank whatever god gave this girl a mind capable of understanding physics.

It's kind of ironic, if you think about it. She acts so strange that it's easy to forget that she doesn't actually believe that she'll be able to find any supernatural events, despite what she might say. It's also kind of sad actually.

Since lying isn't an option I tell her that when I woke up it was already lunch time, and since I'd get into more trouble if I showed up at school halfway through the day than if I just stayed home, I decided to pass the time by cooking.

"Cooking?" there is an odd tone in her voice, as if I've somehow managed to awaken the terrifying beast that is her curiosity.

This does not bode well. I gulp a little as I nod, trying not to let any obvious signs of terror show on my face.

"I see…" Haruhi looks at me and a smile slowly begins to form on those well shaped lips of hers, "Then, as the Brigade leader, I shall inspect your cooking capabilities!" she declares so with an arm raised high, having already stepped inside the door.

I sigh, repressing the urge to curse that I didn't wake up an hour earlier, if I'd done that I might actually have gotten to eat what I've worked so hard to make. Unfortunately there's nothing I can do about it now, so instead of complaining loudly, I grumble a little under my breath, about people abusing their rank in order to get what they want, and close the door behind the hurricane of a girl that just entered my house.

"That smells good!" there's a certain tone of surprise in her voice that kind of annoys me. And after taking a sip from the curry that I was making – imagine that, I was making curry, bet you didn't see that one coming – there is a second exclamation, "This tastes really good Kyon!" she turns towards me as I reenter the kitchen, "I guess I've underestimated you."

Wow. There's something you don't see every day. Haruhi's praising someone, and it doesn't look like she's just doing it to manipulate me.

"I have decided that your punishment for skipping the Brigade meeting will be to share this food with me!"

I take it back. This girl is evil, in fact she's the devil incarnate. She would never praise anyone – especially me – without expecting something in return. Thankfully, I made a lot more than I'd be able to eat by myself, so I guess I should still be able to eat my fill, even if I do have to split it with Haruhi.

It took a little time until the curry was ready though, so I made the table. Haruhi wouldn't do it since this is my punishment, which is actually just an excuse for her being lazy. Though admittedly I didn't really mind that much, if Haruhi had done it she might have decided to try to make it more interesting to eat and that wouldn't have been a pleasant experience, at all, so I gave in to her selfishness without much resistance.

And finally we're able to start eating. Oh glorious food! How I've missed you and the satiating feeling that you bring! The meal that would've been quiet if not for an unforeseen event, is sparkling with sound, or maybe the sparkling part is just Haruhi, who is gulping down food like there's no tomorrow, I think I should follow her example – because with this girl around you never can tell.

Somehow I'm not being informed about what happened during the Brigade meeting, or any of her future plans for the club that isn't accepted by anyone in the school. Instead we somehow end up talking about… well not mundane things, there's a lot of supernatural and other things that somehow gets mixed into our conversation. But it feels remarkably normal to be talking about such things.

Not about what I need to do to improve my grades, although she does mention it in the passing, not how the world might end because I said something stupid, not about what girls would be ranked as 'A', and not about how we should violate some laws in order to get what we want from the other clubs. Instead there's only this conversation that seems to clash against everything that I stand for, and yet I can't help but smile a little as she starts waving her hands around trying to describe what she's saying with more than just words.

But, as with everything, the conversation comes to an end and Haruhi starts to get ready to leave. I don't try to stop her, although I think a part of me wants to. Finally she grabs the handle on the door that leads away from here, from this house. I don't know why but it feels as though she hesitates for a brief instant. Not wanting to leave, yet knowing that she can't stay.

That's enough. I don't know why, but it feels as if something inside of me suddenly clicks. I don't want her to leave, I don't want her to turn that handle and disappear. I didn't even realize that I'd called her name until she turns around, surprise written across that beautiful face of hers.

"Kyon…?"

I open my mouth, but no sound comes out of it. She tilts her head a little and for a moment I can see something that resembles hope in those deep eyes. Suddenly my voice thaws out from the paralyzed condition it'd been in just moments before. And I'm able to say those three words that I wish to say with all of my heart.

How about dinner?

"Can you make anything except curry?" I'm answered with a well hidden blush and a slight smile.

That's kind of insulting, I might not be a master chef by any standards, but I can cook things other than curry. Besides, it's not like this is a punishment, so you should be able to help out too right? Or are you actually a terrible cook?

"I'll make you regret saying that Kyon," Haruhi's eyes have narrowed slightly, but for some reason I don't think that it's frightening in the least. In fact as she sets out back towards the kitchen, clearly intending to best whatever cooking skills I might possess, her response makes a thought pass through my head and I can't help but smile as I follow her.

I wonder what's for breakfast.

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A/n: This was actually supposed to be an introduction for something else, but it somehow turned into a oneshot somewhere halfway through. And so it became Fluff. Hoped you enjoyed, and sorry if the idea's been used before.