It must have been with diabolical intentions that Seto and Kano chose for Kido the chair that didn't face the kitchen.

"You sit here and relax," they'd instructed with matching grins. "It's your night off, we'll make dinner."

She'd protested she didn't mind, she liked cooking, they all did their part, but they'd vanished back into the kitchen. The noises that emerged from it now did more than enough to make her worry. Clattering sounds of metal-on metal floated through the air.

"Next ingredient is— put the pepper away, that's awful!"

"And that is cheating, you wouldn't have known I was holding it otherwise—"

The bickering was good-natured, but Kido felt herself tense up nonetheless. As far as she knew, neither of them had ever made more than toast before. Would it even be safe to eat whatever came out of that kitchen? She didn't feel very relaxed.

The light arguments seem to have subsided for the most part, and what she heard now was mostly short requests, like "Pass me that spoon," and "Get a lid for this." It eased her worries just a bit to hear that Seto had mostly taken control of their cooking endeavors. She still had no idea what they were making.

"Oops," she heard Kano drawl, breaking the relative silence. She didn't think to resume worrying until she heard something crash like it had been dropped, and then running water. A second later the door flew open, hitting the wall, and despite herself she turned in the chair, staring at them. Seto was propping the door open with his shoulder, one steadying arm around Kano's waist and the other hand gripping the back of his collar. He tossed the smaller boy down on the couch.

"Do we have a fire extinguisher?" he asked Kido, who shook her head numbly, "no? Well, that's okay." He flashed her thumbs up and a grin and disappeared through the door. Kido turned her attention to Kano, who was examining his arm. A shiny red burn ran from his wrist to his elbow, and he looked up to see her watching him. He smiled, and the burn disappeared from his skin. Kido knew him too well to be relieved.

"Clumsy me," he replied in a sing song voice, folding his arms behind his head and leaning back on the couch. Kido didn't miss the wince when he leaned on his burned arm, even though the injury was no longer visible. What was scaring her more were the sounds from the kitchen. Black smoke was billowing into the room, and she folded her hands over her mouth and noise, trying to stay calm.

The smell seeped in anyway, and she could practically see flames licking up the walls, eating away at the chipped white paint. She forced herself to take another deep breath, and the smoke chased its way into her lungs. Her eyes were burning at the corners.

A shadow covered her vision, and her eyes flicked up to see Kano, leaning over her and standing much too close.

"Hey, what's the deal?" he flicked her in the forehead, frowning. "I just set fire to the meal, we'll just go out to eat. I'm not sure it would've been edible anyway, haha."

Kido lowered her hands shakily, taking another breath. The air was clean, and there was no sign of the smoke she'd seen before. Seto poked his head out of the kitchen. "No worries, the fire's out. Can't save the food, though."

Squaring her shoulders, Kido pushed herself to her feet, forcing Kano to take a step back to accommodate her. She looked from one to the other, then sighed.

"I'll do the cooking from now on, I think," she said.