Fast Food Madness: The Epic Return

Sora nodded slightly, continuing to work. He reached in and grabbed the three remaining noodles all at once and set them on the plate, surprised at how hot those ones were. It was probably because they had been soaking closest to the bottom. "Ouch," he hissed softly, unable to suppress the word.

 

Kairi turned around at the sound, looking at Sora and instantly biting her lip. She walked over to him, knowing what was wrong. "You alright?" she asked as she approached him. She knew how that felt, and Sora had done it continuously. It was probably worse.

 

Sora nodded and turned around, his right hand balled up in a light fist. "Yup, I'm fine," he reassured her with a smile, his fingers throbbing. It would go away soon...he hoped.

 

Kairi knew Sora well enough to read him, and she could tell by the look in his big blue eyes that it hurt. She stopped in front of him, holding out a hand. "May I see?" she asked gently, looking down at his hand. Sure enough, it was balled into a fist. She took that as a sign, her eyes finding his again.

 

Sora looked down at Kairi's extended hand and wordlessly nodded, uncurling his fingers. He lightly laid his hand out in Kairi's, seeing that his fingers looked redder than usual. And, not only could he feel the throbbing, he could also faintly see it. Ouch...he thought, keeping his eyes on his hand on Kairi's.

 

Kairi looked down at the same moment Sora laid his hand in hers. Her eyes fell on the red fingertips and she pressed her lips together. "Sorry," she said, the word leaving her without thought. She supposed she felt it was her fault, considering she let him take over the job.

 

Sora shrugged slightly, his eyes staying where they were. Kairi had nothing to be sorry for; he was the one who had volunteered to do the painful job. "It's nothing," he said calmly. The throbbing would go away soon; it couldn't last forever.

 

Kairi looked up at Sora and smiled weakly before returning her gaze to his hand. "You should run your fingers under some cold water," she suggested lightly. "We'll let the noodles cool off a little bit." It was best for both of them, because she knew that they had to touch the noodles again in order to stack and layer them.

 

Again, Sora nodded. "Alright," he said softly. "Sounds good to me." He gently slid his hand off of Kairi's and took a step closer to the sink, using his undamaged hand to turn on the cool water.

 

Kairi stepped around Sora and grabbed the warm plate of noodles, bringing it closer to the stove. She then reached underneath it, into a cupboard, and pulled out a pan to cook the lasagna in.

 

Sora stuck his hand under the water, but he didn't feel anything at all with his fingertips yet. He lightly rubbed them together, hoping the action and the cold water would let him get the feeling back.

 

Kairi took in the silence, looking out the window of her kitchen. She linked her hands together behind her back, sighing softly. She loved moments like this; she was with Sora, and things were peaceful and quiet, apart from the mishap with Sora's fingers, of course.

 

Sora turned off the water and dried his hands off with a towel that was sitting right by the sink, faintly feeling the fabric against his fingertips. It's a start, he thought, shrugging slightly. It would only be a matter of time before the feeling completely returned, so he wasn't worried.

 

"You know," Kairi started, still gazing out the window, "we're almost done with the lasagna. You know what that means, right?" She turned her head to gaze at Sora, a smile on her lips. Dessert was to come next, and she knew he would be happy.

 

Sora looked over at Kairi, setting the towel back where it had been before. What does that mean, again? he thought to himself, momentarily forgetting. But a second later, he remembered. "Cookies," he said with a grin.

 

Kairi giggled lightly at Sora's expression, nodding in confirmation. "That's right," she said softly. "I knew you'd be happy to hear that." Cookies were always his favorite; it showed when he and Roxas attacked the cookies she had made not too long ago.

 

Sora grinned sheepishly, bringing a hand to the back of his head. "Yup," he said with a smile. The thought of cookies made him feel happy...and immature, in a way. After all, he was fifteen years old; shouldn't he have been excited over something other than home-made cookies?

 

Kairi laughed softly at a thought in her head. "But we can't tell Roxas," she said. "He'll devour all of them before my parents can have any." It was like Roxas to do such a thing; he and Sora were alike in another way--their love for home-made cookies.

 

Sora chuckled, his grin widening. Yeah, having Roxas near those cookies couldn't have possibly ended well; he was almost worse than Sora was. "I think I'd be able to restrain him...if I weren't too busy eating cookies myself," he said with a laugh.

 

Kairi grinned, giggling. "You two are just like brothers sometimes," she said, looking at Sora for a moment before glancing back out the window, seeing a bird fly by.