We Are Together: War (IzuOcha) **Discontinued**

Chapter Six: The Kitchen Chat

Izuku walked slowly through the Class 1-A dorm, the mid-morning sunlight shining through the large windows of the common room. He stood in place for a moment, his eyes glassy as the previous events of his visit to Monoma replaying in his head. He sighed as he took out his phone. Morning was going to end soon, and Izuku still had to practice his cooking.

The boy's green eyes made their way from the window light, and over towards the common room kitchen that now sat empty. It had been used less and less, many of the parents from the dorms inviting their children to eat with them. Izuku stared at the kitchen for a moment before nodding as he walked over to the counter. He set the bag of ingredients he had accumulated from the cafeteria down onto the counter, pulling everything out of the bag and organizing. He then took out a notebook he had kept on him, flipping to the pages he needed.

"I took down notes of every detail my mom gave me about cooking," Izuku muttered to himself. "Yet I feel like I'm still missing something... Well, only way to learn is to try."

He grabbed a spare apron from one of the cabinets, tying it around his waist to prepare for his special dish for his girlfriend. He turned on the rice cooker as he began to prepare the rest of the ingredients. However, it only took one thirty minute attempt for Izuku to realize he was most certainly out of his league.

"How did I manage to burn the rice?" Izuku mumbled to himself as he looked at his disastrous dish. He brought his fingers to his chin as he stared down at the mess of a sushi dish he had attempted to create. "I followed the directions perfectly... "

"Sometimes, exact directions don't always cut it," a voice called from behind him. Izuku quickly turned, preparing himself mentally to not attack the sudden surprise visitor. However, his eyes weren't met with another pair. In fact, upon first inspection, nothing had greeted him whatsoever. It wasn't until he looked down a bit further that he recognized the floating t-shirt and shorts.

"Hagakure-san," Izuku said with relief. "I thought I was hearing things for a moment."

"I can't blame you, though it's a bit embarrassing when you stay looking down at... well..." She said, Hagakure's shirt moving in tandem with her swaying. It took Izuku a moment to realize where his eyes were before immediately standing up straight, his eyes now pointed towards the roof.

"I'm sorry! I promise I didn't mean to stare there! It's just-" he began, however Hagakure giggled. "The only place people subconsciously look. I understand don't worry, though Ochaco-chan may not be as forgiving."

"Please don't tease me," Izuku said with a nervous laugh, scratching the back of his head.

"Sorry, sorry," Hagakure continued to laugh. "It's just I see you doing whatever this is alone, and I can't help but want to tease you a bit."

Izuku could only assume the 'whatever' of that sentence was his futile attempt at cooking on his own. The boy sighed as he glanced over at the burned sushi, folding his arms as his mind went back to its calculating state.

"I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong here," Izuku said, still staring down at his dish.

"Well, you're trying too hard," Hagakure answered simply. "Is this for Ochaco-chan?"

"Well, it was supposed to be," Izuku said, disheartened. "What do you mean I'm trying too hard?"

"You're focusing too much on the exact numbers, instead of paying attention to what's actually happening to the food," Hagakure explained. "Our rice cooker and other materials might differ from others. Cooking also changes based on the amount you cook. Going exactly by numbers won't help you all the time."