Work For Your Affection (BakuTodo)

hand holding (night)

"What are you doing?"

I spot Icyhot in the middle of the dormitory kitchen, which should honestly be a safety hazard. That bastard has no business standing in any kitchen unsupervised.

He has his head tilted toward the counter, which displays the saddest attempt of culinary cuisine I've ever had the displeasure of seeing. It's so bad that I don't know what it's even supposed to be. It's just a big pile of slop.

I bite the inside of my lip when Icyhot finally looks up and reveals a solemn expression. He's not crying, thank God. Crying makes me uncomfortable. But I don't like this situation any better. Sure, Icyhot can be annoying as fuck at times, but I'm not some heartless monster that enjoys seeing such a dejected version of him.

"I tried to follow a harumaki recipe in the cookbook you gave me," he says. "I wanted to surprise our classmates at the party tonight."

"Why?" I say.

He shrugs. "I thought if I followed the instructions, I'd be able to do it. But you were right. I'm terrible at this. Now I wasted all this food on something that no one's going to eat."

I walk around the counter and stand next to him. His attempt at harumaki is even more atrocious up close, but I keep that to myself. I gesture to the cookbook to his left. "Show me the recipe. Let me see if I can find where you went wrong."

"Huh?" he says. "You're going to help me?"

I scoff, turning my head away from him. "Don't say it like that. I don't want to help you."

"But isn't that what you're doing?"

"No, I'm saving my reputation. If I was forced to buy you a gift, it better be a damn good one. And if you can't follow simple instructions in a book that I gave you, then that makes me look bad."

"Oh. Okay."

Icyhot flips through the pages until he finds the right one. He lays the cookbook out for me to read. Panning back and forth from the recipe to the mess on the counter, it doesn't take long for me to recognize the problem.

I roll my eyes and sigh. "Icyhot, did you read these instructions from top to bottom?"

"Yes," he replies. "Is that bad?"

"Idiot." I jab my index finger into the page several times. "The instructions are by row, not by column. The steps even have numbers next to them. Pay attention next time."

Icyhot's cheeks go red, as does his nose. He pouts like a child, and the tiniest part of me feels bad for him. It's one thing to do a step wrong, but to do them out of order must have him feeling embarrassed. Well, it's his fault for being so careless.

I check the clock nailed into the far wall. The party doesn't start for another few hours. Quickly, I remove the lid to the nearby garbage can. I toss Icyhot's slop into the bin before grabbing some disinfectant wipes from one of the cabinets. After wiping down the counter, I address Icyhot. "Are there enough ingredients in the fridge to make a second batch?"

"There should be."

"Good. Better get started, then."

A wisp of a smile appears on his face. "You're really going to help me?"

I groan. "Like I said before, I'm not helping you. But now you got me hungry for harumaki."

His smile stretches wider. "Thank you, Bakugou."

"Tch."

Just then, Icyhot slips his hand into mine. It's the first time he's done it since lunch earlier today. To be fair, he hasn't had much opportunity to, not in private at least. Once school ended, I tried my best to stay away from him. Then I started craving spicy food and ended up here. I should've just stayed in my room.