Shirakawa Mansion

Masaru thanked Mia as she passed along the vegetables before she moved onto the shortcake. He continued working himself, obviously focused on his task but it was also easy to tell he was enjoying himself quite a bit. This was all really nice, as he'd thought before; the cooking together, spending time doing something they both enjoyed...

As he caught one of Mia's glances though, he couldn't help but feel a tint in his cheeks, but his smile easily returned.

Mia's smile matched Masa's as she tried to hide her giggle. He was so cute when focused. She had to look away and stop glancing or else the shortcake wouldn't get done! Scooping the batter into pans, it didn't take her long to put it in the oven. She kept trying to not look at the other person in the kitchen too much but couldn't help looking sometimes... Still she had work to do!

Getting to work on the strawberries, they were quick, easy and needed to sit in the fridge for a bit anyways, Mia quickly had that done... Thinking for a moment, her hand went to her mouth as she looked at the rather busy Masa. "Do you have heavy whipping cream? I could...make some homemade whipped cream to go with it. I-I would just not want to go through your fridge looking if you don't have any."

"Mm, ah yes. You should be able to find some in the fridge." Masaru answered, his attention going to Mia once she'd began speaking.

They should have some, definitely. They were always quite well stocked on things for both desserts and main courses.

"Thank you!" Smiling Mia went to the fridge and pulled out the whipping cream, gathering up flavoring and the items she'd need to make it... The dishes she had used before were in the sink for now, she'd wash them once this was done along with any Masa had been using.

Starting the mixer after she had gotten it all stirred... it didn't take long for the cream to become heavy whipped cream. Popping off one of the beaters, she licked it and winced. It was sweet... Holding out the beater she had licked from, she moved to Masa with an apologetic smile. "Can you try this? I can't tell if its good or not."

Things were coming along nicely on his end, that was good; a small chuckle escaped him, though he felt his face tint once more after he had. He was having fun...it was perfectly fine to show how much fun you were having with a small laugh...

As Mia approached him, he turned to look at her, noting her apologetic smile as she spoke. He gave a nod, his smile warming. "Of course."

He could understand why she needed him to do so, considering she wasn't very fond of sweets. It'd be easier for him or Nozomi to test the taste. He took the beater from her hand as she offered it to him, giving a small lick before his smile returned. "It tastes delicious, Mia!"

Yes! He would try it... She would feel bad if it was too sweet or something and she left it alone. Masa had no compunctions and just happily tried it for her, causing a small blush as he took the beater.

"Ah! Thats good." Mia's face turned beat red as Masa complimented the whipped cream. He...seemed in utterly good cheer and she reached out with her finger to grab a bit of the whipped cream... and then placed it on his nose with a small grin.

"Mhmm, it's really good." Masaru replied, his smile bright just before Mia scooped some of the whipped cream onto her finger before placing it on his nose with a grin, which earned a small, surprised noise to escape him before another laugh followed.

"Thank you." Masa's surprised sound made Mia laugh lightly, turning into full blown giggles as he started laughing too. Her hands came up to her face, whipped cream now ending up on her cheek from her action.

"Sorry... I couldn't resist. Let me..." Mia reached up with her not covered in whipped cream finger and wiped some of it off of his nose, before sticking it in her mouth on instinct. And then turning bright red and wincing.

"Welcome." Masaru replied, another small chuckle escaping him when he noticed Mia get the whipped cream on herself. He felt the fire in his face flare again as she wiped some of the cream from his own face where she'd put it, before burning further when she licked away what she'd taken.

She wasn't fond of sweets, but she still found herself trying it on instinct. He couldn't help but smile as he brought his hand to her cheek and helped wipe off the whipped cream she'd gotten on herself.

"Y-You got a little on you." He stuttered, his smile becoming a bit sheepish before he looked down at what he'd wiped off of her before licking it off of his finger as she had earlier, the blush obvious on his face as he managed another smile for her.

Mia felt a bit embarrassed as Masa laughed lightly, assuming it was from her mess up on the whipped cream. He was blushing so strongly, would his face melt like hers? She couldn't resist staring and looking up at him though, as her face burned.

That was nothing compared to the heat as Masaru reached over and wiped off some of the whipped cream on her face. "Y-You got a little on you."

"T-Thank...you..." Letting out a startled squeak, she resisted the urge to look away or just stick her face into the bowl of whipped cream and drown. It was a bad thing she hadn't as Masa's next action just made her freeze solid... Though his smile melted that ice. Why...was her heart beating so fast?! It was just Masa and he had just licked off the whipped cream! Nothing wrong with that!

She should go back to...making things...that are all done... Looking down at the bowl of whipped cream in her arms she nodded at it... Yes. Whipped cream...

"W-Welcome." Masaru replied with a smile, though it was a bit goofy due to his own sense of being flustered at the moment. That squeak had been cute; her face was red, then again his was still burning bright as well.

Mia looked up, saw that...rather goofy smile and her smile turned bright. Setting aside the bowl, she leaned and gently pulled his head down so she...could kiss him. To thank him for being sweet...and for that nice smile...and for dinner... She just couldn't say anything right now due to flustered.

Masaru was a bit surprise when he felt Mia pull him down, but he certainly wasn't unhappy with the action, and when their lips connected he returned the kiss; he was unable to stop from smiling against her lips after a moment though, that bright smile of hers before she had pulled him down had been cute, and the kissing was nice.

Mia pulled back from the kiss after a few moments with lightly tinted cheeks, the last remains of her rather flustered state before. Her purple eyes were a bit wide in confusion as she stared up at Masaru. "Y-You smiled... I felt it. Was...something funny?"

She felt calm when she kissed him, calmer than she had at least. Kissing felt soothing... for some reason.

"I...I'd just been thinking before that you're smile before...we kissed had been rather cute." Masaru answered. "So I couldn't help but smile."

It was a little embarrassing, admitting that, but it was the truth. That bright smile she'd had earlier had been cute, so he couldn't help but smile himself after seeing it.

"A-Ah!" Mia's face flushed as she stuttered a reply, her confusion disappearing at Masa's words. He thought her smile was cute... He thought she was attractive too... Mia still remembered those words from before, Masaru's honesty so scary sometimes...

"T-Thank you... I am... its good I can...make you smile. Uh huh!" Her hands went to Masa's shirt and she then buried her face in his chest. Too...red... Must hide...

"Wel-ah!" A surprised noise escaped Masaru as Mia went for him, burying her face in his chest. He felt his face flush red, "W-Welcome."

After a short moment, his smile returned; his body eventually relaxed some as Mia hid.

Once Mia got her face and reflexes under reasonable control, she smiled softly and tried to pull back. It succeeded, though she still felt bad for making Masaru make another noise. Without looking up, she brushed away some bangs from her face and pushed them behind her ear in a futile manner as they just fell back. "Ah...S-Sorry. I-Instinct....to hide..."

Her eyes caught the bowl of whipped cream and she gave a small smile. "U-Uh we should...f-finish making...food..."

"It's alright, I don't mind it." Masaru replied, offering her what he hoped was a reassuring smile. "I understand. I was just a little surprised."

If she needed to hide, he could understand; her blushing had been...cute, but he knew too much of that might be too much for her. If she felt like hiding because of it, it was alright.

When she brought up the food, he gave a small nod, and returned Mia's smile with another one of his own. "Right."

"Thank goodness... And thank you. I...um guess this means I find you safe...I-I mean I know I do! But...instincts...do too..." Mia was still that awful red, though Masaru's smile helped some.

The smiling pair then got to work finishing up the making of dinner, Mia trying to focus on helping Masaru as much as she could. It wasn't anything hard to make it just took some time and she took over the menial tasks and cleaning of dishes for the nobleman.

It wasn't too much longer that Mia was taking the desert and items out so she could carry them in for dinner, glancing over at Masa as he was now finished as well. "Mm, I'll take these out! Hopefully Nozomi is hungry. There's a lot."

Masaru felt his blush return some at Mia's words. She found him safe? At hearing those words he couldn't help but feel happy. She found him safe, even instinctively.

"I'm...It makes me really happy to know, Mia." His smile brightened, unable to help it.

They went to finishing up with the cooking, and it was fun, relaxing. It was nice to do something like this together, and they both enjoyed cooking as well so he felt it was even more fun.

There was a lot of food when they finished up, and at Mia's words he gave a nod.

"Hopefully." Masaru agreed as he moved to help her carry the food out.

Upon entering the dining room, Nozomi was already waiting patiently for them. When she noticed them she gave them a bright, happy smile.

Mia nodded as Masaru spoke about how glad it made him, blushing still. It was never leaving her at this point. Forever red. She would never worry about sun burns, her face would just burn itself from the inside out.

Cooking though...that had calmed her utterly. As Masaru agreed with her words and headed out with her, she had to smile. That smile only grew as she saw Nozomi in the dining room looking happy. Letting out a happy little giggle, Mia set the food down and went to Nozomi's side. Kissing her on the top of her head, she moved to take a seat next to the girl. "I hope we didn't keep you waiting long! Dinner is done Zomi."

"Nuh-uh, I wasn't kept waiting!" Nozomi smiled as Masaru set the food down with Mia before taking his own seat. "Did you have fun cooking?"

She'd been working on other things, finishing up some activities she'd been doing while Masaru and Mia had been out. She missed out on cooking, but she'd had fun!

"I'm glad you weren't left waiting." Masaru smiled as he moved to help fix the plates.

"Lots of fun, you and Masa's kitchen has so much stuff to choose from. I hope you like my desert." Mia's head tilted as she smiled at the girl.

It seems she hadn't felt left out at all, instead she was just happy to have them here. Smiling at Masa as he helped them fill their plates up, Mia couldn't hide her rather excited expression. It...looked so amazing. Sparkles practically fell off of her as she lifted a bit to her mouth. Now sparkles did fall off of her as she brought a hand to her cheek and sighed so happily. "Aaah! Its so good..."

"Yeah! There's a lot in there!" Nozomi agreed, at the mention of the dessert she was obviously excited. "Mia-nee's sweets are always great, I'm sure I'll like it!"

Masaru took a bite from the curry rice, glancing over when Mia took a bite of her own. Swallowing his bite, he couldn't help but smile at Mia's obvious excitement, and after she tasted it he couldn't keep his smile from turning into a small, happy grin.

"I'm glad, I was hoping you'd like it."