14 The Sidekick and the Battlefield of Love (Part 2)

"We're changing up the mission."

Upon uttering such a cryptic statement, Rika yanks me by the arm out of the stairwell and down the halls. Chloe trails behind us, keeping a respectful distance. Well, less likely out of respect and more likely to avoid being associated with the two of us. I once again pass by the principal's office. If the office staff has any concerns about me being lugged around by Rika, they don't do anything about it.

We end up barging into the cooking room much to the surprise of myself and the instructor. She takes it in stride, however, continuing to knead the flour and transferring it to another of the tables in the center of the room. On the outskirts of the kitchen are ovens and countertops, cluttered under varying degrees of flour and kitchen utensils.

"Something I can help you with?" she asks.

"I was hoping you'd let us this room after-school tomorrow." Rika rubs the back of her neck. "I know none of us are your students or in the club, but I promise we'll be careful and not make a mess."

She flips the dough and seems to consider the request. "Why the sudden interest?"

Rika winks at her. "Love."

The lady returns the wink with a smile. "Ah, say no more. You all are welcome to it. Just be sure not to get in the way of the club members please."

"Right. Thank you very much!" Rika replies. "Oh, can we use that whiteboard real quick?"

"Go right ahead, and good luck."

After giving the teacher a thumbs-up, Rika marches over to the board and picks up a marker. She brandishes it like a sword in our direction. "Take a seat, soldiers. We have much to discuss."

What kind of roleplay is this right now? And who would go along with it? Chloe exchanges a meek salute with the other girl before sitting at the table. Never mind, apparently I'm surrounded by people who'll play along. I sigh and pull up a seat to join her, resting my chin on my palm.

"Straighten up or it's back to boot camp for you, private!" Rika barks the order at me.

"Right, right," I mumble, making no attempt to improve my posture.

"Anyway, this is war. We are fighting on the battlefield of love against an impossible enemy, Ethan's denseness." That gets a chuckle from me and Chloe. "Not even General Amelia or Nora have been able to crack that front. So, here's the plan."

She furiously scribbles across the board making a quick list and some doodles. Then, she taps the whiteboard with the end of the marker. "Everybody knows the fastest way to a man's heart is through his stomach. So, we'll be helping Nora make cookies to help win him over. Any questions?"

"Yeah, why do your drawings of cookies look like Pac-Man with fleas?" I ask.

"That's out of line, private! For mocking the artistic skills of a higher-up, you'll drop and give me twenty."

I hate whatever this is right now and want it to stop. Please someone make it stop.

Someone out there must hear my pleas because the bell rings silencing whatever stupid thing she's going to say next. She huffs and crosses her arms. "Ok, we'll break for now. Remember to meet here tomorrow. Oh, and Chloe, I'll come over today to help you pick up stuff for the cookies."

While the pair of them makes plans, my phone vibrates in my pocket. I pull it out and the screen lights up.

Ethan: Luch chengd rumor u n rika r datin on lmao

Time to show off a little. While to any ordinary human, such a text message would be incomprehensible, I have a special skill. The ability to understand what any idiot is trying to say. I furrow my brow, concentrating until the words make sense. Then, I let out a quiet groan.

The school is spreading rumors that Rika and I are dating.

"Rika," she turns her attention toward me, "you and me are dating now."

"Cool, cool." The girl snorts, tapping a finger against her chin. "That's what the rumors are saying?"

"Yep. This could pose a setback."

"Nah, I'm not worried about it." She motions to the retreating form of Chloe. "Promised I'd help her get Ethan's attention first."

"And what about you?"

"I'm not sure, to be honest. I just know I want to help her get past her shyness and talk to him."

"Like you're one to talk."

"You might be right, but I really want to support her. The same way you want to support me." She grins at me. "Thanks for worrying about me."

"Don't get the wrong idea. I have my own reasons to help you."

"Oh, do you Mister Dark, Mysterious, and Brooding? Better be careful. Girls go for that kind of thing, you know," she says.

"First I was unmanly, and now all the girls want me? You really need to make up your mind."

A quiet giggle reaches my ears as she rushes past. Then, she's gone, leaving me alone to carry on to history class.

---

"Flour?" Rika calls out.

Chloe holds up the bag. "Check."

"Eggs?"

"Check."

"Baking soda?"

"Check."

"We're all set, then. All that's left is making the cookies," she says, rolling up her sleeves.

The three of us stand there, the amicable chatter and laughter of the cooking club members filling the silence. Nobody makes a move. Not an egg is cracked, not a bowl is stirred, not an oven is preheated.

I pinch the bridge of my nose. "Do you guys know how to make cookies?"

The two exchange a glance before shaking their heads.

"Seriously? Then, why did you settle on cookies?"

Rika appears taken aback. "Don't blame me. I thought one of you knew how to make them."

Damn it. I should've known this plan would derail before getting off the ground. Glancing around it seems all the members of the club are hard at work, and the teacher did specifically mention not to bother them. I pull out my phone and search online for a tutorial on how to make cookies. The first result that pops up is a highly-viewed Youtube video, so I click it and pause the video. I lean my phone horizontally against a bowl and scoot back.

"Come over here you two."

They walk over to stand around the table, some knowing what personal space is, and others not so much. Doesn't take a genius to figure out which one is which.

Rika.

Her breath tickles my ear, forcing an involuntary shiver from me. I shift away and hope neither of them notices how red my face is. "Back up, idiot."

She pouts. "But then I can't see it."

"You sure you're not the one who needs glasses?" I sigh. "Chloe, you ok if I move it closer to Rika?"

"That's fine with me," she replies.

I slide the phone closer to Rika who lets out a happy yip of excitement. She can be such a brat when she wants to be.

We watch through the video, occasionally pausing it or going back to review a certain step. The instructor does a good job explaining each aspect of making them from scratch, leading me to believe it might be possible for us to make something halfway decent.

"You guys ready?" Rika makes to roll up her sleeves again, but since there already rolled up, it just leaves her miming the action.

Chloe laughs at her, and I can't help but join in too. Her glare makes it funnier. "You guys are jerks! Let's just get the batter ready."

Ok, clearly she was going to be next to useless at this. I head over to the corner where all our supplies are and preheat the oven to 375°. "You skipped a bunch of steps there. We need to start with mixing the sugars."

"I knew that. Had to make sure you were paying attention."

This first step proves to be rather simple. I entrust the task to Chloe, knowing she'll take care to measure out the appropriate amounts of each. I head over to the microwave with a stick of butter. I put it on top of a dish and stick in it in the microwave for a few seconds to soften it up.

"Hey, what should I be doing?" the other girl asks me, a bounce in her step.

I take the dish out once the microwave dings, careful not to burn myself. "Go watch the oven. Make sure it doesn't explode or something."

"That's not a real job. Give me something to do!"

"Fine, go see if you can crack two eggs into that bowl over there without getting any shells mixed in."

"Roger that." She goes to complete the task I give her.

Finishing mashing the butter into smaller globs, I check how Chloe's doing. Looks like she's pretty much got it stirred over there. I head over to her and place the bowl down. Although she's still busy at work, I can't help but notice the splotch of batter on her cheek.

"Chloe, you got something on your face."

She dabs at her left cheek with her sleeve. "Did I get it?"

"No, it's on the other side. And use a napkin, or you're going to get your sleeve all dirty."

She snatches up a napkin and tries to wipe away the smudge; however, the girl keeps going around the batter, either too high or too low. I try to mime on my own face where it is, but it doesn't seem to help. Eventually, I feel like I should ask if she needs help.

"Chloe, you mind if I get it?"

She flushes but nods. "Go ahead."

I wipe it off, and Chloe takes a step backward, her face even redder than prior. The girl glances at the napkin to see the smudge I wiped away. She unclenches her fists and steps back in front of her mixing bowl. "Thanks for that."

I'm about to respond when a pair of arms is thrown over me, and I'm forcibly pulled next to Chloe. Our shoulders bump, and that's when Rika's head pops up in between both of ours. "What's going on over here? Lots of fidgeting and touching, eh~?"

"Don't phrase it like that, you weirdo!" I say, shrugging her off and flicking the goop at her.

The moment it hits her sweatshirt is when I know I screwed up. She launches at me, giggling, and wipes whatever the hell is all over her fingers on my cheeks. I place my hand on her shoulder, pinning down her silky, black hair with my palm, and push her back, desperately trying to keep her at an arm's length. "Knock it off before someone gets hurt."

Encouraged by Chloe giggling in the background, she grins wildly and struggles harder. "Nope!"

"Um..." We immediately break off our wrestling when a group of club members approaches us. "We're going to have to ask you to leave if you keep doing stuff like that."

I scratch my cheek, inadvertently spreading the mess further. "Sorry about that. We got carried away."

"Yeah, you're telling me." The speaker grumbles before returning with her posse to continue their prior activities.

Damn, this is a lot more troublesome than I thought it would be.