Making some pudding.

"Today was fun, hn?" Luha asked as we headed down the hallway.

"Fumu, very fun indeed." I lied. Needless to say, kindergarten would under no circumstances be fun to someone whose age resembled mine.

Well, I guess the teachers are a little older than I and some of them seem to be satisfied with their jobs. So maybe my not having fun was a 'me problem'. But saying this endeavour was a complete bore would be a lie.

You know how when you get older and have to take care of younger kids in your neighbourhood? It turned out that I was the type to quite enjoy that.

Whenever I was in Luha's vicinity, my fatherly senses had been triggered.

...Nah...

On another thought, it would be kinda weird to have a 5-year-old kid at 18. It'd be more accurate to say that my brotherly senses had been triggered.

I just wanted to take care of her. It was a feeling akin to what Hime-nee feels towards me. The age gap between our pairs was similar too.

That aside, I had watched a few reincarnation anime over the last couple of years and all of them had something in common. Scummy main characters. For the love of God, there would be 40-year-olds using their new 10-year-old body to take advantage of and make harems of actual minor kids.

It was disgusting.

I can proudly admit to never falling so low as to even think about committing such a vile act. The only thing I would ever feel towards kids is a sense of superiority and adoration. Unless the kid's an asshole. In that case, I would just be majorly peeved and perhaps violent. I have the power of a 5-year-old so I doubt I could do any damage anyway.

As I was monologuing, the familiar scent of a certain extremely cheap shampoo wafted through the air. She still hadn't grown out of her peasant habits.

"Ah, Yuu-chan." I called out instinctively.

My words made her immediately turn her head. First, her face showed anger, then dismissal, and then a frightening smile.

"Asama-kun… are your classes over too?"

"Asama-kun? Eh? Of course, my classes would be over, the school's ending time is the same for both of us."

"Ah…hahaha. That's true that's true." What's wrong with her?

"What the heck is wrong with you?" No bars held.

"Do you know princess Yuuno, Mao-sama?" Luha cut her off before she could reply.

"Yeah, I-"

[Not another word you demon shit. I don't want to be associated with you. My entire image would be ruined if I were acquainted with someone as talentless and weak as you.]

Ouch… that hurt. But not really. I looked back at her with a 'whatcha gonna do about it face'.

[What will I do? I will mentally transmit screams straight into your mind when I wake up at 4 in the morning.]

Now my face said 'no you wouldn't'.

[Try me.]

"Uhh, Luha-chan, I don't know much about the princess. We just reside in the same house. Ah, but our rooms are very far apart, so we don't meet often." Self-preservation over pride. It wasn't like I really wanted to talk to her or anything.

"I see, that's a shame. I thought you two would make good friends." Luha commented.

'Oh dear. Look at how wrong she is.'

"What makes you say that?" I asked as the three of us started walking towards the entrance again.

"I don't know. Both of you seem out of reach for everyone here."

[She seems to have been brainwashed by her parents.] She commented. Yep, I bet all the kids here have an inferiority complex towards us. But it's funny nonetheless.

"I think you are in my reach, though." I put my arm around Luha's neck.

I hated the fact that I could only take care of one kid because the others would go home and report their unsuccessful endeavours to their parents. But there was only so much I could do. This life was dedicated to me and I remain as selfish as I can be.

I bet their parents would give up on me as soon as they realise that I am powerless.

Before we knew it all of us reached the school gate and the teachers guided us into a hummer.

There was pointless banter permeating amongst our little group led by Luha but it felt easygoing, to be honest. We gave exchanged our 'farewells' and 'see you tomorrow's.

###

"Pop." I approached Dad on the weekend. He was reading the news on his phone. In the days when you could just use your smart lenses. I guess some people just liked it retro.

"Yeah?" He put his phone down.

"About the pudd-"

"Oh yeah!" He got up immediately. "Wanna make it now?" There was a hint of excitement on his face.

'Was he really that jobless?'

"Yep yep." I replied.

Granted that you were rich enough to afford them, you would usually have maids cook food for you. But the primary chef in our household was my father. Being fond of cooking, he would cook whenever he got the opportunity to. So basically every weekday dinner and breakfast. The lunches and breakfast were still served by staff though.

We walked into our attached kitchen.

Our room had practically everything you would need from an entire house.

There was a sofa facing a huge TV that also faced the giant bed. (TV on wall, sofa in the middle, bed on the wall opposite to the TV). And then a little dining table for four. And a smaller bed for me. An attached kitchen and bathroom. A balcony overlooking the lawn.

The only thing stopping this room from becoming a house was the lack of compartmentalization.

I went into the kitchen as my father headed to the fridge.

If you asked me how much experience I had with making food, I'd say none. In my previous life, I never needed to eat. In this life, I left all the cooking to the one's who could cook. Or well, I guess being breastfed was another method of sustenance.

Either way, I was a complete novice.

{a/n: The recipe is legit.}

By the time I set myself up on the counter, Dad returned with a carton of milk. He then went to the cabinet to get some cornstarch, sugar, salt, vanilla, butter and peanut butter. I couldn't tell because I was illiterate, the only reason I knew the name of the ingredients was because Dad called them out before putting them on the table.

"Are you ready?"

"Nhnn." I nodded.

"No, you're not. Wash your hands before we start." Heeding his words, I headed to the sink and did just that.

"You'll follow me along, okay?" He said while splitting the ingredients in two.

"Kay."

He started by putting two saucepans on the stove. One for me and one for him. The first precaution he took was regulating the heat for me.

"Put this in." He handed a quarter of a cup of sugar to me.

I put it in.

"Put this in." He handed a pinch of salt to me.

I put it in.

Just as the sugar was starting to get some colour, he handed a slurry of corn starch and water to me.

"Put this in."

I did. And a little sizzle resounded from the bottom of the saucepan.

He took a spatula and mixed everything. There was a milky light peach coloured mixture inside.

He then took out a mug of milk and handed it to me.

"Put this in."

"Okay."

While sitting on the kitchen top, I held the mug over the pan and poured it inside. But for some flipping reason, the god damn milk dripped down the side onto my clothes rather than where it was meant to go!

"Fuc- uhh I mean fudg- dang furries!!!" I put the breaks on my swearing but only ended up making it worse.

"Furries?"

"No, nothing!" I said nothing!

He pondered for a moment while wiping the milk off my clothes.

Isn't this already the second time I spilt milk on myself in 5 years? Or wait it'd be more if you count my baby accidents. Spilling milk is a child's nature.

"Mao-kun…" Oh shit! It's coming. I closed my eyes in anticipation of what might be a long lecture for almost saying the F word. "When you pour liquids you have to pour them quickly in one go. If you hesitate they'll just trickle down."

'Are my parents deaf?' I mean they were old. But to not be able to hear a 5-year-old almost cuss they had to be extremely hard of hearing.

"And where did you learn that word?"

'Oh shit! Turns out he wasn't deaf!

What do I do? What do I do?'

"Ummm… uhhhh! I heard an idol call her dog furry!"

There was no way he was going to bite that.

"Ohh? Risa? The fifth episode of the House? You truly are a boy of culture!"

Uhh, what? And was he using a meme reference in casual conversation? That's so 2020s. Ew.

Anyway, he bit it. And I thank luck that he did.

"Yes! Yes, I think."

He put the milk in for me while I composed myself. That was way too close.

"Now you whisk." He handed a whisk to me and I whisked. For two minutes straight. I never knew that whisking would make my arms burn to this extent. I was clearly more than just out of shape.

After the whisking period ended, he took the saucepan off the heat and put in a quarter a stick of butter, a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter, and a drop or two of vanilla extract. I followed suit.

Then he got back to whisking.

Our procedure was the same. He looked over me throughout the entire process. Our ingredients were the same. But his turned out way better looking than mine somehow.

I could only imagine how dejected I looked.

"Awww… don't worry so much. My support attribute levels up my cooking skills too."

"But stilll."

Concerned, he stroked his beard.

"How about this? The pudding I made is for you, and your pudding you can give away to Yuuno-kun." I wasn't a kid but I'd be damned if I said I wasn't tempted. I did want to eat his pudding.

"Wasn't your's for Mum?"

"I can just make a new one."

"Really?"

"Unnhnn."

"Thanks, pops!"

"Well, then! Wrap this up with a plastic film and put it in the fridge for half an hour at least."

And so we did.

Now all that was left was giving this to Yuu-chan.