[Silver]

“Alright, calm down students,” the teacher said in her most commanding voice. Instantly, the inane chatter that had filled the room subsided and the focus was now on Bonnie.

“You’re no doubt wondering why I brought you here. Well, that’s easy. Today is a practical assessment.”

“Of what, our ability to do the dishes?” one student called out and laughed loudly at his own joke.

“I ain’t doin’ no dishes,” another student said as though he believed what the first one said. The murmur of students talking to each other yet again rose to a dull roar. They were all concerned about what they would be doing in a kitchen, and didn’t seem too keen on waiting for an answer, either.

[Silver]

“Quiet,” Bonnie said again, this time with an annoyed expression. This was why they could never do anything out of the ordinary. “This is a test of your ability to follow instructions, or rather a recipe.”

She walked throughout the room, handing a recipe to each pair of students that were sitting next to one another. Whether they liked it or not, the students would be working in pairs with the person next to them. If they were smart, they would have sat next to someone who knew what they were doing, but she had a feeling they just sat next to their friends instead.

[Silver]

“Whoever brings me the most delicious risotto before class is over gets the top grade! Better get to it - the longer it cooks, the more flavor you can get out of it.”

Rin looked at the piece of paper that had been handed to her for a second before looking up and confirming who her partner was. It was Showe. One of the best students in the class. She had such an incredibly natural talent for fighting and was studious and a high achiever on top of it.

“Looks like we’re Risotto buddies,” Showe said with a cheesy grin.

[Silver]

“Yea,” Rin confirmed. It wasn’t that she was unfriendly, really, more that she was shy and a tiny bit intimidated by her partner.

Most of the other students rushed toward the pantry, frantically grabbing ingredients and pushing one another out of the way. Showe winced at the dramatic nature of it all. “Why don’t we grab our dishes first, since nobody is over there,” she offered.

“Good idea,” Rin nodded. As they walked toward the racks where the dishes were kept, she introduced herself. “I’m Rin, and you’re Showe, right?”

[Silver]

“Right,” Showe nodded. She was embarrassed that Rin knew her name, but she didn’t know Rin’s until now. Thankfully didn’t have to admit that.

“It says we’ll need a deep pan, a sauce pot, and a skillet,” she said. “Plus a stirring spoon, and a set of measuring cups…” She listed all of the things which Showe stacked together until they were a well balanced tower of utensils.

“Looks like there’s some space in the pantry now,” Showe commented. “I’ll put this at our station, and you can grab some of our starting ingredients?”

[Silver]

Rin nodded and headed over to the pantry. There were still enough students over there to make it troublesome to find what she was looking for. They had spilled plenty of spices and mixed up things that were probably beautifully displayed to start with. Rin sighed and reached out to grab a litre of stock. She was bumped by another student who promptly apologised.

Rin felt like she didn’t have enough hands to hold all of the stuff she was supposed to be grabbing. She stopped to wonder if she would get in trouble for using her powers in the kitchen. Well, the teacher didn’t say she couldn’t…

[Silver]

A glowing blue copy of Rin appeared out of thin air and moved selectively through the mess of students to grab the things she needed. When she was done, she returned them to Rin and vaporized into nothing. Nobody else seemed to be paying her any mind. Rin grinned and accomplished grin and headed back to the station she shared with Showe.

“It says to first put the stock in the pot to boil, and to reduce to a simmer,” Showe said, tracing her finger along the appropriate part of the recipe.

[Silver]

Rin dumped the golden liquid into the pot and turned the flame underneath to high. “Got it.”

“Next, we need to heat some oil in the skillet,” she said. This time she was grabbing the oil and adding it herself, to save Rin from having to do all of the work. She noted in her head that they had been working well together so far, despite not really knowing each other.

“When it’s hot, add the chicken fillets,” she read. “Oh, the chicken isn’t filleted. I guess we’ll have to do that first.”

[Silver]

Showe grabbed the chicken out of the basket and plopped it onto a cutting board. She tilted her head at it, first one way, then the other. She had absolutely no idea what to do with it. Clearly, she had to cut chunks off of it, but she had no clue where to start.

“I can help,” Rin said. She could tell from the puzzled look on her face that Showe didn’t know how to carve a chicken. It made her feel a little better to see that she knew something the top student didn’t, even if it was only a little thing. “Please watch the stock so it doesn’t boil too much,” she asked.

[Silver]

Showe watched helplessly as Rin went through the chicken easily. Well, to her it looked easy. It wasn’t a professional grade cut or anything, but she managed to get most of the meat away from the bones. That was a real feat, as far as she was concerned. She felt a little silly, standing there watching a pot while her partner did the hard work, but she was ready to admit when something was over her head.

With a startling pop, a splash of hot oil flew out of the pan and onto Rin’s hand. She jumped back and hissed with pain. She was very lucky that she didn’t injure herself further with the knife in her hand. She gently set it down on the counter and sucked in a big breath.