The Main Kitchen

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[Anything in italics is said in Japanese.]

Miela entered the kitchen with Sanshi, and immediately, the heavy bags were lifted out of her hands, and she once again, finds herself being pushed into a chair, with many high-pitched voices asking her what she would like to eat.

“Onigiri (Rice balls) please!” Miela said, while settling herself into a tall chair, “The same for her as well.” she continued, pointing at Sanshi.

“HERE HERE!” A familiar high-pitched voice rang out above the others. Turning, Miela smiled at Tobby, the male house elf who she had first met, who had told her about the Come and Go room, and had helped her settle in. On his head, he held a platter full of rice balls, wobbling a little, while the other house elves rushed to stabilize the gigantic platter.

Placing the platter on the table, Miela thanked the other house elves before they rushed off to attend to their chores. Tobby had stayed behind, as he started to get the ingredients to make a cup of green tea for them. Both Miela and Sanshi grab a rice ball off the platter, and was about to bite into them, before Tobby spoke out “Oh! Miss Miela! Tobby has a surprise for you! These rice balls are specially made!”

Puzzled, Miela and Sanshi sneaked a looked at each other, before biting into their rice balls. With a purr of glee from Sanshi, and a sigh of satisfaction from Miela, Tobby looked very please with himself. Instead of the usual plain rice balls, Tobby had added fillings to it. Miela had gotten the salmon filling, while Sanshi had the tuna.

Both turned to Tobby and said a quick thanks before diving into the rice balls again. It was like a surprise treat, as the rice balls were wrapped in seaweed, and it was only until you have bit in before you know what you got.

After Miela had her fill, while Sanshi finished up the remaining few rice balls, Miela turned to Tobby and asked “Tobby, where is my packages?”

“Tobby has already sent them up to Miss Miela’s dorm!” Tobby replied, seeming very pleased with himself.

Miela was frozen to the spot.

Tobby, taking Miela’s surprise as happiness, continued “Yes! Tobby has also sent all your belongings from the Come and Go room up to your dorm as well! But don’t worry, Tobby has gotten the best spot for Miss Miela, Tobby knows Miss Miela likes to sneak down here to the kitchen at times, and Tobby also knows Miss Miela likes to sit by the windows to watch the moon, so Tobby had gotten the bed that is right next to the door, and has a window on the other side!”

Tobby finished the entire speech in one breath, and when he was done, he looked at Miela, happiness written all over his face, like a child waiting to be praised for having done a job well done. Miela shot a look at Sanshi, who innocently stared back.

Turning back to Tobby, Miela realized he was crestfallen. Quickly rearranging her face, she broke into a bright grin, and said “Tobby! Thank you so much! I don’t know what to say, truth be told, I was really afraid of meeting new people, and if you hadn’t done it, I might have convinced myself that I would be better off staying in the Come and Go room.”

“I know right.”

“I KNEW IT. I KNEW IT WAS YOU, WHY YOU LITTLE S-.” Miela whirled around, facing Sanshi.

“Miss Miela is mistaken! Sanshi did not tell Tobbv anything that would betray your trust! Tobby overheard it himself when he was helping Miss Miela to clear out the room last week!”

“Tobby, don’t defend this little liar, I am going t—WAIT. Wait a minute. Did you understand what I just said?”

Tobby nodded his big head on his little neck.

“So all this time, while I talked to Sanshi, you understood us?”

Tobby nodded his head again, harder this time, with panic written all over his small face.

“But how?”

“Tobby isn’t sure either, but although Miss Hyakki speaks in a different language, Tobby hears it just fine.”

Slumping into a chair, Miela sighed. “Well that changes everything now doesn’t it?”

“Tell me about it” Sanshi chimed.

Turning to Tobby once more, Miela took his trembling hands into hers, and said kindly “Tobby, I am sorry, I did not understand, and I had wronged you and Sanshi. Would you forgive me? But I really meant what I said before, I really thank you.”

Tobby nodded his head once again before replying “So Tobby has not done anything wrong?”

Laughing, Miela grabbed the house elf and hugged him “No, Tobby, you have done outstandingly well.”

The house elf gave a squeaked when hugged, and he seems elated once again, as he seemed to blush and said “Miss Miela, if you are done with the food, I will bring you to your dorm!”

Nodding, Miela and Sanshi got up to follow him, but Miela suddenly realized something. “Tobby, you said my belongings were all there, did you arrange everything out for me?”

“Oh no Miss Miela! Tobby wouldn’t be as silly as to assume that, plus Tobby knows Miss Miela is shy, so he hid everything under your bed!”

Both Miela and Sanshi burst into peals of laughter and smiled at the elf, as they followed him out.

James quietly snuck into the kitchens, something he had no trouble with doing ever since he sort of took the Marauder's Map from his father's desk a few years back. Moving to the fridge, he pulled out a ridiculous amount of food and placed it on the table, then sat and waited as patiently as he could. He had been preparing all week and was quite determined to win a food eating contest against the guy who he came to consider an older brother.

Teddy walked into the kitchen. He spotted James sitting at the table and went to sit across from him, only acknowledging his friend with a nod. This was serious business. All week he had been eating in small doses, strategically planned to keep him hungry without limiting his food capacity. "What are we eating?" He asked, looking over the selection. James had picked well, it was all food that was easy to eat but quite filling.

James nodded in return, knowing that getting too friendly with the competition could be dangerous. He hadn't altered the amount that he ate very much the past week, instead just eating more fruits and vegetables. It was quite gross and he felt like a rabbit. "A wide selection of pies and hash," he replied, knowing this food meant serious business since it was quite full of carbs. "And before you ask, hash as in potatoes and not that stuff the Muggles smoke," he decided to clarify. "You're set on the rules?"

Teddy resisted playing disappointed that they weren't doing drugs. There was no time for jokes. He nodded, surveying the food in front of them. The pies looked delcious, even though he knew he wouldn't feel that way for long. The potatoes looked... filling. "Right, the rules. Obviously the person who eats the most wins. Do we eat in any particular order?" Pies first, he hoped. He wanted to enjoy them a little.

"Yes, it's easy enough," he said, knowing that he just had to be the one that ate the most. There was no way he was going to lose to Teddy. Not when there was so much on the line. "You've got to eat a pie first...then a cup of hash...and then pie. Keeps continuing in that cycle, but I think we both know that it's doubtful we're going to end up eating more than four pies a piece," he said. He knew that it was all about pacing himself since it wasn't a timed sort of thing. Hell, they could be there all night, as long as they just continued to eat.

Teddy nodded, mapping out his strategy. At first he had thought putting the potatoes on top of the pie might be a good idea, but now he was reconsidering. It wasn't about how fast you ate, it was about how much. "And of course neither of us can say when to start. It has to be fair. We need outside help." He spotted a house elf not to far away and called her over. She didn't look to pleased to see them in the kitchen at such a late hour, but apparently she wasn't going to complain. Teddy explained the situtation to her and she nodded with a roll of her eyes. "Ready?" He asked James.

"Yes, agreed. Good thinking, Lupin," James said with a nod. He waited for the house elf to come over and tried to flash her one of his friendliest smiles. Apparently the poor dear just thought they were ridiculous, which he supposed was quite true. "As ready as I'll ever be," he said, giving the pie in front of him a careful look as if figuring out where to dig in first. "You can start the count down, Mindy," he said to the house elf, quite familiar with many of them. "That is...if you're all set Teddy," he said, wanting to make sure his bro was prepared to lose.

Teddy nodded, "I'm as prepared as I'll ever be." He situated himself in front of the table and thanked Merlin that there were no girls here to witness it. And Mindy started counting. "Three, two, one.... GO!" He started eating. He picked an apple pie to start with, because those were his favourite and he didn't want to ruin them. It was a good thing James had thought to put water on the table, because he was really going to need it.

Oh, girls would probably be absolutely repulsed with how much food these two boys are going to be eating. Gods, their tummys will be hurting quite a bit too. Once Mindy gave them the 'Go!', he pulled a peach pie towards him and began to eat. There was something about peach pie that he seriously loved and definitely have any issues with stuffing his face with the pie. He kept his pace steady though, not wanting to get full too fast.

Teddy narrowed his eyes and stared at James as he took another bite out of his pie. Current strategy? Psych out the enemy. He chewed the bite slowly, trying to look as menecing as possible. He didn't know exactly how scary someone could look when they most likely had pie crumbs on their face, but he was going for it.

James looked at Teddy cautiously, wondering why it looked like he was going to suddenly get attacked. After a moment it clicked as to just what Teddy was doing and he rolled his eyes. "Not gunna wor'f," he said through a mouth full of pie. He was so going to win this and would do everything he could not to let Teddy get to him. "Sheerwee-eshly," he said, food still in his mouth. His mother would be appalled by this behaviour. "Shtop 'ooking a' me 'ike dat."

Teddy barely held back a laugh and the food that would accompany it. He kept up the evil eye as he took the final bite of his pie and picked up the potaoes. He couldn't decide if it was a good thing that or not that they were mashed. This way they'd taste better, but get stuck to his mouth and be difficult to eat. He took a big gulp of water and then dug in, "Not 'ooking too gud o'er der." He lied. They the two of them could eat twice as much as they had so far for dinner and not even blink. This was nothing yet.

Even as Teddy finished his pie, James kept the same pace and reminded himself it wasn't about who finished what first. It all just came down to who could handle the amount of food in front of them. Hearing what Teddy said, he snorted since he knew it was so not true, but then realized that snorting caused some of the piece peach to come flying out of his mouth and went towards Teddy. He blinked an shrugged his shoulders as if to say, 'Oops?', then took a sip of water and pulled the hash towards him and began to eat it.

Teddy wrinkled his nose as something came flying out of James' mouth and landed on his arm. Man down. The potatoes were just as difficult to eat as he had expected and he finished them with a look on his face. They couldn't even get some onions and sour cream to go with them? He pulled a rhubarb pie towards him and, with a smirk in James' direction, started eating it.

James quickly came to the realization that the potatoes were an awful idea, but he had thought that maybe it would make things more difficult for his opponent. He was quite used to having the hash his mum made at home and, no offense to his mum, but it was quite awful. Once he managed to finish the cup of hash, he looked up to see Teddy already eating a rhubarb pie. "Bullocks," he huffed, realizing Teddy wasn't going to give in anytime soon. He then grabbed a banana cream pie, figuring it would go down quite easily since it was cream.

Three pies and two potatoes later, Teddy was not feeling too good. He pulled his fourth cup of potatoes towards him with a sick look on his face. He wanted to look up to see how James was doing, but was afraid it would show his weakness.... Or maybe not looking showed weakness. He peeked up to see James still eating and realized he had no idea how many of what James had already eaten. Just concentrate, he told himself, You can't lose!

After James had finished the banana cream pie and then another cup of potatoes, he pulled a meat pie towards him which proved to not be the best idea. It was much more filling than the other pies, though perhaps that was because he was starting to feel the effects of the other pies and hashes, and it also was quite hot which made it harder to eat. As he was halfway done with the meat pie, he saw Teddy look up at him and raised an eyebrow as if questioning what his bro was looking at.

Teddy shook his head and sat back in his chair, confident that he had eaten more than James and could take a break. He was careful to not drink too much water so he would have room for more later. Closing his eyes, he took a few deep breaths before pulling another cup of potatoes towards him. "How ya feelin', Jamesie?" He asked, smirking, "Starting to feel those potatoes? Remember: a moment on the lips, forever on this hips."

James continued to eat his meat pie, realizing that the slower he went, the longer the break he was giving Teddy. With that thought in mind, he didn't slow his pace and instead continued to eat. "Mm'fine," he managed to get out, taking a quick sip of water before shuffling more food into his mouth. "Tha' sounds dirr-y," he commented with a wide grin. He couldn't help it, he had the ability to take any sentence and make it out to be dirty. Finally finished with his pie, he pulled some hash towards him again and groaned quietly, not looking forward to it. You can do this. Just make it through these. Teddy won't be lasting much longer. With that thought in mind, he spooned the cup of hash into his mouth and then scanned the table for the next pie.

Teddy blinked and all of a sudden James had caught up to him. In a hurry, he reached for another pie. As he pulled it towards him he realized he had grabbed the rabbit pie. Gross. Why would James even pick this one? He sighed, there was no time to pick again. Slowly, he brought the pie to his mouth and took a bite... almost throwing up. He blinked again and continued chewing.

James really didn't know why Teddy had grabbed the rabbit pie but was quite glad he hadn't had to eat that one. It was part of his strategy to have a really gross pie on the table and hope that he wasn't the one who reached for it. Pulling another toward him, he grinned when it was Woolton pie. The grin quickly faded as he began to eat, for he was so stuffed as it was and this pie was way too filling.

Teddy only managed a few more bites before he threw his fork down. "Why." He asked, coughing, "Why would you pick rabbit pie? Dammit!" He crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. It felt like he'd die if he took another bite, yet he didn't want James to beat him. Just looking at that pie, though... "I can't. I'm done." He admitted, "You win."

James let a triumphant grin slide onto his face when Teddy said that he won. "Victory is mine!" he said loudly, standing as he pumped his fist into the air. It was a move he instantly regretted as he became aware of how full his stomach was. "Ugh," he groaned, sitting back down. "Too much pie," he complained, feeling like he was now a pregnant girl with how much his stomach felt like it was protruding. "This was rather stupid," he said, unbuttoning the top button of his pants to give his tummy some breathing room. "And you know what I want? I want that nice bottle of firewhiskey that you've been hiding at the bottom of your wardrobe," he grinned.