Yami no Matsuei is copyright...um...someone
who is not me.
-------------------------------
Shi-chan: A quick jump into another category. Forgive me.
-------------------------------
Chocolate
By Shimegami-chan
Music: "We Rise Again," by the Rankin Family
Chocolate.
Have you ever tasted something so sweet?
Compared to the taste of love, sugar, life...
How you imagined flowers would taste when you
were five and they smelled so nice, isn't it obvious that they would taste just
as good? Children's logic. So clever. Probably why they go hand in hand with
most of these things.
And this.
I have a friend with a weakness for cinnamon
buns. I'll admit, the guy has good taste. He likes many of the same things I
do, probably why we get into so much trouble together. Swept away by the sugar,
Tsuzuki is.
But I digress.
What was I talking about? Oh, yes. Explaining
the connection between the sense of taste and a sense of life, which is
something that I haven't tasted too much of lately. Life, that is. No matter,
I'm happy, I have lots of things to please me here. I'm working on a secret
project right now. What is it? Well, wouldn't you like to know! No, it's
a surprise. Not for long, though. I add a little of this, a little of
that...synthetics here and there. It won't bomb this time. No, sir. Not like my
earlier mixes, though of course they were for a different purpose altogether...
So here, I am, in my lab, with a pot of
boiling ooze, and wondering whether I should have heated it for quite this
long. Probably not. I'm supposed to be a scientific genius, but no one ever
gave me specifics here. That's why they're called experiments.
Of course, I don't exactly want to poison
anybody...
Tsuzuki has a cast-iron stomach anyway. But I
want this experiment to be a success. Unlike the chibi thing...but, wow, that
was fun. The others didn't think so. Hisoka doesn't exactly have the greatest
sense of humor, so I'll try not to ruin it.
It's a smooth white, which is good. That's
what the book said it should be. I should have tried for something a little
simpler I guess, but playing with color seemed more fun. Oh, yes. What color
should it be? Maybe four different colors, one for each of the others, and for
Wakaba-chan? Too much trouble. What about blue? Yes, blue. Green wouldn't look
good. Violet sounds nice, but blue's always been one of my favorite colors.
After orange, of course.
Oh dear, the pot's boiling over. Again.
Why does this have to be so complicated?
Out of the fat and into the fire...well, you
go a lot less painfully, I always say. I've seen it happen. Not to me, oh no.
Hey, this is spoiling the mood. I'll distract myself be adding...oh...too much
sugar. It's gotten all thick now. But its still boiling. Does sugar burn? It's
sure as hell burning now! I yank the pot away and stir it hurriedly, hoping it
won't suddenly crystallize or burst into flames.
Crystallize. What a word. I file that one
away for future reference, stirring the shimmering white ooze, and tossing in a
few droplets of the blue dye. Ooh, that's pretty. It looks like ice, which
wasn't exactly the desired effect, but...I grab a squarish metal pan and pour
the crystals into it, spreading them out evenly. Hey, this might actually work.
Now, to chill...I slide them into the huge freezer and kick back for a few
minutes. The things works like magic, in seconds the concoction is almost
frozen and as cold to the touch as the sugar crystals and blue dye make it
look. I break the crystals off into large peices and heap them into a bowl,
leaving the destroyed lab behind.
They are an awfully nice color. I
should try this again sometime. Like roses, blue roses. I saw a blue rose once.
It shimmered too...ah! I spot Tsusuki up ahead in the hallway and call his
name. The violet-eyed Shinigami spots me and bounds closer. "Oi,
Watari-kun! Watcha got there?"
"Just an attempt at making something
useful," I grin. "Here. Have one."
He eyes me carefully. "They're not
poisonous? They won't shrink, age, transmogrify or kill me? Won't turn me into
a girl?"
"Nope."
It's food. Of course he wants it. Good
thing I came across Tsuzuki to make sure they really weren't lethal. He
picks up a sparkling square and pops it in his mouth, chewing thoughtfully. His
eyes almost light up. "Wow, what is this?"
"It's chocolate!" I laugh, getting
the go-ahead.
"Blue chocolate?" he takes another
peice. "It's sparkly. Nice work, I didn't know you could cook."
"It was white chocolate, there's food
coloring in it." I conscientiously avoid the fact that I haven't even
attempted to cook in years, and the last time I did I nearly burnt the lab
down. No big deal.
Tsusuki snatches another few peices and
throws me a mock salute, backing down the hall. "Sorry to eat and run, but
I've got demons to chase. Thanks for the sweets!"
"You're welcome," I answer with a
laugh. I carefully inspect the topmost peice of chocolate on the plate. It's
almost a perfect square, shimmering and blue-violet. If it didn't kill Tsuzuki,
it certainly won't kill me. Not that that would have much effect anyway. Figure
of speech.
I'm wandering again. I put a peice of the
chocolate into my mouth and savour it slowly, letting every bit of melted sugar
slide sweetly down my throat. It tastes...like you imagine those violets would
taste, when you were little. Like love and sweet rewards for hard work.
Apparantly my culinary skills aren't as bad as I thought. Maybe the scientist
will become a turncoat cook after all.
It glitters on the plate, just as the
crystals glitter in my mouth. They taste like victory, sweet and soothing.
Living energy.
Have you ever tasted life? Compare it to
love. Sugar.
And chocolate.
------------------------------------------
Shi-chan: *sweatdrop* That was a little
odd...but...I wanted to write a story about this, and Watari was the first
character to pop into my head...