77 Chapter 77 What will everyone think of us? Part 1

Meanwhile, as Tatsurou accompanied Livanya to the Hoshikama hotel, which was close to the downtown center of District 4, we had to go back to Tatsurou's apartment, to be more precise, we had to go inside the kitchen where, Shirayuki, Marie and Wise, stood around the kitchen's table that was littered with both cooking utensils and the various and many ingredients to make cookies.

Ingredients such as butter, eggs, sugar, flour, milk and the always important and impossible to forget, chocolate tablets, that ranged from the simple and classic milk chocolate tablets, for a more sweet taste, to dark chocolate one's for a more bitter and sweet taste, but something that caught the attention of anyone that saw the kitchen's table, was the two large square-shaped metal baking trays, that stood on the middle of said table and inside these trays, were various small ball-shaped bits of cookie dough with milk chocolate chips, that were almost ready to go inside the oven.

But placing the tray with the cookies inside the oven, had to wait a little bit longer, as one of the said trays, still had a tiny space left for one more bit of cookie dough, that simply couldn't go to waste and it wouldn't go to waste, as Wise was already on the case...

"Very well then...slowly now and...done!"

Wise, that now had her hair tied into a folded ponytail and her usual apron covered in flour and milk stains, said with a very happy tone, as she took out with a spoon, the very last bit of the cookie dough with large milk chocolate chips, out from a medium-sized glass bowl that was on top of the table, before she turned towards Shirayuki, that was standing next to her.

"Alright now, Shirayuki-chan! Now just like I showed you earlier, you grab this cookie dough and make a nice and big ball shape with it, before you place it on the tray, ok?" Wise asked again with a happy tone, as she looked and pointed with her left hand, at one of the trays, that had 8 big ball-shaped pieces of cookie dough inside it, before she looked at Shirayuki, that nodded, upon hearing Wise.

"S-Sure! I'll give it my all once again!" Shirayuki, that also had her hair tied into a folded ponytail and wearing her usual apron that was a bit dirty with flour, over her shrine maiden clothes, said with a faint nervous tone, as she gently grabbed the cookie dough, from the spoon that Wise was holding before she began to slowly shape it in the form of a ball.

"Wise-San, I have been meaning to ask you...if it isn't it a lot better to shape these cookie dough bits into a mostly flat circle before we place them on the tray or is it better to give it this ball shape before we place them on the tray?" Shirayuki asked with a very curious tone, as she tilted her head a bit before she kept shaping the cookie dough into a ball.

"I have been thinking the same for a while now too, Shirayuki! Mostly, because I have always seen my mother shaping the cookie dough into a flat circle and not these ball-shaped, whenever she made some cookies...so I'm actually curious if there is a secret here that you're not telling us, miss Wise? "

Marie, that had her hair tied into a low ponytail with a scrunchie and was wearing a mostly clean apron, over her light blue dress, asked also with a curious tone, from the other side of the table, as she held a small flip notebook in her left hand and a pencil in her right hand and once Wise heard Shirayuki and Marie's questions, she began to giggle quite a bit.

"Fufufu! Well, well, my little sweethearts! The reason as to why we are shaping the cookies into a ball instead of flat circles is both my little secret and pretty simple at the same time, but I think that it's better to let you two try to find out by yourselves, instead of giving you an answer right away!" Wise said with a mischievous tone, as she placed both of her hands on her hips, while her tail wagged around a bit.

"Eh? We need to find out by ourselves? That's a bit unfair, Wise-san..." Shirayuki said with a surprised and worried tone, as her ahoge briefly pointed upwards, before she began to pout a bit.

"I'm with Shirayuki on that one, miss Wise...we never made any cookies before, just how are we supposed to know the reason behind shaping the cookie dough into balls, especially, when it's also your secret to make cookies?" Marie asked with a very curious tone before she let out a sigh and it was in this moment that Wise let out another giggle, but this time it was one filled with smugness.

"Ara ara! Don't tell me that you two are giving up already, before even trying?" Wise asked with a very smug and curious tone, as she placed her left hand in front of her mouth, while her tail made a question mark and her ears pointed upwards, making them look as if they were devil's horns before she laughed again.

"Of course not!" Both Shirayuki and Marie said at the same time, with angry and determined tones, as they briefly pouted, after hearing Wise, that began to scratch her hair a bit, while a thinking expression, began to grow on her face.

"Now that's what I like to hear! But then again, I have to admit that perhaps, I should give you a little clue! Hmm, let's see...my little clue to help you girls out with this...will be...a question!" Wise said with a happy tone after she thought a bit about how she should help both Shirayuki and Marie with this little mystery about the cookies.

"Our clue...will be a question?" Shirayuki asked both curious and surprised, as she tilted her head a bit after her ahoge made a question mark.

"Yes, Shirayuki-chan! Both yours and Marie-chan's clue, will be a question and that question is the following one, so listen well, ok? Ahem, so what makes a cookie, tasty and good, you two?" Wise asked with a mischievous and curious tone, as she placed the spoon she was holding inside the glass bowl that was on top of the table before she raised her index finger a bit.

"Eh? What makes cookies good and tasty?"

"Is that's really our question, miss Wise?"

Shirayuki and Marie asked with very surprised and curious tones, while they tilted both of their heads a bit at the same time, but Shirayuki's ahoge made a brief question mark before she tilted her head.

"Yes, you heard me right, girls! But perhaps I'm being too vague here, so let's narrow the question to what makes, my cookies, tasty and good?" Wise asked again with a curious tone, as she crossed her arms a bit, while she nodded.

"What makes your cookies good..." Shirayuki and Marie said at the same time again, with Marie gently tapping her lips and right cheek with the tip of the pencil she was holding and Shirayuki scratching her cheek a bit, as they both looked at the ceiling, with very thoughtful expressions covering their faces, for a moment until...

"Hmm...I think that what makes your cookies tasty, Wise-san is the buttery and soft taste, when you make them without chocolate chips! Oh and how big they are, is also a plus!" Shirayuki said with a happy and determined tone, as her ahoge wiggled around quite a bit, while she looked at Wise.

"Yes, I have to agree with that too, Shirayuki...but I also think that it's the chewiness and thickness that make miss Wise's cookies really tasty and quite a treat to eat, especially with a glass of cold or hot milk!" Marie said also with a happy and determined tone, as she briefly pointed her pencil at Shirayuki before she looked at Wise, that began to blush a bit, as she heard the girls.

"Oh, come on you two! You're going to make me blush!" Wise said again with a mischievous and faintly embarrassed tone, as she looked at Shirayuki and Marie, while she scratched the back of her head a bit before she began to giggle a bit.

"Why does this feel like she only wanted us to praise her cookie-making skills?" Shirayuki and Marie thought with stoic tones and expressions, as they looked at Wise, that slowly regained her composure and in all honesty, both Shirayuki and Marie guessed right, about what Wise's real intentions were by asking those questions.

"But say, miss Wise...this doesn't make a lot of sense nor does it answer mine and Shirayuki's original question, to be honest..." Marie said with a very faint stoic tone, as she tilted her head a bit.

"M-Marie!?" Shirayuki thought as she briefly looked at Marie with a worried expression on her face that surprised and confused Marie quite a bit, but not for too long, as Wise let out a faint gasp, as she placed her hand in front of her mouth.

"Oh my! Your right about that, Marie-chan! Well, ahem, please allow me, to answer both of your questions about why, we have to give the cookies this ball shape, instead of a flat circle shape! Are you ready?" Wise said with a happy tone, as she moved her hand from her mouth to her chest, while she smiled and in the blink of an eye, both Shirayuki and Marie nodded, as they were now, giving Wise all of their attention.

"Alright then, there are a few reasons here as to why we are making the cookies this way, but I think that a good starting point, is that this ball shape that we are giving to the cookie dough here will give us more space when we place the said dough on the baking tray, allowing us to bake several cookies at once, unlike the flat one's that would take to much space and we would need more than two trays! But the real reason is that if we shape them like this the cookies will be big and have enough space to fit all these large chocolate chips and they'll also become thicker once we put them inside the oven and heat them up, thanks to that!"

Wise said with a happy and informative tone, as she raised her index finger a bit, while she puffed her chest out a bit before she looked at a very impressed and surprised Shirayuki and Marie.

"Oh! Now that explains it all, Wise-san! Marie, are you writing this down?" Shirayuki asked with an impressed and curious tone, as she looked at Marie, that nodded as she began to write what Wise just told the, on the small flip notebook she was holding.

"I'm already on it, Shirayuki!" Marie said with a happy tone, as she briefly looked at Shirayuki finally placing the small cookie dough ball she was holding, inside the tray, but as Marie began to look down on her flip notebook, her mind was suddenly flooded with some rather worrying thoughts.

"Hmm...ever since I saw miss Wise tickling and hugging Shirayuki back in the living room, she has been acting rather strange...the very nervous way of talking and equally nervous and worried expressions Shirayuki has been giving me, every time I speak with miss Wise, aren't helping me stay calm or concentrated either..."

Marie thought with her mind covered in worries, as she looked at Shirayuki again, that had been acting rather strange today by either talking with a nervous tone of voice and giving worried looks whenever Marie said or asked Wise something, no matter how simple or harmless it was, as we had seen and of course this worried Marie quite a lot, as she in a certain way, knew the reason why Shirayuki was acting in such a strange manner.

"I really want to talk with Shirayuki about this...but I have to wait until miss Wise isn't around for that to happen...!" As Marie thought this, she was suddenly interrupted by Shirayuki, which brought her back from her thoughts.

"Marie, are you alright?" Shirayuki asked more worried than curious, as she turned towards Marie.

"Heh? Y-Yes I am! I was just thinking about how shaping the cookie dough into a ball instead of a flat circle, can make such a huge difference!" Marie said with a very faint embarrassed tone, which quickly turned into a reassuring one, as she smiled at Shirayuki.

"I see...I thought that there was something wrong since you stooped writing on the notebook...!" Shirayuki said with a faint worried tone, as she briefly tilted her head, but make no mistake, Shirayuki wasn't worried about the fact, that Marie stooped writing on the flip notebook, it was something else that worried her.

"Say, Marie...!" As Shirayuki was about to ask Marie something, she was interrupted by Wise, that let out a quick sigh, while she placed her hands on her hips.

"Come on now, Marie-chan! No losing yourself in random thoughts, especially when I am about to tell you girls some of my very special secrets behind my cookie making, that you just have to simply write down!" Wise said with a very faint angry tone, that turned into a happy and mischievous one, after she pouted a bit and it was needless to say that this caught the attention of both Shirayuki and Marie, in an instant.

"Wait! You're letting us in, on your secrets? Really?!" Shirayuki and Marie said at the same time, with an extremely surprised tone, as they looked at Wise, that began to smile quite a lot, upon hearing the girls.

"Well, well, since you two sweeties helped a lot and mentioned just, how good my cookies are, I believe that you two deserve that I let you in on a few of my secrets, of how you can get the cookies the way you described a moment ago!" Wise said with a very happy tone, as she placed her hands on her hips while giving a wink to Shirayuki and Marie, that grew extremely curious and impressed, once they heard Wise saying all of this.

"We're really happy that you're going to share your secrets with us, Wise-san...but I think that...!" As Shirayuki said this, she was stopped by Wise, that kept her left hand on her hip, while she raised her right hand, as if she was telling Shirayuki to stop.

"Shirayuki-chan, both you and Marie-chan don't have to worry about that! I'm more than happy to share my secrets with you two since I believe that you two won't tell them to anyone and I always wanted to pass my knowledge and a few of my secrets on!" Wise said with a happy tone, as she placed her hand on top of Shirayuki's head before she began to gently head pat her for a while.

"I see..." Shirayuki said a bit embarrassed, as she looked at Wise placing her right hand back on her hip, after giving her a head pat.

"Very well then, with that said, are you ready to hear some of my secrets or not?" Wise asked with a very happy and curious tone, as she tilted her head briefly before she looked at Shirayuki and Marie, that nodded, as they once again gave their full attention to Wise.

"Alright then, girls! First I'll tell you the secret to get the cookies more buttery, which is really simple! All you have to do is to make the cookie dough with melted butter, instead of regular butter, and add slightly more flour, as you make the dough, from my experience it's better to put the flour on a spoon and gently shake it, instead of using a strainer! Now the secret, to get the cookies softer, is to use brown sugar, instead of white, and if you want to get them even softer and thicker, I'll let you in on this super-secret of mine that is, adding two teaspoons of cornstarch, as you two saw me add to these cookies here, but shh, no telling this to anyone!"

Wise said with a very happy and informative tone, as she raised her index finger a bit, while she looked at Shirayuki and Marie's extremely dumbfound and impressed expressions, that covered their faces.

"Oh my! Now this explains why you used that cornstarch and brown sugar earlier when you made the dough!" Shirayuki said with a very surprised and impressed tone, as she placed her hands together before her ahoge began to wiggle around quite a bit.

"Marie, Marie! Tell me, that you are you writing all of this down?" Shirayuki asked with an excited and curious tone, as she looked at Marie, that was already writing everything down on the flip notebook she was holding.

"I sure am, Shirayuki, don't worry! Oh, and thank you so much for telling us these secrets, miss Wise! I just wish we could repay you for doing this..." Marie said with a reassuring and happy tone, as she looked at Shirayuki, then at Wise, that giggled a bit as she heard them.

"Fufu! It's just like I said girls, I don't mind sharing my baking or even cooking secrets with the both of you! As for repaying me, for telling you these things...well, you don't really have to repay me...!" As Wise said this she began to scratch the back of her head a bit, while she smiled, but she was interrupted by Shirayuki, that took a step forward.

"Come on, Wise-san! After telling us something like this, there has to be a way to repay you! Don't you think so too, Marie?" Shirayuki asked with a happy, but somehow faint worried tone, as she briefly glanced at Marie that nodded in agreement, before she turned her gaze towards Wise again.

"Hmm, well...if you girls really insist on thanking me for this, then I think that as long as you two, let me have a small taste of the next cookies you make all by yourselves, is more than enough for me, as repayment!" Wise said with a happy tone, as she briefly rubbed her chin with her right hand, while her ears moved a bit and her tail wiggled around a bit.

"But of course we'll do that! Right, Marie?" Shirayuki said with a happy and excited tone, as she turned towards Marie, that began to blush a bit before she looked a bit away from Shirayuki.

"Y-Yes...I'll do that too, Shirayuki...yes...I will..." Marie said with a faintly embarrassed tone, as she kept looking away from Shirayuki and now Wise, something that surprised them both quite a bit.

"Marie-chan sweetie, is something wrong?" Wise asked more worried than curious, as she tilted her head a bit and upon hearing her, Marie began to blush even harder, as she kept silent for a brief moment before she began to look at both Shirayuki and Wise then away, until...

"N-Nothing's wrong, miss Wise...well...it's just that...you'll have to wait quite a bit, to try some of the cookies...I'll end up making...that is if I ever get the hang of it, which I doubt a lot..." Marie said still with an embarrassed tone, as she tried to hide her blushing face away from Shirayuki and Wise, by placing the flip notebook she was holding, in front of her face.

"Wait, Marie-chan...what do you mean..." As Wise was about to ask Marie what she meant with the, having to wait to try out the cookies she was going to make, Shirayuki interrupted her, by quickly walking towards Marie, as she almost hit one of the chairs.

"Marie, I'm so sorry! It slipped my mind completely!" Shirayuki said with a very worried tone, as she gently grabbed Marie's arm, something that surprised both Marie and Wise, but mostly Wise.

"It's alright, Shirayuki...this isn't something, worth getting so worried and worked up about..." Marie said with a reassuring tone, as she placed the flip notebook and the pencil she was holding on the table before she began to gently head pat Shirayuki.

"But saying that without thinking or asking you first, was bad on my part..."

Shirayuki said still with a worried tone, as her ahoge drooped a bit and the reason behind both Shirayuki's worries and reaction, was the thought that Marie didn't want anyone besides her and Tatsurou, to know that she wasn't the most experienced person around, when it came to cooking or in this case, baking anything and that she would get depressed and sad, if anyone knew about it.

But most of all, Shirayuki was worried about that after Marie's latest mishap in the kitchen, that had happened recently, Shirayuki thought that Marie was even less comfortable or excited with the idea of being asked to cook or trying out her cooking, anytime soon and that mentioning it, would only be worse and Shirayuki's worries proved themselves to be true, taking into account Marie's reactions and even though she had talked with Tatsurou about it, Marie was still filled with both doubt and worries, about trying to cook once again.

"It's ok, Shirayuki! You didn't say that, with any ill intentions and I don't mind if miss Wise knows about it, so don't worry about it, alright?" Marie said again with a reassuring tone, after she let out a sigh, while she kept head patting Shirayuki, that looked a bit down, as she heard Marie.

"But still...I..." Shirayuki said still with a worried tone, as she intertwined her fingers a bit before she began to blush a bit, but they would be interrupted by Wise.

"Say, Marie-chan...what is it, that you don't mind me knowing?" Wise asked with a faint curious tone, as she approached Shirayuki and Marie, while she crossed her arms a bit.

"Well...about that..." Marie said with a faintly embarrassed tone, as she looked a bit away from Wise, while she fidgeted around a bit.

"You don't need to tell me if you don't want to sweetie, I understand!" Wise said with a reassuring tone, as she tilted her head a bit, and once again Marie became silent for a brief moment that ended with her taking a deep breath.

"Well, I think that it's better to just admit it right away, instead of trying to lie and get into trouble again because of it later...so...basically I'm...I'm not good with anything that involves cooking or baking, miss Wise..." Marie said with a very embarrassed tone, as she looked a bit away from Wise, that remained silent for a moment until a smile appeared on her face.

"I see, so your not good at cooking, I see...well, to be honest, I kind of knew about that, Marie-chan..." Wise said with a very faint guilty tone, as she looked a bit away from Marie and Shirayuki, that looked at Wise with surprised and dumbfound expressions plastered across her faces until they let out a skyward "Heh?!" that made the apartment shake quite a bit.

"W-Wait, just how did you know that miss Wise?!"

"Y-Yes! How did you know, Wise-san?!"

Shirayuki and Marie asked at the same time, with very, no, extremely curious tones, as they got very close to Wise, that laughed a bit upon seeing the girl's reaction.

"Come on now, sweeties...no need to ask at the same time like that, I'm not going anywhere, right?" Wise asked with a joking tone, as she signaled Shirayuki and Marie to calm down with her hands and in the blink of an eye, they took a few steps away from Wise, as they blushed a bit.

"Now that you two have calmed a bit down, it's time to answer the question, how do I know that Marie wasn't good at cooking...well, I guess you could say that I have, quite a nose, for those kinds of things!" Wise said with a very smug tone, as she briefly brushed the tip of her nose with her index finger before she puffed out her chest a bit and it was true, that Beast-kins, especially the canine kind, had very powerful noses, that were rumored to make them able to tell if a person was lying, scared, worried, nervous or something similar about anything in particular.

Hence why canine Beast-kins were sometimes requested quite a lot to work on the Police or Soteria to serve as a sort of lying detector, during interrogations, but then again, a Beast-kins sense of smell alone, just as a lying detector, wasn't completely foolproof and everything that was needed to catch a criminal.

"I'm impressed on how you could tell that I wasn't good at cooking with your sense of smell alone, miss Wise!" Marie said with a very surprised and impressed tone, as she briefly placed her hand in front of her mouth.

"I have to agree with Marie! That's really impressive, Wise-san and it just proves that you weren't lying, when you said that nothing escapes your nose!" Shirayuki said also with a very impressed and surprised tone, as she placed her hands together, while her ahoge wiggled around and as Wise hear Shirayuki and Marie's praises, she began to blush a bit, while she scratched the back of her head a bit again.

"Come, you two! It's nothing that impressive and despite saying that it was thanks to my nose that I found that out about this, there were two other reasons, as to why I suspected that Marie-chan wasn't good at cooking..." Wise said with a faintly embarrassed tone, as she scratched her cheek a bit before her tale made a wave motion.

"Wait, really? What were the other reasons then, miss Wise?" Marie asked with a very curious tone, as she tilted her head a bit. while she looked at Wise placing her hands on her hips.

"Well, the first reason that made me suspicious about this was when you asked me questions after question, about the teriyaki meatballs with red bell pepper rice and how I was able to make them, during our lunchtime...to be honest, I was kind of expecting, Shirayuki-chan to be the one to ask all those questions..." Wise said with a calm tone, as she made a brief stop, while she rubbed her chin with her right hand a bit.

"As for the second reason, it was when we started making the cookies...I thought that it was quite strange that you wanted to only write down the recipe for the cookies and how to make them, instead of helping me and Shirayuki-chan, with it especially after hearing you making all those very enthusiastic and eager questions about our lunch, Marie-chan..." Wise said again with a calm, yet informative tone, as she stooped rubbing her chin, while she placed her right hand on her hip again before she looked at Marie, that blushed a bit, upon hearing Wise.

"I see...so that means, that I basically dug my own grave by asking all those questions and not helping with the cookie making...but after all of my mishaps and screw-ups when I tried to cook up something for Tatsurou and Shirayuki ended in failure...I decided that it was better to sit this one out..." Marie said with an embarrassed and sad tone, as she looked a bit down, while she made a brief pause.

"But...but even so, I really wanted to help you and Shirayuki making the cookies, instead of just writing down the recipe, miss Wise...I wanted to...but I...!" As Marie said this she was interrupted by Wise, that let out a sigh, while she slowly placed her hands behind her back, before she closed her eyes.

"But I...thought that I would ruin the cookie dough if I even slightly touched it since I always screw up at cooking...did I guess right, Marie-chan?" Wise said again with a calm tone, as she slowly opened her eyes to look at a very taken aback Marie and Shirayuki, especially Marie, that had in a certain way, her mind read by Wise.

"M-Miss Wise, just how did know that too? Wait! Don't tell me that besides your nose, you also have the very rare mind-reading magic, do you?!" Marie asked with a very surprised and curious tone, as she looked at Wise with her eyes opened wide, while Shirayuki nodded, with an equally curious and surprised expression, as if she was asking Wise the same thing Marie asked and it was needless to say that upon hearing this, Wise began to laugh quite a lot, so much so that she even cried a bit.

"Ara ara! You have quite the wild imagination, Marie-chan, Shirayuki-chan! And no, I don't have that rare mind-reading magic, you just talked about...sorry about that..." Wise said with a very happy and joking tone, as she calmed down with the laughs, while she cleaned a small tear in the corner of her eye, with her fingers, before she looked at a very embarrassed and blushing Marie.

"So, as I was telling you girls, those two reasons that I gave you just now, were what made me suspect that Marie-chan wasn't very skilled when it came to cooking, but out of these two reasons, the main one, the reason, and the thing, that made me figure it all out, was because I...have gone through the exact same things Marie-chan did, askingaa lot of questions about dishes I ate, not taking part in cooking or baking anything...in summary and to be direct, I was also very clueless about cooking when I was around your age..."

Wise said with a very embarrassed tone, as she began to scratch her cheek and her tail pointed a bit down, while she laughed a bit nervously and what followed was a long silence of Shirayuki and Marie looking at Wise, with very surprised expressions on their faces, until...

"No way, really?!" Marie and Shirayuki said at the same time, with extremely surprised and impressed tones, as they once again, got very close to Wise.

"It can't be! The lunch you made for us, was so good, miss Wise! I refuse to believe that you were clueless about cooking!" Marie said still with her impressed and surprised tone, while she clenched her hands a bit.

"I don't believe it too, Wise-san! Your cooking and baking skills are amazing, there's no way that's true!" Shirayuki said also with an impressed and surprised tone, as she gently held Wise's left arm.

"I know that it's a bit hard to believe, but it's the truth, sweeties! But first, you have to calm down a bit again, right?" Wise asked with a very faint embarrassed tone that quickly turned into a joking one, while she gave Shirayuki and Marie a big smile.

"S-Sorry..." Shirayuki and Marie said at the same time with an apologetic tone, as they took a step away from Wise, while they briefly blushed.

"Such cute angels!" Wise thought happily as she placed her hand in front of her mouth before she giggled a bit, but it wouldn't last long, as Marie interrupted her thoughts with a sigh.

"Good god, miss Wise...I have to admit, that I'm still surprised that you were able to figure out that I'm no good at cooking, but I'm even more surprised with the fact, that you weren't good at cooking when you were my age...its quite unbelievable, after seeing and eating all those tasty sweets you made for us, since I started living here and especially after trying out your cooking today for the first time...feels like I'm being lied to..." Marie said with a faint tone of denial, while she crossed her arms, before letting out another sigh.

"I'm with Marie on this one! I would have never guessed!" Shirayuki said with an impressed tone, as her ahoge briefly pointed up.

"Honestly you two sound exactly like my sisters, when they tried my cooking once I got better at it..." Wise said with a stoic tone, while she pouted a bit after placing her hands on her hips and upon hearing her, both Shirayuki and Marie couldn't help but blush once again.

"I'm sorry, miss Wise...but it's still unbelievable and impressive...mostly because you're not embarrassed to admit that you weren't good at cooking..." Marie said a bit embarrassed, as she fidgeted a bit, before looking at the ground, something that made Wise sigh again.

"Well, I'm not embarrassed to admit that I wasn't the sharpest when it came to kitchen work now since I have gotten good at it...but when I was your age, Marie-chan I was very...no...I was extremely embarrassed to admit to anyone, that I was, a no good when it came cooking...so much so, that the only people that knew about it were my sisters..." Wise said with a happy and calm tone, as she gently leaned against the kitchen table.

"But in all honesty, I never told them right away about it...I...I kept it a secret for a long while and whenever they asked "Why don't you cook up something for us?" I would usually lie and tell them that I only cook when I was home alone or during home economics class back in school...I know that I shouldn't have lied to them, but I was afraid, very afraid, that they would say...those hurtful things that I believe you also heard a lot, Marie-chan...things such as "A girl that can't cook fails at being one..." or "No one will like a girl that can't cook..." am I right?" Wise asked still with her calm tone, which had a hind of sadness behind it, while she looked at Marie, opening her eyes a bit wide, as she briefly looked at Wise, before she looked down, once again.

"Y-Yes...those were some of the things the older girls, back on my old school in Lourdes, would say to me whenever I tried to cook something...especially since that one time I had to cook for all the girls in our dorm, as a step-in for the canteen lady that was sick on that day...and what followed was everyone getting sick because of me...and all those jokes and hurtful things they were always saying, whenever cooking was even remotely mentioned..." Marie said with a sad and embarrassed tone, as she nodded a bit before she held the tips of her dress a bit.

"Marie..." Shirayuki muttered as she gently grabbed Marie's left hand, with both of her hands.

"And if I had to guess, Marie-chan...after that happened, you would try, time and time again, to make something to show everyone you could do it and what happened in the canteen, was just a fluke and your thoughts, were that, if you put lots of love and care into it, it would come out right...but every attempt failed and then no one would be willing to try out your cooking and they would simply run away, when they heard that you tried to make something again, and in the end, you stopped trying to cook, right?" Wise asked again, as she looked at Marie, that nodded once again.

"God...you are getting everything right, miss Wise...it's honestly quite scary..." Marie said with a brief happy tone, as she laughed a little bit.

"But of course, Marie-chan! Hearing you right now feels like I'm seeing my younger self, back at the Misaiko institute for Beast-kins, in District 9!" Wise said as she placed her hand on her cheek before she giggled a bit.

"But as I was saying... those kinds of remarks and jokes, I heard all the time...only made me hide the truth from my sisters even harder, since I didn't want to disappoint, make them sick, or hearing them joking about my cooking skills...but then one day, my sisters simply had enough of me always avoiding to cook for them...so they ended up teasing me for days and days without end until I made something for them and as you two can imagine, I said that enough was enough, so I cooked something...but in the end, the result was...disastrous to say the least and all of my 3 sisters ended up really, really sick because of me..." Wise said as she made a small pause.

"Oh no..." Shirayuki and Marie muttered, as Shirayuki placed her hand on her chest and Marie placed her hand in front of her mouth, while they both looked at Wise.

"When that happened...I got very depressed and sad, that I just ran to my room, closed myself in it, and hid under the blankets of my bed whileI buried my face in my pillow, always with the thought that my sisters would do the same as everyone else, lingering in the back of my head with no signs of leaving me alone...but then, color me surprised, when my sisters, almost tore down the door of my room to see and reassure me that they weren't angry and that they would help and try my cooking again!" Wise said with a happy tone, as she stooped leaning on the table before she got close to Marie.

"It was then, from that day on, that I began to ignore what everyone said or told me about my cooking, and instead, I began to work hard to make the best dish I could for my sisters, especially after knowing that they would always be there for me! And I'm sure that the all these things my sisters said and told me, back then, you already have heard them from both Shirayuki-chan and Tatsurou-chan, so this might sound like a broken record to you, but please, do not give up and keep going, Marie-chan! As you have two people here, that I know, from the bottom of my heart, will always support you and keep trying out your cooking, no matter what!"

Wise said with a reassuring and happy tone as she warped her arms around Marie, giving her a big and tight hug.

"Wise-san is right! We will always be there for you, Marie!" Shirayuki said also with a happy and reassuring tone, as she let go of Marie's hand, before she gave her an equal big and tight hug.

"I know that, but even so...I'm always worried that I won't get any better and that everyone would just doubt me and stop trying my cooking again..." Marie said with a faintly embarrassed tone, as she began to blush a bit.

"Being worried and having doubts, is something normal Marie-chan, but as I just said, you don't have to worry or doubt yourself so much, since you have Shirayuki-chan and Tatsurou-chan here to help you and besides, negativity only attracts more negativity, right? So positive thinking and attitude here! You hear me, Marie-chan?" Wise asked with a curious and reassuring tone, as she and Shirayuki kept hugging Marie.

"Yes! Positive thinking and attitude here, Marie! We believe in you!" Shirayuki said with a determined and happy tone, as she smiled and sure enough, Marie also began to smile.

"Thank you so much, Shirayuki! Miss Wise!" Marie said with a grateful and embarrassed tone, while she smiled brightly, as both Shirayuki and Wise smiled, as they hugged Marie tight one last time, before they let go of her.

"No need to thank us and with that said, if you ever need help, some tips and advice...don't hesitate to ask me, Marie-chan! After all, former bad cooks have to look out and help, the young cooks that are still learning! Oh and also count me in as a fellow tester for your cooking! I can't have Tatsurou-chan and Shirayuki-chan hog all the fun for themselves!"

Wise said with a happy tone as she placed both her hands on her hips after she stooped head patting Marie.

"Oh my! Lucky you, Marie! Getting some more classes to get better at cooking!" Shirayuki said with a very happy tone, as she looked at Wise, then at Marie, while her ahoge wiggled around quite a lot.

"I sure am lucky! And I would love to get some extra help and advice on cooking from you, miss Wise! So once again, thank you for doing this!" Marie said with a very happy tone, as she clasped her hands a bit, while she smiled.

"It's alright sweetie! I'm more than happy to help out, although I would only be able to give some real classes on Wednesday and the weekends, other than that, I can give you tips or advice any day of the week! Oh! And you're free to join us too, Shirayuki-chan!" Wise said as she raised her index finger a bit.

"That's fine by me! Shirayuki already gives me cooking classes all week, but the more the merrier! And you have to join us in those classes Shirayuki!" Marie said with a happy and excited tone, as she looked at Wise for a brief moment, before she looked at Shirayuki, that let go of Marie's hand.

"But of course, I'll join you two! It will be so much fun having all 3 of us having cooking classes! You'll be a pro in no time!" Shirayuki said also with a very excited tone, as she also clenched her hands a bit, while her ahoge wiggled around with equal excitement.

"That's the spirit that I love to see girls! Now, I'll give you my number, Marie-chan, so that you don't have to run to my place all the time if you have any questions and to schedule our classes! But before we do that we have something else to take care of!" Wise said with a happy tone, that suddenly turned to a determined one, as she crossed her arms and of course Wise's last remark, surprised Shirayuki and Marie a bit.

"We have to something else to take care of?" Shirayuki asked a bit curious, as she tilted her head a bit.

"Of course we have! Or did you girls forget about the cookies we made that are telling us, that they are just dying to hop into the oven?" Wise asked with a joking tone, as she moved her right hand towards her ear, while she looked at the two trays with cookies that were on top of the table and both Shirayuki and Marie just laughed, as they heard Wise.

"You're right, miss Wise! I think that I heard them saying, "Put us in the oven already!" didn't you heard that too, Shirayuki?" Marie asked also with a joking tone, as she looked at Shirayuki, that laughed once again, as she heard Marie.

"I did! So let's give them what they want and not make them wait any longer!" Shirayuki said with a happy tone, as she raised her arm briefly to punch the air before she looked at Wise, that began to walk towards the trays.

"I wouldn't have said it better, Shirayuki-chan! By the way, did you preheat the oven?" Wise, asked with a curious tone, as she grabbed one of the trays before she made her way towards the oven of the kitchen that was under the stove.

"Yes, I did, one hour before we took the cookie dough out of the freezer, just as you said!" Shirayuki said with an informative tone, as she raised her index finger a bit.

"But wait, Wise-san...shouldn't we put the other tray in the oven too?" Shirayuki asked with a very curious tone, as she pointed at the tray on the table, before she looked at Wise, putting the tray inside the oven and closing it, while she began to laugh smugly.

"My, oh, my! My little Shirayuki-chan, this just shows me, how much of a newbie, to the world of baking cookies, you are!" Wise said with a very smug tone, as she patted her hands a bit, while she approached a rather confused Shirayuki.

"Well, to put it simply, Shirayuki-chan...you should always put only one tray on the oven when you bake cookies! That way the heat of the oven will only concentrate on that tray alone, baking them faster and making them taste better!" Wise said with an informative and smug tone, as she shrugged a bit and it was needless to say that this impressed Shirayuki quite a bit.

"Really? I would never have guessed that!" Shirayuki said with a rather impressed tone, as her ahoge briefly pointed upwards, while she placed her hand in front of her mouth.

"Marie are you...!" As Shirayuki turned around to ask Marie if she was writing down what Wise said, she stooped as she saw Marie holding her flip notebook in her left hand and her pencil in her right hand.

"I'm already on it, Shirayuki!" Marie said with a reassuring and happy tone, as she quickly wrote down what Wise told Shirayuki, but as Marie did that, Wise began to giggle a bit.

"Come on, girls! You don't have to take note of everything I say and besides, that's my way of making cookies, if you want to put in two or three trays you can, but you have to preheat the oven a bit earlier and let the cookies bake for a few more minutes!" Wise said with an informative tone, as she raised her index finger a bit.

"That might be true, but if we want them to be as good as yours, Wise-san, we need to play by your rules!" Shirayuki said with a happy and excited tone, as she placed her hands together.

"With that, I have to agree!" Marie said also with a happy tone, as she finished writing on her flip notebook before she placed it on top of the kitchen table again.

"D'aww...you girls are going to make me blush again!" Wise said with an embarrassed and pleased tone, as she placed her right hand on her cheek, while she fidgeted around a bit, but this wouldn't last long as a ringtone was suddenly heard inside the kitchen.

"Hmm? Wait, isn't this you're ringtone, Shirayuki?" Marie asked with a curious tone, as she got close to Shirayuki.

"Oh! It must be Tatsurou that's calling, I better go and get it!" Shirayuki said with a happy and surprised tone, as she turned towards the living room, but she was stooped by Wise, that once again giggled a bit.

"I'm sorry to spoil your fun, Shirayuki-chan, but it's my phone that's ringing this time around!" Wise said with a mischievous tone, as she pointed at the pocket of her apron that was vibrating a bit because of the phone, and of course, Shirayuki blushed a bit as she heard Wise, that was taking her phone out of the apron's pocket.

"Well then, let's see who's calling me at this hour...! Oh my! It's my sister Nala-chan!" Wise said with a very surprised tone, as she looked at the phone's screen, while she let a quick gasp.

"It's one of the sisters you just told us about, right?" Marie asked a bit curious, as she tilted her head a bit.

"Yep! It's my younger sister Nala-chan! She must have felt that I was talking about her!" Wise said with a happy tone that quickly turned into a joking one, as she laughed a bit.

"This could be important...you two don't mind if I go and answer it?" Wise asked as she tilted her head a bit.

"Of course not! Go right ahead, Wise-san! In the meantime, Marie and I will clean the kitchen!" Shirayuki said with a reassuring tone, as she briefly clasped her hands, while she looked at Marie that nodded in agreement.

"Thanks! This won't take long, I promise!" Wise said with a happy tone, as she began to make her way out of the kitchen and as she did that, Wise pressed the call button on her phone, before she placed it close to her ear.

"Yahoo, Nala-chan...! Oh, is that you Nini-chan? My, my, don't tell me that you missed your cute auntie and decided to give me a call?" Wise said with a happy and surprised tone, as she talked with the person on the other side of the phone, while she kept making her way out of the kitchen and once she was gone, Shirayuki began to put away the ingredients they used to make the cookies, while Marie placed the utensils they used, inside the kitchen's sink.

"Alright, these here...are going inside the cupboard!" Shirayuki muttered with a happy tone, as she grabbed the flour and sugar bag, while she turned towards the cupboard to put them away, but as she did that, Shirayuki was suddenly interrupted by Marie.

"Shirayuki..." As Marie called Shirayuki, she finished putting all of the utensils they used inside the sink, before she turned towards Shirayuki that jolted a bit upon being called.

"Y-Yes, Marie?" Shirayuki asked a bit nervous, as she kept holding the flour and sugar bags, while she slowly turned towards, Marie.

"Listen Shirayuki...my screw up in the kitchen, when I first tried to cook and my screw up from yesterday...I...I won't let it happen again anymore!" Marie said with a very determined tone, while she clenched her fists, something that surprised Shirayuki a bit, as she tilted her head, while her ahoge made a question mark.

"I...I mean this might sound a bit too sudden and out of nowhere, to you...but after the talk, I had with Tatsurou yesterday and after hearing that someone like miss Wise, that makes such delicious and good food, also started out being clueless about cooking like me and knowing that now, I can count on both her and you to teach me, there's no way I'll allow any more screw-ups and I'll make the best dish there is!" Marie said again with a very determined and happy tone, as she now clenched her hands hard, while she smiled brightly and upon seeing this, Shirayuki placed the bags of flour and sugar on the kitchen's table, before she got close to Marie.

"Now that's what I love to hear you say, Marie! And just like Wise-san said, both Tatsurou and I will never stop tasting what you cook up for us and we will help you get better at it, I guarantee it!" Shirayuki said with a very happy tone, as she grabbed Marie's hands by intertwining her fingers, with Marie's fingers.

"I know! But I honestly needed one more wake-up call to finally realize that! Good thing that miss Wise came over to bake cookies and that I got up from the bed on time to help out or this would have never happened!" Marie said with a very happy tone, as she gave Shirayuki a big smile.

"I'm really happy for you, Marie! And I'm also happy that you and Wise-san are getting along as good friends!" Shirayuki said also with a very happy tone, as she also gave Marie a big smile, but as she did that, Marie just gave Shirayuki a rather confused look.

"You're happy...that miss Wise and I are getting along as good friends? What do you mean with that, Shirayuki?" Marie asked with a faint confused tone, as she tilted her head slightly, something that made Shirayuki open her eyes a bit wide, while she began to blush after she let go of Marie's hands.

"I-I mean...well, you and Wise-san only talked with each other rather briefly every time you met, right? So after this talk you just had and the things you said, it's only normal to assume that your really good friends now, right?" Shirayuki asked with a very nervous and embarrassed tone, as she flailed her hands and arms around a bit before she stooped to raise her index finger a bit.

"Well, if you put it that way, Shirayuki, then yes, it does make sense...but then again, miss Wise has always been very nice and kind to me, when I first came here and stayed over, before I went back to France and after I started to live here, so I always saw her more as a friend than a simple acquaintance, to be honest..." Marie said with a happy tone, as she looked at the still nervous and now blushing Shirayuki.

"I-I see..." Shirayuki said with an embarrassed tone, as she laughed a bit nervously and upon seeing this, Marie began to grow suspicious of Shirayuki once again.

"That does it! Shirayuki is hiding something from me, I'm sure of it...and the way she's talking and reacting to everything about me and miss Wise with such nervousness just isn't my usual Shirayuki...and I bet that's she's acting like this, all because of...!" As Marie thought this, she was suddenly interrupted by a very loud, worried, and scared gasp, that came from the living room that made both her and Shirayuki, open their eyes wide, as they jolted a bit.

"Wise-san!"

"Miss Wise!"

Both Shirayuki and Marie said at the same time, with extremely worried tones, as they dashed out of the kitchen and into the living room...