"What 'cha making?" A voice chirped from behind Rantaro. "It smells great!" He felt a pair of small, slender arms wrap around his waist. He felt a light pressure against the small of his back.
"I'm making tostones," The green-haired boy hummed, not taking his eyes away from the pan in front of him. He didn't need to look to know that it was Kokichi hugging him from behind. (He was probably resting his head against his back, too.)
"Tostones?" Kokichi asked. He lifted his head off of Rantaro's back and craned his neck to the side, peering at the food in the pan. "What's that?'
"Wow, you said it with the proper accent," Rantaro mused. "I'm a little impressed,"
Kokichi let out an indignant huff. "Of course I got the accent right!" He exclaimed haughtily. "I have over 10,000 members in my organization! Surely I'd know a thing or two."
"Oh, really?" Rantaro raised a brow as he flipped the tostones around. "Then how about you tell me about tostones? I'd love to hear what the leader of a super evil organization has to say."
Kokichi let out a sharp "tsk," shaking his head. "Now, now, Taro-chan, I asked you first~"
Rantaro laughed slightly. "Fine, fine. Although their origins are unknown, tostones are very popular in many Caribbean countries. I first had them in the Dominican Republic." He watched as the tostones started to brown at the edges, waiting a moment before taking them out of the oil they were cooking in.
There was a brief moment of silence. Rantaro opened his mouth to say something, but Kokichi beat him to it. "So, wait, you just slice up bananas and fry them?" He asked, reaching his hand out to grab a tostone.
Rantaro promptly smacked his hand away. "No. Tostones are made with platanos," He corrected, gesturing to the platano on the counter.
Kokichi picked up the platano on the counter, turning it around in his hands. "Looks like a banana to me," He hummed.
"Well, technically, it is a type of banana," Rantaro nodded, taking the last of the tostones out from the pan. "But it's larger and thicker than the one you're thinking of. Platanos also have more of a savory taste as opposed to the sweet taste of regular bananas, and they have to be cooked before they can be consumed."
"Wow, 'consumed,' you use such big words for a big banana. Just say 'eaten' and let me eat it already!" Kokichi held onto the platano firmly with one hand, reaching his other hand out to grab a tostone. Rantaro smacked his hand away once again. Kokichi frowned. "Let me try one!!!" He whined. "I'm gonna starve to death in five seconds!"
"Go get something from the fridge then," Rantaro opened a cabinet nearby, grabbing a glass jar. "You're not having one until they're done."
"Then why'd you take them out?" Kokichi sniffled. "Just to torture me? I never thought you'd stoop down to Iruma-san's level!"
Rantaro chuckled softly, shaking his head. "Now, now, Kichi-chan," He hadn't meant to use the nickname- it just slipped out of his mouth. He felt Kokichi's arms around him tighten slightly. The corners of his lips etched upwards into a smirk. "We're just now getting to the best part," He held the jar a few centimeters above an unsuspecting tostone. "Watch this."
He brought his arm down in a swift manner motion, firmly squishing the tostone in an instant. Kokichi's eyes lit up as he watched, letting out a little over-exaggerated "WOW!" as Rantaro lifted the jar up.
Rantaro turned his head to look at Kokichi. "You fry tostones once, squash them, fry them again, and then they're done."
"Ooh! Let me try! Let me try!" Kokichi set the platano he was holding on the counter in an instant. "I love crushing things! Especially food!" He exclaimed, waving his fists about in a childish manner.
"Go for it," Rantaro handed the jar over to Kokichi.
"You're the best, Ranty-nii!" Kokichi raised the jar above another tostone and violently slammed the jar down.
"Hey, now, I like my tostones to be crunchy, but I'd prefer if they didn't have any glass shards in them." He looked at the end result of Kokichi's work. Surprisingly enough, they looked perfect.
"Ha!" Kokichi raised his chin up cockily, a big smirk on his face. "You think the leader of a supreme organization acts before thinking?! My moves are calculated to the highest degree of perfection- this infamous leader never ever makes a mistake~!" He batted his eyelashes. "Also, I gotta ask- why are you using a jar?"
Rantaro shrugged. "You can use anything as long as it's flat. I just use this jar because we can't find the lid to it and don't have any other uses for it." He answered, watching as Kokichi flattened another tostone. "Oh, it also curves in a little near the center, which makes for a nice shape."
"God, this is so therapeutic," Kokichi hummed as he flattened another tostone. "I'm such a pro cook. These are going to be the best tostones you've ever had."
Rantaro chuckled. "Only one way to find out- now hurry up and finish pressing them before I do."
Kokichi, not wanting to have the jar taken away from him, picked up the pace. In a matter of a few minutes, the tostones had been pressed and fried again, and Kokichi was dying to try it. "Are they done yet?" He whined. "You're killing me!"
Rantaro chuckled, taking the final few tostones out of the pan. "Just a bit of salt..." He hummed, reaching next to him and grabbing the small shaker. "...and..." He waved the salt shaker over the tostones in a singular swift motion. "Now I'm done!" He exclaimed, setting the salt shaker down.
In an instant, Kokichi had popped a tostone in his mouth. Rantaro scolded him for picking it up with his bare hands, but Kokichi paid it no mind. The outside was smooth and crispy, and it flawlessly transitioned into the soft inside, crumbling away in his mouth. The salt helped to accentuate the savory taste of the tostone- with a hint of earthy sweetness deep within.
"Welp," Kokichi swallowed. "That is definitely not a banana."
Rantaro brought a hand to his head, chuckling as he ran his fingers through his hair. "Seriously? That's all you have to say?"
"Yep!" Kokichi grinned.
"You're not even gonna tell me what you think?" Rantaro tried.
"Nope!" Kokichi shook his head, taking another tostone from the plate and popping it into his mouth.
"I'll just assume you like it since you're grabbing more," Grabbing the plate, Rantaro set it down on the kitchen table alongside the other food he and Fuyumisa prepared.
"Oh, are those tostones?" Hikari, who just happened to be conveniently passing by, grabbed a tostone from the plate and popped it into her mouth. "Thanks."
"Why do you two have to take it from the plate like that..." Rantaro sighed. "At least wait until everyone's here before you eat the food."
Hikari took one of her earbuds out of her ear. "Hey, Kokichi-chan got to try it." At the mention of his name, Rantaro turned his gaze to the smaller boy. He was looking at Hikari, an indiscernible look on his face. "It's only fair that I get to try it too."
This would be the part where Kokichi would chime in, siding with Hikari and saying something random. He said nothing, however, standing idly with his arms crossed behind his head.
Rantaro turned his gaze back to Hikari. "I suppose you're right. Can you go get the others?" He asked.
"Want some alone time with your boyfriend huh?" Hikari smirked. "Say less." In an instant, she was out of sight.
Rantaro turned to Kokichi. "You alright, Koki-chan?" He asked. Once again, the nickname had accidentally slipped out.
Kokichi didn't seem to mind, however, as a smile made it's way onto his face. "Yep!" He nodded. "Why do you ask?" He brought a finger up to his lips. "Aww, are you worried about me? You're so sweet Ranty-chan!" He cooed, a teasing lilt to his words.
Rantaro shook his head, the corners of his lips twitching upwards into a smile. "And what if I am a little worried? Especially after what went down yesterday," He raised a brow in concern. "You didn't seem too good then."
Kokichi rolled his eyes. "Don't remind me," he groaned.
Rantaro let out a light chuckle. "It seems you've learned a thing or two after that."
"You know what?" Kokichi's hand dropped to his side. "You're right. I have learned a thing or two."
"Really?" Rantaro brought his knuckles to his chin. "Do tell."
"I learned that you know a lot about the Caribbean, for starters," Kokichi brought his hand back up, examining his nails with a carefree look. "Do you go there often?" He asked.
Rantaro nodded. "Yeah, actually." Something felt off, but he couldn't quite tell what it was. "Anything else?"
"Duh! Not only have I learned about you, I also learned all about your sisters over the past few days. I've gotta say, they'd be great members of my evil organization!" Kokichi grinned.
"Tell me about them, then." Rantaro hummed.
"Sure!" Kokichi chirped. "Let's see... Airi-chan and Eri-chan have watched The Little Mermaid 53 times!"
Wow, 53? Last time Rantaro checked it was... 52. When did they watch it again?
As if he were a psychic, Kokichi answered his question. "I know this because I watched it with them on their 53rd time! We even sang Kiss The Girl together!"
Oh.
He supposed that made sense. "Do Itsuki next."
"Easy! Itsuki-chan lost her voice when her vocal cords got damaged during surgery, and she moved here with you because she's training to become the Ultimate Typographist!"
Rantaro blinked. "Wow." There was nothing but genuine surprise in his voice. He was expecting Kokichi to say something more trivial, like her favorite anime or her favorite song- something on par with what he told him about Airi and Eri. "She told you that?"
"Yeah; I asked, she answered, no biggie!" Kokichi waved his hand in a dismissive manner. "Let's do Hikari-chan next!" He seemed excited.
Rantaro wondered what he learned about Hikari that he seemed so eager to share. "Go for it."
In the back of his head, in the bottom of his gut, was a hint of anxiety he chose to ignore.
"Hikari-chan looks very similar to her younger sister, Haruka-chan!" Rantaro froze up in an instant, choking slightly on the sudden breath that got caught in his throat. "But, now that I mention her, I don't actually know anything about this elusive sister of yours... Care to help me out?"
Maybe he should've paid closer attention to that lingering feeling that something was off. Rantaro couldn't say he wasn't warned.
~1.8k Words
Author's Note: We're finally getting somewhere! I'm excited! If I'm being honest, writing this chapter felt so strange for one reason: I don't think I've ever actually said the singular form of tostones. LOL. I don't know if they use a different name for platanos in Japanese like how they're called plantains in English, so I just had Rantaro call them by their Spanish name. Man, now I want Tostones... Oh, and I also found out a few months ago that Kokichi's Japanese VA sang Kiss The Girl, so I made a little allusion to that :D I attached a link to the audio if you want to give it a listen!