"Oho, so you finally decided to show her off! How cruel of you Depra!"
It was the end of the day now, and I had walked into the clubroom for the first time in over a month and a half, hand in hand with Pandora. Only Prez and Hiro were in the clubroom at the moment, with Prez the one making the comment.
"How exactly is it cruel? She wanted to come meet you guys, so here we are," I said, scratching my cheek.
"Yeah, but you never said the girl was as hot as me!" She shouted out, pouting at me. I couldn't deny that fact from Prez sadly, although I preferred Pandora.
I felt a tight squeeze, and I glanced over to see Pandora glaring at me. "You were thinking that she was as hot as me, weren't you?"
Shit. "No, you're way better than her, trust me. Her personality sucks anyway."
"But we're the same based on looks is what you're saying."
FUUUUUUUUU-!
"Nah, you look way better than Prez here darling," Hiro said, and Pandora nodded.
"See, at least honey gets it."
"Hey, don't just insult me while I'm here!" Prez yelled out, and we started to laugh. I'll have to thank Hiro later from saving me from that predicament.
"So, this is your clubroom then?" Pandora said, pulling me by our interlocked hands as she walked around the room. "You've joined this club since freshman year, right?"
I nodded, smiling to myself as the memories came back. "Yeah, it's been quite a lot of fun in the Hidden Club."
"That's our motto after all Depra! To have fun!" Prez said, shooting me a grin and thumbs up.
"Since when have we had a motto Prez?" Hiro said, scowling at her.
"Just now!"
"…You're an idiot."
"So mean!" Prez said, faking pain as she crumbled to her knees, and Pandora started to giggle.
"So, what do you guys do anyway?"
"Whatever this idiot decides," Hiro and I said in unison, pointing at the culprit, and said culprit slumped down to the floor in utter defeat at our words.
"Hey Hiro, I thought you were on my side!" Prez started to cling to Hiro's legs despite his many protests.
"Oi, get off of me already!" Hiro yelled off, trying to get her off, and Pandora frowned as she watched the scene unfold.
"Something wrong?" I asked, and she shook her head.
"Nah, nothing you need to concern yourself with," she said, smiling to herself.
Huh? But before I could continue my train of thought, Pinkie walked in on the two fighting over each other, letting out a sigh.
"What the hell are you two doing?" We all turned to Pinkie, who was scowling as she watched Hiro and Prez have a wrestling match at this point.
"Oh, thank the heavens you're here Pinkie! Help me take down Prez why don't ya!?"
"No way, you help me out Pinkie! Girl power needs to triumph over Hiro!"
Pinkie sighed, shaking her head. "You two are idiots." She dragged Prez away from Hiro, despite Prez's complaints.
"Aw man, I was close to taking him out once and for all," Prez grumbled, pouting at Pinkie.
"Oh man, you really are a life saver Pinkie, you know that?" Hiro said, laughing the entire thing off.
"Shut up Hiro."
"Eh!? What did I do?"
Pinkie let out a small smile before nailing him in the stomach. "You shouldn't fight girls so much."
"Ouch! Damn that hurts," Hiro groaned as he fell down to one knee. "But, as an advocate of true gender equality, if a girl wishes to fight me, then I shall endeavor to do the same with all my might!" He got a punch to the face for that one.
"Hey honey, you wouldn't be trying to two-time me, right?" Pandora suddenly asked Hiro, causing him to tense up.
"H-huh? I have no clue what you're talking about darling."
"Remember, you have to choose me in the end. Depra here knows exactly what I mean by that," she said, beaming at me.
"Uh, what?"
"All you need to remember is to take care of my lovely self. No other girl is deserving of your attention, got it?"
She really makes no sense sometimes. "Yeah, yeah, I got it." I gave her head pats with my free hand, causing her face to flush pink.
"What did I do to deserve this all of a sudden!?"
"It's because you're too cute," I said, giving her a small smile.
"Hey, seeing them flirt like that really makes me wanna punch Depra, you know what I mean?"
"I think that's only you Caelus."
And in came Caelus with Heracles, Caelus looking as if he was holding back anger, and Heracles with an exasperated look on his face.
"How come you didn't say anything about Depra bringing his girlfriend Hiro!?" Caelus asked Hiro, who picked himself back up, grinning.
"Oh, I thought it would be interesting to see everyone's reaction's is all," he said, winking at Caelus, who also punched him in the stomach.
Heracles chuckled at their interaction before turning to Pandora and I. "I see, so you must be Pandora then. Nice to meet you." He offered his hand in for a handshake, causing Pandora to back away slightly, looking over at Hiro.
"It should be fine if it's with him," Hiro said, picking himself back up after getting punched. She nodded before looking down at the hand, hesitating with her own before Heracles took it.
Her eyes widened as she looked up between Hera and their hands, and to my surprise, she rushed in to hug him, releasing me from my hold. I tensed up, waiting for the inevitable fall, but instead, there was nothing.
Huh? I glanced around at everyone, who were all confused at the sight of Pandora fiercely hugging Hera, before looking at my own set of hands.
I'm, fine? I looked at everyone again before looking back down at my hands.
"Um Depra, is she okay?" Hera asked me, frowning, before looking at me, which caused his frown to deepen. "Uh, Depra, you okay?"
Pandora released him, a broad grin on her face. "Oh, sorry! I was just so happy, I lost myself a little bit. Oh, darling, is he like that too?" She looked over at Caelus, who was listening to Hiro whispering in his ear, before his entire demeanor changed. He let loose a wide grin, pumping his arms in excitement as his sandy-blonde hair flowed upward.
"OH HELL YEAH! I'M, SUPER PUMPED RIGHT NOW! OF COURSE I'M ALRIGHT!"
Caelus swaggered over to Pandora and offered out his hand, a confident smile on his face. "Trust me, I'm alright. I'm Caelus by the way."
Pandora glanced at Hiro again, who shrugged. "It should be fine if he says it is." Nodding once more, she shook hands with Caelus, before a big grin appeared on her face.
"So it is true!" She gave him a fierce hug, squeezing him tight.
"Oh, this, this really is the real deal! When was the last time a girl hugged me!?" Caelus said, practically crying as he hugged her back. "This softness, this aroma, this is a real girl, through and through!"
I felt an odd feeling overcome me as I grabbed onto Caelus' shoulder, looking at him dead in the eyes. "Let go."
He suddenly appeared next to Hiro, clutching himself as he leaned away from me. "Eek! Okay, I'm good! Damn, I thought I was gonna die just then!"
Pandora, who was left clutching air, fell to her knees, a look of disappointment on her face. "Ah, what just-!" She quickly wiped her face before turning to me, realizing what had happened. "Depra, I-!"
I gave her a smile in response, causing her to stop in her tracks. "I'm actually fine, so it's alright."
"Eh?" She looked down at her hands before looking back up at me, a look of relief on her face. "Ah, I see, so that's how it is."
She got back to her feet, smiling at me. "Still, I got to see a jealous Depra today, so I'm pretty happy right now."
"Uh, I'm not jealous," I said, scowling.
"Uhuh, sure you aren't. By the way Caelus, how did you do that?"
"Damnit, I knew we were going to be the last ones!"
"If you knew that, why didn't we leave earlier then Lachesis?"
Before Caelus could respond, the last two members walked in, Lachesis and the Ass. Lachesis saw Pandora in the room before glancing at our hands, which had lost the hold it was once in, before frowning at the two of us. The Ass, however, rolled his eyes at the sight of us two before turning away from the two of us. Why he did so is beyond me, however.
"Ah, it seems everyone's here then!" Prez exclaimed, clapping her hands together. Pandora scowled as she looked at the number of people in the room before tugging on my sleeve.
"Hey, I thought you said there were nine members?" Oh, that.
"Oh, our eighth member is currently very sick overseas, so she's staying there until she gets better," Hiro said, which got him a punch from Lachesis.
"Liar."
"Damn, why am I everyone's punching bag today!?"
We all started to laugh, except for Hiro, who sighed, scratching his afro.
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"And that's everybody here," Prez said, after everyone in the club had introduced themselves to Pandora. "Glad you could join us for today Pandora!"
She nodded, grinning at Prez. "Glad I could be here!"
"So, what's on the agenda today?" I asked, looking over at Prez, who was sitting at her normal spot by the head of the table.
"Glad you asked Depra! Today we-!" Before she could continue, Hiro through a pencil at her, nailing her in the forehead.
"Ow! Hey, what's the big idea Hiro?"
"I say we let Depra decide, since he hasn't been here in over a month," he suggested. "Anyone object?"
Everyone nodded in agreeance, except for Prez.
"I object, I object!"
Hiro sighed. "Okay, let me clarify. Anyone besides Prez objects?"
"Hey!"
I couldn't help but smile at their exchange before clearing my throat. "As flattered as I am, I really don't care what we do. So instead, I'll pass it to Pandora instead."
"Eh!? An unexpected development!?" Pandora yelled out, and she pursed her lips at my decision. "Well, I guess if that's fine with everyone here, besides Prez here of course."
We all nodded in agreeance, and we watched as Pandora thought to herself for a moment.
"Well, how about a cooking lesson?"
The entire room went silent at her words, and she quickly took notice of our reactions. "Um, was it that bad of an idea?"
Pinkie was the first to recover, shaking her head. "Um, no. I think we're all just too used to the wacky ideas that idiot comes up with that we've never even bothered choosing something so… normal I guess."
"Does anyone here even know how to cook well?" Caelus asked, and three people raised their hands.
"Huh!? Pinkie I can get, but since when the hell have you been able to cook Prez!?" Hiro exclaimed, frowning at the other end of the table.
"I'll have you know I've never bought a lunch here number one! I always bring it!" Prez retorted, leaving Hiro to second guess himself.
"Now that I think about it, I guess she's right…" Pinkie said in disbelief. "I don't think I've ever seen her buy lunch at school."
"Hehe, take that number one! I bet I can cook better than you!" Prez declared, pointing at Hiro while shooting to her feet.
"Like hell you can! Who the hell do you think taught my adorable lil sis how to cook to begin with!?" Hiro roared out, doing the same thing that Prez did to him.
"Uh, if it's alright with you guys, you two wanna have cooking battle? I can be the judge while everyone else is in teams," Pandora suggested.
"YOU HAVE A DEAL!" They both yelled out, glaring at one another, sparks flying in the air (and yes, I mean that literally).
Anyway, we split up into two teams, which ended up like this:
Team 1: Hiro, Heracles, Lachesis, and Caelus
Team 2: Prez, Pinkie, Depra, and The Ass
We walked out of our clubroom back into the school, where on the second floor the classroom they used to teach Home Economics was. Inside was a state-of-the-art kitchen supplies, ovens, gas and electric stoves, grills, and a refrigerator with a bunch of food inside of it.
Also, inside the classroom was a teacher, flipping a wooden spoon in his hands before he took notice of us.
"Ah, are you here to use the facilities?" He asked, glancing over his wooden spoon.
"Of course we are! I have to show this numbskull who's the better cook here!" Prez exclaimed.
"I think you mean I have to show you who's the better cook!" Hiro yelled out, and they started to butt heads as more sparks started to fly around them.
"Eh, a good ole Food War then?" the teacher asked, grinning to himself.
"An unexpected reference!?" Hiro exclaimed, and he, Pinkie, and I all were all taken aback by his words.
"I see, so that's how it is!" The teacher roared out, his clothes starting to stretch as he stood up, and he threw off his lab coat in exchange for an apron before turning back to the nine of us.
"My name is Priapus, although that's Priapus-sensei to yah younglings," he said, finishing tying his apron, which had a cornucopia filled with vegetable emblazoned on it. "If you don't mind, I'll help judge this fight if you don't mind."
Suddenly the door behind us slammed open, and another person, this one wearing an apron with a cornucopia filled with fruit emblazoned on it, let out a laugh.
"I heard a Food War was occurring!?" She exclaimed, tying her black hair in a ponytail before grinning at us. "I'm Pomona, and I'll be a judge as well! Who might the third judge be!?"
"Ah, that would be me Pomona-sensei!" Pandora said, stiffening up at her words.
"Ah, I see, in that case, you'll decide what category they'll base their food off of!"
"Uh, yes ma'am!" Pandora yelled out, saluting Pomona before yelling out her category.
"You have to make a dish incorporating noodles or pasta in it!" She stammered out, and both judges looked towards the two competitors.
"You have 90 minutes! Go!"