The old man watched with curiosity from his seat at the scenario playing out. The other children themselves were quiet, watching the girl taunt the boy.
Yvonne attempted to touch the boy's face, but he removed it, clearly untrusting.
"Aww, I wasn't going to do anything bad you know, and don't worry!"
Yvonne raised her right hand up, stretching out her pointing finger as if she was performing a trick in a circus.
"This can be reversed. Prepare to see…awesomeness."
Yvonne again touched the plate, and the crowd watched with amusement as it turned back to fresh chicken, even shinier than is was but still with the bite-off. She pushed the plate towards the boy.
"I'm not eating it again!" The boy looked at Yvonne with a welled up eyes. He looked like a bully had taken his chicken from his lunch box. This almost felt like it.
"Oh!" Yvonne started to feel bad. She folded her hands and looked at the boy's face.
"But you wanted to know my abilities now didn't you? The meat is still good. I promise."
"I still don't want it. You can have it if you want."
At this stage, tears were already rolling down the boy's face. Moirai came over to their side and held the boy close to him.
"Come on Reiki! You're the strongest in your class, don't be a cry baby now."
The boy's sobs were getting louder as he tried wiping his tears with clenched fists.
Yvonne descended into a squatting position. Surely nothing could possibly go wrong on her first day could it? She had made a kid like Reiki cry and had flaunted a power others already seemed to fear. She sighed and got up. She stretched her hands towards Reiki.
"Come on, let's go see some beautiful magic in the kitchen. I don't know the way. When we get there you'll surely be laughing, I promise. No more dirty tricks," Yvonne said with a hand to her chest.
Moirai looked at Reiki, beaconing on him to go ahead, to which he responded with a frown. He eventually stood up and led Yvonne out of the dining hall to the kitchen. The rest of the hall started to dismiss themselves while others engaged in small talk.
Yvonne marveled at the big kitchen she was in. The stoves were beautiful stainless steel glittering in the kitchen's light. The shelves above were stuffed with interesting ingredients visible through the see through glass. She opened the refrigerator to see other perishable, canned and bottled ingredients and the deep freezer to see some good meat. The boy watched her with a mellowed face as she looked around the kitchen.
"I thought your skills had a lot to do with kitchens. You look like you've never seen one."
Yvonne snapped back at him.
"Reiki, this kitchen is one for a queen. They're god tier ingredients in here. The ham in the freezer is too grade meat and there're rare spices here like saffron, grains of paradise and sumac. My family runs a restaurant so I come across these ingredients once in a while so I know their worth. But they really aren't things you get in such much supply for their rarity, and then price."
"Well, I don't know 'em. I'll be going now, since you don't have anything nice to show me but your rurality. I'm the one doing the showing."
"Tut! You agreed to come, so you'll see some of my skills. This kitchen is just perfect!"
Reiki groaned. He sulked up and then went to sit in a stool at the corner of the kitchen, watching Yvonne measure flour and yeast, before going to take some eggs from the refrigerator.
"You making pancakes?" Reiki asked.
"No. Bear claws!" Yvonne wore a pink apron.
She went to a shelf and brought out some butter and sugar, before getting milk from the refrigerator. She also brought out some dried grapes and apple fruits.
"Seems like you guys don't have almond oil huh. I'd have to improv with the apples then."
She blended the apples and mixed the pastry together old fashionedly in a bowl when an electric mixer was available. Reiki didn't render any help.
After rolling, filling and folding, Yvonne proceeded to bake the fifteen bear claws she had made. She was sweating heavily from the hard work, but didn't seem to show that she minded in front of Reiki. The baking was to take twenty minutes.
After the first ten minutes, the little children in the house had started stealing peaks into the kitchen. A very strong, delicious aroma had swept around, and most of the children were looking for the source. At this point, Reiki took a magazine and was fanning a tired Yvonne who sat in a chair. She was smiling inside but half asleep outside. Reiki had grown interested in the cooking since the fragrance came up.
Ten minutes later and the pastry was all baked and hot. Yvonne and Reiki arranged it all in a trey and went to the common room where the children had most of their general activities in the house. The senior children who perceived the smell all came around. Yvonne set the trey at the center table, and fcalmed everyone down. She gave Reiki one to eat. After the first bite, his mouth seemed to send his head into an overdrive of emotions, his face producing all kinds of smiles and he moaned in all sorts of manner. Yvonne had topped the pastries with yoghurt.
She shared the pastries among those present without her taking one.
She smiled with some content, still in her apron as she watched all of them enjoy her threat.
What she thought of next was where her room was going to be. She was tired.
***
Early afternoon in Zenith city's police department. Investigations on their criminal cases were heating up, as the press and people demanded answers. Lead detectives Neko and Pius on the case we're in their combined offices. They had just returned from the University which was attacked, gathering evidences.
"Pius, I'm starting to wonder if it was really one killer involved. How all those guards were taken out by one man still seems like a James Bond move." Neko was clicking her pen.
"Well, you're the one with the genius mind. Parents and students really want to know if they can resume though, something shareholders and the authority aren't enjoying having to answer I reckon. All they say is 'we await news from the police department'. Really, with all these pressure these days, you'd think we'll get a raise or something."
"Haha! You always wanted you break didn't you?"
"You also wanted to go to Guatemala one time. Really, we've been the most productive in the PD these past few years now, and no significant promotion seems to come our way."
"We'll just bid our time we'll Pius, no hassle. By the way, a student is reported missing. Yvonne Nundo."
"Hmm?" Pius leaned forward to look at the photo Neko was carrying.
"Apparently she was last seen on the night if the attack. She wasn't among the bodies, so she could be possibly kidnapped, or, you know…"
"A suspect!"
"Yeah!"