Jay's Fantastical Sleepover Extravaganza

"That all happened??" Toni's insides shook just imagining what Kenji went through. "I'm glad you came back."

Kenji breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank Jay. I don't know how he managed to make it to his garage without them noticing."

"It's illegal for them to photograph celebrities' homes in this state." Stanley now sat on the arm of Benji's seat. He'd given Kenji the one he had before. "Sort of."

"Sort of?"

"If they get interesting enough pictures, footage, whatever, their fines are as good as paid for."

Benji shook his head. "So it's not illegal at all."

"Not with Jay, no. Me? It's not worth it for them to try." Stanley chuckled. "I'm surprised they even asked about me. Oh?" His eyes landed on Toni, who straightened up on cue. "Did you wanna ask something?"

Toni started to ask if Stanley ever had his picture taken by paparazzi but swallowed his question. He already messed up in front of Stanley once today. Would the mustachioed man still be nice if he messed up twice? Instead of risking that, Toni's eyes fell on his knees, and he shook his head.

Stanley shrugged, then stood up. "Well, y'all know I can't sit still for too long, so I'm gonna go stretch my legs. I suggest you boys do the same, keep those joints a-movin'."

"Yeah, let Kenji mellow out with the weather station." Benji stood up after him. "He's had enough excitement for today."

Kenji sunk into his armchair. He looked so tired and deflated, he barely had the strength to watch Benji and Stanley leave down the hall toward the door. "Thank you, sirs."

"Huh, wuh?" Maxy shook himself awake. "We goin' somewhere?"

"Mr. Stanley suggested that we walk around." Nicky told him very nicely.

"Fine by me." yawned Maxy. "If I see another forecast, I'll pass out." He spoke louder, in Higgy's direction. "And then I might drool on this couch."

"But that's where Higgy's sleeping tonight!" Toni scolded.

"Oh noooo, I'm getting sooo sleepy." Maxy started to fake-snore.

"Maxyyyy!"

"Leave." Higgy finally spoke.

For once, Maxy did what Higgy wanted him to. "Come on, you heard the man." He waved for Nicky to come with him. "Let's blow this popsicle stand."

"The weather station's nice, but so is a stroll." Nicky danced in his seat to the music. For some reason, Kenji didn't seem as concerned about the couch this time. Maybe he was too tired. He looked so small without a suit, so small that the chair might swallow him.

Boogieing his way up to his feet, Nicky followed Maxy in the other direction from the old men, towards the hall that had the bathroom with the towels.

Higgy lifted his head above the couch, peering over the backside where his sleeping bag lay over his and Toni's luggage. His lip curled up the same way as when he looked at Maxy. Suddenly, he jumped to his feet and grabbed it, along with a book and his locket out of his suitcase.

"There's something I need to do." He announced. "Toni."

His fingers snapped, and just like that, Toni fell in line behind him. Kenji stared at them with a little concern. He didn't ask anything though, and the other two left down the same hall that Benji and Stanley did.

"Where are we going?" asked Toni.

"Here." Higgy made a turn into the first room Jay showed them, unrolled his sleeping bag, and dropped it to the floor. "Check the inside for bugs."

"Ryoukai!" Toni saluted and dropped to the floor. The only thing he could see inside was plaid fabric. "I think that cockroach got in by mistake." He felt bad for the poor thing. Higgy intimidated people-sized people even when not trying to murder them, so being hunted by him as a small, lost roach had to be scary. Good thing it got away.

"Accident or not, Jay Kingston will not sleep in this filthy thing. Not until it's cleaned." Higgy opened the closet full of cleaning supplies. "He never showed us his laundry room, did he?"

"No, I don't think so."

He picked up a lint roller, some spray, and closed the closet. "Then we'll have to clean it by hand. Was anything in there?"

Toni popped out of the bag. "Nope!"

"There better not be." Higgy threatened the bag more than Toni. For all bugs' sake, Toni prayed he was right. After tossing his book to the ground, Higgy gave him the spray bottle. "You clean the outside, I clean the inside."

Toni took a big back from Higgy's personal space bubble. The older boy–man?–set his book on the ground and took a brave, deep breath before diving in with the lint roller. If only Toni could be so poised, maybe adulthood wouldn't be so bad.

He grabbed some paper towels from the nearby bathroom and got to work spraying the top of the sleeping bag. As he wiped off the excess spray, a jolt came from inside.

Higgy sprang out, brushing himself off with his eyes wider than Toni had ever seen, at least until he saw Toni. "Was that you?"

"Oh!" Toni looked at the paper towel in his hand. "Sorry. Should I wait until after you're done?"

"Yeah. Not a word to Konno about this."

He zipped his lips.

Staring at the bag with a sigh, his band leader crawled back in.

Toni stood as still as could be while Higgy brushed every corner of his sleeping bag. The book on the floor caught his eye. It begged him not to leave it alone, or at least ask about it, but he was determined to be the best waiter who ever waited, like those guards in England. So instead, he tried to make out the upside down title.

The title won against him. Thankfully, Higgy backed out of the opening around the time he gave up.

"What's that book?" Toni took this moment to clean the top of the bag.

Higgy stood up, taking the book with him. "This is The Big Book of Bri'ish Slang." It was so cool, how well he mimicked Jay's accent. He tapped it with a smirk. "I got this to study just in case I ever met Jay and needed to understand what he was saying. Look who's laughing now."

"Wow, such hardworking-ness!" Toni looked up at him. "That's a really smart thing to do. There's some things that Jay says that confuse me."

"Yeah, me and Mr. Stanley are the only ones who fully understand him, probably."

"Mr. Stanley..." Lost in thought, Toni barely noticed his hand run over a lump too big to be a bug. It must be part of the sleeping bag. "Do you think he would like me?"

"Why do you think he won't?" Higgy lifted an eyebrow. "You've been acting like he's gonna bite your head off even before you met him."

"I don't know."

"Is it the mustache thing?"

Toni nodded, a little embarrassed.

Higgy shook his head. "We live in the modern era, Toni. Rushad has a mustache and he wears heels and makeup all the time!"

"Oh, I forgot." Toni never really kept up with the oldest Kingston, just the younger two.

"On one hand, I'm glad people finally realized there's no boundaries to style." Higgy closed his book. "But now if I start wearing makeup publicly, they'll think I'm copying Rushad and Jay."

"But... you are copying Jay, aren't you?"

"That's not the point. The point is, I don't want Rushad taking credit for something I've already been doing."

"I get it."

"They don't understand how gorgeous I'd look. If only they knew..." Higgy placed a hand on his chest, then again, and again, more surprised each time. "Where's my locket?"

Toni looked all around the carpet and through the crumpled up paper towels before his hand brushed against the lump again. "It's here!"

"Ugh, I just de-linted that thing."

"You don't have to crawl in. See?" He rose to his feet and picked up the sleeping bag. "We can shake it out."

"Good thinking." Higgy helped him lift it up.

Good thinking? Such high praise made the sun shine in Toni's heart. He could do a twirl, but should he? "About Mr. Stanley again, the mustache isn't the only thing."

"What else are you worried about?"

"It's just that," he shook the bag, "Mr. Benji met me when I was little. I haven't changed much, but he understands me being like this. I'm almost a m–", the word wouldn't come out, "I'm almost grown up now. You guys are so manly, and I'm not."

"You think I'm manly?" Higgy's face scrunched up.

"In a way, sort of. More than me."

"Yeah, you're not manly at all." Higgy stared at the bag. "I think the chain's caught on your hand."

"Oh sorry." Toni moved his hand. "Everyone else here is mature and cool."

"Maxy? Mature?" Dark eyes glued onto him.

"Well, not him, but he's still manly. I'm just boyish. Guessing how much men back home will hate me is already scary, but Mr. Stanley's spent most of his time in America." He looked down. "It's different here. I'm not manly or mature, but I'm too old to not be."

"Hmm. I get your point, but Mr. Stanley is above–"

A small thump hit the floor. The next thing Toni saw was Higgy diving into the hallway after his locket just as the sound of footsteps came by. A shocked 'Dear 'eavens!' came from outside while he tumbled to the ground, his locket a few centimeters out of reach.

Higgy stared up at the other person with wide eyes before picking up his locket. "My apologies, I was just..."

"Do you need a 'and?" A green glove reached out to him, then drew back. "Oh dear, your pictures are scattered all about." Pictures? But Higgy only had one in his locket. "Let me 'elp you wiv those."

"Um, those are–I can–"

"'Ere you are, haha." The hand presented Higgy with two pictures. On top was not the one of his family that Toni saw before but a photo of Jay Kingston. Oh. No wonder Higgy's face grew red.

"Th-Thank you." Higgy hastily stuffed the pictures in.

The hand pulled him up. "You're welcome. Just so you know, me eyes were closed the 'ole time. Whatever you were keeping in there must be special to you if you 'old it so close to your 'eart. You don't need my prying eyes on it, heheh. Is it closed?"

"Yeah. I'm very thankful, thanks. I mean–Yeah." Higgy backed away from the doorway and held out an arm.

"Ohoho! No need to make way for me like I'm one of the royals. You go in first."

"O-Of course." He came back in, ducking his head.

Next walked in Jay, as Toni expected. In a pink sweater vest with yellow diamonds, green t-shirt, and matching pants, he reminded Toni of a flower. He also switched his red sunglasses for gold ones, and his flower belt for a glittering diamond-shaped one. So clean and crisp!

"Oh, 'ello again!" He smiled at Toni. "What brings you two 'ere?"

"We were cleaning Higgy's sleeping bag."

"We were cleaning your sleeping bag." Higgy answered at the same time.

"'Ow kind of you!" Jay fuzzy slippers came to a stop upon seeing Higgy's book. He picked it up. "Eheh?? Where did you get this?"

"I brought it from home." Higgy tugged at his bangs. "I have a passing interest in cultures around the world, so I wanted to study different English dialects."

"Cor blimey, you sound like quite the learned individual."

Higgy lost against his own smile. He shoved his hands into his pockets. "I try to stay on top of things."

"I'll bet." Jay straightened out the sleeping bag, looking up at Toni. "Me apologies for butting in, but I couldn't 'elp but overhear some of your conversation about Stanley."

Toni gulped. "Please don't tell him!"

"Hahaha, no worries, you 'ave me word." Jay sprang up. "Any road, you've absolutely nofing to worry about. I, for one, 'ave never met a kinder man than Stanley. I'm certain I've frustrated the old chap more than once–we're all 'uman–but 'e's never treated me with anyfing less than the utmost patience."

"Yeah, he's always been like that." added Higgy.

"'E's a saint, if you ask me. I'm sure you'll agree that getting to study under 'im is a right treat, especially knowing his past works."

"I've never seen them."

Jay gasped. "What? You've never seen Dancin' Stan in action?"

"Other people call him that?"

Toni looked between them. "I thought that was just Mr. Benji."

"No, 'e's a legend! I can't believe you don't even know–" Jay clapped. "That's it!"

Higgy and Toni stared at each other with the same confusion.

Jay continued laughing to himself while wagging a finger. "You've come to the right residence, mates."

Toni found the strength to speak up. "Why?"

"It'll be my little surprise for you all hoohoo~"

Pressing his hands together, Jay turned away from them and toward the closet.

"I wasn't much younger than Toni when we first met." He rearranged a few things inside. "With how talented he was, I remember picturing him as this ruthless dance dictator." His fingers wiggled spookily at the other two. "'Ad me shaking in me boots, 'e did! But I braced meself for it."

"Wow, you're a lot stronger than me..." Toni scooped up the paper towels he used to wipe off the sleeping bag.

Jay waved a hand. "Ahahaha~ Oh no, I cracked like an egg. I'll spare you the details, but imagine me surprise when 'e 'elped me come to me senses, as gentle as can be." His hand laid on a vacuum cleaner with a sigh. "It's been like that quite a few times. Never 'as 'e made me feel like a fool or a pansy."

"Really??"

"Not once!" His finger wagged at Toni. He gave him a cool smile. "So I 'ope that eases your fears."

"It does, thank you so much!" The paper towels in Toni's hands might as well have been flowers.

"Oh, it's nofing really." Jay giggled.

A growl turned both of their heads toward Higgy.

"Hmm? Wuzzat you?"

"Sorry, I'm not really that hungry."

Jay slapped a glove against his face. "Right! You all need food, don't you?" His body twisted back and forth. "Ahhh, this is quite a pickle, eheh. You see, I was just coming in 'ere to grab the v–the 'oover so I can tidy up me room for Kenji, but if I do that now, it'll be late by the time we eat."

"We can cook." Higgy suggested.

"Oh no, you're me guests! What kind of 'ost would I be if I let you do all the work?"

"We don't mind at all." Toni reassured him.

Jay shut the closet door. "Tell you what. There's somefing I can make that doesn't require much preparation, and you can whip up whatever you fancy along wiv that. 'Ow's that sound?"

"That sounds great!" A chance to cook with Jay Kingston? Toni might just float away.

"That works." Cool as ever, Higgy crossed his arms and flipped his bangs.

Toni finally found a good time to throw away the paper towels while Higgy cleaned off the lint brush. After they returned from the bathroom, Jay gracefully accepted the lint brush and spray bottle. He took extra time to make sure they were placed back in the closet neatly along with everything else inside. What a gentleman!

Higgy stooped down to pick up his sleeping bag. "I can take this back for you."

"Ah?" Mid-tidying up, Jay shut the closet door once he noticed Higgy. "Oh, don't bovver wiv that right now. I'll take it once I come back for the 'oover. Come along now, the kitchen awaits."

He swept them away to the magical land of his kitchen, where Toni's eyes took in the checkered tiles and chrome appliances as if he saw them for the first time.

Jay passed in front of them. "Now, apologies for the odd request, but I'm going to need you to close your eyes while I set up my dish. It shouldn't take too long."

"Why?" asked Higgy.

"Is it a secret family recipe?" Toni's eyes shut tight. He covered them with his hands for good measure.

"Secret, sort of. Family, no." Footsteps stopped and a door opened. "This is entirely me own concoction."

"I didn't know you cooked." Higgy must've shut his eyes.

"This is somefing of a specialty of mine." Some cabinets opened on the other side of the room. Rattling pieces clinked against the bottom of some kind of echo-y container, shaking around a little. "Hmmm, there's what, eight of us? I'll need to make more than usual."

A door in the back opened, but judging by the noise Jay made and the stumbling that came after it, he didn't open it.

"...but if we get turned into vampires, I won't be able to try American piz–Uhhh, 'sup Jay?"

"'Ello to you as well!" He sounded just as nervous as Maxy.

"Do you need help with cooking?" asked Nicky's voice.

"Ohoho, that's quite alright. I've two 'elpers already."

"Why are their eyes closed?" Maxy's voice rang through the kitchen. "What's that behind your back?"

"You'll find out in due time."

"...Cool!"

"Perfect timing for two strong-looking lads like yourselves to come through. I'll need your 'elp lifting somefing. Could you wait for me by the stairs?"

"Sure thing." answered Nicky.

"Yeah," there was an over-the-top strain in Maxy's voice, "we can help you lift."

"Maxy, I can hear you flexing from here." If Higgy was trying to hide his being annoyed, he didn't do a good job.

"Just goes to show how big these guns are, heh." Footsteps approached him and Toni. "Anyway, later."

"Bye Higgy. Bye Toni." Nicky patted Toni's head.

"Good luck." Maxy's last words had an eerie tone to them.

"Blimey, that one doesn't slack off from the gym, does 'e? I may 'ave to ask for pointers." Jay chuckled once Maxy left. Sink water filled up something, and the stove turned on.

"If you need help with weights, I'm also available." It must've taken everything for Higgy not to bring up how much Maxy slacked off on everything else.

"Yeah, Higgy has good muscles, too." Toni backed him up. "He's really athletic!"

"Well, I suppose I'll 'ave options, won't I?" A few things shuffled around in the pantry before the door shut. "By the by, no one 'ere is allergic to anyfing, are they? I'd 'ate to poison someone."

"I'm allergic to strawberries. I think that's it."

"Oh good, none of those are 'ere!" Something plopped into the water. "You two can open your eyes now. Thank you for being so patient."

"Of course." Higgy spoke first.

Toni opened his eyes to see Jay moving around a tea kettle to just the right spot. "Are you making tea?"

Jay tilted his head and tapped his hands together. "In a sense, but it's neither yes nor no." He walked toward them with a graceful bounce in his step. "Same process, just take it off the stove once the kettle starts whistling."

"Understood." Higgy stepped out of his way. "I have years of tea making under my belt."

"Excellent. I'll leave the kitchen to the experts." Jay whirled around once he passed him and Toni. "And remember, no peeking in that kettle before dinnertime~" He continued down the hall. "Tata, now!"

Following Higgy's confident steps, Toni joined him at the sink to wash his hands. Just then, he realized the obvious question he hadn't asked yet. "What do we cook?"

Higgy dried off his hands. "We'll figure something out. There should be all kinds of ingredients to work with in a kitchen like this." He took a few steps over to the refrigerator and opened it. "See?" His eyes opened wide. "What the–?"

Toni stood too far away to see much, not that he needed to. There wasn't much in the refrigerator at all! Once he got closer, all he saw were condiments like ketchup and mustard. There were also bags of sugar, flour, and coconut shavings in the back, but nothing else. No eggs, no vegetables, not even mayonnaise.

"How does he not have food??" His eyebrows nearly jumped off of his face.

The note Jay left for his staff caught Higgy's attention. He slapped his own forehead. "That's right, he was supposed to be leaving for his tour tonight. His staff must've cleared out everything that would go bad."

"Oh, that makes sense. But how are we gonna eat?"

Without a word, he shut the refrigerator and made his way to the pantry. Toni caught up to him just as he flung the doors open.

"Hey, there's stuff here!" Toni smiled.

This didn't cheer Higgy up, and soon, Toni saw why. Bags of beans lay on the shelf, but none were adzuki or soy. He read noodle types of various European names, only a few he recognized. Most of the other things were either snack foods or condiments.

Higgy did not take his eyes off of the pantry. "Do you know how to use any of this?"

"There's peppermints." Toni grabbed a few out of a big bag.

"Put that back."

He did as told, then grabbed a familiar-looking bottle. "There's shoyu! Wait," he read the label, "this is 'soy sauce.'"

"That's just what they call it here." Higgy let out a big sigh. "It's possible to make a meal out of some things in here," he picked up a jar of minced garlic, "but I don't know how they compare with what I'm used to, and the few dishes I can think of making, I'd still need ingredients we don't have."

Toni watched helplessly as beads of sweat formed on Higgy's forehead while he paced. If someone as smart as him couldn't think of anything, what could Toni hope to do?

"Kenji!" Higgy's sudden break of silence startled Toni. "Kenji and Nicky grew up with American food."

"And Kenji should know how to cook!" Toni caught on.

"Right. Let's go."

Higgy stormed off to the hallway with Toni hurrying behind him. Just as he reached the dining room's doorway, he ducked back inside.

"By the way, do you have my suitcase?" Kenji asked Jay.

"Your suitcase? Oh dearie me, I made right off wiv your suitcase, didn't I?"

"Hey, there's Kenji talking to J–" A hand yanked Toni back. "What's wrong?"

"We can't let Jay know we don't know what we're doing." Higgy glared up at him through now-messy bangs. "You heard him. He called us experts."

"Please excuse me for being a bit scatterbrained at the moment." Jay's voice could still be heard from where Toni stood.

"No, I understand." Kenji reassured him. "I would've asked earlier if I hadn't zoned out."

"It's easy to fall into a daze wiv this channel, innit?"

Higgy continued pacing. "And we can't reach Nicky without him seeing us." He sped back to the into the kitchen. "C'mon, we have to look harder."

"I wonder what kind of food Jay likes to eat..."

"An interviewer made the mistake of prying into that." He chuckled while sifting through cans in the pantry. "All he could get out of Jay was that he's eaten pizza at some point."

"Aww, we don't have pizza."

"I love how he makes interviewers squirm. Serves 'em right for asking meaningless questions."

Not wanting to get in Higgy's way, Toni wandered back to the refrigerator to see if something might poof out of thin air. His hand barely touched the handle when he decided to take another look at the pictures of Jay's staff.

The one of his cook reminded him of something. "Didn't Jay say he liked a rice thing?"

Higgy stared back at him as if he solved world hunger. After frantically flipping through the bags on the bottom shelf, he pulled out a white one and slapped it on the island. "Rice!" He broke the rule not to speak Japanese. "He has rice! I-It's long grain, but I think I can work with that."

"Rice!" Toni celebrated with him.

"Now what goes with it?" The light in Higgy's eyes died. He searched through the pantry again, grabbing a can of beans. "I've heard about a dish popular in parts of the United States called red beans and rice."

"That sounds kind of like sekihan!"

"You'd think so, but it involves different beans that are prepared separately, and there's more ingredients involved." he corrected him and inspected the beans. "The problem is, I don't know what they are. I don't even know if these are the right beans."

"Red lentils..." Toni read the label. "They look more orange to me."

Higgy stared at the can so hard, Toni almost believed he'd cook the beans with his mind.

"We can't get help from Mr. Kenji or Nicky." Toni thought about their options. "Do you think Mr. Benji would know?"

"He doesn't cook. Between the two of them, Mr. Stanley's the one who–"

Higgy and Toni met eyes in a moment of realization.

Just then, the kettle started whistling.

Higgy darted over to it. "I'll take care of the kettle and the rice. You go get Mr. Stanley's help."

"Me? What am I supposed to say?"

"Just ask about the beans. Now go!"

Toni scrambled toward the door.

"Wait. If you hear him and Mr. Benji behind any doors, knock first."

"Ah, I understand!" He smiled. "Since we're in Jay's house, we have to be polite like gentlemen."

"...Right."

"I'm off!"

Toni bolted out of the kitchen, through the gym, and into the jacuzzi room until he heard the two old men laughing behind the door. In the heat of the moment, he almost forgot Higgy's advice, but remembered just in time to knock.

"Someone there?" Benji yelled from behind the door.

Toni opened it.

"Oh, it's you." Mr. Stanley leaned against the wall of the room with the long window. His husband sat in a chair.

"M-Mr. Stanley?" Shakily, Toni held up the beans. "Do you know if–Are these the red beans in rice?"

"Red beans and rice?"

"Do you know them?"

"Are you asking me if I know how to cook red beans and rice?"

"Yes!" Toni bowed out of panicked thankfulness. Even more thankfully, he remembered how to use words good. "Me and Higgy are in charge of making food, but we don't know how to use any of the ingredients we have! We were hoping you might."

Benji laughed and shook his head. "Oh boy."

"I've had red beans and rice once or twice, but I don't know how to cook 'em." Stanley slowly walked over.

"Oh." Toni's heart and head sank.

"In any event," Stanley took the can in hand, "these are the wrong beans. You want kidney beans."

"Kidney beans? But those are a body part!"

"I, um, well–" He placed the can back in Toni's hand. "Do you mind if we take a peek in the kitchen?" A warm smile crossed his face. "Maybe we can find something for you boys to work with."

"Please do!"

Benji sighed, standing up from his chair. "It's always something with you boys."

"Stanley?" A voice called from beyond the far door. "Stanley, Benji, are you there?" Jay popped into the doorway. "Ah, there you are! I've been looking all over for you. 'Ello again, Toni. 'Ow's the cooking coming along?"

"Uhhh! We're making rice. And Higgy is taking care of the kettle!"

"Yeah, he was just telling us how excited he was to be cooking tonight." Benji winked at him.

"Oh, 'ow splendid!" Jay clasped his hands together. "Anyhoo, I was 'oping you two distinguished gents could come with me for a moment."

To Toni's horror, Stanley began walking toward Jay. "Of course we can." He turned back and waved to Toni. "See you later," but then he mouthed, 'I'll be back.'

"Good luck with the cookin'!" Benji gave a thumbs up.

Toni waved to the couple. "Bye-bye! Thank you!"

Once they were all gone, he hurried back the way he came. He burst back into the kitchen to tell Higgy the good news but entered on a shocking sight.

Higgy's hand was in the middle of lifting the lid off of the kettle.

"Higgy! Jay said no peeking!"

The lid slipped from his hands back onto the kettle. After a deep breath, he snatched the kettle off of the counter and marched over to Toni. "Smell this."

Toni took a sniff. "It smells kinda like matcha."

"Burnt matcha." Higgy corrected. "He must've put the tea in the water as it was heating."

"Maybe that's how it's done in England."

"My aunt would have my head if I gave this to a customer." He put it back on the counter. "There's no way I'm serving him this. I need to see what's in there so I can remake it from scratch."

"But you did exactly what he said. Maybe it's supposed to be like this. We shouldn't look, though." Toni shook his head. "He told us not to."

With his arms crossed, Higgy leaned against the counter. "Okay. Okay. Whatever's in that kettle didn't take too long. We can worry about it once we figure out our thing. What did Mr. Stanley say?"

"He said these were the wrong beans."

His fingers gripped the counter so tightly, Toni worried he might crack it.

"But he'll help!"

Higgy let out a deep breath. "Finally, some good news. Where is he?"

"Jay took him. But he promised he'll be back!"

"When." His eyes snapped open.

"I-I don't know." Toni held the beans to his chest for comfort.

Higgy threw himself off of the counter and began pacing around. "We don't have all night. If we take much longer, we'll be eating at 10." His hands slammed into the island. "It's just us now. We need to figure out something fast."

Toni noticed a pot on the stove. "Eh? Did you find something to cook other than rice?"

"That is the rice. He doesn't have a rice cooker."

"Oh..."

Moving around Higgy with the same carefulness–and fear–as he would a sleeping lion, Toni tiptoed over to the cute house-shaped spice holders. He picked up the one labeled 'Salt.'

"We have rice, and we have salt..." His finger brushed the little house. "There's no nori, but we could still make shio onigiri. When we had nothing else, that's what Okaasan used to make."

"Long grain rice isn't as sticky. It won't hold."

"Even if it's not in a ball, it's still the same ingredients. It's enough for a meal. Asagohan, hirugohan, bangohan, it's all gohan. Every meal of the day is rice in some way." The words came out of Toni's mouth even though he wasn't sure if they made any sense.

His shoulders tightened once he heard the sound of footsteps behind him.

"I'm sorry, that was dumb."

"No it wasn't."

Toni looked over his shoulder to see Higgy standing in the pantry. His back faced him, so he couldn't see his expression. He didn't sound angry, just tired.

"If we were starving to death, you'd be a genius." Higgy moved things around, but didn't seem to be looking for anything in particular. "But we're not poor. We're in the house of a rich man who thinks we're cooking experts. Experts don't serve a plate of rice and salt and say 'bon appetit.' Experts do better than that."

Toni felt his disappointment. He wanted to make a nice meal for Jay, too. Not sure how else to cheer Higgy up, Toni stepped forward with the can of beans. "Maybe we can cook this?"

Higgy took it, shaking his head. "What would we season it with? I don't know how they taste, and all we have is shoyu, peppermints, and," something caught his attention, "beef jerky?"

Toni saw a sparkle in his eye, a spark of genius, as he shoved the beans back into the pantry and grabbed the shoyu and a can of beef jerky.

He slammed them down on the island. "Forget the beans. We might have something else." Another spark flashed in his eye. "And there's the garlic, too...!" The jar of minced garlic joined the group. "Toni. There's shredded coconut in the refrigerator."

"Coconut?" How would they use coconut with any of these?

"Yes, get it."

Toni set down the salt house and sprinted over to the refrigerator. He returned with the bag of coconut flakes.

Ripping open the bag, Higgy took a huge hunk of coconut flakes and shoved them in his mouth. He chewed thoughtfully, while Toni watched with burning curiosity.

Higgy balled up a fist. "Yakimeshi."

"Yakimeshi?" His smile spread to Toni. "Yakimeshi!" Toni jumped up and down. "We can make yakimeshi! But what's the coconut for?"

"Some places put coconut in rice dishes." Higgy's cool smirk came back. "We can use that to look fancy. I wish I had some vegetables to work with, but this will do."

"Yakimeshi! Yakimeshi!" Toni jumped and cheered. Then he realized something that made him stop. "Don't we need day-old rice for that?"

"Yes, but if we spread the rice on a sheet and put it in the freezer, we could cool it down in no time."

"You're so smart! Wait, why didn't we check the freezer?"

Higgy picked up some oil from the pantry. "I didn't bother with it because it's probably empty. There's nothing you'd keep in there that wouldn't spoil fast."

Toni decided to check anyway. "Hey, there's a bag in here."

"It's probably ice."

"No," he carried it out to set on the counter, "it's peas and carrots."

Higgy practically dropped the oil on his way over. He grabbed the bag, looking up at Toni as if he'd found gold. "Vegetables! Perfect!"

Toni's face could barely contain his smile. "We're saved!"

"No time to stand around. We've got work to do." Higgy grabbed a plate and dumped some peas and carrots on it. He grabbed another to put beside it. "Put the carrots here so I can dice them up later while I work on the beef jerky now."

"Ryoukai!" Toni saluted, happy to do his part in making a good dinner.

"Dinner will be served."