Chapter 3: The Kitchen is My Future Wife
October 6th, 2024 (Revamped April 13th, 2025) (edit on 14th March 2026)
As the rain had ended, Amina was found carrying Harith… until she arrived in front of a big house near a window.
And there was a big-bodied guy sleeping near the window… and for some reason, there was an oven placed right beside it.
Big-bodied guy: "Zzz…"
Unbeknownst to him, an oven had been carelessly placed right behind him, dangerously close to the edge of the open window. It wobbled slightly… then more violently… and—
Amina twitched as she saw the oven beginning to fall. She had no choice but to drop Harith onto the floor and clap her hands together, forming a soft trampoline from her palms. It was dark blue and transparent, similar to the shield she had created earlier.
High above, the big-bodied guy jerked awake.
Big-bodied guy: "NO! MY OVEN! I SPENT A FORTUNE ON THAT!"
He leaned out of the window, wide-eyed.
Big-bodied guy: "Wait… is that… Amina?!"
Without warning, he leaped out of the window. He landed on the floor with dough on his shoes to avoid taking any fall damage.
He landed with a heroic thud.
"Ay, Amina. Thank you for saving my oven. I couldn't even imagine how I could live without it…"
He gave her a big thumbs-up with an iconic white-toothed grin.
Amina spoke in an uninterested tone.
"Yeah… yeah, so—"
"Wait, is that your friend, Amina? What the hell happened to him?!"
He said in shock, towering over the badly injured Harith.
"Well…"
The big-bodied guy crossed his arms, getting a bright idea.
"Well, Amina. We should probably honor our guest, huh?"
The man then easily lifted Harith by the back of his shirt, giving him a cartoonish up-and-down shake.
He then walked inside his house. His house was FILLED with all types of kitchenware, essentials, and non-essentials.
Amina then spoke.
"Well, Tariq. It's always impressive how you have all of these kitchen appliances and gadgets… it never fails to amuse me."
"I know, right? I'm definitely a bit boastful about it myself."
Tariq then made Harith's body sit down on a chair.
"Well, ladies and gentlemen… let the show start!"
Tariq began professionally and gracefully moving through the ingredients, grabbing everything needed for a cupcake.
He started preparing the batter, the ingredients flying through the air as if they had been trained to follow his instructions.
Tariq then raised his finger.
"Now… let me show you a neat trick."
He looked down at the batter with the whisk in his hand and began beating it extremely quickly, as if his hand had turned into a drill.
Tiny bits of batter flew in different directions.
At incredible speed, Tariq almost teleported with the bowl in his hand to catch all the flying batter. It was as if he had turned into a superhuman.
(Woah… Tariq's taking this way too seriously.)
Amina commented, watching with awe.
"Zero batter wasted."
He said with grace.
He set the bowl down.
"And for the secret ingredient…"
He opened a large cabinet, revealing an endless collection of spices and ingredients.
He looked at the collection with pride before his hand specifically reached for a small tube containing a dark green powder that glowed with a strangely positive aura.
Tariq carefully sprinkled a tiny bit of the powder.
"And that's exactly… 0.83 grams."
"And one last trick for our guest… Yo Amina, you didn't even tell me his name."
Tariq then pulled out a cupcake mold.
"His name is—"
Suddenly, he threw the batter into the air and quickly aimed the cupcake mold to catch all the falling batter perfectly. He then spun the mold on his finger like a basketball before slamming it into the oven and closing the door.
"Uh… Harith. Harith Khraba."
She continued, too impressed to even react.
Meanwhile, Harith's unconscious body, which had been sitting upright on the chair, suddenly slumped forward, his face hitting the table like a lifeless doll.
"Ooo, Harith Khraba? Such an interesting name… speaking of Khraba…"
(Khraba = Electricity in Arabic)
Tariq tapped his foot impatiently and looked at his watch. Fifteen seconds passed before the oven beeped.
Tariq pulled the mold out of the oven. The cupcakes were dark green in color despite him adding so little of the powder.
They looked… gourmet. Nothing could describe Tariq's godly cooking skills.
The scent was so powerful that even the plants outside grew instantly and began dancing from the smell.
Amina was immediately found drooling at the sight, while Harith was still lifeless.
"Dang, I find it really weird that your friend didn't wake up from the smell. Are the injuries that bad?"
Tariq carefully scooped a cupcake from the mold and approached Harith.
"Alright, friendo. Let good ol' Tariq make you taste something you won't taste twice."
Tariq carefully opened Harith's mouth like a dentist and made him swallow the cupcake without even chewing it.
Finally, Harith's lifeless eyes lit up once again. He started coughing loudly at first.
"W-what… who—"
Harith's eyes changed color, shifting from light blue to slightly green. His wounds quickly began healing, and he started feeling as if he had woken up in heaven.
"Wow… T-that's… amazing. Just amazing. No words could describe how good it is… Mister…?"
Tariq stood up and dusted himself off.
"It's Tariq. Tariq Al Khazna. And you're Harith Khraba, huh? Glad to meet ya."
Tariq firmly shook Harith's hand.
"S-so good… Did I wake up in heaven… are you an angel?!"
(T-this taste… it tastes strangely amazing! There has to be a catch…)
Harith thought as he looked up at Tariq as if he were an angel.
Harith's arm suddenly came back to life with electricity.
He stood up from the chair.
"You… you're here to hurt my friend, aren't you?!"
He raised his arm, ready to strike.
Tariq laughed Harith off and raised his hands in surrender.
"Woah, dude! I thought we were cool? Don't worry… Amina's my little… thief."
Amina was in the background eating some cookies.
"Cookie thief, to be sure."
He said, his hands on his hips.
"Hey! I can't just resist how good your baking is!"
Harith secretly inched closer to Amina.
"Psst… why the hell did you bring me into a complete stranger's house?!"
"Dumbass… he's the one who healed you from being a skewered kebab."
Harith stared at Amina for a few seconds before sighing.
"Fine… I'll let it slide just because his cooking is otherworldly."
Tariq spoke up while cleaning some equipment with a towel.
"What are you guys muttering and chit-chatting about?"
"N-nothing."
Harith said.
"So… Mr. Tariq."
Tariq suddenly jumped from his spot, did a few flips in the air, and landed in front of Harith with a metal eating knife pressed to his throat.
"Woah, buddy. No need for the formal honorifics or whatever. Do you really think I'm that old?! I'm only 27, you know."
Harith's face turned pale and he froze in fear.
"Haha, don't worry. I know you're a nice guy."
Tariq put the knife away and returned to his kitchen.
Harith snapped out of it and coughed.
"So… you guys, uh… I'm not sure how to put this. Do you all have superpowers?"
Both Tariq and Amina looked at Harith in confusion.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"I'm just saying that all of you have some sort of power. Like you, Tariq. You have an ability where you can make extraordinary cooking."
"And… I'm not sure about you, Amina. But I've also got some sort of superpower."
"Wait."
Tariq dropped whatever he was holding onto the countertop with a loud clang.
"Harith, you have to tell me everything about those 'abilities' of yours."
"Well… so, you see—"
Suddenly, a loud explosion was heard behind Tariq's house.
"!!!"
To be continued…
⸻
Character Spotlight
Amina:
"Sassy, confident, and most importantly, stylish."
Tariq Al Khazna:
"That one goated anime character that steals the show… but even better."
⸻
Appearances
Amina:
"She wears a full red knitted sweater dress, fair but slightly dark skin, with a brown side ponytail and brown eyes."
Tariq:
"Always wearing his iconic chef outfit with a red scarf that stands out, and ginger hair. He has a pouch on his waist where he can pull out whatever he wishes for in a fight. Hazel-eyed."