Mount Justice

July 21st , 20:29 EDT

Megan had appreciated the gift of cooking books, and as promised, we had started on Italian. On my suggestion, we decided to do lasagna, which took a lot of work. Megan insisted on using her hands for much of the cooking process even though she could have just used her telekinesis. In the meanwhile, I just made sure to get ourselves the right stuff—red wine to cook the meat in. I had to try out a lot of different stores around the world until I got to the one liquor store that didn't ask for my ID—in Copenhagen, Denmark after I had quickly searched on the internet for a place in the world that allowed sixteen-year-olds to drink.

Not that I ever intended to put that poison in me in the first place. The cooking book claimed that all the alcohol would burn off during the cooking process, and it said that we could replace the wine with water or vinegar, but that just felt like such a cop-out.

"Cooking takes so much focus!" Megan said as she stirred the pot of 'soffritto', a trio of aromatic vegetables cooked in olive oil. "And it's incredible that after all of this effort, we will only be eating for half the time it took us to make all of this at most. Maybe even less."

"That's why you usually pay people to cook for you," I said. "Much easier that way."

"But what about the people that cook? Won't they get tired?"

"They get paid," I said flippantly.

"It doesn't seem fair," she said, "Even if they get paid."

I chuckled, "It probably isn't," but then again, who cared? It was none of my business anyway.

After we finished assembling the lasagna layer by layer on a wide and deep metal cooking tray, we plopped our creation in and I felt a weird swelling of pride once I did. "Finally," I sighed in relief, "All that is left is to just wait now."

And then Superboy walked into the kitchen. He looked at me, and then Megan for a moment, and continued on to the fridge to stare at it for a few seconds, looking for food probably

"Hey, Superboy," Megan said, "We're making lasagna for the whole team. Would you like some?"

The whole team? I had assumed that most of it would have gone to the fridge as leftovers. Now that I knew those ungrateful brats would eat with us, I felt a little cheated.

He looked at me with furrowed eyebrows, then gave Megan a more neutral look, "Uh, sure," he said with a shrug.

Then he left.

What a drag.

"That's nice," Megan said, looking at me, "Right?"

"Yes, nice," I said with a shrug. I opened the fridge with Blue and pulled out the mochi. If I filled up my stomach more, I wouldn't have more reason to stick around during dinner after finishing my serving. "I'm really hungry and can't wait. Would you like some?"

"Ooh! Yes!" she said, taking out another pink one while I took a chocolate one. "Oh, this is so nice, all of us eating together! It didn't occur to me until now, but then I remembered all the food we were making and thought 'Hello, Megan!'," she said, slapping her forehead lightly, "Why don't we all just eat together, as a team?"

"We should make you the leader with all this spirit you are showing," I said with a grin.

She gaped at that. "Me, the leader? I barely know anything about this world. I don't think I'd be good."

I snorted, "And who do you think it should be? The only choices are you or Aqualad."

"Why not the others?" Megan asked.

I used Limitless to create a field around us where no sound could leave, a rudimentary barrier technique for privacy. "Kid Flash is a whiny crybaby, and kind of an idiot," I said with a grin, "Robin is a child, and too much like me to ever care about leading others properly. Superboy lacks experience with people, and he has no control over his emotions. That leaves me, you and Aqualad. And I disqualify myself because it would be a bother. So, you and Aqualad."

"I choose Aqualad," she said hastily, "I'm—I'm not leader material."

"Why not?"

"I don't want to be responsible for anything bad happening," she said, "And… I don't have the experience or skills. Or knowledge of humans or Earth. I'm too green."

I grinned at that, "I think you are just green enough."

She giggled at that, "No, silly, that's not what I meant."

"I know," I chuckled.

"Sa-chan," she said, "Do you want Aqualad to be the leader?"

"I want you to be the leader. If not, then Aqualad is the other option I would choose," I said.

"I think the team is expecting Robin to step up," Megan said. "He is Batman's protégé, and so he's the closest thing to an authority."

"He's also thirteen," I said with a scoff. "And he did nothing for you when you were getting thrown around by Mister Twister. He ran ahead, confident in his power. Of course, that confidence failed him, but still… He does not have the spirit of a leader."

"What about you?" she asked, "Why can't you be bothered?"

"I have always been a 'worry for yourself' type of person," I said with a shrug, "I can respect others' teamwork and effort, but I know that I work best when it is just me and a problem. That is not the spirit a leader should have. I am a symbol of strength."

"Even Superman works good in a team," she said. "Maybe you should consider that as well?"

Once I had people on par with the Justice League in my team, I would consider working as a team. But as long as I remained the undisputed strongest, where the second place was nowhere near me, there was no other way to look at things than with me at the top.

"Maybe," I shrugged.

Mount Justice

July 21st , 21:29 EDT

Kid Flash and Robin popped in later that evening for a few games on the Mission Room, and Megan eagerly accosted them with a proposition to eat with us, after having invited Aqualad for the same.

I stayed away for the most part until dinner time came. Then I was the last to arrive to the dining table in the lounge.

"Gojo," Aqualad greeted, "Glad you could come." Everyone was seated except for Megan, who was scooping a slab of lasagna on every plate by hand.

"Of course!" I said with a grin, sitting down, "This smells delicious."

"This is amazing, Megan," Kid Flash gushed, "Megan, you rock my world. You did all this by yourself? Freaking awesome, babe," He stabbed his fork into his slab and bit off a big chunk.

…Babe?

"Thanks," Megan said with a sunny grin, "Sa-chan helped. He did half the work, actually."

"Don't be modest," I said to Megan, enjoying the look on Kid's face as he froze and his smile fell while a fork was stuck in his mouth, his cheeks bulging with the food I had made. "It was your love for cooking that made me want to put in the effort acquiring all the ingredients and making the béchamel and assembling the layers and—you know, doing half the work, as you said!" I winked at Kid Flash, who only looked away in annoyance.

"Wow," Robin said, "Thanks, man. That's really nice."

This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

Kid Flash shot a betrayed look at Robin before just settling on eating.

"Thank you," Aqualad smiled at me. I narrowed my eyes at him, grinning.

"You're very kind," I said, "Why?"

"I… just think that your effort to integrate to the team shouldn't go unrewarded," Aqualad said, "I believe I may have overreacted after the fight with Mister Twister. For that, I apologize."

I chuckled, "Why are you so serious? I did not care about that at all."

"Be that as it may," Aqualad said, "I would like to extend a show of trust for you, who are a member of this team. My name is Kaldur'ahm. My friends call me Kaldur."

Ah. His name had already become 'Aqualad' in my head. "Aqualad sounds cooler," I said with a grin, "But it's a pleasure, Kaldur." It was a mite harder to pronounce in English. I really hated curling my 'r's. 'ur' sounds were just generally annoying. "Kal-chan," I grinned. That was easier to say, and such an ill-fitting honorific that it was funny. Aqualad was not chan material by any means, but I enjoyed the irony.

Kaldur gave a shaky, insincere grin at that. I refocused on my food and dug my fork into the lasagna and took a bite. Wow, this was good. Went to show how a little elbow grease and love could accomplish much. Not bad for a first try.

"Where'd you get the wine?" Robin asked, "That you cooked the meat in?" Wow, he could taste that underneath all the tomato, and béchamel sauce? Impressive.

"Denmark," I said sunnily, "The drinking age is sixteen there, apparently."

"Do you drink?" Robin asked, raising an eyebrow.

I stuck my tongue out, "Bleh, no. I don't let my body anywhere near that poison." It tasted bad and left you weak and dumb. Why would anyone purposefully get drunk anyway?

I could still remember when Suguru of all people had talked me into sharing a bottle of sake with him, after one of our upperclassmen had died. It was a huge mistake. I lost so much control over my Cursed Energy, and for the first time in my life, I knew what it felt like to be just another sorcerer. Even my Infinity became spotty and uneven, not providing good protection. I had been at the mercy of the school's barrier technique and whatever force Suguru and I could muster between ourselves, half blacked out as we were.

And… I had gotten clingy. And weepy. Yuck. Never again, truly.

"Why did you decide to cook today?" Kaldur asked me.

"It was Meg-chan's idea," I said, nodding at her. Kid Flash scowled at me. Hah! "She is trying out different foods from Earth. I am making sure she does not burn the kitchen down."

"Hey! Those cookies were only slightly overcooked!" she protested, "Oh, that reminds me, I made cookies this morning. We can have them after dinner. Sa-chan gave them an S grade, so I think they're good."

"Oh, if Sa-chan gave them an S grade, they must be good," Kid Flash said sardonically. I chuckled at that, but I didn't rise to the bait.

"Speaking of Gojo's opinions on things," Superboy said, "I couldn't help but overhear a conversation you had with Megan about who should be the leader. It was between Megan and Kaldur in your opinion, but I didn't quite catch the reasoning behind it." He gave me a slight grin of malice. I didn't know that he had it in him to stir the pot like that. Maybe I had underestimated him.

I grinned at him, "Listening in is generally considered to be rude in human culture, Superboy."

"Right," Kaldur said, "And he does reserve a right to privacy, Superboy. You should respect that."

Kid Flash spoke up at that, "Wow. You got all chummy in half a second because he said you should be the leader?"

"I am curious," Robin said. "Why didn't you nominate yourself?"

"I don't even like you guys, why would I want to lead you?" I asked with a wide grin.

"A plus for honesty," Robin muttered.

"Sa-chan didn't mean it like that," Megan said. "Right?" she looked at me sharply.

I sighed, "I may have over-exaggerated. You all have good qualities I like," I gave a nod to Aqualad, "You are mature and serious. And obviously, you are better with dealing with people than anyone else here. Robin, you are talented, but too talented, I think. You're like me in that way. To be a leader, you have to reduce yourself to the average level of everyone else. Superboy, I like you more than I should," he bristled at that, and I grinned more widely at that. "But to be a leader, you have to set your own feelings aside." I conspicuously did not say anything about or to Kid Flash.

"See?" Megan asked with a shaky voice, "He didn't mean it in a bad way."

I'd rather she didn't fight on my behalf. She'd never make any friends that way.

"I think I should be the leader," Robin said, "Since when has being 'too talented' been a bad thing?"

"What about me?" Kid Flash asked me.

I raised my eyebrow at him. "I thought we were not talking."

"Yeah, outside of mission talk. This is mission talk," he said, "Now tell me, why can't I be the leader, in your great opinion?"

I grinned at him, preparing to roast him alive, "You are—"

"A really nice guy!" Megan interrupted me, "And sure, you and Sa-chan might have your differences, but honestly, I don't think it would be that bad if you were the leader either!" she hastily said. What nonsense? I looked at her in shock and amusement. Did she just say the first thing that popped into her head or something? Surely she of all people shouldn't want him as a leader.

But the distraction had worked. Kid Flash looked at her like a lovesick puppy, "You really think so?"

"Sure!"

"Oh," he said, then he grinned, "Why, thank you. That's really nice of you, sugar." He made moon-eyes at Megan, who grinned at the attention, though I was wondering what she really felt about it.

But I appreciated the save. I was really about to just verbally beat the crap out of Kid Flash, then proceed to do so in real life if he tried anything. That would be so damn satisfying.

I finished the last of my lasagna and felt full already. "I'm going to go train now."

"You gonna leave all the dishes for Megan to clean, too?" Kid Flash looked at me accusingly. Right. Dishes. Guess I'd have to do that also.

"Yeah, yeah," I said.

Kid Flash took a second portion of lasagna while I headed towards the kitchen to do my dishes.

This dinner was always gonna be a drag, but at least it was finally over.

I spent the next four hours in my room meditating to replenish my cursed energy to full capacity. Then the next six hours practicing control, and mastering the newfound acuity of the Six Eyes. At eight in the morning, I basked in the satisfying afterglow of hard work. Even if my power hadn't gotten me to the point where I could send myself home again, this hard work wouldn't be in vain. That was a comforting fact.

A nice bit of warmth in an otherwise cold and dull world.