Each step I took to get closer to the register was in vain. Every time I was forced to take another step back. This was because the customer in front kept "forgetting" an item..insisting it was in the produce section...and had to take up my time to go find it. Anyone could see that my basket was about to be snapped in half; my hands were clenching and gripping the handles quite firmly. I do admit, my impatience has always got the better of me. But today, I am anxious from another reason than ridding myself of these terribly omnipresent vegetables. Today it is my turn to make our meal.
Recently, Luka and I had decided to leave the Vocaloid household to find a cozy apartment of our own. But without Meiko's convenient culinary skills at our leisure, we had to start fending for ourselves. Meaning we had to actually cook something. You can imagine the horrors that occur in our quaint apartment.
So to compensate our culinary disagreements, it was decided that every other week, one of us would take a turn to make the meals. That meant two weeks of every month, this I was always "fasting." But today is going a little off schedule...
Earlier that evening...
"I'm home Luka. Where are you? I need to tell you what the twins did to me today at rehearsal." Upon entering the apartment, I stripped off my distasteful white Vocaloid suit and revealed my hidden black t-shirt and dark acid jeans. Not only that, my Maori shark bite tattoo flashed blatantly around one of my upper forearms. A recent decision I had. The fan girls never knew this side of this my image; I publicly displayed as that clumsy goof boy of the Vocaloid bunch. Yet underneath, I like to think...no...I am all man.
"I'm in the kitchen!" A musical voice replied back to my open response.
Turning the corner, there she stood working arduously at the stove. Dressed in a casual pastel peach blouse and hastily cuffed up white Capris, she looked to me like a calming sunshine upon my earlier tedious day. Except, her beautiful pale rose-colored apron, with those billowing lace sleeves and cute café~esce appearance, was getting abused by stains and spills, revealed otherwise. Angelic but definitely the most clumsy person I have ever known. But that just adds to her adorable character. Luka, with her haired tied up into a loose bun, was solely focused on getting the grill marks perfect on the entrée. That was certainly the least of her concern.
I smiled at her and leaned against the kitchen door, watching her profile busily fix dinner. "Need any help?"
"Hmm?" She now placed all attention on my face. That was one of the greatest things about her, always known for giving people the most undivided attention.
I pointed towards the bubbling and mysterious concoction next to the grill pan, "With whatever you're making there."
She beamed as I recognized her meal for once without any distaste, "You mean my mackerel and salmon curry?"
Yeah. Like I said, mystery concoction.
I made a mental nose wrinkle and outwardly gave a brief sigh. Not brief enough for her to notice. I could swear her shoulders drooped as soon as my involuntary reaction was caught. "Kai-kun, is my food that bad?"
"It's not that...it's just...who puts fish in curry? That's like putting honey in guacamole..."
"I put honey in guacamole."
I gave her a queer look and raised one of my eyebrows at her, "Really Luka? Honey?"
"For skin purposes." She patted the side of her cheek and winked. "The stickiness from the honey is a great way to pull all the dirt out of your pores, and the avocado is a great way to incorporate vitamins for your skin."
Women and their quest for beauty. Maybe one day I'll understand...maybe not.
I shook my head of the terrible thought of ruining a fine plate of guacamole, "Well you know what I mean. It's just common sense to put beef in curries."
"Or vegetables." She retorted back. She always loved to push my buttons.
Completely vexed by now I curtly stated, "I just can't stand some of the things I put in your meals!" There I had said what I wanted to say, and now I totally regretted it.
The next few minutes were painfully silent. I could feel her gaze engrave itself into my mind. Her cheeks seemed to begin to flush with embarrassment. Or was it the stove heat? "You know what?"
I was ready to take whatever blow she had prepared for me.
"Let's see if you can do any better then." She gave me an evil grin. Women are very confusing to figure out. Luka is no exception. Turning off the stove and hanging up her apron, she walked towards me, in an intimidating manner. Her eyes gleamed up at me with malicious intents and finally only centimeters away from me, she pressed her index finger on the center of my chest. "How about you make the meal tonight instead?"
Don't get me wrong, I love Luka very much, but sometimes her 5'7 figure scares my 6'3 self.
So now here I was, waiting at the register, still awaiting my turn. I didn't know if it was the customer that took excruciatingly long or that the cashier was just being a plain idiot. I could see the customer and cashier had begun to chat with one another. I could tell the customer initiated it, because the cashier seemed reluctant to respond to any of his questions/flirting. Out of boredom, my eyes glided over the enticing frozen dessert carton that was always placed meticulously next to every grocery line. It's the supermarket's clever way of buying more and squandering all one's hard earned cash. You can imagine the torture I go through each time.
But this time, when my eyes gave a sneak peek at the precious jewels, I caught something very interesting. Nestled on top of a few Popsicles and sweet mochi laid something my eyes had not seen before. An ice cream sandwich. Not just any ice cream sandwich, a fish shaped ice cream sandwich.
In a childlike manner, I leaned over and slid back the plastic door, and pulled our the curious dessert. I eyed the label carefully, "Taiyaki." Checking the ingredients, I was pleasantly delighted. Sweet red bean paste and vanilla ice cream sandwiched inside a fish shaped bun. I chuckled to myself and grinned at the ice cream, licking my upper lip evilly.
"Onii-chan, I think that guy is laughing over some ice cream."
"Oi, just walk away and ignore that strange boy. I just hope you don't end up marrying someone like that." The two continued their way as the older brother distracted his little sister's attention by heading toward the bakery, where fresh bread was being pulled out of the oven.
I really could care less what others thought of me. I couldn't wait to go home and prepare the meal. I kept thinking about the possible results of what would happen as soon as I prepared tonight's meal. Would she gloat and ridicule me? Would she praise my hidden cooking capablities?
"Are are you going to purchase yet?" The cash register girl yawned and rolled her eyes at me. I could sense her moody attitude and gloominess. She turned her head towards me and blew up a bubble in front of me. Teenagers these days...
As I exited the market, I felt refreshed and rejuvenated from leaving that worm hole. Walking back into the brisk, sunsetting evening, I swung my grocery bag over my shoulder and grinned ear to ear. Humming a soft tune of Saihate under my breath, I lightened up as I entered the apartment.
"Okaeri."
Even if she didn't like the meal, at least she could possibly stick around for dessert. I think this little fish will finally put an end to our food feud.
A/N - Did you find the hidden characters in the story? :) The skincare tips are in fact true, except I cannot recall all the ingredients for the facial on the top of my head, but definitely worth a try. Thanks for reading, I really enjoyed writing this story a lot.
