3
The Requiem of Joyful Encounters
It was not until the bell rang when Ryou had returned to the classroom and the instructor then proceeded to continue lecture for a couple of hours before classes got out for the day. Once Tetsuya had reached to his apartment was when he started thinking about the dinner that Yuki invited him for earlier. "Before I head out to Yuki's there is something very important that needs to be done. It has been a while since I last talked to him." Tetsuya thought to himself before picking up his home phone to make a call. Then he dialed to the number of the person who Tetsuya had considered a father figure and kept a regular contact basis, Hiruzen Sarutobi otherwise known as the Third Hokage during his lifetime. A few rings pass by and the call went through with a familiar response from Hiruzen, "Hello Tetsuya it has been a while. How have you been?". "I have been doing good just being busy with my studies and other activities. How is everyone doing over there?" Tetsuya responded back with a confident tone in his voice. "Everyone is doing good here. Biwako asks me sometimes on how you are doing and she is doing fine. If you were wondering Minato is doing great. I know that you are still afraid on trying to reach out in talking to Minato because of what happened between you and Kushina." Hiruzen responded back with a stern voice. "Well yes I am somewhat afraid on trying to talk to Minato due to that argument long ago. That saddens me once in a while since he is after all my best friend. Sorry Lord Third for rushing the conversation but I have to be somewhere in a few minutes. So tell everyone over there I said hello. Good-bye." Tetsuya responded to signal the end of the phone call. "Ok I will tell them that you said hello. It was nice talking to you Tetsuya. Good-bye." Hiruzen answered back.
That was when Tetsuya had gotten ready to walk out of his apartment for the direction of Yuki's house. Tetsuya started to gently regain his smile back after having the phone conversation and had approached to the entrance of Sakagami Bakery. The bakery was surrounded by a couple of houses and a playground right across the street. This playground had two swing sets, three benches, and an empty spot for games involving more than a few people. Then Tetsuya entered into the Sakagami Bakery with a curious look on his face. Tetsuya started to glance around the various pastries that were on sale before a girl who was behind the counter and that is a little shorter than Tetsuya looked at him. "Welcome to Sakagami Bakery. Is there something that I may help you with?" The girl asked Tetsuya with a good look on her face. "Not really but thanks for the offer though. I was just admiring how the pastries looked is all." Tetsuya said with a stern look on his face. Around a few seconds later was when a tall male with short brown hair and another female standing right by him stared at Tetsuya. "That is the first time in a long while since we have had a customer appreciating the beauty of the pastries here at the store. My wife and I make every single one of these pastries." The male said with a casual look to Tetsuya. "I am guessing that these people right in front of me are Yuki's family. Anyways they seem to take appreciation of their livelihood as a good compliment."
The female that was standing next to the male took a further inspection on the jacket which Tetsuya is wearing. "So you go to the same school as Yuki?" The female asked Tetsuya after inspection. "Yes." Tetsuya answered with an anxious look on his face. It was not long before a familiar face appeared from a room that was behind the counter wearing a chef's apron which happened to be Yuki. "Oh you made it Tetsuya. Dinner should be done here in a few minutes. I want to introduce you to my family since they are already out here. The tall brown haired guy is my father and the person standing right next to him is my mother. Then the person standing behind the counter is my little sister, Shia." Yuki stated with a smile on her face and proceeded back into the room where she was previously at. "It is very nice to meet you Tetsuya." The other members of Yuki's family said in unison to Tetsuya. "Well it is very nice to meet you guys too." Tetsuya responded back with a smile on his face.
Then they all went into the Sakagami's dining room which was situated in the far back end of the building to get ready for dinner. "Do you need any help, Yuki?" Shia asked out of concern. "Yes I do you can help me by setting these plates on the table be careful they are very hot." Yuki said with a gentle smile on her face. Shia got up to help Yuki finish dinner preparations. That was when Tetsuya had a half smile on his face upon what he saw and then faced toward the direction of Yuki's parents. "So Tetsuya where do you live at? If you don't mind me asking." Yuki's father asked out of curiosity. "Yosaki why are you asking him questions like that when we barely know anything about him." Yuki's mother said to Yosaki with a zealous look on her face. "Well I just wanted to know if he lives around here that's all Shiznae. Don't give me that look while in front of our guest." Yosaki responded with a calm voice. "I only live about a few blocks south of here in the big apartment complex." Tetsuya answered to Yosaki's question. Upon answering that question was when dinner had made its way to the table with Yuki and Shia once they had reached to their seats.
The food was then blessed and Tetsuya had observed the food to see what it was. Then a smile came onto Tetsuya's face when he realized that it was pork cutlets. He took a bite of the pork cutlets and could not believe how tasteful it really was. "Wow this food in terms of taste is very good compared to what Kushina used to make for me when I was younger. Even though that is a hard feat to accomplish but it's true." Tetsuya thought to himself in response on tasting the pork cutlets on his plate. "Is there something wrong with the pork cutlets, Tetsuya?" Yuki had asked out of concern. "There is nothing wrong with the pork cutlets. They are really good." Tetsuya said with a smile on his face. That was when everyone in the room had turned to Yuki with joyous looks on their faces. "This is the first time that I have gotten a really nice complement on my cooking." Yuki stated with a smile on her face.
After dinner was when everyone had a cup of tea which was very potent enough to drink. "So how long has the bakery been opened for?" Tetsuya asked out of curiosity. "Well this bakery was founded by both Shiznae and myself about a few years ago. You see we knew how to bake many pastries and wanted to share our talents for the neighborhood. Yuki and Shia help out a lot in the bakery when they are not busy with their studies." Yosaki responded to Tetsuya's question. A short while later is when Tetsuya got done telling both Yosaki and Shiznae more information about himself outside of the bakery. That occurred while Yuki and Shia were cleaning up dinner dishes. "Tetsuya it sounds like you really are a nice and caring person. It was sad though to hear about your past. Thank you for sharing this information with us." Shiznae said with a concerned look on her face. "Your welcome. Well it's getting late so I better head back to the apartment. Thank you guys for the dinner and was very nice to meet you." Tetsuya responded while making his way back to the apartments. The dinner with Yuki's family began a chain of events which impacted Tetsuya's afterlife for all eternity.
