Chapter 38
AN: Whelp. Guess I succeeded. I wanted to finish this chapter before my trip to Vietnam. For some reason, I'm not looking forward to that... Oh fine I know why, I'm probably gonna get a heatstroke there, and I'm afraid I might embarrass myself and by extension my cousin by being a bad best man. Yup, my cousin's getting married and I'm supposed to be the best man...
In other news, I just got my JLPT result. I PASSED! Level N5 conquered! Next step, N4.
Anyway, enjoy the read.
(Hanamura household. August 24th. Daytime)
Viljam and Yosuke were having another match. Their health bars were so low that one strike could end it all. Actually, Viljam would've refused if Yosuke hadn't threatened to tell Chie about Viljam picturing her in Rise's bikinis. So with a grumble, Viljam threatened to mop the floor with the Junes boy.
"Tästä saat!(Take this)" Viljam exclaimed, making a dash attack. Unfortunately the Finnish boy messed up the timing, causing the attack to fall short.
"Gotcha," Yosuke exclaimed as he dealt the finishing blow. "Yes! I FINALLY BEAT YOU!" Yosuke exclaimed letting out a small tear at finally beating Viljam in this fighting game.
"Miksi!? Miksi menin mokaamaan noin tyhmästi(Why!? Why did I go and make such a stupid mistake)," Viljam whined with his head down.
"In your face, Villy," Yosuke hollered while pointing at Viljam mockingly, using Teddie's nickname for him.
"Don't call me Villi," Viljam said angrily, not even bothering to look at Yosuke.
Yosuke scoffed at the anger. "Oh come on. What's so bad about it," Yosuke asked, with a snicker.
"Because someone who made my third grade a living hell called me that," Viljam said seriously.
"Oh?" Yosuke said in surprise, his previous enthusiasm gone. "Is that all," Yosuke asked, earning a blanched look from Viljam. "I mean, is that all the guy did," Yosuke corrected.
That softened Viljam's look. "No, but that stupid nickname still reminds me of the worst days of my life," the Finnish boy said with a sigh.
"Then why haven't you done something to Teddie yet," Yosuke asked in slight confusion, "I mean, if it brings such bad memories, shouldn't you tell him that?"
"I did. It didn't work," Viljam said, feeling deflated.
Yosuke was about to question when that happened, before remembering Viljam saying that to the bear briefly."Telling him once isn't gonna work. Trust me, I know," Yosuke said, remembering a few too many times he had to tell Teddie not to do something about a dozen times, before the bear got the message.
"Maybe, but I don't think he would care even if I said why he shouldn't," Viljam sighed.
"Okay, now you're just being an idiot," Yosuke said with an amused headshake.
"Anteeks mitä(Say what)!?" Was the indignant reply.
Yosuke didn't need a translation to know what Viljam said. "This is Teddie we're talking about," The Junes boy explained, "Knowing him, he'll start feeling guilty for reminding you of bad things."
Viljam wanted to be stubborn and retort, but he knew that Yosuke was right. So he grudgingly left the argument at that. However... "I still haven't forgiven him for stealing from me," Viljam said, but he actually sounded mildly amused.
Unfortunately, that sentence gave Yosuke a devious idea. "Your goggles or your date," Yosuke asked with a sly smirk, earning an un-amused look. Followed by a smack.
(Amagi Inn. August 24th. Roughly the same time)
Yukiko had called Chie to her room. Since Viljam wasn't here now, the Amagi heiress felt comfortable about talking to her friend about her latest issue.
"So what is it, Yukiko," Chie asked, seeing her best friend's uncomfortable look.
"...Do you think I should give up on cooking," Yukiko asked sadly.
"Whuh? Why would you...," Chie trailed off as the cogs began to turn. "Did someone say you should," Chie asked with a tone that indicated she was ready to give a piece of her mind to whoever critized Yukiko.
"No! Nothing like that... It's just," Yukiko said, feeling sad again for what she accidentally did. "I almost killed Nousku-kun," Yukiko finally managed to say with a depressed look.
"What?" Chie said with a raised eyebrow. "Oh come on, Yukiko. You're just overreacting again," the green clad girl said cheerfully.
"...He saw his dead grandfather," Yukiko said even more depressed.
"How is that... Oh," Chie said as she put two and two together. "...Are you sure your food didn't just make him... hallucinate or something?" Chie said with little confidence.
And now there was a black cloud above Yukiko, "...That doesn't make me feel better..."
"Whoa! Yukiko, I'm sorry! I just... You just... messed up a little! Yeah that's right," Chie said in an attempt to cheer her friend up.
"Nousku-kun saw his dead grandfather," Yukiko repeated sounding dead to the world.
Chie honestly had no idea what to say to that, until... "Wait a sec! When did this happen," Chie asked, now wondering why Viljam wasn't acting any different from how he usually does. Surely a near death experience would leave some kind of impact.
"...The night before the beach trip," Yukiko answered in monotone.
That gave Chie question marks, "He didn't seem any different to me yesterday.". Then Chie had a thoughtful look, "Well... If we don't count him going water beast on Kanji-kun and Hanamura."
That last comment earned a slight laugh from Yukiko. "He doesn't remember," Yukiko replied, some of her depression having been lifted.
"Huh? Did he forget or something," Chie asked, earning a nod from Yukiko . "Well... At least he won't hold a grudge on you," the green clad girl tried to sound cheerful.
"...Yeah, but... What if next time he won't be so lucky," Yukiko said, now sounding afraid.
"Yukiko, you can't be that bad," Chie said, while pulling Yukiko into a one armed hug, "You just need to practice more. How else are you gonna get better.".
"Thank you Chie...," Yukiko said, feeling much better. "But how am I going to practice... I'm starting to feel that I just... can't," the black haired girl said unsurely.
"Why not ask Nousku-kun to teach you," Chie suggested.
"What?"
"Come on Yukiko, he knows how to cook. I mean, I'm sure he can give a few pointers," Chie explained.
"I don't know if I should," Yukiko said in worry, "I mean... I don't even know if he would want to."
Chie resisted rolling her eyes. "You always tutor him, so think of it as him paying you back," Chie said with a conspirational grin.
Yukiko thought of it for a moment, before smiling. "Alright. I'll ask him when he gets back," the black haired girl said cheerfully.
"Speaking of Nousku-kun, where is he," Chie asked, realizing that Viljam has been nowhere in sight at the Inn.
"He said he went to mop the floors of Hanamura-kun's house," Yukiko replied, earning a blanched look from Chie.
"What?" was the most intelligent comment Chie could give right now.
"Nousku-kun went to mop the floor with Hanamura-kun," Yukiko said with a smile, which soon turned into snickers, and then into laughter.
It took a moment before Chie realized what Yukiko meant, and then she started laughing too.
(Rise's house. August 24th. Roughly the same time)
Yu still had summer homework to be done. That, and Nanako asked him to help with her own homework later today, so he had planned to get his homework out of the way quickly and then help Nanako. Then Rise called him and asked if he could hang out. Initially Yu said no and explained that he wanted to get his homework out of the way. That only made Rise suggest doing their homework together. While Yu felt he would be more efficient alone, it wouldn't be bad to help Rise study if she needs it.
So here he was now, in Rise's room studying with her. Oh right, Yu was a little surprised that Rise's grandmother wasn't even suspicious of her granddaughter bringing a guy to her room. That struck the silver haired boy as odd for some reason, but it doesn't really matter.
"This is boring," Rise whined with a sigh.
Yu rolled his eyes in amusement. "The sooner you're done the sooner you can stop thinking about it," Yu said, trying to encourage the girl. Rise had the most common problem any student has about studying, she hates it. Though she still does the job, if only because she doesn't want to get in trouble.
"I know, but I'm still bored," the teen..., or actually, former teen idol said tiredly.
"How about we take a break then," Yu suggested. Despite Rise's slight complaints, the two had made a lot of progress in their respective homeworks. Rise hates studying, but that doesn't mean she's stupid. She still needed a little help at some points, but that's what Yu was more than willing to do.
Rise perked up at the idea. "Yes! Thank you Senpai," Rise said happily, before getting up from the small table they had been using for their school work. "Oh, I could go get some drinks from Shiroku. What would you like," Rise asked happily.
"You don't have to do that," Yu said, before getting up himself. "I can get something myself," the silver haired boy added. The Shiroku store was just next door to Rise's house so they wouldn't even go far.
"I don't, but I'd like to," Rise said with a cheeky grin.
"Sure, but maybe I just want to be closer to you," Yu replied with an equally cheeky grin.
"What?" Rise said with a blush. "Wow... that's... sure I would like that," Rise said almost shyly. She did not expect Yu to answer like that.
Yu had to resist a laugh. "I think I'm starting to understand her," Yu thought in amusement, "Or at least learn how to push her buttons.". With that thought, Yu and Rise made a quick visit to Shiroku store.
Few moments later they were back in Rise's room. "I'm surprised you didn't pick Qlorie Magic," Yu said jokingly before taking a sip from his TaP soda.
Rise gave Yu a frown even as she was gulping down her Second Maid. "You saw that commercial," Rise stated almost accusingly.
"That thing was everywhere, how could I not," Yu replied with a shrug
"And you still didn't recognize me that day," Rise asked with a raised eyebrow.
Yu shook his head at what he assumed was Rise being suspicious. "I wasn't exactly interested, besides it's not like I knew who was advertising," the silver haired boy chuckled at the last part. "Anyway, what did you think of it. Qlorie Magic I mean," Yu then asked.
"Why do you want to know," Rise asked with just a hint of suspicion.
"Just curious," Yu replied easily.
Rise stared at Yu for a while, trying to get some kind of reaction out of him. After few seconds of Yu not reacting, Rise sighed. "Honestly. That stuff was bad," the auburn haired girl said as her face morphed into one of disgust.
That surprised Yu. "And you still managed to smile," Yu asked with a disbelieving look.
"Even I'm not sure how I managed to do that," Rise admitted, earning a laugh from Yu. "Hey! It's not funny," Rise exclaimed in annoyance.
"I'm sorry but it kinda is," Yu said with an amused look.
"Says you," Rise said with a pout, "You're not the one who had to drink poison."
That last one made Yu's face neutral again."...That bad huh?" Was the only comment Yu could think of giving.
The former idol looked like she was thinking hard. "...Okay not that bad, but I'll never try it again," Rise admitted with a small smile.
"If you say so," Yu said, before taking another sip of TaP. "I think we should get back to studying now," Yu said, moving to the study materials they had left on the table.
"Do we have to, Senpai," Rise whined cutely, not wanting to study again so soon.
"Yes." Was Yu's dead pan reply.
"You're no fun," Rise whined less cutely, but complied none the less.
Yu wasn't sure why, but for some reason he found this situation funny for some reason.
(Chie's house. August 24th. Evening)
"When is he gonna call me on a date," Chie wondered in her room. "Urgh. It's only been two days. What the hell is wrong with me," Chie complained before slamming her head into her pillow. Still, her and Viljam had only spent time on the beach trip since the festival, and even that was ruined when Teddie had the bright idea of stealing Viljam's goggles. Actually, when she saw Viljam's mental regression, Chie for just a tiny bit, regretted her answer to him. That regret however passed the moment Viljam began to turn back to normal... Well, what passes for normal for him anyway.
Chie's thoughts were interrupted by her phone ringing. "Yukiko?" Chie mumbled, before steeling herself so Yukiko wouldn't notice anything wrong when she spoke. "Hey, Yukiko," Chie answered the phone.
"Chie, he said yes," Yukiko exclaimed happily, "We even picked a recipe that we would try."
Yukiko's excitement was infectious, which is why Chie couldn't help smiling. "That's great! When are you gonna try it," the green clad girl asked.
"Tomorrow. We'll go to Junes in the morning to buy the ingredients and then we'll start cooking a little after the breakfast time at Inn. That way, we won't get in the way of our chefs," Yukiko explained eagerly.
"Uh-huh." Chie nodded in thought, before wondering what they were planning to make, "What's the food?"
"Teriyaki chicken. Nousku-kun said it looked easy enough," Yukiko replied.
"Oh," Chie said, mouth watering at the idea. "Hey... can I come taste it," Chie asked, already picturing the delicious chicken meat in equally delicious teriyaki sauce.
"Of course you can come, Chie," Yukiko said, happy to have Chie's faith. "Actually, why don't you come with us to Junes tomorrow," Yukiko then suggested.
"YES! Of course I'll come," Chie said, and with that, the two exchanged farewells.
"Oohh. I can't wait," Chie exclaimed eagerly, wanting to try Viljam's cooking. "Wait... Nousku-kun's," Chie questioned herself. It was Yukiko and Viljam who were cooking. "Urgh, whatever. At least I get to eat delicious meat again," Chie said dreamily... And then the birthday steak came to her mind again. "Nope! Nope, nope, nope. Not thinking that," Chie tried to tell herself. It was embarrassing enough that she said something like that in front of Viljam, Yukiko and worst of all, her mother. The only thing that could've made it worse was if Yosuke and Rise were there to hear it. "Dammit, I gotta get over it," Chie grumbled before flopping to her bed, trying to think of something else. Anything else...
(Junes. August 25th. Morning)
As promised, Chie came with Viljam and Yukiko to do the grocery shopping. Viljam was holding the list and telling Yukiko what to get, while getting some of the things himself.
Right now, Chie was with Yukiko checking on the milk products section. The black haired girl had a thoughtful look on her face. "Do you think I should add yogurt to make the sauce thicker," Yukiko asked Chie.
"Hmm... Well... I do like the sauce to be thick, but...," Chie said in thought herself. "Ehh, why not," the girl then shrugged. With that, Yukiko reached for a carton.
"Yukiko!" Was the shout that made both girls freeze. "Hands off the carton, and step away from the shelves," Viljam said like a police officer to a criminal.
"But we need something to thicken the sauce," Yukiko said defensively.
"That's what the food starch is for," Viljam replied in annoyance as he approached them. Chie noticed that he was holding a big carton of dark syrup. "Also, condition number two, remember," Viljam reminded sternly.
Yukiko lowered her head in shame, before stepping away from the shelves. "I'm sorry," the girl said meekly.
Chie didn't like whatever was going on," Nousku-kun, what's going on? What's condition two?"
"Yukiko agreed to three conditions," Viljam explained holding up three fingers for emphasis, "Condition one: We follow the recipe to the letter. Condition two: We only use ingredients mentioned in the said recipe. Condition three: I have the final say in whatever we do in this."
"It's true," Yukiko said with a sigh. "But was that syrup in the recipe," Yukiko then asked Viljam, wondering why he has it.
"No, but this isn't for the teriyaki," Viljam replied before moving to the milk product shelves to search for something. "Haa, siinä(Haa, there)," Viljam exclaimed and grabbed a carton of cream.
"But I thought we were making teriyaki," Yukiko asked in confusion. She was pretty sure that cream wasn't mentioned in the recipe.
"We are, I'm just making a dessert," Viljam replied. "I'll still be watching that you follow the recipe to the letter," the Finnish boy added with what he thought was reassurance, but came off as teasing.
"Oh, okay," Yukiko said, though she wasn't sure anymore if that was a good thing.
"So what are you planning to make, Nousku-kun," Chie asked, wondering if she would get some of it.
"It's a surprise, unless you can figure it out," Viljam said, before taking the shopping list out of his pocket, "Okay, we've got food starch, soy sauce and garlic. We still need some vinegar, brown sugar and sesame oil."
Yukiko moved next to Viljam to check the list. "Then we have all we need for the sauce," the girl said, while checking the second part of the list. "But we still need the ingredients for the chicken itself," the girl pointed out.
Viljam hummed in agreement. "How about you and Chie-san take the list and find the rest. I'll catch up, when I've found what I need for the dessert," the Finnish boy said, before going to find the remaining ingredients.
"I'm starting question if this was a good idea," Chie said. When she heard Yukiko and Viljam would do this together, she thought that it would mean just that, instead of him being bossy.
"Chie, this was your idea," Yukiko pointed out matter of factly.
The said girl had the decency to look sheepish. "Sorry, but still... Why are you just taking this," Chie said, feeling a little worried about this escalating too much. Then it hit her, "Wait a sec... Is this about what your cooking did to him?". Yukiko's only response was a nod. "Yukiko, you worry too much. I mean, he doesn't even remember," The green clad girl said while patting Yukiko's shoulder supportively.
"Maybe, but I still feel responsible," Yukiko said, feeling a little better. "Also, I think he just wants me to succeed," the black haired girl added as she started walking to the direction of meat stall to get the chicken meat.
Chie followed suit. "If you say so, but if he makes you cry I'm not gonna forgive him," the green clad girl said without really meaning it. It's not that she wouldn't go through with it, it's just that she trusted Viljam not to give her a reason to do so.
Yukiko giggled at that, "I don't think he'll go that far."
With that exchange out of the way, the two moved on in getting rest of the ingredients. Although when they were about to stray from the list, Viljam magically appeared to stop them. Well... magically, as in he somehow snuck up on them, like he's done so many times. Seriously, how does he do that? And how does he always know when they're about to stray from the list.
(Amagi Inn. August 25th. Daytime)
Change of plans. The three ran into Yosuke at Junes, and they heard from him that Yu would be helping Nanako do her homework this evening. How did he know this? Because yesterday he and Teddie went to give Nanako a little something from an event the store had and ended up helping Nanako with her homework.
Yukiko suggested that they would make the teriyaki chicken as a boxed lunch and take it to Nanako and Yu. Chie immediately jumped at the idea. Viljam on the other hand was worried about having to adjust the recipe a little. The recipe was meant for four people so they had to adjust the amount of their intended ingredients to count five people. Still, the Finnish boy agreed.
Now, Yukiko was simmering the sauce in a pot, while Viljam was boiling something else in his own bigger pot. Whatever it was, it seemed like it would boil over any second. And the concoction didn't even fill half of the pot until it started boiling. That's not even counting the size of the pot itself, which was at least twice of what Yukiko was using.
"Alemmas,(lower)" Viljam muttered as he lowered the heat on the stove plate he was using.
"Nousku-kun, what are you making," Yukiko asked out of curiosity. The only thing she understood was that the concoction consisted of cream, sugar, two different types of syrup and what seemed like vanilla sugar.
"I guess at this point I can tell you," Viljam said, while stirring his creation. "Cream caramels," the Finnish boy said with a smile.
"Oh," Yukiko said in surprise, before she had a worried look, "Did your sweet stash run out already?". That box that came back in July was pretty big. If everything in that box was eaten in a month, then that's not healthy.
"What sweet stash," asked Chie, who was in the middle of cutting the raw chicken in to pieces. The green clad girl had asked if she could do anything to help. Yukiko suggested that she would cut the chicken into bite sized pieces as the recipe says. Chie agreed, though Viljam made some sort of comment in Finnish that made Yukiko laugh. At Chie's questioning, Yukiko managed to say that it meant "Goat as a cabbage field's guard" through her laughter. If looks could kill, Viljam would've died already, for calling her a goat. Thankfully, the actual meaning was quickly explained, before Chie decided to turn looks into actions. Not that it made the meat loving girl feel less offended. She's not dumb enough to eat uncooked meat, thank you very much. Anyway...
"The one my sisters sent me from Finland," Viljam replied to Chie's question easily before leaving the pot for a moment to get a glass of cold water.
"The one you got back in June right," Chie asked, wanting to be sure.
"Yeah, that," Viljam replied as he returned to the pot and dropped a drop of his concoction into the water glass. The liquid instantly cooled and turned solid. Then Viljam took the now solid piece and rolled it between his fingers. The Finnish boy smiled as the stuff was molding into small ball. "Valmis(Ready)," Viljam said happily before plucking the piece into his mouth. Then he turned off the heat before starting the next phase. Viljam had prepared two square shaped serving plates with baking paper on them to act as molds. "Yukiko, could you put on mittens and help me a little," Viljam asked.
"Of course," Yukiko said, leaving the sauce to quietly stir, while Chie looked at the exchange.
"Those two sure work well," Chie thought with a tiny pang of jealousy. Chie kinda knew this would happen, since Viljam lives with Yukiko. Just as she finished that thought, she had finished cutting the chicken. "Hey, anything I can do to help," Chie then asked.
"No, we're good," Viljam answered as he and Yukiko poured the hot brown concoction into the second serving plate, since the first one was already full. Viljam was holding the pot by the handles, while Yukiko used mittens to help tilt the pot. "That should be enough," Viljam said as they put the pot on an unused stove plate. "And with that, let's continue with this," Viljam said turning to the simmering sauce. "Chie-san, could you put the chicken pieces into the bowl we chose," Viljam then asked Chie.
"Sure," Chie replied while getting to the said task. After doing that, Yukiko poured in a portion of the sauce before going to check the recipe from the book they had kept with them.
"Now were supposed to leave it for an hour before we start frying them," Yukiko said after reading the next part.
"Good," Viljam said, nodding in satisfaction, "That means I now have the time to put these to cool off." The last phrase was directed on the two plates with the slowly cooling mass of caramel. "Are there any cloths I can use to cover them, Yukiko," Viljam then asked.
"Oh. I'll go get them," Yukiko said, and moving out to do just that. But not before Viljam specified that they have to be clean.
"You really know what you're doing," Chie commented.
"What?"
Chie almost rolled her eyes. "Cooking. You really know how to cook," Chie clarified.
"Aa! Well... we learned a lot from mom. Me and my sisters," Viljam said, "Though I will admit that I didn't always like it." That last one was accompanied by chuckle.
"Why? Not liking girly things," Chie couldn't resist snickering.
Viljam gave Chie a look that said, "Really?". "No I just... Didn't find it fun," Viljam said, straining his memory. "But then one day mom taught me how to use a frying pan, and suddenly I didn't mind," the Finnish boy finished with a small laugh.
Chie nodded in understanding, wishing she could do that. Unfortunately, she was banned from using kitchen at home. Her parents were afraid of her starting another fire.
"Hey..., later this week, would you... like to go to Aiya's sometime," Viljam asked a little shyly, causing Chie to perk up.
"...Are you... asking me on a date," Chie asked, unable to keep the nervousness from mixing with eagerness.
"...If you want to think of it as that." And now Viljam was blushing.
"...Sure," was the only response Chie could give without the fear of stuttering.
"Great," Viljam said eagerly. "Sorry I couldn't think of a better place," the Finnish then apologized.
Chie couldn't help laughing at that. "Oh come on, Aiya's is the best," Chie said happily, before blushing a little, "Although, your steaks are good too."
"Thanks," Viljam said, happy for the compliment. "But... I'm not sure if I should cook for you given the last time," he then said, earning a glare from Chie.
"...Shut up."
"Sorry."
Just then Yukiko returned. "Sorry if I took long," Yukiko said, before feeling the atmosphere, "Did something happen while I was gone?".
"No," Chie quickly said, with Viljam nodding furiously. Then the Finnish boy took the two big cloths and covered the plates with them, making sure that the cloths themselves didn't touch the mass.
(Dojima Household. August 25th. Evening)
Yu was surprised at the surprise visit from Yukiko, Chie and Viljam. But he was more surprised at the fact that they had brought boxed lunches. Viljam was also carrying an extra box, but the Finnish boy wouldn't say what was in it. Anyway, Yu felt a sense of dread at Yukiko wanting them to try the food she had supposedly made. The only reason he wasn't making excuses was that, Viljam promised it would be, at the very least, edible.
"It's delicious," Nanako said happily. The gang had moved into the living room to eat the boxed lunches. Or maybe boxed dinner would be a proper term given the hour. Anyway...
"It is," Yu said, more surprised than anything that Yukiko succeeded. "There's hope for you yet, Amagi-san," Yu thought.
"Well... Nousku-kun helped me," Yukiko admitted in embarrassment.
"All I did was make sure you followed the recipe," Viljam said supportively, before having an evil smile, "Wasn't easy though."
"Hey!" Yukiko exclaimed in annoyance, "That wasn't nice."
"You were going to pour my syrup into the sauce," Viljam retorted.
"...I don't like you," Yukiko said with a defeated tone.
The Finnish boy was unaffected by the words. "Hey, aside from that, you did great," Viljam said and patted Yukiko's head. Chie kept giving Viljam an annoyed look as this exchange happened
"That wasn't nice," Nanako scolded Viljam.
Viljam smiled at Nanako. "You're right, it wasn't," he admitted.
"Why are you so mean to Yukiko right now," Chie asked, ready to give a piece of her mind if he answered wrong.
"What do you mean," Viljam asked, genuinely confused.
"What do you mean, what do you mean," Chie asked incredulously.
"Chie, it's fine," Yukiko told her best friend before any unnesessary drama happened.
"He doesn't always understand what he's saying," was the explanation that Yukiko gave.
Viljam looked worried at what Yukiko's words, "Sorry."
"It's fine," Yukiko said, before finishing the last of her teriyaki. Nanako and Yu of course savored the delicious meal, while Viljam and Chie devoured theirs pretty fast.
"Amagi-san, keep this up and whoever you marry becomes one of the luckiest guys in the world," Yu couldn't help but say. Seriously, this was a big improvement compared to her previous attempts.
Yukiko couldn't help but blush at the compliment, "I don't know..."
"Come on Yukiko, you did great," Chie agreed with Yu, minus the marrying part. For now anyway.
"Thank you, so much Yukiko-san," Nanako added in happily.
Yukiko had no idea what to say. Sure, Viljam didn't do much in terms of actual cooking, but Yukiko just didn't have it in herself to take all the credit.
"And with that, who wants dessert," Viljam asked, opening the last box. Yu and Nanako were surprised to see it was filled with caramels. They were wrapped in see through wrappings too.
"Where did you buy these," Yu asked, out of curiosity.
"Nowhere, I made them," Viljam answered happily. "Though I had to ask some help in cutting them into pieces and wrapping them," he added, while giving a grateful look to the two girls.
"Can I take some," Nanako asked, eyeing the candies.
It was Yukiko who decided to answer," Of course, Nanako-chan.".
"Yay!" With that Nanako took one caramel, unwrapped it and ate it. "This is great," the eight year old girl exclaimed happily.
"Hmm... Not bad, what recipe did you follow," Yu asked, after tasting one himself.
Viljam looked a little sheepish at that. "I worked that one from memory. Though I wondered what would happen if I added vanilla sugar," the Finnish admitted.
"I thought I tasted vanilla," Yu commented, "It's good."
"Thanks," Viljam said happily.
Yukiko smiled at something she happened to know. "You still didn't have to make so much," she said slyly, earning questioning look from Yu.
"Me and my famous sweet tooth," Viljam replied simply.
"What are you talking about," Yu asked as he couldn't resist taking another one. And neither could Nanako.
Chie grinned at the question. "This isn't even half of what Nousku-kun made," the green clad girl said while pointing at the box, earning wide eyes from Yu.
"Like I said, famous sweet tooth," Viljam replied to the unasked question.
"Uh-huh." Was the most intelligent comment Yu could come up with.
Nanako decided to pipe up again, "Hey big bro, can we continue now?".
"Oh course, Nanako," Yu said, remembering what they were supposed to be doing right about now.
"I can help with your homework if needed," Yukiko offered to Nanako.
"Me too," Chie chimed in.
"I don't know how much help I will be, but I'll do my best too," Viljam said unsurely. He wasn't sure what kind of education kids Nanako's age get in Japan. That's not even counting the fact that Viljam went to a school that specializes in kids with learning disorders or other conditions that hamper their studying. But he was at least going to try.
"Come on Nousku-kun, you're not stupid," Yukiko said enouragingly, knowing what he was probably thinking. And that's coming after she had to correct on his reading occasionally. Not to mention she sometimes questioned, how he became confused on what he was supposed to do. Thankfully, those incidents had become fewer and fewer.
With that encouragement, they got to work on helping Nanako.
(Few minutes later)
Turns out the first order of business was for Nanako to write an essay about something that happened during summer. Yukiko had immediately suggested that Nanako would write about the Summer festival. The little girl was more than happy to do that.
"Hey, Chie. What did you and Nousku-kun do at the festival," Yukiko suddenly asked, causing Chie to tense up and fix an accusing glare at Viljam.
"We just ate some delicious food, tried a few games and she even convinced me to pray at the shrine," Viljam answered truthfully, while trying to subtly motion to Chie not to worry.
Yu knew he shouldn't find amusement in this, but this was just too ridiculous. However, he also knew that he should stay out of this, if only because he didn't feel comfortable about giving anyone ideas about his still questionable relationship with Rise.
"I asked Chie," Yukiko said with a pointed look at Viljam, but soon directed it at Chie.
"Y-yeah. What he said," Chie agreed. "I mean, can you believe this guy thought he was intruding on the shrine," Chie said, earning an embarrassed glare from Viljam at being reminded about that.
Yukiko, kept looking at Chie for a few more moments before smiling again. "I believe you," the black haired girl said, causing Viljam to release a breath, which thankfully happened out of Yukiko's field of vision.
Surprisingly, Nanako kept writing her essay during the commotion, due to Yu telling her this wasn't anything important.
"Hey, Nanako-chan," Viljam decided to pipe up," What did you do with your dad at the festival?".
Nanako looked up from her work to smile. "We tried the shooting game, then I tried to get a gold fish, then we ate okonomiyaki, and..." From there Nanako couldn't help but list all the things she and her dad did together. Then she looked thoughtfully at Viljam, "Why did you look so angry?".
"Täh?" Viljam sounded out.
Nanako shifted awkwardly, "You looked angry when dad and I passed you guys at the takoyaki stall."
Yu decided to answer for Viljam on this one, "It's because Teddie did something mean to us and Viljam took it more personally than the rest of us.".
"Why?"
This time Viljam answered himself. "That's... something I'm not comfortable talking about. Especially because it's a little stupid," The last sentence was said in embarrasment. Viljam did not want to tell Nanako that he hated Teddie for stealing the girl he likes, especially with Yukiko around. Chie he didn't mind telling if they were alone.
"Are you still fighting," Nanako asked with slight worry.
"No," Viljam said with a smile. "I'm still a little annoyed at him, but I'm not tempted to... hit him anymore," Viljam said, self-censoring the last part.
"Well, it's good that you've forgiven him," Yukiko said, not quite sure what Teddie could've done to make Viljam hate him.
"Yeah," Viljam said, though he wasn't sure if he had entirely forgiven Ted. "Anyway, I think we're getting a little off topic here," The Finnish boy then pointed out.
"Oh right! We're probably distracting Nanako-chan," Chie exclaimed in realization.
"It's okay, I'm almost done," Nanako said, returning to writing.
"Already?" Yu questioned, moving to look over Nanako's essay. To his surprise, Nanako had written a lot. "You're good Nanako," Yu complimented her writing.
"Thanks," Nanako said happily.
Viljam got curious too and decided to see the progress. "If I can understand this, anyone can," the Finnish boy said supportively.
This evening was starting to become more fun.
"Oh, by the way, Nousku-kun, Chie. Have you two done your homework yet," Yukiko asked just to be sure they had.
Chie's face fell at hearing that. "Urgh... No I haven't," she grumbled.
Yukiko shook her head at hearing that. "Chie, you should do them, or else you will get in trouble," the black haired girl scolded.
"Yeah, I know," Chie grumbled, not looking forward to the work she had to do.
Satisfied at Chie's answer, Yukiko turned towards Viljam, "What about you, Nousku-kun." The Finnish boy just stared at Yukiko nervously. The said girl crossed her arms at the unvoiced answer."You haven't have you." It wasn't a question, but a matter of fact statement.
"...I forgot," Viljam said with little confidence.
AN: Looks like Yukiko is one step closer to losing her title of "poison chef"... Or maybe this was just a fluke. Also, Viljam just proved the saying, "What you leave behind, you find in front of you." to be true.