This must have been the world's smallest kitchen.
Shibata knew that he was unusually tall but that didn't change the fact that this kitchen was unusually small. There were only two burners, no oven, and barely any counter space. He didn't have to cook, he knew that he could have ordered something if he wanted to, but he preferred it. It was just nice to have something to do. He knew that this was a vacation and he should have been relaxing…and this was how he relaxed.
He made dinner….as best as he could.
This was Finland and hat meant Finnish food, which meant reindeer. Sautéed reindeer because, really, everything tasted better sautéed. He'd never sautéed anything in beer before but how different could it have been from cooking wine? Well chemically but…well he could do this. He knew how to follow a recipe, at least, and he could try his best. If not…well he could always have dinner with Hatori and Serizawa. They were probably living on chips and energy drinks right now. Maybe he should have invited them over….or rather made them to go plates…and while he was at it he could make dinner for everyone else…..
First he had to see if he could get this right.
"Please be good." Said Shibata as he measured poured out a can of beer. He had no idea if this was even good beer or not, he was more of a wine guy, but he was going to take his chances. It wasn't often he got to really experiment with something new. He never had the time, not with having to deal with everyone else, but now with his own living space he finally had the time and space to try something new.
Well, almost his own living space.
The front door slammed opened. If he had been back with the others in the shared house then he would have paid it no mind. He wouldn't have brushed the imaginary crumbs off of his apron or ran a hand through his hair to try and do something about it. He couldn't see it, of course, but he knew that it was probably sticking up in some weird way. He wouldn't have cared if he had been back in the shared house, unless it was Sho. It wasn't Sho, though, he and Mob had their own house. It was two people to a house. Mob and Sho, Serizawa and Hatori, Minegishi and Shimazaki, and then him and Tsuchiya….
And also Mukai.
"Eat this, Mama, eat this!" shouted Mukai. The door shut behind her. None of the other kids were with her…oh. Well there was always next time. He didn't miss cooking for the others. Shimazaki had worse table manners than Mukai, Minegishi complained about everything, Hatori was hardly even awake for dinner, and Serizawa when he did come out of his room was so jumpy that half the time dinner wound up splattered all over the walls and floor. He did miss cooking for the kids. Sure Sho could be a picky eater but that was just because he was little. Mob was always really sweet, anyway, and so was Mukai when she wasn't imitating her big brother. The kids could cook for themselves in their own tiny house, though, Mukai was dinner guest enough for him.
Mukai and Tsuchiya both were.
"Hold still, Mukai, we've got to get your boots off." Said Tsuchiya. He took a deep breath and centered himself. They were only sharing this house because it was the busiest time of year. It was a miracle that Mob had even managed to get them spots at this place so he shouldn't have complained about having to share with Tsuchiya…and he wasn't complaining. He liked this…not that he had a choice so he had might as well like her…this! He had might as well have made the best of this…and he was. He was making dinner and…and maybe he should have just gotten back to that now.
"Eat this Mama, it tastes bad!" said Mukai. He could hear her voice travelling from the whatever a genkan was called here. Oh no, she'd eaten already. That meant that Tsuchiya had too and then that meant that he'd be eating alone…well he could do that. He'd done it before and he could do it again. it was always lonely but he would live.
"Then why would I eat it if it tastes bad?" asked Tsuchiya
"Eat it!" said Mukai
"Come on, let's see what's going on in the kitchen. I bet there's something to eat in there that isn't licorice." Said Tsuchiya. It didn't take her very long to make it to the tiny kitchen. He tried to act natural as he dumped the meat into the beer. That was…that had been natural…right? He could feel her eyes on him. It was like he was under a microscope or on one of those hidden camera shows or something. She was watching him, he could feel her eyes and her aura, and he could feel her getting closer. He stood up straighter, nearly bumping his head on the vent, as she leaned in closer than she had ever been before.
"Smells good." Said Tsuchiya as she went back to her own person space. Well as much space as there could be in a kitchen this small. She was smiling at him, now, bright and happy….words! He had to say something!
"Thanks, I mean thank you I mean-" said Shibata. There, that had been the right thing to say. Now he could…well now he would have to think of something else to say. This wasn't the shared house anymore. Shimazaki wasn't going to teleport in and steal the pan off of the stove. Minegishi wasn't going to come in and start their own cooking process right beside him. Hatori wasn't going to accidentally open up a shaken up can of energy drink and then drop it and spray the whole kitchen. Sho wasn't going to come in and ask him to drop everything he was doing and make him poptarts from scratch. Mukai wasn't going to-wait, she lived here.
Of course she was going to do Mukai things.
"Eat this!" said Mukai as she tugged on his pant leg. He slowly leaned down and got a piece of sticky black candy pressed into the palm of his hand. Mukai smiled and tried to close his fingers around the sticky, square treat. Tsuchiya covered her mouth and shook her head.
"Don't, it's not good…and this is coming from me." Said Tsuchiya. He could hear her laughing. She was doing that thing where she covered her mouth while she laughed. He didn't know why women did that. There was nothing wrong with laughing. He couldn't think of a single thing that would have been wrong with Tsuchiya laughing. She must have been so pretty when she laughed, not that she wasn't pretty all the time, but she was especially pretty…he was going to get off this train of thought. They shared a house and worked together. Nothing good would come of getting all of that all mixed up.
"It's alright. I'm sure I've had worse." Said Shibata with a shrug. He took the candy and ate it….well he tried to. There weren't a lot of things in this world that he couldn't eat. Spiders, locusts, balut, anything with snake in it….and whatever this was. It was like black licorice but somehow more intense. He wanted to spit it out…the sink was so close….but Mukai was looking up at him and her eyes were welling up with hope and love…
So he did what he had to do.
"Very interesting." Said Shibata as he forced it down. That had been…a thing that he had eaten…and now it was done. Unless she wanted to share more of her candy with him….he would accept, of course. She was just a little kid. She didn't need to have her little heart crushed. The world would do that for her when she got older. She deserved to be happy for as long as she could be…and she was happy. She was laughing out loud and pointing at him.
"It's gross!" said Mukai with a laugh. She pointed, laughed, and then ran away. Shibata wasn't hurt, no, he was just happy that he'd made her happy. Her and Tsuchiya. She was still laughing behind her hand, but louder this time. It was a good sound.
"I can't believe you actually ate that." Said Tsuchiya
"It's wasn't that bad. I mean…salted licorice is alright. Salted caramels are a thing so why not salted licorice?" asked Shibata with a shrug. Food, he could talk about food. He could hold up a conversation with her about food without messing up and making her laugh at him, not with him.
"Well the salt enhances the sugar, that's what it does. Black licorice is not a flavor that needs to be enhanced. It's powerful enough on it's own." said Tsuchiya
"I think it's alright, I've had worse. Remember the time Shimazaki made a cake?" asked Shibata
"Which one? The time he put in salt instead of sugar or the time he forgot to unwrap the caramels before he put them in the batter?" asked Tsuchiya
"I was thinking of the time he tried to make mug cakes…in a mixing bowl." Said Shibata
"Oh God, I thought I'd blocked that out completely. I thought that house was going to burn down. Especially the way Hatori was losing his mind." Said Tsuchiya
"Shimazaki needs to leave him alone, it's not good for anyone and it's getting old at this point." Said Shibata. He didn't understand Shimazaki sometimes, pretty much all the time, but that made sense. Shimazaki didn't even understand himself it felt like sometimes. He didn't know what he was supposed to do. He didn't know how he was supposed to deal with that…he didn't even have words for him…for the rest of however long Suzuki was planning on having everyone live this was. He felt bad for Tsuchiya, sometimes, she was still getting used to everyone. As used to everyone as a person could be, anyway. It was a long, slow, and often painful process….poor Tsuchiya.
"I don't think he did it to mess with him, I think he just got high and wanted to make a cake or something. I don't know, he does weird stuff when he's high. Every time I think, Tsuchiya you should be used to it by now, but I never am. God, I know that this sounds terrible but it's so nice to get a break from everyone." Said Tsuchiya with a stretch. Shibata focused on the wall beside her. She was pretty, that was all, and he shouldn't have stared at her at all.
"Same…and it doesn't sound terrible. Shimazaki is….himself, Hatori can be a lot, Minegishi's in a mood again, and Serizawa…well he's ok but being around him is like walking on rice paper sometimes….sorry. Sorry, sorry, I sounded terrible there." said Shibata
"So I guess that we both sound terrible together." Said Tsuchiya. Her eyes met his…and stayed there.
"You could never sound terrible." Said Shibata. It just came out. He hadn't even thought about it…well he had been thinking about it…but he hadn't planned on staying it out loud. She must have thought…there were so many things she must have thought. None of them good. She was red, now, and she covered her mouth again.
"So! Um…what's cooking?" asked Tsuchiya quickly.
"It's reindeer meat sautéed in beer. I'm going to make some mashed potatoes to go with and some mixed vegetables too. Nothing too fancy." Said Shibata. She could have left, he wouldn't have minded. He had obviously said something weird. It was hard talking to women. There were so many things that could go wrong….and it was so easy to make mistakes when it came to talking to women. That was why he didn't do it that often.
"It sounds great but maybe don't tell Mukai that she's eating Rudolph." Said Tsuchiya
"Don't worry, as far as she knows it's just meat. I can make her something else, though, if she wants." Said Shibata
"No, no, I need to get her back on actual food. Everyone keeps feeding her candy, especially Shimazaki. It's like every time I turn my head it's 'Ryou candy, mama, over here' and she's got some new tooth rotting treat in her hands. I mean I'm not trying to be my parents, they hated candy, but I don't want her in dentures by the time she's ten." Said Tsuchiya with a shrug. He agreed….with most of that. Mukai did eat a lot of candy but if it made her happy then it was ok. If anything spending time with Shimazaki was worse for her. Aside from the drinking and the drugs there was the whole thing with Mob. He said that it wasn't a sex thing but it was…weird as hell. That was a good word for it, weird as hell. He was amazed that Tsuchiya wasn't even the least bit bothered by it…whatever 'it' had been.
"It doesn't bother you?" asked Shibata
"The candy thing? I mean it does and it doesn't. I want her to be happy, happier than I was when I was a kid, but I still have to take care of her." said Tsuchiya
"No, I meant leaving her with Shimazaki all the time. He doesn't make you nervous?" asked Shibata
"Shimazaki? No, not really. I don't leave her with him when it's obvious he's not sober but I know he'll take good care of her. He loves her, who wouldn't? She even managed to melt President Suzuki's heart." Said Tsuchiya
"Well obviously everyone loves her, I just meant…you know, the thing with Mob? I mean I'm pretty sure he has, or had, an actual crush on her. I mean he likes to start with everyone so it's kind of hard to tell but I think it was real." Said Shibata
"He said that it wasn't a sex thing and I believe him. I don't think he lies. He rambles, he says crazy things sometimes, but I don't think he lies to people. I don't think that he had a crush on her either. I think that he just really wants kids of his own. The whole thing is kind of sad in a way. I mean he does it to himself, he's a nice guy but I wouldn't want to have kids with him." said Tsuchiya
"I honestly can't imagine who would, want to have his kids I mean. Not even Minegishi wants to and they've been in love with him since I don't even know when." Said Shibata
"Yeah, those two…it would be nice, though, if they had a kid. I mean they both need to get it together, obviously, but it would be nice to have some more kids around for Mukai to play with." Said Tsuchiya
"Well she could always get another sibling…uh…I mean-" said Shibata. There. He'd put his foot in his mouth. Pretty much every single time he spoke to a woman this happened. He said the wrong thing and she either got weirded out or scared. Any minute now she'd slap him across the face and go switch houses with someone else. Maybe he'd get lucky and wind up with Hatori as a roommate. His night terrors weren't that bad these days.
"Not happening, not now anyway. She's enough work as it is and as for the dating pool…well it's looking pretty shallow around here." Said Tsuchiya. She smiled and laughed…oh. This happened sometimes too. Women, well people in general, laughed at him…he hated getting laughed at…but at least he was making someone happy.
"Yeah, not a lot of good guys in Claw, I guess…" said Shibata
"Yeah, so far you're the only decent guy I've met." Said Tsuchiya. His eyes met hers. She had said….words! She had said words and now it was his turn so…so he had to say something…right now!
"Same here. I mean girl, woman, lady-you know what I mean. There aren't a lot of women in Claw and it's not like we can be with normal people. I mean not with the lives we live." Said Shibata. There, that had been good. It had made sense. It couldn't have possibly gone any better.
"Even if we weren't practically nomads it's not like we have enough in common with normal people to do, well, anything. Not even date. It's not possible to be with someone, I don't think, if you have to hide a part of who you fundamentally are from them." Said Tsuchiya
"That's why we're here, isn't it? So we don't have to hide anymore." Said Shibata
"I guess so. I'm mostly here because I didn't know what else to do. I mean I never fit in with normal people even at the temple so when President Suzuki gave me his sales pitch and asked me to prove myself…well what could I do? That's why I'm here, I guess, to be a little less alone…and also because President Suzuki finally wanted a relationship with Mukai." Said Tsuchiya
"Oh, right. He's really the reason we're here. He and his family. Technically I'm supposed to keep his kids safe. Me, can you believe it?" asked Shibata
"I can believe it. You're great with kids. Really loving, I mean. You're a loving guy, Shibata." Said Tsuchiya. She took a step forward and put her hand on his arm. Shibata swallowed. This was…hopefully not something that he was misinterpreting. She was into him…maybe. He didn't know. They weren't even on a given name basis…so this might have been a friend thing….
"Hiroshi." Said Shibata
"What?" asked Tsuchiya
"You can call me Hiroshi if you want to…only if you want to! I mean I know it's kind of sudden but you wanted us all to call you Tsuchiya right from the beginning and-" said Shibata
"It's not sudden at all….Hiroshi." said Tsuchiya. Ok, this might not have been a friend thing. She was smiling at him and she was getting closer. His heart was pounding, his hands were shaking, his lungs were burning….wait…what was that….
"I…I should….oh no!" said Shibata as he turned around and grabbed the pan. It didn't hurt, not really, as he transferred it over to the other burner. That was…not good. There was no way anyone was eating that.
"Damn, that looked really good, too." Said Tsuchiya as she leaned over.
"I can start again." said Shibata, practically jumping ay the chance to make her something to eat. This was something he knew how to do, something he was a lot less likely to mess up. She was hungry and he could feed her, cook for her, since he was good at it.
"Here, let me help." Said Tsuchiya before she did just what she said she would. She helped him. He couldn't remember the last time anyone had helped him in the kitchen. Most of the time, even when he'd been a kid, he'd ben all alone. Not since mom got sick. This was both new and old. Warm and heart pounding amazing…but also small, really small. Small enough that he nearly knocked Tsuchiya over every single time he turned around. She didn't mind, though she had said so…even though this wasn't easy going at all. If anything sharing the kitchen made cooking take longer but it was alright, how could he have ever minded spending time with Tsuchiya.
This kitchen hadn't been built for him, let alone him and another person, but he didn't mind. If he had to share a tiny kitchen with someone then it should have been Tsuchiya.