The Next Day
"Hya!"
I watched as Fumi knocked Renji off balance, causing him to fall from the log he was standing on top of. When it looked like he was about to lose, his hand reached out, and in an acrobatic move he used another log as a hold to pivot himself around and land a kick on Fumi.
She was forced off her log but kicked off the side of another log on her way down to jump up and aim for another log to land on. She noticed that Kin had occupied that log already and reached a hand out to cartwheel herself over the log, avoiding the cat, and landing on another log.
"Those two get more ridiculous each time I see them." Junpei said as the two combatants stared each other down. "But this is nice. All of you have been so busy lately, we haven't gotten together like this in awhile."
"Un." I acknowledged him absentmindedly as I focused on the water moving on my bokken.
"By the way, Zai. Have you heard about the cooking competition?" Junpei asked me.
"No." I said succinctly, still focused on my task.
"Never mind then, I had a feeling you wouldn't be interested in competing." He said as he reached down to pet Kin, who had decided he had enough fun chasing the others around on the logs.
I thought it was dangerous but Renji and Fumi said it would be fine and thought it was good training to avoid Kin.
Since I was still recovering and couldn't join the sparring, I had to do something else with my time. I had finally gotten to the point where I could form the rough shape of a ball of water at the end of the blade but I couldn't get it to rotate. I soon felt drained and dropped the little glob of water.
"It's nice that you are practicing control of your ki, Zai. But you know that you can't use any elemental attacks without a blade like this right?" Fumi, who had finished her spar as some point, pointed at her wakizashi that laid on the veranda.
"Really?" I asked.
"Yep." Renji said as he joined us on the veranda. "You need something to channel you ki."
'Choubei never told me about this. Maybe he assumed I could get my hands on one of those blades through my connection with Kuro? But then again, my control of ki has been advancing, so when I do actually get one, I could use it.'
Renji immediately dashed that thought.
"And even then, it won't matter much if you don't have a technique to utlize your element."
'If Ryota's meeting with the black market guy goes well, I might be able to get my hands on something.' I thought.
"Can't he just use the bokken?" Junpei asked.
"For training, sure." Fumi said. "But the first enemy you face will turn it into chunks of expensive firewood.
"Unless..." Renji said with a grin. "You just don't get hit."
"Keep dreaming." Fumi said.
After leaving Renji's place, I stopped by the barbershop.
"Long time no see, haha." The barber chuckled as he gestured at my hair when I walked in. "You look like a stranger now."
"It's been awhile." I said as I sat down in the empty chair. "My hair was much longer last week."
"You need me to fix that mess at the back? Or do you want to go back to the buzz cut?"
"Sure, let's go back to the buzz cut."
The cut was widespread in town enough by now that I didn't have to worry about getting caught for sneaking into the Okuda-kai warehouse 3 years back.
"Don't be a stranger, or you'll end up looking like a stranger, haha." The barber said as I paid for the cut and was leaving the shop.
"I'll see you again soon."
I returned to the restaurant after my haircut to find Jin there playing with Kin.
"You're here?"
Jin stood up excitedly and ran up to me, wrapping his arm around my shoulders.
"Zai, my good friend." He whispered conspiratorially.
"What do you want?"
"Can't I just visit my two best friends at work?"
"So? What did you want?" I said, not buying it.
"Fine." Jin sighed before pulling me in closer and entering whisper mode again. "The second book of that series you gave me last time was just released, Icha Icha Bouryoku. Please lend me some money, I need to read it."
"If you want money, you have to work for it." I said. "Look at Nobu, he has a job."
"I have a job too." Jin said defensively. "And you sound like Taro."
"Really?"
"Yup. In a couple months when I become 12, the Tatsunami Stable will let me move in and start as a novice apprentice."
"That's good news, congratulations."
"Hehe, thanks." Jin laughed before turning a bit abashed. "So...how about a reward?"
"Alright, I'll give you some money to get your book." I sighed.
"Yes! Your the best, Zai." He grabbed me into a bear hug.
Nao came up to me at that time.
"What's up, Nao?"
"A man named Gohei came by earlier and dropped this off." Nao held out a flier.
"A cooking competition, next week?" I read the flier.
'Junpei did mention this earlier.'
"He said that while he was running deliveries, he stumbled upon a gathering and heard a few famous chefs around the town talking down on our restaurant because we don't have a proper chef." Nao bit her lip as she glanced towards the kitchen. "Especially a Chef Matsuhisa, who said that our restaurant would be too scared to compete and that if our little suckling chef did compete, he would get last place."
''It's probably true since Gohei has no reason to lie.'
"Who is Chef Matsuhisa?" Azu suddenly appeared at the table and asked.
"He's the head chef for Suzuya's." Rin said, also appearing and crowding up the area. "I heard their restaurant has a bad reputation lately, so maybe he's trying to use this competition to boost their prestige again."
'Their obviously trying to goad us into competing.'
"This guy sounds like a like a real scrotum." Jin said.
"I get the feeling that means something bad." Nao said before asking cautiously, "What does it mean?"
"You obviously need to read more." Jin said pretentiously.
"Quit acting, you've only read one book." Nobu popped his head out from the kitchen before coming up to me. "Zai, you're back? I want to compete!" Nobu said as he brought up a fist. "Please let me compete, Big Sister Azu, Zai."
'I guess stuff like this beats all the life threatening danger I've been running into recently.'
"Then should we use the competition to reveal our new recipe?" I asked Nobu.
"I think it's ready." He grinned.
"What is?" Nao asked as the others looked at us in curiosity.
"Hehe, wait and see." Nobu said but I could tell he was eager to see the finished product as well.
"Let's go check it out then." I said with equal anticipation as we headed towards the basement.
I grabbed a tray that was in the basement and brought it up to the kitchen. After washing our hands, we gathered around the counter. Even Hatsutaro paused what he was doing to watch as we all examined the contents of the tray.
"It's more smooth and there are no dark specks this time." Nobu said as he poked at it.
"It seems like the cold fermentation was a success." I said as I grabbed some flour.
They all watched as I took one of the items from the tray and mixed it with the flour before stretching and tossing it about.
"Oh! I know! It's mochi, right? Your making mochi!" Jin said, Hatsutaro and Nao nodded in agreement.
"Nope." Nobu laughed before he asked, "What should we put on it?"
"Let's keep it simple for now. Cheese and basil should be fine." I said, once it was in the shape I wanted.
I went back into the basement to grab some red looking sauce we had made just the day before. After slathering the sauce on, we added cheese and basil before tossing it into the stone oven. 8 minutes later we had a finished product in front of us.
"Something smells good." Nao, who had gone back to work while we were cooking, peeked her head into the kitchen.
"Just in time." I laughed. "Call Rin back here too."
"What is it?" Nao asked, once everyone was in the kitchen surrounding the counter.
"It's the new item we're going to add to the menu." I introduced. "And the cooking competition is the perfect place to advertise it."
I sliced it up into 8 equal pieces and then grabbed a slice to show how it was eaten.
"It looks like a wheel."
"Why does all the food we serve here require us to eat with our hands?" Nao complained but still grabbed a slice for herself.
"Well, cheers I guess." I said as I raised my slice before taking a bite.
"Cheers." "Thanks for the food." "Cheers."
"What is this!? It's even better than the hamburger!"
"I think I'm in love."
"It's so goooood."
There were smiles all around as we all shared a meal together.
"What is it called?"
"It's called a pizza."
"Excuse me!" A voice called out from the front.
"Oops! Looks like we have to get back to work." Nao said as she and Rin hurried out of the kitchen. "Thanks for the meal."
"So, who's getting the last piece?" Jin asked but his hand was already reaching for it.