It was my birthday this week!
I really, really, thought I would have gotten this chapter up a week earlier, but my schoolwork caught up with me and it cut out plenty of hours of my month. Still, I've gotten this chapter up in
And it was really, really, fun to write, in my opinion! Because this is the long-awaited date between Steven and Cindy!
For DaX0315, darkwolf0909, and StRAngE ToASt, enjoy a serving of Cynthia's Oran berry Poffins with Nomel, Magost, and Grepa cream.
Chapter sixty-three: Kiloude Takoyaki
Steven dreaded to return to this boutique hotel room, but with the media making it impossible to maintain his privacy, he had no choice. Plus, he would have to share the same bed with Cynthia again. But seeing that Cynthia hadn't returned yet, he let Metagross out into the room.
"I'll be in the shower," he said.
The metal giant nodded.
As the door slammed shut, Metagross rested its body onto the floor and switched on the TV using its psychic power. If Metagross could sweatdrop, now was the time, because the regional news broadcasted endless highlights of the cook-off today. If that wasn't enough, there were plenty of close-up shots of the judges as well as the Gym Leaders. The media seemed like they couldn't get enough.
While the sound of the shower continued to make noise in the hotel room, Metagross could also hear the familiar unlocking of the room door. Cynthia had walked into the room, and looked a little surprised to see Metagross resting in the middle of the room.
"Oh hey. Were you here this whole time?" She smiled slightly.
Metagross shook its head, and took into account that Cynthia looked strangely happy. Did something happen to her? Her smile was not superficial, so there had to be some underlying cause. Metagross wasn't an expert at reading emotions, but if there was one thing for certain, Cynthia looked happier than she was on the TV.
"Meta," it groaned, and then glanced at the bathroom door.
"…I see," Cynthia replied.
She hanged her coat before proceeding to sit on the sofa. In Metagross' eyes, Cynthia looked blank. She simply reclined and stared at the ceiling, as if she had no idea what to do with her life. With the TV still on, she glanced at it to see the continued highlight reel of the cook-off. Couldn't the media have picked up a better story? But with she and Steven holding practically celebrity status, and Kalos being infamous for media coverage of celebrities; to fend off the media was more trouble that it was worth.
It was also why this hotel was the safest place in the city, for the time being. The only flaw was that she had to be stuck in the same room with him.
In Cynthia's mind, she couldn't understand what her own emotions where going through. In her heart, it was a jumbled mess. She and Steven mutually disliked each other for sharing the same room, but Cindy (not Cynthia) had no issues with Steven at all. Cynthia covered her eyes with one hand.
As she reflected on today's events, she thought back to the cook-off. No doubt, Steven wasn't keen on seeing what her cooking was like. Was it really that hard to notice? She thought her cooking might be able to get to him, but clearly, it was having an unexpected effect. Rather than accepting her cooking, Steven became retaliatory. How much did he value his business, anyway?
Metagross edged closer to Cynthia nudged Cynthia's knee with its side to get her attention.
"Argh… You wouldn't understand! No one would understand!" Cynthia shouted at Metagross, which earned a sweatdrop from the latter. "Your friend is the main problem behind all of this! Because of him, he's putting me into a mess, you hear me?!" Cynthia could have vented more, but there was no chance of that happening, because Steven had emerged from the bathroom in his nightclothes.
"What are you doing?! You don't just shout at everyone, you hear me?!" he shouted. "What makes you think Metagross will listen?!"
"You have no right to say that! You were hogging the shower!"
"I was here first!"
"You're stepping your boundaries! Literally!"
Steven, in his anger, realised that he had indeed overstepped the red tape marking on the floor.
"Now, Steven, you have just crossed the line!" Cynthia shrieked.
Steven threw his hands up and jumped back into his taped boundaries. After that, he crawled over to the kitchen as if to make something to eat. That really got onto Cynthia's nerves, because she hadn't eaten dinner. It looked like Steven was making pie.
"Come on… Let me cook! I'm hungry!" Cynthia complained.
"Not my problem," Steven replied shortly. "You might as well take a shower, because I'll be a while."
"You think I care?!" Cynthia said.
"You should."
She staring daggers at him, and then Cynthia went to put away her belongings before going to the shower. Her stomach grumbled at the same time as she did this, and it occurred to her that keeping her phone on silent would be the smartest move at this time. The last thing she wanted was for Steven to discover who Cindy was.
That also raised a thought in Cynthia's mind: would she have to reveal who Cindy was, eventually? Or should she simply just bury it as a deep dark secret and hope that Steven would forget about her?
By the time Cynthia was showering, Steven was using the leftovers of his ingredients from today's cook-off to make a pie. Plenty of vegetables, grinded Spelon berry, and Pinap berries were mixed into the pie crust and were then left to bake.
Metagross watched him coldly.
"Something wrong?" Steven said.
Metagross gave a look as if to say 'are you serious?', but Steven shook his head.
"We have an agreement, and it's not my fault that she wanted to use the kitchen now. Well… If you want, you can have a bit of the pie."
He cleaned the kitchen as he waited for the pie to finish baking, and in time for Cynthia to step out of the bathroom in her nightclothes. She looked pale, but Steven didn't care too much for that.
"If it makes you feel better, I cleaned the kitchen," he said without looking at her.
He was met with silence.
Behind her sunglasses, Cynthia wondered how she had ended up in this position. She was at Lumiose Station, seated at a relatively quiet café located inside. It wasn't exactly the best thought-out meeting place for anyone, but for Steven's sake – and certainly not Cindy's – she agreed to meet here.
Come to that, she might minimise her chances of seeing Winona too. Apart from Garchomp, Winona was the only one who could see through Cynthia's disguise. Amazingly, Cynthia thought, Steven still hadn't caught on, or was he only pretending? But given what happened last night, that was unlikely.
Sitting alone at her table, with a cup of Pecha berry tea in front of her, Cindy glanced at her surroundings and hoped she wouldn't be noticed. For now, it seemed to be working.
"Bon matin," a familiar voice said to her.
Cindy looked up, seeing Steven looking right at her.
"I brought these as leftovers from the cook-off yesterday. You said you were watching the cook-off, but I bet it made you hungry." Steven smiled and brought a container of his langues de chat de Cyllage out on the table. From what Cindy could see, Steven was really meaning to do it. He added, "Shame it didn't get the best of Cynthia, though. I really thought I could beat her."
"Um… thanks," Cindy said quietly. She eyed the biscuits closely. "You know, I hadn't eaten breakfast today, and I was starved last night."
"Then this is all yours," Steven simply said. "You need to eat! Otherwise, your stomach will cave in and then something bad will happen."
Raising an eyebrow behind her sunglasses, Cindy smiled and opened the container. She looked up at Steven again just to make sure nothing was out of the ordinary. However, all Cindy saw was Steven smiling as if amused that she was hesitant.
"They're not poisoned…" he joked.
Smirking back at him, Cindy took a biscuit and bit half of it off. The flavours were like a waltz in her mouth, with the rich taste of de Cyllage filling her senses and pairing nicely with the biscuit itself. It made Cindy wonder why Cynthia's Poffins – her own – managed to edge this in the competition.
"That's really kind of you, you know…" Cindy muttered. "These are delicious!"
"Don't mention it," Steven said.
"It's just that… I heard a rumour that you are a cold-hearted guy who is really selfish. Seeing that article about your confrontations with Cynthia at Cyllage City kind of puts it into perspective," Cindy added. She ate the remainder of her biscuit. "Plus, you are always busy."
Steven's smile faded. "I do have to keep my business afloat. Besides, you probably know that Cynthia has been in my way for a long time. Well, not as long as you might think."
Cindy's smile faded. "So… You have no feelings for her?"
"You sound like one of my servers," Steven replied, thinking of Martine. "How could I end up with her? I don't have a choice, anyway. It's not like we have anything in common. If nothing else, she is a thorn in my side."
"You have 'nothing' in common? But you're both former champs. That's at least something." Cindy smirked again. She reached for another biscuit to eat along with her Pecha berry tea, and Steven did the same. "Speaking of which, where's that student of yours?"
"You mean Astrid? She's training, probably. You probably could see she has a lot of skill in battling, but I never expected you to be a competitive one, Cindy," Steven said. "How long have you trained for? Have you ever competed?"
Cindy paused, wondering how to answer. "Um… I haven't competed. You could say I just train for fun, and to strengthen my bond with Garchomp." She held up the Poké Ball. "You're not itching for a battle, are you?"
"Nah… I have to save my strength for tomorrow. You know I'll be busy," Steven replied. He tapped his head to think. "Hmm… It's not fair that I decide again where to go. Is there anything you would like to do? I'll be fine with it. Sorry I didn't think about this ahead of time…"
Cindy raised an eyebrow. "Do what I want? What to do, what to do… You know, you probably wouldn't want to stay in Lumiose the entire time, eh? How about we board a train? Kiloude City supposedly has good taste." She reached for another biscuit – For some reason, she found the flavour addictive and it tasted really good with the tea. Now if only she had brought her Poffins – oh right, that wasn't possible.
At first she expected Steven to actually question her suggestion, but he went along with it.
"Pourquoi pas? You have a point there, and hopefully we won't be stalked." He picked up his tea again, and then paused to look at her. "You really like those biscuits, don't you?"
Cindy realised how many she had eaten.
"Oh! I'm so sorry!" She bowed her head down, while pushing her sunglasses closer to her eyes.
"No worries. I can always make more." Steven said. "Come to that, you may be an awesome battler, like me, but can you cook just as well?"
Now that was unexpected.
"Um… More or less." Cindy sulked a little.
Cindy could not believe it. She thought her suggestion to go to Kiloude City was a joke, but Steven took it seriously. They bought boarding passes for the TMV at the station, and now they were seated beside each other on the TMV. Beside them was the window, which showed off the landscape passing by at an incredible speed. Such was the wonders of high-speed rail. However, Cindy couldn't dwell on those thoughts at the moment. What she found ridiculous was that she was literally travelling with this man – Steven – in a way she didn't count on happening. It was a wonder how Steven hadn't recognised her yet. Was he really that oblivious?
"Argh… I didn't bring any extra snacks on me. If only I had brought more of those langues de chat, eh?" he said, checking his bag.
"It wouldn't hurt checking out the specialities in Kiloude City. I'll give you that." Cindy continued watching the landscape outside to avoid Steven's gaze.
Steven blinked. "Say, Cindy… I was wondering… Would you be interested in seeing the mural I talked about from earlier? I compiled it into a report."
"You mean the one that supposedly depicted Hoenn's origins? Sure." Cindy looked at Steven to see what he might do, and then he brought out a printed image of the mural out of his bag. Indeed, there was at least one legendary Pokémon present in the mural, but the mural was so massive, and the lighting limited, that it was difficult to make out anything else.
She studied the mural carefully and read the report that came along with it. Apparently, Steven had written it himself, along with a couple more editors.
As they talked and talked about the details of the report, Steven had to admit he was enjoying Cindy's company. Never had he met another such as her who was as invested into history as he was, and unlike Wallace, who hardly cared for Steven's hobbies (and being the so-called best friend and all), Cindy was as responsive to Steven's interests. By the time the TMV had finished its journey, they had finished talking about the report and were about to dive into the topic of Sinnoh's Stark Mountain.
However, Kiloude City wouldn't wait.
Kiloude City had the air of the countryside that reminded Steven a bit of Cyllage City. The air was crisp, fresh, and breathable. Yet the moment they stepped out of Kiloude Station, Steven and Cindy noticed two things. First, the city was considerably quieter than Lumiose, and second, there was a very strong smell in the air. It was the smell of a certain cheese that Steven knew well.
"Bleu de Sud-Est…" he said. He breathed in the air again, and then apologised to Cindy. "Ah… So sorry. It's just that I've never smelled cheese this strong and fresh that you could smell it from afar." Okay, now that really sounded weird.
But to his surprise, Cindy burst into a fit of giggles.
"You're cute, you know that?" she said, which caused Steven to look away, embarrassed.
There was a cool market a few paces away that seemed to be the source of the smell of the blue cheese. In the market, there were cheeses, fruits, and wines on sale of many kinds and flavours. One vendor was offering samples to visitors, another vendor was cutting up blocks of LaBrie to sell, and another was advertising out loud. There was even one vendor selling freshly baked baguette filled with LaBrie cheese, and what a bestseller it was. However, since Cindy already had a fill of biscuits already, only Steven craved something.
"Hmm… I can't do this, publicly." He palmed his head.
"Nah. I'll do it. My treat, since you already treated me to biscuits." Cindy went ahead and bought the baguette for him, and Steven graciously accepted it.
While they continued walking together and Steven enjoying his snack, they stopped by the Battle Maison – which was the city's star attraction.
"You know of the Battle Towers in Hoenn and Sinnoh?" Steven said. "I'm told this Battle Maison runs by a similar format. But I never really got into that stuff."
"I understand. You wouldn't need to go through all that as a former champ, and you have other priorities like your restaurant business," Cindy replied, although deep down, she knew this because she was in the exact same position as Steven: former Champion, head chef, and no time to battle.
Steven nodded. "But you know, maybe Astrid would be more invested than I am in this. That reminds me, I must remember to train her later. She does want to qualify for the championship, and she has a long way to go, especially if she could get the best of you."
Cindy raised an eyebrow. Even at this time, Steven talks about Astrid?! Maybe she was overreacting, and so she kept a calm demeanor. "Hold that thought. Does that mean that because I could beat her, you have not trained her well? Would that mean you're not a good mentor? Or… maybe… you're rusty: you might not even beat me."
Expecting Steven to challenge her to a battle, Cindy was mistaken. Instead, Steven looked lost in thought. "Hmm… You're right. Perhaps I'm getting too old for this, and that's why I've retired. I should revise Astrid's training programme, in that case. Maybe watching a few more intense battles might help me get rid of this rust."
He looked at the Battle Maison, and then back to Cindy. "Want to watch some battles?"
Cindy smiled. "Sure, but you're buying."
They stayed at the Battle Maison for a long time, until the challenger was defeated by the Battle Chantalaine on the fiftieth battle. That amounted to at least two hours, let alone three, that they had been sitting in the same place.
Satisfied, Steven and Cindy left the Battle Maison together. It was already twilight by then and the sun was starting to show signs of setting. Nevertheless, spotlights illuminating the Battle Maison's exterior indicated that it wouldn't be closing any time soon. It was not unlike services that run day and night, although that left Steven to wonder if the Battle Chantalaines ever got any sleep.
"It's this late already?" Steven said. "I'd like to stay a little longer, but I have to get back to my competition."
"No, I understand." Cindy nodded. "You're a busy–"
She stopped short, smelling the air instead. It had a savoury smell to it and would have made anyone's mouth water whether they were hungry or not. It was then they realised how hungry they were. Had it been that long since they had eaten?
"Um… Maybe I could grab something before we go." Cindy finished. "Do we have time?"
Steven took out his ticket. "We have half an hour, so… Sure."
They followed the smell towards a small marketplace behind the Pokémon Centre, where there were plenty of booths and food vendors. Steven wasn't surprised: for a place like Kiloude City to have an attraction like the Battle Maison, and the whole area was essentially a park, there was bound to be a market for hungry vistors. This was the result. Although, he had admit, he hadn't smelled this kind of savoury food for a while.
"That's… takoyaki. I haven't seen one of those since I was in Hearthome City," Cindy said. She did a double take. "Oh! What I meant was that there's a park in Hearthome City while sells this stuff. That was where I had my first taste of it."
"It's been a while for me too. I know there are plenty at Slateport City, and I suspect it's pretty popular at the Battle Frontier." Steven looked at the vendor where the cook was placing the soft snack into small boxes, in groups of four or six. He then drizzled them with a certain brown liquid and mayonnaise before serving. "I'll get a box for you."
"Wha…?" Cindy said, but it was too late. Steven briefly talked with the cook, and paid for two boxes; exchanging a handful of Poké to the cook for two boxes of four takoyaki. As it happened, the cook was in the middle of making a fresh batch.
Soon enough, she and Steven were seated together on a park bench, each holding a box and a toothpick. Clearly, it was sunset.
"Merci," Cindy thanked.
"Careful. They're very hot," Steven warned.
Cindy blew on her piece to cool it down before eating. The moment she bit into it, an explosion of flavours filled her mouth, like dozens of bubbles popping in the air.
"This is... It's…" she stammered, before swallowing. "What kind of style is this?"
"The cook tells me it's a local specialty," Steven replied. "Thanks to the constant visitors to this city, the cook managed to integrate other cultural elements into this takoyaki. Yeah, it has a different flavour to that of the ones in Slateport. I would call it unique."
"Kiloude-style? That has a nice ring to it," Cindy replied. "Hmm… I taste sea salt, a tiny bit of tarragon, and… is that smoked salt I smell? It's delicious!"
"Tu as raison," Steven replied. "It's so soft…"
They ate until each of their boxes was empty, and afterwards made their way to Kiloude Station at last. The TMV was set to depart soon, so they checked in with their boarding passes and were no sooner seated on the high-speed rail. The train moved at an incredible speed, and there was plenty of lighting inside the train to make the journey more bearable, since it was dark outside. As it happened, this wasn't the last train to leave from Kiloude City to Lumiose, but it was certainly one of the latest.
Steven only looked outside the window, seeing nothing more than dark shapes in the night.
"You know, I've been thinking, you never really answered my question from earlier." He didn't look at her in the eye, but it was clear he was lost in thought. "You never told me whether you can cook or not, but I was surprised you could taste the tarragon in that takoyaki. Are you sure you don't have cooking skills?"
Cindy sulked into her seat. Heat started to rise in her cheeks – Steven's point had caught her off-guard. How could she have been so careless with her words? But how could she blame herself? She was genuinely hungry at the time.
"I… uh…" she couldn't find the words to speak. "Anyone could have taste, right? Food critics, like those from Hotel Richissime, don't have to be excellent cooks. They just need the taste." For once, she felt helpless, like Steven had her cornered.
But Steven looked amused. "Fair enough," he replied. "Still, I like that you, like me, appreciate food a lot. Perhaps that's one thing we have in common." He turned to look at the window outside, although he was smiling.
Cindy took a few deep breaths to calm down.
They were about to go their separate ways at Lumiose Station after disembarking. The station was very quiet and there not a lot people around, inside and outside the station. Surprisingly, the café which Steven and Cindy had eaten at (from earlier) was still open. Steven supposed that even some places still had to be open for certain people.
"I really enjoyed our time today," Steven said. "Thank you, Cindy."
Cindy scratched her ear nervously. She had never acted this timid before. "I… uh… Same here, Steven. Good luck with tomorrow."
Steven smiled. "Merci beaucoup, Cindy. You know, I'm amazed at how you still need to wear those sunglasses even at night. Even on the train, you never took them off! You're not blind, are you?"
Cindy tipped her sun hat down a little. "Of – Of course not."
"Hmm… well, in any case, it's getting late," Steven replied. He was about to walk away, but turned to look at her again. "I hope to see you again when this is all over."
To his surprise, Cindy kissed his cheek.
"I needed this break too, and I had lots of fun…" she said, as she looked at him face-to-face.
"Au revoir, Cindy." Steven said with smiles.
Cindy paused again, before replying "Au revoir" in the same way. As Steven walked away, Cindy lowered her sunglasses just so she could get a better look at him. Frankly, she was amused that she had gotten away with her disguise, but wondered how things would turn out later on.
Cynthia placed a hand over her lips, reflecting on what she had done. What if she had did it on the lips? Would that have been too much?
And there we have it. The date! Review, and enjoy a serving of Kiloude takoyaki! Or, the langues de chat de Cyllage! :)