Chapter 5 – Takumi to the Rescue


The last week had been an absolute whirlwind for Takumi. Summer was at its peak and many students were wishing they weren't failing so that they could be home. Outside was an inferno and luckily the buildings and kitchens were all kept at room temperature to avoid spoiling the students' cooking processes. This week Takumi had more luck in securing a spot during the best time of the day, which was morning. During his practice, the surrounding students were in awe with his style of cooking and openly ogled his dishes, which he hadn't minded one bit. They admired his delicate presentation and some students were on the verge of fainting from the aroma alone. Takumi chuckled at the memory. He never minded teaching those student chefs a thing or two about the incomparable talent of the Aldini.

Practicing his cooking non-stop and making sure his culinary sharpness didn't dull wasn't the only thing that kept him very busy. He knew that as soon as he hit the call button on his phone to engage an international call with Mamma, pandemonium would brake loose. He did anyway. She scolded him for being late in calling her and it made her worry that something wasn't right. She demanded if he has been eating enough and not just eating the Japanese snacks Isami had been raving on about. In short, his mamma was just being the usual Italian mother. The next topic of conversation took him over an hour to force her to drop. It was about 'his bella'.

Oh, the embarrassment.

Why did Isami had to go and tell their parents every little thing that went on in their texts? His mamma wanted to know every sliver of detail about Ayame-san, probably for fodder to gossip with his aunts, her friends and probably the entire Firenze! And of course she wanted to interrogate him on whether or not he'd been treating her right and if he was still being a gentleman like she taught him to be (which he found was mildly insulting, even coming from Mamma). He remembered, in the background he could hear Pappa grumbling about him needing to concentrate more on being the number one cook of Tootsuki and ditch the girl. Then he cringed and had to pull his phone away from his ears when Mamma started throwing rapid-fire Italian curses at Pappa. Luckily the phone conversation ended in a good note, when he assured her that everything was fine, he wasn't dating at all, and that he promised to send souvenirs back.

What better souvenirs to send back than Japanese plastic food samples? Takumi had made a special trip earlier in the week to Akihabara to search for some nice looking plastic Japanese food samples that were usually displayed in the restaurant windows. The last time he was there with Isami was when they went exploring Tokyo. They were expensive, but to his relief the prices had dropped since then. He also made sure to buy some souvenirs for his grandparents' home he called Nonna and Nonno in Surriento. A nice bottle of nihonshu was something he was sure they would appreciate. He bought one that was especially high quality as Nonna and Nonno knew their stuff when it came to wine and other forms of alcohol.

He didn't waste his trip to Tokyo either. He had made sure to stop by the Tokyo fish mongers to see what he could use as core ingredients to use for practice in making new recipes for the next day. Summer was the best season for Ayu known as sweetfish, Makogarei known as marbled sole and Kamasu known as the Japanese barracuda. He wasn't in the mood for making sushi, so he chose seasonal fish he knew were better off being cooked.

Takumi was sitting under the boughs of the Japanese elm, reflecting on the dishes he made using the fresh summer fish from the Tokyo fishmongers. He had gone with the Japanese-Italian fusion again and was pleased to find that he was improving, to a point where he was sure now that he could smash Yukihira in a duello.

'… and take back my mezzaluna' Takumi repeated his mantra in his mind as he ate his lunch.

He'd also been thinking about Ayame-san during his down time. She was constantly in his thoughts when he wasn't cooking. He couldn't believe that she hugged him twice in one day, and he hugged her back! Twice! The memory was branded into his brain and he relived it every night whenever he could. He also couldn't believe he was bold enough to give her his phone number. It felt as if he was making the 'first move' like those male protagonists in the romantic Japanese dramas Isami liked to watch! He hoped that she didn't think anything beyond that he was just giving her his contact number to help make an appointment to explore Tootsuki.

He hadn't received a text or call concerning that, however he did receive a text from her just two days ago.

Takumi clasped the lid of his bentou box closed and placed his chopsticks back into the pouch. He fished out his phone, flipping it open and went to enter his text messages, looking for the most recent text she sent him.

'Hi Takumi-kun!

Kuchiyose-kun had just came back from soccer camp!

-Ayame

Ayame-san had attached a selfie of the three of them. Namikaze was rocking a baseball cap and a pair of large sunglasses, sticking her tongue out at the camera. Kuchiyose looked like he was trying to escape, so his image blurred and Ayame-san, the one taking the photo, had a lovely and brilliant smile as her hair was tied up into a messy bun and her fringe pinned to the side with a pair of pink clips. She was wearing a black singlet underneath an off-the-shoulder white top, revealing her smooth shoulders. Her eyes sparkled, but he knew the selfie of her and her friends wouldn't do it justice.

He found himself smiling serenely at her face in the picture.

"Yoho! Who's that?"

"AAHII!" Takumi's phone went flying and landed on the grass. He frantically scooped it up to safety and snapped it shut.

"Nakiri-san! What the hell are you doing sneaking up on me?!" the blonde Italian fumed from his seat on the grass at the as Nakiri Alice popped out of nowhere like a round of indigestion.

Her lips curled into a smirk and she giggled as she leaned against the Japanese elm.

"You looked kind of lonely so I thought I'd come over and say hej! Who were you looking at? Let me see! Let me see!" She bent down to try to swipe the phone from Takumi's tight grip but to no avail. Takumi got up and held his phone high above their heads as he tried to swat her hands away and fend her off.

"Is it a girl? It's a girl isn't it?" she huffed with her arms akimbo.

"It's none of your business…" Takumi grumbled, slipping his phone into his pocket again.

"Seriously… you're no fun. Anyway, when are you going to bring that new friend of yours over to see me? I'm dying to talk to someone who's on my intellectual level when it comes to science. It gets so dreary and miserable explaining to people who know nothing of the sort, and then they still don't get it. It would be so much more refreshing to have someone worth talking to and only need one set of explanation for a change" she sighed dramatically.

"Not sure when" said Takumi curtly, feeling a bit hot under the collar. He didn't expect Nakiri Alice to accept his request immediately the other day, when he asked if Ayame-san could meet her sometime soon, as they shared a common interest. He looked off to the side, wondering indeed when Ayame-san would like to come and visit.

"By the way, Kawashima-chan is looking for you" she said as if she had remembered something important.

'Kawashima Urara?'

Takumi scowled. The last thing he needed was to be chased across Tootsuki by her of all people. He thought he'd successfully given her the slip last time, but to his disappointment, it looked like she was still going strong.

"She can forget it…" Takumi didn't realise he had said that aloud until Nakiri Alice gave him a knowing smirk.

"Kawashima-chan won't stop until she's got every boy wrapped around her little fingers. I think you've just become her latest target. How does it feel to be one of the most wanted men in Tootsuki?" she continued to tease him with her knowing smile and her taunting ruby-red eyes.

"As long as the girls are polite and don't cause too much trouble around Isami and I, I'm fine with them" Takumi said.

"Always a gentleman~" she hummed, flipping her silver tresses to the side with perfectly manicured nails.

"Where's Kurokiba-san?" Takumi looked around, noticing why this scene looked peculiar. The bipolar mad-dog who was Nakiri Alice's aide was nowhere to be seen. That was weird considering he was always within six seconds of her, ready to receive an order with a heavy, bored sigh.

"I got him to clean my room today" she said it like it was nothing. She didn't seem to be going away like he thought she would. She had already asked him a question and notified him that Kawashima was looking for him, so there shouldn't be anything else she'd want. Now that he thought about it, why on Earth would she be bothered telling him that a rabid girl was looking for him or express her impatience?

"Really... what are you doing out here?" he asked.

"Hmm? I was just reading a postcard Yukihira sent me from Okinawa. It's good to use the sunlight for reading when you can" she pulled out the postcard from between her breasts like it was nothing.

Takumi blushed beet red and turned the other way.

"It says that he's been visiting the beach every single day and—"

"I DON'T WANT TO KNOW!" Takumi finally blew up at her, shaking his fists in the Danish Nakiri's face.

"Hmmm~ are you jealous that you didn't get one too?" she teased him back, leaning in close, catching him off guard.

"Fuck no! Why the hell is he visiting so many tourist spots?" Takumi yelled back to no one in particular. A fiery aura burst around him as he unleashed his fighting power from within, aggravated and annoyed that the bastardo Yukihira wasn't taking their ongoing battle seriously.

Takumi finally calmed down from his explosive high when his phone reminder went off, a separate tone from his usual text message alert tone.

"Ah Nakiri-san, I need to get going. I have some ingredients I need to buy for tomorrow. I'll be heading off now" Takumi casually packed up his bentou box and walked away, throwing her a casual wave over his shoulder.

"Get her to hurry up and make up her mind for when she wants to visit!" hollered Nakiri Alice from behind in a sing-song voice.

'Merda!'

"WHO SAID IT WAS A 'HER'?!" Takumi spun around and yelled back with more force than he intended.

Nakiri Alice's smirked grew bigger and she laughed out loud without shame.

"I drenge er så dumme!" she guffawed.

Takumi had no idea what she just said, but he ran for it.


Takumi arrived back at the dormitory by late afternoon. Back in Italia his familia and Isami were probably waking up now and ready to prepare the ingredients before the trattoria opened at nine o'clock sharp. The sun in Japan hadn't even begun to set yet due to the being in the summer time, where the days were longer. Takumi whistled a short tune as he placed the fedora on the arm rest of the armchair and deposited his keys, phone and wallet on the side table. He ran his fingers through his hair, pushing it back so that he could see a bit better. He dumped his shopping at the foot of his bed. He took out the dairy ingredients and put them into the mini fridge, with compliments of the Tootsuki Dorm management. Next he went around looking for where he put that vegetable basket and when he finally found it, emptied his vegetables in the basket.

Takumi had also received a letter for him from the front desk of Tootsuki. It didn't have a return address or an international stamp, so it couldn't be a letter from his family. He opened it cleanly and his face broke out into a smile. It was from his landlady.

'Dear Takumi and Isami,

I'm happy to announce that the renovations are officially
completed in the apartment building (Yay!).
You no longer have to stay at the Tootsuki dormitories
as the clean-up process has also been finished.
Feel free to move back into your apartment at any time.
Thank you for your patience and I hope to see you boys soon!

-Matsuoka Ran

Takumi breathed out a sigh of relief. Now his parents could stop forking out extra money with their tuition to pay for boarding at Tootsuki. He and Isami have been itching to move back into their apartment for the last two months, not just because it was cheaper to rent, but also they enjoyed the down time of getting away from Tootsuki. His brother would be back within the month and Takumi had just paid for this month's rent for the dormitory room, so it would be a waste if he just up and left with all their belongings now. The reason why his landlady was going through renovations was beyond him. It seemed to be along the lines of wanting to make the place look a bit more upmarket or something similar. Isami had always understood this stuff better. She had promised the bathroom and kitchen would be upgraded in their apartment. Uno momento per favore… Did that mean the rent would go up too?! Takumi sincerely hoped it didn't.

The Aldini decided he wouldn't think upon that matter anymore, choosing to leave it and return to it when Isami got back. He turned his thoughts into more urgent matters, such as what was the next step in his training?

'Let's see, I've just done a Japanese and Italian fusion. What else could I do…' he thought hard trying to see what other inspiration he could conjure up for tomorrow. It had been a long and tiring day, so Takumi decided that a cool shower was in order. Also as they always said, some of the most ingenious ideas were born under the running waters of the shower. Maybe that would solve the pickle he was in.

After a thirty-minute shower, he was feeling fully refreshed. Takumi padded over to the mini-fridge with his towel still draped around his neck. He opened it, reveling in the cool air and popped open a can of lemonade before dumping himself on his bed. The dormitory room didn't have a television or anything so the only source of technological entertainment he had was either watching 'Youtube' on his laptop, or surf the internet, or reading some Italian news stories.

He took another refreshing swig of his can of lemonade and slicked back his hair and pulled at his white tank top, releasing the post shower humidity that still clung to his skin.

'Bzzzt'

Takumi looked over to his phone, but it was too far away for him to see whose name was displayed on the screen. Maybe it was Isami. He reached over and was surprised to see it wasn't him.

It said Kanda Ayame.

'Maybe she thought of a day?' Takumi opened the message.

'HELP EMERGENCY COME QUICK!'

That was it.

"EHHH!" Takumi jumped up almost spilling his lemonade all over himself and the bed. His blue eyes widened, reading and re-reading the message over and over to try and extract more information from it, but nothing. Just those four capitalised words with no punctuation in between. Takumi sent a quick reply back, to let her know he was on his way immediately.

What kind of trouble was she in! Was she at home? Was she outside her house?! Did she injure herself?! Did someone break into her home?! WAS SOMEBODY HARRASSING HER?! WAS SHE BEING HELD HOSTAGE?!

Takumi tripped over himself as he ran into his bedroom and threw on whatever clothes he could find. He grabbed his keys and wallet and struggled to put on his cardigan as he tried to lock the door behind him. Horrific scenarios started playing out in his head as he kept slamming his shoulders into walls while trying to take the corner and leapt down the stairs, three steps at a time.

Luck was on his side when he spotted the bus still at the Tootsuki bus stop and jumped on without a moment to lose. He called Ayame-san, chanting 'Pick up! Pick up! Pick up!' in his head while his leg continuously bounced up and down and he chewed incessantly on the sleeve of his cardigan, incredibly anxious to know what was going on. But the call didn't connect. As soon as the bus doors opened at Karakura honchou, he bursted out and ran all the way to Kitakawase ward.


'What am I going to do! What am I going to do! What am I going to do! WHAT AM I GOING TO DO?!'

She texted the one person she hoped to dear life who could help her and even then she had a one in a hundred chance than he'd come anyway. It was late afternoon and approaching evening, there was no way she could solve this all by herself.

Ayame ran around her kitchen dumping things into the sink and into the garbage. It turned out so horribly wrong! She almost ruptured into tears from the predicament she got herself into. One side of her conscious told her she should go for it, egging her on to do something more adventurous and the angelic side tried to persuade her to stick with something she was confident and familiar with. Boy did she listen to her wrong conscience. It was such a mess and she threaded her fingers into her hair and gripped it, wallowing in her despair.

'BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!'

Ayame was shattered from her thoughts and ran to the door, hopping with all her heart that it was him.

She threw it open and was so glad to see Takumi Aldini standing right there. He huffed and puffed as if he ran all the way to her home. His eyebrows were screwed in worry and his eyes were piercing hers, looking at every inch of her body. His hair was slick back, he must've had a shower earlier, but his fringe was plastered to his face with sweat. His cardigan was about to fall off his shoulder.

"What's wrong?! Are you ok?!" He screamed at her. His hands gripped her shoulders tightly and continued to inspect her body. Ayame flushed red at the close proximity and the way he practically man-handled her body.

Without a moment to lose, Ayame grabbed his wrist and dragged him into the living room. She didn't give him any time to take off his shoes. She took a deep breath and finally the dam bursted.

"I don't know what happened! It went all wrong and I didn't know how to reverse it because it got too soggy and so I thought maybe if I turned up the heat it would be okay, BUT THEN IT STARTED BURNING! I just dumped the whole thing in the sink but it was still on fire and I couldn't touch the tap without touching the fire, anyway so I threw ice on it! Now it's messed up. I don't know what I can do to fix this! It was one after the other and now it's totally ruined. Otou-san's going to be so—"

Takumi-kun pressed his finger to her lips and Ayame felt her words just block.

She couldn't read the expression on his face and he just silently walked past the living room and into the kitchen. He went to the sink where there was the most mess and her failure. Then he went to the stove and looked around it, and then to her kitchen bench.

"You texted me… because you couldn't fry fish…" he said softly.

Ayame wished the ground could swallow her up.

"And it looked like you had trouble trying to flip pancakes too" he pointed to the other pan with burnt and sloppy pancake batter in the second sink. "Grazie a Dio! I thought something terrible had happened to you" he braced his hands on his hips and released a deep breath.

Shame drenched her like a freak hailstorm. He must've thought it was a stupid and silly thing to get him to rush over just for this. She couldn't make anything besides cup noodles, tempura and zaru soba. She felt tears threatening to spill not because she could only cook three things in the world, and two out of three of them didn't even qualify as 'cooking', but because she couldn't do something new for the person she wanted to cook for.

Otou-san.

"It's okay. Don't cry"

She didn't realise that Takumi-kun had stepped in front of her and was wiping her tears away with the sleeve of his cardigan. He lifted her chin with his thumb so that she was looking at him straight in the eyes. The same brilliant blue eyes. Their face was so close; she was sure he could feel her puffing air on his face as she tried to contain her emotions. His eyes crinkled in the corners and his lips curved into a gentle smile. It took her breath away.

"Don't worry about it. Let's get this place cleaned up and we can start from the top. I'll guide you, okay?" Takumi-kun said in a reassuring voice. She nodded dumbly. Ayame was so glad he wasn't poking fun or berating her for not knowing how to cook.

They made quick work on cleaning up the kitchen and Takumi-kun didn't say any more about her cooking, probably to spare her the humiliation. Ayame showed him where the cutlery and kitchen utensils were kept as she was wiping down the bench and putting the ingredients in a neat order. This was the second time he saved her and she was starting to feel a bit guilty for dragging him into her affairs, even though he was her friend now. She had panicked and didn't know who to text, the only person that popped up into her mind was Takumi-kun. No way would Chizuru-chan be any help, she would just take a photo of the mess and post it on the internet and Kuchiyose-kun was no use to her in this situation at all.

"Umm… what did you do today?" Ayame thought she'd have a go with small talk.

"I wasn't that busy if that's what you're trying to ask" said Takumi-kun as he wiped the glass splash-back behind the stove.

"No, no. I just wanted to know what your days were like… that's all" Ayame felt quite small in his presence.

"I was trying out some new recipes this morning. Other than that I was relaxing for the rest of the day. Yesterday and the day before was a lot busier. I headed up to Tokyo CBD to buy some souvenirs for my familia and ingredients for the rest of the week. I called home as well" said Takumi-kun. "What about you?"

"Me? Well I went with a cousin to a free lecture at Toudai about space time travel and what kind of machine would we need to build to make that possible using our current understanding of the laws of time and relativity, and physics" Ayame said nervously.

She was glad that his face didn't betray any intimidation or any regrets of asking her.

"So, what kind of time machines did they come up with?" Takumi-kun asked.

Ayame blushed. He actually freaking asked. He was actually interested. She couldn't believe it! He actually wanted to know what she had to say. She shyly peeped at him from the side to check that he wasn't pulling her leg or anything, but all she saw was that he was looking at her waiting for her to say something.

"Uh… w-well. One method they discussed are wormholes as time machines. I know it's not technically a machine as you would know it, but it's still regarded in performing specific functions, like any machine... If that makes any sense to you. Anyway, wormholes are little tunnels in time and space. They can connect two different places together from two different points in time. They exist everywhere around us, except they are naked to the human eye and are only nanometres wide"

Ayame stopped to gauge Takumi's reaction. He seemed to be in deep thought.

"Scientists have theories on how they can capture one of those wormholes in space and expand them to allow humans or space ships to pass through. It's really exciting because one end could be on Earth and the other could be far, far away at some distant planet! Theoretically, a wormhole could do even more than take us to other planets. If both ends were in the same place, and separated by time instead of distance, a ship could fly in and come out still near Earth, but in the distant past. Maybe dinosaurs would witness the ship coming in for a landing!" Ayame laughed to herself. Her mind was immersed in the wonderful theories presented at the free lecture.

"H-how do wormholes exist in the first place?" he asked.

"We live in the third dimension were everything is three-dimensional. That's basically width, breadth and height. The next dimension is the fourth dimension which describes time. There is no physical object in the third dimension that is completely one hundred percent smooth. Even a billiard ball which looks and feels completely smooth to us, in reality has crevices that are nanometres deep. Why can't time be the same? Time has wrinkles and crevices too and it's in those imperfections where wormholes exist." replied Ayame with ease.

"Ah I get it now. So is it really possible? To time travel through wormholes… I mean" asked Takumi-kun as he chose his words carefully. Ayame was impressed that he stayed attentive long enough through her techno-babble. She felt her heartstrings loosen and gladness well up inside her.

"Sadly no… the problem is because of feedback. You know how you get feedback through a sound system, like you hear that god-awful screeching when you're talking into a microphone too close to the speakers? What causes it is sound entering the microphone. It's transmitted along the wires, made louder by the amplifier, and comes out at the speakers. But if too much of the sound from the speakers goes back into the microphone it goes around and around in a loop getting louder each time. If no one stops it, feedback can destroy the sound system. Same thing with the wormhole. Rather than sound, we're talking about radiation. As soon as the wormhole expands, natural radiation will enter it, and end up in a loop. The feedback will become so strong it destroys the wormhole. So even if we could capture and expand a wormhole to use one day, it wouldn't last long enough to be used as a time machine" Ayame finished.

Takumi-kun's facial expression was fixed as it was in the beginning. That was usually not a good sign. It usually meant everything was going through one ear and out the other with the brain in between not knowing how to process that information and not knowing where to store it in. Ayame internally sighed. She shouldn't be expecting too much otherwise she would just be disappointed in the end.

"Uhh.. S-sorry, it's just that, I d-don't know anything about wormholes and t-time travel, so I guess I'm still trying to grasp it all" said Takumi-kun. His face looked a bit flushed and Ayame wondered if she had gone too far and possibly embarrassed him.

'I should have read the signs better!'

"But don't stop talking about it!" Takumi-kun quickly interjected her anxious thoughts. "Even if I know close to nothing on these sorts of topics, I still like to hear you talk about them!" he had his hand covering his mouth as he looked away, his eyebrows screwed as if he didn't know what else he should say.

Ayame found it incredibly endearing. She bursted out laughing.

"O-Oi! Are you making fun of me now?!" Takumi-kun yelled jabbing his finger at her.

"No, I'm just so happy!" she said. Ayame felt tears prickling in her eyes again. It completely overwhelmed her. Not even Chizuru-chan had said anything as kind as Takumi-kun and even if she did, it would be masked behind some sort of snide comment. To hear it sincerely coming from a friend, a friend she only met a few weeks prior brought a sense of completeness and wholeness to her. Like she was the talking half and he was the listening half. She felt she could talk and techno-babble all she wanted and he wouldn't push her away.

That was how she felt about Takumi Aldini.

"Hey uh… What do you want to do about the fish and the pancakes? Why are you going through so much trouble cooking these when it's clear that you haven't the slightest idea how?" Takumi-kun said pushing the conversation into why he was here.

She owed him an explanation and it will be his turn to laugh, she knew it.

"Otou-san's birthday is coming up. I wanted to make something special for him. Every year I make him vegetable tempura and zaru soba but I wanted to do something different. He doesn't enjoy Western food much, but he will eat pancakes. I was thinking of making that and some fried fish for him when he's finished with his investigation"

"Investigation?" Takumi-kun blinked at her rapidly.

"Right, I haven't told you. Otou-san is the Superintendent General of the Tokyo Metropolitan Police Department. He's currently underway in a very important investigation, so he's been spending a few nights with his team at the headquarters"

Ayame sincerely hoped that didn't freak Takumi-kun out. But the way he bristled when he heard 'police' was probably a normal reaction anyone would have though.

"Okaa-san is on a business trip, so it's just me for a while" she said.

"I see. So do you cook for yourself?" he asked.

"Yep. I make cereal and make cup noodles. Otherwise I boil dumplings we store in the freezer and eat it with rice" said Ayame.

Takumi-kun gave her a dead-panned look "None of that is cooking" he said.

That was brutal, even coming from him.

"Well we can't let your efforts today go to waste" he continued, scratching the back of his head. "How about we start with some pancakes. It's quick and easy. I'll show you how to make them fluffy and flip them properly. That was one of the reason why you texted me right?" it was his turn to chuckle at her.

Ayame hung her head dejectedly. "Yeah…"

Takumi-kun got started in giving her a cooking demonstration of the Aldini style American pancakes. She thought it was funny his trattoria had their own style for just a common and simple breakfast item. The ingredients for the batter was different to what she had. He told her his family used beaten egg white to make it fluffy. He had a great presence in the kitchen and all his movements were fluid, just like when he was at the Italian café. He was in his element and it really showed in his expert skill even for such as simple thing as pancakes. Takumi-kun also got her to mix the batter in tandem with him, even showing her how to fold the beaten eggwhite in, especially how she had to be light and do it quickly otherwise all the air will be knocked out. When he deemed the batter and the eggwhite was fully incorporated and still light, he heated up a new pan and threw on a slab of butter in the centre, letting it melt on the low heat. Takumi-kun also showed her how to dollop the batter to make a perfect circle shape much to Ayame's glee. She bit her tongue to stop herself from yabbering about how much that reminded her of the Vitruvian man.

"See the little bubbles? It's time to cook the other side, so for this part, I'll show you how to flip the pancake." Takumi-kun flipped the pan and it flew into the air and landed back, right in the middle.

Just like that. No fuss, no mess.

"W-What! I can't do that! Can't you show me how to do it with a spatula?" Ayame squeaked at him dubiously.

"I have a feeling that you will do worse with a spatula" he mumbled.

Before she could yell back at him. He placed his hand on her waist and pushed her in front of him.

"You need to learn by doing" he said jovially.

Ayame was at a loss for words because she could still feel his hand on her waist. She had no idea that his hand was that big. Next, he guided her other hand to the handle of the small pan and clasped his own over hers, keeping herself and her hands steady between him and the stove. Ayame was suddenly extremely aware of how close he was behind her. Her back was touching his chest and she could feel the air he breathed wisp out gently on her head. Her head began to spin a bit as she caught the delectable scent of him, that cedar smell.

"Feel my movements. Sei pronto?" he said lowly, his lips just at the shell at her ears. Her ears started melting.

Her legs started to feel like jelly and her heart was hammering in her chest. She was sure he could feel it through her body pressed lightly against him

Aw helll nawwww she wasn't ready in this universe or all the multi-verses out there.

"Uno… due… tre!".

Takumi-kun jerked her hand into a quick and powerful flip. Time stopped as the pancake spun once in the air. Right on the money with Murphy's Law, it landed with a neat splat on the uncooked side in the centre of the pan. It was perfect.

"I DID IT!" she yelled.

Ayame twisted herself in Takumi-kun's hold and hugged him tightly around the middle, nearly knocking him backwards. Her body was in a full buzz that she got something right for once today.

"Oi! Keep an eye on the pancake, or it'll burn!" Takumi-kun tugged her shoulders trying to pull her off, but Ayame was having none of that.

"You keep an eye on it for me. I'm not down from my high yet" she giggled through his shirt and cardigan.

Takumi-kun was still bristling, but at least he wasn't pushing her away anymore. Instead she heard him sigh and mutter some Italian words under his breath. She felt his arm started moving behind her and could hear the soft clattering of the plate she had left beside the stove for the finished pancakes. Next came the soft sizzle and the smell of fresh pancake batter quickly cooking in butter. She could tell Takumi-kun was still cooking the rest of her pancakes while she was still hugging him from the front. Ayame didn't notice the first time when she hugged him, but his body also felt quite toned, now believing that a chef could actually have muscles. Her mind rationalised that it was probably from lifting heavy crates full of ingredients as part of his day to day work at the trattoria. Being a chef had definitely been kind to him in more ways than one. He felt so right. Then his right arm gave another quick jerk and his shoulder tensed, and she could hear the pancake being flipped. She didn't want to let go, even when he was cooking.

"This is the last one. Do you want to flip it?" he asked. She could feel his voice softly vibrate from his chest.

"Uh huh. You gotta help me do it again" she blushed and twisted back around so that her back was lightly pressed against him again. Takumi-kun proceeded to steady his hand over hers and together they flipped the last pancake.

"Your hands are calloused" she said out of the blue. He pulled his hands back as if her words scorched him.

", from training as a chef" he said. He turned away and took the plate of pancakes to the table.

"Let's eat!" Ayame couldn't resist the mouth-watering aroma of the stack of freshly made pancakes. Takumi-kun easily found her maple syrup and drizzled it with quick flicks of his wrists. It looked like an artwork and she was incredibly jealous that a person could just do that with no effort. She reconsidered her thoughts. It normally took a lot of effort to make something look effortless. She wondered if he had training especially for that too.

She passed a fork and a knife to Takumi-kun so that he could join in and went ahead to dig into the pancakes.

The first bite was sinful. It was so fluffy, airy and was so silky against her tongue. A small moan escaped her lips before she could stop it. Her mind was completely enraptured in the richness of the buttermilk. The pancake slid down her throat as if it were nothing. Ayame was in a daze, she unconsciously licked her lips of the maple syrup and like a drone kept digging into the pancakes. Warmth continued to spread in her mouth and into her throat. The aroma and taste lingered heavenly after each bite. It was incredibly delicious. It was so good; she couldn't utter a word. She just had to put this in her top two naughty foods. She had never tasted anything this good in her life! No other food could compare to the ones made by this Italian wonder-con!

Finally, she opened her eyes and was shocked to see Takumi-kun looking like a complete mess.

What was wrong? He was shaking and shivering with his hands fisted on the table in front of him, looking ready to spontaneously combust. His fork remained unstained and it looked like it was about to bend in his tight grip.

"Takumi-kun?" she asked, confusion lacing her voice.

He didn't respond. His eyes were screwed shut and his face was a fire-engine red. His hair was no longer slicked back but was lightly tousled as if he got into a fight with a swooping bird. His body looked incredibly coiled and tense and she couldn't fathom why. When he finally opened his eyes. They looked totally different.

His eyes were still the same ice blue, but beneath it was so alien.

They looked aching and yearning.

The feelings in her body increased a hundred fold. Just from the mesmerising and that borderline predatory glint in his eyes. They never wavered from her face, ever since he opened her eyes. All of a sudden she started feeling hot and bothered under his intense gaze.

'Why is he looking at me like that?'

"Hey are you alright? Do you need a cool compress?" Ayame got up to lean forward. She was about to place her hand on his forehead to check if he was having a spontaneous fever but he shot up from his chair, creating a massive screech against the tiles.

"I-I'm f-fine. Don't look at me…" Takumi-kun turned the other way, his hand covering his mouth and his other wrapped around his stomach.

He must have been caught in some sort of summer heat delirium because this bizarre behaviour wasn't making any sense at all. Soon Takumi-kun looked like he calmed down, but his face was still red and he was avoiding looking at her which Ayame still found to be equally bizarre.

"I better head back now…" he said quietly.

"But you didn't have any of the pancakes you made" panicked started to well up inside. Had she done something wrong?

"That's alright. They are for you" he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh! Err… uhmm…Thanks for that. I must've taken up far too much of your time then…" she said hurriedly and smiled to hide her embarrassment.

She guided him to the door. He already had his shoes on so he awkwardly stood at the entrance. He turned around.

"Have you given any thought about… when you want to visit? He asked suddenly.

"Aya! Yeah I have actually. You gave me four passes… do they have expiry dates?" asked Ayame.

"No they don't, and you can bring your friends if you want" he said still looking off to the side. Ayame's lips curled into a smile. He was just too cute sometimes.

"I don't know if Chizuru-chan or Kuchiyose-kun would be interested. How about next Monday morning?" she stepped forward, purposely entering his personal space to force him to look at her. She hated not being able to look at people in the eyes at times and more than anyone, she wanted him to look at her.

"S-Sure. Next Monday is good" said Takumi-kun. He looked like a deer caught in headlights.

The two teens talked a bit more about the arrangements for next Monday when Takumi-kun's text message alert went off with a loud 'Bzzzt'. He quickly finished up their goodbyes when suddenly he stopped and turned around at the front gate.

"Ayame-san, eating frozen food and cup noodles isn't always healthy and eating cereal isn't really a substantial meal so… Give me a call and I'll come over and cook something for you… if you want…" he said sounding less and less sure.

Ayame felt she needed to fidget to keep her wits about her. He really did have the most gorgeous eyes. "Yeah I will. With someone who cooks food as heavenly as you, I wouldn't call anyone else"


In case you are wondering, the stuff about wormholes is from an interview with Steven Hawking or something like that, I can't remember because it's been a while since I last read it.

I hope this chapter is continuing to build up your expectations :) I know some of you guys can't wait for Ayame & Co to meet the whole gang. But trust me, I've got something planned and it will be a twist you didn't see coming OH! Did I say encounter? No, I totally meant an everyday casual meeting... yes... I'm sure... kekeke...

Let me know what you guys thing, stay cool and I'll see everyone in 5 days' time.

Signing off

-TripWire-dono