Chapter 10 – Welcome Home, Isami!
KING! KONG! KANG!
"Flight JP675 now arriving to Gate twenty-seven. I repeat, Flight JP675 now arriving to Gate twenty seven. Flight attendants, doors to arrival, crosscheck and all-call"
Takumi bounced his knees up and down from his seat at the arrival zone of gate twenty seven for flight number JP675. That was Isami's flight number. He had made sure that he got there at least two hours early to make sure that he made it on time for his brother's arrival. It was a humid day and Takumi opted for his plain beige shirt with the medieval styled lacing done at the front, a pair of chinos and his fedora. Excitement coursed through him and he couldn't help fidgeting, opening and closing his flip phone to check the time over and over and realising that one-minute passing wasn't going to make a difference in the waiting game.
Takumi pulled out some garlic bread from a paper bag and nibbled on it. It was the same garlic bread that he had made for himself and Ayame that night when he confessed to her. Granted it was a little bit stale, but it was still garlic bread. Living a life on student income was exactly what one would expect. Besides, he didn't have enough time to eat a proper breakfast, so he just grabbed whatever that didn't expire in the newly furnished apartment on the way to the airport.
He could still remember Ayame scrunching her face in dismay when she found out he even packed left over garlic bread to move back with him to the apartment.
He was a bit embarrassed...
Hushed and frantic whispers caught his ears. He wiped the crumbs of the garlic bread from his lips and looked over to spot a group of teenage girls, about his age, giggling and whispering to each other. When their eyes met, they instantly gasped and squealed, shyly waving at him whilst holding onto each other.
He cautiously smiled back at them, not wanting something to start and checked the time on his phone again.
'Mamma mia…'
It was a good hour and a half before the first set of passengers started strolling down from the arrival ramp and some family members and friends who had been waiting alongside him leapt to their feet and anxiously scrutinised from the taped off area for their loved one who would be arriving. Takumi got to his feet also, gently pushing his way to the front to catch any sight of Isami.
Fifteen minutes later, he spied a tall figure with wild, dark hair lugging two large suitcase down the arrival ramp.
"Takumi!"
"Isami!"
The two brother's hugged as soon as Isami was clear over the taped off arrival line and gave Takumi the biggest hug, lifting the blonde brother clear off the ground.
"I missed you Takumi! I hope you've been taking care of yourself without me, I know you're hopeless at that" Isami winked at him, leaning against his heavy luggage.
Takumi didn't have the heart to scold his brother's attempt to cheekily belittle him because he was just too overjoyed to greet him back to Japan.
"I'll have you know that we moved our things back to the apartment, so that you wouldn't have to as soon as you got back" Takumi slapped him on the shoulder.
"We?" said the taller brother with confusion.
Ops.
"Ah… uh-uh, A-Ayame and her f-friends helped me out…" Takumi felt his cheeks heating up. God damn his incapacity to remain cool and composed in front of Isami!
Isami's lips curled into a cheeky fiend. "You have lots to tell me, fratello"
"Not right now… lets head home first, you must be tired" said Takumi trying to deflect his brother.
"Nah, I'm cool. I slept on the plane so I won't get jet lag today at least." Isami smiled back.
The two Aldini brothers made their way to the arrival exits and Takumi insisted on pushing the luggage trolley for Isami. He underestimated the weight, but powered through with little complaint before Isami sighed and suggested they each take a luggage before Takumi popped out a ball-and-socket joint. He was ecstatic that he brought back limoncello and other assortments of Italian products that made him feel homesick. Isami regaled his stories in lingua Italiana, the Italian language, of helping out Trattoria Aldini. The good, the bad, the ugly and the especially knee-slapping funny stories of customers. Isami's exuberant lingua Italiana caught the attention of a lot of passersby who turned their heads and casted the side-eye at the two Italian brothers. Takumi listened with rapt attention, drinking in all of Isami's stories and he could clearly picture exactly how his Mamma, Pappa and uncle would say things, according to what Isami recounted. It was like spiritually; he was back in Firenze. Isami did not take a single breath as he moved onto his self-training to inherit Trattoria Aldini alongside his older twin and he could feel himself burst with pride for his dear brother.
"—and also Nonna and Nonno came down to visit. They were disappointed that you didn't come back to Italia with me" said Isami, waving his arms about.
"Ah. I miss them too. Hey Isami, I hired the Tootsuki courtesy bus to drive us back to our apartment" said Takumi.
"Eh? Really? I didn't know their courtesy buses would go as far as Narita airport" Isami gasped.
"Isshiki-senpai authorised it" said Takumi.
The two brothers finally exited the airport and slowly made their way towards where the Tootsuki courtesy bus was parked, weaving through the crowd. Takumi narrowed his eyes. A tuft of crimson-red hair came into view above the crowd. No way… it couldn't be…
"YUKIHIRA!?"
"Hmm? Oh hey Takumi, Isami! What a coincident meeting you guys here!"
The dopy grin, the sloppy shirt, and a bright blue neck pillow made it clear that Takumi was not hallucinating and that it was really, the God forsaken, Yukihira Souma standing next to the courtesy bus.
"Wh-What are you doing here?"
"I just got back from Kyouto. I was on my way from the domestic terminal to look for a taxi but I spotted the Tootsuki bus and wanted to check out if I could hitch a ride back to the Polar Star dorms" said the maverick chef with a cheesy grin.
"I'm the one who ordered the bus. But yes, you can come aboard too" Takumi sighed. He would never admit in a million years that he actually missed the bastardo Yukihira. But a deep part of him told him that his time during the summer holidays at Tootsuki was a tad incomplete without Yukihira Souma.
"Sweet. Thanks, Takumi. You're ace!" said Yukihira. The bus driver proceeded to heft the luggage into the back and the trio climbed onto the mini bus. It was pre-air-conditioned and Takumi was eternally grateful for that. Soon they were off onto the highway back to Minamikawase ward in Karakura town. Takumi scooted forward and asked the bus driver to take Yukihira back to Polar Star dorms property as well once Isami and himself were dropped off.
Takumi turned around and found Yukihira's stupid face pressed into his.
"Sooooo… I heard you got yourself a nice lady-friend, aye?" he wiggled his eyebrows at him.
'Sono morto… I'm dead'
"How the fuck!? How the FUCK did you find out about that?!" Takumi screeched at him.
Mortification, fear, anger and other indescribable and torrential emotions tumble-dried through his body. That was insanely private information! And it didn't help that he was openly snickering at him, just short of guffawing like a maniac.
"Your brother Isami told me about that" revealed Yukihira.
"Cazzo! Fuck! Isami, how could you!" Takumi clenched his fists around his soon-to-be-dead brother's collared shirt and shook him about, but the brunette Italian just laughed merrily at his brother's flustered state.
"Ah, Yukihira-kun and I have been exchanging some postcards during the summer holidays. I might've mentioned you in one or two?" said Isami, unravelling Takumi's fingers from the collar of his jumper.
"Yeah, Isami's the only person who responds back to my postcards. All you other guys suck. I put a return address there for the place I'm staying at then one I'd be going to next for a reason you know" Yukihira complained childishly.
"What did you expect? Everyone is busy even in the summer holidays. You probably haven't heard, there's going to be a Summer Solstice Festival the school is organising. It's a new thing, but similar to the Moon Banquet Festival" said Takumi.
"Is that so? That's awesome, I always love a good festival. But getting back onto the matter at hand. Is this your girl?" Yukihira flipped open a phone in his hand and showed it to Takumi.
It was a wallpaper background of Ayame, himself, Namikaze and Kuchiyose. Namikaze had insisted they took a selfie after they finished having lunch on the day they were moving his and Isami's things back into the newly renovated apartment, to commemorate the event. Ayame's arms were around his waist and his right arm was lightly around her shoulder. They were standing between a hunching Kuchiyose and an overly exuberant Namikaze who was taking the photo. It was obvious who Yukihira was referring to.
It suddenly clicked.
"Get your grubby paws off my phone, Yukihira!" Takumi tried to grapple his flip phone back from the chortling maverick, but his face was caught in the red-head's palm who pushed him back at arms-length, leaving him to swipe aimlessly in the air. He didn't even notice Yukihira has somehow nicked it from his pocket! Takumi himself would've found the whole scene comical in a third party viewing if he wasn't so enraged and embarrassed at being the target of the cruel joke at the same time.
"Man, she's super pretty. Nice catch, mate" smirked Yukihira.
Takumi would shoot him down with laser pointer eyes if he could spontaneously do so. Yukihira's incessant annoying behaviour was grating on his nerves to its last leg and he contemplated just throwing him overboard the bus and let him be roadkill. Isami was looking over the back of his seat at Takumi's phone still sitting comfortable in Yukihira's grasp, also silently appraising the photo much to the blonde Italian's embarrassment.
Finally, Takumi was able to snatch the phone back and pressed it desperately to his chest, away from his brother's and maniac-rival's prying eyes. His face felt like molten rocks. He flipped it open again to make sure there was no damage to it or the keychain strap but as soon as he did, he found himself mesmerised by Ayame's smiling face at the wallpaper background Namikaze had sent. She and Kuchiyose had exchanged numbers with him on the spot as soon as the selfie was taken.
"Who is she? She looks cute" Isami commented from beside him, pointing to Namikaze who was giving the victory sign.
"A friend of Ayame's. Trust me… she's anything but cute" groaned Takumi, giving Isami a look that conveyed how creeped out he was for Isami's preference for the annoying chiacchierone.
"Don't worry, fratello. I'm with Bianca now" smiled Isami.
"Huh? Bianca Bonavita? How did that happen? You are here and she's back in Roma"
"Like I said before, she came to Firenze for a week and we hung out a lot. One thing led to another and now... we're together! We've decided to work out a long distance relationship. Dio mio! She's so beautiful and to think she still loves me till this day since middle school and I never knew~" Isami's face melted into a pure dreamy bliss. Such happiness shined from him and Takumi was glad that his brother was able to feel the intoxicating pleasure of amore too, but couldn't help worry about Isami's and Bianca's potential trajectory of a long distance relationship.
"Man, you guys got girls already. I'm so jealous. That's probably expected from Italians" Yukihira's yawned from behind the Aldini Fratelli.
"Really? I didn't think you'd have trouble forming romantic relationships since you seem to have all sorts of encounters with girls" said Isami.
"I dunno, most of them hate my guts" Yukihira shrugged his shoulders.
Three girls probably wanted him dead at best. Nakiri Erina being the top of the list. Nonetheless, Takumi was suprised at Yukihira would worry about such things. He had always thought Yukihira was pretty much asexual. He was so laid-back, almost too chill to function and was extremely easy going with everyone he meets, including challengers and rivals of any gender. Not only that, Takumi had reservations on his ability to read the mood. For example, a guy needed to know the real definition of the phrase for when a girl said 'Fine then...', 'Ok...' or 'Nothing...'. Ayame had yet to say any of these in the suspicious and misleading manner, but Yukihira would be nuked if he he ever had to encounter it. Because of his inability to read the mood, it often got him into all sorts of trouble and misunderstandings with the opposite sex. Especially Nakiri Erina whom he rubbed the wrong way. But he guessed Souma was a teenage guy too... at some point, some girl had the potential to... butter his parsnip.
"So about this Summer Solstice Festival?" said Isami, changing the topic into a lighter one.
Takumi blinked a few times to gather his thoughts. "Ah yeah, that's all there is to it really. Everyone has to create a booth just like the Moon Banquet Festival and showcase their best menu to the community and make a profit to avoid expulsion. The same locations will be in play like last time. We're using this time Asagao tickets which equate to ten thousand yen, strawberry tickets which are a thousand yen and melon tickets which are five hundred yen"
"Hmmm. I wonder why our school is holding this Summer Solstice Festival when it's pretty much the same as the Moon Banquet Festival" Yukihira wondered aloud.
"I'm sure it's another training event. Everyone in Karakura town, Naruki City and any other surrounding towns are all invited. But I heard one thing that's different. There's a rumour that there are going to be huge investors and scouts from different food companies there too" said Takumi.
"What the hell for?" scoffed Yukihira. Takumi was used to his defiance for the upper echelon of the culinary world.
Takumi and Isami just gave each other shrugs and a fist bump, a clear understanding the two will create their Trattoria Aldini stall together.
"Forget the investors and scouts. Crikey. This is my chance to settle the score with Kuga once and for all before the guy graduates" said Yukihira, as he laced his fingers behind his head.
"You are still hung up on that?" asked Takumi, remembering meeting the mischievous Terunori Kuga and the rest of the Elite members.
"Duh, in the Moon Banquet last year, he beat me for the first four days and if it wasn't for all you guys, Mimasaka, Nikumi, Megumi's RS and my friend back in my town, Megumi and I couldn't have won the fifth and final day" said Yukihira. "So of course I gotta beat him again, because he said he wouldn't have a shokugeki with me until I surpass him completely at his own game"
"Uno momento per favoure! I'm your one true rival and don't you ever forget that!" Takumi almost climbed over the back of his seat in an undignified fashion to punch his message to Yukihira's thick head. "The only reason why I helped you was because you looked desperate and there was no way I would let you lose five out of five days before our duello" Takumi crossed his arms and huffed back in his seat, hunching over his shoulders in half-hearted contempt.
"Sure, sure. I hear you" said Yukhira jovially.
"That reminds me, there are still five empty spots on the Elite Ten available isn't there? Because the first, second, third, fourth and fifth seat graduated last March" said Isami, shuffling back into his seat to get comfortable for their long drive back to Karakura Town.
"Yeah, that's right. Where do we sign up or apply for that?" said Yukihira excitedly.
"Stupido! You do realise one does not simply apply for the Elite Ten!" Takumi couldn't believe the thickness of Yukihira. "You get chosen for it and even then you need to satisfy a list of criteria. They look at your academic grades, your achievements from events like training camps, contributions towards the academy itself and most importantly of all, your shokugeki records" said Takumi, counting everything off in his fingers and then crossing his arms as he resumed facing the front.
"Meh, I'm not doing too bad in those criteria. I reckon I got a good running chance" said Yukihira. Takumi felt the blood vessel on his temple throbbing. He was so nonchalant, it wasn't even funny anymore.
"Hey, you'll come with me won't you?" Yukihira said airly, as if he was about ready to go to sleep.
"Come with you where?"
"To take the Elite ten seats" said Yukihira.
If there was one thing about Yukihira that stood out above all else, it was his bloodhound like thirst for conquering the culinary world. Takumi remembered the opening day speech he drawled out as if it were yesterday. He spoke foolishly about using the rest of the students as his stepping stones to reach the top. Look at them now. Some of the students were indeed the stepping stones and Yukihira made no apologies whatsoever to get to where he was. Riding on the back of his failures and whipping them into successes. Not only that, he spoke out exactly what the other shining crowns of their generation were thinking.
Everyone carried the same ambition. Yukihira was no different.
"No need to say that. Of course I will take the Elite Ten seats, whether you're there with me or not" Takumi smirked.
A lot had happened since the first year. Training camps, competitions, stagiares and assessments thrown left, right and centre designed to cull all the second rate chef and true to that, the kitchens were slowly becoming less crowded over the years. Everyone's talent grew massively and learnt a lot from each other from both successes and defeats.
Then second year came around and everything started to calm down, but the workload increased, making everyone keep up on their toes.
Then destino brought him Ayame.
It was like a new blossoming stage of his life had opened up and took a both pleasant and nerve-racking little tangent off his road of culinary success. The timing couldn't have been better as it was summer holidays and he was glad he took the liberty to creep out of his figurative cooking pot and enjoy himself a bit in things that Tootsuki lifestyle wouldn't have allowed.
He met a beautiful and smart bella, whom he was now together with, an obnoxious midget with a mild case of Tourette's syndrome and a selectively mute driving felon. And he thought Tootsuki was the only place filled with crazy people.
"Hey Fratello, how does our new kitchen look?" asked Isami from beside him, who looked like he couldn't wait to be home and see for himself.
"Oh yeah, you haven't actually seen it have you. I got some pictures here" Takumi flipped open his phone and clicked through the many pictures of their newly renovated apartment, the ones he didn't have enough data to spare and send to Isami.
"Great! We have a kitchen island now. That will be handy" Isami smiled from ear to ear. Takumi nodded with him and scrolled past some more pictures.
"What's this about a new kitchen?" asked Yukihira, who bounced up onto the back of Takumi's seat and mischievously peered over his shoulders.
"Our landlady had been renovating our apartment and had just installed a new kitchen and bathroom. I thought I already told you all this as soon as we moved into the main dorms, Yukihira" said Takumi.
"Meh, I forgot. Anyways, can I come over and have a look?" he said, looking like a very excited child.
"If you want…"
"Great. I'll just hop off with you guys" said Yukihira.
"W-Wait, what are you going to do with your luggage?" asked Takumi, a bit perplexed.
"You guys got a guest room, right?" Yukihira countered back.
"Hold it Yukihira! You're not thinking of staying the night are you? You can't just invite yourself in whenever you feel like it" Takumi decided to turn around in his seat rather than try and climb over the back.
"Fratello, I'm sure it will be fine. Yukihira-kun could use the sofa, since we don't actually have a guest room" said Isami, surprisingly calm.
"I knew you'd be on my side" Yukihira gave brunette Italian an air hi-five much to Takumi's annoyance.
"Ciò che vuoi... Do what you want..." Takumi muttered, since it was now two against one. He folded his arms and conceded to pouting.
Soon they finally arrived to the main apartment blocks in Minamikawase. It was now close to noon and Isami couldn't help galloping around the front of the apartment block as if he hadn't seen the place in forever. Takumi internally chuckled. Isami was sometimes like a little kid despite being a tough chef. Yukihira thanked the Tootsuki courtesy bus driver and proceeded to drag his lone luggage case and his knife case over the shoulder with him after the two brothers into the foyer of the apartment building. Then it was Yukihira's turn to tell stories about his cooking adventure/holiday all across Japan with his middle school friends. No wonder why he was sending out postcards to people from different places. Takumi couldn't remember which place his was sent from and he didn't really care for it really.
Isami listened intently to the red-head's more recent trip and provided comments every now and again as Takumi fumbled with the apartment keys, finally able to insert it into the key hole.
"-So anyway we caught this huge bass at Lake Kawaguchi and it was thiiiiiii-"
"SURPRISE!"
"WAAAH!"
Takumi got the fright of his life and elbowed Yukihira in the face as soon as a mass of kaleidoscopic colours flashed before his eyes, which he swore could induce seizures. The door swung open on its own accord and revealed streamers, balloons and piles of food and drinks everywhere.
"A-Ayame?!" Takumi blanched, spotting the smiling girl in front of him. What was she doing here?! And why was Namikaze and Kuchiyose here too?! Takumi rubbed his eyes to make sure this was real life and it certainly was no matter how many times he rubbed them out.
"Welcome home! You must be Isami-san. It's a pleasure to meet you. My name is Kanda Ayame" Ayame went over and shook hands with an equally shocked Isami.
"H-Hi…?" he shook her hand on autopilot, but still maintaining his usual light demeanour.
"I know you've just got off the plane and are probably peckish because we all know airplane food is disgusting. So we've prepared some take-out from the best of Karakura honchou. So please relax and enjoy yourself" Ayame threw her hands towards the masses of takeaway bentou boxes on the coffee table and bottles of ice tea on the kitchen bench.
"Eh? Really? That's so thoughtful of you" Isami smiled, instantly relaxing. He crinkled his eyes in mirth, conveying to Takumi he knew exactly who this girl was. "Fratello, don't ever let her go. She's knows how to take care of people" he said turning to his older twin.
Takumi grumbled to himself, not knowing what to do since Isami and Ayame were introduced so soon in a less than ideal situation, and he couldn't even get over his embarrassment that Yukihira had to be here.
"Hey there, I'm Yukihira Souma. You've probably heard a lot about me" Yukihira recovered from his facial injuries and shook Ayame's hand too.
"Yes, I've heard lots of interesting things about you" she chuckled. "So tell me, when are we going to see the shokugeki match where Takumi-kun char grills you under the table and takes back his mezzaluna?"
"Man, Takumi! She's got spunk. I like her!" Yukihira slapped the blonde Italian on the back hard enough for him to stumble forward. "Say, have you seen Takumi's cooking skills yet?"
"Yep! We've had dinner together too, his food is absolutely gorgeous and the best. Italian food is my favourite" she said happily.
Takumi felt the need to strut and preen in front of Yukihira and tell him to 'Suck it' to show him that his Italian cuisine was unbeatable. He also felt a great pride swell up in him to hear Ayame compliment his cooking. His cooking should always be the best in her eyes. Takumi focused himself on the matter at hand.
"Uno momento per favore. How on earth did you guys manage to get into our apartment anyway?" asked Takumi, pointing to Ayame and the other two misfits.
Kuchiyose nonchalantly waved at him from the side.
'I should've known…'
"Enough chit chat everyone. We've raided the supermarket to get some chow. So how about we all dump your luggage somewhere and just enjoy our meal like one big happy family. Hmm?" said Namikaze as she excitedly broke open a bottle of ice tea.
"Yes!" Isami dragged his luggage back to his room and sped back sporting a famished expression that Takumi knew all too well.
'What? He's accustomed to Namikaze already?'
Isami got along with most people, but he couldn't believe that he was already getting along with Namikaze more than he did in the beginning.
Yukihira punched the air and left his luggage by the side of the couch and eagerly received the bottle of tea from Namikaze as they formally introduced themselves. Yukihira didn't seem to mind Kuchiyose's lack of verbal language and it looked like he already deemed him as a 'bro' before digging hungrily into the bentous. Namikaze also introduced herself and Kuchiyose to his brother with passable manners as Isami settled down and chowed down onto the nearest bentou box.
"I missed you"
Takumi startled from his observation and turned around to see the sweet face of his sweetheart. Takumi smiled back at her automatically. Her verdant eyes sparkled and her lips were set in a cute smile, with some faint pink dusting on her cheeks.
"And I, you" he said softly to her.
Takumi's heart swelled with adoration for her. Ayame had went out of her way to organise a welcoming home little get-together for his brother's return, and made sure there was plenty of food for everyone. She knew how much Isami meant to him and he was very appreciative for her efforts and even more so on how well they had hit it off on the get go. He knew he made the right choice and he couldn't thank the Roman Gods enough. He couldn't think of a time as lucky as meeting Ayame. He gently caressed her cheeks and leaned in to brush his lips against her soft ones in a sweet kiss, eliciting a small giggle from her. He drew her waist closer and peppered more kisses across her cheek.
"Hey man, stop giving us a show and get over here before the food gets cold"
Takumi jolted from his spot and almost bit Ayame's cheek. His facial temperature went through the roof as he opened and closed his mouth like a fish on dry land, his mind jammed for a good comeback. The last thing he needed right now was Yukihira's annoy irritating voice to destroy his romantic moment with Ayame. Ayame, blushed from beside him and grasped his hand.
"SH-SHUT UP!" Perfect, that was all he could say.
Isami chuckled from beside Yukihira and waved at the two of them to come over. Ayame pulled him along and they both sat opposite them.
"Takumi has told me lots of nice things about you Ayame-san. Is it true that you want to become a mechanical and robotica engineer after university?" said Isami excitedly.
"Yep! For sure. I love learning about how things work and ultimately I want to build and design things to help progress humanity" said Ayame.
"What about you Namikaze-san?" asked Isami.
"I don't know what I want to do yet. I thought I'd ride the tide and see where it takes me" she shrugged and resumed on her spicy-as-hell bentou.
"And you Kuchiyose-san?"
"…Professional soccer player…"
"Crikey Takumi, what an awesome set of friends you got here" Yukihira laughed whilst pigging out on the abundance of snacks, which was probably all of Namikaze's choosing. "I hope we get to see you guys around more. Hey, I know! How about you all visit us at the Summer Solstice Festival that's coming up? So that you can meet the rest of the gang because believe you and me. They are all brilliant chefs and are a hoot and half"
"Summer Solstice Festival?" Ayame turned to Takumi.
"A-Ah yeah. I was going to ask y-you if you wanted to come. It's a new food festival Tootsuki is holding where students v-volunteer to set up a food stalls. There's game and music entertainment as well. Everyone around is invited" he said blushing, passing her a tissue so that she could wipe some mayonnaise from her lips.
"Sure I'd love to. When is it?"
"Two weeks from now. It starts on a Monday and goes all the way to Friday. It's our first competition of the new semester" he said, slowly munching on his own takeaway bentou.
"Oh I see, you resume classes a week earlier than our high school" she nodded in understanding. "Oh, we go to Karakura high school by the way" said Ayame.
"Thanks for the invite Yukihira-kun, but I think I'll pass this one" said Namikaze, propping her arms behind her and leaning back.
"Oh no you don't! You have to come, Chizuru-chan!" Ayame jabbed her chopsticks in her best friend's direction with undying conviction.
"WHY!"
"BECAUSE IT'S GOOD FOR YOU!"
"What are you, my mother-in-law?!"
While Ayame and Namikaze bickered back and forth. Isami, Yukihira and himself resumed chatting about Tootsuki related things, with the red-head nudging Kuchiyose every now and then and asking rhetorical questions as if he was actually part of the conversation. Soon it diverted to 'Ayame' related things.
"So have you and your girl done the deed yet?" said Yukihira.
"WHAT THE HELL! Of course not you idiot, we only just started dating!"
"I'm just sayin', that's how some couples start—OWW Hey!" he grabbed his lower back and flipped his head towards Kuchiyose who in return glared back. He had pinched Yukihira's back really hard.
"Yeah I get it, that wasn't funny. Sorry man" said Yukihira, and Kuchiyose returned back into his homeostatic self.
"So where was your first date?" asked Isami, his slanted eyes glittering with mirth.
"Umm… actually we haven't been on a proper date yet…" said Takumi, feeling a blush coming on.
"Seriously? So how are you dating when you haven't been on a date yet?" Yukihira narrowed his eyes in disbelief at him.
"Don't ask me silly questions!" he yelled at the red-head.
Suddenly Takumi realised his error like a bucket of iced water dumped on his head. He wasn't properly performing the right steps in courting Ayame. They hadn't been on a date yet since his heartfelt confession?! Stupido! How could he not realise that in the beginning?! Almost everywhere they went, there was always her two friends there. It was hard to squeeze in some pure alone time with Ayame, even just to hang out at a park, or at the café or shopping mall or something like a real new couple would because of her competition to build an innovative alarm clock and his holiday training, it was a bit tricky. Takumi wished he had a dating program inbuilt into him that told him all the right moves so he could start the courtship in the right way. His heart fell in stomach. He was a failure of a boyfriend!
"Cheer-up Fratello, not everyone's got experience in dating" his brother patted him on the back in understanding whilst Takumi sobbed into his iced tea.
"Yeah, don't worry about it. You got Isami and I to help you out when you need it" Yukihira tried to cheer him up as well.
Great. Even the clueless bastardo thought he was so poor in the dating department that he would need his help. That was a low blow. Takumi might as well ask a teapot for help if Yukihira was going to enlist himself to be a redundant wingman.
"Go away… I don't need your help… d-don't look at me!" Takumi continued to blubber into his drink.
Soon Ayame and Namikaze's squabble died down when the midget finally acquiesced and surrendered. Ayame certainly knew how to argue for what she wanted. That was hot.
"Aya… Kuchiyose-kun, you don't have to come if you don't want to. I understand" said Ayame.
The lilac-haired giant shook his head at her and proceeded to enter the date of the festival into his phone calendar, much to her surprise and delight. It looked like he was coming anyway.
"I confess, I have an ex-boyfriend at Tootsuki too and I think I should skip instead"
"FEEBLE EXCUSES" Ayame swiftly shut Namikaze down with a single look. "So Takumi-kun, what are you planning for your stall?"
Takumi recovered from his despair and proceeded to explain to her the tradition of holding a Trattoria Aldini stall with Isami. The three merged into their own conversation about their Tootsuki traditions as brothers when it came to events, competitions and anything really. Meanwhile. Yukihira was rifling through the fridge to find pickles or anything acidic to ruin some strawberry flavoured pocky, no doubt trying to shanghai Ayame's friends into consuming his disgusting food experiments. He hoped Namikaze would be on the receiving end of it, just to see her choke.
Takumi felt himself ease back into his usual calm self. Somehow, Ayame had shifted her body so that she was leaning on his shoulder whilst talking to Isami. He loved seeing his bella and his brother getting along so well. It made his heart flutter.
Suddenly something brushed up against his hand.
His bella was playing with his fingers under the table.
Takumi felt a small blush coming on but smiled through it, and played with her fingers also. He stroked each finger delicately and drew little circles on her palms while she tapped on his hand rhythmically. These little moments of physical interaction meant a great deal to him and it always made his heart race with excitement and got his blood pumping. He shifted his body ever so slightly so that he allowed room for his other arm to also wrap around Ayame's waist and hold her to his body.
It felt perfect.
The whole living room felt perfect.
Takumi is so over dramatic when it comes to dating. But I guess that's what you'd expect from a perfectionist.
Souma and Isami are back from their holidays! And that means everybody else will be trickling back for the brand new Summer Solstice Festival (my thing) :D Then Tootsuki will be filled with cooking action once again. Can't keep the Justice League away, can I?
Takumi forgot where his postcard from Yukihira was sent from. DO YOU GUYS REMEMBER? :P
In case you guys want to know the meaning of the character's names mean:
神田 あやめ (Kanda Ayame = "Rice fields for the Gods" and "Iris - the flower")
波風 千鶴 (Namikaze Chizuru = "Discord" and "1000 cranes")
口寄せ 白虎 (Kuchiyose Byakko = "Spritualism" and "Legendary White Tiger of the West")
I hope you've all enjoyed this chapter. Let me know what you guys think and I'll see you in 5 days! Happy holidays!
Signing off
-TripWire-dono
