Chapter 15 – Their Second Date, Chicken Goodness
This was the perfect day for a second date. Takumi considered it perfect because he and Ayame would start their first class of the semester in two days' time. It wasn't a typical date that he'd imagined where they'd go out to cafés for brunch, a park for a picnic or to the local cinema. It was comfortable and at home. Like a 'home-date'. He didn't know any other word to call it. It felt cosy, it felt private and it was the just the two of them. Plus, Isami was here. He wasn't joking when he thought Isami's suggestion for a cooking lesson as a date was a good idea. Of course, Ayame had to agree too and she did. They planned a cooking demo, a movie and dinner 'home-date'.
He wouldn't do anything without Ayame's approval. He was becoming a domesticated boyfriend…He could feel it…
The weather was dismal, so he supposed it was actually better to spend time indoors. The sky was full of glare. It was impossible to tell if it would rain or not because there was no sun and the sky was a sheet of never-ending whiteness. Unfortunately, he couldn't say the same for the Summer Solstice Festival. It was worse. For the remaining three days, everything went south and it poured. The crowd significantly dwindled, music entertainments were cancelled and most stalls couldn't continue and had to pack up very early, or skip for another day. Takumi, Isami, Yukihira, Polar Star Dorms, and everybody else worth mentioning refused to call it quits and actually put their heads together to create some shelter for the remaining festival goers who couldn't make it to the opening night where everything was perfect. They all agreed making more profits and winning in the rankings were no longer important to them. Making the most of the last few days of the food festival for the customers' sake rather than their own or the school's own was worth more.
Takumi finished preparing the kitchen island whilst Ayame pulled out the two whole chickens by the neck from the butcher they visited this morning and placed them in a large stainless steel bowl in the sink. She knew exactly what she wanted to cover in their cooking-date today and told him with extreme details as to why. That was typical Ayame, he loved it. She was adamant to learn the essentials like dressing meats, chicken in particular, because it was a staple meat in the Kanda household. Ayame had relatives in poultry farming in the Iburaki Prefacture. They always gifted her family with whole chickens on special occasions that were already dressed, or not yet dressed because apparently, Ayame's mother liked to dress the chicken herself.
"Are we ready to get started?" Takumi smirked, already in his Aldini apron.
"Yep!" Ayame pinned her hair back into a bun and clipped her fridge up too. She swiftly walked back to the sink. She was dressed in her own apron designed with little dancing robots. She looked really cute and Takumi had to turn up his concentration level a bit more if he was going to give her a really good demonstration in dressing the chicken.
"I'm completely in your hands now" Ayame smiled shyly at him.
'Dio mio'
Takumi wanted to double over and clutch his chest. Why did she have to say things like that! Their intimacy level was lukewarm and he was still trying to embrace his more amorous side. He wished he was so much better at handling innuendos or things that sounded like it. For his sake, he needed to get used to it fast because Ayame was started to make more of those comments, but he couldn't bring himself to figure out the best method for how. Only on some occasions where he was feeling brave enough, he would have a comeback he dared called 'saucy' and make her blush in return. Which he would always feel better because it evened out the playing field, and he loved to be the one to make her blush instead. Right now, his brother was in the house, even though he was napping, so there was no way he was stepping in that territory. The next best thing he did was cover his blushing face and turn away for a minute and listen to her taunting chuckles against his will. He lost.
"Come on now! Let's get started" he spun back around and pinched her cheek lightly, causing her to make abrupt squeaking sounds like a squeak toy.
"Ok! Ok!" she swatted his hands away and rubbed her reddening cheeks. Takumi didn't miss the way she tried to suppress her smile and her verdant eyes glittered with mirth. Takumi made a big act of clearing his throat with his fist poised in front of his mouth to show Ayame he meant business.
"Let's start rinsing the bird. We want to make sure to get rid any leftover pin-feathers" said Takumi.
The two of them took turns to thoroughly rub, pull and scrape the skin of the chicken with their hands. Ayame listened to his instructions intensely with such a studious and determined expression. She followed them perfectly. He was happy that she wasn't grossed out or wanted to change her mind. Dressing meat wasn't the most pleasant thing to do, but it was a must for all chefs.
"So when dressing the chicken, first step is to remove the feet" said Takumi.
Ayame took the chickens over to the two chopping boards set out on the kitchen island. She was grinning and looked rather excited to get down to the nitty-gritty side of cooking. Takumi flipped the yellow-skinned, corn-fed chicken onto its back and pulled it perpendicular to his body. Ayame did the same.
"Hold one foot and slice the joint gently. As you slice it, apply a downward force at the same time. You want to direct the blade down between the joint and through the tendons. Like this"
Takumi grasped the chicken's foot and pushed the foot down as he expertly cut into the joint. He felt the joint crack and the tendon cut away. He continued to saw the joint with his sharp knife gently, back and forth, until it came away easily. Ayame gulped and copied exactly as Takumi did, however he noticed that her arms were very tense and she was making ragged cuts.
"No, you don't need to force it too hard. Let me" he said. Ayame blushed and nodded. Takumi stepped behind her and placed his hands over both of hers. He gently guided her hand in slicing the joint, whilst his other showed her exactly how much force was needed to push down the leg before it was separated nicely.
"Ah thanks" she smiled. She twisted her head around and pecked him on the cheek, taking him by surprise.
"Ah-Ah!… Try again with the o-other leg!" Takumi released her hands and skittered back to his own chicken, finishing off the other foot, whilst Ayame slowly did the same and her technique was looking much better. Takumi took all four feet and placed them into a plastic bag and left it to the side. Isami had asked him to save the feet so that he could braise it in black bean sauce.
"Next is to remove the head. Some people just pull it off with their hands—"
"What! With their hands?!" Ayame shrieked.
Takumi cringed at the sudden high pitch voice. "Well yeah, it's a preference thing. I've done it before"
Ayame wasn't looking too good by this point, but she gathered herself and nodded enthusiastically. Yep, she was still game. Takumi flipped the bird the other way so that its head was facing the business end of his kitchen knife.
"Anyway, for you, slice the neck just under the head. When you hit bone, just keep going. As you start to disconnect the head, you'll find the oesophagus which is where the food goes down and the trachea which is the windpipe. Cut those too" said Takumi.
"Hey…" Ayame said nervously. "Can I… watch you pull off the head… with your hands…?" Takumi blanched. She really wanted to see him actually rip off the head? He didn't see that one coming. She didn't break eye contact with his own and he was convinced she was serious, which was creepy. Honestly he was wondering if she was okay or had gone into experimental engineering mode. But if that was what she really wanted, then he will show her.
"Okay, you do your chicken first" he said.
Ayame removed the head as per his instructions, threw the head in the rubbish bag and she sighed in relief. "Okay your turn!" she said excitedly.
Takumi chuckled. He grabbed the head of his bird gently and cut into the meaty section of the neck to weaken the connection... then he just pulled the head right off. That was it. Ayame gawked. Takumi wasn't sure it was in 'disgust' or 'awe'. But either way, she didn't turn green and want to throw up. Takumi pushed on.
"This time, we need remove the crop. It's the hardest part of dressing chicken. The crop is a sac where food goes in before it reaches the stomach. It sits at the base of the neck, against the breast. Some farmers don't feed the chickens for twenty-four hours so the crop will be empty before butchering. Some do feed them, so the crop is full and is easier to find. Like this one, but it's half full" Takumi flipped the bird onto its back again and pressed his thumb onto the base of the neck, until a flaccid sphere bulged out, which was the crop.
"Ah okay" Ayame peered closer and examined it.
"But first, we need to remove the neck-skin to get to the crop. It takes a while, so we'll do it together" Takumi stretched out the neck for Ayame to see. He skilfully cut into the skin about half way up the neck. He pinched the skin with his thumb and fore-finger and lifted it off the flesh and slice a strip of skin just under where it was lifted, off, up to the end of the neck, connecting to the breast. Ayame did the same.
"Keep pinching the skin and fillet a section of the skin up to the neck. I'll show you how to fillet" Takumi demonstrated slowly and Ayame copied him the best as she could, her expression fierce as to make sure she did it correctly. Takumi noticed she was good at 'learning by watching' which was great. "By lifting the skin as I cut, I am keeping tension where the cutting is taking place. If I didn't do this, the skin won't cut very well, no matter how sharp the knife is" Takumi added at the end, showing her how he pinched the skin.
"Got it" Ayame smiled brightly at him.
Takumi continued. "See those two tubes? That's the oesophagus and the trachea. Just pull it away from the neck. Also, hold the skin at the back of the neck and pull it away too" Takumi showed her. It was easy to tell which ones were the oesophagus and the trachea. The trachea was ribbed and more rigid than the soft oesophagus.
"It's starting to actually look like the whole chicken you buy in the supermarket now" said Ayame. She smiling and enjoying herself, as Takumi hoped she would be.
"Si, it is. Now we need to find the crop" Takumi pulled the skin at the front down further and inserted his fingers to wiggle the crop free so Ayame could see. "The crop will be tight to the bird's neck-skin and breast. It needs to be worked free. The crop is durable, but use a careful touch so you don't break it. If you do break the crop, you will have a bit of a mess. But it isn't a major crisis. It's just undigested feed" Takumi explained.
The blonde Italian placed his right hand between the oesophagus and the actual neck part. Then he grasped the crop that was slightly visible. He held the chicken carcass with his left hand and twisted it a couple of times as he slowly and steadily pulled the crop out with his right hand, directly out of the body cavity. Takumi could literally dress chicken with his eyes closed. He had done it countless of times until it was second nature, so slowing down for Ayame to follow was a bit tricky as he was used to doing it with tremendous speed. Ayame copied his movements and was really looking like she was enjoying it more.
"Okay, so the tube from the crop to the gizzards should disengage nicely. Just put the crop into the rubbish bag" said Takumi.
"I can't wait to actually gut the chicken now" Ayame sprang lightly on the balls of her feet. He had certainly scored the best girlfriend. He didn't care what others said. His bella butchering chicken was definitely cute.
"Now then, to remove the neck part. It's relatively easy. Begin by grasping the neck with one hand and use your other hand to pull the skin around the neck down" Takumi showed Ayame as she nodded in understanding. She repeated with her own chicken.
"What you're doing is getting access to the base of the neck, where you will make a cut. Slice into the meat of the neck. The cut should be almost between the bird's shoulder blades. The point is not to cut through the neck. Instead, you want to simply push the blade into the meaty neck until you meet the bone" said Takumi. He repeated the process on other sides of the neck, a total of three times on different sides and Ayame followed suit. Takumi gripped the neck more securely and twisted it a couple of times until it came right off.
"There's a lot of neck skin still there so we just trim it" said Takumi, demonstrating how he trimmed the skin off with his kitchen knife.
"Takumi-kun, when did you first learn to dress chicken?" asked Ayame, as she trimmed the skin a bit messily after disconnecting the neck.
"Hmm, about six years old"
"That's so young!" she gasped.
"Yeah, but we practically lived in the kitchens and Isami and I were already good with a knife, so Pappa taught us anyway" he said, happily reminiscing.
"Well, your dad knew talent when he saw one" she winked at him. Takumi blushed. He believed he was and was proud. Better that Ayame was proud of him too.
"Next is to remove the oil glands" said Takumi, as Ayame finished trimming. "It's on the tail end of the chicken. It's yellow, so it will be easy enough to see." He turned the chicken onto its front and twisted it around so that he grasped the carcass with his left and poised the knife in his right hand right above the oil gland. Ayame nodded when she began to see the yellow gland as he was cutting it off the tail end. It took her a few goes to get all the glands out for her own chicken.
"So now for the exciting bit you were waiting for, we're going to take out the entrails" Takumi smiled. Ayame whispered a silent 'yes', making Takumi shake his head in amusement. He leaned over and kissed her on the nose, causing her to blush. "Obviously, we'll need to go through the… backdoor…"
Ayame snorted.
"The best way is to cut a small opening and tear it wider. The less cutting, the better to minimise the chance of accidentally cutting into the intestines or other organs you shouldn't cut into" Takumi flipped the bird onto it's back again and positioned the posterior at an angle for Ayame to see. Takumi pinched the skin and lifted it up above the knife. He angled the knife up a bit to avoid cutting into the internal organs and horizontally sliced into the lifted part. The opening looked rather small, but it was actually big enough. Takumi wriggled two fingers from each hand into the opening of the chicken and pulled them apart, making the opening much larger. Ayame winced.
"And now we're going to remove all the guts. Wash your hands thoroughly first and put on some gloves" Takumi pointed to a fresh pair of latex gloves for her on the kitchen island.
"You don't want any gloves?" she asked, noticed there was only one pair.
"I prefer not to use them" he said. He had never used gloves for dressing chicken before. Pappa thought they were for pansies. "Okay so… W-Wait! Watch me first, Ayame!"
"Hmm?" Ayame had her hand poised, sleeves rolled up higher and ready to plunge her gloved hand into the bird and rip the guts out.
"Flip it onto the front first. You want to insert your hand, fingertips first, up into the top of the bird. Keep your fingertips tight to the bird's breastbone. You have reach in slow and deep, over the top of the guts, towards the front end of the bird" he enunciated 'slow and deep' a lot more to make sure she listened carefully and didn't rush in her excitement.
"Is this slow and deep enough?" she smirked at him, her eyes half lidded.
Dio mio, she just did not… Cazzo! HE just did not…
"OKAY! Um… ummm, the next s-step is… is uh… Oh yeah! When you have reached in as far as you can go, curl your fingertips down, so you are grasping a good handful of guts. Then, pull out slow, straight, and steady. Don't squish your fingertips around because you don't want to break the gall bladder. You might need to do a few scoops" The words rolled out his mouth in one breath and he finished with a sigh. Ayame was back to copying his actions, humming cheekily as she went. Takumi tremoured as he replayed Ayame's innuendo over and over in his head. It was stuck like a broken record! Takumi was as much as a sore loser as Yukihira, so he was going to have to top her with an even wittier and saucier comeback… once he thought long and hard. Both of them did a few more scoops to make sure they got all the guts out from the cavity.
"No, don't throw away the insides yet. We need to look for the gall bladder" he placed his hand on Ayame's to stop her from throwing her chicken's entrails away. It looked like his bella was getting a bit ahead of herself. "It's green and right next to the liver. We have to make sure it's not broken, otherwise if it is, the bile inside will have contaminated the meat" Takumi carefully moved the chicken guts around in his hand and showed to Ayame the still intact green-coloured organ that was the gall bladder sitting beside the liver. Ayame gently shifted her own in her gloved hands and sighed when she found that she successfully left the gall-bladder intact too.
"Ok, just cut the large intestine from the back end" Both of them threw the entails away after completing the step.
"Now, we need to get the heart and lungs. The heart is in the centre of the chest" Takumi reached into the gaping cavity and plucked out the heart and Ayame did the same. So far she still looked ok and she seemed to be going fine as a first timer in dressing chicken.
"Lungs are a bit harder to remove because it's spongy and moulded tightly to the ribs on either side of its backbone. People normally scrape it out. I find that instead of scraping to remove the lungs, they come out much better if I use a finger to slide down under each lung and lift it out. It's easier said than done, so for you, I prefer if you just scrape it with your fingertips and I'll check it when you're done."
Ayame nodded and she proceeded to try and scrape the lungs out. Afterwards, Takumi examined it and found there was some bits of lung still stuck to the ribs and scraped them all out himself. He checked the rest of the cavity and nodded, pleased that Ayame had done a rather good job.
"Oh my god! It looks exactly like in the supermarket" Ayame jumped up and down and pointed to her fully dressed chicken on the chopping board. Takumi nodded and hugged her from behind, being careful not to touch her with his hands and plopped her a little kiss on the side of her head. She turned around and beamed up and him, rubbing her nose against his.
"It's not over yet, we need to clean up and chill it in ice water" Takumi chuckled.
He released Ayame and gently pushed her back to the kitchen island with his forearms, lest she danced around the place. He took both their fully dressed chickens and gave them a good wash in the sink and a final inspection. His own chicken was perfect whilst hers was 'not bad'. Her cuts weren't as neat as his since she still needed help on how to properly hold and angle the knife for cutting, but that was a good start. He didn't expect her to be a chef or anything, but he just didn't want her to accidentally hurt herself. Upon his instructions, Ayame went to grab a whole lot of ice in the freezer and popped them out of the mould and into the basin under running water. Takumi gently submerged the chickens into the ice water. "We need to keep it here for a while before we can properly freeze it" he said.
"Awesome! I can't wait to tell my mum and her family" Takumi and Ayame tied off the bag of guts and disposed of it in the outside garbage bin. Then they cleaned down the kitchen island together, with Ayame purposely bumping in Takumi, making him blush even more. They washed their hands with antibacterial soap and took off their aprons.
"Thanks Takumi-kun. This has been a very educational date" she sidled up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck. Takumi pulled her against him tighter and rubbed his cheeks with hers. She smelled really nice today, sunshine with a hint of her perfume. He breathed it in deeply and couldn't resist nibbling on her ear, earning a relaxed sigh from his bella. His heart rate escalated and his blood started to pump faster as he began to caress his hands slowly up and down her back, entranced by her warm puffs of breath against his ear and the way her slim body moulded against his.
"Hey Fratello, Ayame-san— oh…"
Takumi froze up and dared not turn around, effectively caging Ayame against himself who also gasped in surprise. His face exploded with heat by the sound of his younger twin stumbling out his bedroom door. Oh the embarrassment! He slowly released Ayame and turned around to face his brother, trying very hard to make it look like nothing happened.
Isami knew. He knew. Ayame knew. Everyone knew.
"So… anyway, how did it go?" Isami said cheerfully. Takumi thanked Cristo he was being considerate and chose not to poke fun at him and Ayame.
"It w-was good. Mission accomplished" Ayame scratched the back of her head shyly, partially hiding behind Takumi.
"Cool, well done Ayame-san. Isn't Takumi an awesome teacher?" he laughed.
"Yes, very awesome indeed" Ayame stepped forward and smiled at Takumi and he returned a soft smile as well.
"Anyway, I'm going to call my Bianca now, we have a phone-date" Isami waved at them before disappearing out into the balcony. Ayame and Takumi nodded back in understanding.
"Okaa-san showed me an easy oyakodon recipe on our latest video chat, so I'm going to give that a shot with my dressed chicken when I get home" said Ayame.
Takumi thought about it. She couldn't make pancakes or fry fish before he came along. She only knew frozen dumplings in instant noodles, cereal and soba,and now she wanted to make oyakodon… He didn't want to discourage her or anything, but did she know how to cut a whole chicken and tear off the meat by herself? Either way, if she didn't know, she would have asked him. So Takumi decided he was just being overly-cautious and that his bella knew what she was doing. She learnt her lesson with the pancakes and fish. She was a smart person after all. Plus, she successfully dressed chicken under his guidance. He decided he will remain standby at his phone should she text or call in a cooking emergency.
"So let's watch the movie now" Ayame pulled out her memory stick, or USB as she insisted everyone should call it and dangled it in his face. Takumi smiled and poked at the warn out robot sticker on the side of it. She said the movie was purely made from CGI, including the characters. He had seen movies that incorporated CGI, but not made entirely of it, so it would be very interesting to see. Takumi asked her to wait a bit on the living room sofa while he grabbed his laptop and power cord from his room and returned to the living room. She had already pulled out her bun so it was a thick wavy waterfall against her shoulders. She was settled on the couch with her knees up, clutching a cushion to her chest as Takumi set up his laptop.
"So what am I going to expect?" he asked.
"Lots of action" she cackled.
Once the movie started playing and Takumi sat down, Ayame shifted to fold her legs beneath her body and leaned into his chest. Takumi wrapped his arm around her shoulders and leaned back comfortably, liking the way their bodies relaxed together. Today, Ayame was wearing a black long-sleeved shirt and light beige shorts. She also had a pair of black socks which reached all the way to mid-thigh, revealing a strip of bare skin. It was like that thin strip of exposed skin between her shorts and socks was teasing him because his fingers were itching to caress it. Since it was the thigh area that was calling out to him, Takumi manned himself up and refused to look at it, like a gentleman should. He couldn't trust himself if he dared lay his eyes upon the sensual, creamy skin of her thighs again. The more he spent time with Ayame, the more he could see that his life would have been duller without her. Her quirkiness, intellect and thirst to learn everything of the science made him feel so lucky to have found a gem like her. He was sure his "like" was deepening into something more.
"So what did you think?" Ayame stretched out her kinks, twisting around her lithe body like a cat. Takumi wanted to run his finger down her sides, but he didn't want her to elbow his face if it tickled her too much. The credits finished rolling and his media player returned to its regular screen.
"The storyline was a bit confusing, but I understood enough. The graphics were impressive. They were so detailed!" he commented in awe. Ayame flopped back against him and he also moved so that he was reclining on the armrest of the sofa and she laid on top of his chest. He reached up and smoothed the tops of her head, playing with the wisps of her hair.
"I know, right? How do they make those characters look so incredibly life-like? I'm jealous that their skin were flawless… that's Japanese technology for you" she frowned.
Takumi gently grasped her chin and turned her face upwards towards him. He kissed her deeply and stroked her jaw, coaxing her to turn around a bit more, so that she could be more comfortable in their position. "You are beautiful, more than any other girl in the world, virtual or real" he whispered against her lips. He relished in the way she blushed deeply and darted her eyes away, trying to bury her face in his chest as he patted and stroked the back of her head, feeling every single silky strand.
"Hey, I'm going to make us some dinner now. How do you feel about pollo alla cacciatora, which is Hunter's Chicken Stew?" he asked.
"Sound's good"
Takumi took Ayame's hand and they both padded to the kitchen where he showed her how to pack and freeze her first dressed chicken so that she could take it home at the end of the day. Ayame settled onto the seat at the kitchen island and chatted with Takumi as he took his perfectly dressed chicken and began cutting it into different cuts to be used for the pollo alla cacciatora.
"So, why is it called hunter's chicken stew?" she asked, lacing her fingers together and resting her elbows on the counter-top.
"Cacciatore means 'hunter', so it's the type of food that a hunter's wife cooks for her husband when he gets home from a hard morning spent in the countryside" said Takumi, smiling.
Ayame giggled and it was obvious why. It kind of suited them in a really odd way. He cooked for her like a married couple would and they spent a lot of time together in the kitchen, which was normally the centre of a family home. Takumi readied the deep-pan he needed and took out the ingredients including a bottle of good quality Chianti from Firenze for the stew. It would take about two hours or so to cook, but that was plenty of time.
"Can I at least season the chicken?" Ayame asked.
"Hmm… okay then" said Takumi. She went over and washed her hands and listened to Takumi's instructions word for word. She sprinkled the chicken pieces with a generous amount of salt and pepper inside a bowl, rubbing it over the meat firmly, making sure it was coated nicely. Next she added the fresh bay leaves, rosemary and garlic Takumi had crushed in the meantime, and poured half a bottle of the Chianti onto the seasoned chicken. The smell of the herbs and red wine danced perfectly and he was sure Ayame would love the flavour. Then he took the bowl from her and covered it with kitchen film and placed it in the fridge
"I'm going to marinate it for an hour" he said while Ayame wiped down the kitchen bench.
"Chizuru-chan and I treated Kuchiyose-kun out for lunch yesterday" she resumed their small talk.
"Was everything ok?" Takumi asked carefully. He had no idea what happened after their male friend's traumatic experience on the first night of the Summer Solstice Festival because he and Isami had been so busy with packing up their stall and the next four days after that, he barely had time to chat with Ayame.
"I'd say, he got back at us… in a way" she said slowly.
"What do you mean?"
"We took him to his favourite yakiniku place to make it up to him for… you know. Well, he drained our wallets dry" she sighed dramatically. "Do you know how much he eats? He packs food away like it's nobody's business. He sure didn't hold back at all and I lost count of how many servings he had alone. I'm so glad he only pays for his own servings when the three of us usually go out and eat after school. But yesterday? He sure knows how to get back at us, good"
Takumi didn't know anything comforting to say to that.
"Well, Chizuru-chan and I have definitely learned our lesson. He's back to his usual self now, only more content" she laughed, sounding happy to be back in Kuchiyose's good graces. Takumi was sure she would never, ever, ever accidentally forget her tall and silent friend again. Also, God forbid what would happen if she forgot Namikaze for just a second…
Takumi was well aware of how much Kuchiyose ate. He was a very tall boy who was equally athletic as he planned on becoming a professional soccer player, so it was expected that he ate huge amounts of food to keep up his strength and nutrition. Also, he was toned and unusually slender, so he must have a very fast metabolism meaning he tended to eat more often. That day of Hayama's and Mito-san's shokugeki was indication enough that he was a fast eater. Two blinks and their dishes disappeared right before his eyes as the lilac-haired giant leaned back after clearing his plate in no time. Also that day when he helped Takumi transport all their belongings to the newly renovated apartment, he ate five boxes of takeaway bentous during their lunch-break without breaking a sweat. So the blonde Italian could imagine he could easily make the most of Ayame's and Namikaze's peace offering for an all paid for yakiniku lunch in their attempt to seek his forgiveness for forgetting to check for his urgent text messages.
"Kuchiyose-san sounds easy to please" commented Takumi.
"He is, actually. He's one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. But don't push him though, even the nicest people will turn into the scariest things. You'll find that the world turns into a very small place when he's cross with you" chuckled Ayame.
"Noted" said Takumi. But Ayame and Namikaze were his best friends, which he knew of. So they probably got off easy. Kuchiyose-san completely deserved his given name.
An hour later and a round of Ayame chasing Takumi around the kitchen island to demonstrate the stride motions of the famous ASIMO robot created by the car company Honda, Takumi grabbed her and dragged her to fridge with him to stop her running around and to get the well marinated chicken out. Next he drained out the marinade into a smaller bowl and was able to pat the chicken meat dry with some paper towels as the marinade has soaked well into the flesh. Then he dusted the chicken with some flour, making sure to shake off the excess before putting it onto a cast iron pan that was already splashed with olive oil. Takumi and Isami was glad the apartment already provided some cast-iron pots and pans because that was what they also used in Trattoria Aldini. Their landlady told them she would buy new ones for the apartment if they were too old, but they assured her it was fine. Cast iron pots and pans were better than the modern ones in some regards such as distributing heat evenly because they were thicker to heat. He continued to fry the chicken until they were golden brown and fragrant, then he placed them to the side on another plate with a pair of tongs.
"Oh God… that smells so yum…" Ayame moaned from the kitchen island.
"Almost there, mio caro" Takumi laughed lightly.
He himself couldn't wait for her to try it and watch her with undivided attention. He always felt really excited to be cooking something only for his bella. He thought it was mainly because he liked to watch her eat and savour her reactions because it got his blood all excited. But now he just liked to shower her with his unique form of affection, which came in food form on top of that. After all, she deserved nothing but the best from him. Takumi then fried some sliced garlic until it was nicely browned and aromatic, then he added the anchovies, pitted green and black olives, crushed tomatoes and the lovely chicken pieces with the wonderful marinade he reserved. Finally, he placed the lid on until the stew boiled and then placed the pan into the pre-heated oven.
"That needs to be in the oven for about an hour and a half" said Takumi.
"Aya… You said it was going to be ready soon" Ayame patted her stomach and pretended to be fatigued. He knew she was pretending because she dramatically dropped her head onto her folded arms on the kitchen island and turned away from him.
"I know, I know, but have patience, and it will taste better" Takumi wrapped his arms around her waist from behind. Her long hair was splayed out over her arms and she was now sighing dreamily and was tracing her finger over the counter in little circles.
"What are you writing, Ayame?" he asked and bent forward so that his head lightly rested over hers while he still hugged her gently from behind. Her hair felt so soft against his cheeks, he could just stay like this forever.
"The formula for the 'moment of inertia'. It's like this" Ayame traced her hands slowly again and Takumi's eyes followed her movements. It didn't resemble any writing that he knew of. He didn't need her to explain that.
"Mmmmmm… Do I smell pollo alla cacciatora tonight?"
Takumi snapped out of his brooding at the sound of his brother's voice. Isami emerged from the balcony. His hair was tousled by the breeze, but still maintained it's combed back appearance. It looked like he had a nice long chat with Bianca, his long-distance girlfriend, from the way he smiled blissfully.
"Yep! I don't know how many million more years it will take though" Ayame grinned cheekily at Takumi, getting some ice tea and pouring out three glasses for everyone. Takumi rolled his eyes.
"Soon"
"I believe you like the Earth is spherical" replied Ayame cheekily.
"What? The Earth is not round?" asked Isami, looking very interested.
"It is, just not in the way that you think. It's actually an oblate spheroid. So imagine a perfect sphere and squash the north pole and the south pole, which are the minor axes, together a little bit and you'll have the shape of the Earth" she said.
"Cool!" said Isami, finishing off his ice tea and pouring himself some more.
"Hey Isami, I've been meaning to ask this. Why didn't Yukihira create a Chinese food stall this year to settle the score with Terunori like he wanted?" asked Takumi. He had been meaning to ask either him or Yukihira when he got the chance, but everyone had been incredibly busy.
"Ah, bit of a long story. I'll start from the beginning. Terunori, whom you've met briefly, Ayame-san, was bullying a student who recently tried to form a Vietnamese Cuisine RS. She'd recently moved from Vietnam, so her Japanese isn't too good yet. Anyway, he'd been antagonising her, claiming that Chinese cooking was superior and she shouldn't try. Obviously that upset her greatly. When Yukihira-kun found out one day, he decided to leave his unfinished battle with Terunori aside. He challenged him to a new bet to take back every nasty thing he said about Vietnamese Cuisine. He also demanded that he apologise to her and stop bullying her, on the new student's behalf. Hence, Yukihira-kun and Tadokoro-san created a Vietnamese Food Truck as their weapon" said Isami.
"Terunori-san sounds like a very troubled person with low self-esteem" commented Ayame.
"Si. I believe so too. Most bullies are like that. I think it's to do with his height" Isami agreed with Ayame, nodding in tandem.
"The point Yukihira wanted to make was that Vietnamese cuisine was neither inferior nor superior to anything, including Chinese cuisine. That goes for everything else. There's no such thing as one cuisine being better than the other, because they are all so diverse, unique and different. All cuisines have evolved from different roots over thousands and thousands of years to come to their own identity as we know them now. Some adapted styles from other cultures and countries, and others remain in their traditional forms. It's brilliant! Therefore it's utterly wrong and unfair to make biased comparisons when they are all so wonderful and beautiful in their own way, even more so to do it only to justify ones' own egotistical beliefs." Isami concluded.
"You are so right, Isami-kun. I'm glad Yukihira-kun decided to defend the student" said Ayame.
Takumi thought about his own rivalry with Yukihira. It wasn't all about which cuisine was better than whose. It was more about whose skill was better. It just so happened that Takumi was trained to cook in Italian cuisines all his life, and Yukihira had yet to find his one true style. Unlike Terunori, he thought himself better than making elitist claims for a cuisine style. He was indeed proud of his skill as an Aldini chef and wasn't afraid to show it off, but he certainly didn't throw his weight around like Terunori. His rivalry was more than just to see how much better he was compared to Yukihira, it was to see how much better he had become since he left Italia, how much passion he still had left for cooking. How much better he could be. After all, in the grand scheme of things, Yukihira was just a stepping stone.
Isami's story about Yukihira's and Tadokoro-san's actions resonated with something Takumi had heard of before. Where had he heard it? No, it weren't those exact words, but something similar and carried the same gravitas. He wasn't imagining things, he had certainly heard someone say something like this before.
'…for kindness'
Takumi snapped his eyes wider just as he opened up the oven and checked his stew. He remembered now. That's what Yukihira did, it was what he'd always done. He cooked for kindness. He may or may not realise it in his heart, but he'd put his skills to use in just the right moments. First for Tadokoro-san when she was threatened to be expelled by Chef Shinomiya. Second was in DEF kitchen. Now the third time was to defend the Vietnamese student.
One couldn't be selfless without being kind.
One couldn't be generous without being kind.
One couldn't be heroic without being kind.
'… for kindness'
"I think the stew is ready now" said Takumi.
He hefted the cast iron pan out and placed it on the heat mats already put out. The stew bubbled thickly and he could smell the garlic, rosemary, bayleaf and red wine just melt through his nostrils and tantilised the back of his tongue. The pieces of tender, slow cooked chicken were like clustered islands bathing in a sea of glistening red stew. Isami licked his lips and Ayame needed a tissue to wipe her drool. Ayame ran to the other side and grabbed some plates, forks and knives, almost tripping in her impatience. Isami went to quickly wash some salad greens and russle up a simple salad dressing, and started arranging them neatly on the plates. Takumi dished up each serving, trying to stop Ayame from trying to dip her fork into the stew before it even left the pan.
"Ah Takumi, there's still half a bottle of Chianti. Let's take that out too!" said Isami excitedly.
"Oh yeah…" murmured Takumi.
"I've never had wine before, I've always wanted to try it" Ayame fist pumped the air.
"Ayame… do you think that's a good idea?" asked Takumi, almost in a panicked state. He finally placed the last chicken maryland on Ayame's plate.
"Yeah? Why, you don't think so?" asked Ayame in confusion.
"Remember what happened when we arrived back at your place from Ikebukuro…?"
.
.
.
Some time ago...
Summer nights were still fairly warm and Ayame wouldn't stop praising each of the tiny servings of desserts were on the dessert degustation platter. He still couldn't believe the desserts were on the house. It looked like Chef Mizuhara still held him in high regard, even if he and Isami declined her offer of a graduate position after Tootsuki. The taxi ride home was stuck in traffic a bit on the main highway of Ikebukuro, but when it left central Tokyo to enter Western Tokyo, the traffic eased up greatly. Ayame already missed the electrifying and dancing city lights of Ikebukuro, the entertainment district of Tokyo. He could tell she would really love to go there again. Right on time with a few seconds to spare, the taxi arrived smoothly to the curb in front of Ayame's house. Takumi opened the door and got out first and offered his hand to help her out. It was a magical evening and he could see it in her smile and her eyes. Takumi asked the driver to wait and bit and he was content to do so.
"I had such an amazing time, Takumi-kun" said Ayame as they made it to her front porch.
"I'm glad you did" Takumi took her small hand in his and pressed his lips gently to her knuckles. She giggled back. She took out her keys and inserted into the lock. She placed her hand over the handle and paused. She turned to Takumi and gave him a smile so sweet, it melted his heart.
"Good luck for you and your brother's stall for—"
WOOSH!
The door swung open on its own, her keys still in the lock and the keyring clanged noisily, and standing right there was her father.
The Superintendent General Father.
He stood there, glowering at them and his hand was tightly gripped on the door knob, whilst his other hand was holding the door frame. Takumi didn't think he'd feel frightened this much for the second time that day! His long sleek black hair was tied up high on his head, leaving two long locks of hair framing his angular face. It hadn't changed at all since he came to pick Ayame up. It was probably the trick of the porch light and the darkness, but he thought Ayame's father looked a lot more feral and dangerous right now. His eyes we sharp, calculating and cold and his deathly gaze shot Takumi in the soul. There was something odd about his appearance. Something long and thin trailed from under the white dress shirt he was wearing, probably the same one from earlier, and into his ear.
"Oh my GOD! Don't do that, Otou-san! That almost scared me half to death. Hang on a minute… Is that an earpiece in your ear?!" Ayame stamped her wedged heels onto the front porch and pointed accusingly at her father, like a tiny Chihuahua yapping at a great Doberman.
"So what if it fucking is?" he bit back at her in a snarky manner, grinning menacingly.
"You know how I don't like it when you try to do work at home. It's not for work is it…" she narrowed her eyes at him and leaned up to his face, her hands on her hips.
His grin turned savage "How was Ikebukuro?" he drawled.
"Well, if you must know we had a… WAIT! We never told you we went to Ikebukuro! How did you-! Unbelievable! That earpiece wasn't for work! We were tailed weren't we? You had someone spy on us…" she seethed at him in her own way.
Her father's grin split into a shit-eating smirk.
Takumi felt his blood drain. Spy on them? Where police officers allowed to do that for personal agendas? Knowing her father and his rank in the police department, he could probably do anything and no one would have the guts to confront him about it. Even if he was technically not supposed to do it, he could still make that happen. There was an insane amount of lava around Takumi when he was around Ayame's father. One wrong step and he would burn in hell. The fear was real.
"You know what? I'm not dealing with you right now" Ayame sighed tiredly and threw her arms up in the air in defeat. "Takumi-kun, would you like to come in for some tea or...?" she said sweetly.
He gulped "Um… N-No, it's alright. It's late and I have to get g-going. You need some rest" said Takumi, trying to smile. He gingerly skated his blue eyes past her head, just to make sure there wasn't a police gun aimed at his face, but to his surprise her father was no longer there. He didn't even notice or hear him leave!
"Oh I understand. You need it too because you have a stall to plan" she winked at him.
He bade her a buono notte and kissed her cheek and she kissed his too. He jumped at the sound her father yelling 'Wrap the fuck up!' and apologised profusely if he kept her late for too long, which she assured him that everything was alright, even if it didn't seem like it. Takumi waved at her again when he got into the taxi. He kept his eyes on her until she closed the front door and the taxi drove away into the night, back to his apartment.
.
.
.
"Actually, you're right. I'll skip the wine if that's ok. Otherwise, we might be seeing red laser dots on everything" Ayame laughed nervously and backed away from the bottle of Chianti.
"Huh?" Isami had a perplexed expression on his face. Takumi gave him the signal that he'd tell him later and Isami just nodded with confusion.
"Let's dig in everyone! Buon apetito!" she yelled.
"I'm supposed to say that!"
After dinner, the worst thing imaginable happened.
It was pouring rain. It rained like witches' piss.
There was no way Ayame was going to go home in that. Even his strongest umbrella would be futile in this torrential downpour. The weather forecast mentioned that there would be a fifty-fifty chance of a light shower, which was completely off the mark. Takumi had no other choice. He urged Ayame to stay until the rain let up. Isami rechecked the weather to see if there was a chance that this was only a freak, twenty-second occurrence, which sometimes it were. Unfortunately the most updated weather forecast showed there were lots of storm clouds all over Western Tokyo and it was mostly likely going to continue through the night.
"Ayame, I think it's best that you should stay the night" said Takumi, standing next to her as they peered out the window into the the miserable weather.
"If you're really sure. I could still call a taxi or something to take me home" she insisted.
"No, there's more likely to be road accidents and traffic jams right now with this rain and your father won't do me any favours if I sent you home in this" said Takumi, placing his hands on her shoulders.
"You're right. Let me call Otou-san first" Ayame kissed him on the cheek and pulled her phone.
While Ayame waited for the call to connect, Takumi went to choose some sleeping clothes for Ayame to wear. As he went through his wardrobe and drawers, it started to became harder and harder to choose what was appropriate. He had a sleeping shirt that was soft and hoped it was comfortable. However he didn't own any sleeping shorts. He slept in his boxers. Takumi blushed profusely at the thought of Ayame wearing his boxer to sleep. It seemed so wrong! At the same time, his mind wondered shamelessly. He had sleeping pants too, but the night would be too hot and the rain will increase the humidity. What Ayame wore now wouldn't be comfortable to sleep in, so it looked like there wasn't really much of a choice.
"Hey, my dad isn't picking up his personal phone or the home phone, which means that he got called into work in an emergency. That happens sometimes" she said.
"Umm… you c-can wear these and you can take the sh-shower first" Takumi thrusted a bundle of clothes in her hands with a spare toothbrush sitting on top.
"Thanks Takumi-kun" she mumbled. Taking his offering gratefully. He just nodded in response, his face beet-red. Ayame walked over to the bathroom and shut the door. He listened to the running shower.
After her shower, Ayame twirled around in his sleeping shirt and his chequer-patterned boxer shorts. Her freshly dry hair bouncing around her partially exposed shoulders. It looked like she found the hair-dryer.
"A-Are they ok?! D-Do you want me to get s-something else? I could go ask Tadokoro-san for some more appropriate sleep wear if you prefer—"
"No, no, these are fine. They're quite comfortable actually. Besides, the rain is more likely to blow you away before you even reach the bus station" she grabbed his shoulders to calm him down which helped a lot. Takumi tried to avoid looking at Ayame.
She was wearing his clothes. His clothes. His most intimate clothes. If that didn't get his blood running south, nothing else could. She looked absolutely endearing wearing his clothes. She looked good in everything she wore in his opinion, but seeing her like this was pleasing. Like she was utterly and completely his, to the point she was wearing his stuff. His more amorous side would gladly give her his whole wardrobe, just so he had the guilty pleasure of seeing her walk around in them. But nobody will ever know that but him.
"I'll take a shower now… Um… just make yourself comfortable on the bed- B-BUT NOT IN THAT WAY! I didn't mean it like th-that! I'll take the sofa, you don't have to worry about a thing! You take the bed! I'll take the sofa!"
"Shhhhhhh" Ayame placed her finger on his lips which instantly shut him up and stopped his hands from floundering everywhere as every word he spoke made him more nervous and embarrassed than the previous, until he no longer had control over what he was spewing.
"It's alright. Go take your shower" she chuckled and pushed him towards the bathroom, before sauntering into the bedroom.
Takumi had the longest and coldest shower of his life.
"Honestly Takumi-kun I don't see the problem of us sharing the bed. Nothing's going to happen. I was exaggerating about the laser dots" said Ayame, but Takumi refused to listen. He gripped the thin blanket around himself and shook his head profusely. He laid stiff as a board on the sofa, with his blonde head firmly plastered on the spare pillow he got from the linen cupboard. There was no way he was going to share the same bed with her. He wasn't just afraid if her father found out, because he will at some point, but he was also scared what he might do to her once they got under the covers together.
He couldn't guarantee he would be a complete gentleman.
"Takumi-kun… I feel bad for forcing you out onto the sofa, when there's plenty of room on the bed. You have a king-single, which is like two and a half times the width of what you're lying on right now, so it's ok" Ayame continued to sooth him. "I bet Otou-san just made a really lucky, educated guess about us being in Ikebukuro. That earpiece I reckon was for show" she smiled.
Hell no, that was NOT for show.
"N-No, it's not that… It still would be improper—"
"Takumi Aldini, if you say one more word about 'morality', I'll force myself into the sofa with you and we'll see if 'morality' could come and save you then" she huffed as she stood up and leaned over his face, crinkling her nose in annoyance.
Takumi felt his resolve crumble. Ayame took his hand and peeled him off the sofa, leaving his thin spare blanket behind and dragged him back to the bedroom without another word.
Takumi is WHIPPED.
'... For kindness'... Do you guys remember where Takumi first heard this phrase from?
Well! Now we've just filled in the missing piece of what happened after their Ikebukuro date and Kuchiyose-kun :) I don't like writing flashbacks in Italics or even have the little heading "(Flashback)" in the perintheses because if feels like a cheap way to introduce it. Plus, reading blocks in Italics is hard and visually tiring :( To be honest, I don't like writing flashback much, but this chapter called for it. I wanted to keep it in my usual style.
I hope you guys enjoyed this super-long chapter. Let me know what you guys think and I'll see you in 5 days' time!
Signing off
- TripWire-dono
