Chapter 19 – Reshuffling the Seats & Hiding Hickeys
Takumi didn't expect to come home last night with Isami still not back from that meeting with the Elite Ten. He yawned and scratched his belly as he made his way to the kitchen and started up the brand new automatic peculator for some good, morning coffee. Isami was still sleeping in the next room, recuperating from whatever happened last night. He'd missed all of Isami's text messages and voicemails and didn't know about this secretive meeting until he left Ayame's house pretty late at night. Apparently a special courier delivered an invitation to the apartment according to one of Isami's text. He didn't stop by the apartment at all, as he came straight to Ayame's house from Tootsuki. He wondered why they felt the need to have this secret meeting in the evening. Anyhow, he shouldn't leave his phone on just vibrate anymore. Who knew what other important things he will miss?
That was a very interesting dinner.
Takumi groaned and poured himself a cup when the coffee was ready. He still felt really tired. He couldn't stop thinking about last night with Ayame and his sleep was more like sleepless. What had he done?! They didn't do anything beyond the point of no return last night but Cristo! They might as well have been. Takumi had never felt so passionate in his life than that moment he was in with Ayame. It was like he had completely abandoned his soul to some sort of inner beast. That lustful, enamoured creature residing in the deep recesses of his heart which always crooned for his bella. No. She was more than that now.
She was his amore.
Ayame kept encouraging him and there was nothing he could do to refuse her. He was in no position to do so when his amore was the perfect picture of a sultry maiden in need of a release in the same way as he did. His hands were everywhere, his lips and tongue were everywhere. Dio mio… the burning in his groin was almost too much to bear and the more she rocked against him, the more he slipped away from reality. Anywhere he could find her bare milky skin, he lavished and caressed it. He was so glad they didn't take off their clothes at all. That was probably where his inner gentleman drew the line. He remembered pulling down the sleeves of her singlets off her shoulders and maybe slipped his hands underneath, palming her smooth skin, listening keenly to her soft sighs and gasps as he did so. He might have felt sharp tugs in his scalp as her slender fingers threaded itself into his hair but he wasn't quite sure. If he was honest with himself, he remembered what he felt rather than what actually happened.
Takumi padded out onto the balcony and leaned against the railing, sipping his hot morning coffee. It was a Sunday morning, but the streets below were still busy as ever.
After all their… he didn't know what to call it… their 'us time'? They finally calmed down and regained their wits. Ayame was a beautiful heated mess and he was pretty much the same, he dared say in worse shape. Her eyes, oh her eyes. It was darkened into a lustrous green when he gazed upon her and it really got his blood roaring for his amore. He should like to see that expression again. There were no regrets in what they did. Takumi wanted to show her how much he loved her and she did the same. Their love was mutual and he couldn't hope for anything better. They had rested side by side, leaning against her bed, her hand in his and her head on his shoulder as they just talked about anything and everything. She did most of the talking and he listened. Just like they always did. At the end of the night, Ayame sent him home a happy man. She wanted him the same way as he did and that was enough for him.
In a free state of mind, Takumi's thoughts sauntered over to Shiomi-sensei's assignment. That's one thing he needed to get done as soon as possible so that he had more time for actual cooking practice. Takumi wasn't cocky enough to think he didn't need practice. As a proper chef in a proper trattoria, one should always keep up their skill no matter what, lest they shame themselves and their profession. His school email was flooded with shokugeki challenges, which he hadn't had the time to skim over. They were mostly from male students who accused him of stealing their girlfriends' soul and turning their hearts against them with his 'sinfully good looks'. Takumi thought they were the most pathetic shokugeki accusations ever. It wasn't his fault they couldn't please their girlfriend's enough to keep them and they went off looking for something else.
He shivered. Girls could be scary when they were loyally devoted on the edge of madness. One had only to take a look at Sadatsuka Nao and they would instantly get the full picture. Even worse when a whole bunch of girls joined in solidarity to focus all their devotion onto the one common thing. Like his fan club… They became some sort of big multi-systemic organism where each individual girl operated together as one. Like one big, massive girl… Takumi shook his head. Ayame's talk of robots were getting to him. Lately his fan club had been unusually quiet and he didn't know why, but it was great. If that kept up, he and Isami will have a less stressful year ahead. Takumi's thoughts wandered over back to Ayame. Since when did it not cycle back to her? He didn't actually broadcast to everyone in the school that he already had a girlfriend. It was his and Ayame's business, not theirs. But Ayame's little tactic during the Summer Solstice Festival to imply herself as his girlfriend in front of his fan club at their booth should have done the trick. However, he was prepared to make his relationship status known in the whole school if he must to keep them all off his back if things got out of control.
"Oh hey, Fratello. You're up already. What time did you get home last night?"
Takumi turned around and smiled at his brother "About ten or ten-thirty" he replied.
"Did you read my texts?" asked Isami. He took up his position beside Takumi with a cup of coffee himself and leaned against the railing too. He was dressed out of his pyjamas and into some shorts and a muscle shirt.
"Si. I was going to ask you about it when I got home, but you weren't back yet. Did that meeting run for hours or something?" Takumi sipped his coffee.
Isami chuckled. "Nah! I stuck around for a few more hours, up to about eleven o'clock, to hang out with Yukihira-kun and the others at Polar Star dorms. I was going to tell you all about the meeting but you were already in bed snoring away when I got back"
"O-OI! I don't snore!" Takumi threw his brother a dirty lock from the side. He didn't care for teasing before lunch time. Isami returned without him knowing? He must have been out-cold then.
"The snorer never knows they are snoring" Isami teased.
"Are you going to tell me about this Elite Ten meeting or what?" Takumi bit out, blushing deeply as he continued to sip his coffee. He did NOT snore.
"Right. Basically, you, me, Yukihira-kun, Megumi-chan, Alice-san, Hayama-kun, Kurokiba-kun, Arato-san and Mimasaka have been chosen by the Elite Ten to compete against each other and themselves in shokugekis, to reshuffle the seats for a new Elite Ten Council"
Takumi couldn't believe his ears.
"FINALEMENTE! I WILL DEFEAT THEM ONCE AND FOR ALL!"
Takumi bellowed out and punched the air. It's about freaking time! He was going claim one of those seats and will have the chance to settle the score with both Yukihira and Mima-sucker again. It wasn't just good news, it was fantastico! His heart pumped faster and his nerve were electrifying with so much excitement and adrenaline coursing through his veins. He was extremely honoured to have been elected along with Isami to compete for those highly coveted seats. This meant they were amongst the best of the best in their generation. He was all fired up! The sweet drive for competition was running rampant. There was so much he needed to prepare to come out as victor out of those two bastardi. Isami was staring at him as if he lost his mind, but he didn't care! He had every right to lose his mind over this because their destinies for their fated battle had finally met after a year and a half of intertwining, but never meeting.
"Calm down, Fratello… The actual competition won't be until about two months. The current Elite Ten have some matters to smooth out during that time. Why don't you read the Elite Ten summary package first? I left it on your desk" said Isami, carefully removing his elder brother's coffee cup from his hands before he threw it over the railing in his over-excitement.
"Hey, one more thing. Yukihira-kun asked me, to ask you, if he could have Namikaze-chan's number to give to Terunori-senpai" said Isami.
Namikaze's name in that sentence was enough to throw a spanner into his mood. He held back a groan.
"Why the hell does Terunori-senpai want her number?" Takumi narrowed his eyes at his brother.
"Terunori-senpai asked Yukihira-kun for it because he wanted to give some sort of apology for something he did wrong by her during the Summer Solstice Festival, I think. I don't know the details" Isami shrugged and finished off his coffee with a large sip.
Takumi sighed. Of course she had stirred up some sort of drama during the festival, why wouldn't she? Yukihira only met Ayame's friends once for his brother's welcome home get together ages ago, so obviously they hadn't traded numbers yet. Takumi literally had to imagine the arrows drawing out the line of request for her number going from Terunori-senpai pointing to Yukihira, pointing to Isami, pointing to himself. Then from himself the arrows will point to Ayame and then to Namikaze.
"Yeah, I'm not surprised. Alright. I'll ask Ayame, to ask Namikaze-san to see if she's okay with it first…" Takumi mumbled. He would rather ask permission through his girlfriend than to talk to the little troll directly.
The two brothers digressed back to discussing about the Elite Ten competition that would soon be held and Takumi felt the embers glowing in his heart again. They both went back inside their apartment and continued their conversation in Takumi's bedroom. Isami made himself comfortable in his elder twin's desk chair as Takumi kneeled down on the carpet to pull out his knife case from under his bed. He flipped it open, revealing his set of sharp, high quality Japanese made kitchen knives. They were hand forged, including the mezzaluna, in the tamehagane style and Pappa had them imported from Japan for his coming of age. They were designed and made only for the best chefs. Isami had an identical set. Very fitting for twin brothers. He could see his reflection on his blades, his weapons, as clear as water. Only there was an empty slot where his mezzaluna should be.
'Soon. I will have you back'
"I know how you feel, Fratello" Takumi felt a firm hand on his shoulder as he continued gazing at his knives. He didn't need to turn around to know Isami was pretty much drooling behind him, as he always did when he got revved up for a cooking competition. The two brothers had equal burning passion for shokugekis, but their manifestations of that excitement were very different.
"It's about time our Mezzaluna came home. No?"
"Oh. My. God. Seriously?! Bwahahahaha!"
Ayame had to take a step back from her best friend as she pointed at her and laughed mercilessly like a parakeet. Chizuru-chan had the most indiscreet and impolite laugh regardless if she was laughing with someone or at someone, or if they were friends or worst enemies. If she thought something was hilarious, every person and their dog will know about it. She sighed. She should have prepared herself for this when she came over asking to borrow some of Chizuru-chan's make up. Oh the embarrassment she landed herself in. Ayame felt her face flush and she couldn't bring herself to look at her best friend in the eyes. What other choice did she have? Chizuru-chan was Chizuru-chan inside and out. Okaa-san took her make-up bag with her on her extended business trip and as if Otou-san had any, even if it was for police work. Now that was a thought. Her demonic Otou-san claiming back tax on make-up for undercover work. Obviously, his underlings would look after all that nonsense if there were ever such a thing, not the Superintendent General of the TMPD. Ayame suppressed a snort.
"Let me see, let me see!"
"Wait- HEY!"
Chizuru-chan yanked down the sleeve of her top and pushed her head to the side with the other hand quite roughly. She tsked rapidly at her as Ayame's neck strained to take the brunt of Chizuru-chan's strength. Ayame struggled to pull away her hands and once she managed to slap her hands away from her and pull her sleeve back up, she crossed her arms and harrumphed, however her friend was still sporting a cheeky smile. Ayame told her they only made-out. It wasn't a joking matter, at all!
"Giovanni doesn't have a limit, huh. Look at all those hickeys he left you with" she replied.
Yes. They were hickeys. Lots of them.
Chizuru-chan made her way up the stairs and Ayame followed closely behind. Oh gosh, she had the scare of her life when she went to take a shower this morning. She shrieked at the sight of her shoulders and neck covered in small random blotches of purple-red bruises! Good thing Otou-san wasn't home, otherwise he'd break the door down and brandish his katana blade, ready to skewer whatever made her scream. At first she thought she had a bed-bug infestation and then it dawned on her that it wasn't that in the slightest. They were all over the erogenous areas! Her décolletage! Any idiot could would be able to tell they weren't the works of mosquito bites, but rather love bites. Takumi-kun's love bites. Ayame was ready to faint in the shower.
She did the next best thing. Threw on shirt and a silk scarf, and trudged her way over to Chizuru-chan's house.
"You've made a good decision, coming to me. Luckily we have pretty similar skin tones, so you can use my concealer and stuff, and maybe some matte-finish powder if you want to set it, so the concealer won't rub" said Chizuru-chan.
"Thanks" said Ayame. What would she do without her?
Chizuru-chan's bedroom was like any other light-weight high schooler but with a gaming flourish. It was bright and colour coordinated to perfection, adopting light blue tones and hues. Her pale blue walls were covered with autographs and posters of her favourite actors and pop-idols. One of which was Yoshioka Yuiichi, a Japanese pop-country singer. He looked nothing like Kuchiyose-kun, so she couldn't understand why the Tootsuki entertainment committee mistook him for Yoshioka Yuiichi. Her bookshelf was neatly lined with manga of the shounen and shoujou variety and littered with magazines, light novels and tankobans.
Best of all, she had a state of the art computer system sitting on her large desk by the bed. The computer monitor was wider than most and her keyboard had the best feeling whenever she was typing. Ayame could definitely appreciate the mechanics that was built into each key for smooth and fast response when typing. Chizuru-chan had saved up for a very long time to buy a gaming keyboard, a gaming headset with microphone, good speakers, and a gaming mouse to 'game' with her internet friends on League of Legends. Not only that, she had a gaming laptop, which had its own padded bag. She also had gaming magazines sitting on her bedside table with some of the page corners dog eared.
Chizuru-chan had rather childish bedsheets, which were covered in that well known pocket monsters pattern she used to watch as a child. It was pushed to the wall like her own bed, right next to the window. Chizuru-chan always kept her windows open, even if it was cold, to get fresh air in, out of fear that her room would smell bad or stuffy if herself or Kuchiyose-kun came to visit. Her best friend may be a bit of a gamer-girl on some level, but she was by no means a slob. A life-time of being unable to smell made her extremely cautious and paranoid of her living conditions and she made every effort to go above and beyond the call of duty to certify she smelt hygienic to others at least.
Ayame's eyes travel across the well acquainted room until it landed on a tea-cup and saucer by the bedside. It was a tea-cup candle she got Chizuru-chan as a gift. Seeing it still there after more than year made her smile.
"Okay, let's try a bit of this"
Chizuru-chan pulled out her make-up bag and sat cross-legged, opposite Ayame on the bed. Chizuru-chan had helped Ayame out many times when it came to the make-up area. She did a fantastic job for her first date with Takumi-kun. But she also helped to hide her heavy eye-bags courtesy of endless nights of studying to look fresh and alive for school photo day every single year. She instructed Ayame to put on some primer from a small silver tube. Once she was done, Chizuru-chan started dabbing on some concealer on her neck and the visible parts of her collar, and continued to blend it with some sort of teardrop shaped sponge called a beauty blender. Then she took out her little flat circle canister and dabbed on some of that matte finish powder. Soon it looked like those hickeys never happened.
"Thanks for this. I don't know when Otou-san will be dropping home. It will be a disaster if he caught me unawares and got an eyeful of this" said Ayame, gesturing to her completely hidden hickeys.
She continued to admire her unblemished looking neck in Chizuru-chan's pocket mirror. It was like it was never there. Chizuru-chan owned a lot of make-up, but surprisingly she hardly used it to it's full potential except for special events like weddings. Maybe she just liked to buy it. For school, she used just enough to enhance her good features, but still looking all-natural. Chizuru-chan was an edgy and spunky looking girl, she was quite attractive, but only for those who could handle her intimidation. Make-up was certainly a powerful tool. She had to admire the advancements to cosmetics and surgery World War Two brought. Ayame learnt that the birth of the modern make-up came about from doctors needing to find ways to help soldiers with facial disfigurement hide their scars. If only those high school girls didn't go crazy with it and plastered it all over their faces.
"No worries. I recommend you buy your own concealer and stuff if Giovanni is gonna keep leaving you little presents like this. Then I can teach you all the tricks of the trade" she chortled, giving Ayame the 'V' sign.
"Should I keep reminding you his name is Takumi Aldini?"
"Yes, yes I know. But wow, I didn't think he would get his socks rocked off so soon. I mean, he looks like the type of guy who would make some sort of virginity pact or follow a 'Thou shalt not make-out' commandment before marriage" said Chizuru-chan as she packed away her make-up.
"No, Takumi-kun isn't that extreme, but it's nice to have a boyfriend who has strong values though" she smiled.
"Hmmm, I agree. But we'll see how strong those values will last now that he's passed second base" she winked back. Ayame blushed. "I'll get us some juice. Just hold tight" Chizuru-chan skipped downstairs towards the kitchen.
Well, Takumi-kun knew nothing of her hickeys and he wasn't going to. She wouldn't dare tell him about it lest he faint and wake-up later feeling guilty and he will probably make some sort of vow to never touch her indecently again and Ayame didn't want that. They were a bit of a nuisance but they didn't hurt at all, but what's to stop her boyfriend from believing so? She'd better take up Chizuru-chan's advice and make a trip to the chemist to buy some make-up to cover all the future love-bites. She was almost sure Takumi-kun and herself will have more interludes like that in the future. She had lots of patience for her adorable boyfriend, but it was better to avoid him feeling bad for this and locking himself into the 'guilt closet' for bruising her with his lips unintentionally because she didn't want to have to drag him out.
Ayame pulled out her phone to check the time. It was only eleven-thirty on a Sunday. She liked the smell of Chizuru-chan's matte finish powder, but she wondered if her best friend knew it smelt nice.
'Vorrrp!'
"Oh, a text from Takumi-kun…" she muttered.
'Good morning, mio amore!
How's your day? I have a small request.
Could you ask Namikaze-san if it's ok
if I give her number to my senpai?
Apparently it's for an apology thing.
Don't ask me what, I don't know what it's about.
Grazie.
Con affeto da,
-Takumi'
"Eh?"
She was going to have to ask him what those Italian phrases meant. She always forgot to ask. Other than that, it was an unusual text. Takumi-kun could have asked Chizuru-chan himself since he already had her number. But it was a smart move that he'd ask permission first though. If Chizuru-chan found out that Takumi-kun gave her number freely away without her say-so, his arse would be kicked across Tokyo. She had a feeling he didn't really want to talk to Chizuru-chan, which was why he was going through her instead. She was going to have to create some bonding time between these two, she didn't want tension between her best friend and her boyfriend. That was another matter. Some sort of apology, was it? Ayame racked her brain to figure out what.
'Oh yeah! That guy dressed in the Chinese outfit!'
Ayame felt the light bulb 'ping' above her head. He was Takumi-kun's upperclassman? He didn't look old enough to be. He had declared himself the president of the Chinese Cuisine Society too, but his name eluded her. She spoke to him briefly with Tadokoro-san about his little mishap with Chizuru-chan over her congenital anosmia. He had said he felt 'shitty' about it, and it looked like he genuinely understood how much he was in the wrong and was remorseful. She also remembered giving him a helpful suggestion to make it up to her too. Cooking something spicy for her one day. He wasn't that bad looking, probably a little wild, especially his half-bleached hair and free-spirited, but he seemed utterly adorable in a pitiful way, the way he gazed forlornly at Chizuru-chan during that festive evening. There was no way in hell Chizuru-chan will give him her number, so Ayame had a better plan.
"Here you go"
Ayame roused from her musings and flipped her phone shut as Chizuru nudged open the door with her foot. She had a large smile and toted a wooden tray with some snacks and two tall glasses of apple juice with ice. Chizuru-chan liked apple juice mainly for its acidity. It's a shame she couldn't taste the apple flavour.
"Thanks" she reached for her glass and the two of them sipped their cool, refreshing drinks.
"Did Giovanni send you a dick pic already?" she said, flipping through one of her magazines.
Ayame blushed crimson, stuffing her phone out of sight.
"N-No of course he didn't! He was just saying good morning!" Ayame yelled at her friend. Chizuru-chan casted her a look that said Ayame was no more than a cute yapping puppy to her right now.
"How sweet" she said.
'Bleep!'
"Oh, a text message from Kuchiyose-kun" Chizuru-chan quirked her eyebrow, her straw dangling from her lips she unplugged her smart phone from its dock and scanned the message. "He's going to buy new soccer shin-pads and wants us to come with him. His old pair shattered in the last game. How the fuck do they play soccer these days?! Honestly…"
"I have time this afternoon. Should we meet him at the fountain in Karakura honchou?" asked Ayame.
"Hmm… no fountains. He doesn't trust us when it comes to fountains anymore" said Chizuru-chan. "I say we'll meet him at his family's tofu shop"
Ayame laughed dejectedly. Oh yes… She remembered that time clearly. Kuchiyose-kun had wanted to meet at the Tootsuki fountain when he managed to arrive safely to Summer Solstice Festival only to find that his friends didn't turn up at the suggested rendezvous point at all. Ayame still felt a bit bad about that, especially when she and Chizuru-chan were the ones to commit that unintentional act of betrayal to such a gentle giant such as he. The two of them made it up to him with a very expensive yakiniku lunch. Her wallet was still smarting.
While Chizuru-chan was busy texting Kuchiyose-kun that they will meet him at his family's tofu shop instead to make it easier, she resumed thinking of her response to Takumi-kun. She began typing.
'Hi Takumi-kun!
My day's been good. I'm actually
at Chizuru-chan's house right now :D
I don't think she'd be happy with giving
out her number to your senpai. Sorry.
But I have a better idea…'
This was not what Takumi had in mind when he and Isami got an invitation from Tadokoro-san to spend a day over at Polar Star Dorms to work on Shiomi-sensei's assignment together. They carried their book bags, laptops, knife-case and everything all the way to Tootsuki. As soon as they got there, there was some sort of commotion from the massive, vine-covered dormitory. As it turned out, in the kitchen, Yukihira was mashing all sorts of root spices together in a mortor and pestle and basting dried scallops in it, getting everyone to have a taste. Ibusaki-san had once again set his room on fire and insisted that this 'rarely happened'. Sasaki-san thought it was turning into a party and was pouring out her mysterious fermented rice juice in every cup available. Yoshino-san broke out her new pack of cards after she caught all her runaway poultry. The two boys, he forgot their names, brought all the fun over into poor Marui-san's bedroom.
He, Isami and Tadokoro-san stood there like a limp noodle letting their bodies wither into husks.
There was no way anyone was going to be studying and working on Shiomi-sensei's assignment today.
"I-I'm sorry you guys… Everyone w-was motivated to w-work hard in the beginning, but I g-guess not anymore…" Tadokoro-san was about to sob.
"It's alright Megumi-chan, we were just wondering if we could borrow some of Marui-kun's textbooks on Middle Ages Cuisine instead then?" asked Isami.
Takumi rubbed his forehead in exasperation. So much for a productive afternoon today. "Well it can't be helped. I suggest we set up a study area in the main dining hall to set an example to everyone" said Takumi, folding his arms across his chest.
"That's a great idea. Maybe then everyone will get back on track" said Fumio-san. Takumi and Isami turned around to bow, greet her and thank her for allowing them to use her dormitory to study. She waved them off and said it was her pleasure.
Fumio Daimidou-san was the perfect image of a shrewd, grumpy, wrinkled old grandma. She was genuinely as tough as nails and ornery as a head nurse of a busy hospital, but during the time the Aldini twins got to know her she turned out to be a very fair, patient and generous individual who looked after her brood like a mother hen did for her chicks. She liked nothing more than to see her dorm chicks exercise their talent and reach their true potential. She also loved talking and reminisce about the 'Golden Age' of Polar Star. They initially thought it was really weird she had her own entrance exam of sorts to enter her dormitory as retold by Tadokoro-san, who spent a few months living in a barn before she got in. But that only made it clear that Fumio-san valued tenacity and hidden potential in all students. The more the Aldini twins spent time in the Polar Star Dormitory, it felt like they were slowly becoming adopted. As an after-thought, Isami would've looked like her if he were to evolve into an old lady.
Takumi and Isami set up their things on one of the dining hall tables while Tadokoro-san ran to get some study materials from Marui-san's room. He came to learn that Marui-san had the biggest room so that he could house all of his culinary research textbooks and recipe books.
"Yo Takumi, Isami! Try this. Let me tell you, it's good"
"Absolutely not! Fuck off!"
Takumi dodged in the last minute Yukihira's crude attempt to shove a chopstick full of 'blergh' into his mouth. He should have smelled it coming when that good-for-nothing maverick chef bounded out from the kitchen with a plastic box of pickling, spiced up gunk.
"We'll pass, Yukihira-kun" Isami laughed nervously. "Did Megumi-chan tell you that we'd be here to work on our assignment with you guys today?" he asked.
"Yeah she did. I've already done all my preliminary research for the Middle Age culinary stuff for the country I've chosen. So, I'm up to developing my recipe right now" said Yukihira without missing a beat.
Takumi narrowed his eyes. Yukihira was surprisingly studious when he wanted to be. It was only two days ago, he was complaining about too many essays in classes and not enough cooking and here he was claiming that he'd already done his research. Ha! He'll just see about that. That's nothing until he actually typed down shit into the assignment. Right now, Takumi felt the burning need to smash his diner arse into the ground with this assignment. Beating Yukihira in a duello was one thing on the top of his priority list, but also defeating him in all other areas was tantamount too! He'll see, Takumi had chosen to base his assignment on Spanish Royal Cuisine and even if he didn't specialise in Spanish cuisine let alone Middle Age spice stuff, he will still conjure up a unique and original Aldini-style Middle Age Spanish dish so royal that it will make Yukihira's recipe fit only for the peasants! Then that red-headed devil spawn will have to properly recognise him as his one true rival!
"Umm… Fratello, your laptop is already on… y-you don't need to keep pressing the on-button. It'll just keeping going to sleep and waking up again… h-haha" Isami placed his hand on Takumi's shoulder.
'Oh whoops. Ack! Damn that bastardo Yukihira for distracting me?!'
Takumi summoned all his strength to breathe in and out, and count to ten in his head. He crossed his arms and leveled the object of his rivalry with a cold, hard stare. Yukihira gazed back through hooded eyes as dopey as ever. Everything about him made him mad…
"I don't see how that is the fruits of your research. What is it? Dried scallop, mugwort and turmeric or something?" Takumi, wrinkled his nose in disgust. "What country is it supposed to be from?"
"Not from any country, I'm just taking a break. You know, experimenting to clear my head. I chose England to base my Middle Age dish fit for royalty" replied Yukihira.
"Haha, that's a popular country to work with Yukihira-kun. I'm sure you would've had a lot of research to sift through" said Isami.
"What about you guys? Which country did you choose?" Yukihira took a seat from across the two and removed his white strip of cloth from his forehead. He crossed his arms and leaned forward, eager to hear from the Aldini twins.
"I'm doing Spain. Isami is doing Germany" said Takumi, already flipping through Marui-san's textbooks to start his readings.
"For real? I thought you guys would pick Italy or something" Yukihira whistled lowly and clasped his hands behind his head. He also lifted his legs up so that he could sit with his legs crossed on the chair.
"We already know Italian cuisine like the backs of our hands. We don't need to learn any more about it when there are other wonderful and unique cuisines we could research instead" replied Takumi as if Yukihira said something completely stupid.
"I hear ya. Keep widening your horizon's aye? Oh, here comes Megumi" Yukihira sat up and greeting the huffing and puffing girl. It looked like she went through a lot of effort to borrow Marui-san's historical cooking textbooks. Perhaps the party in his room was getting out of hand. Takumi and Isami stood up on reflex too as they greeted her again.
"Here, We'll take some of those" Takumi smiled at Tadokoro-san who flashed him a very grateful expression, as he and his brother grabbed all the books from her, leaving her to her own devices.
"Yukihira, have you finished cleaning up your mess yet? We don't want to hurl all over the books and laptops from that God-forsaken thing you made. We can still smell that..." said Takumi, turning his attention back to the red-headed chef with a scowl.
"I won't be a tick. I'll come and join you guys once I'm done!" said the red-headed chef. He sprinted back to the kitchen to finish cleaning up his mess. Mamma always told him that cooking wasn't finished until everything was cleaned up the kitchen.
Yukihira was so… odd. No, more than odd. He was plain abnormal. He carried this self-possessed assurance in everything he did like a mantle which got him through most trials and tribulations. In some ways, it was refreshing for Takumi to see. He'd been in Tootsuki for a long time now, since the middle school division. All he'd seen was, if a Tootsuki student wanted to come out on top, they would by all means put another student down. Their idea of being number one was to make sure everyone else was the bottom of the barrel. He heard about the time two students pulled a cheap stunt and poured salt all over Yukihira's and Tadokoro's san's beef bourguignon in Chapelle's class last year. Despicable sabotage. He'd seen that all the time and he and Isami were subjected more than once in the past. What did that say about those students as an individual? It showed that they were too busy scowling left and right rather than concentrating their own efforts. Because they were so jaded by other people's success and weren't confident in their own, that they'd reduce themselves to being cruel to others in sneaky ways to make themselves feel better. Takumi didn't know if that was a 'Japanese thing'. A bit of comparison and competition was good, he had to admit, but not to that extent. Yukihira on the other hand wasn't scared of other's success. He was every bit confident in his skills and he had every right to be. Takumi had never seen him try to put anyone down, but rather he encouraged others to succeed. To trust themselves. The time he spoke to Mimasaka after his semi-final Autumn Elections battle was evidence enough that Yukihira was a gracious winner. He didn't care about what others thought of him and continued to experiment with food to his heart's content, breaking down all the barriers.
Takumi wanted to be like him in some ways.
"Fratello, If you keep looking in the direction of Yukihira-kun like that, Ayame-chan will get jealous" Isami chuckled beside him.
"Cazzo! N-No! Wh-What! I wasn't—"
'Bzzzt!'
Takumi felt his thigh vibrate from his phone. He sighed and flipped it open.
"Ah, is it from Ayame-san?" asked Tadokoro-san opposite him.
"Yeah, it is actually" Takumi briefly smiled and opened up the text.
'Hi Takumi-kun!
My day's been good. I'm actually
at Chizuru-chan's house right now :D
I don't think she'd be happy with giving
out her number to your senpai. Sorry.
But I have a better idea…
She works part-time after school at
Koujima Shouten. It's a bookstore in
Karakura honchou. I think that will
be more helpful to your senpai.
Lots of love,
-Ayame
Takumi blinked several times. Namikaze works? Roman Gods forgive him, but that was quite hard to swallow. The idea of Namikaze actually having a customer-service part-time job was the same as Nakiri Erina apologising for something. A bookstore, nonetheless! Takumi thought probably a gaming store would be a better match. The little chiacchierone was full of surprises. A work address was probably better. Whatever Terunori-senpai was planning, it could be made to look like a coincidence that he stumbled across her workplace rather than anything being traced back to Ayame, Yukihira, Isami and himself.
"What is she doing today? Have you asked her for Namikaze-chan's number yet?" asked Isami, as he typed up his notes.
"Ah, she's hanging out with Namikaze-san at her house. She doesn't think Namikaze-san would allow it." replied Takumi. He quickly texted his 'thank you' reply to Ayame.
"Alright, I'm all done." Yukihira came back out from the kitchen sporting a big smile. He pulled up a seat and borrowed Takumi's notepad and started to brainstorm some ideas for his own dish on a quick mind-map.
"Oi, Yukihira. It's a no-go. Ayame's giving you Namikaze-san's part-time work address instead" he handed his flip phone to Yukihira beside him so that he could take down the details. As soon as Yukihira finished jotting down the information, a gleeful smirk spread across his cheeks and he hunched his shoulders, suppressing a creepy chuckle. Huh? What's funny? What was he up to…
"OI! What are you doing!? DON'T SCROLL UP! Our messages are private, you idiota!"
Takumi snatched back his phone from the damn bastardo. Fury overtook him as he cradled his phone to his chest, hissing at Yukihira. The red-head only laughed and held up his hands in surrender, trying to abate Takumi's verbal attacks as he belted out a torrent of curses and swears at him.
"My bad, my bad! I just wanted to see if there's any other information about Namikaze-san I could give to Terunori-senpai" he said, his smile not slipping one bit.
Fucking liar.
"Fuck you… can't fucking trust you with anything…" the infuriated blonde Italian mumbled venomously and shoved his phone back into his pocket and concentrated full throttle on his assignment. He decided to ignore the red-headed conniving bastardo beside him for the rest of the day.
He will beat his arse in this assignment if it was the last thing he did!
I hope that was a relaxing read :) I like how Takumi and Yukihira has this one-sided love-hate relationship. Well, even our Tootsuki students spend a chunk of time procrastinating before they do their assignment together hahaha! WE'RE ALL GUILTY OF THAT! Been a while since we saw the Polar Star members again :)
Poor Ayame's got hickeys to deal with. I wonder what Takumi would do to beg forgiveness from Ayame if he found out about the hickeys. Make her 'apology Tiramisu' and hide behind the kitchen island while she's eating it or something. Not that she'll complain with free, restaurant quality Italian dessert thrusted at her. I don't know.
I wonder how Kuga intends to apologise to Chizuru... what a long running guilt trip.
Until next time, stay well!
Signing off
-TripWire-dono
