Appetizer 2.3
⸻1⸻
6 Years Ago…
Shoko Kaburagi hated mushrooms.
"She's so gloomy! She's like a slug!" jeered the bully, sitting on Shoko's back. He was an older boy already in junior high, and only being an eleven year old girl, she couldn't buck him off. He grabbed her hair, using the braided ponytail as a handle, and pressed her face into the mossy dirt. She struggled in his grip, making the bully and his friends laugh. "She even wriggles like one! What's wrong? I thought slugs loved dirt?"
Shoko knew she shouldn't have tried taking a short-cut. The forest surrounding her elementary school was thick, and it was unlikely that anyone would see what was happening to her. She was on her own. Her versus three older boys. She couldn't possibly win.
"Hey, Hey, Ichimaru! Maybe the slug is hungry," suggested one of the bully's friends. The boy reached down and plucked a brown shriveled mushroom off of a rotten log. He handed it to Ichimaru, who smirked.
"Good idea, Hachiin! We can't just let it go hungry." Ichimaru yanked on Shoko's hair, pulling the girl's head back. She cried out in pain and the bully shoved the mushroom into her mouth. Tongue recoiling at the slimy, dirty taste, Shoko tried to spit it out. Ichimaru clamped a hand on her jaw, forcing it closed. "Don't be rude! We picked that just for you."
With no other choice, Shoko chewed the raw mushroom, tears flowing freely down her cheeks. She reluctantly swallowed it, and begged, "T-There… I ate it. Can I go now, please?"
"What's that? You want more?"
"No! Stop it!"
"Don't lie! It made you so happy that you're crying! Hachiin, give me another one," Ichimaru ordered, holding out his hand. Hachiin gleefully snatched a second mushroom off the log and tossed it over to his friend. "Open wide!"
He and his two friends laughed uproariously as Shoko doubled her efforts to escape from under Ichimaru. Why were they doing this to her? What had she done to deserve this?
"Hey, jerkfaces! What exactly is so funny!" yelled a young girl. Shoko cranked her head as much as she could, dragging her face across the mossy earth and leaving a trail of dirt on her cheek. Standing at the top of a hill was a girl the same age as Shoko. Her hair was short and jagged, like she cut it herself, and her arms and legs were home to many cuts and scrapes. Shoko recognized her as Kiyoko Kyuuno, the new transfer student from Tokyo.
"Huh? What do you mean? We're just playing. Right, Shoko?" Ichimaru said, forcing Shoko to nod by pulling her hair, puppeteering her. "See? Stay out of this city girl! It doesn't concern an outsider like you."
"Doesn't concern me?" Kiyoko took off her small backpack and rummaged inside for a moment, grabbing what looked like a blanket. One end of the fabric was cut into a pair of strips that Kiyoko used to tie the blanket around her neck, throwing it over her shoulder like a cape. "When someone is in danger, a hero is always concerned!"
Kiyoko stood proudly with her hands on her hips. The three boys shared a look and then stared blankly at her. A few seconds passed in awkward silence until they burst out laughing.
"This chick cannot be serious! Oh my god! She thinks she's some kinda superhero or something. That's hilarious! Well, hero? What are you waiting for? Someone needs your help." Ichimaru shoved Shoko's face back into the ground, rubbing her head back and forth. Kiyoko charged down the hill, swinging her arms and yelling like crazy. Ichimaru's friends moved to intercept her, but she grabbed a handful of rocks off the forest floor and pelted them in the head. They backed off winching in pain, allowing Kiyoko to tackle Ichimaru.
Shoko had never seen a hero before, and it was incredible… while it lasted anyway. One lone girl against three older boys, the fight was fast and one-sided and ended as sudden as it started. Ichimaru clicked his tongue, a trickle of blood dribbling from his nose, and called his friends to his side. Without sparing Shoko a glance, the three bullies left—the snapping of twigs fading in the distance marking their progress.
"Hey, are you okay?" Kiyoko asked, laying flat on her back alongside a heap of torn up moss and broken sticks. Ugly bruises dotted her body and one of her eyes was swollen and plum colored. Not even her cape had survived the fight unscathed.
"I should be asking you that." Shoko kneeled at Kiyoko's side. She hovered over the girl, fretting like a concerned parent. "You shouldn't have tried to fight them. You were outnumbered and got hurt because of me. Why did you do that for me? We've never even talked before."
Kiyoko sat up and ran her fingers through her short choppy hair, fluffing it up as best she could. "Did you know that until recently I had really long and beautiful hair. It was down to my butt and was sleek and luscious. I loved my hair. Back in Tokyo, some girls in my class thought it would be funny to hold me down and cut it. They said that since I acted like a boy I should have hair like a boy."
"I…I'm sorry…?" Shoko said, hesitantly, unsure how to reply.
Kiyoko let her hair fall flat and crossed her arms, sticking out her bottom lip in a pout. "And they weren't even sneaky about it either. They did it right there in the girl's bathroom at school. The other girls using the toilet looked right through me, like I was invisible. Of course, after they released me, I beat the everloving stuffing out of them and got expelled. My parents freaked and had me sent to live with my grandparents out here in the countryside, but I don't regret what I did. Because I realized something that day."
"What was it?"
"Glad you asked," Kiyoko said and hopped to her feet. She flipped her tattered cape behind her and struck a pose. "Since nobody helped me when I was in trouble, I decided that I'd be that person for someone else. If there were no real heroes, then I would be the first. Don't you think it's better to get hurt trying to help someone than to hurt yourself by doing nothing? And the costumes look really cool too. I only have the cape for now, but one day I'll design a whole ensemble."
"You're… kinda an idiot aren't you," Shoko blurted out before quickly slapping a hand over her mouth. Kiyoko looked stunned for a moment and then threw her head back and laughed, showing off her gap-tooth grin. It didn't take long before Shoko joined in.
Kiyoko's laughter descended into a wheezy and she wiped a tear from her eye. Glancing over at the mushroom covered log, she pulled one off and examined it. "So this is what those jerks made you eat? It's a shiitake mushroom. They're actually pretty tasty."
"Those things? Yuck! No way! It just tastes like mushy dirt. I hate it."
"Well, duh! You're supposed to cook it first," Kiyoko replied, grabbing Shoko by the wrist, "I'm bringing you home with me. My mom's a big shot chef back in Tokyo and she taught me a recipe that'll turn any mushroom hater into a mushroom lover. Just you wait!"
"No, I—quit pulling so hard! Hey, will you listen to me?" Shoko struggled in vain to free herself, but Kiyoko was too strong. The short-haired girl whistled a tune as she bodily dragged her new friend through the woods. Shoko looked up at the sky and wondered what cursed star she was born under.
"So, Sho, have you ever heard of the matsutake mushroom?"
⸻2⸻
Present Day…
Gently lifting the shiitake mushrooms from the bowl of cold water, Shoko cleaned off any grit and grime that clung to the fungus. Using a brush, she painted a marinade of miso, sake, and mirin onto them which gave the mushrooms a tan sheen. She set the bowl aside and looked around the kitchen to see how the others were doing.
Contrary to the rest of the rustic inn, the kitchen was vastly more modern. The appliances were all up to date, though she suspected that her grandfather didn't know how to use any of them, and in the center of the room was a grand teppanyaki grill. Smooth and reflective, the surface of the grill was like a lake of black ice.
Grandpa Kaburagi fiddled with the knobs on the front, making sure everything was working properly. An assortment of spatulas and knives had been laid out next to the grill. It may not look like it from his shaky hands and feeble appearance, but her grandfather had been entertaining guests with his cooking for over fifty years. It was why the grill was pressed up against an opening to the dining room, allowing guests to see their food get cooked.
Tsukasa and Rindo chopped up the mountain vegetables that Shoko and Dana had collected and prepared a marinade for the rabbit. It was really something watching the two of them work. Shoko hadn't expected two people with such diverging personalities to be able to cook so complementary to each other. It was almost hard for her to accept that they were only one year older than her since the gap in her skills compared to them seemed like a lifetime.
In a similar sense, Shoko was impressed by Dana Alouette. She had wondered why the 1st and 2nd Seats of the Elite Ten would let a first-year student hang out with them, but after observing him in the kitchen, she was beginning to understand—they were essentially grooming their replacement.
Dana flopped the rabbit his snare had killed on the counter next to a deep tub sink. He had already gutted it in the field and drained its blood. Reaching for his waist, he whipped out a strange-looking knife.
It had a straight blade and a dark wooden sheathe. It wasn't a traditional cooking knife. It was a kaiken. She wasn't a knife expert by any means, but she could recognize that particular kind easily enough—Grandpa Kaburagi had one just like it, right down to the unique sheathe.
Dana slid the blade between the skin and flesh of the rabbit, starting from the gash in the animal's abdomen from when he extracted most of the internal organs. He carefully and expertly peeled the hide from the meat like removing a tight leather glove, leaving it as intact as possible.
"Are you planning on saving that for something?" Shoko asked.
"Hmm?" Dana looked up inquisitively as if broken from a trance. "Eh? Oh, I always try to keep the hide as pristine as possible. I have a contact in the clothing industry that buys them from me. I guess they turn them into gloves or hats or, I don't know, clothes… I guess?"
He continued breaking down the rabbit, taking advantage of the kitchen's selection of knives. In about a minute, Dana had stripped all the usable meat from the bones and sliced it into mostly even slabs that were half a centimeter thick and roughly the length of a finger.
"Good, good. This will do nicely." Grandpa Kaburagi took the plate of rabbit meat from Dana, his eyes flickering to the kaiken knife for an instant, and shuffled over to the teppan grill. In a large bowl, the old man had prepared a dark marinade which matched the one that Shoko had used for the mushrooms. He dunked the meat into the bowl and mixed it around with his hand to ensure that every piece was properly coated.
With all the prepwork down, Grandpa Kaburagi forced everyone out of the kitchen. Shoko led Dana, Rindo, and Tsukasa to the dining room, and they all took a seat at the bar overlooking the grill. The barstools were leather and comfy and a nice selection of liquor was lined up on a shelf by the wall.
The lights in the dining room and kitchen dimmed until only the light on Grandpa Kaburagi remained like a spotlight. He drizzled cooking oil onto the flat grill and spread it with a spatula, tapping on the hard surface. Next he added the other ingredients, the mushrooms, vegetables, and meat, letting them sizzle.
Dana and Rindo leaned in and savored the smell.
"I can't wait," Rindo said, "It's been a while since I've eaten at a teppanyaki restaurant."
"Yeah, but I thought it would be more exciting than this. Where are the onion volcanoes and the food being flung straight into our mouths?" Dana asked, wriggling his fingers with his mouth wide open. His eyes were locked on the bits of rabbit meat with the intense concentration of a starving dog and equally hopeful for even a scrap of food.
"That style of teppanyaki is usually only found at chain restaurants as a draw for tourists," Tsukasa informed him, "You won't see any of that from a gourmet teppanyaki chef. Besides, wouldn't food thrown directly into your mouth from the grill burn your palate?"
Dana clicked his tongue with his hands on his hips. "You don't get it at all, Eishi. That's just a part of the experience. Live a little."
"Uh…Yeah, we don't do that here. The clients we typically serve at this onsen are quite particular. They come here to eat and relax. If they wanted to see a show, they would have gone to a circus. I can't even imagine Gramps throwing food for them to catch like they were animals at the zoo. They'd probably chop our heads off and dump our corpses in the woods to be ravaged by wild animals," Shoko said, casually, resting her elbow on the bar and propping up her head.
"Just what kind of clients do you serve here?" Tsukasa replied in a hushed voice, giving the girl a side-eyed glance.
Shoko didn't answer and instead moved out of the way as Grandpa Kaburagi began serving dinner, a platter of grilled rabbit with a side of mountain vegetables and shiitake mushrooms. Dana dug in and was transported to a beautiful forest. A warm breeze softly rattled the green leaves of the trees. Flowers swayed and song birds sang. Dana kneeled down and plucked a mushroom off the ground and held it out. A rabbit, nose twitching, bounced from the brush and took a bite.
"Whoa, what the hell? You're, like, actually a good cook," Dana exclaimed, "Why are you cooking in a remote, unheard of place like this."
"Yes, I agree. You could probably get a star from the WGO if you can make dishes of this magnitude consistently. Are you not interested in that level of recognition?" said Tsukasa.
Grandpa Kaburagi scoffed. "The WGO? Who cares what those stuck up Bookmen have to say? If they weren't such cowards they could come here themselves. They've always been the type to keep to the well-established restaurants of high society and ignore the rest of the culinary world. And gourmet cuisine is such a small part of that world. So, to answer your question, no, I'm not interested."
Shoko leaned over and whispered, "The apprentice of one of Gramps's close friends became a member of the WGO and he has been bitter about it ever since."
"That's enough gossip out of you, Shoko!" Grandpa Kaburagi grumbled, slapping a spatula on the grill. "The only lip flapping I want from you is chewing your food."
Shoko rolled her eyes, but obliged.
"I'm sort of confused. I heard of the WGO before, but I don't really know what that is. Are they food critics or something?" Dana asked.
"What? You seriously don't know?" Rindo questioned with a laugh. She had been quiet up until that point, steadily devouring most of the food while the rest talked. "They are the World Gourmet Organization, a prestigious group of food critics that travel the globe rating restaurants and awarding stars. Their word is so valued that the books they release are commonly referred to as the culinary Bible."
"Huh, I never knew a job like that even existed."
"Well, whether you're recognized by the WGO or not, it is undeniable that your food is good, old man," Rindo said.
Grandpa Kaburagi nodded. "Thank you, but I can't take all the credit. A chef is only as good as the ingredients they use. I simply let the freshly foraged produce and wild game do most of the work."
"That's true. Obviously I'm the best when it comes to wild game, but Shoko; you have a real eye for vegetables," Dana said, "Oh yeah, you should join our research society! We could use someone with your expertise. What do you think, Rin, Eishi?"
Rindo shrugged. "I'm fine with it. The whole Spring High School Bake-off was a wash anyway. And she's cute."
Tsukasa tapped his lip in thought. "Hmm, yes. I think that would be beneficial to my cooking. Vegetables are an integral part of any cuisine."
Dana clapped his hands. "And there you have it. So…What do you say?"
"No, I refuse," replied Shoko.
"What!?"
⸻4⸻
Shoko sunk into the hot spring and let the warm water sap away her wariness and sooth her muscles. She sat on the stone bench, the water up to her neck, and looked up at the stars. In the countryside, they were countless. A million specks of light, glittering like diamond dust on a black blanket.
This was one of the many reasons that an outdoor hot spring will always be superior.
The hot spring was a steaming pool surrounded by rocks, and illuminated by the soft glow of lanterns. Tall wooden walls defined the borders for the bath, and beyond them was nothing but forest. It gave the place a serene and private feel.
Her own tranquil oasis.
"Wahoo!" Rindo yelled and catapulted into the water, the resulting wave slapping Shoko in the face. The red-haired girl mewed happily, backstroking in the middle of the spring. Shoko slicked her hair out of her eyes, her grumbling complaints dying in her throat as her gaze drifted to the other woman's breasts.
Holy crap, Shoko couldn't help thinking in amazement. After a few seconds, she sharply looked away, red-faced and embarrassed. "C-C-C-Could you please n-not do that, Kobayashi? It's an onsen, not a community pool."
"Oh~" A sly grin appeared on Rindo's face and she dipped beneath the surface until only the top of her head remained. Silent like a snake, she slithered over to her underclassman and hugged her arm, pressing her soft chest against her. Shoko immediately flinched and tensed up, her eyes rapidly looking anywhere else. "Feeling shy? There's nothing wrong with a little skinship between girls, is there? And call me Rindo, or perhaps… Big Sis, if you want to."
Rindo whispered that last part and blew gently into Shoko's ear. Steam erupted from the poor girl's head and she melted into a stuttering mess. Rindo laughed and released Shoko's arm, settling on the bench next to her. "You're a riot! You have to join our club!"
"It's… It's not like I don't want to. It's just," Shoko said, regaining a bit of her composure, "I'm only going to hold you all back." She moved her hand along the surface of the water, letting the ripples lap at her fingers. "I'd rather watch you sail from the shore than be an anchor keeping you tethered. I can't keep up with the rest of you."
"If that's how you feel. I guess I can't force you… unless of course, we were to have a Food War," Rindo said, but trailed off when she saw Shoko shake her head no. She rested her head on the edge of the onsen and sighed. "Well, I tried. Strange, that usually works."
"Does it? You'd have to be some kind of idiot to accept a challenge from you."
Rindo smiled and softly laughed. "Yeah, that sounds about right."
The girls sat together, soaking in comfortable silence. The same could not be said for the mens' side of the hot spring. The raspy voice of an old man easily carried over the wood wall dividing the water in two. Grandpa Kaburagi barked at Dana, "No running! No jumping! Stop swimming! No, don't drink it! Can't you just sit still for five minutes! FOR FIVE MINUTES!"
Rindo and Shoko shared a look and laughed. Getting up from the stone bench, Rindo waded through the water over to the partition. Turning to Shoko with a mischievous expression, Rindo asked, "Hey, this is the mens' side, right? Wanna peek?"
Shoko gagged. "Ugh! Gross! My grandpa's in there!"
Has the 2nd Seat always been so immature?
⸻5⸻
Shoko wasn't used to the halls of Ryokan Kaburagi being so lively. Their usual guests were the grim, serious types that would go from the dining room to the hot springs to their bedroom without saying a word. When she was younger, Shoko had tried talking to them out of curiosity, and they informed her that in their line of work that the people who talked the most died the soonest. Her other questions dried up pretty fast after that.
Comparing them to the current guests was apples to oranges.
Wrapped in a plain nemaki, Shoko stepped aside as Rindo rushed past with Dana on her back; she was giving him a piggy-back ride. They too had changed from their usual clothes and into the flowy garments provided by the inn. Dana commanded her to go faster and Rindo whipped her hair in his face in retaliation.
"Why am I carrying you? You're supposed to be my personal assistant," complained Rindo, sliding open the door to their room. There were four futons laid out on the tatami-matted floor. She approached the closest one and threw Dana onto it, bucking him off like an unruly bronco. He hit the quilted pad with an oof.
"That hurt, jerk! I won Rock-Paper-Scissors fair and square! It's not my fault you always play paper," Dana yelled, clambering to his feet. The two butted heads, sparks flying from their eyes. They had their arms clasped and were pushing each other around the room like sumo wrestlers. The once neat futons were kicked and trampled over, making a mess.
"Don't those two have an off switch? How much energy do they have?" Shoko muttered to herself. Honestly, she couldn't tell if Dana and Rindo liked each other or hated each other. They were always fighting about something. Usually something inconsequential like the tastiest species of venison or whose turn it was to wash the dishes—stuff like that.
"It surprised me too at first, but I've come to accept it. Those two have a way of making anything into an event." Shoko turned and saw Eishi Tsukasa. They made eye contact and he immediately looked down and away. "Sorry, that was a private thought that you spoke aloud, wasn't it. I didn't mean to eavesdrop."
"No, it's fine. It's not like I was saying anything important. Y'know, you're not at all like I'd imagined. Despite being the 1st Seat, you have little confidence in yourself outside of your cooking ability; you are awkward, nervous, and are quick to fatigue. It amazes me that Totsuki hasn't killed you yet."
With each word of criticism it felt like an arrow was stabbing him in the gut. Tsukasa sank to the floor, drawing invisible circles with a finger. A bluish gloomy aura enveloped him.
"You at least have absolute confidence in your cooking, which is more than I can say for myself," Shoko added, and moved to one of the hallway windows. The moon was full and painted the night in a white hue. "I think the strangest thing of all about you is your friendship with Dana Alouette. You and Rindo Kobayashi both. Why would the top two students of Totsuki be friends with a first-year, even a talented one like him. I've been thinking about it all day."
Tsukasa picked himself up off the ground and joined Shoko at the window. He took a deep breath, relaxing with the fresh mountain air. "Yes, I didn't expect that either. When Rindo first mentioned him to me I didn't really think much of it. I didn't even remember his name. That changed after I watched his Food War with Rindo. His skills and ideas—I realized that I could use them to improve my own cooking. And he, of course, has been using me the same way. That's how friendship at Totsuki is supposed to be. Anything else is a waste of time."
"I see… Wait, you said Dana had a Food War with Rindo?" Shoko exclaimed, and Tsukasa nodded. "He, a first-year, actually had a match with the 2nd Seat. Like, he actually thought he could win and everything? Is he insane?"
"I agree. It is rather unorthodox. Very few first-years ever challenge the Elite Ten, or in Dana's case, accept a challenge from them. And I can only think of one instance where the first-year astonishingly won, but that's besides the point. Understand, most people have that voice in their head that tells them when to stop, to think about the risks and consider turning back. I'm sure you've heard that voice before in your life, and as have I. Dana doesn't have that voice.
"After he lost to Rindo, I asked him why he accepted her challenge when he had no chance of winning. And he told me, 'I don't get what you mean. I never once thought that this was something that I couldn't do.'"
Shoko's eyes widened and the face of Kiyoko Kyuuno flashed through her head. Like a dam breaking, memories flooded her mind and drowned her thoughts. They dragged her down to the dark depths of one year prior.
The day she ran afoul of Mari Glascock at the Training Camp from Hell.
End of Chapter
⸻Author's Note⸻
Hallo! Wie geht's? No good anime or manga can exist without a hot springs episode and this was sorta my take on that.
Are you getting antsy that we haven't gotten to the Training Camp portion of the story yet? I feel like I should tell you guys that this Arc will basically be two smaller story arcs combined into one longer arc. The first part of the Arc is about Shoko Kaburagi (and Dana, Rindo, and Eishi forming their research society); and the second half of the arc will be about Dana and his own experience at the Totsuki Training Camp (And yes, I do have something special planned for that; something that I think is pretty cool.)
I know I teased Subaru Mimasaka at the end of the last arc (he's coming up soon, I promise), but the real antagonist of Arc 2 will be making her official debut in the next chapter. And I think she might be my favorite OC I've made for this story so far.
See ya later.
Obliquely Yours,
A Horseshoe Crab
Chapter Word Count: 4,366
Arc Word Count: 12,898
Story Word Count: 68,964