Shape of the Heart – Four-leaf Clover
By Fox McCloude
Disclaimer: The Quintessential Quintuplets and all related characters belong to Haruba Negi. All rights reserved.
Chapter 24: Happy Birthday, Fuutarou! – Part 2
Aldini's Restaurant, earlier that morning…
Yotsuba had gone back and forth nonstop during the entire morning. Even having help from Itsuki and Miku, as well as Raiha, Mr. and Ms. Uesugi, she really wanted to make sure everything would be ready for the afternoon.
"Is it fine this way?" she asked while hanging some decorations from the ceiling.
"A little more to the left… yes, right there is fine," Itsuki told her, as she gave indications from below.
She got off of the chair she used for support, and stepped away to admire her job. She didn't want to seem arrogant, but she really felt proud of her efforts. The place little by little looked more and more like a surprise party scenario.
"Well, what do you think?" Yotsuba asked. "Do you think they'll like it?"
"I'm certain they will," the youngest sister assured. "Between this, and with Isami-kun and Takumi-kun's cooking, I'm sure they will love it."
"Hehehehe, remind me to thank your friends for this too," Yotsuba added.
While they technically were paying to use this place, along with the catering service, they were lucky to count on the Italian brothers' help. It was fortunate that Itsuki befriended them, which was why they allowed them to rent the place for today.
"Yotsuba-san, can I take one of these?" Raiha asked, holding up a box full of party poppers.
"Ah, sure, Raiha-chan," the fourth quintuplet replied. "But don't fire them off before time!"
"Yotsuba, I could use a hand here," said Miku, trying to lift a heavy-looking box.
"Ah, I'm coming!"
Not wasting any time, she went to aid her middle sister, raising the box without issues to take it to the wall they were going to decorate. Miku would point out where to hang each and one of the ornaments so they'd fit the best, and while they were at it, Yotsuba pondered on how much she'd done today.
On the one hand, she was happy to be part of this. Doing a birthday party for Fuutarou was her way to thank him for everything he'd done for her. On the other… she couldn't help but feel a little envious of Ichika, over the fact that she would have him all for herself the rest of the day.
Indeed, one part of her wondered if there was a point in throwing a party, since spending the whole date on a date would make them have enough fun. Maybe when they arrived he'd be so tired, and not in the mood for parties and celebrations…
No, that couldn't be. She'd come this far and there was no point in backing off. Besides, why should she feel jealous of him being with Ichika? He'd made his choice and she couldn't change that. The best she could do was support them both so they'd be happy.
She'd made her own choice too. She stepped aside for both the boy's and her sister's sakes. Besides, there was no denying they made an adorable couple, and she didn't have the heart to break them up.
"Excuse me, is anybody hungry?" Ms. Uesugi suddenly came out of the kitchen, bringing a couple trays with snacks. "The Aldini brothers allowed me to bring you this, while lunch time arrives."
"Ah, that's cool!" Itsuki ran off to grab a few. "Hmm, this smells great, it really whets my appetite!"
"Hey, is it okay that you eat those?" Yotsuba asked. "Shouldn't we wait the birthday guys?"
"No need to worry," a nasal voice intervened. The younger and chubbier brother, Isami, had come out of the kitchen too. "The ones we made for your party are on a separate tab. These are on the house, so eat at your leisure."
"You sure?" asked Yotsuba, hesitatingly grabbing a few, but she couldn't resist in the end. "Hmm, they're delicious! Miku, Raiha-chan, you need to try these!"
Eating those snacks revitalized the ribbon girl's energies, making her forget her doubts for a bit. Quickly regaining her determination, she focused back on her goal at hand: to make sure Fuutarou would have the best birthday possible.
In the afternoon…
When Fuutarou entered the restaurant's doorway, he wasn't sure what he would find, let alone that inside awaited a surprise birthday party. Well, not just for himself, but for his cousin, but the blond was quite more receptive to it, once the surprise sank in.
Once the party 'officially' began, Fuutarou was surprised to see how quickly it turned into a repeat from the Christmas meeting, with the exception of his parents also being present. They'd brought the sound and karaoke equipment to sing and dance, and when Kintarou and Nino sang a romantic ballad duet (they were clearly having a blast with it), Ichika dragged him to dance almost by force. She said it was either that, or having to sing in front of everyone to expose his little 'hidden talent'. So he had to accept immediately.
Fuutarou was surprised how a party with so (relatively) few people could get so cheery and lively that fast. Discounting the restaurant's owners (he was surprised to confirm that, indeed, they weren't that much older than him) as they were 'part of the staff' without actively taking part in the celebration, it was just him, his cousin, sister and parents, and of course the Nakano quintuplets. He figured the quints probably had a natural knack for parties.
As he continued to dance with Ichika, and Kintarou sang his duets with Nino, the party spirit quickly spread to everyone else: his parents stood up to dance like a pair of high schoolers, and Yotsuba played with Raiha (she was giving 'dancing lessons', or at least she tried to). Miku and Itsuki stayed on their seats, the former just smiling and clapping as she watched the rest having fun, and the second seemed more interested in slipping a hand over the table to grab some snacks when she thought nobody was looking.
"Something wrong, Fuutarou-kun?" Ichika asked.
"Eh? Why do you ask?"
"I don't know, you… seem a little distracted."
"It's nothing, just… I realize you girls know how to throw parties. Just take a look at my parents."
They turned towards the adult couple. It'd be hard to tell they were actually parents with a son that'd just turned eighteen, not just because of their youthful appearance, but due to the energy they unleashed.
"They seem to be having a great time." The eldest Nakano nodded. "But what about you? Did you like our little surprise?"
"Hmmm… of course." He smiled at her.
Although he still felt a little guilty inside. Did she really do all that, keeping him outside busy, just because of this? Not to mention how much Yotsuba and the others had worked to get the place ready for them.
After a while, the time came to serve dinner. Fuutarou really didn't expect to be served what looked like a banquet of Italian dishes he'd only seen on TV, recipe books, and some he had no knowledge of whatsoever.
The one that got most of his attention was a huge pizza, topped with like seemed beef shigureni, but having it only on one half, while the other seemed to be just cheese. Thus, when they served it, he couldn't help but give the chef brothers a questioning look.
"If you don't mind me asking… what kind of pizza is this?"
"And why does it only have topping on one side?" Kintaou added, grabbing one of the shigureni slices.
"It's one of our original dishes. We call it Doppio Mezzaluna Pizza," the blond brother, Takumi Aldini, answered.
"Doppio… what?" Kintarou tilted his head, even more confused.
"That means Double Half Moon," Itsuki explained. "I've tried it before, and it's really delicious. Try the topping half first, and you'll see."
The pizza was already cut in a way so that everyone would get two slices, so following the youngest Nakano's advice, the half of the pizza with topping vanished in a heartbeat, with everyone tasting it. The collective reaction was as expected.
"Hmm, this is super yummy!" Raiha exclaimed.
"I love it, I'd never tasted a pizza like this before!" Yotsuba added.
"How can it be so delicious?" a seemingly incredulous Nino asked. "I see you weren't bluffing about them, Itsuki."
"Told you. Compared to them, you're still an amateur."
Fuutarou could swear he saw sparks flying out of Nino's eyes when Itsuki said that, but she had to admit the pizza was really that good. And for a dish that was supposed to be Italian, it had a Japanese touch he enjoyed. He'd dare say it was even above his mother's cooking, which was saying a lot. These guys were real professionals alright.
"Well, I don't eat pizza often, but this is the best I've had," Kintarou said. "Still don't get why you'd do only half of it."
"Haha, there's the surprise, isn't it, Niichan?" Isami said, to what his brother nodded.
"Indeed. Try now the other half, and you'll understand."
Everyone grabbed their second slice and began eating. As soon as Fuutarou tasted the first bite, he felt a rush of flavors filling his mouth: while it was apparently just cheese, it actually had many of them, and having eaten the other, it was like it amplified the taste.
"This thing has… several cheeses?" Nino asked intrigued.
"Indeed," said Takumi. "The other half of the pizza is covered in mozzarella, parmesan, gorgonzola and ricotta. Back in Italia we call it quattro formaggi."
"Four Cheeses, for those who need a translation," Isami added. "Italian cuisine tends to have two dishes, but this pizza can be served like a two-in-one."
"Wow, I'd never thought of something like this," Nino said. "Think you guys could give me the recipe? I'd like to try it sometime."
"Oh, what's this, Nino? Trying to steal their secrets?" Itsuki gave her a little nudge.
"What was that? I'm just asking," the second sister replied. "Is there anything wrong with that?"
"No, but… I don't think you could pull it off easily, even with the recipe."
Nino pouted, causing everyone to laugh, even Fuutarou couldn't help but smirk a little. But as it turned out, as he brought more dishes, the Aldinis left everyone more and more impressed. Even Kazane herself was interested in learning from them, as she confessed to have helped them in preparing the food for the party, and she said that seeing them in action was like poetry in motion. Fuutarou figured that, if his mother acknowledged them, they probably were better than her.
Once they were stuffed, the time to open the presents came. For Kintarou, Nino gave him a huge box containing a motorcyclist kit, with a new helmet, gloves and a jacket with a rather nifty design (black with blue flames and a fallen angel image on the back), and the blond was so grateful he gave her a huge smooch in front of everyone as thanks, bringing out a chorus of "Oooohhh!" from everyone and a few claps on top.
Now, it was his turn.
"This is from all of us, Uesugi-san," said Yotsuba as she gave it to him. "Happy birthday."
The package was flat, but when he grabbed it he noticed it was too heavy to be just clothes or something simple. Upon opening it, he was quite surprised to see it was a portable computer, including a single strap bag to carry it around.
But that wasn't the most surprising part.
"Wow, Oniichan! A laptop!" Raiha clapped. "Just like the one you wanted to buy the other day!"
Fuutarou recalled; after saving a little money he'd been considering to get a computer of his own, so he wouldn't have to occupy the family's PC, and the last time he and Raiha went shopping he checked some prices at the stores. The model he'd just received was one of the most expensive, but it had pretty nice features, though he estimated he would have to save at least two or three more months of work to afford it.
"This model… I saw it on the store the other day. It's pretty expensive."
"Oh, don't worry about that," Ichika said. "We all contributed a little to pay for it. Even Nino, just so you know."
"Hey, he didn't need to know that!" the second sister protested. "I only contributed because I had no plans for that money anyway. I could spare it after I bought Kintarou-kun's present."
"Come on, don't be modest," said Itsuki. "It's a present from all of us, because he's our friend."
"And we hope you find it useful," Miku concluded.
The boy stared at his present. Truth be told, between the smartphone Ichika gave him and this, he felt quite overwhelmed, as if he was indebted to them. However, seeing all the sisters smiling at him, without exception, made him feel a rush of gratefulness, and he couldn't stop his lips from curving upwards.
"Thanks, all of you."
"Well, if you want to thank us, make sure you give us something good when our birthday comes," said Nino. "And just so you don't get complicated, I'll accept another plush doll like the in Christmas."
"Heh, I'll keep it in mind."
"Ah, no fair, cous'; that was my first choice!" Kintarou protested.
"Oh, rest easy, you can give me anything you want," said Nino, clinging to his arm. "As long as it comes from the heart, I know I will like it."
"Well, well, we still have a lot to celebrate!" Yotsuba intervened, pumping her fists in the air. "Let the party continue!"
"YEAAAAAAAAHHHH!" everyone exclaimed in unison as they imitated her, even Fuutarou. Truly, her enthusiasm was always contagious.
…
After another round of games, singing and dancing, the time came to cut the cakes. While Ms. Uesugi had made one for her son and another for her nephew, Nino surprised Kintarou revealing she'd baked a smaller one, just so the two of them could eat it alone.
"Come on, say aaaaahhhh," she said, holding up a bit on her fork.
"Hahaha, aaaaahhhh." Kintarou opened wide his mouth for Nino to feed him. Then, he held up his own fork for another bite for her. "Now it's your turn."
The second sister imitated him, and allowed him to give her the bite. As the two enjoyed their own cake with a lot of pleasure and sickening sweetness, Itsuki glared at them with irritation, as she tasted a bit of Fuutarou's cake.
"No fair, why won't she let us taste it too?" the youngest sister complained.
"What's wrong?" Fuutarou asked. "You don't like my mom's cake?"
"No, of course I do, but… that one looks so tasty too. Why does Nino have to be so selfish?"
Fuutarou gave a quick glance at the cake the two lovebirds (how weird it was to call them that way) were eating. It did look delicious alright, but he didn't think it looked better than one made by his mom. And if Nino made it so she could eat it alone with Kintarou, that was her business, and the Uesugi cousin seemed rather pleased at it.
"I noticed you're… a little cheerier than usual," Ichika commented, sitting next to him to get his attention.
"I think that's obvious. I didn't have a birthday this lively since… well, a long time."
"Hmm… if I didn't know any better, I'd almost think you're having more fun now than during our date," the Nakano narrowed her eyes slightly.
Fuutarou winced a little. Technically, that wasn't completely wrong. He did have a good time during our date, but now, since the party in the restaurant started, it felt a lot livelier.
"Well, I guess that's because everyone's here," Fuutarou said. "You five organized this, didn't you? It's just like in Christmas."
"Hahaha, you're right," Ichika replied, giving him a nudge. "But it's also a lot more fun because you're here. It's not just the five of us, after all."
Fuutarou rolled his eyes. For a long time, he didn't seem like the type who'd enjoy parties or celebrations, even his own birthday, but now… it felt nice to be reminded of how fun it was.
Right then, Ichika's cellphone beeped, and she answered:
"Hi, Dad, what's up? We're still at the restaurant celebrating." Suddenly, her expression morphed, turning first serious and then surprised. "What? But it's still too early for… oh, come on."
Fuutarou couldn't hear what was said on the other side, but he had the strange feeling that Ichika's father was imposing a curfew, or maybe just wanted them back home.
"I understand… yeah, we'll wait for him here. As you say, bye." Ichika ended the call and sighed with resignation.
"Bad news?"
"Sort of. Dad says he wants us back home soon, and sent Ebata-san to pick us up," she explained. "Looks like he'll be here in about half an hour, and asked me to deliver the message to the others."
"I don't think those two over there will be happy to hear that."
He pointed at Kintarou and Nino. The latter had sat on his cousin's lap, and he stood up and twirled her around as he carried her like a princess. They seemed to be enjoying themselves a lot, and while they were distracted, Itsuki was trying to slip her hand to get a little pinch on their private cake, only for Miku to give her away by pointing at her.
"You don't seem too disappointed," Ichika commented.
"Well, it's not like I like it, but after everything we did today, I can hardly complain," he said trying to smile. "It was a nice birthday party, short as it was."
Ichika smiled, and excused herself for a moment to go to the bathroom, though not before noticing he had some cream on the cheek, that she wiped off with her finger and sucked rather suggestively.
He continued eating his slice of cake without a care, until a few minutes later, Yotsuba showed up in front of him, with her usual toothy grin.
"Uesugi-san?"
"Yeah, Yotsuba?"
"Hehe, made you look," the girl chuckled. "Really, you seem to be enjoying yourself."
"Yeah, it's a pity the party's almost over."
"Eh? Why do you say that?" The grin on the ribbon girl's face vanished instantly. A real shame, but he had to break the bad news.
"Your father just called Ichika. Looks like we have about half an hour before your chauffer comes to pick you up," Fuutarou explained.
"Ah, drat." The fourth sister sat next to him, arms crossed and cheeks puffed in annoyance. "Well, at least you could spend the rest of your day with Ichika. Must be great, right? To hang out with the person you like."
Fuutarou hesitated before answering. To say that he liked Ichika… well, he did like her, but did he like-like her in that way? He wasn't sure why he was even doubting it.
Even so, he managed to nod without feeling he was being insincere.
"What about you?" he asked. "Is there anyone you fancy?"
Yotsuba gave him a strange look. For a moment, he saw a shadow of sadness crossing her face, but immediately vanished and she returned to her toothy grin.
"Hehe, even if there was, I don't think he'd be interested in me," the ribbon girl replied. "Besides, why should I worry about dating? It's a lot more fun when everyone's together."
Fuutarou couldn't help but agree. In fact, for a moment he felt tempted to tell her that, while his date with Ichika had been great, he felt that celebrating now, with his family and the five of them was the best part, and he would have liked to continue the party until late in the night.
But for some reason, he kept it to himself.
"By the way, if you don't mind me asking… where did you get the money for that laptop? Or all of this, for that matter? Not that I don't appreciate it, but… I don't think your father would relent so easily at you five spending as much money on me, and my cousin."
"Hehe, you're not wrong," Yotsuba said. "Truth is, Dad told us we had to use our own money if we wanted to throw you a party or buy you a gift. Ichika had some savings already, so the rest of us found part-time jobs to gather the rest."
Fuutarou felt once more that sting of guilt. Not only did Ichika spend all that money on him during their date, but also probably invested everything, or almost everything she'd earned in her job as an actress to organize the party and buy him the present. He made a note to properly thank her later.
He also recalled that Nino had gone back to work on his family's bakery on weekly intervals, though he didn't imagine she'd be contributing for a present for him. That she did it for his cousin, that was more believable for obvious reasons. He had no clue what Miku was doing, but he did know that Itsuki had been working as an assistant for a former student of her mother, and a food critique, so she was probably getting paid well for it. As for Yotsuba…
"I'm having a hard time imagining how you'd balance it out," the boy commented. "You know, with school, our tutor sessions, and the volleyball club. Don't you have enough on your plate already?"
"Oh, it's not that hard." The ribbon girl pulled something out of her pocket. "This helps me get organized."
She handed over a small notepad. The boy grabbed it and realized it was a schedule book, marking important events: easy works like taking care of pets and babysitting, the school classes and the volleyball practices. Everything well-organized so no activities would clash against each other, and with enough breaks in-between.
"I find it hard to believe you could make a schedule like this by yourself," he said, with a suspicious look.
"Hehe, well… the others did help me a lot," the girl confessed as she stuck out her tongue. "That's right, I'm too stupid to do this alone."
"At least you admit it." He handed the notepad back. "But that's good, to acknowledge when you need help, and sort out your priorities."
The boy continued eating his cake for a while silently, until the fourth Nakano spoke up again.
"Even so, I wanted to give you a present that came from myself alone. It's not much, but…"
The girl pulled out a green sheet of paper, and started making origami with it. A few seconds later, she turned it into a crane she presented to him in her hands.
"I don't have enough paper to make a hundred of these, but I hope it's enough. For good luck in the national exams!"
The boy grabbed the crane to examine it. It was carefully made, without a single wrinkle or unnecessary fold. While he was confident enough to succeed in the national exams, good wishes were always welcome, so he'd accept the small present very graciously.
Yotsuba was a great friend. Loud, childish and messy at times, but he could hardly find a better friend than her.
"Thanks. I'll keep this on my night table tonight."
Right then, Ichika returned, and seeing Yotsuba sitting on her former chair, pouted a little and joked about her sister "trying to steal her boy". Yotsuba laughed, vehemently denying it, and went back to play with Raiha. A pity the party was about to end; it'd been a long time since he had such a great time.
And at the same time, that small conversation with Yotsuba had left him some things to think about.
…
It was almost 8:30 pm when the party ended. However, they decided to meet up again at the restaurant for another business, which came up due to a small argument between Nino and the Aldini brothers, so they'd settle it when the place opened tomorrow.
Ebata had come to pick up the Nakano sisters, and after saying goodbye, the Uesugis headed home themselves. A pity the party ended so soon, but it was inevitable.
"Ah, what a drag," Kintarou complained. "Why did Mr. Nakano have to be such a party pooper, sending his chauffer so early?"
"You can ask him yourself. I've been where he works, you know?" Fuutarou commented as a suggestion.
He noticed his cousin visibly wincing at the mention of that. It looked like he wasn't ready to face his girlfriend's dad just yet, and Fuutarou took a little pleasure on that, seeing him terrified at the idea.
"No thanks… I'm still in no hurry for that," the blond replied. "But well, that aside, today was a great birthday. Isn't that right, cous'?"
"Yeah… best we've had in years." Fuutarou nodded in agreement.
"Hahaha, good for ya, son!" Isanari grabbed him by the neck. "Ah, but you need to tell me now, what did you do with Ichika for the rest of the day?"
"Yeah, Oniichan, what did you do?" Raiha added. "You must have had a great time."
"I'll tell you, but… let me breathe first!" Fuutarou said as he tried to let go of his father's arm. "Well…"
He told them with plenty of details everything they did: their visits to the museums and the picnic at the park were well received, but Kintarou complained that it was so un-romantic of him to take Ichika to the library and the batting center. Fuutarou countered that Ichika never complained at all.
In turn, he challenged Kintarou back, forcing him to tell what he did with Nino, to what the blond replied saying that she took him to her favorite chocolate shop, and they spent quite a while going from one store to another. Fuutarou had the light impression that she was using him as a shopping mule, but Kintarou didn't seem to object to it.
They seemed to have had a great time… maybe even more than he did with Ichika. And that thought still continued to turn around in his head.
'What's wrong with me? Why do I feel there's something off with me dating Ichika?'
He wasn't sure why, but… lately he felt something wasn't right. While he had no complaints about the date, strangely enough there was something that didn't leave him alone the entire day, but that feeling went away when they arrived to the Restaurant Aldini for the surprise party.
And now he thought about it, it came back full force.
Why did he feel like that? Ichika was beautiful, attentive, and nice in every sense, and she had no reserves about showing how much she cared for him. Any man would be happy to have her as a girlfriend… yet he didn't seem able to use that term with her, even though he did use it freely with his cousin and Nino.
Whenever others referred to Ichika as his girlfriend, he wouldn't deny it, but he didn't confirm it either. What was different between his cousin's relationship with Nino, and his with Ichika? That doubt continued to spin around in his head.
A flash from the kiss under the bell came to his head. Everything began that night, and he still hadn't had the chance to talk to Ichika about it. Neither did she mention it since then, like she was pretending it didn't happen.
Should he keep ignoring it, or confront her about it?
To be continued…
Author's notes:
How's it going, people? Did you enjoy your Christmas? I hope you did. I was a little worried, as too many complications both online and in real life had slowed down this story's progress, but at least I managed to complete my current chapter before the year ended so I could update. Good news, in light of the reception for the previous chapter about the idea, the next one will be an extra to cover what Kintarou and Nino did before they headed for the restaurant, and that one will officially close this Birthday mini-arc, nobody caught the reference of Ichika's role in the movie she and Fuutarou watched (the role in question was supposed to be a nod to the Red Blood Cell from Cells at Work! for anyone who asks). I was going to gift a oneshot to whoever did it, but alas, maybe next time.
Now then, the end of this chapter pretty much continues the same line of the previous one. Fuutarou is questioning his feelings for Ichika, and the bell kiss issue still spins around in his head. Also, seeing Nino and Kintarou so lovey-dovey is making him draw parallels and notice the differences between both relationships: he can tell the other two like each other mutually, while he doesn't fully return Ichika's affection, and he knows that. Meanwhile, his friendship with Yotsuba continues to change, turning into something different. I think it's just a matter of time before he's clear about who of the sisters he's attracted to as a romantic partner. But for now, with the national exams around the corner, he can't think much of it.
Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this chapter, and that you had a good year. Mine had its ups and downs, but I'll try to stay positive and pull out of the drawers some stories I've left on hiatus or forgotten. As one last present to end the year, he's a little mini-omake for you. Thanks for the reviews to XxPistolgun and TheMist33. We'll meet again in 2022, sayonara!
OMAKE #3 (Canon): Nino vs the Aldini brothers.
Nino Nakano always took great pride on her culinary skills. Which was precisely why she was annoyed that her youngest sister had compared her unfavorably with those Italian twins.
While now she had the chance to taste their food firsthand, she had to acknowledge they were pretty good too, but she didn't think that, just because they were "pros" they could be better cooks than her. After all, they were just a couple years older, even if they had their own restaurant now.
"Are you sure about this Signorina Nino?" Takumi asked. "You can still take it back."
"It'd be a fairer battle if she faced us one on one. Even I alone could be enough, Niichan," Isami added.
"I threw the challenge, and I'm not backing down," the second sister assured. "We have to solve this as mature people. I want to face you both."
Meanwhile, the atmosphere in the restaurant was full of excitement, as it seemed rare for an outsider to challenge the owners to a culinary battle. Fuutarou, Kintarou and the rest of the Nakano sisters were also watching expectantly.
"How did we end up this way?" the blue-haired boy asked his blond cousin.
"Well, they said they needed an odd number of judges for this," Kintarou replied.
"Alright, I think the rules are clear," said Itsuki, who seemed to be acting as the event's host. "While this is an Italian restaurant, both sides agreed to prepare a Japanese dish. I'll stay out so we have an odd number of judges." She glanced sideways at her sister. "And so you can't say I'm playing favorites."
Nino pouted, but she agreed to the conditions. She was very confident; if these boys were Italian cuisine specialists, how good could they be at making Japanese food?
"Alright, the dish of choice will be monjayaki! Ready? Start cooking!" Itsuki declared.
The chefs immediately put their hands to work. Getting the ingredients was a snap for the restaurant's owners (Nino was surprised to find they already had them at hand). Both of them worked quite fast together, but she knew she couldn't stay behind, so she picked up the pace.
After time was up, time for judgement came. To make it fairer, they agreed to have the judges try each dish blindly (Yotsuba would lend them their ribbon to serve as a blindfold) and decide which one they liked more, as Itsuki counted the votes. Thus they did, one by one, and the final result was…
"Well then… and the total is: four votes for the Aldinis, and one for Nino. The result is in, the locals win!"
The whole restaurant exploded in applause, as the two chef brothers high-fived one another declaring "Grazie!" in front of everyone. To say the second sister was in shock would be an understatement.
"I don't get it… what's so special about the one they made?" Nino asked.
"Why don't you try it yourself?" said Itsuki.
Nino was a little reluctant, but grabbed one of the plates to taste a bite. At first it didn't seem big deal, but upon tasting it, she realized how the Aldinis' had something different to hers.
Or better said, a lot of different things. It looked more like a risotto, having Italian cuisine ingredients, yet not losing its essence as a traditional Japanese dish.
"I thought you guys were expert on Italian cuisine, but this… is still a monjayaki, despite everything. And it's incredible," Nino acknowledged.
"We were raised in Italy, but we appreciate Japanese culture," Isami said. "Isn't that right, Niichan?"
"Indeed. Our mother hails from this country, after all."
In that sense, she had to admit the brothers' superiority. They combined the best of both worlds; they weren't just experts in Italian cuisine.
"Well, the votes are in. The Aldini twins are the winners!"
Everyone cheered and clapped again. Nino sighed with resignation; she'd lost and she had to accept it with dignity. Fortunately, someone came over to comfort her.
"If it makes you feel any better, I liked yours more," said Kintarou. "These guys are good, but… to me, your cooking is unique."
That brought a smile to the second Nakano's face. In turn, she noticed how, once the competition was over, Isami approached Itsuki to give her a taste of the one he and his brother made, and she seemed to be enjoying a nice chat with him as she ate.
Maybe, now she had something to get back at her for dismissing her food before.