106th Spell: Azuki Meshi
After a quiet and mostly peaceful dinner, Haru and the Wataka siblings were instructed by the matriarch Meru to follow her into the kitchen. There the plates were being washed by invisible hands in the sink while the leftover food was being placed inside a refrigerator that looked like it came out of the 1950s. Before Haru could ask about the refrigerator, Meru started washing rice while the girls took out some red azuki beans, sake, salt, and gourmet powder.
"What are they doing?" Haru asked Gyoku.
"Making azuki meshi," Gyoku answered. "It's a dish we prepare every night for the Zashiki-warashi to thank them for maintaining our house so well and bringing us prosperity."
"Do you participate in the cooking?"
"No, but I like to watch."
"You won't be watching tonight, Gyoku," Meru abruptly said. "Because now that you are entering Secondary School, you'll be learning how to make azuki meshi with me."
"Really?" Gyoku couldn't believe it. "Are you sure I'm ready for that, though?"
"It's a good skill to learn when you obtain Zashiki-warashi for your own house," Meru claimed. "You would want to treat them well, just as I have treated mine."
"My own house?" Gyoku got misty-eyed. "But I can't see myself living anywhere else other than here."
"Don't let that bother you," Gaane claimed. "She said the same thing to each of us when we were your age."
"Yeah, and we haven't moved out yet," Fuyou claimed. "Although Peri might be."
"What?" Gyoku looked to Peri in astonishment.
"It's not set in stone yet," Peri replied, twirling a small strand of her pixie-cut chestnut-brown hair. "But since I will be graduating from Mahoutokoro soon, Mom and I have been discussing what I will be doing after."
"You haven't taken the N. E. W. T.s yet, though," Rui pointed out.
"N. E. W. T.s?" Haru was confused.
"They're a series of tests you take on your last year at Mahoutokoro," Peri explained. "And depending on how well you do on them will determine your career."
"But before that, you have to take the O. W. L.s to get a better sense of which classes to focus on for your intended career," Fuyou said. "That's what we're taking this year."
Gaane groaned. "I'm definitely not looking forward to those!"
"As long as you stay focused on your studies, you'll do fine," Meru said before giving a side-eye to Rui. "But for others, it seems extra discipline is necessary."
Haru was tempted to argue with Meru again, but since he had already embarrassed himself he decided to keep his mouth shut.
"So, Gyoku, I'll show you what to do and you'll follow me," Meru decided as her tone changed from being serious to chipper.
While Haru stood nearby, Gyoku moved next to his mother and followed what she did exactly. She thoroughly rinsed the rice, then delicately washed the azuki beans without breaking them. Next, she cooked the beans in a pot of water while getting rid of any excess stuff off the top. Then after that, Meru told Gyoku to create a mixture of sake, leftover juice from the beans, salt, and gourmet powder in another pot which was boiled. Once this was done, the mixture was added to the washed rice and boiled along with the cooked beans then left to steam.
After the azuki meshi was steamed, each Wataka family member took a ceramic bowl from the kitchen cupboard and took turns scooping a serving of the azuki meshi into their bowls. Though for one bowl, Meru added two scoops of azuki meshi leading Haru to realize that bowl must be for Datsu. Once all six bowls were filled with azuki meshi, the Watakas told Haru to do the same which he did without question.
The seven of them then made their way out of the kitchen to the garden outside. Next to the miniature zen garden was a small shrine with a golden orb statue. Each person knelt before the shrine, placed their bowl of azuki meshi on the shrine, and bowed in silent politeness. Haru thought he saw multiple eyes staring at him, but when he looked around there was no one else around. By the time they all got back to the kitchen, the dinner plates were all clean and drying on a dish rack with no leftovers in sight.
"It's getting late," Meru realized, looking at the antique clock on the wall of the kitchen. "You kids should get to bed."
"What about the rest of the dishes?" Haru asked.
"Don't worry about them, Ryuji-kun," Meru insisted. "I'll clean them up."
"Could I help?" offered Haru. "My Manai mother taught me how to clean dishes, so I often helped her in the kitchen."
Surprised by Haru's kind offer, Meru looked bewildered for a moment. But then she shook her head. "As much as I appreciate your offer, this is something I must do. The Zashiki-warashi who dwell in this house prefer it if the people who live here not only make the azuki meshi themselves but also clean the dishes the azuki meshi was made in. Whereas if someone else like a guest does it, they might get a little cranky and we can't have that in case they decide to bring misfortune to us out of spite."
The Wataka siblings shuttered at the thought, having grown up on stories about Zashiki-warashi that caused terrible things to the owners of the houses they lived in after being neglected in some way. Haru didn't react as he still didn't quite understand the concept of Zashiki-warashi, but did as Meru asked and went to his room. But just before he was about to open the sliding door, Rui suddenly approached him.
"What is it, Rui?" Haru said, trying to hide his mild surprise.
"I'm really sorry about the way Mom treated you earlier," Rui said quietly. "She had no right to say that stuff about your parents."
To be continued…