Chapter 36: A Crash Course In Cooking & A Huge Serving Of Competition (Part 5)
"Sweetheart! It's finished!" The trio loudly announces from the kitchen. Time to judge some more.
"Alright, let's see it," I say, putting my phone back in my pocket. The three come into the living room with Polt holding a box. Wait… I recognize that box. "Hey, that's my old high school bento box! I haven't used it in so long."
"For something you haven't used for a hot minute, it's in pristine condition. I barely had to clean it," Polt hands it to me.
"Maybe its nostalgia will make our food taste even better," Lilith says.
"Could be possible which would mean bonus points for us," Draco smirks.
"I assume we're going in proper order this time?" I ask.
"That's correct. Me first. Lilith second. Draco third," Polt answers.
"Alright. What's behind door number one?" I pop the latch and remove the lid. The savory smell of beef, noodles, broccoli and assorted peppers sprint into my nostrils. "Oooh! Beef noodle stir fry!" I exclaim excitedly, picking up the chopsticks that were already placed in the box.
"I know you wanted me to cook some for you after I let you try a little bit of what I had from some leftovers in my fridge the other day. This was too good a chance to not do it!" Polt explains. I find myself already slurping it down. So damn good!
"Geez, he's really goin' to town!" Lilith says, surprised.
"Slow down before you choke, Ryuta," Draco advises.
"Ahh!" I breathe deeply and exhale. "Sorry about that. I got a little carried away," I chuckle.
"So how is it now that you got a proper taste?" Polt asks, sitting down beside me to my right.
"Like you have to even ask! It's fantastic, Polt!" I answer.
"I know it is! I just wanted to hear you say it," she hugs me. "Does it keep me out of third place though?" She presses her boobs against me a little harder. Oh great. Polt's the one trying her luck now.
"Well, we'll find out after I've eaten what they made," I answer, lightly chuckling.
"Ahem!" Draco and Lilith loudly clear their throat.
"What? I'm just hugging him. Isn't that right, Ryuta?" Polt acts like she's innocent.
"For now anyway," I say, which makes Polt giggle.
"Moving on, it's my turn," Lilith says.
"Here we go. Door number two," I remove the first box. Inside the second box are four huge balls of rice each with its own rectangle slice of nori. "Oooh, something told me you were doing onigiri!" I pick one up. "Almost immaculate shaping skill too," I compliment Lilith's handiwork as I observe it.
"Well, of course! You know better than anyone else what my hands can do!" Lilith boasts. "Just wait until you take a bite. That's where the magic is." About to take a bite, the spicy breakfast flashes in my head like a preemptive warning.
"The magic isn't another spicy torment, is it?" I inquire, narrowing my eyes at her.
"Breakfast was just the one time. I swear it's not that," she promises.
"I'm choosing to trust your words, Lilith," I say, taking a chomp out of the onigiri. Taking a huge chomp, I'm pleasantly surprised by the sweet filling hidden inside the onigiri. "Oh wow! Is that adzuki bean paste?!" I ask.
"Mhmm! See? I'm not always out to play a trick. You like it, right?!" She questions.
"I love it, Lilith! Simple but very effective!" I answer, eating the rest of the one in my hand.
"Thank you very much, Sweetheart!" She jumps on me with a hug. "If you'd like, I can make some more sweet bean paste one day and serve myself up like a yummy dessert to you. Use that tongue of yours to get every little nook and cranny on my body clean," she mutters lustfully in my left ear while her tail slowly coils around my left wrist.
"Food that I can play with and eat? Sounds like a fun time," I mutter back with a quiet snicker, hearing her try to suppress a moan in response to me lightly pinching the tip of her tail.
"That's enough!" Draco cuts in, yanking Lilith away from my person just a little bit.
"Hey, I wasn't even trying anything!" Lilith retorts.
"Maybe not but how's Ryuta gonna try the lunch I made when you're all cuddled up on his left arm?" Draco questions.
"Then bug Polt about his right arm! She's been hogging that one this whole time!" Lilith points out.
"As the first girl, I flex my supreme power to not release Sweetheart's right arm," Polt smirks, tightening her grasp. "You'll have to rip it off to get me to let go."
"Is that so?" Draco maliciously grins.
"I-I'd rather we not please!" I object nervously.
"Works out perfectly then! Behold my lunch creation!" Draco removes the second box, the all too familiar scent of fried batter and brown sauce punches me in the nose. Could it be?!
"Draco, you made me takoyaki?!" I exclaim ecstatically as my eyes gaze upon the octopus balls topped with generous amounts of brown sauce, mayo, and bonito flakes. The amount she made doesn't stand up to the huge bowl I got from that mall but she certainly filled the box completely so I can't complain.
"Damn straight I did! Consider it my ultimate weapon to steal the win!" She replies. In the corners of my vision, I happen to notice Polt and Lilith's face slowly seep with fear. "Hahaha! What's wrong?! I've never seen you two look so worried before!" She laughs, picking up the chopsticks I used earlier. "The real kicker is that I'm gonna feed Sweetheart myself since either of you won't let go of his arms. How generous of you two to give me such a privilege!"
"Absolutely not! Disqualify this cheater, Sweetheart!" Polt and Lilith yell, releasing my arms from their grasp.
"Disqualify me? For what?" Draco asks.
"You're using one of Ryuta's favorite foods to get an easy win!" Polt and Lilith answer.
"Pfft. So what? I made it myself from scratch. Are you two that scared of me making first place for a second time in a row? You're only exciting me more that the odds appear to be in my favor," Draco smugly grins at them. Honestly, watching these three go back and forth is kinda becoming entertaining.
"Ryuta! Say something!" Polt and Lilith fixate on me, seeking my input.
"Well, she did weaponize one of my favorite foods but by doing that she upped the difficulty to succeed since I will be much harder on all the fine details. Did you understand the higher risk of a bad grade when you chose to make takoyaki, Draco?" I question. Draco's eyes widen in an instant, her overflowing confidence shattering just like that.
"U-Uhhh… w-well…," Draco stutters and pauses a lot, nervously scratching the back of her head. Polt and Lilith start to giggle at her.
"Your reaction says a lot, Draco," Polt teases.
"Sounds like you didn't think this through entirely," Lilith adds.
"Y-Y'know what?! Screw the both of you!" Draco retorts.
"Not right now but feel free to after our competition," Lilith replies back quickly without missing a beat. Leave it to her to be more than ready to fire back immediately with suggestive responses.
"S-Shut up, Lilith!" Draco blushes. "I'm not gonna let you two make me doubt the hard work I put into this! Take these damn chopsticks and be utterly stunned, Ryuta!" She forces the chopsticks into my right hand. Finally, the moment of truth! Picking up a takoyaki ball, I pop it into my mouth. Chewing it up, that beloved taste envelops my tongue.
"Mmmm! This is simply wonderful, Draco! I actually am a little stunned!" I compliment, popping more into my mouth. Hmmm. Maybe I spoke way too soon.
"No way! Really?!" Lilith reacts, shocked.
"What did I tell you?! I know what I'm doing!" Draco smiles really hard, greatly pleased with herself.
"Hmmm," Polt holds her tongue. Draco did super well in getting past my expectations but as I eat more of the takoyaki, I notice some glaring discrepancies between each ball. For almost every two I ate, two more were either a little gooey, overdone, or just straight up missing a good amount of octopus tentacle. A shame I can't overlook these mistakes if I want her to make perfect takoyaki for me in the future. "Huh? Is there something wrong, Ryuta?" She questions, noticing my judgy expression.
"Your takoyaki is stellar but please tell me how you managed to produce such mixed quality?" I ask, putting down the chopsticks.
"W-What do you mean?" She stutters, clearly getting anxious.
"Some of the balls are spot on, others are a tad undercooked or overcooked and then there's just an inconsistent amount of octopus sometimes," I explain, watching Draco get stabbed by each of my criticisms.
"And there it is," Polt says.
"I might've bought into it for a second there but something was still telling me it wouldn't just be that straightforward," Lilith adds.
"D-Damn it all! G-Give it to me straight then! Is my fuck up putting me in last place?" Draco questions, already having embraced failure.
"Most definitely," I answer swiftly, damaging her morale with a critical hit.
"Gah! You didn't have to be so quick and blunt about it! This sucks!" She whines.
"You made a valiant effort," Polt says.
"Too bad your ultimate weapon blew up in your face," Lilith teases.
"Gonna act like you two weren't shitting yourselves just a few minutes ago? Fine by me! I at least get to enjoy the disappointment of whoever got second place. Who got it, Ryuta?" Draco inquires. Shit. I forgot about this controversial decision brewing in my head. I don't think anyone's gonna like it but I'm really at a loss here.
"Uhhh yeah… A-About that…," I anxiously pull on the neck of my shirt. Their attention snaps onto me hearing my unease.
"Sweetheart?" They say curiously. Damn it! I'm super stuck! It's too hard to decide!
"Polt! Lilith! You're both… tied for first place!" I exclaim. A silence lingers for a few seconds.
"HUH?!" They yell, surprised.
"Both of you did super well and I couldn't find anything to criticize. I can't really put one over the other. You two can settle for that or figure out a tiebreaker. I'm stumped honestly," I explain.
"Well, if that's your conclusion then I don't mind sharing first place. How about you, Lilith?" Polt asks.
"Hell no! As much of a compliment as it is,we're not sharing the number one spot because there's only room for one and the one it belongs to is me!" Lilith objects.
"I figured as much," Polt sighs. "How are we gonna break this tie then?"
"We'll use a certified classic!" Lilith replies, standing up. "Rock Paper Scissors! You game?"
"You chose a random chance game? Why not choose something you excel in?" Draco questions.
"So that way it can't be said I cheated," Lilith answers.
"Fair enough," Draco shrugs.
"Very well. I gave you a chance for the peaceful option so I don't wanna hear you cry if you lose," Polt stands up and faces Lilith.
"That's funny. I was gonna say the same to you. Best of three!" Lilith says as she and Polt get into the proper stance. Oh god. This is gonna go terribly, isn't it? Can't stop them though so it is what it is.
"Something tells me this is gonna be good. Kinda glad I messed up since I'm no good with games like this anyway," Draco plops her butt down beside me. "Plus I get you all to myself for a little bit," she throws her left arm around me and pulls herself up against the side of me with her left hand on my waist.
"Look at that. Failure gave you a nice thing," I smile.
"That it did," Draco chuckles, kissing me on the cheek.
"Are you ready?" Polt inquires.
"Been ready," Lilith responds.
"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!" Polt and Lilith shout. Polt tosses out rock and Lilith tosses out… rock. Yeah, this might not end well.
"It's a tie! Again! Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!" Polt and Lilith go again but this time Polt throws out scissors and Lilith… also throws out scissors. For a moment, it looks like either of them were bound to say something but manage to hold it in.
"Rock! Paper! Scissors! Shoot!" They repeat. Paper… and… paper.
"Knock it off, Polt!" Lilith exclaims, agitated.
"You're the one who needs to knock it off! This is actually annoying!" Polt retorts.
"How do you think I feel?!" Lilith yells back. Three times with three ties and they're already getting heated. Maybe just maybe it's not too late to stop this.
"Perhaps that's enough? How about you two use a different tiebreaker?" I try to get them to cool their heads.
"Yeah, I can already tell this will go nowhere fast," Draco reasons.
"Stay out of this!" Polt and Lilith roar, startling Draco and me.
"I'm not gonna give up, Polt! We'll go as long as we need to until I win!" Lilith says.
"I was thinking the same thing!" Polt agrees with Lilith's sentiment. Twenty minutes glacially pass by as Draco and I watch them manage to somehow keep stalemating. I've lost count of how many rounds they've played now with how lightning fast their hands are moving. Completely smoldering with anger, Polt and Lilith throw their hands in the air.
"I give up!" They exclaim.
"About time!" Draco and I sigh, relieved that the deadlock is finally over.
"So you two are accepting to share first place now?" I inquire.
"… Yeah," Lilith answers begrudgingly, crossing her arms.
"We wouldn't have had to suffer that if you had just accepted it from the get-go," Polt points out.
"An attempt needed to be made to have first place to myself at the least," Lilith reasons.
"So with them both holding first place for lunch that means any one of us can win this," Draco says.
"Which means all of you best put in the highest effort yet if you really wanna take home the gold," I say.
"Despite my flub, I think I can be the one to do it," Draco smirks confidently.
"Don't count your chickens before they hatch. It could be me," Lilith smiles, putting her hands on her hips.
"Or even possibly me. We had this exchange last time, y'know?" Polt grins.
"Just you two wait. Dinner will be different," Draco declares.
"Alright. Save that energy for later because all of you are gonna need it. Until then I'll be in my room getting some reading done if you need me," I say.
"Are we gonna have to drag you back down here again?" Polt asks.
"I swear that won't be necessary," I reply, lightly chuckling.
"Good," they say. All that's left is dinner. I wonder who's gonna come out on top. Maybe if I'm lucky, their little bet is that the winner gets to make and share dessert with me. Definitely not something I could turn down if true.