"Being a family means you are a part of something very wonderful. It means you will love and be loved for the rest of your life."
- Lisa Weed
Paul and I waved his dad goodbye and started to walk out of the village they lived in. He was so excited to be with me for a month or more that it seemed somewhat romantic in a way.
Okay, Ew, I don't swing that way; we're like brothers, for heaven's sake.
I tossed the thought back in my mind and continued to navigate our way to the entrance of this place. I could see the sky getting darker and darker by the moment as we continued to walk out of here.
Paul tapped my shoulder, and I looked at him, "So you were going to cook dinner, or your mom will? I'm curious whether or not who's better between the two of you." I rolled my eyes and laughed. "Of course, my mom's still the best. She taught me the majority of my cooking skills. I just kind of took it too far with self-learning the different dishes and all that jazz." It was true, my mom fed my brain with all the basic cooking skills and essential dishes, and from there, I went on my own to cook myself.
I told my mom about that. She agreed to it, but she sometimes tried to help me in my cooking or watched me so she could write the recipes in her recipe book. Like can you imagine? An elementary graduate that's so good at cooking for his own every day since he was 12? that's worth seeing or watching, and Paul has the front row seat of that show.
We then carefully looked at the roads to see any cars coming to pass another sidewalk safely. A lot of people were out doing their usual thing at night. A lot of houses lit up today. Maybe there's a celebration I forgot, who knows? Perhaps they're just happy and wanna go out for tonight. I have no idea.
"Alright, Einstein, what are you thinking again this time? That look of yours says it all." Paul then tugged my shoulder, and I whipped my head in his direction, a little bit startled.
"N-nothing... Just thinking why people right now decided to go out tonight, like, there's a lot of 'em right now!" I said, surprised he didn't notice that there were many people out today. I shifted my balance to keep my groceries stable.
"Oh yeah... meh, I have no interest in what their reason is for going out tonight. Let's get home so we can have dinner!" He's excited, and I'll give him that. I mean, everyone I know so far loved my cooking.
"Chill out, bro, and You'll get the food later." I laughed wholehearted laughter. I haven't had this much openness to a person other than him and my family.
This is really a good friendship I got with him, and I don't think Paul can be replaced as my best friend. No one can. And I know I'm more than just a friend to him. I know it. In a sense, we're like brothers with an unbreakable bond between us.
'I'll be there when you need me, Paul. I'll always be there for you and you for me. We'll get through everything life throws at us and come out on top. Through thick and thin.'
-///-
I cleared my head now, I wanted him to know now, but when either one of us is in a hard time, I'll tell and comfort him. And at a distance, we saw the familiar look of a golden painted gate entrance. We were there now.
"Yosh! We're at the entrance now! I can't wait to call first dibs on your cooking" He gave a toothy grin, and I just rolled my eyes.
Eventually, we made it to the entrance of my village, which had a gate and a guard post. The guard immediately saw us and opened the person-sized gate for me and Paul to enter.
"Thanks!" We said in unison, and we went off.
There were many people out today, maybe because their moms or wives kicked them out to have evening exercises or something. I shrugged, and we continued to walk to our house.
"So whatcha gonna cook tonight anyway? Hearing those ingredients make noise is making me more and more hungry." On cue, his stomach grumbled. I sweatdropped and decided to walk faster.
I ain't gonna lie when Paul gets kinda annoying and crazy when he's hungry, he really tries to annoy the heck outta me to make or get food for him, and it's driving me nuts.
"Hey, wait up! This suitcase is heavy as heck!" I heard Paul yell, but I continued to walk faster to make dinner already; I was not going to get crazed by him any time soon.
I made it to the intersection and heard Paul's faint footsteps.
"Why... *pant* did you... *pant* ran off like that?!" He said in between panting, kinda pissed and slightly tired from running.
"Well... Since you wanted to eat now, I went ahead so I could prep the food faster." I sassed him, and with a smirk, we continued walking.
"That sass of yours is gonna be the death of me, Blaine." He deadpanned and grumbled, dragging his luggage along the remaining way.
"Hey, I take offense to that! Literally, sarcasm and sas are my only forms of self-defense, ya know!" I argued, kind of true, actually. I'm pretty scrawny and like a fishbone. To be honest, running, sarcasm, and sas are my only ways to defend myself.
The house was just up ahead. But calling it home was kind of an understatement. It's like a mansion, sort of. It's big, but not very big like those wealthy mansions, just right in size and classy looking, my type of house, honestly speaking. Maybe calling it an estate can do.
"You know, your house still never ceases to amaze me. Your parents sure do have talent on how to vision one." Paul complimented. His sweaty upper was damping his shirt, his breathing was kinda deep, and in between panting, he looked tired from running and carrying his stuff.
"I can't believe it myself too. I really like the design of it too," I replied.
Now at this point, I was the one with a hungry stomach. The rumbling in my stomach was like a snitch, Paul heard it, and he sounded off a grin that stretched across his face. His smile sent chills down my spine, and I shivered ever so slightly.
"What was that sound, bro? You sure do sound hungry, I bet..." He teased me.
"Yeah, yeah," I mumbled as we made it to the entrance.
Paul helped me with the padlock on the gate. We went to the back part of the house, usually where the trash is.
Paul then used the key that was strapped along with my school I.D. and opened the lock.
"Thanks." I went ahead and hurriedly opened the wooden door. I placed my groceries on top of the counter that was in the middle of the kitchen.
"(Okaasan, Ta dai ma!) Mom, I'm home!" I yelled in Japanese. My mom is pure Japanese, so I had the pleasure of learning Japanese with her. I can't say I'm 100% accurate, but I can speak fluently and understand almost every form of the Japanese language.
"Now, just place your.... suitcase on the couch and take a quick shower. You're starting to smell." I pinched my nose slightly. He complied and went to grab his basketball shorts and a red T-shirt, his towel, toothbrush & toothpaste.
And with him outta the way, I got to work. I took out the ingredients to make spicy curry. I went to pull up the long sleeves of my polo shirt and grabbed my dark green apron that had a phrase saying "INSULT MY COOKING AND I'LL MURDER YOU" hanging behind the back door.
"Let's do this..."
I took out the whole piece of chicken and placed it on the sink with a strainer. I turned on the faucet but let the water run a little bit to rinse the chicken slowly. I went through the drawers, brought a kitchen knife and honing steel, adjusted my angle with the blade at a certain angle, my hands behind the guard of the honing steel, and began to grind the blade against the steel in a swift and sharp motion, "1, 2, 3, 4, 5.... alternate..." I mumbled under my breath, alternating from the different sides of the knife with accuracy and speed. I sharpened my blade with ease.
The sound of smooth grinding steel must've been too loud for me to notice because I kind of heard faint footsteps coming from the stairs.
"6, 7, 8, 9, 10.... alternate..."
"(ka o ryouri shite ru no?) what are you cooking, son?" My mom suddenly went to my side but kept a safe distance since I was sharpening my knife.
"Just gonna spicy cook curry tonight, mom, that's all," I said casually and did my final strokes with the knife.
"Good for 5 servings since that's all my budget money and my earned money had to offer at the moment." Yes. I also earn a living. My mom uses my recipes and brings them over to her little eatery downtown. It's kinda a cafe rather than an eatery, to be honest with you. I placed the now rinsed chicken on top of a chopping board on the counter at the center of the kitchen. Still, I first went to get a butcher knife, then I placed the kitchen in a front-facing position where its butt was facing me.
I held the butcher knife tightly, and with one swift motion, I chopped the chicken into half. I then chopped off the joints, such as the wings and thigh parts, chopped the other half into smaller halves. I then set aside the butcher knife, used the ordinary knife, and cut the pieces even more petite.
I went to delicate work with the body and breast of the chicken, cutting the meat, separating them from the bones and ribs.
The process took me a minute and a half, and I set aside the cut pieces on the unoccupied part of the chopping board. I then went to trim a bit of meat from the joint since I didn't cut them precisely. I cut the extra meat that was making the joints look imperfect and then set them aside to feed my pet later.
"Time for the poppy seed paste."
I then went through the kitchen and grabbed the bought poppy seeds and a wooden mortar and pestle. I then opened the pack and placed a handful of the seeds into the mortar and pestle.
"(musuko no saihou o Tsui was ra se te kuru.) well, I'm gonna go finish my sewing, son." my mom then left, and I finished grinding the poppy seeds after that. I grabbed a cup and added water to it. I placed only a few tablespoons to make the poppy seed paste. I stirred the mixture until the two blended together.
I then grabbed a skillet pan and placed it on the stove that was part of the counter.
I then grabbed a large onion bulb and started to peel the outer skin. I then went to rinse it to not let the onion tear up my eyes. I set it on the chopping board and grabbed my knife, and started to cut the blade. I cut some horizontal lines through the onion in quick succession. After that, I began to cut through, creating from the side and through the onion. I did this 3 times on different layers of the onion, and I started to chop nicely and finely.
I then went with the green chiles next. I grabbed the jar filled with those and grabbed at least 10 green chiles. I went back to the counter and placed them on the chopping board. I grabbed the first one and cut it diagonally, successfully getting 3 pieces of that one green chile. I did the same with the remaining green chilies. I cut them diagonally, alternating from cutting them first from the bottom and top. After I was done, I placed both onion and chiles on one side of the chopping board and went to the stove. I turned on the heat at low and prepared the cooking oil.
When I placed my hand just above the pan's surface, I felt the heat, then I grabbed the onions and chiles and placed them gently on top of the pan to avoid the oil splashing and landing on my skin.
The sizzling sound of the hot oil and the smell of the aromatic onions and chiles waft through the air. It smelled delicious already. I grabbed a spoon and sauteed it with a rhythm. After a few seconds of sauteing the onions and chiles, they turned golden brown. I grabbed some ginger and skinned it, quickly chopping it into pieces and adding it into the pan. I grabbed garlic paste and generously added the pan with it, and poured the poppy seed paste along with it. I added the chicken as well and continued to saute them together.
"Well, this is all going smoothly. I expected Paul to come and annoy me again by now." I sighed in relief that Paul was taking his time in the showers longer so I could finish sauteing this before adding water and letting it gently boil for 12 to 15 minutes straight with no interruptions.
I continued to saute the now-forming curry for about 3 minutes now, and the chicken was mixed well with the gravy of the curry. I grabbed 2 cups and filled them with water. I filled the pan with 2 cups of water and grabbed the chili powder pack, I added only 2 tablespoons of chili powder, and I stirred them all together with the curry. I then covered the curry and simmered under the heat alone for 12 and 15 minutes.
"Welp, now that I'm done with most of the curry, guess I'll just play some games to die down the time." I grabbed the phone from my pocket and set the timer for 15 minutes on the alarm. I then took off my apron and went ahead to my room to go take a quick shower.
-/Paul's POV/-
"Hey, Paul? Can you watch the curry cook after you're done taking a shower? I need to go take a shower too, alright? Thanks!" Blaine shouted through the bathroom door loud enough for me to hear.
"Sure thing Blaine! I'm almost done anyway. I'll be at the kitchen in a minute or two." I yelled back for him to hear.
It's been like 3 years being best friends with Blaine, and I've seen how his personality is blooming despite the bullying and harassment he's been facing on a day-to-day basis. It's pretty amazing how strong his willpower and his stubbornness are to reject being plunged into a deep depression, but I know all too well he's hurting inside from it despite ignoring it all and keeping his spirits high. He always has those dull looks on his eyes when I know he's on the breaking point at times.
I know he can't be fixed the way he was before all this, but I know I can give him my attention if Blaine needs a shoulder to cry on or someone to talk to about his current problems. That's the least I can do for him so far. I'll help him adjust once we reach high school, make friends and maybe find his beloved so he can feel an even deeper love.
But before all of that, I'll make him the buffest and swoon-worthy boy out there before he gets positively accepted, teach him self defense skills and moves, maybe introduce him to boxing for a bit or get his mom to agree to my plan to improve Blaine, I want what's best for him. It's undoubtedly him being a solid teen who can defend himself. His intelligence is already far ahead of this generation. All that's left is to make him well-rounded in terms of attributes. Yeah, I know I'm making this sound like an RPG game, but life is like an RPG game. Most people are maxing out the wrong stats to be successful in life.
As I made my way to the kitchen, I already smelled dinner and my God... Blaine's cooking is on another level, even for a 12-year-old kid. Like, he can cook for the gods, and they'll be pleased by his cooking and make him the god of culinary arts or something. I went to the stove and saw the curry being cooked on low heat, and it already had the look of professional-looking curry by the master chefs in the world. I went to the seats at the counter and just tried to think of how I could help Blaine bring his potential to be somebody other than the skinny, depressed boy that he is.
I really can't stand it when he silently suffers, trying hard to get over it on his own sometimes, not even taking into consideration that I'm here for him.
"This is all too frustrating." I sigh in defeat, knowing this will be hard. I really want to change Blaine for the better, but I don't know how to take the first step to get him to do it with me.
"(poru daijoo?) are you okay, Paul?" I heard Blaine's mom as I was lost in thought. Thank Blaine that I know a bit of Japanese. She can help me make Blaine better. This is perfect.
"Oh, I'm just lost in thought, Mrs. Adelheid." I sighed once more, and her face looked concerned.
"(is it because of Blaine?) soreha Burien no se ide suka?" She said her voice had a motherly tone to it; of course, she will be concerned with anything about her son, my concern for Blaine is also her concern. "well... yeah, it's about Blaine. It's just that I want to help him be more secure about himself, feel like he's worth it to someone like a future lover, or at least some true friends. But I don't know how to approach it to him. He keeps deflecting the subject with another topic." I ran my fingers through my hair frustratingly, and I was running out of approaches. Every time I brought up the topic, Blaine would change it to another.
"(donna wadai? so shite tango 'tasuke' o teigi shina sai ka?) What topic? And define the word 'help'?" She asked, now concerned about it. But this is great, she can help me get Blaine to work out, learn self-defense and be well-rounded, so his sarcasm and sass is just first-level defense. Blaine will thank me in the future for this.
"Well, I was wondering if you could help me with this plan of mine to help him." She quirked her eyebrow, her face scrunched in curiosity.
"I was wondering if starting next weekend and during the summer can Blaine join me working out? I just wanted to help him with his physique and also give him some self-defense skills, and I want him also to feel good about himself and less insecure, that's all." I said, my voice low enough to be between us hearing about it.
She thought for a bit. The pregnant pause was long enough, like it felt like minutes instead of seconds. A mother does think about what's best for her son, which is one of those moments that's happening right now.
"(Burien ga mi nde ru to omou) I think Blaine would like it." She smiled as her face then softened warmly at me and hugged me. I was taken back by it, but I didn't refuse her affection and gratefulness for me being the best of the best friend I can be for Blaine.
"Of course he will. I'm going to make him change for the better and bring out the best in him. That's what best friends do to each other." I said with confidence in my voice. I never go back on my words, especially with family, like Blaine.
"(ana ta ha hontoni kare ni oniisan no you na monodesu) you really are like a big brother to him." She placed her hand on my shoulder. I smiled because I felt as if I had a mother right now beside me. It feels nice. Mrs. Adelheid's tender care makes me feel loved for and get to experience a caring mother's undying love.
"Hey, sorry for leaving ya hanging, Paul." I heard Blaine coming down the stairs. I sigh, hoping I can help him this way and maybe get him to stop being depressed. His mom and I smiled at him warmly.
"What were you all talking about?" He casually asked as he passed us and went to check up on his curry.
"Oh, just random stuff." I shrugged, I want this to be a surprise for him, and he'll love it and thank me later, like the little brother he is to me.
"Hmmm yeah, sure, whatever you say." He chuckled and went to get a serving dish and spoon ready.
"Now we wait for like 4 minutes, and dinner is served. Paul, can you ready the table?" I nodded and went to get the placemats and dishes.
This will be a great dinner time with the Adelheid's.