"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 kinda romantic in a way.
Ok, Ew, I don't swing that way, we're like brothers for heaven's sake.
I tossed that thought at the back of 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 continue to walk out of here.
Paul tapped my shoulder and I looked at him,
"So you gonna 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 literally fed my brain with all the basic cooking skills and basic dishes, and from there I went on my own to cook myself, I told my mom about that and she agreed to it, but she sometimes tries to help me in my own cooking or just watches me so she can 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 definitely 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 so we can safely pass to another sidewalk. A lot of people were out doing their usual thing at the night. A lot of houses lit up today, maybe there's a celebration I kinda forgot, who knows? Maybe 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, 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, kinda surprised he didn't notice that there's a lot of 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 just get home so we can have dinner!" He's really excited, I'll give him that. I mean, everyone I know so far loved my cooking.
"Chill out bro, 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, 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 just 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 has 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 a lot of 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 yelled but I continued to walk faster so I can make dinner already, I am not gonna 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 can 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, kinda true actually, I'm quite 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 a house was kind of an understatement, It's like a mansion, kind of. It's big, but not very big like those very rich 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 a 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.
"お母さんただいま! (Mom, I'm home/Okaasan, Ta dai ma!)" 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 that 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 and 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 at but let the water just run a little bit to slowly rinse the chicken, I went through the drawers brought a kitchen knife and honing steel, adjusted my angle with the knife at a certain angle, my hands behind the guard of the honing steel and began to grind the knife 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 knife 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..."
"何を料理してるんだ? (what are you cooking son/ka o ryouri shite ru no?)" My mom suddenly went to my side but kept a safe distance since I was sharpening my knife.
"Just gonna cook spicy curry tonight mom, that's all," I said nonchalantly 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 earn also 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 that was on the counter at the center of the kitchen, but 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 and used the normal knife and went to cut the pieces even smaller.
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 be fed to my pet later.
"Time for the poppy seed paste."
I then went through the kitchen and grabbed the bought poppy seeds along with a wooden mortar and pestle. I then opened the pack and placed a handful of the seeds into the mortar and pestle.
"息子の裁縫を終わらせてくる. (well, I'm gonna go finish my sewing son./musuko no saihou o tsui was ra se te kuru.)" my mom then left and I finished grinding the poppy seeds after that. I grabbed a cup and added water into it, I placed only a few tablespoons to make the poppy seed paste and I stirred the mixture until the two blended together.
I then went to grab 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 knife. I cut some horizontal lines through the onion in quick succession, after that I started to cut through starting 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 began to cut it diagonally successfully getting 3 pieces of that one green chile, I did the same with the remaining green chilies and 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 surface of the pan, 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 saute 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 added 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 can 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 now 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 allowed it to simmer 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 he 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 and it's certainly him being a strong teen who can defend himself, his intelligence is already far ahead of this generation and 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 has 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 the ways I can help Blaine with him bringing 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 do the first step to get him to do it with me.
"ポール大丈夫? (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 sigh once more and her face looked concerned.
"それはブレインのせいですか? (is it because of Blaine?/soreha Burein no se ide suka?)" She said, her voice had a motherly type of tone to it, of course, she will be concerned with anything about her son, my concern for Blaine, is also her concern too.
"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 just keeps deflecting the subject with another topic." I ran my fingers through my hair frustratingly, I was running out of approaches, every time I bring up the topic Blaine would just change it to another.
"どんな話題? そして単語'助け'を定義しなさいか.(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, I want him to also feel good about himself, and less insecure, that's all." I said, my voice low enough to just 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, and this is one of those moments that's happening right now.
"ブレインが望んでると思う(Burein ga mi nde ru to omou/I think Blaine would like it.)" Her face then softened. She smiled 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 gonna 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.
"あなたは本当に彼にお兄さんのようなものです (ana ta ha hontoni kare ni oniisan no you na monodesu./you really are like a big brother to him.)"
"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. I and his mom smiled at him warmly.
"What were you all talking about?" He nonchalantly asked as he passes 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 ladle 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.