March. One more month until my high school life began. Trees were starting to shift their appearances from beaming emerald to pristine pink.
Sitting on the small wooden steps that led to the outside of my humble abode, the wind murmured through my ears, creating a pleasant sound I'd always loved.
The wind started howling as the afternoon went by, leaves rustling chaotically, and birds flapping their wings intensely. I ran my fingers through my hair, pushing it upward to prevent it from poking my eyes. The air was so refreshing and chilly that I could drift off into a deep slumber.
I smelled a mouthwatering flagrance nearby. It must be from that girl's home. Her cooking was phenomenal; she could knock up any specialties with inadequate preparation and background knowledge. Even I, a picky eater, had to praise her as every dish she ever made for me was exceptional.
"I wonder if I could eat there right now."
My stomach rumbled as the images of her food started occupying my mind. I stood up and moped around at my house. I made my way to the living room, still hearing the bird chirping sweetly.
"How wonderful. A complete contrast to what I'm feeling now."
I mumbled those words jokingly out of boredom. I had often met these mundane moments ever since I became the only one in charge of my household.
Well, I had to get used to it. I never wanted to be dispirited. I also kept my promise and my family's wishes, so I needed to will myself.
I gazed directly at the blades my grandfather and father gave me, now hanging in the middle of the wall, along with an antique watch my father left behind. It was originally from my grandpa, but he passed it down to my father with a beaming smile before he died of mysterious circumstances.
Seeing those made me reminisce about my childhood. They would always be there with me through thick and thin.
"Snap out of it."
I thought I should bring myself to the girl's house since I had nothing to do. All that was left in my home was silence. I missed the bustling sound of people walking around the house, but I couldn't say that I hated the quietness because sometimes it put me at ease.
Out of the house, I went. While having a peaceful riverside amble, I could scent the rich aroma riding the air. As soon as I sniffed it, my mind went blank, and my stomach was dying for some good food.
Come on, this was too much to resist my temptation. How could food smell so good from a far distance? I must have been out of my mind.
Anyway, I picked up the pace but then saw something walking toward me. It was difficult to see anything because of the lack of streetlights. I could barely see anything but a shadow figure.
The glint of light from the windows helped me discern the shadow a little, and it looked familiar. I could be wrong, so I switched to a vigilant state.
I lumbered past the rustling trees. Tiny rocks grated against the ground. The figure almost reached the destination where the faint light of the moon was gazing. Little by little, the silhouette was illuminated. For a short moment, it looked ethereal under the showering moonlight.
"Saki? Is that you?" I asked.
"AHHH! W-who is that?"
That scream went straight to my eardrums. I could go temporarily deaf if I were to be in closer proximity to her.
"Calm down. It's me, Hiryu. You didn't have to shout that loud."
"You suddenly called my name out of nowhere in the darkness! How could I react differently!?" Saki raised her tone.
"Were there any other different ways to call you? Consider yourself lucky I didn't use physical contact. I even called you with the softest tone possible."
"Ugh! Unbelievable."
"Do you have to protect your head every time you get scared? Your hair is tangled up again." Saki was crouching right in front of me, holding onto her head tightly. I could see her trembling like a little girl that got lost in the forest.
"Come on. Get up," I outstretched my hand to hers. "Where are you going in the middle of the night anyway? Isn't your house in the opposite direction?"
"Uh, um…," she stuttered a few inexplicable sounds, followed by exaggerated gestures.
I took the initiative out of impatience. "I planned on going to your house to leech off your cooking. Is it fine? I wouldn't bother you if you got someplace to go."
"No! A-Actually, I was on my way to your place. I wanted us to try the new recipes that I whipped up…"
I noticed a twinkle of light projected onto my clothing. Stainless steel bento boxes peeked out of a thinly wrapped handkerchief. No wonder I could taste the smell of food from miles away.
"We're on the same wavelengths then. Been craving your food ever since afternoon."
She covered her mouth gently as she giggled. "Let's go to your house then. My mom is busy greeting some guests."
I nodded in response. We walked toward the direction of my home. Darkness embraced the whole neighborhood, but shimmers of light still shone through from the windows of houses nearby.
I loved seeing beautiful scenes in life, but I was too hungry to focus on anything at that moment. I couldn't endure the mesmerizing smell anymore, so I posed a question to distract my mind.
"What did you cook?"
"It's an improvement of a common dish. I made it by accident, but surprisingly, it tasted super good."
"It smells amazing. I could sense so much flavor in it. It should be impossible for one dish to contain this much flavor."
Her hands wavered in the air, and her speech suddenly became abrupt. "Right!? It shouldn't be, right? That's why I'm super proud of this creation. It's gonna blow your mind away!"
"Shouldn't you be lowering my expectations if you wanted to impress me? I have high hopes for this now."
"Fufu~, no need. A true chef should always be confident in their dishes, or else the food wouldn't taste as good. Lying how I feel about it to impress others is nonsense to me. I want people to have similar expectations as I have, and through that way, they could give honest opinions about my cooking."
"I like how passionate you are whenever we talk about culinary arts. If only you could put that intensity into combat…"
She stopped dead in her tracks; her arm straightened downward as she clenched her fist.
"W-what was that supposed to mean? I am well-versed in the art of fighting! I even learned some new moves some days ago."
"That didn't explain how you could barely hold your ground during practice. I went easy on you, but you still couldn't manage to hit me once."
"I don't think you know what your 'easy mode' looks like, Hiryu-kun. For a newbie like me, it looks the same whether you adjust your difficulty or not."
"It should be able to test your limits as a combatant. If your goal is to be one of the best Repulsors, you have to overcome all sorts of hardships. This is only the beginning."
Her shoulders pulled forward and curled over her chest, she sighed wistfully. "I know. I started late compared to many people. That's why I will keep trying my best! We got recruited by that school, so it would be a waste not learning a thing or two there, right?"
"At least you performed well during the provisional exam. I expected worse."
"What did you mean by that!?"
We arrived at my house faster than I thought. Conversing with somebody on a walk made the time fly like a jet. Well, plus the fact that I only walked half the distance I had imagined.
Sitting in my room, I dove into the luscious food she had made like a hungry lion that hadn't found any prey for days. She made my favorite food from scratch - fried chicken.
Not just simple fried chicken, she cooked three different varieties: sweet and spicy, the reliable regular, and garlic cheese, which was my least favorite since I hated garlic. Saki was the opposite, so she ate most of the garlic cheese.
I closed my eyes whenever I took a bite. I thought I saw the lights of heaven for a minute. "Wow. I'm speechless. This is one of the best foods you've made," I was filled with awe.
"Fufu~, I'm flattered. How about I cook this once a week? Sharing my food with you is a whole lot of fun."
That was a great deal, no matter how I twisted it. Though eating deep-fried food would cause adverse effects on physical and mental health, once a week sounded acceptable to me.
"Sure. Should I go to your house next time? I don't want you to overexert yourself. Cooking and walking every week sounds tiring."
"Don't worry about it! Think of it as a light exercise for me."
Her head held high as she painted a ray of sunshine all over her face, making me even more guilty of letting her do the work. "Right…," I suddenly murmured a melancholy response.
She glanced at me and quickly caught what I felt about the situation. "If you feel guilty about it, wait for me halfway down the road connecting our houses. That way, we could walk the same distance."
"Like today? Sure, that's way better than sitting impatiently in my room."
We talked until midnight. I accompanied Saki halfway back to her house. We exchanged goodbyes as we waited for the bright future to dawn.