Chapter XIV

The Spring breeze graced my face as I walked along in the neighborhood.

The grass was a little greener here than a month ago.

The birds chirped melodies that were so relaxing, I could just fall asleep.

“Oda! Can you come here for a second?” Mrs. V called out for me.

I headed back to the house and was greeted by my uncle.

“Hey there kiddo! I was so worried about you man,” he said to me.

“Yeah, yeah, cut the shit,” I said.

I walked into the house and set my things down next to the couch.

“Didn’t you have anything you wanted to say to Oda? Mr. Sugahara,” Mrs. V asked my uncle.

“Y—yeah, look, I’m super sorry about what I did.

I should have known better than to—”

“Okay already, I accept your apology,” I rushed to him.

I knew his apology was never going to be genuine anyway.

That’s just the kind of man he is.

“Well now Oda, looks like I’ll be taking my leave, please don’t hesitate to call me if you need anything,” Mrs. V said.

“Yeah, I will,” I replied.

With that, Mrs. V left after settling me back into my uncle’s house.

“Man, that woman is such a hottie Oda,” my uncle commented.

“You need to bring her around here more often!” he continued.

I let out an annoyed sigh.

That’s my uncle, Sugahara Jiro.

The man thinks about nothing except sex and money.

And speaking of money…

“Well, I guess we can begin where we left off little nephew,” Jiro said.

“Hmm, no, you’ve caused me quite a bit of trouble with the police.

They came knocking at my door every other day asking where you were, and that I wasn’t doing my job as guardian or whatever.

So, because of all the trouble you’ve caused me, I’ll be increasing your rent to double, NO, triple!” Jiro stated.

That’s right, my own uncle, my own legal guardian, charges me rent.

In a perfect world, this guy gets locked up in prison for trying some shit like that.

However, my uncle had blackmailed me.

Apparently, he has some important heirlooms that were to be passed down to me, but If I told the police, he would never let me have them.

Seriously, he’s such a bum that he has to take money from his own nephew.

In fact, he doesn’t even have a job.

I practically pay all of the bills here!

There was once upon a time, when Sugahara Jiro, was a successful and smart man.

A man who even went and started his own biotech company.

However, it all came crashing down harshly one day.

I’m not even sure of the reason why, however, it left my uncle so broken that he couldn’t even lift a finger to feed himself anymore.

My father helped Jiro tremendously when he was at his lowest.

The problem was that my father was too generous, and Jiro became spoiled.

My father would send him enough money every month to live a luxurious lifestyle, full of worldwide travels and being surrounded by a bunch of women.

Jiro never worked a day in his life after his company fell apart.

He burns through all the money he receives and gets drunk off of this new lifestyle of his.

One day however, Jiro realized that the money from my father had stopped coming.

My father’s will didn’t include Jiro, because Jiro lied, saying how well he was investing all of the money my father had been giving him.

My uncle started to go crazy.

Without this supply of money, he couldn’t afford his lifestyle anymore.

He had to get a normal job and downsize his house.

But one fateful day, a boy had arrived in front of his doorstep.

The inheritor of all of my father’s money, me.

Though I couldn’t access most of it until I was 18, I was able to access some percentage.

Even though he had been charging me rent for staying here, it wasn’t my main reason for running away.

“Fine, whatever, but make sure you clean up this damn couch!” I exclaimed to my uncle.

“Hmph, fine,” he replied.

The house wasn’t like the mansion type of home that he was used to, however, it was still pretty nice.

The problem was that I wasn’t allowed to really go anywhere in the house.

He set everything off limits.

Everything, except this couch.

I had no real room, just the living room area, and this couch as my bed.

At the time, I was never one to complain, I was lucky to find somewhere to stay after what happened.

But I also didn’t know how much of a nutjob my uncle was.

Anyway, I settled back in the house and gave him some rent money.

All in all, the rent he charged me was almost as much as the Luxury Haven hotel.

Talk about a serious downgrade.

Afterward, everything was sort of normal again.

He doesn’t really bother me or do anything to me as long as I pay the rent.

I opened my textbook and started to do some homework.

✾❀✾

The next day at practice, Coach Miyamura had some big announcements.

“As you guys may know, our regular season starts this week.

I just wanted to run the schedule with you guys.” Miyamura explained.

Miyamura proceeded to tell us all of the details about the schedule for the rest of the school year.

We had 20 games in the regular season spanning from May to November.

Then the inner high tournament, the biggest tournament where only the best teams competed, would start at the end of November.

If we want to qualify for the tournament, our regular season record would have to be good.

The inner high had been very competitive these last few years, and we can’t lose more than 6 games if we want a spot on the bracket.

It was definitely a challenge to get into the inner high, but considering how well we had done in the practice matches, we seemed like a pretty strong team.

“Hey everyone! Let's make a pact!” Asari called for all of us.

“Let’s get to this inner high, no matter what!” he stated.

Everyone agreed and we all put our hands together.

Together, all of us had a goal to work towards for the remainder of the year.

The next day during lunch, Kaede stopped by our class.

“Here you go,” I handed her an empty lunch box.

It had now been a month since our bet, and it was officially over.

She did a good job of making me lunch every day.

Each day had something new and unique to eat, she was a pretty good chef.

“You’re cooking was pretty good, I enjoyed it,” I told Kaede.

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“See? What’d I tell ya, I’m a grade-A chef!” Kaede responded.

“So, this really is the last box huh?” Kaede said in a sort of sad tone.

“Yup, you're free now,” I said.

Kaede stood still for a bit, thinking about something in her mind.

“Then we need a new bet!” she exclaimed.

“What are you talking about?” I asked.

“Schools sorta boring, and I kinda enjoy doing wacky stuff like this… so…

Let’s make another bet!” she explained.

“Hmph okay, I'm game, what kinda bet do you want to make?” I asked her.

“The same kinda bet! If you lose to me, then you gotta buy me that camera okay?” she explained.

“Okay, and what’s the bet exactly?” I asked again.

“Hmm, I don’t really know, but if you were to win what would you want?” she asked.

I don’t think I would want more lunch, I would feel bad for having her make more lunches for me.

“I don’t really know what I would want,” I replied.

“You guys got any ideas?” I asked the lunch group since they’d been listening to our conversation.

At first, no one really had any suggestions, until…

“If you lose then… you have to kiss Sugahara,” Haruno chimed in.

“WHAA?!” everyone exclaimed.

“Yeah, I mean, I can’t imagine a more harsh punishment, am I right?” Haruno explained in a sarcastic tone.

All eyes then shifted over to what Kaede had to say.

Kaede all red and embarrassed started to say some words.

“I—I, I mean, I wouldn’t —”

“No!” Kinoshita objected.

Suddenly, all eyes went to Kinoshita instead.

“W—well I, like so… that’s like,” Kinoshita uttered, stumbling on her words.

“That’s like totally so harsh! I mean kissing Sugahara? That’s practically worse than torture!” Kinoshita finished her sentence.

For some reason, I started getting kinda sad.

Is kissing me really such a bad thing? I thought to myself, slowly dying inside.

I thought I was at least a little handsome, guess not.

“Yeah, that’s a fair point Aiya, you’re right that’s way too cruel for a girl to bear,” Haruno said.

“It’s not like that’s what I wanted anyway!” I loudly told Haruno.

“Hmm, do you guys have any other ideas?” I asked again.

Kojima then raised his voice.

“Well, how about if you lose then… you have to make Sugahara lunch for one month?” Kojima said.

“That’s what they’ve been doing idiot!” Asari said.

“What, really? I haven’t noticed,” Kojima explained.

“You seriously haven't noticed Kaede coming into the room every day handing Sugahara a new lunch box?” Asari asked.

“Nope,” Kojima calmly said.

“Man, you gotta be blind,” Asari joked.

“Well to be fair, Kojima is always downstairs getting his lunch when Kaede comes in,” I explained, defending Kojima.

“Oh yeah, that does make sense!” Kinoshita added.

“How about you go and come up with the bet, and I’ll think about my wager later,” I told Kaede.

“Yeah! That works,” Kaede replied back.

Kaede left the room and the rest of the day proceeded.

✾❀✾

The final bell rang, as students flooded outside to leave.

Meanwhile, our group went to the library to hold another study session.

However, when we arrived, the library had already closed it’s doors.

“Oh that’s right, there was an announcement that they were closing early today,” Haruno mentioned.

“Well if that’s the case then where should we study?” Kinoshita asked.

“Hmm,” everyone pondered.

“Hey Sugahara, why don’t we go to your place?” Kojima asked me.

Kojima probably thought I was still at that nice hotel, and that It would make for a nice and spacious area to study.

The problem was that I don’t actually live there anymore now.

“No, I actually just moved back in with my uncle,” I told Kojima.

“Oh, I see then, good for you,” he said.

No, not good for me!

“Well then, we can study at my place,” Kojima offered.

“Yeah let’s go to Koji’s spot!” Asari said enthusiastically.

“So it’s decided, let’s go,” Haruno declared.

It took about 25 minutes to get from school to Kojima’s house.

I had forgotten what his house was like.

I literally came here the day I met Kojima.

We all entered the small home and sat down on the floor next to the table.

“Woah I've never been to Kojima’s house, so this is where you live,” Kinoshita mentioned.

We all studied for an hour and then Kojima decided to make us some food.

“Woah Kojima? Are you some kinda magician? Because WOW these dumplings are SOOO GOOD!” Asari exclaimed.

“I didn’t know you could cook so well Koji,” I said.

“Yeah I agree, these are actually quite tasty,” Haruno added.

“So, who taught you how to cook?” Kinoshita asked.

“Eh, I sort of taught myself I guess? I’m kinda the only one who cooks in this household, so I watch a lot of YouTube videos and read lots of cookbooks,” Kojima explained.

I bit into a dumpling and juices of deliciousness flowed into my mouth.

I also had some of his curry rice that he made as well.

“Man that’s so impressive, your food is even better than Kaede’s,” I said.

“Thanks, glad you like it,” Kojima replied.

“Yeah man, that really hit the spot!” I responded.

I noticed Kinoshita peering at me.

“So, do you like it when… people cook for you?” Kinoshita asked me.

I don’t exactly understand what she meant exactly.

“Yeah, I mean who doesn’t right?” I responded.

“Yeah… you’re right,” she responded back.

Kinoshita went and helped Kojima wash some dishes.

As they were washing dishes, a sudden knock on the door had everyone’s attention turned.

The door unlocked itself and women entered the home.

It ended up just being Kojima’s mom.

“Hey Mom,” Kojima said.

“Oh, hey kiddo, I didn’t know you were bringing guests over today,” she replied.

“Yeah, we're all just doing a little bit of studying,” Kojima said.

“I see, well, why don’t you introduce me to your friends,” she asked.

“Sure, this is Sugahara and Asari, both my teammates on the basketball team.

And this is Kinoshita and Haruno, I went to junior high with them,” Kojima explained.

“I see! Well you have yourself a nice set of friends, did you guys have anything to eat yet?” she asked us.

“Kojima actually just made us a really good meal,” I replied.

“I see, he’s such a good cook right?” she stated.

“Totally!” everyone replied.

“Speaking of cooking Kojima, I actually picked up this flyer on the way home,”

Kojima’s mom said as she fished a paper out of her purse.

Kojima took the paper and read it.

“A cooking contest?” Kojima said.

“Yeah! It’s being held nearby, and first place gets 70,000 yen,” she said.

“Knowing you, you could probably score really high, and maybe even win the whole thing!” she added.

“I see that’s pretty interesting,” Kojima responded.

Kojima sat down again as we finished the rest of our studies.

When we finished studying, I got a little curious and looked at that cooking contest flyer.

It’s true, the winning prize was 70,000 if you were in the first place. The second place was 35,000 and the third was 15,000.

I looked more closely and saw something else.

“This contest must be entered in pairs,” I read aloud.

“Pairs? As in two people?” Kinoshita asked.

“Yeah, I think that’s what they mean,” I replied.

We ended up looking at the website of the contest and read the rules more thoroughly.

Rules

* Must enter as a pair and work together to create the dish

* The dish will be selected on the spot through a shuffle

* 4500 YEN entry fee for one pair.

“I see, so this a collaborative competition,” Haruno stated.

70,000 Yen is a lot of money, especially for teenagers like us.

“We have to enter it!” Haruno said with determination in her eyes.

“We as in who?” I asked.

“Me and Kojima of course,” she replied.

“I’m not half bad a cooking, but if Kojima was on my team, then surely we could be at least in the top 3,” she continued.

“We could split the prize money, sound good Kojima?” she asked him.

“Sure, I don’t see why not,” he said.

“You guys outta enter too so we can increase our chances,” Haruno explained.

“Us?” Asari, me, and Kinoshita said.

“Yeah, but it seems like we’ll need a fourth person,” Haruno pointed out.

“Hey Sugahara, convince Sato-Sensei’s daughter to join us,” Haruno stated.

“What, Kaede?” I asked.

Kaede is a good cook and having her would surely increase our chances of winning the contest.

However, I’m also sure she wouldn’t just agree for nothing.

Maybe the prize money would entice her?

“Oh, that’s right!” I said aloud.

“What is it?” Haruno asked me.

“Kaede wants to buy a new camera for her photography.

I bet she would enter with us if she gets a slice of that prize money.” I explained.

“That’s great, go ahead and ask her,” Haruno said.

“Wait so who’s grouping up with who?” Kinoshita asked.

“We should make sure our teams are well balanced, someone that’s better at cooking, paired up with someone that’s not as good at cooking,” Haruno said.

“Sugahara, how well can you cook?” Haruno asked me.

“I think I'm… average?” I said.

“Okay, and what about you Asari?”

“Sorry Haruno, but the only thing I can cook is frozen meals,” Asari said in a sad tone.

“Hmm, I see. Well, Kinoshita, your cooking isn’t really the —”

“Greatest ever, I know, but it’s pretty average. Or maybe even above average!” Kinoshita said, finished Haruno’s sentence.

“Huh? What, no your cooking isn’t g—”

“Bad, right? Yeah, that’s why I’m pretty average,” Kinoshita said.

Haruno showed a hint of annoyance at Kinoshita.

Kinoshita smiled a bit and laughed.

“Yeah Aiya, you’re totalllly average at cooking,” Haruno said in a monotone voice.

“Well I guess, I gotta pair the worst with the best, and then the two average people together…” Haruno said unexcitingly.

And so we all marked our calendars for the first week of summer vacation when the cooking competition was to be held.

It was still a while away, but that gives us all time to sharpen up our cooking skills until then.

I was paired up with Kinoshita, who is apparently an average, or maybe even a slightly above-average cook.

Meanwhile I….

TOTALLY LIED!

I’m actually an awful cook, but I thought it would be embarrassing to say.

“Man, I’m totally going to drag Kinoshita down!” I thought to myself.

Well, I practically have two months to become a better chef, but the problem is that my uncle probably won’t let me use his kitchen.

Hmm, I guess maybe I could practice at Kojima’s house.

Or better yet, he could actually teach me! Yeah, Yeah.

I need to get better so I don’t drag Kinoshita down!

* POV: Kinoshita -

I…

TOTALLY LIED!

I didn’t want to seem like a bad cook in front of everyone, especially him!

Though Kaori totally knows how well I really cook…

Haruno took a bite of my attempt at the dumplings Kojima made earlier.

“Aiya…” Kaori said.

“Um, yeah?” I asked.

“Do me a favor and NEVER LIE ABOUT YOUR COOKING SKILLS, because this is DEADLY, and I mean DEADLY food right here!” Kaori exclaimed.

“Seriously, could kill someone,” she added.

“Aww man, I’m totally going to drag Sugahara down!” I thought to myself, feeling defeated.

“Do you think I can get better in time?” I asked Kaori.

Kaori looked at me with a blank expression.

“Hmm maybe…” she said.

“Really?!” I asked excitedly.

“If pigs could fly,” Kaori said jokingly.

Ughhh, I’m hopeless

Kaori is someone who is always honest and never lies.

People say she’s a mean girl, but I view her differently.

I think being fully honest and transparent is the kindest and bravest thing someone could do.

And that’s why…

she’s my best friend.

image [https://i.imgur.com/ogTv1ce.jpg]