Part 13: House of Sweets ~un petit nid~ (13)

—–Translated by daydrop. Please read on the original site at daydrop.nowaki.net.

“Why are there shishito peppers here?”

Agi made the complaint when Kase placed the plate on the table that was set up on the terrace. It was their day off and the weather was beautiful, and Agi had suggested that they have a barbecue outside. The terrace balcony was quite spacious here.

“You should eat vegetables too sometimes.”

“I eat vegetables. But I won’t eat shishito peppers. Don’t say something like a house nanny.”

“House nanny?”

“I guess they’re called care workers now? We just normally called them the house nanny. I hated shishito peppers, Mutou hated tomatoes, and Yuzuru hated pumpkin. Everyone had something that they hated and wouldn’t eat, but we had a house nanny at the children’s home that made us everything that we hated and told us that we wouldn’t grow if we were picky with our food. But think about it. The nutrients in a shishito pepper aren’t limited to that one single vegetable. If A is out of the question, then get it from B. There’s no need to force yourself to eat what you hate.”

The theory was logical enough, but there was also the issue of discipline. However, Kase stayed quiet and listened to him.

“Plus, she even baked veggie cookies for me on my damn birthday.”

Kase smirked without thinking. Yeah, getting that kind of treatment even on a birthday had to be pretty awful. Kase had never had his birthday celebrated, but he would probably pass on a celebration like that— 

While he was thinking, he suddenly realized something.

“Ah.”

“What? What happened?” Agi looked over at Kase. 

Kase thought for a bit and said, “Nothing.”

“What the hell? It’s gonna bug me now. I hate it when people start to say something and stop.”

“It’s not a big deal. I just remembered that it was my birthday the other day,” Kase said brusquely, setting out the glasses on the table.

He wasn’t an important figure—the 29th birthday of some ordinary guy somewhere wasn’t anything worth celebrating. Kase tried to hurry off into the kitchen.

“Hey, you should remember these things sooner.”

Kase turned around.

“Since we’re having a barbecue, let’s turn it into a birthday party.”

“No, don’t, it’s fine.” 

Kase shook his head in surprise, and Agi crossed his arms and looked at the table.

“Well, I guess there’s no cake here after all. And you gotta have cake for a birthday. Veggie cookies would be goddamn horrible. Alright, I’ll prepare a cake for you next time, and we’ll celebrate.”

Agi talked about getting a cake with strawberries and whipped cream, must-haves for a birthday cake, and putting the same number of candles as his age on it. Kase just listened to him sullenly.

Kase felt horribly self-conscious about it. He was more embarrassed than happy and didn’t know what kind of face to make. While he puzzled over how to act, the doorbell rang.

“Oh, the kiddo is probably here.”

Kase went to get the door, and Chise and Rio were there.

“Hiro-kun, thank you for the kind invi… invination? …today. This is for you.”

Rio held out a small box, unable to say Thank you for the kind invitation.

“I made creme brulee. Let’s have it after dinner,” Chise added.

Kase silently bowed his head. They worked together every day, and lately he had grown used to them a little, but seeing them like this on their day off brought back his gruffness. Chise headed over to the terrace like she was used to it, and Kase went to the kitchen to put the dessert in the refrigerator.

“Hiro-kun, Hiro-kun, where’s the cat?” Rio asked, tugging on Kase’s shirt.

Kase looked around the kitchen. The cat had lived here for several days now, and he would always be somewhere near Kase. Right now he was hidden in the space between the refrigerator and the storage cart.

“Over there,” Kase pointed, and Rio ran over.

“Oooh!”

The cat was frightened and dashed out of the space to scamper up Kase’s body. The cat used his claws to dig into the fabric of the shirt, and it was terribly painful.

“Wow! He’s so fast. His leg is healed already.”

The cat had climbed up to Kase’s shoulders where Rio’s hands wouldn’t reach him. He used his front paws to hold himself up against Kase’s head. It hurt, and he was heavy. Kase tried to peel the cat away from his head, but the cat just clung to him more.

Agi appeared in the kitchen. “Whoa, what do we have here? It’s like he’s your pilot.”

He had a can of beer in his hand and laughed when he saw the cat clinging to Kase’s head.

Chise also looked into the kitchen and laughed. “Oh dear.”

“Hey, over here. I’ll get him off of you.” Agi waved Kase over like a cat as he laughed.

Kase turned his back to Agi in a huff.

“Here, carpet wetter, come this way~”

Agi reached his hand out, and the cat growled at him. The cat had nearly recovered from his injuries, but he still didn’t care for Agi much. Each time Agi reached for the cat, the cat would cling to Kase’s head, and it hurt even more.

“Ow, ow, ow. Nevermind. I’ll do something about it myself.”

“Even though you know that you can’t.”

“It’s better than having you do it for me.”

“What? You’re giving me lip? Oi, cat, piss on Hiroaki while you’re there.”

“You’re the only one he does that to.”

“You’re so uncute. I should shove both these cats off the balcony.”

While they bantered, the cat jumped off on his own. He used Kase’s shoulder to propel himself off, and Agi helped support Kase as he staggered from the recoil. Rio chased after the cat, but the cat escaped him again.

“Mommy, the cat really loves Hiro-kun, huh? He doesn’t want anyone to touch him but Hiro-kun. But I gave him bread too, and it’s unfair that he won’t let me pet him.”

Rio puffed out his cheeks at the cat who hid back in the space between the refrigerator and the cart.

“Well, just because you gave him bread, it doesn’t mean that he’ll automatically like you. If you give something away, you give something away. That’s all there is to it. That’s why you shouldn’t expect anything in return.”

“But I think that he should at least let me pet him.” Rio was still dissatisfied.

Chise laughed and shrugged her shoulders.

“Well, he’s a bit of a stingy cat, I suppose. But if the cat only loves one person in the whole entire world, then to that person, the cat must be incredibly cute. Right, Agi-san?”

“Why are you asking me?”

“No reason. Just that it must be nice to have a cat be fond of you.” Her words were laced with meaning.

Agi snorted like he was trying to hide his embarrassment.

Kase listened to the two talk behind him as he placed the dessert in the refrigerator. While he was at it, he made the dressing for the salad—adding olive oil, salt, pepper, garlic, vinegar, and lemon juice. And also a little sugar. He dropped a little on the back of his hand and licked it, and it was perfect.

“Ah!” Rio exclaimed. “Hiro-kun, let me taste, let me taste.”

Crap. He had seasoned it based on his own taste buds.

“Sorry, can you help me?”

“Yeah.”

Rio came over, scooped out some dressing with a small spoon, and tasted it. 

“Huh?” Rio tilted his head in confusion and went to taste it once more. Then he went over to Agi and held out the spoon to him.

Kase wondered if his taste buds had gotten worse. Agi tasted the dressing as Kase watched with worry.

“…Hmm? This is pretty good. It’s on the salty side, but it’s perfectly fine.”

“Let me see,” Chise said and tasted it next to Agi.

“Oh, it’s true,” she smiled. “Kase-kun, this is terrific. It’s completely normal compared to before.”

Kase was confused. Why was it fixed now? Did the zinc supplements that he had bought work?

Rio tugged on Kase’s shirt. “Hiro-kun, that’s great news. I’m glad you got better from your sickness.”

Agi and Chise also told him that it was great. Everyone smiled happily at him. All for a complete stranger like him— 

“…T-Thank you,” Kase mumbled quietly, looking down.

He didn’t know why he had thanked everyone. He didn’t know why, but he felt like the zinc supplements had nothing to do with the change to his sense of taste.

—–Translated by daydrop. Please read on the original site at daydrop.nowaki.net.

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