Chapter 3:
Memory Lane
Mizore
turned on the oven, and set a pot of water to boil on one of the burners. She
looked over at Ryu, who had a knife in his hand, and was slicing vegetables for
the ramen they were going to make.
“When
did you learn to cook, Ryu?” she asked, unwrapping the noodles. Ryu smiled, and
wiped his brow.
“My
mother taught me everything she could in the months before I left for the
Academy. She wanted to make sure I could eat properly on campus, and not have
to survive on instant meals and snacks,” he explained, setting the vegetables
aside, and washing off the knife. He then rummaged in one of the bags, looking
for the spices he had bought.
“I’d
like to meet her one day. I only met your father that one time when he came to
the village to speak with my mother,” Mizore said, reaching to open the pot on
the burner. But as her hand neared the lid, a bit of water hit her hand and she
screamed. “HOOOOOOT!!!” she cried, making Ryu jump. Her hair had turned to ice,
and she had accidentally wound up freezing the pot in a large chunk of ice. “Oh
no…” she groaned, noticing what she had done.
“It’s
alright, Mizore. I should’ve been taking care of the noodles. It’s my fault,”
Ryu said, gently taking Mizore’s hand which had a small burn on her palm. To
anyone else, it would not have been anything to scream about, but for a snow
woman, it was extremely painful. She looked down at the floor, upset that she
had just messed up.
“I’m
sorry, Ryu. I was just so excited to be with you again, I forgot about the
water. Now we have to start over,” she said. Ryu just smiled, and gave her a
tender hug.
“It’s
no big deal. We weren’t far along, so it’s no big loss. But this time, I’ll
handle the stove work, ok?” he said, trying to reassure her. Mizore nodded, and
smiled.
“Thank
you, Ryu,” she said, letting go of him, and stepping over to the counter to cut
the beef they had bought. Ryu broke the ice encasing the pot with his elbow,
and filled it with more water from the sink. He set it back on the burner, and
it quickly came to a boil. He added the noodles to the boiling water, and left
them to cook. Mizore was carefully cutting the beef with a butcher knife,
looking at Ryu out of the corner of her eye. As she watched him begin to stir
the noodles, she couldn’t help but smile as she remembered the month they spent
together as kids.
He
was so innocent and playful back then. And now… Now he’s on track to becoming
king one day. I just hope I can be by his side when that day comes, she thought, putting the cuts of meat on a plate and
handing it to Ryu. After coating a pan with cooking oil, and setting it on
another burner, Ryu dumped the meat into the pan, listening to them sizzle. He
looked at Mizore, and their eyes met. They shared a smile, and then Ryu spoke
up.
“So
what happened after I left, Mizore? How’d you wind up at the Academy?” he
asked, stirring the noodles. Mizore cleaned up the counter, and hopped up to
sit on it.
“Well,
I was really lonely without you around, Ryu. But I held onto the promise we
made to see each other again someday. And as for coming to Youkai Academy
“And
how is Tsurara? The last time I saw her, she gave me this weird smile. It was
like she knew something, and was trying to hide it from me,” he said, stirring
the ramen, and shifting the meat around.
“Don’t
know. Mom likes to keep her secrets. If something is going on, she hasn’t let
me in on it. There is something I do know, though. After you left, whenever I
would tell her I missed you, she’d always say that I would never have to worry
about being away from you ever again,” Mizore said, leaning her head back
against the cabinet above the counter.
“It
almost sounds like she assumes we’re getting married or something,” Ryu said
with a grin, chuckling at the thought. Mizore giggled and nudged him with her
foot.
“Well,
maybe one day her assumption will be true. I certainly wouldn’t mind marrying
my golden devil,” she said with a smile. Ryu laughed, and turned off the stove.
“One
step at a time, my little snow bunny. For now, let’s see if we can even live
together as teenagers,” he joked. Now that I think about it, my dad always
said roughly the same thing when I would talk about Mizore… I wonder… Did he…?
Ryu pondered, pouring ramen and some meat into a pair of bowls.
“Oh,
is it ready? It smells fantastic, Ryu,” Mizore said, hopping off the counter,
and sitting on the floor at the table. Ryu sat down opposite her, and put down
the bowls, along with 2 sets of chopsticks.
“It’s
still hot, so you may want to chill yours a bit, Mizore,” he cautioned. Mizore
nodded, and blew on her bowl of ramen, a visible chill in the air escaping her
lips. They ate in silence for the most part, but as Ryu went up for seconds,
Mizore broke the silence.
“You’ve
been awfully quiet, Ryu. Is something wrong?” she asked, wiping her mouth with
a napkin. Ryu shook his head, pouring more ramen into his bowl.
“Just
enjoying spending time with you, Mizore. After so much time apart, I wanted
nothing more than to be with you again,” he said, walking back to the table,
and sitting down. Mizore smiled, and leaned across the table, kissing his
cheek.
“Well,
now we have 4 whole years to be together. And during the winter breaks, we can
go back to my village. Mom would love to see you again after all this time,”
she said softly. Ryu smiled, and took her hand. They stared at other for a
minute or 2, and then kissed again. It was a tender kiss, soft and deep. It was
a kiss they had been saving for one another for a very long time.
After
finishing lunch, they cleaned up the stove and table, washing all the dishes.
By this time, the sun had begun to set, and they were getting ready to take a
bath. Lucky for them, the dorm rooms had private baths, rather than group baths
for the entire dorm. But as Mizore took off her sweatshirt, Ryu put his hand on
her shoulder.
“Mizore,
are you sure you’re ok with this? I mean, we only just got back together,” he
said seriously, trying to stay respectful of Mizore’s privacy. To his surprise,
she turned to face him, and dropped her shirt to the floor.
“I’ve
waited 8 years to see you again, Ryu. I love you, and since we’ll be living
together here at the Academy, I feel we should get used to seeing each other
nude sooner rather than later. It’ll be less awkward in the long run that way,”
she explained, putting her hand on Ryu’s cheek, and staring into his eyes. Ryu
met her gaze, and nodded.
“As long as you’re cool with it, Mizore,” he said with a faint smile,
making a small joke. Mizore giggled, and hugged him. She laid her head against
his chest, and she could feel his heart pounding. Good. He’s as nervous
about this as I am. But as long as it’s with him… I will gladly lay myself bare
for him, she thought, trying to ignore the rapid beating of her own heart.
But she knew, as she felt Ryu’s arms wrap around her in a loving embrace, that
she’d have no regrets when it happened.
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