[Book of Eros] Chapter 9 & Chapter 10. (Patreon)

Chapter 9: Housework.

It was the same thing during lunch, with Leonardo and Angela trying very noticeably to not look at each other. She was more casual about it, since she was focusing only on eating her food, but Leonardo could feel his eyes wanting to turn towards her, his mind recalling the intense and vivid dream.

Mrs. Wisler tried to alleviate some of the awkwardness by telling them of spots in town they should become familiar with over the course of the week. She encouraged them to explore and get a feel for the small town. She assured them that a week was more than enough.

Leonardo would follow her advice, because he really needed the distraction. Normally, he would be working all day, not allowing naughty thoughts to cloud his mind. But now he had nothing to do but study the language.

Fortunately for him, there were several things he could do to distract himself. For starters, there was the food. Last night, Mrs. Wisler had ordered sushi, and that had been great. Angela had loved it and, though Leonardo wasn’t used to some flavors, he’d found them interesting. However, breakfast the next day had been nothing but white rice with an egg on top, which was weird because he’d seen the pantry, and it was full of food. And then lunch was some convenience store pre-packaged stuff. Angela ate without complains, and though Leonardo did so too, it bothered him. Then, the second thing he would use to distract himself was the house. He had cleaned his own room, and Angela said she'd done the same with hers, but the rest of the house was still a mess. There was dust in every room that wasn’t used, and it made Leonardo uncomfortable.

When lunch ended, Angela quickly excused herself and left the house to walk around town, and Mrs. Wisler said she had to take care of some things and also left. On his part, however, Leonardo walked into the pantry with a determined step and grabbed all the cleaning utensils he’d need and got to work.

He cleaned every hallway, every room, empty or not (save for Mrs. Wisler and Angela’s bedrooms), cleaned the dining room, the kitchen and all bathrooms. It took him from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Five hours of intense, efficient work, and he didn’t even break a sweat. It might have been a bigger building, but he was used to doing this kind of cleaning. It was relaxing and kept him occupied.

He was about to get to work on his second project, when Mrs. Wisler came back home with more convenience store food. He had to suppress a groan.

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Wisler gasped, seeing how spotless everything was. The wooden table gave off a faint shine, just like the hallway floors, the kitchen had been cleaned thoroughly of even the last grain of rice forgotten on the floor and the dining room itself had been swept even behind every piece of furniture. “Did you do all this, Mr. Leonardo?”

“…Had nothing else to do today,” he said with a small, shy smile.

When Angela entered the dining room, she didn’t comment on the cleaning, but her eyes did wonder around the room. Leonardo wanted to believe she was impressed, but he wasn’t holding his breath.

They sat around the table again and ate in silence, Leonardo unable to not think of the food again. It wasn’t like it was bad, but it wasn’t particularly good, either. He didn’t dare ask, but it was starting to become clear.

Mrs. Wisler had money, but she couldn’t cook. Did she really subsist on food like this? If this was all they ever ate, he wouldn’t be able to take it. Again, he ate without complaints, but got to work again early the next morning.

He got up at 5:30 am, as usual now that he didn’t have to work late. He took a shower, got dressed and checked the pantry. It was full with rice packages, noodles, and canned everything, even spam meat. Yet they never used any this? It was such a fucking waste! He was starting to get annoyed.

He took the time to watch a video on his phone and grabbed what he needed from the pantry and the fridge. It had everything he needed, like Mrs. Wisler bought everything in preparation for their arrival and then remembered she didn’t know how to cook.

He put rice in the rice cooker before he got to work on the main stuff.

He made a seasoning with soy sauce, sugar, water and other stuff he’d never used in cooking, like sake and something called bonito, and added it to a mix of four beaten eggs. He left water boiling in a pot with kelp and bonito flakes before taking those out when the water boiled. He cut cabbage and carrots and added them to the soup. As that was getting ready, he heated a pan and put the mix of eggs and seasoning into it, rolling it with a spatula as it got firm. He was making tamagoyaki, which was basically a rolled up omelet. To the soup he had in the heat he added miso paste and stirred until it dissolved completely. He gave it a try, and noticed it was a little salty. He’d add less next time. He threw some sausages into the now free pan and cut the omelet into three equal pieces.

It was his first time putting so much effort into breakfast, so it took him about an hour. By the time he had finished, he could hear the steps of his two housemates. Mrs. Wisler was probably just waking up, while he heard footsteps coming from the left wing which were definitely Angela’s.

He served the rice into bowls and did the same with the miso soup. He cut up the sausages and put them in plates along with the omelet. He was putting everything on the table when Angela came in.

She arched an eyebrow at him when she saw breakfast ready.

“Did you make this?” she asked.

“It was here when I woke up,” he answered with a grin.

“Very funny,” she grinned back. “Why though?”

“I’m tired of convenience store meals, and there’s a ton of food in the pantry that’s going to waste.”

“But why a Japanese breakfast?”

He shrugged. “When in Rome…”

As Angela sat down and looked at the table full of food with an excited smile, Leonardo wanted to believe, again, that he’d managed to impress her. It wasn’t why he was doing it, but… yeah. Mrs. Wisler came in not long after, and her eyes beamed at the food on the table.

“Mr. Leonardo! How did you do this?” she asked, smiling ear to ear.

“I have experience in the kitchen,” he said. “I just watched a video to see what people eat here.”

“That’s right,” she said. “You lived alone. You cooked for yourself, then?”

Leonardo nodded. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to take care of lunch and dinner as well.”

“Well, aren’t you proactive,” Angela said. She tried the soup with a spoon, and blinked blankly for a moment. She then tried the omelet and did the same. She grinned. “Well, shit. You’re actually a good cook.”

“No objections, then?”

“I’m not a picky eater,” Angela said. “But I much prefer the good stuff. You won’t hear me complaining.”

“No objections, dear,” Mrs. Wisler agreed with a warm smile after tasting the soup.

The three of them ate together the breakfast Leonardo so thoroughly prepared. He did it for himself, but it was good to see how much they enjoyed it. Angela even asked for seconds, so he gave her what was little soup and rice was left.

***

Chapter 10: First day of school.

April 3rd – Monday.

First day of school.

Leonardo walked out of the Tensai Residence, wearing his new school uniform. He’d seen these in TV shows he watched as a kid, but never thought he’d ever wear one. It was what they called a gakuran, just a set of grey pants and a jacket with a white shirt underneath. He wore the jacket open just because he still found it too warm around here.

He looked back to the gate and saw Angela coming out. It took all his strength to appear as casual as he could while still looking at her. He couldn’t avert his eyes. She was also dressed in a school uniform. It was a black blazer and a matching plated skirt. The first two buttons of her white shirt were undone because the poor fabric just couldn’t contain her glory otherwise and her long smooth legs were bare. A loosely tied red bow at her collar finished the outfit, and seriously, it was a dangerous attire that he feared would give him even more haunting dreams.

“I didn’t know you were also going to school,” Leonardo said, once more using the topic of conversation to take his mind off the naughty thoughts. Besides, he’d learned that Angela would be his schoolmate just that morning. It went to show how much they had spoken during the week.

The two of them started walking down the road and into town. It was 7:20 am and school started at 8:00 am. Mrs. Wisler said it shouldn’t take them more than 20 minutes to get there walking, so they had plenty of time.

“I got held back a year,” she said, shrugging like it was nothing. “You’re 19, just like me, aren’t you? Why are you going?”

“I had to drop out. Had to focus on work,” he admitted.

Angela looked at him with a frown. Was she worried? He didn’t want to bother her with his sob story, so he quickly changed the topic. “Did you remember your lunch?”

“Yeah, I packed it,” she nodded, moving her right shoulder from which her school bag hung. “Thanks for making it, by the way.” The smile he gave him was genuinely grateful, even a little enthusiastic. Did she really enjoy his food that much?

He allowed himself a proud smile. “It’s nothing. I’ll make it so long as you like it.”

“I’ll hold you to that.”

They walked together in silence, unable to find anything to talk about. No, that was wrong. There were a lot of things Leonardo wanted to ask, and he could bet Angela had questions of her own. But things were awkward between them from day one, and they had only gotten worse. They slept at opposite ends of the same house and only saw each other during meals. They didn’t speak about their personal lives, if they spoke at all. Leonardo wanted to grow closer to her, admittedly because of how hot she was, but more importantly, because they shared the same burden, and she was the only person besides Mrs. Wisler who he could easily talk to without the language barrier getting in the way.

He glanced at her, and for a single second caught her looking at him with pursed lips, but she quickly turned her head away. It wasn’t the first time he saw that happen, and he couldn’t help but get his hopes up a bit every time it did. Perhaps she also…

Then he remembered. Mrs. Wisler had said that, now that the Book of Eros was attuned to him, it would use his sexual frustration to create a sort of subtle aphrodisiac scent. If that was true, then he must have been reeking of it. Was that why she was looking at him like that?

He decided it was best to ignore it. It wouldn’t do him any good to think that, even if it was true. There was nothing he could do about it. The two just kept walking silently.

The school was near the edge of town, so it was closer to their house than the city center. The old, four story concrete building had probably seen better days. Regardless, it looked in good enough condition. It had plenty of windows to let the light into the classrooms and there was a metal gate before it, with tall walls surrounding it.

This was Kikai High School.

“Well, good luck to us,” Angela sighed. “Fuck, this feels weird.”

“Tell me about it,” Leonardo agreed. “We’re not gonna blend in, are we?”

They both went to the faculty office on the first floor and introduced themselves to the teachers. A male teacher greeted them and spoke in serviceable English with a thick accent.

“We know about your circumstances,” he said, “but even if you come from another country, you’ll need to adapt to school life here. I’m the English teacher, and I’m the only teacher who speaks it in this school. Learn Japanese quickly.”

“Yes, sir,” Leonardo said while Angela just nodded.

“Contreras, you’re in class 3-1. Straight, you’re in 3-2.”

Separate classes. In a way it was disappointing, but perhaps it was for the best.

When it was finally time for class, Leonardo followed the history teacher, who was also his homeroom teacher, to the classroom on the third floor. The moment he entered, the eyes of the other 19 students were upon him. They looked curious, and Leonardo could hear a few excited whispers, though he couldn’t understand them. The teacher kept quiet and looked at him, and just then did Leonardo realize he was giving him room to introduce himself.

“Hello. A pleasure to meet you,” he said in Japanese, as he’d practiced. He bowed politely. “My name is Leonardo Contreras. My Japanese is limited. Please be patient with me.”

The teacher looked around the classroom and pointed to a spot at the back of the room, right next to the window, where two girls were sitting and said something to them. One of them whined, but took her things and moved to a free seat at the front of the classroom. Again, the teacher pointed his finger to the now free seat and said, “Sit”.

Vaguely feeling like a dog who’d been given a command, Leonardo went and sat where he was told, with the window to his left, giving him a view of the dirt football field.

Both the chairs and individual desks in the classroom were made of wood with metal frames and looked sturdy enough. But that wasn’t what was important. What was important was the girl immediately to his right.

She looked at him with a polite, beautiful smile. Her face was roundish, leaning more towards ‘cute’ than ‘hot’ like Angela. She had long, straight, light caramel colored hair tied in a low pony tail that hung over her shoulder. She, of course, wore the same uniform as Angela, but while this girl’s chest was considerably large and very noticeable, it couldn’t hope to reach the same size as Angela’s. Her eyes were almost the same color of her hair, just even clearer. Looking at her carefully, she fit the words ‘cute and sexy’ more than ‘stunningly hot’.

“Hello,” she said, surprising Leonardo.

“H-Hello?” he said tentatively.

“The teacher sat you next to me because I’m the most fluent in English in the school,” she said, smiling proudly. “If you have any questions, just ask me, okay? I’m Reiko Maeda. Nice to meet you.”

She really did speak fluently, and her accent was more natural and calm than even the English teacher’s. Relief flooded Leonardo’s chest, knowing that there was someone in the school who could help him out.

She seemed really nice. She was extremely cute. Had a nice rack. Could speak English.

…

He remembered the conditions of the Book of Eros again. He obviously couldn’t try anything with Angela, so… perhaps this girl should be the first one he went for? The tightness in his chest certainly proved he wanted to, and thinking of the plan reminded him that he needed to.