[Book of Eros] Chapter 19 & Chapter 20. (Patreon)

Chapter 19: Studying.

Leonardo went back to the dining room wearing a black T-shirt and grey pants. An outfit meant for nothing else but comfort. When he opened the sliding screen, he saw Mrs. Wisler and Reiko sitting across each other at the table. The old lady had a wry smile on her face, while the young woman’s face was red to her ears.

…What were they talking about?

“Reiko-san, are you feeling alright?” he asked.

Reiko flinched. She turned her head to face him, but her face got even redder, something Leonardo didn’t think was possible.

“I’m fine! I’m fine!” she assured, trying to laugh it off.

“You are going to study, right?” Mrs. Wisler asked. “I’ll bring you some refreshments and get out of your way, then.” She stood up and went to the kitchen, opening the fridge to get a bottle of iced tea.

“Aaah, it feels so good to be out of that uniform!” Angela sighed as she entered the room and stretched her arms up. And when Leonardo turned to look at her, he nearly choked on air.

She was wearing a yellow tank top with a V-neck that let him see some of her massive cleavage and black denim shorts that only reached mid-thigh, revealing her long, toned legs. Leonardo almost had a heart attack. The outfit was too revealing, and she looked way too hot in it.

“How come it’s only spring and it’s so hot in this island?” Angela asked, taking a seat at the table with her legs crossed.

“Spring and summer are always hot,” Mrs. Wisler explained. “While fall and winter are always cold. Both are good because it means you can enjoy the beaches in the heat and the hot springs in the cold.”

“There’s a hot spring in this town?” Angela asked, eyes widening with interest.

“Further up the mountain, yes,” Mrs. Wisler said. “There’s a traditional ryokan.”

Leonardo shook his head and forced himself to look away from Angela. He sat at the table and caught Reiko looking at him with a wrinkled brow, narrowed eyes and a slightly puffed cheek.

“You’re right,” she said, nodding to herself with resolute eyes. “It really gets hot here in spring.”

She then unbuttoned her blazer and took it off, laying it neatly at her side. Leonardo could now see her curves better since her white shirt was a tight fit. She was slender, yet with a nice bust-waist-hips ratio. He couldn’t help himself from comparing the chest sizes of her and Angela, and while it was obvious to anyone Angela won in that department, Reiko’s overall smaller frame made hers look big as well. But Reiko wasn’t over. She loosened the red ribbon on her neck and undid the first button of her shirt. Not enough to reveal any cleavage, but enough to tease that one more button would show some.

Leonardo only noticed his jaw slowly falling when his mouth started getting dry. Mrs. Wisler eyed him teasingly as she put a glass of iced tea in front of him, and he shot her a harmless glare. He didn't think it was funny.

“I’ll let you be, then. Study hard,” Mrs. Wisler said before leaving the room.

“Oh yeah, what are you two even doing today?” Angela asked, just now wondering why Reiko had come here.

“She’s here to help me write my history report for Friday,” Leonardo said, deciding to use school work to distract himself. “Don’t you have to write the same report?” he asked her.

“Well, yeah, but I can’t write in Japanese and the teacher insisted I do it like that,” Angela shrugged. “I’m just not gonna hand it in.”

“You can’t do that!” Reiko suddenly said, in a voice louder than she probably intended. “You have to hand it in! Mid-terms and finals may be more important, but assignments like these are still cumulative credit. You’ll be in trouble if you don’t do them.”

Angela blinked, and Leonardo mirrored her.

“But I can’t write it…” Angela repeated, sounding meeker than Leonardo had ever heard her.

“I’ll help you! Go get your book!” Reiko ordered, pointing a finger to the door.

Silently and without a single hint of protest, Angela got up and went back to her room to get her backpack. There was a moment of silence between Leonardo and Reiko before he couldn’t hold it anymore and burst out laughing.

“W-W-What?” she asked, face red.

“Hard to believe that was the same girl who beat up three guys like it was nothing,” he smirked. “I bow to your superiority, Reiko-san.”

“Ah? N-No! I was just… I… I think school is important! I don’t want her to fail, so… I just want to help!” Reiko stammered as she kept trying to explain her sudden outburst.

“I know,” Leonardo said, smiling. “I bet it means a lot to Angela. And I know it means a lot to me, so thanks.” Seeing her so flustered was amusing, especially because of how cute she looked.

Angela came back, and the three of them started working on the history report. Angela had more troubles writing because she hadn’t practiced much, but Leonardo could feel his own practice paying off.

They worked for about two hours before Leonardo finished his assignment. It was already 6:30 pm. Reiko was still helping a struggling Angela, but the blonde girl still worked without complaining and following Reiko’s instructions. If he looked at the scene from outside, the two looked like a normal pair of friends, and that made him smile.

Mrs. Wisler came into the room again, which made Leonardo remember he had to start working on dinner, so he stood up.

“Oh. You’re going to start cooking, Leonardo?” Mrs. Wisler asked, and it seemed both Reiko and Angela’s ears picked that up because they both quickly lifted their heads to watch him.

“Yep,” he nodded and walked into the kitchen.

“Reiko-chan will be joining us, right?” the old lady asked.

“Eh? Me?” Reiko asked, pointing a finger at herself. “Oh! P-Please, don’t worry! I couldn’t intrude more than I already have.”

“So, what? You come over to our house, help us with schoolwork and we let you leave hungry?” Leonardo asked as he gathered the pots and pans he’d need. “Hardly seems hospitable of us.” He shot her a quick, easy smile.

“Yeah, stay for dinner,” Angela insisted with a grunt. “Or I’m gonna feel guilty for making you stay this late.”

“You’re not the one cooking, though,” Leonardo told her.

“Shut up. You’re distracting me,” Angela said and went back to working on her report.

“B-But… I don’t know if my family will let me,” Reiko said with a sad smile.

“Give them a call, dear,” Mrs. Wilson said. “I’ll talk to them.”

Reiko did as told, and when she handed her phone to Mrs. Wisler, her parents were convinced. Especially under the assurance that Leonardo would walk her home afterwards.

“I’d say it would be safer if I walked her home,” Angela said, “But considering that what happened today was because of me, I think I’ll leave it to the man of the house.”

“What happened today?” Mrs. Wisler asked.

As Angela started recounting the events of the afternoon, Reiko approached the kitchen, standing behind the counter and looking at Leonardo work.

***

Chapter 20: Hanging out.

“What are you making?” Reiko asked as he got potatoes and carrots in two different bowls.

“Curry and rice,” he told her. “Read a recipe the other day and saw how easy it was. It’s just a stew with a special sauce.”

He saw Reiko’s eyes lit up at the mention of curry.

“I take it you like it?” he asked, chuckling.

“It’s my favorite,” she admitted with a cute giggle.

Leonardo got to work, peeling potatoes and carrots, chopping them and slicing the onions while the rice was cooking.

“You make it look so easy,” she said. “It takes me ten minutes to chop an onion and I end up in tears. You did it in less than a minute.”

“It’s all practice,” he told her. “I learned to cook with my dad. He taught me since I was 14, and then spent the last two years cooking for myself. You get used to it.”

“So… your family…”

“Both of my parents passed away long ago,” he told her in a casual tone so as not to make her feel guilty for asking. “That’s half the reason I’m here in Japan,” he chuckled. “I had nowhere more important to be.”

Reiko kept looking at him work, quietly and without saying a word. It didn’t bother him, so he let her be.

He put pieces of beef in the pot until they browned, then removed them and replaced them with the onions, cooking them until they caramelized. He then added the chopped carrots and potatoes, let them cook together for a few minutes before he put the meat back in. He poured in the boiling water, skimming the fat that came up to the surface, and then let it simmer for a while.

“It smells really nice,” she told him.

“Doesn’t it?” he agreed.

Then, he added the blocs of curry sauce, stirring lightly as they melted and mixed with the stew. It was his first time making curry, so he skipped the step where one would add extra ingredients like ketchup, soy sauce, apples or whatever.

“Hope you don’t mind some basic curry, but I don’t want to risk adding weird stuff before I get a good idea of how this tastes.”

Reiko shook her head fervently. “Not at all!”

She and Angela got their books and notebooks out of the table while Mrs. Wisler helped him serve the plates. The four sat down, gave the customary thanks for the food and started eating.

“Angela, can you put on the news, please?” Mrs. Wisler asked.

“Sure,” Angela grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, she changed a couple of channels before she stopped in one that caught her attention and that made Leonardo’s ears perk up immediately. He heard the intro to an animated show he knew well. It was a rerun of Dragon Ball Z. A nostalgic smile crept up to Leonardo’s lips and he started singing without realizing it.

“El cielo resplandece a mi alrededor. Al volar, destellos brillan en las nubes sin fin…” He sang along the music, perfectly remembering the lyrics to Cha-La Head-Cha-La. He caught himself mid-singing when he saw the three women at the table looking at him with wide grins as they listened to him. Embarrassed, he stopped and went back to eating silently, his cheeks heating up.

“Aww, why’d you stop?” Angela asked teasingly. “Got embarrassed?”

“Yep,” he answered without looking at her.

“What language were you singing in?” Reiko asked, still smiling.

“That was Spanish, dear,” Mrs. Wisler answered for him. “Remember, Leonardo is from Chile. They speak Spanish there.”

“Now that I think of it, this is the first time I hear you speak Spanish…” Angela noted.

“Not really a reason to do it,” Leonardo shrugged.

Angela nodded and turned back to the TV. “But man, that’s different. We didn’t have this intro in America.”

“Wait, so…” Reiko blinked, looking from Leonardo to Angela. “Y-You both like Dragon Ball?”

“Watched it a lot as a kid,” Leonardo said. “They used to run it several times for many years. There’s probably not a guy my age or older in South America who doesn’t know what Dragon Ball is, at least.”

“I also watched it as a kid,” Angela said, smirking teasingly. “Now, admit it. I know both of you tried to throw a Kamehameha at some point, didn’t you?”

“Guh.” Both he and Reiko winced at the question, causing Angela to laugh.

“Relax! So did I!” the blonde said after calming down.

Leonardo sighed. “Now that I think about it, watching a show I know, but in Japanese would be good practice,” he said, looking at the TV. “Sucks I have to wait for them to run it, though.”

“A-Actually!” Reiko said, looking embarrassed. “I happen to have… the complete series in Blu-ray. I can… lend it to you if you want.”

“Seriously?” Leonardo smirked. “That’d be awesome.”

“I’d be up to watching it again,” Angela nodded. “I guess I really do need to learn the language.”

Eventually, Angela changed the channel to one running the news like Mrs. Wisler had asked her and they continued eating dinner. Leonardo watched Reiko and Angela eat his food with gusto, and though it was a very basic dish, he was genuinely glad they enjoyed it.

They finished eating, and after some rest to get the food down, Reiko bowed to Angela and Mrs. Wisler to thank them for having her over and said goodbye. It was around 8:00 pm when she and Leonardo walked out of the house. It was already dark, but the road lights illuminated the area well, even this far away from downtown.

“Shall we go, then?” he asked her.

“Y-Yes!” she answered quickly.

He didn’t need a special talent to know Reiko was nervous. Rather, more nervous than during dinner. At least there she spoke and laughed. Now she seemed tense and was quiet as they walked, looking down at the ground.