[Book of Eros] Chapter 33 - Paying Angela back. (Patreon)

Leo, Angela and Reiko walked together until they had to part ways for the former two to go shopping. The market they went to was a long building with a single wide corridor. To both sides were stalls selling different products, from vegetables and fruits to canned goods and candy. The place saw a lot of activity at this time of day, with students returning home and passing by to buy a snack or people coming to get ingredients for dinner, just like Leo was doing now.

He had been here before a few times by now, since even if the pantry was full when he arrived and he did his best to use everything in it, they still ran out of meat and fish and some of the fruits and vegetables had already gone bad. Mrs. Wisler had simply bought too much. He had a good idea of what was left in the house, and he particularly remembered he wanted to do something with the potatoes that were left, so minced beef, buns and cheese were the only thing he needed. They went up to the butcher’s stall and Leo confidently greeted the man in Japanese. “Hello, Yamamoto-san.”

“Leonardo-san! Welcome! Welcome!” said the old man with an amicable smile. Leo allowed himself a bit of pride. It had only been a month since he arrived in Japan, but he could at least understand simple phrases now and buy what he needed. “What will it be?”

“600 grams of minced beef, please.”

“Right-o!” the butcher answered with the energy of someone who wasn’t tired of his job and got right to work.

“You’re fitting right in with the locals, aren’t you?” Angela said with light amusement.

“Give me two months and I’ll have the language down to the kanji.”

When Leo paid for the meat and received both the product and the change, he stared down at the coins in his hand as he walked to another stall with Angela. The money he used to pay was, of course, provided by Mrs. Wisler. She gave him and Angela a bit of a monthly allowance for daily expenses and she also gave him the money to buy groceries since he was in charge of cooking now. But the more he let her do it, the more uncomfortable it made him.

“I need to get a job,” he muttered.

“Ah? Why?” Angela asked with a raised eyebrow. “You need more money? What for?”

“I don’t need more,” he shook his head, “but I’ve been by myself for long enough that being this inactive makes me uneasy.”

“School’s not enough for you?”

“I used to juggle three jobs like it was nothing,” he grinned proudly. “One part-time job on top of school should be fine.”

They bought the bread and cheese and went back home. They got changed into comfortable clothes and Leo went back to the kitchen. He got the potatoes and started peeling them while Angela turned on the TV and put on the episode of Dragon Ball they’d left on.

“I still can’t get used to Goku’s voice…” Angela sighed.

Leo took his time working. It was still a bit early for dinner, but he’d read a trick to frying potatoes and wanted to try it out. After he was done peeling them, he turned to Angela. “Hey, thin or thick?”

She turned to him with a puzzled, raised eyebrow. In response, he raised a peeled potato, which made the blonde start laughing. “Oh. Cut them thick, please!”

Leo nodded and started cutting, getting about 15 fries per potato. He then started the oil on the biggest pan he could find and par-fried them. He got them out into a paper-towel covered bowl and then put them in the freezer. He sat to watch TV with Angela for a single full episode and went back to the kitchen to work on the burgers. “Tell me now,” he said to Angela. “Any issues with tomato, lettuce and red onion?”

“None!” she said, grinning. She seemed too excited for a simple burger.

Leo thinly sliced the tomatoes and onions and chopped the lettuce to shreds. Then got the minced beef and pressed them into three 200 gram patties before putting them to chill in the fridge. He got the fries out and put them in the oil until they were crisp brown, putting them back into a bowl when they were done and salting them. He then got the patties out of the fridge and seasoned them with salt and pepper. Before cooking them, however, he melted butter in a different pan and toasted the bun on them, turning the white interior into a beautiful golden toast.

When Angela heard the sizzling sound of the patties hitting the pan, she got up from her seat and got to work on setting the table, much to Leo’s surprise. She usually never did it unless he asked. She tried stealing one of the fries, but he swatted her hand away.

“What? Let me have one!” she pouted.

“No. Wait for dinner like a grown woman.”

She growled in annoyance, and he was sure that would be pent up aggression she’d unleash on him later, but kitchen rules were kitchen rules. Leo finished cooking the patties by melting cheese on top of them and then served the plates, neatly arranging the hamburgers with French fries on the side. It looked pretty appetizing, if he could say so himself.

“Mayo? Ketchup?” he asked Angela.

“Can you make special sauce?”

“As in mixing both?” he asked for confirmation, to which she nodded. “Okay.”

He mixed ketchup and mayo on a small bowl for everyone to add as much as they wanted and Angela took the plates to the table while Leo washed his hands from all the ingredients. Mrs. Wisler came in and was surprised at the choice of dinner.

“What’s this?” she asked, chuckling.

“Me paying a debt,” Leonardo said.

“Part of a debt,” Angela corrected.

They sat to eat, and Leo saw how Angela took her sweet time doing so. Seeing her savoring the food with that level of delight brought a smile to his face. He decided to enjoy his meal as much as he could as well, savoring every bite. Because this might just be his last meal, period.

As they ate, Mrs. Wisler, who was having her meal with knife and fork, turned to them to give them some news. “I should tell you. In a couple of days I’ll be leaving Japan for a few weeks, perhaps a full month, even.”

“Ah? Why?” Angela asked.

“Friends of mine have found another clan member,” she told them, procuring a picture from her purse, and showing it to them. Extremely curious, both Leo an Angela leaned in to look.

It was a young-looking woman with light skin and a few freckles on her face. She had short black hair that covered her ears, but most of it was dyed dark red in a way that seemed tasteful and done by a professional. Her eyes were of a clear brown color. The picture only showed her face, but she was very cute, Leo had to admit.

“Her name is Valerie Dexter. She’s Spaniard, living in Madrid with her parents. I’m going there to talk to them and see if they approve of the idea of Ms. Valerie coming to live with us.”

“Ah.” Both Leo and Angela exclaimed in unison, understanding. But Leo’s heart also skipped a beat. If she was another clan member, another cursed gifted, then she… He closed his eyes and went back to his food, mostly because he felt ashamed of his own thoughts and didn’t want to look at Angela and Mrs. Wisler in the eyes.

“That’ll leave you two in charge of the house, but you’ve proven quite independent already,” the old lady chuckled. “Just don’t go throwing parties here, okay?”

After sharing a look, Leo understood that, like him, Angela wasn’t one for parties.