[Book of Eros] Chapter 73 - Lunch. (Patreon)

Leonardo sent a message to Angela asking if they’d eat lunch together like usual. To his surprise, Angela answered saying she’d like to be alone for a while. It was hard to tell what her reasons were through text, and he was very conflicted. Should he go check on her or give her the space she wanted? In the end, he felt he knew her enough that she really did want to be alone now, so he’d let her be and press for answers when they were home.

He then sent a message to Valerie (Mrs. Wisler made them all exchange contact info in case anything happened) asking her if she’d like to eat with them. Though her answer was the same as Angela’s, this one didn’t surprise him as much. Perhaps she’d made friends already? Again, he would ask back home. For now, he and Reiko wanted to pay attention to Kaede.

The three of them moved to the rooftop and sat at the usual spot. They opened their lunch boxes, and Leo gave his a critiquing look. It was a very basic lunch box consisting of a salad of potatoes, carrots, cucumber and corn with mayo; fried pumpkin and chicken; three rice balls; sausages; and some sliced apples for dessert. He couldn’t help it, but Lucia’s comments were still nagging at him in the back of his mind. What was the point of making food if the people you made it for didn’t like it? The lunch box he’d made today was basic. He wondered if Angela was really okay with something like this, if Valerie would enjoy the Japanese style lunch, and perhaps more importantly…

“No way!” He flinched when he heard Kaede suddenly exclaim. Using her chopsticks, she held one of the sausages and stared at it with a wide smile and sparkling eyes. “It looks like an octopus!” Yes, he’d cut the sausages into the shape of an octopus! The receipt said to do it and he didn’t question it until he was already cooking them! He didn’t stop to think if such a thing was too childish for high school students! “And the apples are shaped like rabbits!” Yes, he’d done that too! He just wanted to see if he was capable of doing it and ended up going with it! A sudden rush of embarrassment started to assault Leo, so he tried to laugh it off.

“Sorry… That’s kind of childish, isn’t it?”

His comment made Kaede flinch in return, face falling. “…Is it?”

Gah! She looked totally disappointed! He could read it clearly, but… What was the reason!? Was she disappointed in him, or…?

“What are you two talking about?” Reiko asked, puffing her cheeks. “Octopus sausages and rabbit apples are a staple of the Japanese lunch box!” she argued, aggressively pointing at them with her chopsticks. “In fact, one might put them at the level of the ramen and sushi in terms of world-wide recognition! They’re not childish, they are classics! In fact…” Using her chopsticks, she stole one of Leo’s sausages and ate it with exaggerated chewing and delight.

Leo blinked as he looked at his girlfriend. Was she… trying to lighten the mood? Whether he was right or not, her adamant defense of animal shaped food got Kaede to start laughing. It was a soft, quiet laugh, but it was genuine. She took one of the sausages as well and ate it, smiling as she did.

“…I think your cooking is really good, Contreras-san,” Kaede told him, not meeting his eyes but glancing down at the lunch box. “I don’t know what kind of food Wisler-san… err, Lucia-san has been eating, but I think this is better than what I ate back at my house.”

Shit, were his eyes about to get teary just from that? Man the fuck up, Leonardo.

Reiko snickered and looked at him teasingly. “And she says she doesn’t know how to talk to people.”

“I’m just saying what I think!” Kaede insisted. “Mother worries so much about nutritional content that we rarely eat anything tasty…”

Both Leo and Reiko were taken aback by that. “Seriously?” his girlfriend asked.

Kaede nodded slowly, then glanced from Reiko to Leo. “Does she… know?”

“Yep, she knows everything,” Leo answered with a smile. “You can trust her. I promise.”

Reiko blushed and shifted in place. Kaede took a deep breath to gather her courage and started talking. “You see, I… I didn’t have a normal school life. I finished high school at the age of 15, and I was one year away of finishing my undergraduate degree in mathematics before Wisler-san went to my house and convinced my father to let me come here.”

“U-Undergraduate degree!?” Reiko exclaimed in shock.

“Oh,” Leo nodded in understanding. “So that’s your Gift.”

“I’m practically an intellectual genius, and I hate it,” Kaede said, biting her lip in frustration. “It’d be better if I was stupid. Then I would’ve been able to make friends and have a normal life like everyone else. I was 15 when my classmates in high school were 18. I… didn’t know how to talk to them and I bet they didn’t even want to talk to me. Same thing in university. I was a child among adults. No one wants to hang out with a 16 year old kid. They have better things to do and can be with more interesting people.” Tears started forming on her eyes again, and she was fighting to keep them away. “That’s why… I thought I might be able to make friends here, but… I don’t know how, and I’m scared to screw things up! I bet I already did! People were talking to me and it made me happy, but I didn’t know how to answer and they all left! They think I’m boring!”

“Well, if it isn’t the most relatable thing I’ve heard you say so far,” Leo told her, grinning widely.

“Pretty much,” Reiko giggled. “Welcome to high school. It sucks. You’re gonna love it.”

“W-W-Wha…?” Kaede muttered, teary eyes blinking.

“We’ve said as much to each other,” Leo said, glancing at Reiko. “We’re scared shitless of screwing things up between us. Things are already weird enough with all this clan, Gift and Curse stuff, but interpersonal relationships are even more complicated than all that.”

“I’d be lying if I said I understood what you’ve gone through,” Reiko said, now with a small, sympathetic smile. “But I’m sure everyone goes through something similar. The reason so many people approached you today is because they also want to make new friends, I think. You’re not alone there. Actually… I was sort of hoping you and I could be friends,” she giggled shyly. “My parents are very strict on who I can hang out with, but apparently they don’t mind if it’s people from the Tensai Clan. So… yeah. Would you like to be friends?”

Kaede pressed her lips together as she nodded slowly, cheeks red from embarrassment and excitement. It was probably the most heartwarming scene Leo would witness in some time.