Love's Recipe ~Choji~

Chapter 11

I took a deep breath and did a quick turn in front of my mirror to make sure everything looked good. Today is the day. Not only am I meeting Choji's mom, but we're also going on our first date. Geez, the day of first impressions much. Okay. I'm not working today, so I thought a knee length skirt would work just fine. A sky blue one at that. And my normal style of shirt in grey. My hair is pulled back with a headband and I look ready for anything.

My phone buzzed on the desk, and a quick look at the screen said Ino. It was a text message. 'Gambatte! Good luck in your romantic endeavors!' For some reason, it made me giggle. She gave me a lot of great advice. And I want to do her proud, but yet I can't help but be worried that this is all going to fall apart and I'm going to have to do the awkward head nod thing every time I see Choji at the restaurant! But then I slap my inner self and remember I can cook. If you want to keep, you got to feed. And I love to feed.

"ALSONO!" Ikuto yelled up the stairs. Oh you little-

"DON'T YELL IN THE HOUSE!" I called back, sticking my head out of my door.

"Choji's here." He said with a snicker.

Why does my face hurt? I shook my head a little to clear the fuzz and bounced down the stairs. "Little twerp." I mumbled, as I tapped my brother on the head. He only laughed as I turned the corner into the living room. Choji stood waiting by the open front door, looking around... like he didn't know what else to do. Oh good, I'm not the only one slightly freaking out. I took a deep breath and stepped out, smile brimming. "Hey. Ready?"

"Uhhh." He paused for a second like he lost all train of thought and shook his head. "Yeah! My mom is actually kind of excited to meet you. Apparently Ino does not count as bringing a girl home."

I snorted lightly at that jab. I feel like this experience will be very enjoyable. We chatted lightly as we walked through the woods, finally out onto the street, and past the corner where we would normally part ways. There have only been a few times where I actually went right at the corner to town. Usually it was to pick up something for my mom or run by the garden store if my brother was busy. I don't think I've gone this way to visit someone. Usually, people just come to my place.

One of the things people have seemed to pick up about my cooking habits, is when I'm cooking I focus and become very unbiased. It makes any advice I have to give very straightforward and honest. So usually some girls I know from town will stop by for some food and to ask for advice, usually about guys. What is it with girls and being super confusing when it comes to guys? Of course he doesn't know what he did, I don't even know what he did! And I'm a girl!

"Oh, just a... fair warning." Choji began. "My mom can be, well, intense."

"Intense?"

"She's nice, don't get me wrong. But she's... hmmm... serious?" That doesn't sound so bad. He opened the door and let me in first. It smells really nice in here. "Mom!" After taking off my shoes, I followed Choji into the main room. A rather plump woman with short cropped brown hair and narrow eyes sat in the room, going through a magazine.

She looked up and smiled gently. "Welcome back. There's a few left overs in the fridge if you want them."

"Ooh, kinkara!" He almost seemed to drool, but quickly snapped out of it. "In a minute. Mom, this is Alsono, the cook from the BBQ restraint. She's the one who wanted some cooking advice."

She stood, made her way over, and slowly looked me over. " Hi, I'm Alsono Ukine. It's been great having your son helping me the past week."

The look in her eyes is something I wouldn't quite call serious. It reflected more of a protective nature than anything. I met her gaze and only smiled. I have nothing to hide from this mothers eye. Soon, she smiled and relaxed. "Tedsa Akimichi. Thank you for taking care of him." Okay, so the intense part I now understand was more in the cooking aspect. As I sat with her, she had the serious nature of a Harvard professor. And it was terrifying!

But she had good notes, things I never would have thought of on my own. She even had health notes. Things I could replace if I met someone with a wheat allergy or dairy allergy and it would still taste the same. But even though she kind of scared me, I felt like we were getting along pretty well. And this someone... I kind of would like to get along with.

My eyes flicked over to Choji, who for the past hour had been sitting at the other end of the room, eating his kinkara and watching us talk about cooking. When we're done, I go on my first date with him. Already my stomach feels weird. Dang nervous butterfly thing!

Finally, Tedsa started to put away her cooking notes. "That's all I have for you."

"That's amazing! Thank you so much for this."

She smiled happily at me. "Of course. Make sure you make good use of that information."

"I will!" I said goodbye and Choji walked me out of the house and down the road. What does he have planned for us?