Kitchen Encounter (Tsukasa Eishi x OC)

Chapter 3: Ghost

"Do you have french blood, senpai?" I asked after noticing that the way he was filleting the salmon was a french style.

"Huh? No. Why do you ask?" He questioned, confused.

"Well, you were filleting that salmon in a french style so I thought you might have french blood."

His eyes glistened with amazement. "You noticed that so quickly. That's amazing. How did you?"

"I know how to do some french style cooking too. I just don't specialize in it. I'm guessing you are though with how precise and graceful your movements are while using it."

He continued cooking while talking to me. "Well I am best in french cuisine. How about you?"

"Me?" I pointed at myself. "I think I'm pretty good in Italian, fushion, and baking."

"Ohh? That's a lot! But, given you are Italian it makes sense you specalize in its cuisine. You are Italian, right? Your brother is too. I know him. Anyways, how about the fushion and baking? Where did that come from?"

"Yes, I'm Italian and to answer your second question I enjoy fushion cuisine since I love experimenting with my dishes while I was growing up. So I decided to learn more about it. While, I love baking because I love designing. Well, not just baking. Anything that's got to do with art," I explained.

"That's quite sentimental. I just studied french cuisine because it was more fitting for me." He chuckled.

After that talk, we stayed silent. Oddly enough, the silence wasn't overbearing. It was comfortable. He continued cooking while I continued watching him.

"Senpai?" I started the conversation again. "You're a perfectionist, aren’t you? I mean I don't mean to guess or whatever. But based on my observations, you seem to be."

"Seriously? You noticed that too?" He asked, baffled with how observant I am.

"So you are?"

"Yes. Unfortunately, I can't even work with most people in cooking since it disturbs me that they're not doing it properly or they might've messed something up." An anime sweat appeared in my forehead after he said those words.

"Ohh. That's too bad. But you know, it's normal to make a mistake, senpai. We're all humans. We make mistakes every once in awhile. The most important thing is that we learn from them."

"I guess." He didn't seem to agree with me but he didn't fight with me. He continued cooking until he was finally done and served me a plate of greek salad with oregano-roasted salmon as well as himself.

What a surprise. I thought he'd serve me a french dish. I guess I didn't observe enough.

"Thank you," I said to him. I said my thanks for the food before digging in and analyzing the dish from its looks to its taste.

He looked at me as if expecting me to say that his dish is delicious, far from something a normal student can cook. Who is he?

I wanted to give him an honest judgment so I did. I wiped my lips with the nearby wipes before speaking. "Visually, the dish looks pleasing. It was plated very nicely and don't get me even started with the smell. It smells so good and it's like it's out of this world, which it is!" I smiled.

He returned back my smile but something in his eyes was different from when he just entered. They weren't nervous anymore. In fact, they look confident and arrogant.

"But," that's when his face started to twist. "There's something missing."

"W-what?" The arrogance from his eyes vanished without a trace and he held on the counter for his dear life.

"Don't get me wrong, senpai. It's delicious. But, it lacks something. Something which I think is very important but I don't know what. You see my dad is also a chef. He had me taste and eat a bunch of his dishes. They always tasted so good and fulfilling. Honestly, it feels like I was able to do anything when I tasted his dish. The same goes for when I tasted this famous Italian chef's food. Gotōda Donato I think was his name. I'm not trying to compare you to them or anything. I just think that all chefs should have that something in their dishes."

I stood up and put my plate beside. "So here's my verdict. It doesn't mean that something tastes delicious that it's fulfilling. For a normal person, it should be. But for a chef, it's a disgrace. So forgive me for saying this senpai but..." I looked him in the eye to make sure he knows I'm not lying.

"Your food is boring." I sighed. "But hey, my food's boring too. Why am I even saying these things to you? All that matters is your food is edible and servable to your customers."

I was rambling to him trying to apologize for going out of hand and being too honest when he grabbed my shoulders and looked me in the eyes with panic.

"What do you mean there's something missing in my dish? Was it the oregano? The sauce? Did I add less salt or pepper? What?" His eyes couldn't contain its selves. "My food boring? You're kidding, right?"

I felt awkward with his many questions but decided to still answer.

"It's not the presentation nor is it the flavor or the smell of the dish."

"Then what?!"

I removed his hands from my shoulder. "That's the problem, I don't know. I'm not a full-fleged chef. I don't have much passion for cooking so each time I cook, my food ends up the same way as yours does. Boring. The only difference is that mine's much worst."

I put a hand on his shoulder. "So, I don't really have much to say. I'm sure you'll figure it out. I'm sorry if I offended you, senpai. I was only trying to be honest."

I smiled before bidding him my goodbye. "I have to go, Tsukasa-senpai. Thank you for the food again. Once again, it was nice to meet you."

Then I left a stunned chef in a kitchen while I walked towards my next destination. Poor Tsukasa-senpai. I'm sorry for going too far.

...

"I have to go, Tsukasa-senpai. Thank you for the food again. Once again, it was nice to meet you."

I wanted to reply to her that it was nice meeting her too but I was frozen.

Something is missing in my dish? My food is boring? I've never heard of that before. It's absurd!

I couldn't even get the fact out that she didn't say she enjoyed my food before leaving like most of the people who ate my food did. When she told me that she found my food boring, her eyes told me that she wasn't lying. What the heck just happened?

"Tsukasa! I'm back! How'd practice go?" I heard a familiar girl's voice.

"Tsukasa? Tsukasa? Earth to Tsukasa? Tsukasa!" she shouted my name loudly the last time that became my wake up call.

"You okay? You look like you've seen a ghost," Rindou said, concerned with my behavior.

"I...I think I have seen a ghost, Rindou..."