Love's Recipe ~Choji~

Chapter 16

On my way home, I had to stop to answer a call from Ino. Shikamaru was able to find her, but still hadn't found Choji. "My parents don't care if I take a few days off for a trip. It'll be nice to get away, I'm so damn bored." She went on for a bit.

"Well, I was thinking, Tanopo beach is only an hour away, so even if you guys get called out for a magic mission, it wouldn't be a pain to get back for it."

"Yeah, no, it sounds like a great idea." My house came into view as I continued to chat with Ino. It's nice to have a girlfriend. I can talk to her about things I can't really bring up to my brother or the boys.

"Yeah, I'll call you if I find Choji and let you know if he's on bored with the idea. Bye-bye." I hung up and stepped in the house. "Ikuto! Are you home?!" I yelled.

"Kitchen! Choji's here!"

Choji's here? He's been here? Really? He knew I worked today. I made my way into the kitchen and sure enough, he was sitting at the table with Ikuto. They were having a weird conversation, but seemed to be having a good time together. "What are you doing here, Choji?" I asked as I hung my apron up by the back door.

"I came to visit Ikuto."

"He told me you guys are dating now? Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Well it kind of just happened, little brother." I moved behind the counter and stared putting away dishes from the drying rack. "Did you eat?"

"Not yet. Choji came over because he wanted to learn about my amazing gardening skills." He said with a grand ego.

"Be careful there little brother. Don't fly too close to the sun or you'll fall."

He stuck his tongue out and continued to chat with a snickering Choji. I took the opportunity to study Choji is detail. He really is cute. Round cheeks, red swirls as a family adornment, smiling brown eyes. He caught me looking and his cheeks turned red as he dropped his shoulders in and watched me from the corner of his eye.

It made me giggle. Finally, I settled on something to make for dinner, making enough to put away for mom and dad, and set plates in front of the boys. "Okay, plant talk is over. Stuff your face twerp."

"Woo!" Ikuto immediately began to shovel his food in his mouth. It's like I starve him or something.

"Oh, right, Choji. My boss is making me take a few days off. Shikamaru and Ino are both in on a weekend trip to Tanopo beach. What do you think?"

His face fell a little. "The.. the beach?"

"Yeah, summer is almost over. This is our last chance to enjoy to the water before it gets cold."

There was a certain... how do I say this... darkness? Around Choji. He pushed his food around on his plate and seemed to be debating with himself. But he agreed to go none the less. Almost begrudgingly. After dinner, I cleaned up the dishes as usual and watched Ikuto chat with Choji for a little while longer. But he had lost some of his light. He was drooping.

Once everything was clean, I sent Ikuto to get ready for bed. Choji stood and acted like he was getting ready to leave. "Choji." He turned to me with pink cheeks, it made my own cheeks flush slightly. "It was nice having you over tonight."

He gave a goofy grin and gently pulled me into a hug. He was soft, comfortable to be with. But his arms were stiff. Was he uncomfortable about what we had talked about before? He didn't seem like he really enjoyed the idea of the beach. But I was too warm and happy to care at the moment. Maybe I'm just over thinking it. We head for the beach in two days!