Chapter 97. Dinner
I looked into the kitchen to see what kind of food I had. “Well I think it's best for something simple. How about Miso?” Everyone seemed ok with that idea so I started to cook it up. Everyone looked at me with surprise. “I know I’m supposed to be resting, but I feel much better now.” Momo then walked up while everyone else just continued staring. “Denki, I think they are confused that you know how to cook.” Momo was helping me while I was working. I was confused at the fact that they were confused.
“What is so surprising about it? I’ll tell you that Japanese cooking is so much easier than trying American cooking. Having to do so much prep work for the food is such a pain. I hate how little you get with the amount of work it took to make. Have you ever tried making pie from scratch? Not worth it, just get a pizza.” I sighed after my tangent about pay-off from cooking while finishing the prep of the Miso soup itself.
Momo, who was working on the rice, stopped and stared at me. “Did you live in America?” I nodded without thinking, I was starting to heat up the soup. “Yea, I lived in America. Why do you think I knew Billy Joel, or know English as a second language?” I got myself some water to drink while I was waiting for everything to heat up. I looked back to see everyone staring at me, wanting me to explain more. I felt loose lipped today so I talked.
“Well I lived in America. I went to schooling there. I went to a few amusement parks with friends. Beach trips, arcades, just hanging out at restaurants. I also went cross-country road tripping them actually. Let me tell you, that has a whole different meaning in the states.” I laughed a little at the amount of distance cross country was in comparison between Japan, and America. “I watched a lot of old American movies back in the early 2000’s. Come to think of it, I only watched and listened to really old classics.” ‘Because those were the only things that existed. But I can’t tell them that.’
Everyone was deeply intrigued at my stories, but the food was about done by this point. “Ok, food’s ready. Thank you for helping me Momo.” I said, as I was playing bowls around the table. “Of course, I am glad that I could help.” Momo said as she was taking the Miso soup from the burner to cool. After a short amount of time, everything was set, and we were all getting ready to eat. After Momo and I sat down, we all thanked for the food and dug in. Then it occurred to me. ‘This is the first time someone else has eaten my cooking.’
Realizing that I got nervous that the others may not like it. I let out a sigh of relief at the sight of everyone guzzling down my soup. Hagakure noticed this and asked me. “Is this the first time you have had anyone try your cooking?” I nodded while chewing, speaking after I swallowed. “Yea, I never really cooked for anybody else before.”
Mina spoke up with her mouth still full. “I think it's totally amazing! Can I have seconds please?” Hearing this, others soon gave their opinions of my food. Hearing all of their happy reviews I just smiled gently. Everyone then stopped and stared at me, all with concerned looks. I was still happy, but I was also a little confused. “What?” Everyone still stared at me, until Deku just pointed at me. “Kaminari…” He couldn’t really finish what he was trying to say, so I looked around to notice that my vision was blurry. I put my hand up to my eye, to notice that I was crying.
I laughed weakly while turning away. “Sorry, how embarrassing. It’s just nice to have company. I guess it’s been a while since I’ve had a meal shared here.” I coughed, trying to reduce the awkwardness, and went to the kitchen for something to dry my eyes. After I was done I returned back to the table. We continued eating in silence, but it was awkward silence, so I tried to break the ice with more of my stories in America.
“When I lived in America, most of the time I went to school. It was a middle school, and the weird thing about American schools is that each one has an animal to represent it. I went to a school represented by the mustang. My friends and I were some of the loud class clowns back in the day. We did a bunch of classes together and being with them was a blast.” This did seem to help direct attention off of my tears. I decided to keep going. “I took part in a few extracurriculars alone though. I did band, and choir. Guess music really is my forte.”
Everyone seemed to be more excited with the idea of hearing more about me. Then Kyoka spoke up. “Does that mean you could play some Billy Joel? I’ve tried looking him up, but I didn’t make much progress.” I looked at Momo, and saw her small smile, and anticipating eyes. It seems that it spread, because everyone also wanted a demonstration. I sighed as I got up to go to my room. “Just to let you know, he mostly plays the piano. I really only know the guitar. It’s also in English so you might not know what I’m even singing.”
Nobody looked fazed at what I was saying. I shook my head while plugging in my guitar. “Please don’t expect too much, it’s been awhile.” I played a few chords to get ready. I cleared my throat, and shook off my nerves. I then began to play the opening to Billy Joel’s ‘Honesty’, but I was using a guitar instead of a piano. Funnily enough I didn’t even need sheet music. It was strange that I knew how to do things instinctually, but I didn’t have time to care. I then began to sing.
My voice was very good, if I do say so myself. No scratching, no cracking, it was very smooth. I already had lots of experience singing, so I knew that it was at least passable. I kept singing, and as I did, I became more comfortable with it. I started to sing louder, and with more confidence. By the end I was out of breath from singing. I stood there playing the last few chords to end the song.