"Wait, so you've been here for just one night, and Sakura is all over you? That's kinda messed up. I'll just leave you two alone," said the family's teenage boy, who had come to the backyard to see why we had left in such a hurry. He saw Sakura hugging me.
"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT!" I shouted, looking at the boy with a flushed face. He had an amused expression as he watched us. Sakura remained silent and continued hugging me. I wasn't sure if she even realized her brother was standing there, no, wait, he wasn't even her brother.
Then, Sakura suddenly let go, and her entire demeanor changed in an instant.
"Phew, that was enough. I'm okay now," she said, panting like she had just finished a workout, wiping the tears from her eyes. I didn't know girls can change into a whole another person in matter of seconds.
The family's mother stepped into the backyard, and we all turned our heads toward her as she began to speak. "I was thinking, how about we go shopping and grab a meal? We could also talk about your childhoods while we're at it."
I turned my head and looked at Sakura in panic. She slowly turned her head as well, equally panicked, and whispered, "Do you have a good cover story? I barely know anything about old Tokyo."
"I was about to say the same thing," I whispered back.
"Yeah, we're both fucked," Sakura muttered before turning to the mother with a big smile. "We'd love to come along!"
"Well, that sounds wonderful. I'll go get ready, so wait here. I'll be back soon. Oh, by the way, Renji, are you coming too?" she asked the teenage boy.
"Yeah, I'll come along!" Renji replied cheerfully, and the mother disappeared around the corner to prepare.
I exhaled and walked over to the bench at the pond and sat down on it, gazing at the scenery and trying to produce what has happened. Renji had already left, but Sakura was still standing in the same spot. I leaned forward to see my reflection in the water.
"So, I'm in the past with another girl who's also from the future living with a random family whom brought me here to sleep when I was sleeping… Great. How do we get back to home? No idea," I muttered to myself.
Suddenly, I saw Sakura's head appear in the water's reflection. I turned around and noticed that she seemed oddly excited, I had no idea why.
"So, do you have any battery left in your phone?" she asked eagerly.
"Yeah, I should have some left."
Sakura was so thrilled by my answer that she did a frontflip onto the bench next to me. "OMG! Can I see it? Please, Shun, please!" she begged, sounding just like an iPad kid.
"Here," I said, pulling my phone from my pocket and handing it to her. "thank you so much, you know my phone didn't have any battery when i got here".
"So cute!" she squealed when she saw my wallpaper, a picture of my cat.
"Is this your cat? Wow, one of the cutest I've ever seen."
"Yeah, he's cute, I know," I replied proudly. I've always liked cats even when I was younger. They are magical, they can be left alone at home for hours, they are really calm and don't make much noise.
Then, Sakura looked at me, her expression suddenly serious, and she said, "Unlock it now."
She held the phone up to my face, and the facial recognition instantly unlocked it. It's a fast way to access your phone, and by now, almost every modern phone has it. She started browsing through it.
"What are you doing?" I asked, sounding bored without even looking at her.
Out of nowhere, Sakura grabbed my face and turned it so I was looking directly at her. Her gaze was intense, beautiful, and I blushed slightly. Just then, she let go, snapped a selfie of us, and posed perfectly, unlike me, who was just confused.
"So adorable! This is going as the new wallpaper," she declared and changed the background immediately.
"Hey! You can't just do that!" I protested, trying to take my phone from her.
"Are you two ready?" the mother asked from behind us.
Sakura flashed me a mischievous grin, placed my phone in my lap, and replied, "Yes, we are!"
I shoved my phone back into my pocket and got up after her. "Let's go then!" I said with a wide, carefree smile.
Sakura looked surprised for a moment but quickly responded, "Okay!"
And so, we set off, me, Sakura, Renji, and, of course, the mother, to spend some free time together. Or at least, that's what it felt like. But maybe that was a good thing. It was also interesting to observe the past with someone who didn't belong in this time either… If that sentence even made any sense.
"Boys and girls, guess what Mom has planned for us?" the mother of the family asked excitedly. She could barely contain her excitement before she threw her hands up in the air and shouted, "A PICNIC!"
A picnic didn't sound bad at all, especially with such great weather.
"Woo, a picnic!" Renji shouted enthusiastically.
It was impossible not to smile when everyone around me was so happy.
"Where are we going to get food from?" I asked, looking around to see if I could spot a good food stall. If possible, I wanted to find fresh ingredients since they were of great quality this time of year.
"I'll show you!" the mother said confidently, crossing her arms.
We walked for about three hundred meters before we arrived at a massive food market filled with different kinds of ingredients and dishes. There were probably around three hundred people and hundreds of stalls.
I was completely in awe and immediately rushed forward to check out the ingredients, with Renji following close behind.
"Look, Renji! Fresh spring onions, garlic, meat, olive oil, rice, shrimp, everything! This is like paradise!" I shouted excitedly. "Do you know what kind of dishes I could make with all this?"
Then, my eyes landed on a display of high-quality Japanese kitchen knives, being sharpened right there on the spot.
"Japanese chef knives!" I gasped, practically drooling.
When I was young, my dad used to cook for us all the time. I always wanted to help him because it was one of the few times I got to spend time with him, most of the time, he was out "working." As the years passed, I grew to love Japanese and Western cuisine more and more.
When I turned 14, I boldly walked into a restaurant by the Okinawa seaside and asked if I could help in any way. The owner agreed to hire me, as the place didn't offer great wages, so many workers left in search of better jobs. Ever since then, I had been working there, and I loved every second of it. The restaurant had high-quality kitchen tools, including these exact Japanese chef knives that I couldn't afford to buy for myself.
Now, as I browsed the market, my eyes landed on one particular knife: a "Seki" chef's knife, renowned for its high quality and sharpness.
"I want this one! How much does it cost?" I asked eagerly.
The vendor, an elderly man, nodded approvingly.
"Oooh, good taste! This 'Seki' knife was just sharpened, it's excellent quality. That'll be 30 yen."
It was so cheap, I had to buy it! I pulled out a 100-yen coin from my pocket, completely forgetting that it probably wasn't accepted here, and tossed it to him.
"Keep the change!" I said with a grin, grabbing the knife and dashing off.
"SHUN, SLOW DOWN!" Renji shouted after me.
Apparently, my payment went through since no one came after me.
Soon, Sakura and the mother caught up with us.
"I heard you know a lot about food, Shun," the mother commented casually.
"Yeah, I used to be a chef, so places like this really interest me," I replied.
"That's pretty obvious! We already bought the ingredients with Sakura, so are we ready to go?"
"Already?" I sighed, disappointed that we had to leave so soon.
"You can help with the cooking, Shun," the mother offered.
"Of course!" I responded excitedly, raising my hands in the air.
The picnic area wasn't far from the food market, so we arrived there sooner than expected. We settled in the middle of a meadow, spreading out our picnic blanket. Sakura and Renji sat down while I took a moment to take in the scenery.
The picnic area wasn't far from the food market, so we arrived there sooner than expected. We settled in the middle of a meadow, spreading out our picnic blanket. Sakura and Renji sat down while I took a moment to take in the scenery.
The place was breathtaking. The grass was a lush green, with various flowers and plants scattered throughout. Since we were near the seaside, we could hear the waves crashing and seagulls calling in the distance. I just hoped they wouldn't try to steal our food. From what I could tell, we might actually be in Yokohama.
Several other families were enjoying their picnics in the meadow as well, which made sense, after all, the weather was exceptionally beautiful.
"Shun, can you cut the vegetables?" the mother asked.
"Okay!" I responded, eager to test my new knife.
I picked up some lettuce and started chopping. "What are we making with these?" I asked, eyeing the ingredients. The first thing that came to mind was some kind of roll.
"We're making 'Gỏi cuốn'! Do you know what that is?"
"Vietnamese spring rolls?" My eyes lit up. "That's a dish where you wrap meat and vegetables in rice paper, perfect for a picnic snack!"
"Exactly!" the mother said with a smile.
I got so excited that I forgot I was even chopping. My hands were moving fast, maybe a little too fast, because suddenly, Sakura shouted:
"Slow down, Shun! We didn't come here to make a finger soup!"
I couldn't help but laugh at her remark.
"It's time to eat!" we all shouted in unison as we took our first bites.
"This is so good," Sakura murmured in delight.
"Wow, Shun, you really do know how to cook!" the mother complimented.
"I used my secret recipe," I said with a smirk.
My secret was simple: I added a bit of shrimp paste to the meat and shook it together. That extra step gave the dish a wonderfully rich flavor.
"Where did you learn to cook?" the mother asked, still chewing her food.
"My dad taught me when I was little. I always helped him whenever I could. Then my mom left him and took me with her. Back then, I didn't understand why, but now that I think about it… My dad wasn't the best person. He did a lot of bad things and taught me things I regret and never want to do again. Then my mom disappeared too, and I lived alone, I considered my boss like my mother."
The mother gave me a gentle smile. "I'm sorry for your losses. You must have had a tough time, but you're here now."
I couldn't help but let a few tears slip out, but I quickly wiped them away.
Sakura looked like she had something to say but hesitated.
"Do you have something on your mind, Sakura?"
She blushed slightly and hesitantly asked, "W-would you like to go explore the area with me? Just the two of us?"
My face immediately turned red, and I turned my gaze away.
"Y-yeah, we can go. D-does that sound okay to you guys?" I asked Renji and the mother.
They nodded and waved us off, so Sakura and I left the meadow together.
Of course, she probably just wants to talk to me because we're both from the future. But why did Renji and the mother agree so quickly? I thought Renji would have wanted to come along.