August 9: Breakfast Vignette
#30 of Morenatsu: My Summer Days in Minasato
Here, there's nothing much to say. It's Tora and Hiro sharing a moment during breakfast. Just something calming before another day starts.
When I woke up this morning, I saw myself alone on Torahiko's bed. The door was left open, and the smell of something cooking came from the other side. Fixing myself up, I followed the scent, leading me to the kitchen where I saw Tora, wearing an apron, at the stove and a plate stacked with pancakes on the counter.
"Good morning, Hiroyuki!" he said.
I yawned. "Good morning. Where's everyone else?"
"Business as usual. They left me here to take care of our breakfast so get changed." The tiger winked. "It's almost done."
"Okay. I'll be right back."
I left the area and went for my morning bath and tooth brushing. Dressed in a fresh set of clothes, I made my way to the dining room and there, Tora was already seated at the table. On the table were two plates with golden-brown pancakes arranged in a stack, each topped with a generous amount of syrup that flowed down the sides, and a slice of butter that was already half-melted. There was also orange juice to complement the whole thing. If anything, I thought that I really did stay at some high-class hotel.
The tiger told me to sit anywhere I liked, as if I had a choice on the matter - he already had my meal set up next to his! But there was no use complaining on it, so I took my seat.
"Itadakimasu!" we said in unison, taking our first taste.
"So good!" I said. "Wait, you put syrup in between each pancake?"
Tora nodded. "You noticed? Is it good?"
"That's genius! Huh? Hold on..." I took another taste of the pancakes and, letting the flavor linger in my mouth for a bit longer, recognized something. "You used pancake mix, didn't you?"
"Yeah I did," the tiger said, hanging his head a bit low. "Still haven't gotten my own recipe down. And I didn't want to serve you a crappy breakfast, you know. Sorry if it was lazy."
Smiling, I shook my head. "Mix or not, it's the effort that counts. It tastes good so no complaints here. Though someday you should let me try your own pancake recipe."
"Hiroyuki!" In his seat, Tora grabbed me and rubbed his cheek against mine.
"Stop it, Tora! We're still eating," I said in-between giggles.
"Your sleeping face looked real funny, you know? I should've taken a picture." The tiger chuckled.
"Really, huh?" I put my fork down.
And then what was supposed to be a simple breakfast for us got a little intermission number, me pulling on Tora's cheeks as he pulled on mine. Ain't nothing like a lively morning to start the day. I guess it was somewhat even since I already got a good look of his sleeping face back then. Next time, I should take a photo of his when I get the chance.