The Lost Samurai

Chapter 18 - Cooking.

Looking at Kenshin Hori saw a fiery determination and pure confidence in his eyes and in his face that now stamped a wide bright smile, he looked like he was about to say something to change the whole conversation.

“Hehe, you say you don’t know if i have been practicing a lot lately Hori? Tsk tsk tsk, you should know me better, my pride and joy is cooking. The best thing in life is savoring the most delicious food, and I can only get that by cooking it myself. Of course I still practice and will forever practice a lot!” The flames of his determination gave Kenshin the needed strength to stand up and make a big ok gesture while he spoke with the most certain voice.

“I guess you really recovered fast after defeating the cursed chi, well, no surprise, you’re the strongest person i know after all, but i think you shouldn’t over exert yourself right now hahahaha.” Hori was doing her best to cover her laughs right now, Kenshin doing the super haughty cook act was too much for her.

“Don't…don’t laugh at me! You know I'm dead serious right now! It’s my passion, ok? If the kingdom didn’t need a strong guardian I wouldn't train so much and instead would just open a restaurant.” Kenshin had a happy look on his face thinking about opening a restaurant, having Kyoko as his assistant in the kitchen, serving hundreds of customers every day.

“Hey Dad, stop daydreaming, you really got lost in thought now, that must be a really good dream.”Flicking her fingers in her dad’s face Kyoko brought him back to reality.

“Eh,you really love cooking Kenshin, but as I said, my girls are still better than you.” She couldn’t lose this chance right now, that was the only way to laugh a bit at his angry face.

“Haaah, i see what you’re doing, you won’t get to be, not in a million years, hum.” Kenshin shook his head while pouting, if someone who didn’t know Kenshin saw him right now they would be laughing hysterically at his childish demeanor right now, and the ones that knew him would be just too surprised to think anything.

“Ok ok, don’t pout like this you’re only beautiful while making a good expression, i propose a competition so you can prove your abilities and recover your pride.” Hori bickered softly, she was brilliant, she came up with the perfect idea to eat lots of good food, soothe Kenshin’s anger  and also have some entertainment!

“Let’s do this! I will win this showdown no matter what! Let’s go to the kitchen and get started right now!” Kenshin was already opening the door and heading to the kitchen when Hori stopped him, if it was possible to describe his eyes right now the world able to do it perfectly would be fire, his eyes looked like they could burn someone alive, the pure flame of cooking.

“Dad, shouldn’t you calm down just for today? You just woke up, a cooking challenge wouldn’t be good for you right now, and some of the girls here are still heavily injured and they need time to recover before they can form a team to compete with you.” Kyoko right now could only be described as frustrated, rolling her eyes and taking her palms to her face, her father couldn’t be helped, being like this right after he regained consciousness just because of a small provocation.

“Yeah i think Kyoko is right Kenshin, you shouldn’t make any effort today, and some girls that would certainly integrate our team in this cooking battle can’t really cook right now, i propose a competition in one week.” Maybe Hori went too far in her words, leading Kenshin to really want this battle today was a bit too far, she hoped he would just calm down and accept her offer.

“Ok, we will do it, it’s no fun if your opponents can’t properly use their capabili.. aaah!” His imposing pose suddenly crumbled apart when Kenshin almost fell, his legs couldn’t take it anymore, he needed to rest a bit or else his body would make him rest by force.

“See it Dad? You can’t be so excited right now, rest first and do all sorts of things later, right now you need to recover your energy, else body and mind both won’t resist.” Kyoko helped support her father so he wouldn’t fall but at the same time she gave him a bit of a mouthful so he would stop acting this way and deteriorating his own health.

One week flew by so fast that most people in the city were surprised when they saw the new week on their calendars, maybe it was the reconstruction process, everyone was too busy to really notice the days passing by.

Red Sand city didn’t have the same beautiful scenery as before, full of reconstructions and few buildings were really intact, but maybe now the real beauty of this city was shining bright, love and compassion, the willpower to withstand anything and keep their lives going like usual.

Neighbors whose houses weren’t damaged providing housing for their peers, large groups of persons working together to raise new houses in an impressing effort, farmers helping each other and distributing food through the city to fill the demand caused by the destruction of lots of farms during the attack and children running around the remains and using them as places to play like nothing happened at all. Truly the city was full of hope and happiness, they would thrive as long as they still had their lives, it was the most beautiful sight, the goodness humans hid deep within and only brought to surface once a disaster like this happened.

Inside the dojo building their hero wasn’t doing anything really heroic right now, he was looking himself in the mirror while he grabbed his cheeks and shouted.

“You can do this Kenshin! You’re the best cook this world has ever seen!” Kenshin was full of confidence and trying to sparkle his confidence even more right now, he needed that for the competition today, he needed to prove his cooking prowess as much as he always needed to prove his strength.

“Yes yes Dad i believe you can do it, sigh.” Kyoko sighed inwardly and patted her father’s head, she was happy to see him up and happy again, but this level of confidence and focus on the duel was just…a bit too much, she hoped he would go back to normal after this, being him the winner or the loser she just wanted him to forget about the cooking provocations.

Walking towards the dojo kitchen Kenshin saw Master Hori and her disciples, some of the disciples behind her wore white cooking uniforms like the ones used in restaurants, he smiled faintly, they looked prepared to cook.

“Hehe, it looks like you’re excited for this showdown, let’s see if you can beat my girls today.” Hori chuckled at the sight of Kenshin’s current temperament, to maintain this state for a week her loved one was really something.

“I am prepared any day!” WIth a dramatic move Kenshin pulled a bandana from his pocket and tied it around his head, a crimson read with food writing in capital letters.