Hanging out.

“What are you making?” Reiko asked as he got potatoes and carrots in two different bowls.

“Curry and rice,” he told her. “Read a recipe the other day and saw how easy it was. It’s just a stew with a special sauce.”

He saw Reiko’s eyes lit up at the mention of curry.

“I take it you like it?” he asked, chuckling.

“It’s my favorite,” she admitted with a cute giggle.

Leonardo got to work, peeling potatoes and carrots, chopping them and slicing the onions while the rice was cooking.

“You make it look so easy,” she said. “It takes me ten minutes to chop an onion and I end up in tears. You did it in less than a minute.”

“It’s all practice,” he told her. “I learned to cook with my dad. He taught me since I was 14, and then spent the last two years cooking for myself. You get used to it.”

“So… your family…”

“Both of my parents passed away long ago,” he told her in a casual tone so as not to make her feel guilty for asking. “That’s half the reason I’m here in Japan,” he chuckled. “I had nowhere more important to be.”

Reiko kept looking at him work, quietly and without saying a word. It didn’t bother him, so he let her be.

He put pieces of beef in the pot until they browned, then removed them and replaced them with the onions, cooking them until they caramelized. He then added the chopped carrots and potatoes, let them cook together for a few minutes before he put the meat back in. He poured in the boiling water, skimming the fat that came up to the surface, and then let it simmer for a while.

“It smells really nice,” she told him.

“Doesn’t it?” he agreed.

Then, he added the blocs of curry sauce, stirring lightly as they melted and mixed with the stew. It was his first time making curry, so he skipped the step where one would add extra ingredients like ketchup, soy sauce, apples or whatever.

“Hope you don’t mind some basic curry, but I don’t want to risk adding weird stuff before I get a good idea of how this tastes.”

Reiko shook her head fervently. “Not at all!”

She and Angela got their books and notebooks out of the table while Mrs. Wisler helped him serve the plates. The four sat down, gave the customary thanks for the food and started eating.

“Angela, can you put on the news, please?” Mrs. Wisler asked.

“Sure,” Angela grabbed the remote and turned on the TV, she changed a couple of channels before she stopped in one that caught her attention and that made Leonardo’s ears perk up immediately. He heard the intro to an animated show he knew well. It was a rerun of Dragon Ball Z. A nostalgic smile crept up to Leonardo’s lips and he started singing without realizing it.

“El cielo resplandece a mi alrededor. Al volar, destellos brillan en las nubes sin fin…” He sang along the music, perfectly remembering the lyrics to Cha-La Head-Cha-La. He caught himself mid-singing when he saw the three women at the table looking at him with wide grins as they listened to him. Embarrassed, he stopped and went back to eating silently, his cheeks heating up.

“Aww, why’d you stop?” Angela asked teasingly. “Got embarrassed?”

“Yep,” he answered without looking at her.

“What language were you singing in?” Reiko asked, still smiling.

“That was Spanish, dear,” Mrs. Wisler answered for him. “Remember, Leonardo is from Chile. They speak Spanish there.”

“Now that I think of it, this is the first time I hear you speak Spanish…” Angela noted.

“Not really a reason to do it,” Leonardo shrugged.

Angela nodded and turned back to the TV. “But man, that’s different. We didn’t have this intro in America.”

“Wait, so…” Reiko blinked, looking from Leonardo to Angela. “Y-You both like Dragon Ball?”

“Watched it a lot as a kid,” Leonardo said. “They used to run it several times for many years. There’s probably not a guy my age or older in South America who doesn’t know what Dragon Ball is, at least.”

“I also watched it as a kid,” Angela said, smirking teasingly. “Now, admit it. I know both of you tried to throw a Kamehameha at some point, didn’t you?”

“Guh.” Both he and Reiko winced at the question, causing Angela to laugh.

“Relax! So did I!” the blonde said after calming down.

Leonardo sighed. “Now that I think about it, watching a show I know, but in Japanese would be good practice,” he said, looking at the TV. “Sucks I have to wait for them to run it, though.”

“A-Actually!” Reiko said, looking embarrassed. “I happen to have… the complete series in Blu-ray. I can… lend it to you if you want.”

“Seriously?” Leonardo smirked. “That’d be awesome.”

“I’d be up to watching it again,” Angela nodded. “I guess I really do need to learn the language.”

Eventually, Angela changed the channel to one running the news like Mrs. Wisler had asked her and they continued eating dinner. Leonardo watched Reiko and Angela eat his food with gusto, and though it was a very basic dish, he was genuinely glad they enjoyed it.

They finished eating, and after some rest to get the food down, Reiko bowed to Angela and Mrs. Wisler to thank them for having her over and said goodbye. It was around 8:00 pm when she and Leonardo walked out of the house. It was already dark, but the road lights illuminated the area well, even this far away from downtown.

“Shall we go, then?” he asked her.

“Y-Yes!” she answered quickly.

He didn’t need a special talent to know Reiko was nervous. Rather, more nervous than during dinner. At least there she spoke and laughed. Now she seemed tense and was quiet as they walked, looking down at the ground.