Housework.

It was the same thing during lunch, with Leonardo and Angela trying very noticeably to not look at each other. She was more casual about it, since she was focusing only on eating her food, but Leonardo could feel his eyes wanting to turn towards her, his mind recalling the intense and vivid dream.

Mrs. Wisler tried to alleviate some of the awkwardness by telling them of spots in town they should become familiar with over the course of the week. She encouraged them to explore and get a feel for the small town. She assured them that a week was more than enough.

Leonardo would follow her advice, because he really needed the distraction. Normally, he would be working all day, not allowing naughty thoughts to cloud his mind. But now he had nothing to do but study the language.

Fortunately for him, there were several things he could do to distract himself. For starters, there was the food. Last night, Mrs. Wisler had ordered sushi, and that had been great. Angela had loved it and, though Leonardo wasn’t used to some flavors, he’d found them interesting. However, breakfast the next day had been nothing but white rice with an egg on top, which was weird because he’d seen the pantry, and it was full of food. And then lunch was some convenience store pre-packaged stuff. Angela ate without complains, and though Leonardo did so too, it bothered him. Then, the second thing he would use to distract himself was the house. He had cleaned his own room, and Angela said she'd done the same with hers, but the rest of the house was still a mess. There was dust in every room that wasn’t used, and it made Leonardo uncomfortable.

When lunch ended, Angela quickly excused herself and left the house to walk around town, and Mrs. Wisler said she had to take care of some things and also left. On his part, however, Leonardo walked into the pantry with a determined step and grabbed all the cleaning utensils he’d need and got to work.

He cleaned every hallway, every room, empty or not (save for Mrs. Wisler and Angela’s bedrooms), cleaned the dining room, the kitchen and all bathrooms. It took him from 2:00 pm to 7:00 pm. Five hours of intense, efficient work, and he didn’t even break a sweat. It might have been a bigger building, but he was used to doing this kind of cleaning. It was relaxing and kept him occupied.

He was about to get to work on his second project, when Mrs. Wisler came back home with more convenience store food. He had to suppress a groan.

“Oh, dear,” Mrs. Wisler gasped, seeing how spotless everything was. The wooden table gave off a faint shine, just like the hallway floors, the kitchen had been cleaned thoroughly of even the last grain of rice forgotten on the floor and the dining room itself had been swept even behind every piece of furniture. “Did you do all this, Mr. Leonardo?”

“…Had nothing else to do today,” he said with a small, shy smile.

When Angela entered the dining room, she didn’t comment on the cleaning, but her eyes did wonder around the room. Leonardo wanted to believe she was impressed, but he wasn’t holding his breath.

They sat around the table again and ate in silence, Leonardo unable to not think of the food again. It wasn’t like it was bad, but it wasn’t particularly good, either. He didn’t dare ask, but it was starting to become clear.

Mrs. Wisler had money, but she couldn’t cook. Did she really subsist on food like this? If this was all they ever ate, he wouldn’t be able to take it. Again, he ate without complaints, but got to work again early the next morning.

He got up at 5:30 am, as usual now that he didn’t have to work late. He took a shower, got dressed and checked the pantry. It was full with rice packages, noodles, and canned everything, even spam meat. Yet they never used any this? It was such a fucking waste! He was starting to get annoyed.

He took the time to watch a video on his phone and grabbed what he needed from the pantry and the fridge. It had everything he needed, like Mrs. Wisler bought everything in preparation for their arrival and then remembered she didn’t know how to cook.

He put rice in the rice cooker before he got to work on the main stuff.

He made a seasoning with soy sauce, sugar, water and other stuff he’d never used in cooking, like sake and something called bonito, and added it to a mix of four beaten eggs. He left water boiling in a pot with kelp and bonito flakes before taking those out when the water boiled. He cut cabbage and carrots and added them to the soup. As that was getting ready, he heated a pan and put the mix of eggs and seasoning into it, rolling it with a spatula as it got firm. He was making tamagoyaki, which was basically a rolled up omelet. To the soup he had in the heat he added miso paste and stirred until it dissolved completely. He gave it a try, and noticed it was a little salty. He’d add less next time. He threw some sausages into the now free pan and cut the omelet into three equal pieces.

It was his first time putting so much effort into breakfast, so it took him about an hour. By the time he had finished, he could hear the steps of his two housemates. Mrs. Wisler was probably just waking up, while he heard footsteps coming from the left wing which were definitely Angela’s.

He served the rice into bowls and did the same with the miso soup. He cut up the sausages and put them in plates along with the omelet. He was putting everything on the table when Angela came in.

She arched an eyebrow at him when she saw breakfast ready.

“Did you make this?” she asked.

“It was here when I woke up,” he answered with a grin.

“Very funny,” she grinned back. “Why though?”

“I’m tired of convenience store meals, and there’s a ton of food in the pantry that’s going to waste.”

“But why a Japanese breakfast?”

He shrugged. “When in Rome…”

As Angela sat down and looked at the table full of food with an excited smile, Leonardo wanted to believe, again, that he’d managed to impress her. It wasn’t why he was doing it, but… yeah. Mrs. Wisler came in not long after, and her eyes beamed at the food on the table.

“Mr. Leonardo! How did you do this?” she asked, smiling ear to ear.

“I have experience in the kitchen,” he said. “I just watched a video to see what people eat here.”

“That’s right,” she said. “You lived alone. You cooked for yourself, then?”

Leonardo nodded. “If you don’t mind, I’d like to take care of lunch and dinner as well.”

“Well, aren’t you proactive,” Angela said. She tried the soup with a spoon, and blinked blankly for a moment. She then tried the omelet and did the same. She grinned. “Well, shit. You’re actually a good cook.”

“No objections, then?”

“I’m not a picky eater,” Angela said. “But I much prefer the good stuff. You won’t hear me complaining.”

“No objections, dear,” Mrs. Wisler agreed with a warm smile after tasting the soup.

The three of them ate together the breakfast Leonardo so thoroughly prepared. He did it for himself, but it was good to see how much they enjoyed it. Angela even asked for seconds, so he gave her what was little soup and rice was left.