Reincarnated Into A Dead Woman's Body In Another World-Chapter 298: Interlude - 17: Final Preparations

"Jotou’s really good at making this; it’s always delicious," Daiyu banged the long steel spatula against the inside of the wok, shaking off the rice stuck to it.

Fumeko spread cream cheese frosting across the top layer. Her eyeline following it till she popped her head up, frosting smeared across her left cheek, "The recipe didn’t look THAT complicated."

"Well duh, it’s fried rice, it ain’t rocket science."

"You still needed a recipe," Fumeko’s eyes glazed over as she went back to frosting the cake, her hair held back completely by her headband while the rest was scrunched into a ponytail.

Daiyu half-closed her right eye and turned off the flame, "Fried rice’s different depending on the one making it; I just don’t know how Jotou does it. I know he uses minced chicken, a bunch of peppers and other stuff."

"I didn’t see you use any pepper in there," Fumeko piped more frosting on top.

"Chilli peppers I meant."

The brunette leered, "They’re two different things, what’re you on about?"

"Anyway, I didn’t do it the way Jotou does. I used prawns, cabbage, long beans and chilli paste instead; and apparently soy sauce could be substituted with fish sauce by what the cooks said, so that too."

Daiyu stirred the wok filled with rice one last time, allowing the steam to rise and the multiple aromas from the spices, garlic and onions.

She nearly spilled a good bit over the edge onto the stovetop, but caught it just before. Ignore the rice and oil all over the stovetop that was already present...

"Alright," Daiyu flipped a spoon into her grasp and dipped it in to get a spoonful. "Wanna taste the main course?"

Shadows appeared right next to her with a spoon at the ready, "Obviously- Wait," Fumeko retracted the spoon from the hot wok, "You cooked this..."

"What’re you implying Fumes?" Daiyu half-closed her right eye.

"A lot of things maniac..." Fumeko’s eyes narrowed.

"I’m a maniac huh?"

"I guess we’ll find out when you eat that; not that I need more evidence."

"When we, eat this. Go on Fumes, dig in. You chow down on everything, don’t you? Can’t you smell what I’m cooking?" Daiyu took a whiff and hummed, "Smells delicious~"

"Smells can be deceiving," Fumeko glanced to the oil splatter all over the place, bits of rice, cabbage and chopped long beans all over the counter and stove.

She glanced back to Daiyu sweating down her face and sides, various stains on her clothing since she refused to wear an apron and the clamminess on her skin. 𝙧𝙚𝙚𝔀𝒆𝓫𝓷𝙤𝓿𝒆𝙡.𝒄𝙤𝓶

"Just try it will ya?"

"Yeah, yeah," Fumeko took a spoonful, making sure to pick a small prawn onto it as well before she blew away the heat.

"Three."

"Two..."

"One."

Both of their teeth hit the spoon... They chewed slowly, allowing their tastebuds to get the full experience—Daiyu watched the closed eyes of Fumeko.

"Actually..." Fumeko swallowed it and furrowed her brows. "It tastes, really good? A bit too spicy, but it tastes," Fumeko opened her eyes and took another spoonful from the wok.

"I claim victory over this stove," Daiyu folded her arms, a grin upon her expression.

"Hah! Haa...h, hah, hot, haaah," Fumeko fanned a hand over her open mouth after she took a spoonful without waiting for it to cool.

"Okay, no more taste tests, I need to put it into a chafing dish so it stays warm till the party."

The brunette shifted her slightly burnt tongue, "I need to put some final touches on the cake and write the words on top. We got, about two hours before seven," Fumeko checked the clock. "This is all we have? Where’s the appetizer and no dessert?"

"The cake’s the dessert," Daiyu carried over the chafing dish and clanged it onto the counter.

"That’s more like a special thing. What about ice cream?"

"Well, we’re not gonna make ice cream, we’ll just grab some from the freezer."

"Sounds like a plan then."

"Jotou should be grateful."

"Truly."

"As for the appetizer, I already breaded the chicken last night. Now, I’ll have to fry them into popcorn chicken!" Daiyu set a much larger wok on another stove.

"Popcorn chicken... So, you’re gonna be working with boiling hot oil...?" Fumeko took a step back.

"Ah come on. I made this masterpiece, it won’t be that hard!"

_

The blackened oil in the wok still popped every few seconds. The tile walls behind, the countertop, the stove, the underside of the wok, the sink so far away and the cook herself were all smeared with grease.

After several grunts and groans from boiling oil popping out and splashing onto Daiyu’s skin, the popcorn chicken was prepared and kept in a chafing dish of its own; half of it much darker than the golden brown they were supposed to be...

Fortunately, Fumeko hid the cake in the fridge and herself around the corners of the kitchen. Daiyu wiped herself down with kitchen tissues and sighed, "All done!"

"And who’s cleaning up?"

"What was that?"

Shadows popped out a figure next to the princess, "You made a whole mess."

"Hm? What mess?"

"Denial isn’t gonna fix it."

"I’ll clean it up later, calm your tits," Daiyu brushed aside.

Fumeko’s eyes glazed over.

"So," Daiyu picked up a knife off of the floor, "D’you get Jotou a gift? Something to woo him? Huh? Huh?" Daiyu grinned, poking the knife into the air.

"Woo her... I did get her a gift, but about that..." Fumeko looked Daiyu in the eye. "I think, I should be moving on. Jotou’s already told me a thousand times to do just that.

Jotou and Hotaru deserve each other and as much as I admire and like Jotou, I need to face reality. It’s eating me up, seeing them together and trying to wedge myself in and try something; I might lose friends instead...

So, I’ve decided to-" Fumeko choked on her own words. She pursed her lips, "Let her go..." she faced away from Daiyu, curling up her fingers. "It won’t be easy, but I’m sure I’ll find something else to obsess over," she joked with a snicker.

Daiyu watched the brunette wrestle with the thought; this was no lie, nor was it a decision made overnight. However, after everything the princess knew... "I don’t think you should," she said without a quiver in her tone.

Fumeko batted an eye, "What? Why?"

Daiyu folded her arms, "Look, I’m not gonna fully weigh in on his relationships. But I think you’re both good for Jotou. It’s up to him in the end obviously."

The detective furrowed her brows as her eyes bubbled, "You’re serious? I, don’t know..."

"I know you can keep him safe too and Jotou’d be happy to be with someone like you; I know that for a fact. If you want to move on, I’m not gonna stop you.

But if you do decide to keep this up, can you at least try not to be like, obsessive about it?"

Shadows glimmered in her eyes as Fumeko stood staring... "Yeah," she shook herself out of it. "Yeah," she closed her eyes and unclenched her fists, only to clench them again and look up to Daiyu, "I’ll definitely try," the last of the shadows vanished from her eyes.

"That’s the spirit," Daiyu smirked. "I know it’ll hurt a lot."

"Hmph, nothing the greatest detective, Fumeko Namora can’t handle," she flaunted her hair. She gave a half-cocked smile to Daiyu, "But thanks."

"Welcome~ One more word of advice. Hotaru isn’t as much of a competitor as you think she is. No need to be going against her for the sake of Jotou."

Fumeko narrowed her gaze, "Alright..."

"Help me carry the food over to the party; you can get the cake later," Daiyu put a cloth around the handles of the chafing dish and lifted it up with a huff.

"Yeah, yeah," Fumeko went for the chafing dish with the popcorn chicken. She was just about ready to move on from the blonde... And yet, she was given hope once more; thoughts ran across her mind, connecting red lines all together...

_

"W-woah!"

Fumeko placed the chafing dish at the entrance of the ballroom. "Woosh!" Shadows appeared and held the ladder a wolf-girl was high on top of.

Hotaru clung onto the top of the ladder, "Yeesh..."

Fumeko let out a breath of relief. She glanced around and saw Feyan at the bar whilst Arabella blew balloons; both were about ready to rush over, but stopped seeing that the situation was handled.

"Who let wolfy up a ladder!?"

"Myself obviously!" the voice yelled down.

Fumeko pouted up, "You know how great your balance is, right?"

Hotaru glared down and furled the fabric of her clothing close to her form, "Don’t look up my skirt!"

"I wasn’t!" Fumeko looked immediately away.

"I know~" Hotaru chuckled and continued trying to pin something to the wall. "Thanks for catching the ladder and don’t insult my balance next time."

The brunette’s eyes glazed over... "RATTLE! RATTLE!"

"AH! MEH-KO!" Hotaru’s ears and tail spiked as she clutched the top of the ladder.

Fumeko stopped shaking the ladder. Daiyu carried over both chafing dishes and placed them onto the table with a "Huh!"

The single table was enough for ten people perhaps. Party decorations, party poppers and foil curtains yet to be hung. Above it was a long, long banner from wall to wall which read ’Happy 22nd Birthday Jotou Howllett!’.

Some of the white paint had trickled across the golden banner, making the writing less eligible. "Fey, you haven’t gotten drunk have ya?" Daiyu glanced to the bar right next to the table.

Feyan had an arrangement of cups, glasses and bottles, alongside a mixing guide next to him, "My lady, I have not taken a single drop."

"Then how’re you gonna know if it tastes right?"

"I am not drinking before the party princess... And neither will you for that matter."

"Booo! Fire the bartender!"

"By all means princess, you are welcome to take my duties."

"Don’t, she’ll put way too much booze in everything," Hotaru said as she descended.

"Never mind then," Feyan went back to arranging the bottles.

"I’m not that irresponsible."

"I beg to differ," Fumeko moved away as Hotaru got down.

"Hey, country’s running, food’s cooked and it’s edible," Daiyu pointed her hands to the chafing dishes.

"Edible...? That fills me with confidence," Hotaru looked at the dishes.

"I tried it, it was pretty good actually," Fumeko backed up.

Hotaru smiled as she took in the scent, "Smells nice. What did you make?"

"Some excellent fried rice with all sorts of things and popcorn chicken for the appetizer," a proud Daiyu answered.

"...You made fried rice? That’s it?" Hotaru’s brows creased.

"Yup. Enough for eight people—twice." Daiyu put up a peace sign.

"No gravy, no vegetables, no sauce, no side dishes, nothing? I’m not saying there needs to be fifty different things, but you know what I mean. Some variety maybe?" Hotaru questioned.

"There’s cabbages and long beans in there, got prawns and eggs for meat, all the carbs you need, filled with spices and all sorts. Everything’s already cooked up into a full meal."

Hotaru slowly palmed her own face, "You sound like my dad..."

"Hey I’m gonna take that as an insult Tarts!"

"It’s fine wolfy, it should be enough. We’ve got plenty of popcorn chicken too."

"Have you two made sauce for that...?"

"Uh... we can get some mayonnaise and hot sauce from the fridge?" Fumeko shrugged.

Hotaru sunk deeper into her palms with a small whine.

"Pop!"

Everyone jumped, Hotaru’s ears folded and tail shook. They glanced to Arabella with torn rubber in her hands... She threw it aside with the rest of the popped balloons, having only ten successfully done.

"I’m gonna go try to make some aioli or something," Hotaru moped out the doors and out towards the kitchens.

"I guess I can make some sauce too," Daiyu pondered.

Just as Hotaru left, a palace staff entered holding a leash, "Your highness-"

Daiyu gasped and kneeled to the floor, "Come here Floof!"

The groomed dog had medium golden brown fur, longer around the neck, resembling a lion almost. The large pup didn’t run, but did tug hard on the leash enough to pull the staff with him.

He leaned down and unhooked the leash, allowing Floof to rush his large paws over to Daiyu. The medium snout nuzzled into Daiyu’s palms. Its thick tail whipped back and forth, slamming into Fumeko’s leg.

"Watch it!" Fumeko stepped back. With the party soon to start, their preparations were less than ideal...