Chapter 2: Reunion

Makoto stood facing the wooden door.

His heart was racing like crazy.

'What if they won't be pleased by me?'

Several thoughts were flooding his mind: will they accept him? Will they love him? Or maybe he is just a nuisance?

But he stopped with his thoughts and slapped himself lightly.

"No. My goal is Satsuki Saryo, so I won't lose hope and back down."

With that said, he pushed the door open.

"H-Hello..."

He spoke weakly, only to see various kinds of dishes placed on the table.

"Welcome!"

A red-haired girl with red hair wearing an apron and having a small scar on her eyebrow ran towards Makoto, taking him into a strong embrace.

Makoto's face became crimson red from the sudden hug.

"I can't believe that I really have a young brother!"

Soma Yukihira. A tomboyish girl who also aspires to become a good chief was hugging Makoto like there was no tomorrow.

His face was buried in her chest, and it seemed he had a problem breathing.

"Mmmphphph!"

He screamed, trying to catch a breather, but to no avail, as the girl's hug was firmer than he could ever imagine.

Slowly and weakly, his mind started to go blurry.

Will he die choked by a woman's breasts? That will be...well,that will be a good death cause for some people.

"Oh wait!"

Soma finally realized what she was doing when she let go of her young brother.

"Haaaah...."

Knees on the floor Makoto was trying his best to catch his breath.

"I...hah... thought...hah...that I would die...."

Soma lightly hit her head.

"Sorry, I was a bit too excited."

Now. Makoto took a closer look at his stepsister. Unknown to himself, his cheeks got redder.

The same could be said to Soma. At first, he looked pretty average to her, but by closer inspection, he seemed adorable, like a little cinnamon roll.

'He is adorable!'

She mused in her mind, looking at Makoto, who was hungrily breathing air. It seems she overdid it with a hug.

"Anyway! I am so glad to see my little brother!"

Makoto scratched his head with a light chuckle as he stood up.

"I am even more glad to have an older sister...umm..."

"Soma, Soma Yukihira."

Makoto widely smiled. His worries were meaningless, and that was enough for him.

"Pleasure is all mine...S-Soma nee-san..."

Looking sideways, a bit embarrassed, he mustered such simple yet hard-to-pronounce words.

Soma was ready to jump in happiness. She always dreamed of having a young sibling, and now her dream was real.

She repeated the 'Soma Onee-san' part several times in her head, feeling happy about how it sounds.

Beside cooking, Soma was a sentimental person by nature. She imagined how good of a sister she would be in the near future. Millions of scenes of her and her little brother's time together flooded her mind.

Just as they were enjoying their time together, Joichiro entered in with a grilled chicken on his hands.

The atmosphere changed.

Makoto wasn't sure how to react, and Joichiro didn't know either.

Both father and son looked at each other as if trying to capture every glimpse of their bodies.

Joichiro slowly placed the chicken on the table as he got closer to Makoto.

Luckster didn't know any needed words at the moment as he tried to catch his breath.

"You..." Joichiro whispered to himself. With each step, his true father was getting closer to him—as if a huge wall separating them collapsed, Joichiro leaped forward.

A strong hand coated Makoto's arms. Unconscious himself, Makoto started to cry.

"I am sorry... I should have showed up earlier...."

With that said, son and father enjoyed the moment of glee.

.

.

.

"We didn't know what you liked, so we prepared a lot."

Makoto waved his hands with a small smile.

"No, no, everything seems appetizing. Can I try?"

Soma grinned.

"Of course you can! Stop being shy and just dig in!"

Makoto nodded.

"W-Well than...Itadakimas!"

The first thing to reach him was the rice, covered by something golden and shining.

Taking a spoonful, he eagerly placed it in his mouth.

*Throb*

His heart skipped for a moment.

An unknown kind of taste was expressed in his eyes.

"Mm~!" Makoto hummed. "The golden-colored aspic made with chicken and furikake rice are such a good duo that this makes me astonished!"

Soma and Joichiro widened their eyes.

"You figured the recipe and ingredients out just by tasting it once?" Soma said with a confused smile.

Makoto scratched the back of his head a little.

"I guess I have a talent for taste... I don't know how, but I've had a special tongue since my birth...as if I could see the ingredients and meaning placed behind them."

Joichiro took a sip of tea, looking towards his son in awe.

'Amazing. His taste buds are really highly enhanced.'

Not long after, Soma smiled.

"Hey~! Makoto~!"

The atmosphere suddenly changed.

"Wanna try my new recipe?"

It was getting creepy, and Makoto was at a loss for words.

"S-Sure....?" Was the only word he could say.

Soma then handed him a squid covered in something golden and sticky.

Makoto realized what it was—squid covered in honey.

"I don't think that it is a good idea!"

Before he could even muster a word, Soma forced the chopsticks holding the squid covered in honey into Makoto's mouth.

"Disgusting, ain't it?"

Disgusting.

Really disgusting.

Makoto was paralyzed by such a disgusting dish that, for a moment, he thought that he was molested by a giant squid.

It was so unpleasant that Makoto started to laugh.

"Haha. Haha. It is so disgusting that it is funny at this point."

Through tears and a need for water, the luckster smiled purely, which made her sister blush.

'Adorable...' she thought for a moment.

Joichiro, in the meantime, was calmly drinking his sake and eating fried rice.

"Amateur..." Joichiro calmly said he was getting Soma's attention.

"Huh?"

Joichiro took out a box from, god knows, where a strange grey solid substance covered in something sticky and red was present to Makoto.

"Since you tried Soma's food..." He said. "Try mine."

Makoto backed down.

"D-Dad...?" Luckster mustered a bit of fear in his tone.

"Yes, dear son?" Joichiro answered with a pure yet elegant smile.

"What the hell is this?"

"Oh this?" He looked towards the box for a moment and then looked back towards Makoto. "Sardines covered in strawberry jam!"

"E-Eek!?"

Ahoge crawled back, looking towards his sister with pleading eyes.

She looked at him for a moment with a roll of the eye and a face clearly saying, 'Rest in peace, dear brother. We didn't know each other for long, but I loved you.'

'TRAITOR!' Makoto screamed in his mind while Joichiro forced the spoon of sardines covered in jam into Makoto's mouth.

Needless to say, if Makoto felt that he was molested by a squid from Soma's disgusting display, this time he felt that he was brutally molested by a giant sardine.

Regardless he laughed at that and so did his new family.

The rest of the time was quite enjoyable. Loud laughter, yummy food, and Makoto in awe of Joichiro's and Soma's skill

"So you are saying you want to gain experience as a chief?"

Makoto nodded a bit, which seemed cute to Soma.

"Yes, I found food to be the main source of life. People's moods can change according to what they eat, and based on how delicious the food is, you can see how much love the chief poured into it." He smiled a pure smile with a hint of redness. "And tasting the food you prepared, I can see the love you poured into it. It makes me glad, and I thank God for seeing my sister and dad."

Soma took him into a firm embrace again, needless to say, choking him in between her bahangaloos.

Poor Luckster was at a loss for words, mainly because he was being choked.

"MMMPHPHPH!?" All red and flustered, he side-glanced towards his dad with pleading eyes.

Joichiro looked away while trying his best not to notice Makoto's gaze.

'TRAITOR!'

Luckster thought she was fading away.

Obviously, he was out of the strong hold of the crimson-haired tomboy later, grasping for air again.

Just as they were finishing their meals, suddenly the door to Yukihira's restaurant was opened wide by a swarm of people.

In the middle, wearing black suits, was a dark-violet-haired woman. She seemed confident, and all her gestures showed a strong scent of businesswoman in her.

Soma's face changed when she saw them.

"Sorry, Miss, but we are closed today."

Soma said this with a serious look on her face.

The woman laughed at it.

"Oh no, don't misunderstand. We are not here for food, in fact." She handed Soma the visit card. "Call me Minegasaki, and today I am here to-"

"I know who you are. You are one of these land sharks who come here for territory."

The woman smiled.

"Well, nowadays it's hard to maintain the quality of ingredients. I am just suggesting a good way."

Soma smirked, ripping off the visit card.

"Yukihira's restaurant always maintains a high quality of ingredients, so worry not. If we ever serve a shabby dish to our client, we will close right away."

Minegasaki just turned

"I see. Haha, you better keep your word at that." She said she was opening the door, but before she did, she side-glanced towards Makoto, who was worriedly listening to Soma and Minegasaki.

Smirking, she winked at Ahoge, making the guy tense.

'I felt a cold run down my spine...'

With that, she exited the small restaurant, leaving Yukihiras alone.

"Dad! Makoto! Bring salt!"

"Don't waste food, you brat!"

"Guys don't fight."

With that, the day ended with Makoto understanding his sister and dad better.

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Yo! It is jumbo! Well, I tried my best to make my grammar better this time, and I hope you liked it and will wait for an update.

Also regarding Makoto's skills in cooking, Well, his cooking skills are...wait, why should I tell this? Wait for another chapter to see his skills.