17 Chapter Eighteen: A Boisterous Chef? Yamato Watanabe!

THE DELICIOUS AROMAS THAT WAFTED THROUGH THE Watanabe household is by no means a surprising thing. If anything, it would be worrisome if there wasn't a mouth-watering smell emanating from the kitchen. The father of the family, Yamato, is a chef after all, he cooks plenty of food for his family and friends. He certainly is generous with his food as well. He'd give a stranger three full-blown meals if they even hinted at the fact of being slightly famished.

Humming a jazzy little toon, Yamato jumped around his vast kitchen cooking up a nice dinner for his children. As usual, his wife was still out at work despite it getting pretty dark out. It's disheartening not to have her around that much, though he understands that she's a working woman. She always took pride in her work and worked herself to the bone, so Yamato wouldn't complain about not having her around. Miku is doing what she loves to do, and what kind of husband would he be to complain about her work. Though from time to time, he's ready to pull her away from work every once in a while to give her a rest when she definitely needs it. Oh how he loves his hardworking, strong, independent wife!

Currently, his son was laying on the living room couch while reading one of his many mangas. Rikuto is quite the nerdy kid, something that Yamato can relate to to an extent. After all,he was a complete food nerd while he was at school. While they were downstairs, Yamato knew that his daughter was upstairs in her room. He knows that she likes to spend most of her time there. Yamato isn't certain if that's just a characteristic of her powers, where she would rather stay in a dark space alone, or it was just a teenager thing. Maybe a combination of both. It's quite obvious just how much Yamato loves both of his children. His shining, oldest daughter and his nerdy, young son are his world!

So while they relaxed and let the night consume their neighborhood, Yamato was cooking up a storm for them. This was how it was every meal time, he is a retired professional chef after all! Yamato had a very successful career as a chef. He worked for Michelin star restaurants ever since he was in his late twenties. As a young man, he was quite talented and gained the attention of many people in the culinary world. Sure, he didn't have his own restaurant during his career, but that wasn't necessarily what he wanted. He worked for his fantastic bosses and their restaurants and left his talented mark on them.

While his wife was more corporate oriented, he was more creative when it came to his career. Not to say that Miku couldn't be creative, but she was definitely the type to look at numbers and statistics rather than to decide the minute details of how something would look or something like that. Miku would rather have facts and logic than be whimsical and the like. Though perhaps that is what made them a perfect pair. The couple were somewhat polar opposites and balanced each other out pretty well.

As Yamato continued to chop up some vegetables and watched the fish sizzling in the frying pan, he thought about how amazing his wife really is. He can remember clearly the day that they met in high school oh so long ago. Yamato was drawn to how independent she was, how strong she was, and how mature she was even as a teen. There was no doubt in his mind after his first glimpse of her that he was in love with her. Sure, it took quite a while for her to accept his love, but Yamato is certainly persistent!

They both had successful careers once they left school, each the top of their fields and eventually they were married. The prestigious and workaholic entrepreneur and the talented and childish chef had tied the knot once they had established themselves and became stable in their lives. After all, with Miku's career, she was always busy keeping an eye on her business and keeping things in line with all of that. Yamato was also pretty busy but he could say that Miku's job was a tad bit more demanding since he wasn't running a business from the ground up.

Things did end up changing though when Miku became pregnant with Akari. Of course, Yamato was there to support her in whatever way he could while continuing to work. Eventually though after setting his eyes on his precious daughter, he took the decision to retire from his career to become a stay-at-home father. That had to be one of the greatest decisions he had made, right behind marrying his true love. So he spent the next few years being the best father that he could be to his children. He doted over his children excessively. They are the lights in his life! He prioritizes his family over everything else, honestly.

After pulling the last of the hot food from the pans and putting away his cooking utensils, Yamato sighed now that he had the plates of delectable looking food set out for his family. "Aikari! Rikuto! Time to eat!" He called out to his children as he sat down at the table himself. Rikuto game bounding over to the table, more than ready to devour his father's cooking. They didn't even hear Akari as she came floating down the stairs, she just appeared in the hall gliding her way to the dining table. They all settled themselves and started to dig into the delicious array of food. Sure, there was quite a lot of food, but there wouldn't be any leftovers with how Rikuto was shoveling the food into his mouth. The young boy truly was a bottomless pit. Me and him both honestly, I could eat a whole chicken and still be hungry…

Yamato shook his head worriedly at his son, "Rikuto, you're going to choke, slow down, please."

"Owkay," the boy said around his mouthful of food.

Akari grimaces in disgust, though she should be used to this by now. He's just a gremlin when it comes to how he consumes food. So she watched him in fascination while she ate her own food daintily and slowly. She can be civilized while eating her food, not like a caveman.

Yamato smiled brightly at his kids, his baby blue eyes were large as he chomped on his dinner. He asked them, "How were your days at school?"

"Nothing special." Akari said lightly while she shrugged her shoulders. Really nothing had happened at school that was totally noteworthy. It was the usual, normal day with everyone being idiots and her and Kusuo being annoyed by it. 

Rikuto swallowed his food, "Same here, other than having a big test, I think I failed it."

Yamato tsked at his son, "Don't be so down about it, son! As long as you try your best, we'll be more than proud of you." He knows that his kids are smart, some of the smartest kids out there! Maybe he just thought that because he was their father, or they really are smart, it's a bit unclear. Either way, Yamato knows that his children are quite intelligent. Whether that's intelligence revolving around school or something else, they are some bright kids.

Akari idly took a small bite of her dinner and said, "If you studied instead of focusing on your manga, then maybe you wouldn't be so unsure."

Rikuto bristled, "Wha! Hey! I studied enough for it! I don't only focus on manga, you know?!" He huffed harshly at being called out by his sister. Though was she right? Most likely. After all this kid would spend all hours after he finished his school work reading and rereading the mangas that he has piled up in his room.

"Oh," Akari blinked, "I thought that was your one personality trait."

"Shut up!" He exclaimed before stuffing his face more with food and muttering to himself about his rude sister. There was plenty more to him than just being an otaku! He's a complex middle schooler with many interests and feelings! Just gotta have MJ write more chapters to really flesh out Rikuto and stuff. Maybe then we'll see more of this family and who they really are. I promise these people aren't just one dimensional.

Akari disregarded her sulking brother and turned to her father, "How was your day, dad?"

"Same old, same old." Yamato chuckled at his childrens antics, "I got plenty of errands done today!" He was quite proud of himself for doing that. Yamato did plenty of shopping, hung out with some old friends and even cleaned up the house just a tad. He had quite the productive day while his kids were at school and his wife at work! The retired chef now has plenty of time to do basically anything he wants while being a stay-at-home father. When the kids were younger, there was a bit more to do since he had to take care of them. Though now his son and daughter are getting older and proving to be more capable of taking care of themselves, which means more time for Yamato to do as he pleases most of the time. They will always be his babies and he will dote on them as such, but he can't deny them growing up into a young man and woman.

The three then heard the sound of their front door opening and the clicking of heels entering. A heavy sigh emanated from the doorway as it shut harshly. It seemed like Miku had returned home. It was far too early for Miku to have come back, after all it was only nearly seven at night. Most of the time she would return home well after midnight. So this was more than a surprise, one that was more than welcomed.

"Welcome home!" They all yelled out to her.

Yamato was at his feet in an instant. He began to dote on his wife while jumping around like an overzealous puppy. "Oh my darling! Let me take your things, please sit. You must be tired after such a long day at work." He collected her blazer and bag to put away as she walked and sat down at the dining table. Yamato made quick work of fixing her a plate of food as she settled herself in. After all, she works so hard, and he always wants to treat her like a queen when she comes home after a hard day at work. He thinks that she deserves it with her work.

Miku huffed, "it wasn't that long. We were able to settle a deal with an overseas company earlier than planned, so I thought it best to come home a bit early as well." While her job was 

Rikuto jumped up in joy with a thumbs up, "Good job mom!" Besides him, Akari nodded her head in agreement. Both of them were more than glad to have a mother who was as smart and amazing as her. How many kids could say that their parent was a successful entrepreneur? 

She let out the barest of smiles at the pride from her family. Miku loves her family, even if she may not seem to show it all that much. She is a tsundere through and through. Never really outwardly showing her emotions to others, including her family, but she was bursting with it. Sure, she keeps up a blase, blank expression most of the time but she isn't as emotionless as some people think. 

A plate of food was placed in front of her as Yamato planted a sweet kiss on the side of her head. He gave her a wide, proud smile as he sat across from her and continued to take bites out of his food. Yup, Yamato was over the moon now. Not only was he getting to hear about how his children's days were, but his wife was home early. Oh, it was wonderful!

He loves his family. So so so so much! Every moment in his life had led him here, and there is no way that he could ever complain about it. An amazing wife, two sweet kids, and a pretty relaxed life. It's just perfect for him!