Senran Kagura - The stars foretold a sore relationship

Utensils for amateurs

Chapter 2: Leo - Utensils for amateurs

"When you said 'let's go on a date...' I didn't have this in mind."

"Hmm? Is something the matter, dear?"

"N-no. I'm fine..."

Early evening, Lionheart mansion.

Because such a development normally appears near the end of a romance story, I will have to apologize for getting here too soon, as I've been invited by Leo to go to her home for the evening.

The time was half an hour after school when Leo, the student council president, my senior, and now girlfriend, invited me out on a date to her father's giant mansion 'in the hopes of entertaining the bond we share,' as she so deftly put it.

After I stopped gawking at her castle-sized mansion, Leo guided me into a long room with a dinner table set for at least thirty people. Only two would be attending.

Me, of course. And on the opposite side of the table, Leo.

Leo, the model student herself. With thin, blond hair long enough to reach all the way until her legs. Or her eyes, the same colour as her own cheeks, but somehow deeper. And her amused expression, with a gaze sharper than the knife I was almost cutting myself with—

If you didn't get that last weird comparison, we were having dinner at the moment with western tableware, much to my chagrin.

"H-how does this work? Which fork am I supposed to use?"

There were at least eleven forks and knife sets next to my plate!

"For each course you use the most inner set of cutlery, dear." She said, amused.

"You use a new fork for every course...?"

Our first course was some kind of leaf with a few pomegranates and flower petals over it. I'd have a better time keeping a dry upper lip than to eat this, but my girlfriend was watching, so of course I tried anyway.

"It seems you are not quite adept at western tableware, Riku."

"I-It's that obvious? Hehehe..." I tried to make it seem like I knew what I was doing, but I never had a chance to begin with. "I'm more used to chop sticks than western utensils. You can't eat ramen with a fork, you know?"

"That is not quite true. In Europe, they eat similar dishes. Like Italian spaghetti. And they eat it with a fork. Europeans are more cultured in their taste in general. They eat our Japanese dishes with western tableware as well." Leo deftly played with the spoon in her hand, letting it circle between her fingers. "They use a spoon to drink the broth when eating Japanese ramen. Instead of just chugging down from the bowl like a barbarian."

"Right... Right! Like, totally! Stupid, right? Just... drinking from a bowl. Pah, who would do that?! I certainly wouldn't."

"Struck a chord, did I?" She smiled slyly.

"Yes, my middle name is 'barbarian.'" I confessed.

Leo chuckled. "It's fine, dear. Now you can use this opportunity to learn the finer culinary arts."

"Wow. You can describe something like eating a single leaf as grandiose as that?"

Leo gave a pitying smile. "Riku. The leaf is mere decoration. It's not meant to be eaten."

Decoration?!

What high-end chef can afford to décor his own meal?! There is barely anything else left to eat!