Tekken Short Stories

Why Lars Dislikes Nabemono

Lars went up to the penthouse after working overtime with the Tekken Force. He was really hungry since he skipped lunch. He was looking forward to dinner.
He walked into the penthouse to see Jun carrying a large pot to the floor dining table.
Jun called everyone to dinner. He wasn't really familiar with Japanese food since he grew up in Sweden. He was surprised when Jun laid only the large covered pot on the centre of the floor dining table, on top of a mini stove.
"What is this, Oneesan?" Lars asked. "What's in the pot? And it hasn't cooked yet?"
"It's Nabemono," Jun said, giving out bowls. "It's food that's being boiled in this pot. Best eaten when freshly cooked. It's basically like steamboat."
"Oh okay," Lars said, understanding. "I actually like steamboat."
The others smiled. Kazuya whispered something to Jin. Jin looked surprised, but still nodded. They were both giving cheeky grins.
Asuka was staying over too. She stayed over for a few days and joined them for dinner.
Jun sat down and Amber handed out the bowls and chopsticks before sitting down. The pot started steaming.
Excited, Jun took the lid off. They started eating.
Thing is, instead of getting themselves a portion of the nabemono into their bowls, everyone started eating straight from the pot, unlike steamboat.
Lars was confused but decided to just go with it. He tried to get some food for himself.
But to his dismay, everyone were scrambling to eat the food, not letting Lars to even take a bite.
Whenever his hand went near the pot, someone pushed him off. Even Jun was eating so quickly. Amber was quick too. Asuka wasn't helping either.
Kazuya and Jin were the worst. They kept pushing him off whenever his chopsticks did so much as just touch the pot.
In the end, everyone were talking about how full they were. Lars obviously couldn't relate. He was far from full.
He decided to see if there was anything else left in the pot.
He looked in and saw the last piece of seaweed at the bottom. Lars decided to eat that at least.
But to his dismay, Kazuya slurped it before he could bring it towards his mouth. He smirked at Lars, wiggling his brows in a mocking manner.
Lars was still really hungry. He decided to drink the soup in the pot. Obviously, that wasn't enough to quench his hunger.
Kazuya started laughing at him.
"What is it, Lars?" Jun asked, seeing Lars drink the soup. "Not enough?"
"I'm still hungry," Lars said, drinking the soup. "Very hungry..."
"How could anyone possibly feel hungry after that?" Asuka asked, surprised. "Man, and I thought I had a big appetite!"
"I didn't get to eat anything," Lars said, annoyed. "You guys flew at the pot so fast that I didn't get anything! Not even the last piece of seaweed!"
"Slow poke!" Kazuya exclaimed, laughing at Lars's annoyed face. "He couldn't catch up!"
"Well, I would've if someone didn't keep pushing me off," Lars said, getting up. "Or more like, some two. I'm gonna go order something."
He went to get his phone and decided to order some food. He ordered pizza.
"And I'm not sharing my pizza," Lars said after he hung up. "I'm gonna eat it all by myself."
He went to the living room and waited for the pizza to arrive. Jun looked at the rest of her family, a guilty look on her face.
"I kinda feel bad for Lars," Jun said sadly. "Poor thing, he's still hungry."
"We shouldn't have flew at it that fast," Amber said. "But who pushed him off? I don't think it was me."
"Wasn't me a either," Asuka said with a shrug. "I just ate."
Kazuya and Jin looked down in guilt. Jun noticed this.
"It was you guys, wasn't it?" Jun asked, shaking her head.
"It was Kazuya's idea," Jin admitted. "He asked me to join him to just poke fun at Lars."
"You guys..." Jun said, annoyed. "Poor Lars! Go apologise to him."
Jin pulled Kazuya and went to the living room. They saw Lars sitting on the sofa, waiting for his pizza with a sulky expression on his face. He was watching food videos on social media which made him even hungrier...
"Hey, sorry about what happened, Lars," Jin said, sitting down next to Lars. "We were just really hungry."
He motioned for Kazuya to say something. Kazuya sighed.
"Sorry, Lars," Kazuya said with a guilty look, but then the look vanished. "But come on, you can't blame us if you're too slow, right?"
Jin stepped on Kazuya's foot, causing him to grunt in pain.
"Okay, you weren't too slow," Kazuya said, rubbing his foot. "We were too fast."
"You just trolled me," Lars said, frowning. "You guys are so mean!"
Jin motioned for Kazuya to do something. Kazuya scratched his head, thinking.
"Tell you what, we'll take you out tomorrow," Kazuya said. "We'll treat you to lunch, okay?"
Lars nodded sulkily.
The pizza soon arrived and Lars actually managed finished the entire pizza, alone.
"Wow, he's starved!" Asuka said, pointing to Lars eating hungrily. "You guys are so mean..."
"Yeah I didn't know he was that hungry," Kazuya said, watching Lars. "Jin, why didn't you tell me he skipped lunch?"
"How did you know he skipped lunch?" Jin asked. "Even I didn't know."
"It's so obvious," Kazuya said, shrugging. "Only those who haven't eaten in hours would be this hungry."
"Poor Lars..." Jun said sympathetically. "I'm making something else for dinner tomorrow. Something that doesn't require a single serving."
"What's the point of the bowl anyway?" Asuka asked. "None of us are even using it. We just eat straight from the pot!"
"Well I have no idea either," Kazuya admitted with a shrug. "I never actually used it..."
"It's actually to avoid spillage," Jun said. "Also, you're kinda supposed to put your serving in the bowl and eat it..."
"Oh really?" Jin asked, scratching his head. "I thought it was just for deco."
"Jin..." everyone echoed.
The next day, Kazuya and Jin took Lars out to the mall. They brought him some stuff and even treated him to lunch of his choice.