Chapter 19

Oboro opened the large wooden door into the apartment lobby and stepped in with us, the lobby seemed comfortable with a small bar by the large window next to the door, a fire place in the corner with multiple soft looking chairs around it, then next to that was the flight of stairs that led to the apartments.

"I see you got friends, are they from here?"

Lancy asked from the bar, shaking up a bottle of whiskey before pouring it into a few shot glasses for the patrons standing around.

"Yes, they are from here, and they're staying with me for the time being, would this impact my rent by any chance?"

Lancy laughed in his thick accent, before looking at Oboro with a small smile.

"Not at all, but they'll have to clean up after themselves."

He said, leaning back in his wooden chair, making it let out a large creak.

"Good to know."

Oboro tipped his hat before leading the group towards the large staircase leading to the apartment hallway. The wooden stairs creaked loudly under our shoes, boots or whatever we had on.

Upon reaching the top of the staircase a murky smell filled our noses like a cloud of smoke, and upon looking to the right of the door was the bag of waste material used as fertilizer.

"Eww."

Shinso said out loud while using his collar to cover his mouth and nose, which I did the same.

"I forgot about that, you'll need to empty waste into these bags at the end of every week."

Oboro proclaimed with an awkward chuckle, before we walked down the hallway away from the bag of fecal matter and towards a door on the left hand side of the hallway.

Oboro rummaged through his pockets as found his key, turning it into the lock and opening the door.

We all took a step in and looked at Oboro's apartment, it was pretty comfortable and quite spacious.

"I know, it's a little fancy, I'm a little on the richer side."

Oboro bragged, throwing off his jacket before throwing it into a basket in the corner where the rest of his clothes went.

"I didn't expect the 1600's to have this brilliant aesthetic."

I mumbled to myself as I sat on the small couch facing the fireplace, staring into the unignited darkness.

"Anyone hungry?"

Oboro popped up as he turned on the gas stove and poured some peas into a pot of boiling water.

"Yes, I'm quite hungry."

Aizawa spoke up as he sat at the small table in the corner of the room facing the window.

Oboro simply nodded with a smile as he opened the cupboards and took out a loaf of bread inside a tin can, before opening it and pouring it into the boiling water.

"You're boiling bread?"

Aizawa asked, not out of disgust but rather of interest. Oboro nodded and cleared his throat like he was about give a speech. 

"Yeah, boiling the bread makes it soft and chewy, I'm honestly surprised you haven't tried it yet."

Aizawa fell silent as he watched the peas stir in the water with the bread.

"Why in the same water with the peas?"

Oboro turned towards Aizawa again, stirring the "formula" without looking.

"Well, the scent of peas and the overall texture of bread is quite a delicious combination, and believe it or not I made it my accident."

"Accident?"

Shinso asked, leaning against the wall near the kitchen area watching Oboro cook.

"I was making pea stew when I needed carrots, but when I grabbed a few I accidentally spilled the bread into the water, but I got curious and wanted to see what would happen."

Oboro explained further before remembering something.

"Oh yeah, the carrots!"

Oboro shuffled over to a basket near the pot and took out a peeler and a small amount of carrots, then he laid them on the table and started to peel them.

"Peeling carrots?"

Shinso asked, his face deep in a book.

"You get weirder and weirder the more I watch you cook."

He joked, grabbing the wooden spoon and continued to stir the "soup" while Oboro peeled the carrots.

"Yeah, the carrot skins are like the perfect blend to go with the peas and bread, who knows, in the future I might make vegetable bread if you're interested."

Oboro said as he walked back to the pot and put the carrot skins into the water with the peas and bread, then he grabbed another tool from the basket along with a potato.

"What's the potato for?"

I finally asked, turning my head from the back of the couch, before standing up and walking towards the kitchen area where Aizawa and Shinso were now standing.

"I just peel the skins off before adding them to another pot, mind getting me one, it's in the bottom hand drawer under me."

Oboro asked as he peeled a potato. I nodded before ducking below and opening a cabinet and shuffling around until I took out a smaller black pot, I looked back up at Oboro and saw him nod.

"Yeah, that's it, thank you!"

I welcomed him, standing back up before putting the pot on another section of the stove. Oboro flicked another small switch and turned the gas stove on from another part. He then walked over to the sink before opening the lower cabinet and taking out a small bucket, putting it under the faucet before turning it on.

He returned to the stove with a full bucket of water before pouring it into the pot, and we all instantly saw a few bubbles simmer on the surface.

"Here we go."

Oboro announced as he put the potato into the pot and stirred it around with the soup in the other pot.

Eventually he turned the knobs again and turned off the stove, pouring the water into the sink.

He then walked over the cabinet and pulled out a set of 4 plates, and laid them out on the table next to the window.

"Well, I guess dinner's ready."