Itaru Chigasaki/Journey of Blooming

IRL Cooking, Start

Backstage Stories

Part 1Part 2

Itaru	Huh?! What the hell, piss off!
Chikage	Masumi, nice assist.
Masumi	Mm.
	*high-five*
Citron	Itaru, you lost bone!
Tsuzuru	You lost "one." You've already made that mistake how many times already.
Sakuya	Itaru-san was completely unchallenged up until a little while ago... It's amazing how fast the two of them figured out the tricks to the game and beat Itaru-san!
Itaru	It's pretty cowardly for you two to target me together.
Chikage	This is one type of strategy, too.
Tsuzuru	But you know, I didn't think the KniRoun series had this kind of party game, too.
Citron	It's a party game that lots of characters from different titles appear in.
	There's a big compilation of mini-games, and it's exciting when everyone gets hyped playing~!
Sakuya	It's really fun!
Chikage	There are a lot of genres to the mini-games they put in here, too.
Citron	Which game should we play next?
Itaru	If I keep losing like this, I'm not gonna be able to accept it on my pride as a gamer. Let's have a showdown in this cooking game next!
Sakuya	This is... a game where you cook?
Masumi	It says here that it's a "Fried Onigiri Battle." Do fried onigiri even appear in KniRoun?
Citron	They're in KniRoun IX.
Tsuzuru	Let's see... Coat your onigiri in soy sauce, and at the correct timing, flip them over. Let's compete to see who can make the most within the time limit...?
Chikage	Huh, that's a pretty surprising choice.
Itaru	Truth is, I'm pretty good at this.
Citron	Then, Itaru and Tsuzuru should battle first!
Tsuzuru	Me?!
Itaru	Hehe, feel free to cower in fear at my superior fried onigiri making skills.
Masumi	Who in their right mind would cower in fear over fried onigiri making skills.
Citron	Game, start!
Itaru	Take this!
Sakuya	Amazing! Itaru-san's character is making onigiri after onigiri!
Citron	He's several times faster than Tsuzuru!
Chikage	It's true that he's good at this. But——
Masumi	... It's super simple.
Citron	It's simple.
Chikage	Very simple.
Itaru	Quiet in the peanut gallery.
Tsuzuru	The timing for this is surprisingly... Oh no, it's burnt!
	*ding, ding, ding*
Itaru	Hell yeah, crushed it!
Tsuzuru	I couldn't make anything... This game looks pretty simple at first glance, but it's surprisingly hard.
Itaru	I know, right.
Citron	It looks interesting~! I wanna play next! Let's have a battle, Sakuya!
Sakuya	I-I'll do my best!
Tsuzuru	... Ah, right. I just remembered since we're talking about cooking, but has everyone decided what they're making for that plan?
Chikage	Oh, that thing we discussed about one of the members making a meal for Director-san everyday, in coordination with the second anniversary of the theater.
Itaru	I've at least bookmarked a bunch of recipes off the internet. ——Looks like this.
Sakuya	Carbonara, lasagna, bouillabaise... Everything looks so good!
Citron	What a fancy menu~!
Masumi	... I don't think Itaru can make any of this.
Tsuzuru	Yeah, I dunno...
Chikage	Why don't you switch over to cup ramen? Chigasaki, you like that, don't you?
Itaru	Are you making fun of me?
	It's true that I usually don't cook, but if I have a recipe, I can at least make this much.
Tsuzuru	And just where do you get that mysterious confidence from?
Citron	I wanna see Itaru cooking! Make something for practice!
Chikage	I agree. How about Chigasaki makes a midnight snack while we take a break from playing?
Citron	Sounds good!
Itaru	For real?
	But, well, I'm getting kinda hungry too, and having everyone think I can only make cup noodles is kinda annoying——
	'K, then let's go to the real kitchen, then.
	Huh, it's Misumi. What're you doing?
Misumi	I got hungry, so I'm making onigiri~.
Tsuzuru	Just as you'd expect from Ikaruga-san, your onigiri are perfectly triangular as usual.
Itaru	Onigiri, huh. I've gotta be able to at least make something like this. Okay, then, our snack is gonna be onigiri, too.
Sakuya	I'm looking forward to your onigiri, Itaru-san.
Citron	Itaru, fighting!
Itaru	...
Misumi	It's not a triangle...
Chikage	It's like you just stuck a sheet of nori onto a clump of white rice.
Citron	It's slovenly.
Tsuzuru	You mean sloppy. But it doesn't matter either way.
Masumi	Frankly, it looks nasty.
Sakuya	B-But, even if he's not good at making the shape of a onigiri, that doesn't necessarily mean he's bad at cooking!
	Plus, I think what's really important isn't the appearance of the food, but the flavor.
Tsuzuru	Well, that might be true, but...
Citron	Then, I'll try it right away! Thanks for the food!
Sakuya	Thank you for the food!
	——!
Tsuzuru	So salty...!
Misumi	Salty~!
Chikage	No matter how you look at it, you used way too much salt...
Itaru	Urgh... you're totally right. Even though I made it, this is awful.
Masumi	Are you trying to make the Director sick? I won't forgive you.
Itaru	To think I couldn't even make onigiri properly...
Tsuzuru	You don't have to be that shocked.
Itaru	But I mean, even in the game, onigiri are the worst recovery item...
Chikage	You're breaking the fourth wall.
Itaru	It looks like there's no way I'm going to be able to make any of those recipes I bookmarked, either...
Misumi	Itaru, cheer up. If you practice, you'll get better at making triangular onigiri!
Itaru	You're right. ... Alright, I'll start with mastering the art of making regular onigiri.

Tsuzuru	Today's the day Itaru-san's in charge of cooking.
Citron	Itaru, have you made your onigiri?
Itaru	Yeah, I'm done.
	Before I can give them to Director-san, I was told I had to pass the Masumi Check——
	So I was thinking I'd have everyone else see the results of my training, too.
	Right, here you go. What do you think?
Tsuzuru	Ooh! The shape's kinda round, but it's a real triangle!
Sakuya	It looks delicious!
Citron	He's definitely leveled up!
Chikage	I've had to eat his practice onigiri every day, too... If he hasn't improved at all, that'd be a problem for me, too.
Tsuzuru	If it's like this, it's probably a passing mark, right?
Masumi	Wait. I'll check its taste. There's no way I'm letting the Director eat something nasty.
Itaru	Alright, then please check the flavor.
Masumi	...*munch*
Itaru	How is it?
Masumi	... It's bland.
Itaru	Seriously?
Sakuya	Really? But, I thought Chikage-san has been testing the taste every...
Chikage	I was checking the shape, but for the onigiri itself, I put my own spices on it and ate it.
Tsuzuru	Being a taste tester lost its meaning...
Itaru	Since the first time I made them, everyone said they was too salty, I was trying to be careful, but this time there wasn't enough, huh.
Citron	Oh~, it Brad-pyred on him.
Tsuzuru	Who the heck is Brad?! You mean backfired.
Chikage	So, what are you going to do now? You already made the onigiri, so all that's left is to take it to her, right?
Itaru	Hmm...
	——Wait! I've got it.
Izumi	(For some reason, ever since a little while ago, this good smell has been coming from somewhere...)
	(I'm kind of hungry. After I finish this up, I think I'll go get something to snack on.)
	*knock, knock*
	Yes?
	*door opens*
Itaru	Director-san, GW~. Here, this is for you.
Izumi	Huh, for me?
	——Wow, fried onigiri! They look delicious!
	(So that nice smell from earlier was this!)
	Is it alright to take these?
Itaru	I made them for you, actually.
Izumi	(Ah, right. Now that I think about it, everyone has been making food for me. So today was Itaru-san's turn.)
	Thank you very much. I was just feeling a bit hungry.
	I'll eat them right away.
Itaru	Feel free.
Izumi	...
Itaru	... How is it?
Izumi	... Umm, Itaru-san, you're kind of close.
Itaru	Ah, sorry, couldn't help myself.
Izumi	It's really savory and delicious!
Itaru	Hell yeah!
	ItaruL Phew, that's a relief~.
	I had no idea what I was going to do if you said, "It's not that good..." It was worth it to practice that much.
CHOICE 1: "You practiced?" [+] Izumi You practiced? Itaru Yeah. It's really lame, but I couldn't even make onigiri all that well. That's why, every day I trained diligently to be able to shape them into a proper triangular shape, but... Practicing was actually pretty fun. Izumi Is that so? Itaru I thought about a lot of things while making them, like, "I wonder if she'll be happy?" or, "I'd like her to say that it was delicious." That's why, Director-san smiling after eating my onigiri... It makes me really happy. Maybe I'll practice making other types of foods, too?
CHOICE 2: "The degree to which it was cooked is perfect" [+] Izumi The degree to which it was cooked is also perfect! Itaru That's because it's something I've trained for in the Fried Onigiri Battle. Izumi Fried Onigiri Battle? Itaru There's a game like that. Director-san, wanna play too next time? I'll teach you the tricks to playing that game, so I'd like you to teach me how to make delicious onigiri. Izumi Ahaha, that sounds fun. You've got it! Itaru Also, will you tell me what kind of flavor and filling you like in your onigiri? If you do, then I'll make onigiri for a midnight snack again. It'd be fun to eat and play together, right?
Izumi	(Hearing him say it like that is kind of embarrassing, but it makes me happy...)
Itaru	That being said, in a game it's simple, but cooking for real is super hard.
	It's for performances as well, but... Director-san, thank you for always making food for us, too.
	I seriously realized how amazing you are through this.
Izumi	I should be the one thanking you for everything.
	I'll make some delicious curry tomorrow, too!
Itaru	——Director-san's cooking that isn't curry is delicious, too. So, what about making something that isn't curry tomorrow?
	... But, well, if it's something you made, I'll eat it all gratefully, and I really do like it, so.

Kou