Cooking

I woke up in my room, apparently, I fell asleep at my desk. I look around and see that Sakuta and Yuzuru are still sleeping. I look at the clock and it was 8 AM. The sun is just rising. I get up from the chair, my back was hurting a bit, probably because I fell asleep in an uncomfortable position. Apparently, the photos have finished uploading to the computer a while ago, but no one bothered to close the laptop. Most of them were sunsets, but recently I started to take pictures of small things, like bugs. I hated bugs, but something about seeing them up close was interesting.
I silently move around the room, I don't want to wake up anyone.I change my T-shirt and put I put on a jacket on top of it. After I was all dressed up I exit the room. The school was silent. It looks like no one had woken up yet. This silence is not something you came upon everyday. I really don't have anything to do I suppose. I should feed the cows, I think it was my turn anyway. I make my way down the stairs, thru the hallway and I finally arrive outside. It seems colder than usual. I guess winter is coming, it will be December in a few days after all.
We kept the cows behind the school. We made some stables inside the football field. The football field was occupying half of the terrain we had behind the school. The rest of the space had grass growing on it. For that reason, we didn't have to worry about what we should feed the cows. But because winter was nearly here the grass stopped growing. So we had to switch to hay. Being a rural area a lot of people had hay in stables. So, one day we attached a dray to the car and started looting the general area. But that's a whole different story. We deposited the hay in a building next to the football field. That building was originally a kindergarten.
With the freezing breeze keeping me company I arrive in front of the football field. I first enter the building where we keep the hay. But I, unfortunately, realize that the hay is running out. Not a problem now, but in a month we will need to restock.
With the help of a pitchfork, I give the cows a considerable amount of hay. The place we kept the cows smells horrible. The place needs some clean-up. Sakuta collects the droppings every week. I guess I should inform him about that, but I am sure he won't be pleased.
I also go to check the pigs, but it seems they had enough food from yesterday. Their place was in need of some cleaning as well. Another surprise for Sakuta I guess.
There really wasn't anything else to do, the cold became more and more, let's say intense. So I started to head back to the school. I made my way through the freezing air again. 15 seconds later I was at the door. As soon as I enter the building a warm feeling envelops me. It felt like it was warmer than before. Either it seems that way because I just returned from that freezing temperature, or someone added some wood to the fire. I walk towards the stairs, and, my theory was correct because I spot Akira.
"Good morning. " I say.
"Good morning, you really are up early." She replies.
"I suppose I am, I wanted to feed the cows. "
"It was your turn today? " She asks.
"I think so, but I am not really sure. " I reply.
"I think it was my turn today. But what's done is done, thank you anyway. " She said.
" What do you mean thank you? You're gonna return the favor." I say.
"We'll see about that..." She replied with a smirk.
I throw her a glance that was saying: Are you serious?
"Are you hungry?" She asks ignoring my glance.
"I was waiting for you to say that it was a joke, but I see you really want to change the subject. " I reply.
"We'll talk about that some other time, but I want you to reply to my question, are you hungry?"
"A little bit."I say.
"Then should we cook something?" She asks.
"You imply that I should cook something? " I ask.
"I can help you a bit. " She said.
"I know very well what helping a bit means. " I say.
"What do you mean by that?" She asks while knowing very well what I was talking about.
"For you helping a bit means judging me from a safe distance."
"It's good criticism, almost like giving you advice." She said.
"You need to know something about the subject to give advice in the first place. I reply.
"All you do is keep me hungry, let's go already." Akira says.
I admit defeat. That's how it is sometimes.
We both head for the kitchen. The kitchen is also the boiling room.
The layout is as follows: a gas cooker in a corner, next to that the sink is located, and, next to the sink is a fridge. There is also a window. Next to the window, on the right-hand side, there is a sofa, a table, and some chairs around the table. We have a kitchen counter as well. On the kitchen counter, there was a microwave and a toaster. And in the other corner of the room, the boiler is located.
"What will we cook?" Akira asks.
"All we have is the canned green peas I found with Yuzuru and some other vegetables." I reply.
"Didn't we have a recipe book around here?" I ask
"It's on the table, are you blind?" She replies.
"I may as well be."I reply.
"What can we even do with these ingredients?" She asks.
"That's why we need the recipe book, are you stupid?" I reply.
"I know this is revenge for calling you blind but it still sounds aggressive." Akira says.
"Anyway, I found a recipe, but we don't have all the ingredients, I guess we can improvise." I say.
"How bad can we mess up anyway?" She says.
"I have the feeling that you just jinxed us." I say.
"So, I will chop the carrots and onions, you can take care of the garlic, can you handle it?" I explain.
"Who do you take me for?" She replies irritated.
"If you say so." I reply.
After about thirty seconds, in which only the sound of vegetables being chopped could be heard, Akira asks.
"Did you fully recover after...you know, the situation with your father?"
"It's a bit of a sudden question, I guess I am fine, I accepted that he was dead a long ago, but seeing him in that state was a bit of a shock." I reply.
"I see."
"Well, the same thing can be said about me. I accepted that my whole family is dead, but I don't think I am ready to see them just yet." She explains."
What followed were ten seconds of awkward silence. The conversation took a dark turn fast, so I think we should get back on the subject of cooking.
I add some oil to a pot and turn on the gas cooker.
"Is the garlic ready? I ask.
"I guess it is. She replies.
"You guess?. I ask again.
"It will sound like I know what I am doing if I would've said yes."
I throw at her a slightly puzzled glance.
After that, I take carrots, onions, and garlic from Akira, and I add them to the pot with some water. And finally, I put the great peas with some tomato juice.
"I see you don't follow the recipe at all." Akira observes.
"It is a bit different from the book, but taste matters anyway." I say.
"Whatever, so what we do now?" Akira asks.
"I suppose we wait." I reply.
We both sat down on the sofa.
"And what do we do if it tastes like shit?" Akira asks.
"We would die of starvation." I say.
"Sometimes you are way too realistic." Akira says.
I wanted to say something but I am interrupted by Yuzuru.
"What are you two cooking?"
Yuzuru enters the kitchen, followed by Mei, Shihoru, and Sakuta.
"Improvised green peas soup." I say.
"I am hungry, so I won't be picky." Sakuta says.
"Good to hear." Akira replies.
Everyone takes their seat.
"Hey Hiro, you should mix up the soup." Akira says.
I get up from the sofa and I mix with a spoon the content of the pot.
"Hey, how much do you think this soup will last?"Mei asks.
"Depends on how hungry you are, but if we eat moderately for about three days." Akira answers.
"That means the soup has more water than vegetables." Yuzuru says.
"That might be sadly true." I say.
"That means we will need to go for another ride, Hiro. Yuzuru says.
"You might be very right." I respond.
"I think it's ready." I say.
I turn off the gas cooker. I take the pot to the table and with a ladle, I put some soup on every plate. We all eat the first spoon of soup.
"There is truly more water than soup." Sakuta says.
"You said you won't be picky." Shihoru says.
"It also needs some meat, pork chop will be awesome." Sakura added.
"By the way Sakuta, the pigs need some cleaning." I say.
"Can you please not talk about this while we're eating?" Akira says.
"That's it, pigs, we could kill one of the pigs." Yuzuru says.
"I guess winter is coming." I say.
"We can also use the flamethrower." Akira says.
In this area, the slaughter of the pig is a whole operation. First, you kill the pig, obviously. Then, you get a small flamethrower and you start burning the pig's skin. After a while, you clean the pig of all the carbonated skin. You are left with cooked pigskin. After that, you cut the skin. It's actually quite good. The rest of the pig is cut into fragments and put in the freezer. This is traditionally done in the winter.
"I actually slaughtered some pigs in my days." Sakura says proudly.
"Seriously?" Mei asks.
"Well, I helped my dad with one." Sakuta says.
"I figured so." Yuzuru says.
"What do you mean by that! It's not like you know how to slaughter one!" Sakuta shouts.
"I guess you didn't shout for a long time, I was starting to think something happened to you." Yuzuru responds.
"Let's get back to the pig please!" Akira says.
"What is there to add? We can kill it today and that's it." I say.
Everyone nodded.
"It's settled then." I say.