A Day Off [Private]

Amaya arrived at the Mizukage Complex after midday, the sun just beginning to move down from its position in the center of the sky as the pink-haired woman entered the complex and made her way to the Mizukage’s Office, wherein she would knock on the door before opening it slightly after a short pause:

“Lord Takeo,” She would begin, offering the man a smile from across the room as she emerged into the doorway. “I do not mean to interrupt, but I had a bit of a request to make…” She would say somewhat timidly while approaching the desk of the Mizukage, taking a deep breath and exhaling softly before she finally spoke again. “I know that things have been difficult in the village as of late and that most of that strain has fallen on you – So I wanted to ask,” She closed her eyes and suddenly bowed her head, extending both hands toward Takeo in which was a small sheet of paper that seemed to be a formal invitation of sorts written by Amaya herself and addressed toward Takeo. “Would you please allow me to treat you to some time away from your work, Lord Takeo?” She asked as she raised her head with a smile, still holding out the paper if he had not already taken it, waiting for the Lord Mizukage’s response to the offer.

Amaya’s previous smile would brighten considerably at the acceptance of her offer from the Mizukage, genuine happiness evident in her voice as she spoke with clarity toward the man before her:

“Yes, Lord Takeo, I am Amaya Taira of the Haya Clan – Though as you said, I am sure that you are aware of that already.” She would say, before then adding with a little nod. “I am grateful that you are willing to accept my invitation, I hope to make it worth your time.” As she spoke, Amaya would withdraw another small piece of paper from her jacket which was meant more-so for her own eyes: The paper contained a list of several restaurants and other places of interest around the village, many of which had circles or question marks beside them which marked the fact that Amaya was uncertain whether or not they would be appropriate places to offer to take the Mizukage himself on an outing. “Do you have any preference for food?” She asked, beginning to make her way to the door and waiting for Takeo to join her before leaving; otherwise, she would continue talking while remaining in the room. “I was thinking that perhaps a nice afternoon meal would do well to take off the edge of a hard day’s work,” Amaya would say as her eyes flickered onto the list and then back onto the Mizukage. “Though if you prefer, we could always take a walk around the Village – I simply want to make this day pleasing to you, Lord Takeo.” She spoke her last sentence with a softer tone than the rest, her eyes softening somewhat as she gazed upon the list. She did not seem dejected or otherwise upset, to the contrary, it seemed from her outward appearance that she was determined to ensure the Mizukage was able to enjoy a day free from the stresses of Village Administration.

Internally, Amaya steeled her resolve and assured herself that she would succeed in her mission – no matter what it took!

Amaya was admittedly a bit taken by surprise at the remark from Takeo – Was he suggesting what she thought that he was? If so… Her plans would need to be adapted a bit, but she could make this work. She would continue to walk out of the Mizukage’s Office and then from the complex in its entirety as she changed her previous route from going toward the Marketplace where many of the eateries were located and instead now began walking toward the residential area nearby where her personal Apartment was located:

“In that case, Lord Takeo…” She would say as they walked, briefly turning her head to the side in order to give the man a bright smile. “I would like to offer to make you a meal! – I may not be the best cook in the village, but I am certain that I can make something of a quality that would be acceptable to you.” She would say in a cheerful tone, her eyes lighting up with joy in tandem with her words which would seem to suggest that she was in quite a happy mood about everything.

Unless Takeo would wish to make any stops on the way there, Amaya would arrive at her apartment with Takeo in tandem and lead the Mizukage inside of the building before then making her way to her own room which she would politely present with a bow of her head and a gesture inside before entering after the Mizukage had done so out of respect for his position as well as a sort of guest rule that she chose to follow from her own Family’s teachings on manners and the like.

“Welcome to my home, Lord Takeo, I know it is not much – but it is more than enough for me,” Amaya said as she glanced briefly around her own apartment. It was mainly decorated with a floral theme: Paintings of cherry blossoms and bunches of roses lining the walls as a few actual plants were sat around the room – clearly well taken care of, judging by their healthy state. A Kotatsu sat in the center of the living area with a rose-patterned blanket covering the underlying frame and heating element, Amaya would gesture to the table in a manner that seemed to suggest she intended for this to be the place where he waited for her to begin preparations on the meal. “Make yourself comfortable, Lord Takeo, I need to find a few things in the kitchen…” She would say in a thoughtful manner before then wandering off into the kitchen unless she was interrupted in doing so.

Immediately upon entering the kitchen, Amaya would get to work in fetching several ingredients which would all be necessary in order to prepare fish along with soup and rice as side dishes. Luckily, she had gone to the market only the day prior and had all of her ingredients still fresh and ready to be used and would immediately go about removing the head of the fish and filleting several large pieces from the fish before then salting each carefully before setting it aside while preparing the oven and going to quickly turn on her rice-making appliance so that it would begin preparing the rice in tandem.

Amaya intended to prepare a simple set of dishes that were both tradition and, most importantly, easy to prepare even for someone who only really had experience cooking for themselves such as Amaya. After the oven was ready for the fish, she would place it inside before then making her way onto the next task; preparing the miso soup that would be served alongside the rice. This was thankfully an equally simple process and after combining a few ingredients she would place the soup on the stovetop and wait for it to boil before combining the remainder of the ingredients as she hurriedly stopped the rice-cooker as it let out a soft ‘beep!’ to let her know it was finished.

At the end of a somewhat intensive process, Amaya ended up with a simple baked fish that would be served as the main dish, alongside miso soup and white rice that would be served in their own separate dishes on the side as to keep the dishes apart - as was the traditional way of doing things. She had even managed to, despite the haste of it all, make a kettle of Sencha Tea that was a common enough tea that she had plenty of it on hand for the two of them to enjoy.

Wiping a bead of sweat from her brow, Amaya surveyed the meal that she had prepared with a smile and nodded to herself with pride as she gathered up each individual dish carefully and brought them to the table where she would place them in front of Takeo along with a set of chopsticks for eating the meal before she then backtracked for her own set of dishes in the kitchen and retrieving them after a few moments and returning to seat herself at the kotatsu across from Takeo after also pouring them both a glass of warm green tea that she had prepared earlier:

“Hopefully I did not have you wait too long, Lord Takeo, I wanted to make sure that this meal was my best.” She would say with a smile toward the man, giving him a brief apologetic bow of her head before then returning her gaze onto the man before her. “You deserve that much at least.” She added in a soft voice much as she had previously when suggesting that she intended to make this day worth the man’s time and that she intended to make it a good one.

“Ah, but if I have forgotten anything – Please tell me, it has been so long since I have prepared a traditional meal after all.” She would add as an afterthought, a faint hint of red in her cheeks showing she was perhaps a bit embarrassed by her own lack of culinary knowledge or maybe also the fact that she was not the typical homemaker in the sense she had barely any experience in cooking seeing as her Family had prioritized her training instead. She was not about to let that stop her from helping the Mizukage have some much-needed rest and relaxation, along with a decent meal.

After a plentiful amount of time spent at the Taira residence, Takeo finally strides out of the home. He'd been satisfied with the results of the small convening that they'd had, but now he had to get back to his own duties as Kage for the time being. Some things just seemed to never be finished, and that was the scenario with his occupation as the village's Mizukage. 'Wonder how long I'll stick in the seat.' He muses, offering a wistful sigh as he reminisces on his former desire to travel.

Unbeknownst to him, Takeo would spend another two years serving as the village's Kage, inadvertently superseding both Konami and Kotsubo in the time they spent in office.

(exit)