Private Dunnstads Forget Forgetting

[Yugam]

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Amnesia.

A convenient way to create a mysterious character, or avoid filling out a bunch of backstory, sure, but for the character's of one's life, it could be a real problem. A problem that could be made worse by general forgetfulness. Worst of all, when it was the main character of one's life. Themselves.

One such character was Yugam. Half his life, nothing more than a vague fog in his mind, the other half, filled with holes thanks to poor memory. Some might consider such an affliction to be a blessing. Forgetting his mistakes, all the things in his life he might be better not remembering. But for Yu, and other's like him, it was pain. Or perhaps it was more accurate to call a longing, or a ceaseless endeavor. A desire to recover one's pass, and relearn who and what they were, even if they were better off not knowing.

Today's challenge, however, was not nearly as grim, nor was it even an attempt at philosophizing about what the past means for humankind. Today's challenge was just about what to fucking eat for dinner.

Yu grumbled quietly to himself as he paced back and forth between food stalls, knowing that there was something that he had meant to pick up for his dinner. Some ingredient that he was missing. Except he couldn't conjure up just what this godforsaken ingredient was! Yu pulled out the small journal he kept in his coat pocket, flipping through the pages, hoping against hope that he had written it down, but no joy. "Fuck," Yu groaned to himself, snapping the leather bound book shut in frustration. "Okay, I guess I can just go buy everything..."

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

She'd written a list. She knew she'd written a list... So where in the name of the Gods did she put it!? Harukami stood still at the entrance of the marketplace, pale as if she'd seen a ghost- and she did see one, laughing hysterically in her general direction.

She tried her best to remember what she needed. Running up to a stranger that had just closed a book with a frustrated face, the woman asked. "U-Um! C-Can you help me? I-I can't find my s-shopping... thingy... T-The thing you write down... I know I did... Uh..." She was as awkward as molasses.

"List! It's called a list!" She clapped her hands as she finally remembered the word. "I-I was going to make... Wait... What was I going to make?" This was bad. If she didn't know what she was supposed to be cooking, then she couldn't guess the ingredients she needed, or anything else. "I-I swear I knew a minute ago!"

Frustration set in as she tapped her foot swiftly against the ground, putting on her thinking hat. Nothing came to her. She bowed apologetically. "I-I'm sorry for bothering you! I-It seems I don't n-need anything after all. B-Because I can't remember why I came here... Again..."

What she wasn't going to admit? She'd come to the market two other times that day, with a new shopping list each time... And every time left empty handed, forgetting why she came in the first place. "M-My memory is... well... bad."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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It wasn't but a moment after Yu had stashed away his journal that a frantic girl ran up to him. The man wasn't sure at first if he was about to be suckered into some kind of dark alleyway and mugged, or if she was in serious trouble, but a surprised look flashed across his face all the same.

After her panic had finally subsided enough for her to string together a coherent sentence, Koga let out a wry chuckle. "You too, huh?" the man asked. Well, good to know he wasn't the only one with the memory of a chimpanzee. "I came here trying to buy some ingredients for dinner, but, for the life of me, I can't remember what I needed," he admitted, letting out another chuckle. "I thought I'd written it down, but, no luck." What a pain in the ass his memory was.

"Uh, do you know what you were going to make? Nothing wrong with buying some extra ingredients right? So long as you use them eventually. I don't think the game has a food spoilage system...does it?"

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

"I think I knew when I was coming here," She said, mostly coherent for a change of pace. Having someone relate to her memory problems seemed to help relax her a bit, so her stutter went down. "Um... Hm... M-Maybe I'll just make uh..." She put a finger to her chin. "Curry...? I don't um, think that was my original p-plan but..." Her stutter came back as she tried to remember, but everything had faded from her mind.

She wasn't sure if there was a spoilage system for food, as she thought about it. She usually only used recently bought ingredients, though. Mostly because they were very slightly easier to remember she had than things she'd bought a week before.

"W-Would you like to join me? S-Since it sounds like we're in the same boat... I-I like cooking for, um, other people. My mom says I should s-study to be a chef instead of a um... what was it called...? Jeez, even my line of work fails me... I know it's something science... Nerve science? No, that's not it... It has to do with the brain..."

Finally, the neurons clicked in her head. "Neuro! It's neuroscience!" She smiled broadly. "I, um, was inspired... by my memory. It's a little, er, bad, so... I-I wanted to study why." With a polite bow, she decided to introduce herself.

"My name is Haruka...mi." She'd almost forgot the 'mi' at the end mattered. "I-It's nice to meet you, sir."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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The girl seemed to have calmed down at this point, at least enough that she was able to speak without stuttering too much. Still, the man wondered if she was always such a nervous wreck. "Sure, curry sounds great," Yu answered back with a kind smile, doing his best to not make the girl any more uncomfortable than she already appeared. "I'm Yu, nice to meet you," he said, offering a hand for her to shake, before turning back to the market to get whatever the hell went into curry. As much as the man liked to cook himself, he'd never actually made curry himself.

"So, neuroscience, huh?" the man asked, making some conversation as he let the girl take the lead, unsure of what they needed. "You must be pretty smart then. That kinda stuff makes my head spin." To say that biology was not Ari's strong suit would've been an understatement. That and chemistry, which the man was only about 40% certain was included in neuroscience. "I'm lucky my biology teacher liked me, back in high school," the man commented, only able to conjure up vague snapshots of his sophomore year of school. "Or at least I think he did...I must've passed somehow, anyways. Don't think they woulda let me graduate if I hadn't."

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

At first, Haruka was confused by the gesture for a handshake- but she finally remembered that was the common trend of etiquette in other countries, and quickly gave her hand to the shake as well. "I-It's nice to meet you, Yu. Let's g-get along well."

The idea of making curry had her calming down a bit, but so did the man's kindness. So, for at least a moment, her stutter had seemed to clear up- but her forgetfulness came from trauma, and that trauma was part of why she feared others. So, it was never completely gone.

"I'm, um, not that smart..." The woman soon said shyly. "I s-study because... I want to understand myself." With a gentle fist, she knocked lightly on her head. Yeah, Haruka, real smart. Hit your head that's already scrambled! Or least, those were the words she thought to herself for a short moment, before forgetting who she was mimicking in her head. Was it her mom or her sister? Probably her sister.

"I-I don't know how I passed either," she said with a stifled laugh. "My memory, um... isn't good? N-No matter how hard I study, m-memorization is basically hopeless. I still forget how to open the palm menu sometimes..." She tested to make sure she remembered. "Okay, um... Curry! Right! Ingredients for curry..."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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"Mm, I get that," Yu responded to the comment about trying to understand one's self. "Whether it's one part, or the whole, I think everyone wants to understand themselves. Maybe not so much others but uh..." the man started to chuckle nervously, rubbing the back of his neck as he did so. "Sorry, maybe now's not the time to wax philosophy," he apologized, before allowing the girl to shift the subject of their conversation.

And for Yu's part, that started with another short laugh. "Well, I hope you don't forget how to open the UI, you gotta log out eventually," he said, a humorous grin on his face. The girl's face lit up for a moment as she suddenly remembered once more that they were looking for ingredients for dinner. "I'll let you take the lead here," Yu said, "I've never actually made curry before so I'm not really sure what goes in it."

"Well, whether your memory is good or not, you still graduated, and you're doing the thing you want, right?" he said, diverting back to the topic at hand as he paused a moment to examine some strawberries. "That counts for something. And, your brain pulled through for you when it mattered most. Or maybe you pulled it through, I dunno."

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

Haruka smiled sheepishly. So, she was normal to worry about understanding herself? That was great news to the girl who always felt threatened by her unusual nature. His conversation point was appreciated, until she got confused by a small bit of wording. "W-Wait, waxing philosophy? L-Like waxing floors?" She paled realizing that was probably not what he meant.

"I-I can remember that! M...Most of the time..." She laughed nervously. Just the other day, she'd forgotten where the log out button was, when it was right in front of her. It led her to being late to class, because she spent too long trying to log out before one of her lessons.

"C-Curry is easy to make. I-I once made a curry-like soup too in this w-world. It was yummy." This time, though, she'd find a way to make normal curry- or so she told herself, when she noticed the man scanning strawberries. "Um... I-I've heard of people making c-curry with strawberries. Did you want to try it?"

Normally, Haruka preferred apples in her curry to sweeten it, but she figured trying something new wouldn't be too bad. She skipped over to a stall selling seasonings to get some various spices that would warm up the flavor nicely. "I-I did my best, yes. I-I think I relied on my um... Sister a lot." She wanted to hit her head on something. She managed to forget the word 'sister'? Really? "B-But you're right. I get to learn what I want now... It's very hard, but... I-I'm really lucky for that."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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Yu chuckled, a mirthful smile on his face as he looked at the clearly confused girl. "No, no, 'wax philosophical', it means to talk about things in a profound or philosophical way," the man explained. "I only heard the phrase for the first time a little while ago, I guess it just kinda stuck."

"Curry soup? Huh, I'm gonna have to try that one day," Yu said, then pulling out his little journal again and jotting down a short note. "Hmm?" the man hummed, realizing that Haru's question was being addressed to him. "Oh, no, we can do whatever you'd like, I trust you," the man replied as he tucked the journal back into his coat. He then reached down and picked up a small bag of the strawberries, and gestured to the girl, "But maybe for dessert?" he said, "It's been a while since I had some good strawberries. And besides, I should repay your kindness somehow. Do you like strawberries?"

"Oh, you've got a sister?" Yu would ask curiously, "what's she like?" Yu didn't have any siblings of his own, so he'd never been treated to the trials and tribulations of siblinghood, but he'd always wanted a little sister or something. It would've been nice to talk to someone when he was a kid. Or just someone who'd be there for him after she'd died. Maybe he wouldn't have all these memory issues if that'd been the case.

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

"Ah, I see!" A soft giggle escaped her as she smiled. "Thank you. I've learned something new."

Haruka was a bit calmer now that she was learning something. Her studious side tried to repeat the information over and over in her head, to the point her stutter seemed to vanish mysteriously for a short stint. Alas, that didn't last.

"I-I can make it for you someday! I was surprised i-it came out so well." A soft smile graced her gentle features. She felt a bead of sweat roll down her cheek slightly, face heating up. She'd just tried to make a future plan with him? Really? They'd just met! How embarrassing was she? But this was how Haruka got when it came to cooking for others.

"I love strawberries!" The girl soon exclaimed with a smile. "The sweet ones especially." She picked up some apples and vegetables for the curry with a discerning eye- not much of one, but slightly.

As she was selecting ingredients, he asked her about her sister. "We're twins," she soon explained. "Ts-Tsuko is really sweet... A bit over-protective perhaps, but... S-She's always there for me, reminding me things. S-She's really cool, too. She's smart, a little silly at times, and very cute. U-Um... W-What else should I say about her, I wonder...?"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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A small nod was given in return for Harukami's gratitude, although the brief lapse in stuttering did not go unnoticed by the man. The first instance of clarity with the girl. Hopefully she'd find a way to hold onto that, one day.

"Sure," Yu replied, another soft smile. "I won't say no to good food. We could always try making something new with each other sometime too," he offered figuring that since they both liked to cook, it was an easy excuse to get to know each other better. "Do you have any style of food in particular that you like?" he asked. "I gotta admit, my range of cooking is pretty limited, but hey, that's what trying new things is for, right?"

At the indication that girl liked strawberries, the man took another look at the bag in his hands, checking to see if they were ripe, and that there were none that were spoiled. Satisfied with his selection, he handed some coin to the merchant and turned back to Harukami so that they could continue with their groceries. "Sounds like you're a lucky gal," the man said as they walked, in response to Harukami's description of her twin. "You two sound pretty alike. Apple doesn't fall far from the tree?"

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

Haruka's smile warmed up slightly as he mentioned trying to make new things with each other. Was she perhaps making a new friend? The thought made her happy, so she got a slight skip in her step as they moved on in their grocery shopping. "My r-repertoire is mostly traditional Japanese foods. I'm trying to learn more western cuisine, but... It's harder than it looks..."

She laughed a bit, timidly. It was especially hard because there was a lot to remember in her opinion. Japanese style cooking was something she'd practiced all her life.

"I'm very lucky..." She smiled softly, but then blushed when she was compared to her sister. "W-We're not that alike. Sis is amazing..." Her smile was a little sad. She wanted to be more like her sister- more outgoing, more direct, more confident. The only thing Haruka could do well was cook and clean. "But... I admire her a lot. I want to be more like her someday."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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"My repertoire is 'throw shit in a pan and hope it tastes good," Yu joked, the small smile blooming on Harukami's face encouraging him to go on with his honestly awful jokes. "So you got me beat already." That and really he was just good at following recipes. Lay out a process in front of the man, and he'd follow it to a T.

The smile quickly began to fade though, as Harukami began to speak about her sister. And though Yu was probably ass at trying to cheer people up, he was honest. "My opinion? Be more like you," the man said simply. "It's fine to work towards of version of you you still love, just...try to make sure you're not just idolizing, or mimicking someone else. Doesn't matter who you become if you're not gonna be true to yourself," Yu said.

"Oh, should we get some drinks while we're here?" the man suddenly asked, spotting a merchant with crates of bottles which could only presumably be alcohol. "I wonder what the wine here tastes like. Oh! Maybe they have souju!"

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

Haruka giggled a bit at his joke, unaware it was a joke. She took it quite literally. "M-Maybe I can teach you sometime?" Sure, she had a stutter and a bad memory, but she was a pretty good teacher when she remembered what she was doing. "C-Cooking can be complicated, but..."

He then began giving her an unexpected pep talk. "N-No, I just meant I-I want to be as r-reliable as her! M-My sister is so strong... S-She's always had to protect me. I-I don't intend to c-change myself entirely, but... I-I've always felt a distance from her, b-because I'm scared e-easily and I-I'm not very strong, um... m-mentally? e-emotionally? O-or rather, at all?" Her timid laughter was perfectly obvious as she stared down at some carrots she was sifting through to buy.

"T-The things I love will never change... A-And I don't apologize for them like I used to, but... Still, I..." Her gaze moved to her feet, then to stare at him with a determined expression. "I'm going to get stronger! S-Strong enough so Tsuko doesn't have to protect me a-all the time!"

Her grin grew broader again, especially at the mention of drinks. "A-Ah! I can't drink normally, b-because it's bad for the brain," Haruka chirped. "B-But I drink beer once in a blue moon. Just one should be fine for me."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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"That could be fun, yeah, we should do that some time," Yu replied, "always wanted to learn how to make sushi. Oh, or ramen." Though to be frank, Yu had never felt like he had the time or energy to learn the craft. Not having grown up in Japan, Yu was well aware that there was a lot of etiquette and traditions surrounding some foods that he just didn't know anything about. True, maybe they didn't really matter if you were out of the country, enjoying the dish, but for some reason, Yu could just never bring himself to learn to cook something without learning the culture that surrounded it too.

Harukami's emphatic response to Yu's attempt at a pep talk honestly made the man smile. It was nice to see someone who still had some kind of genuine hope for what the future held. For themselves, not for anyone else. "Good," was his simple response. "I hope you get there one day."

"Alright, just one beer," Yu then said, going over to the stall full of drinks and peering at the bottles. "Pick something out, it's on me." he said to Haru, before picking out an apple ale for himself.

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

Haruka didn't know about Yu's policy about learning the culture that surrounded a dish. If he'd told her, she'd probably have giggled a bit- not at him, of course, but in pleasure that someone cared so much for her homeland's cultural integrity. "I've never made sushi," she thought to herself aloud. "B-But I know how to make ramen... I-It'd be nice to make some mochi, too..."

There were a lot of things Haruka liked to make at home. Living in the countryside of Japan, she learned to make a lot of the foods you'd get more at restaurants in the city so that she could actually eat them. Crepes, okonomiyaki- there were lots of foods she wanted to make in this new world.

With any luck, though, she could learn to make this world's cuisine in their world too. Then she could make it for her sister, without her sister ever stepping foot in Terrasphere.

To Haruka's surprise, she found a bottle of ale that looked and smelled like a light beer. She took one out and asked for it, before smiling brightly to Yu. "Thank you very much."

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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"I've only had mochi once. I really like the fruit flavored ones," Yu said, "Is it not complicated to make?" the man asked, having originally thought it was a fairly involved process. Making the wrap and the stuffing the filling in there, it all seemed rather difficult to Yu. But, maybe he was just ill informed. Then again, he'd never really been much for sweets. Ice cream was really one of the few sweets Yu actually liked to some degree, so he'd never really had the desire to make mochi to begin with. Still, it could be fun to make it with someone else.

Purchasing the two bottles, Yu nodded to Harukami. "Yeah, of course. Like I said, you're cooking for me, least I can do. Anyways, what else do we need to get?" Yu asked, looking at the girl expectantly. At this point, Yu was just along for the ride. Drinks, dessert, two of three bases covered, but the most important was yet to be completed.

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

Haruka had a bit of a confused expression. "I-I meant plain mochi... T-They're a type of rice cake. V-Very soft, and g-good for lots of things. Y-You can put all sorts of fillings in it though, I suppose. I was mostly th-thinking of making zoni when the new year arrives. It's soup with mochi and vegetables."

Thinking it over, she chimed, "W-What kind of fruit do you like in mochi, Yu-kun?" Without thinking, she'd added a friendly honorific. She did this probably because she was thinking of her home and culture. If she had been seen by her mother calling him just 'Yu', they'd be mistaken for a couple. That would surely embarrass him.

Haruka looked in her basket of goodies to see what they needed. She couldn't remember if she had rice at home, so she bought some that was surprisingly being sold, though it wasn't seemingly common nor had it been easy for her to spot. "I think, um..." She started taking inventory of all the things she'd bought- seasonings, carrots, some meat, potatoes... "I forgot onions!" She gasped, running to find some onions and apples. When done, she ran back to Yu, thankful she hadn't forgotten his handsome face. Not that she thought he was handsome! Okay she did, but it didn't matter much. She'd forget she thought it in the first place soon anyway.

"I-I think we have everything now." Then, she remembered something important. Or rather, realized she'd forgotten something. "...Which way was the house I rented...?"

@Yugam

 

[Yugam]

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"Oh, I've never tried those before," Yu said, trying to imagine these rice cakes. "I've had tteok-bokki before, so like, korean rice cakes in this...spicy? Yeah, this kinda spicy and sweet sauce. I loved the rice cakes, the sauce not so much. Are they anything like that, if you know?" He had, on the other hand, heard a version where the sauce was replaced with black bean sauce. That was one the man was very eager to try.

"Mmm, mango, for sure," Yu answered the girl, hardly taking note of the use of the honorific. Not that he really understood how those worked if he had. "To be honest, I just kinda found one that I liked and I've stuck to it. You? You've probably tried more of them than me."

Yu sat back and watched as Harukami began rushing back and forth between stalls, rapidly grabbing up all the ingredients that they needed. She was surprisingly fast, even carrying everything that she was. When she was finally came back with a beaming smile, reporting that she had everything, except...

"...Which way was the house I rented...?"

Ohhh, not good.

Yu looked down one way, and then the other. "Uh, I dunno about your place, but we could always go find a tavern with an open kitchen right? Maybe we could use one of those?"

@Harukami

 

[Harukami]

"I've never had Korean c-cuisine..." Haruka said sadly. "I-It's not very popular where I live. We eat mostly traditional Japanese food and some western food I learned to cook when I was younger." She pondered what Korean rice cakes might be like, but paled when she heard they were spicy. "S-Spicy...? Rice cakes? I've never, erm, heard of that, so..."

"I see, so Yu-kun likes mangos... S-Should we have bought some?" She paled at the thought of going back into that marketplace, where she'd been multiple times and kept forgetting things. Instead, she focused on trying to remember the way to her house.

"I prefer to use my own kitchen, where I know where everything is. I think it's..." She jumped as she saw a cat pass by. "T-That cat, it's my neighbor's. Maybe we can follow it home? Here kitty, can you lead me home?"

The cat nodded, seemingly, and ran off. Harukami ran right after it. "Yu-kun, hurry up! It's this way, the kitty says!"

@Yugam