Capturing the Stomach
Once you capture the stomach, there’s no escape. My dream was to turn Eve’s school lunchbox into the greatest one in the entire academy. What kind of lunchbox would spark rumors all over school?
“Eve~ Want to bring your little siblings over? Let’s cook together!”
At Caramel’s bright call, Eve, Luka, and Mey all trooped into the kitchen. But the moment she saw the children, Caramel let out a low sigh she couldn’t quite suppress. We’d only been gone for about twenty minutes. In that short time, Mey’s hands were covered in crayons and a rather impressive rabbit had been drawn across Luka’s face. Eve stood between them, looking utterly lost and glancing around nervously.
“Eve~ You must be exhausted from babysitting these chaotic little ones. Don’t worry. They’re always like this.”
Caramel reassured Eve even as she began cleaning up her siblings’ latest disaster.
“I’m not chaotic! Mey did it!”
“Don’t lie. Luka asked me to draw it. I didn’t do anything wrong.”
“Both of you, quiet. Now go wash your hands properly. Especially you, Mey. Until those crayon stains are completely gone, you won’t be doing any cooking or anything else properly.”
Mey immediately pouted. “Ugh… Cooking is such a hassle. Why are we even doing this?”
“Hmmm~ Mey, you’re still little so you don’t understand yet.”
“Huh?”
“Cooking,” Caramel declared in a suddenly serious tone, “is incredible. Whether it’s a man or a woman, once you capture their stomach, they can’t cheat on you.”
“Really?!”
“Of course.”
Wait, what do you mean ‘of course’? What exactly are you teaching them?
“…Don’t teach the kids weird things.”
Look at Eve right now. She’s paying way too much attention. Her eyes are literally sparkling. After delivering that warning, Caramel tied on her apron with dramatic flair. Luka and Mey, who had just been pouting, lit up and immediately demanded their own aprons. Caramel handed each of them a child-sized one. Eve received a neat little blue apron as well. I desperately wanted to take a picture but somehow managed to restrain myself.
“By the way, sir, do you usually cook?”
“…It’s not that I don’t cook, but it’s not like I cook often either.”
“Mostly soups and pasta, right?”
“Onion soup is my specialty. Eve likes it.”
“But you can’t exactly pack cold soup in a lunchbox, can you?”
“That’s true too.”
“Hehe, then I’ll specially give you this~”
Caramel flashed a triumphant, sparkling smile and handed me several sheets of paper. …Why is she acting like this all of a sudden? She was clearly waiting for praise, so I took them curiously only to find carefully handwritten recipes.
“For lunchboxes, the most important things are that they’re easy to prepare and stay fresh until lunchtime. And since it’s for children, we can’t neglect nutrition either.”
She moved with the energy of someone who had been born for this moment, eyes shining as she explained.
“The most basic structure is a salad base, a main dish with carbohydrates and protein, and finally one snack for the palate.”
Even while speaking, she scolded Luka and Mey for playing with the ingredients and organized everything with flawless multitasking. She really did look like a proper housewife.
“You do know you can’t just chop up some vegetables and call it a salad, right?”
“Uh…? Oh, right. Of course.”
“Exactly. Salad is what provides the feeling of fullness. You need to pack it with ingredients that deliver compact, visible nutrition.”
“For example?”
“Well, a grain salad with chickpeas or lentils, tomatoes, and feta cheese. Or a cold pasta made with short pasta like fusilli or penne mixed with olive oil and chicken breast.”
The recipes weren’t particularly difficult. Boiling pasta or chopping vegetables was something even I could… probably manage. At least in theory.
The clean, refreshing aroma of a salad that soothes the stomach. One bite and your mouth feels perfectly refreshed. The distinctive scent of olive oil lingering among the fresh vegetables left a pleasant aftertaste that stayed with me for a while.
“This is surprisingly good. I think I could actually make this.”
“Right? Salads are so versatile—you can arrange them with whatever ingredients you have left over.”
“I suppose so.”
“Mashed potatoes or sweet potatoes work great too. Leftover vegetables or fruits are excellent. Instead of buying a lot of one type of cheese, I recommend keeping a variety of small amounts.”
Caramel was explaining while skillfully preparing various ingredients when the children suddenly appeared and interrupted.
“Sis! I want to use the knife too! Knife!”
“Me too, me too! I’m going to become a sword master!”
“It’s dangerous for you two. Instead, why don’t you make cookies with this dough? You don’t want to do it?”
“Cookies? Cookies?”
“We’re really making cookies?”
The magic word “sweet cookies” instantly shifted the children’s interest to the dough.
“Here’s the dough, so go ahead and knead it one by one. Do it properly~ Only then will we get delicious cookies.”
Eve and the children each received a bowl and began kneading the dough with great enthusiasm, treating it like clay. The cookie dough was rather loose, but Caramel simply let them be.
“Oh, and by the way, just buy cookies. That’s just for the kids to play with.”
“…That’s a relief. I was seriously worried I’d have to knead dough every morning.”
Meanwhile, Eve was quietly stirring her dough. Her hands moved with the careful precision of someone shaping pottery, and her small triangular mouth hung slightly open in concentration. Both Caramel and I had to fight back laughter at the sight.
“Eve’s doing well, isn’t she?”
“…I practiced a little at Nina’s house.”
Eve answered with her head bowed in embarrassment. For a brief moment, I imagined Eve as a pâtissière. …It suited her surprisingly well.
“While the kids handle dessert, shall we start on the main dish?”
“The main?”
“We can’t have Eve eating nothing but chicken breast from the cold pasta every day. She needs proper meat.”
“The chicken breast in the salad is meat.”
“……I feel so bad for Eve, having to choke down dry, chewy meat like that.”
It’s not that bad…
“Then what kind of meat dish are you talking about?”
“There are plenty of options. Um… meatballs made with a mix of beef and pork are easy. The marinara sauce is available in good store-bought versions these days, so you can just use that.”
Caramel pulled out a bottle of commercial sauce from the cupboard to show me, adding that the children especially loved it.
“If you pound chicken thin, coat it in breadcrumbs, and pan-fry it, you get chicken cutlets. Use pork and it becomes schnitzel. They taste great even when cold, and if you sprinkle a little lemon juice on them… they’re really, really delicious.”
“Are they?”
“It’s one of my favorites! Since we’re talking about it, shall we make some right now?!”
Ever quick to act, Caramel had oil heating before I could even respond. Deep-frying indoors… was she sane? But she showed no hesitation whatsoever.
Sizzle…!
She really started frying. The sound of oil meeting moisture and crackling fiercely was almost violent. The children who had been playing with dough widened their eyes and gathered around one by one. It’s said that anything tastes good when deep-fried—even boots. There probably wasn’t a single child in the world who could resist the smell of frying food.
“Come over here, one at a time.”
She drained the oil and handed out perfectly golden, crispy cutlets. A light sprinkle of wedge-cut lemon on the crunchy coating. Caramel recommended taking the first bite with no sauce at all.
Crunch!
“……!”
The moment I bit down, hot steam and savory juices burst out. The fragrant aroma of oil, the clean taste of meat, and above all, that playful, addictive texture filling my mouth—it was incredible.
“It’s delicious!”
“Yeah, yeah!”
“Sis, one more!”
“Me too, me too!”
The best part was that fried foods never failed. Watching Eve quietly waiting her turn, I decided that no matter how much oil ended up all over the kitchen, cutlets were definitely going into the lunchbox.
As if reading my thoughts, Caramel immediately moved on to the next dish.
“There are plenty of options besides frying. Even regular steak can be packed if you know the trick. Slice it into long strips like this.”
From then on, the children completely abandoned their cookie-making. They stood clustered around Caramel like baby birds, holding plates and watching intently.
“For lunchbox steak, choose a softer cut than usual so it doesn’t get tough when it cools. Toss it lightly with something like balsamic sauce to keep it moist, and it pairs wonderfully with the salad.”
The cooking continued for quite a while after that. The positive reactions had energized Caramel, so she kept making more and more. There was one incident where Luka overate and got a stomachache, but I managed to treat it without much trouble. All in all, it was an incredibly productive day.
*
By the time the sunset had painted the sky in deep orange, I was organizing the recipes with Caramel. I had left the children to play among themselves. Eve had been a bit shy around the siblings at first, but she soon joined in naturally. They had been squealing and playing loudly, but it suddenly grew quiet. Curious, I peeked in and found all three of them sprawled across the sofa, fast asleep.
It seemed like time to head home. I gently lifted Eve into my arms.
“Are you sure you don’t need to wake her?”
“It’s fine. We’ll go just like this.”
I carried Eve on one shoulder and her school bag on the other.
“Thank you for today. Thanks to you, Eve’s lunchbox is going to be much more impressive starting tomorrow.”
“If it helps Eve, I’m completely satisfied.”
“I see.”
I belatedly handed her the items I’d been holding.
“Oh, and these.”
“What are they?”
“I felt bad coming empty-handed, so I brought them. One is wine. The other is cake for the kids.”
“Aww, you didn’t have to. Really.”
“Yet you’re accepting them just fine.”
“I was taught to accept gifts when they’re offered.”
Her bold reply made me chuckle.
“Oh, and that thing about your siblings avoiding you? That was a lie, wasn’t it?”
“Huh?”
Caramel stood there blankly for a moment before bursting into laughter a beat later.
“Ahaha! No way. I scold them every day, so they grumble and complain so much…”
“Really?”
I couldn’t possibly understand everything after just one day of observation. But at the very least, she probably wasn’t as hated as she claimed.
On the way home with the sleeping Eve, the surrounding noise must have bothered her because she stirred once along the path.
“…?”
“Did you wake up?”
“Yeees…”
When she tried to get down, I smiled and gently patted her back.
“It’s okay. You have school tomorrow, so if you’re tired, you can keep sleeping a little longer.”
“………Okay.”
“I learned a lot today, so I should be able to pack a really delicious lunchbox. You can look forward to it.”
Instead of answering, I felt her give a tiny nod against my shoulder.
“………Me too.”
“Hm?”
“………Me too……”
Her voice sounded like sleepy mumbling.
“……I will.”
“…Sorry. I didn’t quite catch that.”
“…Later, when I grow up… I’ll make delicious things…… for you……”
“……For me?”
“……Yeees.”
Eve nodded.
“…Your stomach…… your stomach…… if I capture it……”
……That Caramel. She really did teach Eve something strange after all. Just wait until I see her again.
I could feel the small, warm weight shifting against my back. She seemed to be burying her face silently. Had she fallen back asleep? The walk home felt warm. Even though it was already summer.
“……Then I’ll look forward to it.”
The sound of insects is rare around here. Beneath the late-summer sunset, I nudged small pebbles along the path as we returned to our little nest. I hoped these ordinary, peaceful days would continue for a while. For Eve, and for me.