We finally got to meet Rintaro’s dad!!!! Oh man, I’m SOOOOOOO glad we got to meet him so soon! Rintaro really does take after his sharp eyes, but he definitely has his mom’s softness in personality!
It turns out the reason why we never saw him until now was that he was always either cooped up in the kitchen or sleeping when he could. He’s the one who’s leading the charge of producing all the cakes for the shop as a professional patissier, including the assorted cakes that they gave to his friends when they were over. The man comes off as a bit gruff, but you can see he cares for him as much as Kyoko does, and is happy to see him smiling more.
That said, it was so sweet to see Rintaro ask his mom for advice– though it involved seeking recommendations of OTHER pastry shops rather than their own! Her reaction was priceless, but he did have a good reason for it. But thanks to that, it gave her the idea to suggest he should just bake a cake himself, and with his dad’s guidance no less! And it was as she said: It didn’t matter how tired to how tired he was. His dad was more than willing (and was excited) to teach him. As result, it lead to very funny results, that involved Rintaro being deadass tired at school to the point it was worrying his friends! They couldn’t help but wonder how practising making cakes could make one so exhausted like that! Well, his dad is putting him through special training, but they don’t know that part of it hahaha!
Nevertheless, it’s an understatement to say it was so wholesome to see his dad super committed to helping him make a wonderful cake for Kaoruko’s birthday. They had two weeks, and in that little time, the combination of his strictness and Rintaro’s commitment to achieve their goal absolutely paid off. The cake looked absolutely adorable! And much to his relief, it was not only a hit with Kaoruko, but also her family (to the point her freaking brother ate HALF of it! How dare he!) But hey thanks to that glutton, Rintaro didn’t even miss a beat to promise her he’d make her another to enjoy!
It goes without saying, this is a huge leap forward towards building up Rintaro’s self-esteem! All this time, Rintaro has grown accustomed to tip toeing around people, which sadly included his parents since he didn’t want to trouble them any further. But thanks to both his friends and his parents’ encouragements, Rintaro is finally starting to become more proactive about pursuing the things he wants to achieve or do. That’s why it’s such a big deal to see Rintaro ask his dad if he’d be willing to teach him further.
And of course, even though his parents reassured him he can just train whenever he feels like (because they want him to enjoy his summer vacation after-all and home), Rintaro has already decided to commit himself to helping on all the days when he doesn’t have plans! Hahahaha! I’m willing to bet this is probably yet another trait he picked up from his dad!
But I gotta say, his dad sure has a funny way of showing excitement, by saying he’d be even stricter with their training this time! Kyoko flicking his forehead in response to that was also adorable! It was also really cute how he’s such a nerd (just as Kyoko described him to be) when it comes to pastry, like he wanted to gather feedback on what part of the cake Kaoruko liked!
As for Kaoruko, oh goodness it was so cute how excited she was when she realized Subaru had told Rintaro about her birthday. (Well done Subaru!) She was so overwhelmed with emotions when she learned Rintaro had baked her the cake himself, and truly felt the intent of the gift when he made it. And this is a wonderful thing since when Rintaro initially asked his dad if he could teach him, the first thing he asked was: What does he want to convey? And Rintaro wanted to make Kaoruko smile.
Kaoruko described the cake as gentle, and filled her with warm and fuzzy feelings, and it’s such a nice thing for Rintaro to hear after being told for so long how he didn’t fit the image of being a child from a family that runs a pastry shop. Finally he receives validation that he does in-fact fit in with his family, and was reminded by his parents that this bakery is his home too! So naturally he doesn’t need permission to help out whenever he feels like it!
Also it was so adorable how she simply couldn’t wait for her family to get home! She HAD to take a taste, and it was totally okay! It’s a cake he made for her after-all! Hahaha!
It will be interesting to see if this potentially kicks things off to Rintaro earnestly following his father’s footsteps of pursuing a career as a pastry chef! I’m looking forward to seeing what else he cooks up this summer vacation!
Note: Okay so there will be no maintenance this week! There’s still stuff that needs to be ironed out, so it’s been postponed until further notice. Everything will continue to be released as scheduled until I get it sorted! Once I do, there will be an announcement to address the time and date we’re doing it!
Subaru is the best winggirl. Kaoruko totally didn’t see it coming that the reason Subaru said she has plans on the 22nd was ’cause she intended for her best friend to spend time with Rintaro.
Agree! Subaru’s the best!!! <3 She did it so smoothly too hahaha!