Chapter 137

Torigoe’s rather biased opinion caught the other girls’ attention. “Shii, are you talking about me? You’ll see. The time has come for me to prove my versatility.” Let’s hope you’re not bluffing… “I bet the most you’ve done is help your mom out in the kitchen a few times, Shizuka.” “I cook for my whole family when she’s not home, though.” ““…”” That shut them up. Torigoe smirked. “L-let’s duke it out! See who’s better!” Fushimi barked. I chided her. “This isn’t a competition. We’re in class. We have to work together.” The other teams were already getting ready and splitting up the duties. We were the only team arguing among ourselves. “I cannot stand by and allow someone to insult me like this,” declared Himeji. “The time has come to show you that, though my cooking may be ‘wacky,’ it can still make even veteran professionals shed tears of envy.” I regret to say that time has not come and likely never will. “I’ll do my own thing,” declared Torigoe. “You two can follow the recipe and make boring old seasoned rice.” This was war. There was no stopping it now. Even Torigoe, the most rational one among them, was picking fights. “We’re supposed to work together as a team,” I said. “““…””” None of them were listening. The warring parties silently began preparing their own dishes. But it didn’t make sense to hold a competition if everyone was making something different. What were they gonna do? I stood back and watched anxiously. Then they all grabbed some spinach. …What about the other two dishes? Uh… Am I gonna have to make the rest? While all three of them began preparing their spinach, I checked the recipes and got started on the other dishes. The other teams seemed to be having fun, but over here, the tension was palpable. “Move, Hiina. I’m using the water.” “No, I’m using it.” “Shizuka, I can’t open the shelf with you in the way.” “Do it later.” All three of them were the type to insist on doing things their way, so the thought of sharing or yielding never crossed their minds. I continued my own work while glancing at them now and then to make sure they were working. Torigoe was making the best progress. Then Himeji, then Fushimi, in that order. They worked in silence, as if they were on some TV cooking competition. Meanwhile, the other teams, made up of boys and girls working together, chattered and giggled while washing and cutting the vegetables. They were fully enjoying this chapter of their youth. “Takayan, this isn’t how you’re supposed to split duties.” Deguchi approached me with a chuckle. “They’re all making boiled spinach?” “It’s a matter of pride. Everyone was desperate to show their superiority, and now we’re here.” “You sure have it rough, huh…?” Deguchi looked at me with pity and lent me a hand with the work. “What about your team?” I asked. “The sink and stove are taken, so there’s nothing for me to do.” So that’s why he was here. “I guess it’s awkward being the only one standing around.” “Yeah.” My dishes were really moving along now that I had an assistant. I glanced at Himeji, the one I was most worried about, and it seemed like she was doing all right. She was watching the other two and copying them. I figured that was for the best. Fushimi was ever so carefully cutting the spinach. She checked every cut with a ruler. This is cooking, not a science experiment… Comparatively, Torigoe was doing great; it seemed her confidence was justified. I was being careful myself, making sure to follow the recipe and not mess anything up. Eventually, the rice finished cooking, and the soup came together, and I just had to wait for the other three to finish. Why’re they all taking more time than I did? “You may go ahead and eat your food once you’re finished,” the teacher said, and all the teams that were done began eating. “There we go!” Himeji smiled confidently. She was the type to never suspect she might be wrong… Her boiled spinach looked decent, at least at first glance. “I’m finished, too.” Torigoe was next. She might have been slow, but I wasn’t too worried about the taste or quality. “Wh-why are you so fast?! I doubt you did a good job!” Fushimi’s earnestness seemed to be failing her here. It looked like she’d need a bit more time. “Hina, speed is also an important skill in cooking,” said Himeji. “The ingredients will spoil if you take too long.” “And save your comments until after you’ve tried ours,” Torigoe added. She had a point. By the time Fushimi was done, some other teams had already finished eating, and it was almost lunchtime. We had three servings of boiled spinach. Everyone grabbed a different-colored bowl to make it easy to tell them apart. Torigoe’s was white, Himeji’s purple, and Fushimi’s light blue. Wait, isn’t Fushimi’s…a teacup…? Torigoe and Himeji glanced at her curiously but didn’t try to correct her. It was a contest, after all—no need to help out the enemy. “Fushimi… You sure lack awareness for someone so careful.” Deguchi had blurted out what we were all thinking. It was then that I realized Deguchi had grabbed a seat like he was part of our team all along. “Yeah, yeah. Everyone sit down,” said Fushimi, taking charge. Has she still not realized her mistake? “Hands together, Ryou. Give your thanks.” I’m getting scolded for improper manners while being served food in a teacup… You really think this is normal? All five of us said our thanks and started eating. The seasoned rice and pork soup turned out well, since I’d made them exactly like the recipe said. “Takayan, you make a good soup.” “I know.” The girls were staring at one another’s hands, as if to keep the others in check. “Should we have Ryou be the judge?” asked Himeji. “I believe he has a good sense of taste, as he was brought up eating Mana’s cooking.” “Yeah. Go ahead, Ryou,” said Fushimi. “Put an end to this conflict.” “Okay, okay.” Let’s start with the teacup… The moment I took a bite, a startling sweetness spread through my mouth. “Uh… F-Fushimi, what did you put in this…?” “You like sweet stuff, right? Like the pumpkin.” “But that’s naturally sweet! You don’t just add sugar to anything!” “I-is it weird…?” I knew how hard she’d worked on it. I wanted to reassure her somehow, but the words wouldn’t come out. “Anything is great when a pretty girl makes it! Who cares about the flavor?!” Deguchi, I’m not sure that sounds as reassuring as you think it does. Then he took a bite. “Oh… Fushimi, I’m so sorry. I can’t eat this. And why is it in a teacup? That’s pretty weird.” He finally said it! “I-it’s not weird!” “It is weird, Hiina.” “Yup. Weird.” The psychic damage was considerable; Fushimi pulled up her legs and hugged her knees. “It’s still edible… It’s not weird…” Himeji was next. She grabbed her bowl and explained smugly, “In order to bring out the flavor of the ingredients, I cooked it rare.” Isn’t that just a meat thing? What on earth is rare spinach? I took a bite. It was crispy and tasted like grass. …Himeji, you’re supposed to boil it. Then I remembered she’d said speed was an important skill in cooking… Y-you’re not supposed to speed things up like this! “There’s still more, so please, eat up.” She smiled, but my appetite was gone. “Ai… Heh. This is raw,” Fushimi said, getting in some payback. “You’re making it sound nice by saying it’s rare, but it’s just raw.” “Like you can talk, a girl who puts sugar in her boiled spinach.” After seeing my reaction, Deguchi didn’t even try it. “Deguchi, didn’t you say that anything is great when a pretty girl makes it? Go ahead. Eat it. Come on.” I needed help finishing it. “Sorry, Takayan,” he said seriously and shook his head. “I lied. Some things are beyond redemption.” He ate up everything I’d made, though, and asked for seconds. Am I his number one…? Finally, I tried Torigoe’s. …Yep, it was as I’d thought. Hers was the least offensive, and thus the hardest to comment on. She’d certainly done a decent job. Not bad, but not great, either. After receiving no comments from his poison tester, Deguchi had a bite, too, and immediately pointed at Torigoe. “Torigoe wins.” “Yup. No objections.” A flash of joy colored her impassive expression. “Yay.” When the lunchtime bell rang, some guys came up to our group. It seemed they’d heard something about two pretty girls cooking. We offered them Fushimi’s and Himeji’s leftovers, but they realized right away that something was amiss. They left without eating any, simply smiling quietly to themselves. Damn, there was no fooling them… Once we finally began cleaning up, Torigoe started putting the others down. “Oh, poor Hiina, poor Himeji, so bad at cooking.” “I’m just not in my best condition today,” Himeji said. “Don’t think you’ve won.” You’re never in “good condition,” Himeji. “Yeah, Shii. I’ll win next time, you’ll see.” Where is this confidence coming from? In the end, Mana’s cooking was the best, though it felt a little unfair comparing everyone to her.