“I thought just having two things at the table would look kind of sparse, so I tried adding more stuff.” She glanced at the empty rainbow glass that was still off to the side where I’d left it. “Maybe I should have gotten more stuff ready before I invited you.”
“This is plenty. I doubt I’ll be able to finish it all anyway.”
I was grateful she was being so considerate and hospitable, but I wasn’t a particularly big eater.
She told me to sit while she got things ready, so I obediently took a seat in front of the table. I picked up the chopsticks I had bought and looked at their perfectly matched tips. I think it was my first time buying chopsticks for myself.
After all, normally you only needed one pair at home.
Wondering how I had ended up with two pairs, I opened and closed the chopsticks as I gazed at them for a while.
Edamoto-san put down the oyakodon pot and the frying pan each on their own trivets. Upon closer inspection, one of them was a place mat rather than an actual trivet. I wondered whether that was really all right, but Edamoto-san didn’t even pause as she served the oyakodon components into my bowl, loading it up until it seemed about to overflow.
“…Thank you.”
“If that’s not enough, you can put as much as you want on top.”
If I added any more than this, I felt like it’d end up spilling, and my fingers would be covered in egg.
“All right, we’ve got everything we need.”
Looking at the new bowls and the pot, she broke into a satisfied smile.
Edamoto-san had cooked, and I had bought the tableware we were lacking.
It was almost as though Edamoto-san and I were living together. As I thought that, I secretly felt bashful.
“Well, thank you for the meal.”
“Go ahead, dig in.”
She motioned urgently for me to eat, not even picking up her own chopsticks. It seemed that she wouldn’t even touch her food until I ate. I picked up the food she had served me with my chopsticks and brought it to my mouth. Then I chewed and slowly swallowed.
Wow. Taking in the lingering taste on the insides of my cheeks and on the tip of my tongue, I instinctively glanced back at my bowl.
“How is it?”
As soon as I finished eating a bite, Edamoto-san asked me for my thoughts. She really was a hasty person.
“Yes, it’s good.”
“Oh!”
“Very.”
“Very?!”
Her voice cracked. After she coughed and cleared her throat, Edamoto-san withdrew, seeming relieved, and sat back down.
“Well, that’s wonderful… I’m really relieved.”
“You’re being pretty dramatic.”
“I mean, I would’ve felt awful if you didn’t like it after going out of your way to buy bowls.”
I suppose that’s fair, I thought, then looked at the bowl I held in my hand and smiled slightly.
At the very least, I thought Edamoto-san’s cooking was worth having gone out and bought them.
I stretched out my chopsticks toward the stir-fry. In response, Edamoto-san’s eyes also followed my movements.
It was a little difficult to eat under such scrutiny.
“Is it good?” she asked again. Being ogled as I chewed on the shiitake made it hard to swallow.
“It’s good.”
“Oh, looks like your opinion fell by a rank.”
She seemed amused by this, not particularly disappointed. I swallowed.
“I just thought it might be pointless to repeat myself.”
“I think it’s a good thing to repeat positive words, though.”
“All right, then. It’s very good.”
“Wah ha ha ha!” Edamoto-san was genuinely thrilled. She had a fitting smile for such simple praise.
Next, I nibbled on the lettuce.
“Is it good?”
I figured she would ask as much.
“It’s nice and crisp.”
“Right? Isn’t it?”
Even though I was only chewing on lettuce she had ripped up, Edamoto-san seemed proud.
It was a bit entertaining.
After I gave her my review of everything on the table, Edamoto-san finally started eating. While she did so, she spoke less, her hands and mouth working silently. I was secretly impressed with her posture and behavior; her back was unexpectedly straight and proper. It was very different from her normal way of speaking and messy movements.
But the result was still typical Edamoto-san.
“That hit the spot.”
“………”
“What is it, Senpai?”
“I was just thinking that you eat pretty fast.”
“Huh?”
Edamoto-san, who had finished eating before I knew it, looked at my bowl. “Oh yeah, look at that,” she remarked as she looked at my remaining food.
“This was how fast I normally ate at home, so…yeah.”
“Does everyone rush at your house?”
“Maybe so.”
Edamoto-san grinned sheepishly as she took her bowl to the sink. She came back right away and sat back down in the same spot. Her eyes flicked around between me, the pot, outside, and back to me. Then, she suddenly spaced out in a different direction, like a cat staring at a seemingly empty corner.
Her small ponytail that wagged along with her movements reminded me of a short tail.
“Is it good?” she leaned forward and asked again.
I wondered if my feelings hadn’t been conveyed sufficiently the first time.
It’s a good thing to repeat positive words. I remembered what she had just said.
“It’s good, and feels a bit odd.”
“Odd?”
I picked up a shiitake as I responded. “Since I think this is the first time I’ve eaten a friend’s cooking.”
It was my first home-cooked meal from a friend. The first one-person apartment I had gone to. And, most of all, it was my first time encountering a underclassman like the one in front of my eyes.
“…What’s up?” Edamoto-san asked, as though becoming self-conscious under my gaze.
“It’s nothing, really…”
I was experiencing many firsts with Edamoto-san.
Most likely, it was because I’d never had a close bond with a personality like hers before.
Back then, I’m sure that if I hadn’t seen her crying by chance, we never would have spent time together. Even if we had have been briefly introduced by someone, I think I would have just wandered away without much interest.
It was specifically because of that occasion that I was eating oyakodon like this.
In fact, this underclassman had many traits that I had never found very charming before.
So if I had to say…
“I thought at first that you were a little bit like someone who used to bother me in the past.”
It was that lighthearted smile of hers that seemed to pull me along by the arm.
“Hmm…” Edamoto-san frowned a little, squinting in thought. Then she screwed up her lips in a pout, still squinting. “Wait, was that your indirect way of telling me you don’t like me? Isn’t that kind of a big deal?”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“Then if you wouldn’t mind explaining what it is like…”
“It means that…I’m curious what kind of relationship I might be able to build now with the kind of person who bothered me in the past.”