Cod roe!
I really like cod roe pasta. Cod roe spaghetti!
I make it myself, too, but it tastes different somehow from how it is at restaurants. I wonder why.
At night, before I go to bed, I watch videos and stretch and stuff.
The other day, I tried to do a back hip circle at the park, but I couldn’t…
This was Asumin!
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Swiss rolls are a required subject for humankind! It’s fundamental.
I’ll make you try some next time, so be prepared.
I’m eternally unable to decide whether to buy the no-bake cheesecake Mont Blanc or the regular Mont Blanc.
I end up getting both anyway, but the order you eat them in is important, too!
Hina Shigee
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Hello.
This is Yukisada Hayashi.
I asked everyone a question, but the only people to give a clear answer were Sousei and Miss Hitsujimoto.
Red salmon and cod roe are both classically delicious, aren’t they?
Bonito flake and cheese rice balls are best if you buy the fresh handmade ones at the store or if you roll your own.
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I went to the school store again today and tried the omurice-karaage combination.
The flavors were rich, and it was extremely satisfying.
Next, I think I might try either the hamburger steak bento or the curry bento.
I have heard that if you preorder, you can purchase the A, B, or C bento lunches, which come with lots of side dishes.
I am considering ordering one next time.
Sousei Takarai
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Once she’d finished reading, Kuchina glanced at the counter. The elderly shop owner was still preparing her coffee.
She took a mechanical pencil and eraser out of her pencil case, then reread the four diary entries one more time. There were a lot of food-related topics, but since Kuchina wasn’t picky about meals, she couldn’t think of anything worth writing about.
Cod roe…spaghetti? I’ve heard of that. But I don’t think…I’ve eaten it before. Is it similar to cod roe rice balls? It is cod roe, after all. Mont Blanc…is a type of cake? It’s also the name of a mountain. It’s the highest mountain in the Alps, if I’m not mistaken. No-bake cheesecake… Isn’t Mont Blanc made with chestnut? Bonito flake and cheese. Cheese. And bonito flakes. Fresh? Roll…your own? Well, I guess, they are rice “balls.” So you make them by rolling them? Hayashi makes rice balls himself?
It was pretty easy to imagine Yukisada Hayashi standing next to a steaming rice cooker with his sleeves rolled up, pressing the hot white rice into balls.
He might be…a spy…
Kuchina softly let out a breath.
I’ll worry about that when the time comes.
It wasn’t confirmed. It might be that man’s intention to make Kuchina descend into paranoia, so for now, she should pretend not to have noticed or be suspicious of anything. Yukisada wasn’t a spy.
Until he shows his true colors…
The kettle let out a shrill whistle; the water had boiled. The elderly owner turned off the stove and picked up the kettle. It seemed like the water would be too hot to use right after it boiled, so he held the kettle for a while to let it cool down a bit. The coffee wasn’t ready yet.
Miss Shiramori watches videos and stretches… A back hip circle at the park…?
Asumi Shiramori’s long, slender limbs came to Kuchina’s mind. Her athletic ability was about average, but once she learned how to use her body, something like a back hip circle should be easy for her.
I could teach her…
Kuchina frowned.
No. I can’t do something that dangerous. No way…
It should be fine as long as she was wearing gloves. Even if she touched Asumi. She knew that. Yet she still didn’t fully believe that absolutely nothing would go wrong if she touched someone through her gloves. Anything could happen.
The school store—
As soon as lunch break started, students crowded around the front of the school store, jostling each other and forming lines without anyone cutting in. Kuchina could never take part in that.
Just once should be fine…
She couldn’t think like that. Couldn’t hope for that.
What should I write…?
After school, Sousei went to the nearby park, having been invited by Asumi and Moena. The three of them had asked Yukisada as well, but he’d turned them down, saying he had things to do. Yukisada had seemed incredibly apologetic about it, and even more disappointed.
Asumi had put on a pair of tracksuit pants under her school skirt and was standing in front of the horizontal bar, ready to go.
“Here!” Moena handed out candies to Asumi and Sousei. They had black wrappers with the words 1,000X ENERGY CANDY written in yellow and white lettering.
“Don’t you think these look kinda suspicious…?” Asumi said as she tore the wrapper off and put the light green candy in her mouth. “Oooh! It’s sour and sweet.”
Sousei also took a taste of the 1,000x Energy Candy.
“Yeah, it’s sweet and sour…”
“Don’t you think it’s more ‘sour and sweet’ than ‘sweet and sour’?” Asumi said as she gripped the horizontal bar with both hands and moved her body back and forth.
“Ahh…” Sousei nodded. “Because the sourness comes first, then the sweetness…? Is that what you mean?”
“Yeah! Exactly! Agh, my hair!”
“Here you go.” Moena held out a hair tie. Asumi took it and used it to pull her hair back.
“All right, let’s do this!”
“They’re full of citric acid and stuff—simple but seriously effective,” Moena said, giving a thumbs-up, and Asumi enthusiastically grabbed the horizontal bar.
“Hyaaaah…!” She lifted her right leg, then bent her arms to pull her body to the bar, but it didn’t reach her abdomen. “Nnnngyaaaah…!” She tried to lift herself up from that position, but it seemed impossible.
“…It might be better to start again,” Sousei offered hesitantly.
Asumi straightened out her arms with a “Gaaah!” then lowered her body to the ground. She crouched down, still gripping the bar with her arms outstretched.
“It’s no good. I can’t do it at all…”
“Well, that was your first try.”
Moena looked at her phone. She’d taken a photo of the exchange diary at lunch, so she was probably checking that. Sousei had burned those words into his memory. Kuchina must have written them either yesterday or before school today, and he had read over them countless times, even memorizing their positions on the page.
“Umm, I’ll read it once more, just in case.” As Moena read it out, the exchange diary page appeared vividly in Sousei’s mind.
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The trick to back hip circles:
Swing your legs up high.
At the same time, pull your body to the horizontal bar with your arms.
Then wrap your whole body around the bar.
Since it’s you, Shiramori, I’m sure you’ll soon be able to do it if you practice.