A Man Who Cooks For Himself And A High School Girl (WN) - Chapter 11

11th Meal

Clumsy Girl and Curry Rice Part 3

“Here you go, Hiyori! It’s done!”

“Y-Yeah…”

As I entered the room following Asahi, who was holding the finished curry and rice, another high school girl—Kotsubaki-san—who was waiting for me, fiddled with her cell phone, and slowly brought it up to me…Written on it was, “Is it really done…?” in large letters.

Well, that’s understandable. This Utatane Heights is a so-called 1K apartment, with only one door separating the room from the kitchen—Although the kitchen is a little bit cramped— Because of it, she could Asahi-san’s scream as she struggled with those potatoes.

It was only natural that she would not be able to eat the curry rice after hearing that scream.

“…Umm, Yamori-san…”

This is bad, Kotsubaki-san is looking at me with eyes that seem to be asking for help as if there’s something wrong.

She must have been worried about her friend and wary of me, a suspicious college student, but now she’s asking me for help to escape from the curry made by her friend’s hand while screaming…Sorry, but there’s no such thing as God or Buddha that could help you here.

“I-It’s all right, I’ve tasted it myself, so…”

“R-Really? How many fingers does it have…?”

“There’s not a single one in there! What are you talking about, Hiyori-chan!?

“This girl says so, but…is it true, Onii-san…?”

(Why is my word more reliable than Asahi-san who’s literally your friend?)

I think she doesn’t trust the Asahi-san at all. She doesn’t seem like the curry that was made by her friend, and she still won’t even touch the spoon.

When I nodded again and said, “It’s fine.” She gulped and nervously looked down at the plate in front of her.

“Then…I’ll have it, I guess…?”

“Why don’t you just say ‘Thanks for the food’’ like a normal person!? And why do you sound like you don’t want to eat it!?

“S-Sorry…Then, I’ll take it and offer this to you.”

“What kind of a supercilious way to greet a meal!”

Despite her reluctance to eat the curry made by Asahi-san, Kotsubaki-san scooped a spoonful of the dish that her friend had worked so hard to prepare and took a bite.

“—!?”

“H-How is it, hiyori-chan?”

The Asahi-san asked Kotsubaki-san, who is munching on it with her wide eyes open.

“…I-It tastes like curry…”

“R-Really…!?”

Seeing her friend’s surprised face, the clumsy high school girl smiled brightly.

“U-Un…It’s amazing, you know? I thought you’d probably put the wrong amount of sugar and salt, the wrong amount of water, or forgot to put in the curry roux or something…”

“That’s what you thought about me!?”

“You used to knock over pots and pans during camping in the eighth grade, but now…you have grown up…”

“UGH!?”

(She knocked it over…?)

When Asahi-san blushed after being cited for past mistakes, I rubbed my chest and thought to myself, “I’m glad I kept a proper eye on you…”

Although she was quite clumsy, she never made a single mistake in procedure or quantity. She worked very hard in her own way, making sure that her friend would enjoy the food she prepared.

“By the way, didn’t you buy potatoes when we went shopping? You didn’t put them in?”

“I-It’s in there, you know!? But I think they already melted!”

“Melted…? Isn’t that impossible in just a short amount of time…?”

There’s just no way that Asahi-san would say, “The potatoes are almost gone when I was peeling them!” so she just turned her gaze away…Well, that’s something we’ll have to work on in the future.

“…I see. You did your best, Hima.”

“Un…! That’s because Onii-san taught me everything I should do!”

I scratch my cheek, unsure how to respond to the high school girl who smiles back at me.

Kotsubaki-san laughed as she looked down at the plate of curry in her hand after staring at my face like that.

“…So, it’s like that, huh? Umm…”

“Hmm?”

Kotsubaki-san raised her head and looked at us again, this time with a slightly softer air than when we first met, and said,

“Why don’t you two eat as well? I don’t want to be the only one eating.”

“Y-Yeah…That’s right, guess we’ll do that.”

“I’ll join you too then! Ah, Hiyori, I bought some drinks, would you like some?”

“Un, thank you.”

“Then you can use the paper cups on the top shelf.”

It’s still early for dinner, but we sit around the table, which is too cramped for the three of us.

The first cooking class ended successfully as Asahi-san enjoyed her first curry in a long time while laughing with Kotsuki-san.

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