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38th Meal
High School Girls and First Dish
“Ah! Onii-san!”
“Oh~”
As Kotsubaki-san and I returned to the sunlit field and bleachers, Mahiru, with a bright, easy-to-understand smile on her face, came running up to us.
“Welcome back…I mean, why is Hiyori-chan with you? I was looking for you because everyone suddenly disappeared and I wondered where they went?”
“Sorry, sorry. I ran into Yamori-san at the school gate.”
“Is that so…? Ah, by the way, Onii-san, wasn't Aoba-san with you?”
“Ah~ She was suddenly surrounded by another group of girls, so I left her behind. Maybe she’s taking pictures with them around there.”
By the way, Fuyushima-san and Akabane-sam are also with them. I wonder if those two still think Aoba is a guy, come to think of it…She didn't tell the truth from her own mouth after all…but, well, I'm sure it won't be troublesome later on…
“Onii-san! Onii-san! I'm going to run in the inter-grade relay next so watch me this time! I’m going to get first place for sure!”
“Huh? Mahiru, are you perhaps the anchor?”
“No, I'm the third of the four runners!”
“Isn't that a very delicate position?”
Furthermore, the third runner in a relay race will not win a single race or anything. It is heavily dependent on the front-runner.
“...I mean, relay right after lunch, that’s hard. Are you okay? You just ate your bento, after all…”
“Eh…?”
“Hmm?”
For some reason, Mahiru’s eyes widened at my question, which was probably a sort of a given.
“Huh…did I tell Onii-san that I was bringing lunch today…?”
“...Ah.”
I slip up. I looked quietly next to her and saw that Kotsuki-san was covering his eyes with his hand as if to say, “You really said it.” S-Sorry…
(Tired: Dude’s studying law btw.)
I had guessed it when he went to the trouble of delivering it on Mahiru's behalf, but it seems that the Onigiri I received earlier was secretly sneaked out behind her.
“W-W-W-W-What does he mean by that Hiyori-chan! Don’t tell me you…!”
“...Yeah, well…I made Yamori-san eat that Onigiri.”
“E-Ehh—!?”
Mahiru pulled back half of her body and raised a surprised voice at Kotsubaki-san who confessed while averting her eyes.
Of course, the Kotsubaki-san did nothing wrong. On the contrary, she was very considerate of my friendship. She even told me about the Bento lunch that Mahiru made, who was too shy to tell me about it.
But that being said, it's a strangely awkward moment in anything when something you've done something behind someone’s back to avoid being found out is revealed….
“A-Anyways…you two are on your own now, have fun.”
“Ah! She ran away! W-Wait Hiyori-chan!”
She couldn’t stand it any longer—or rather, she was embarrassed for what she did for the sake of Mahiru. Mahiru reached out her hand toward Kotsubaki-san’s back, who had quickly left the scene.
“.......”
“.......”
All that was left was the two of us and the awkward air. Since Mahiru’s always so talkative, when we are alone and the silence falls like this, it makes me even more nervous.
I wondered what I should say to the high school girl who stiffened her back, and eventually, she blurted out,
“....S-So, what do you think? The Onigiri, I mean…”
I can't help but let out a smile as I look at the back of Mahiru’s face as she asks me this question while fidgeting.
I have eaten many of her dishes over the past two months, some well done, some not so. However, more than any of those times, Mahiru seems to be nervous now.
She even went to the trouble of getting up early to make that for me. Maybe, she wanted to surprise me. Since her first failure, she didn’t allow me to taste her Onigiri again—
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『…Onii-san. I'll definitely learn how to make onigiri, and the next time Onii-san eats it, I will definitely make you say it’s delicious!』
—To make those words true?
“....Well, the saltiness is still too much.”
“!”
“But,” I continued at about the same time as Mahiru’s shoulders tremble.
“It was delicious, better than any food I've had today.”
Was this really what Mahiru wanted to hear? Or would it have been better to simply say, “It was delicious”?
But all I can do is answer her like this. I don't want to just mechanically praise her without thinking about it.
I am, after all, the one who teaches Mahiru how to cook, so I should have told her exactly what needed to be improved.
So if she asked me to review her dishes, I should only answer with the truth—that's what I thought it should be.
“...Hehehe~ Onii-san is so strict, huh~?”
“I should have given her the best compliment first…,” I thought so, as I started regretting what I said when Mahiru looked back at me with a friendly smile that made me feel truly happy.
Then she looks straight into my eyes with her hands folded behind her back and said, “Then—”
“The next time you eat it, I'll make you say it's even better than before!”
“!”
After a moment of gaping at the ambitious high school girl who was already thinking about the “next time,” I naturally relaxed my cheeks.
“...I see. Then, I’ll look forward to it.”
“Yes!!!”
Just like her name, she laughs with an expression as dazzling as the midday sun.
I'm sure she's already better at making onigiri than I am. In other words, this is her—First Dish.
For the first time today, I lost to this clumsy high school girl in terms of cooking.
I was somewhat frustrated by this and secretly made up my mind that I would make her a new dish for tonight's meal.
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