My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

Page 456

"But we're the ones who need help..."

Let me start by saying something.

Urged on by Ebina, who had been ignoring Yukinoshita's mutterings, Kawasaki's gaze secretly shifted between me, Yuihama, and Yukinoshita. After a short sigh, he finally spoke.

"That...it's about the chocolate..."

As soon as he finished speaking, Miura burst out laughing.

"What? Are you giving this away too? That's hilarious."

"what?"

"what?"

The two started arguing again.

"...'Give it away too'? Can you stop comparing me to you? I'm not like you; I'm not interested in things that are fine no matter what."

"what?"

"what?"

...Don't do that! Please get along well!

Seeing Miura and Kawasaki's expressions, Yukinoshita sighed and shook her head. "No, even though you have that 'I'm speechless' look on your face, your personality is pretty much the same as theirs..." "Yeah, but lately, that 'sharp-edged knife' in my heart, capable of cutting through anything it touches, has toned it down a bit."

Watching Miura and Kawasaki locked in a fierce battle, Isshiki whispered to himself from the side.

"As expected, the senior knows a lot of eccentric people..."

"what?"

"what?"

The two of them glared at me and then scurried behind me to hide.

So, don't just barge into a minefield like that... Your behavior is just like that silly little cat in the cat video... And even I think those two are terrifying...

Anyway, let's keep the conversation going. I can only hope we can be free soon.

"So, what's wrong with chocolate?"

"My little sister seems to have heard about Valentine's Day at kindergarten and wants to try making something... Are there any kinds that little kids can make?"

"Even a child can do this..."

Yukinoshita nodded in agreement, repeating what Kawasaki had said. Seeing this, Ebina tilted her head slightly.

"But isn't Saki Saki quite good at housework?"

Ah, that's true. Kawasaki seems to often help with housework because her parents are both busy and she has many younger siblings. I even remember seeing her with a green onion sticking out of her shopping bag, looking particularly domestic. If that's the case, she must be quite good at cooking... As I thought this, I glanced at her and saw Kawasaki looking away somewhat embarrassed.

"...Uh, what I made feels too old-fashioned; kids probably won't like it."

"May I ask Kawasaki-kun what kind of dishes he's good at?"

Upon hearing this question from Tsukishima, Kawasaki remained silent for a moment before uttering a small, intermittent sound.

"Sweet, sweet..."

Sweet...sweet dessert? Kids should really like this. When I was little, Komachi and I used to fight over the Santa Claus made of dessert on Christmas cake...but after we found out it wasn't tasty at all, neither Komachi nor I wanted to eat it, and Dad always ended up getting rid of it.

However, it seems that Kawasaki didn't really want to talk about the dessert. Everyone's attention was focused on her, curious about what would happen next.

Feeling the attention he was receiving, Kawasaki lowered his head in embarrassment and muttered something under his breath.

"Sweet taro boiled..."

...Good soil.

Because it was far more tacky than expected, the room fell silent. Kawasaki became somewhat teary-eyed due to everyone's overly honest reaction. And this reaction seemed to make her even more ashamed.

Upon noticing this, Yuihama immediately raised her head and, as if trying to cheer Kawasaki up, spoke in a cheerful voice.

"That's great! Look, I can't cook at all, so I feel really good! Right, Xiaoxue!"

When asked, Yukinoshita nodded earnestly.

"Yes, that's right. The sound of boiled sweet taro is similar to the pronunciation of 'a cat rolling around,' which has a cute feel to it."

"Your way of smoothing things over is really weird!"

Yuihama turned her head in astonishment. She was absolutely right. She hadn't smoothed things over at all.

What's with cats rolling around like that...? If you force a dozing cat to turn over, the expression on its face when it looks at you with such super displeasure is absolutely adorable, so it's not entirely incomprehensible. However, long-haired breeds can get covered in dust like a fur ball, so you have to be extra careful!

Well, the cat topic is fine. The focus now is on Kawasaki. Perhaps because of Yukinoshita's strange attempt to smooth things over, Kawasaki was even more embarrassed. He was trembling like a kitten that had just been adopted. "No, I'm sorry." This kid really doesn't know how to comfort people.

Therefore—though it's not quite for this reason—I cleared my throat and spoke.

"Well, isn't that nice? If it tastes really good."

"Ha, that's true, it might be a bit old-fashioned."

After I finished speaking, Isshiki also spoke with a hint of confusion. However, there was no contempt or mockery in his tone.

"It's very much in Saki Saki's style, isn't that great!"

Being praised can be just as embarrassing, and Kawasaki became awkward this time. Then his body stiffened. He looked up and saw that his eyes had met Miura's. It seemed he was worried about what Miura, with whom he had just had a disagreement, would say about him.

However, after observing Kawasaki for a while, Miura looked away without much interest. Then, he said in a low, indifferent voice.

"You can cook?"

"Huh? Ah, um. It's alright..."

"Humph……"

Although she was still fiddling with her hair, there seemed to be a hint of respect in her voice. Well, it seems Miura-san can't cook... In the eyes of the girlish Miura, this skill was quite something to admire.

"Since Kawasaki-kun's cooking skills are so excellent, all we need to do is suggest a menu, and there won't be any problem."

Yukinoshita, who had been deep in thought with her head down, touched her chin and tilted her head slightly.

"Me too! I want to know too! If kids can do it, then I can definitely do it too!"

Seeing Yuihama raise her hand menacingly, Yukinoshita lowered her gaze sadly.

"...So what exactly happened?"

"Xiaoxue is too direct!"

"No, I didn't say directly that I couldn't do it because I was quite considerate of your feelings."

Just how bad am I?!

Completely oblivious... It seems that Yuihama's problem isn't so much choosing the dishes and cooking methods, but rather adding random new recipes. When I made it with Yukinoshita before, we could still manage to eat it in the end. Well, although Yukinoshita's method wasn't without its flaws.

"By the way, where did other people's business go?"

"That's right, that's right, count us in too!"

Perhaps tired of consulting with Kawasaki, Miura and Ebina both pouted, and Isshiki also raised his hand slightly.

"Oh, let me take a look too."

Seeing this, Yukino sighed softly.

"I'm fine..."

As he spoke, he glanced at me.

"...Well, you should think about it. In the end, you'll have to do it yourself anyway."

"That's true... I understand. It might take some time to sort out my thoughts..."

Yukino looked at Miura, Ebina, and Kawasaki in turn before speaking. The three of them nodded in unison.

After Miura and the others left, Yukino sighed quietly in the finally peaceful room.

"I feel especially tired today..."

As we sipped the freshly brewed black tea, we finally felt at ease. It was unusually busy today with quite a few visitors. Three people in one day, and if we include Isshiki, it could even be as many as four – perhaps this is our highest record to date.

Looking back, business was booming.

The empty activity room, which was no different from a storage room, was now bustling with activity. The chairs, placed haphazardly and facing different directions, had somehow formed a crooked circle centered around a long table with tea sets.

The activity room has changed a lot since then.

Heating, tea set, and blankets. The number of stacked paperbacks. The number of chairs and the arrangement of items. The intensity of the sunlight and the coats hanging on the wall.

This room, which had taken on a cool tone as spring ended, has unknowingly been filled with warm colors.

Whether it's due to the changing seasons or some other reason remains unclear. The alluringly drowsy air, however, is irritating, making one instinctively look out the window.

The weather forecast says there will be a cold wave in the next couple of days. The wind is already picking up.

Their words mingled with the creaking of the window, reaching my ears clearly.

"It's a bit troublesome..."

Hearing Yukinoshita's soft sigh, Isshiki crossed his arms and agreed with a slightly serious expression:

"Yeah, yeah, Miura-senpai looks really scary..."

"It's referring to the number of commissions..."

Yuigahama was taken aback by the completely contradictory statements from Isshiki and Yukinoshita, and smiled with a hint of sarcasm:

"I can kind of understand how Hayama feels."

Hayama's feelings... I don't quite understand. She looked at Yuihama with a puzzled expression, wanting to know the meaning behind those words.

Yuihama thought for a moment and then said:

"Ah... well... I can't say yet... maybe I'm just overthinking it."

Such concerns are certainly typical of her. Upon hearing this, Isshiki said:

"Ah, those words remind me of Yui-senpai. So kind."

"Like this... um... hahaha, yes. Like this... um..."

Feeling shy because of praise—that's probably not it. It's more like, like Hayato Hayama, that she's suffering because of this concern, precisely because of her kindness. Thinking about it carefully, Yuihama has a good relationship with Hayama, Miura, and Isshiki; she was already in a difficult position when they went to Disneyland, and this time it was even more direct.

Anyone would easily say, "This is really troubling." But I won't make that judgment so easily.

I find it hard to understand why people are always worried about other people's relationships. Yet, I can resonate with that desire for answers.

Yukinoshita probably felt the same way, looking at Yuihama's gloomy face with a worried expression.

If we arrive at the same conclusion as Hayama, then it's uncertain when all our efforts will be in vain.

He chose Hayama Hayato, the man everyone expected, based on his own will, intending to fulfill his promise perfectly. He would make the greatest possible compromises without any room for negotiation. He would wholeheartedly maintain the life-extending measures.

There has never been such genuine dishonesty.

For such a "gentle" person, there's not much a non-gentle person can do. At most, they can only mutter something casually, like talking to themselves.

"...Well, all we need is an excuse. Something that Hayama can accept."

"what?"

Isshiki tilted her head to the side, looking this way, as if she didn't understand at all. While the gesture was cute, her answer was infuriating... Isshiki...

"As long as you accept it when you have no choice but to, or when it's natural for you to accept it, that should be fine."

After hearing my explanation, Isshiki's expression shifted slightly, a subtle mix of understanding and confusion on his face. At that moment, Yukinoshita placed her teacup and saucer aside and gave me a quiet look.

"So, in other words, as long as there's an excuse, it'll be fine?... If it's sent in a relatively closed environment, Hayama-kun won't have any trouble."

"Yes, closed, that's it."

Actually, whether it's close, worse, or QP doesn't matter. The key is that Hayama doesn't need to care about other people's opinions; he just needs to create a neutral environment.

Even so, Isshiki and Yuihama remained completely bewildered, tilting their heads. Yuihama was even muttering "closed...?" Seriously, what kind of environment is "closed"? Doraemon's sleeping place?

"For example... not mentioning Valentine's Day, just inviting Hayama to try the food. Probably, I'm not sure."

"I see... So we can all make it together?"

Yuihama sighed deeply, a sense of relief on her face. "Yeah, I'm so glad we were able to understand everything safely."

"Well, that's how it is. Whether it's Isshiki or Miura, as long as they make it together with Hayama and let him try it, that guy won't be able to refuse, right?"

"I see... I get it roughly! All I have to do is drag him to a place where there are no troublemakers, right?"