My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong As Expected

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Yuihama completely rejected my proposal.

"Waaah—! Autistic guys are such idiots—!"

She finally burst into tears and ran out of the home economics classroom.

It felt like running towards the sunset. I hope she runs all the way to Brazil and lives a happy and fulfilling life there.

And so, the era of Hihama Kitchen—no, it was the era of Hachi Kitchen—quietly came to an end.

—This time, there's really no other way.

Neither Zaimokuza, nor Mr. Hiratsuka, nor I were of any use, and the secret cooking training was declared a failure after only three days.

"...In that case, we can only try our best step by step."

Yuihama's tone was very uneasy.

Slow and steady progress, or a direct, head-on attack, sounds simple, but it's obviously the most exhausting path. The right path is often arduous and difficult.

From that day on, it was true hell.

Yui tried all the bento dishes that even beginners could easily make, and I racked my brains to help her practice, but the result was a complete disaster.

Only now do we realize how difficult it is to make a "bento".

To fill that little box, you'd need at least a few different kinds of side dishes.

Even if you follow my suggestions, and use one or two of the dishes, especially with the help of frozen food, it's still not enough to easily fill that square box that's only a dozen or so square meters long. Let alone several dishes, for those of us who can't even cook a single dish well, that cute bento box is like a 50-meter-long swimming pool. It makes me truly understand how arduous the daily lives of housewives across the country are.

This ascetic practice lasted for a week.

"Sigh. No... I haven't made any progress at all..."

I don't know how many times this has happened. After tasting the freshly made dish, Yuihama frowned.

Her face looked a bit pale because of her expression. It's probably because she's been tasting failed dishes every day lately and hasn't been eating regular food. She said she felt bad about this and had been tasting almost everything herself.

"Hey, how are you? You've been looking really bad lately."

"Huh? Really? No, that's not true. Haha..."

"Sorry, I'll go make the next dish." Yui Hama said, slowly walking back to the kitchen counter.

Judging from this, it seems like another failed project will be added to the list.

I think I'll lend a hand. I stood in front of the gas stove, next to Yuihama.

Today she's going back to her roots and taking on the challenge of making omelets. Yuihama cracks eggs one by one into a bowl.

"Oh, wait. The eggshell fell in."

"Huh? No way?! Where is it?"

"Look, there's a small piece here... I mean, Yuihama."

I pointed to the eggshell fragments that had sunk to the bottom of the bowl and asked.

"It's strange that we're bringing this up so late; Yukinoshita must have forgotten about that promise long ago, right?"

"That promise" of course refers to the origin of everything: "making her a bento box".

I asked this question partly because I genuinely felt it wouldn't be surprising to forget something that was just a few words of casual conversation. The other part was because I was starting to feel exhausted by this intensive training that seemed to offer no hope.

I'd say Yuihama was probably more tired than I was.

It also implies, "If you can't bring yourself to give up because you dragged me into this, you don't need to mind." However...

"Oh, oh dear—maybe that's true..."

Yuihama, however, wore a troubled expression, as if trying to hide something, and said:

"But a promise is a promise. Even if Yukino forgets, I still remember. So, it has nothing to do with that..."

Then, as if suddenly remembering something, she added:

"Ah! If you're tired, don't worry about me! You can go home!"

Perhaps I used the wrong words, which made her consider my feelings, a small miscalculation.

However, that wasn't the biggest mistake.

What she feared was not breaking the promise and causing Yukinoshita to discover that she had lied.

I only went to such lengths because I didn't want to disappoint Yukinoshita by breaking my promise—I can't believe I'm only realizing this now.

As Yuihama spoke, she poured the egg mixture into the frying pan, keeping a close eye on it to prevent the egg from burning.

Seeing that she hadn't even noticed the sweat beading on her forehead, and was completely absorbed in her work, I whispered:

"...Then, I'll play along to the end."

I thought she might not hear me because she was too focused, but she didn't. Yui suddenly turned around and looked at me with a bright smile.

"Yes, yes. I'll do my best."

This shows that her determination comes in the same way as an elementary school student. Yui immediately turned back to focus on cooking, and I also looked at the frying pan, trying to figure out how to make her succeed.

next moment.

The door to the home economics classroom opened with a knock.

Perhaps it was Hiratsuka-sensei who came to check on us. I thought to myself, glancing absentmindedly toward the door.

"...Uh, you?!"

Upon hearing my voice, Yui Hama also slowed to notice the visitor's presence and screamed, "Eeeeeeee!!"

In contrast to our exaggerated reaction, the uninvited visitor was quite composed.

"...Is this how you two greet people? What country is this greeting from?"

"The visitor, whose expression remained unchanged," Yukino Yukinoshita said coldly.

Yuhihama explained hesitantly.

Yukino listened silently.

I was caught between those two people, feeling as if I were excluded.

To say that one's cooking skills have improved is, frankly, a lie.

After actually trying to make bento boxes, I realized that I simply couldn't do it.

That's why I've been secretly training all this time.

After explaining the situation, Yuihama bowed her head and said, "I'm sorry."

"Um, I didn't mean to lie to you... but I'm sorry..."

On the contrary, Yukinoshita didn't know how to react to her apology.

Yukino remained silent, a rare look of bewilderment on her face. She opened her mouth as if to say something, but after a moment of thought, she closed her mouth again, repeating this process over and over.

Her eyes fell on the half-finished omelet in the frying pan.

It's completely deformed, probably because it was left in a half-cooked state for too long. Yukinoshita looked at it and calmly said:

"...Yuihama-san, did you know that tamagoyaki won't turn out well if you cook it over low heat?"

"what?"

"Many people use low heat to fry to avoid burning, but that actually makes it easier to fail. So basically, you use high heat to fry quickly until cooked through. Once you get the hang of it, it's not too difficult."

"Ah, um, um. Got it..."

Yukinoshita-sensei's sudden cooking lesson left Yuihama wide-eyed and nodding repeatedly.

"...Huh? You mean, Yukino, are you going to teach me?"

Yuihama seemed to be asking, "Aren't you angry?" Yukinoshita, probably trying to hide her shyness, turned her head away and replied:

"...Hmm. Rather, remember to consult me ​​next time. I'll guide you with teaching methods far superior to this man's."

No, you weren't even that helpful when we were baking the biscuits... It's really ungrateful of you to complain about this now.

Because this is what Yukinoshita meant when she said "I'm sorry" to Yuihama: "It's okay".

Neither of them said it aloud, but they must have conveyed their feelings to each other through a few short sentences.

Even if this is just my speculation that has been excluded.

"Can I borrow the ingredients? I'll demonstrate for you first."

"Okay, okay. Got it!"

Seeing the two of them start making omelets after hearing those words, I quietly left the home economics classroom.

It's not because I don't want to eat failed dishes anymore. Oh, no, that's certainly part of the reason.

However, staying there would be incredibly inconsiderate.

Because what followed was... no, or rather, from the very beginning.

This is Yuihama and Yukinoshita.

Their story —

the next day.

During my lunch break, instead of eating at my usual lunch spot, I went to the Service Society's office.

"If it's convenient, the autistic guy can join us for lunch today."

During the break before lunch, Yui came over to invite me. It seemed she wanted to show off the results of her practice with Yukinoshita yesterday.

It means that the special training that followed seemed to have been somewhat helpful.

"Yes, we should be able to serve something edible, right?"

This is what Yukinoshita said when she first went to the clubhouse to read books.

"Oh—I'll be looking forward to it."

I answered casually, but secretly I was a little expectant; it was a secret.

Waited for a while.

"Hi there! Sorry to keep you waiting!"

Yuihama appears with a cheerful greeting, kicking off a fun bento time... However...

—That thing was a brownish, mushy mass; it certainly didn't look like food that you could put in your mouth.

"...Hello, Yuihama?"

"what?"

"Um, what's this?"

I had a strong sense of déjà vu about this question, and Yui Hama calmly answered:

"You can tell just by looking, right? It's an omelet."

Uh, what do you mean "I can tell just by looking"? I've seen this before. It looks so familiar that I'm even starting to doubt if I'm seeing things. Because compared to the omelet I was forced to try on the first day, it looks exactly the same.

"Ah—yes, it doesn't look very good, more like the ones I made before, but don't worry. The taste should be fine! Right, Yukino?"

"………………………………………………………………………………"

Silence. Utter silence reigned beneath the snow.

Upon seeing its unusual appearance, even Yukinoshita was speechless.

Then, for some reason, she glared at me fiercely. Her eyes conveyed a clear meaning.

Why is this happening?

Uh, how would I know? I was just about to ask. Didn't you say "we should be able to serve something edible"?

"Okay. Let's all eat together! These are chopsticks for the autistic guy and Yukino."

She handed me the disposable chopsticks; how easy it would have been to answer "I don't want them"!

However, being looked at with those expectant, bright eyes, I simply couldn't bring myself to speak.

"I'm starting."

"...I'm starting."