Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16817330658028208231/episodes/16817330658901641856
“Misa, we’ve been waiting for you.”
Sawaguchi san ran and hugged her, and Watanabe san staggered to catch her.
“You were late, Misa.”
Ishikawa san peeked out from the Japanese-style room and spoke to Watanabe san as if it was natural for her to be there.
“Watanabe san, are you all right? Did you get lost?”
“Y-yes. I was looking at the map app, so I was fine.”
Aizawa san came out and talked to Watanabe san.
“Um, I want to ask you something…”
I was confused and asked her a question.
The three of them turned around at the same time and looked at me.
“I thought you couldn’t come because of something at home, Watanabe san?”
I had certainly asked them that during the day at the café. If so, I was curious as to why she was here.
“I did indeed have some business to attend to at home. That’s why I was planning to head in late.”
Watanabe san explained as she put her hand over her mouth and tilted her head to the side. She seemed puzzled by my confusion.
“In other words, Aikawacchi, you were jumping to a hasty conclusion, weren’t you?”
Sawaguchi san put her hand over her mouth and gave me a mischievous look.
“No, it was obviously a mislead, wasn’t it?
I was convinced by the way she looked at me. Sawaguchi san and the others were not lying, but they dared not explain the rest of the story.
“That’s good, Misa came, and Aikawa must be happy, too, right?”
“No, I don’t think that’s the problem…….”
Ishikawa san’s words make me distort my eyebrows. There is something to consider here as well.
If you suddenly encounter the school’s Madonna, you have a different resolution if you know in advance and don’t know.
“I wonder if Aikawa kun would be annoyed by my arrival.”
As I was troubled, Watanabe san hid her mouth and looked sad.
“That’s terrible, Aikawa, Watanabe san is sad.”
Aizawa comes next to me and hugs my shoulder. Seriously, this guy.
Although I was distraught by the unimaginable situation, Watanabe san was not to blame. I had to correct it here.
“No, I’m not annoyed.”
In fact, I even imagined that it would be fun to have Watanabe san here. I should probably have said that I’m glad to have her here, but I decided not to add that because it would be too misleading, too creepy, and would likely draw too much attention.
“I’m glad.”
Unaware of my concern, Watanabe san gives me a cute smile. This might be the most relaxing time of the day.
So, after accepting Watanabe san’s visit and the place settles down,
“Even so, it was a little late. If you had come a little earlier, you could have had the sea bream sashimi that Aikawacchi caught.”
Sawaguchi san, with her right hand on her cheek, was recalling the dish I had just served.
“Is that so?”
Watanabe san tilted her head at Sawaguchi san’s words. If I had known she was coming, I would have divided the food. The sashimi is already in our stomachs, so we can’t get it back.
“What are you going to do for dinner, Misa?”
Ishikawa san checks to see if Watanabe san has eaten.
“I haven’t eaten yet because I had a lot of time on my hands just heading this way.”
She must have finished her errands and then got on the train to come here. She had no time to eat.
“Ah, I’m going to go to the convenience store to buy something, so don’t worry about it.”
I can see a slightly disappointed expression on her face. She peels off Sawaguchi san, turns away, and is about to walk out the front door.
“Wait a minute !”
“Yes?”
I call her off,
“I can’t do sashimi, but I can do simple cooking.”
I decided to cook for her.
“Well, I’d better make it quick.”
While I cook, Watanabe san is supposed to pass the time by going to her room to sort out her luggage and take a bath.
She must be tired since she had arrived from a long distance by train.
It would be bad to make her wait too long.
First, I cut off the head of the sea bream and sprinkled salt on it. While I was removing the smell of the sea bream, I polished rice, added soy sauce, mirin, white soup stock, and sake, and put kombu on top.
The head of the sea bream is lightly grilled with salt, then placed on top of the rice and cooked in the rice pot.
While the rice is cooking, there is something else to do.
The bones of the sea bream are cut into reasonable-sized pieces, coated with potato starch, and fried in oil to make bone crackers.
Not only that, but the sea bream is also marbled by pouring boiling water over the salted sea bream belly in advance to wash off the blood and scales.
In a pot of water, add the sea bream filets, sake, ginger, and daikon radish, bring to a boil, and remove the lye.
After the tofu is warmed, dissolve the miso and bring to a boil, then serve and sprinkle with green onions.
When the rice was finished cooking, I opened the lid and let it steam while breaking up the sea bream meat and sprinkling it over the rice.
In about an hour, the dish using sea bream was ready.
“Yes, it turned out quite well.”
Actually, I was thinking of having it for tomorrow’s breakfast, but if Watanabe san is satisfied with it, that’s fine.
I put the finished dish on a platter and took it to the Japanese-style room.
“No way, did you make all of this delicious-looking food?”
When I arrived at the Japanese-style room and placed the meal on the table, Sawaguchi san peeked in at the food.
She was no longer looking sleepy as before, and she was completely energized.
As Sawaguchi san looked at the dishes with a twinkle in her eye,
“Hey, Aikawa. What about ours….?”
“None.”
Aizawa asked with a gulp in his throat.
“Sorry to keep you waiting.”
I turned around to hear Watanabe san’s voice at the right moment.
She was wearing a yukata and her hair was pulled back. There was a blush on her cheeks, and she was cleaning off the dirt from her trip to the hot spring.
“So this is the dish you made, Aikawa kun.”
“Ah, yeah.”
While I was fascinated by the extremely rare sight of the school’s Madonna, Watanabe san came up to me and looked at the food.
“Aikawa, that’s great. Making this much in that amount of time….. I’m not like Maho, but I want you in my house.”
Watanabe san nodded her head at Ishikawa san’s words. It was an exchange that took place while she wasn’t there, so she probably didn’t understand the meaning.
“I hope it’s to your liking, but eat it before it gets cold.”
“Yes, thank you.”
She took the bowl and drank the miso soup as I urged her to do so.
“It’s delicious with a hint of sea bream broth. It tastes very gentle.”
[ [ [Gulp] ] ]
As we watched, the next thing she put her hand to was the sea bream rice.
With elegant movements, she used her chopsticks to bring the rice to her small mouth.
The sea bream meat is sweet, and the freshly cooked rice is delicious.
“Try using the condiments over there according to your taste.”
On a small plate, there were green onions, coarse salt, and wasabi.
Watanabe san ate the rice with the scallions and salt as I had suggested.
“The salt really brings out the sweetness of the sea bream. It’s fun to be able to change the taste so easily.”
[ [ [Gulp] ] ]
“The seasoning of a dish can be quite different depending on your taste. I thought if I made it too strong from the beginning, you might not like it.”
“I see. Thank you.”
When I explained this, Watanabe san thanked me with a soft smile.
“This is a sea bream bone, isn’t it? Is this deep-fried…..?
Watanabe san picked up a bone cracker with her right hand and brought it to her mouth.
It made a crispy sound, and a little later she swallowed it.
“It has a unique taste. The flavor of sea bream that I had felt earlier spread to my mouth as I chewed, and it is truly delicious.”
[ [ [Gulp.] ] ]
Apparently, she was satisfied.
While she is enjoying the food, I bring something from the kitchen.
“Aikawa kun, what is that?”
“I marinated the cheeks of a sea bream in seasoning after marbling. It’s only been a short time, but the flavor is still good, so try it.”
I had to scrape out the smallest part of the fish to make sashimi. This way, she could taste the fresh flavor.
“This is…..delicious. The flavor of fresh fish fills my mouth.”
[ [ [Gulp.] ] ]
“Because it’s marinated in soy sauce and ginger. Some say the best part of the sea bream is the cheek meat, so that was good.]
It’s worth making it for us if I get such a pleasant reaction.
“Phew, it was delicious.”
Watanabe san drank the last of the miso soup and looked satisfied. I had kept the portion small, so she could probably eat a little more.
“Actually, there’s still the last of it left.”
“Eh?”
I offer the last dish to Watanabe san, who looks at me with a surprised expression, caught off guard.
I opened the kettle and served him sea bream rice, sprinkling condiments on top of it.
Finally, I pour the broth made from sea bream over it……
“This is the main course–“
[ [ [Enough, enough, enough] ] ]
I was about to hand the bowl to Watanabe san when the three of them shouted.
“I’ve been keeping quiet for a while now, and all you’ve done is serve things that look delicious.
“Aikawa, you have a bad personality !”
“You’re all sneaky, Misa !”
The three of them were at the end of their patience.
“You three ate a lot of sashimi, didn’t you? Watanabe san hasn’t eaten much at all yet, so it’s only natural that she gets priority, right?”
I spoke to them as if I was taming a starving beast.
“This is enough for me, so if it’s okay with you, Aikawa kun, I suggest you let the others have some…….”
Seeing everyone in such a state, Watanabe san makes an angelic suggestion.
“Sigh, I can’t help it. Well then, I’ll have Watanabe san eat this one, and you can do whatever you want with the rest.”
As I said that, the three of them happily began to serve rice.
I looked at the three of them as they tasted the sea bream rice and exchanged their impressions,
“Aikawa kun, you are as kind as ever.”
Watanabe san, who had come to stand beside me before I knew it, said so, and she looked pleased.
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