Source
https://kakuyomu.jp/works/16818093076684326416/episodes/16818093076689601880
After the next morning, Akari stopped coming for breakfast.
Two weeks have passed since then, and I have not heard from Akari, nor have Akari heard from me.
The breakfast time with Takeru, his sister, and his father seemed deserted, even though only one person was missing, because Akari, the most talkative one, was gone.
[Onii chan, did you and Akari chan have a fight? I don’t really care, but you should make up soon. She’s so cute, if you show an opening, she might be taken by another guy.]
Mayu’s words, which she seemed to have no interest in, weighed heavily on Takeru.
If it were possible, I would have liked her to say those words a little earlier.
“Hey, Takeru, what’s going on?”
Suddenly, I heard a voice calling me, and I came back to myself. I turn my head in the direction of the voice and see Sako’s face with a frown.
I check my surroundings and see that the other students have begun to move. While I was pensive, the second period seemed to have ended.
“…Ah, what is it, Sako? What’s wrong?”
“Don’t say that ! You’re the one who’s in a daze and not listening to what we’re saying, aren’t you?”
Takeru saw Sako’s ugly expression and decided to make a little joke to make up for it.
“I did listen. I don’t put pineapple in my food. I don’t like the fresh fruit in that sweet-and-sour sauce.”
“Eh, it’s delicious, isn’t it…..? No one is arguing about whether pineapple is good for sweet-and-sour pork or not !”
Sako, as usual, gives pleasant remarks.
“Ah, but there’s pineapple on pizza. It’s hard to tell what’s the difference between sweet and sour pork…”
“It’s true that it tastes good, too ! But it’s not that ! You should really listen to what people are saying !”
Sako sighed and pointed with his chin at Miyano, who was sitting in front of him, and continued his words.
“Megumi was asking you if there was something going on between you and Sato san.”
When Takeru looks at Miyano in surprise, she gives him a troubled smile.
It was a woman’s intuition, and she seemed to have noticed that Takeru and Akari were acting differently than usual.
Takeru is at a loss for a response. The fact that Akari is dating Yasaka is not widely known, so it is not a good idea to tell everyone about it, but since they are a big celebrity couple, it will only be too soon or too late for them to find out.
After a few seconds of deliberation, he decided to confess.
Takeru pulls his face close to theirs and speaks in a low voice.
“……I don’t want to spread the story too much because it will cause a commotion, but it seems that Akari…has started going out with Yasaka senpai…”
[ [Haa !? (Eh !?)] ]
Sako and Miyano stand up and scream so loudly that Takeru hurriedly puts his index finger to his mouth and tells them to be quiet.
They looked around and then hurriedly sat back down and lowered the volume of their voices.
“I-I’m sorry, I’m distraught. But that’s kind of…deadly news…or maybe even damaging to me…”
Miyano seems more surprised than shocked as she rolls her eyes at Sako, who is holding his chest and making a pained expression as she says this.
“I mean, I thought you were dating Sato san, Shiono kun?”
Takeru denies Miyano’s words with a sigh.
“No, no, no, really, we’re just childhood friends. We’ve never had that kind of relationship. I told you that before, didn’t I?”
Miyano still looks unconvinced, muttering, [No…but…then why…?].
Takeru folded his arms and looked thoughtfully at the ceiling.
“I’ve been wondering how I should distance myself from Akari…….”
While saying that, I suddenly looked at the clock and it was already past twelve o’clock.
It’s already time for him to go to Takatsuki. Takeru grabs his luggage and stands up in a hurry.
I”‘m sorry, I have to go somewhere for lunch……”
Then Sako looked at him with a scowl.
“Where have you been eating lately? It’s hard to get a seat in the school cafeteria.”
Takeru, who used to bring his own lunch, seems to be having a hard time finding a seat.
Takeru replies with a wry smile.
“Sorry, sorry, I’m eating with a friend I recently made.”
“Huh? Who is it?”
“Hmm, we’re in different years, and I think it’s someone Sako doesn’t know.”
Takeru’s words made Sako feel uninterested and began to put away his belongings without digging any further.
Yes, this is a normal reaction for a friend. It is abnormal for someone like Akari to even try to come over to say hello.
As he was about to leave, Miyano stood up and approached Takeru.
“Um ! Shiono kun, um, you can always talk to me, okay?”
Come to think of it, I think she said the same thing to me before.
Miyano said this to Takeru because she was aware of Takeru’s feelings for Akari. What a kind friend.
“Thank you, Miyano. I may need to rely on you sooner or later.”
After Takeru said goodbye to them, he walked quickly to a bench in the old school building.
“Hello, what is it gonna be today?”
Takatsuki said and looked up from her book.
She is still frowning, but her attitude seems to have eased up a lot in the past two weeks.
“Today is ginger-set meal, a revenge for last week.”
Takatsuki san had previously been told that my ginger-set meal tasted inferior to my grandmother’s, and I had an idea why.
There were parts of the recipe that I had learned from her grandmother that had been made with different amounts, such as reducing the amount of ginger for Akari, who is not good with ginger.
Perhaps because I had seasoned it to Akari’s liking, she felt it was inferior.
Today’s ginger-set meal was a faithful reproduction of my grandmother’s recipe, so it should have the flavor she was looking for.
With this thought in mind, I carefully observed Takatsuki san as she put the bento in her mouth.
“It’s not bad……but it’s still a little different.”
She took a bite of her bento and murmured with a mysterious look on her face.
“Eh? That can’t be true……”
I had recorded all the ingredients of my grandmother’s recipe in her notebook. I’m sure there were no mistakes in the amounts.
“I can’t really explain what’s different. But it’s good enough. It’s not a problem.”
“……”
Takeru felt as if Takatsuki was paying attention to him, and he fell silent.
The recipe notebook had only the ingredients and key points written down, not the detailed steps.
Maybe I made a mistake in the cooking procedure.
No, perhaps—-
“Maybe Grandma had changed the seasoning since she taught me?”
“Eh?”
Takeru’s words made Takatsuki stop her chopsticks and turn around to face him.
“How long ago did Takatsuki san come to our store?”
“Yeah…I think it was when I was in the upper grades of elementary school, so maybe about seven years ago?”
It was in the fifth grade when Takeru earned this ginger-set meal from his grandma and wrote this note, so it was nine years ago now. It is quite possible that she changed the recipe during those two years.
In that case, since Takatsuki can’t describe the old taste in words, he has to search for it by using various seasonings, but he can’t make ginger-set meals for her daily lunch.
If that is the case—
“Takatsuki san, will you come over to my house?”
“…Huh?”
Takeru’s words came out unintentionally, and Takatsuki returned with a blank stare and cold tone of voice.
Takeru thinks back to his earlier comment, realizes that he had said something outrageous, and waves his hands in defense.
[N-no, I didn’t mean it in a weird way. It was to find the taste of my grandma’s ginger-set meal ! I just thought it would be faster to have you taste it while I cook it at home !] Takeru explains quickly, but Takatsuki’s cold stare remains unchanged. [I’m not alone, I’m with my sister ! So—-]
“All right, I’ll go.”
“I know, it’s impossible….a…are you sure…..?”
Takeru is astonished by this unexpected turn of events.
Takatsuki suddenly looked away and opened her mouth, looking a little embarrassed.
[I’ve only been talking to you for a few weeks now, but I know you’re not the kind of person who thinks strange things.] Takatsuki then turns over and mutters. [And I wish I could have that taste again.]
Her words remind Takeru of what she said when she was in front of his house before.
[So this restaurant has been closed for a long time, what does that mean?]
That’s what she said. Perhaps it wasn’t just that one time that she came to my house. She had come because she wanted to taste my grandmother’s taste again.
Takatsuki, for reasons unknown, has a considerable attachment to my grandmother’s ginger-set meal.
Takeru wanted to repay her for the favor she had done him the other day by giving her another taste of it.
As Takeru, full of motivation, was writing down the seasonings that would go well with ginger-set meal in his notepad, Takatsuki seemed to remember something.
“Oh, by the way, today is the last day of the month, right? I wonder if you could give me a hand?”
Takeru wondered, but did as he was told, and several bills were placed on his palm.
Takeru wondered if it was money for lunch. Come to think of it, we had not yet discussed how much I would charge per meal.
Thinking this, I checked the bills and rolled my eyes. To my surprise, all the bills on the table were 10,000 yen bills.
Takeru’s hands trembled as he was suddenly handed a large sum of money, but Takatsuki continued to speak matter-of-factly.
“It’s for lunch. How about 200,000 for two weeks this month, and 200,000 for four weeks next month?”
“I don’t need this much money ! How could you give me such a large sum of money !?”
“Ah, I’m sorry, should I wrap it in something? I don’t have an envelope.”
[That’s not what I meant ! Are you a grandma who wraps money in tissues !?] Takatsuki’s eyebrows twitched at the word [grandma.] Sensing a crisis, Takeru speaks in quick succession. [That’s not it, I can’t get this much ! 10,000 yen per meal is profiteering no matter how you look at it !]
Takeru poked the money back at her, but she looked reluctant to accept it.
“I thought it was reasonable compared to the bad ginger-set meal for 800 yen at the school cafeteria.”
“I appreciate your opinion, but I was cooking for my family in the first place, so I really don’t need the money.”
“That’s not the way it works. You need to be compensated for your labor.”
Takatsuki crosses her arms and glares at Takeru. There was a firm determination in her eyes, and I could tell from her personality that she wouldn’t compromise on her opinions.
“I understand, I’ll take this much. But that’s a lot for two weeks, so I’ll include the next month’s amount in this.”
Takatsuki frowned and looked unconvinced, but when she saw the seriousness in Takeru’s eyes, she sighed
[…That’s quite a blessing. I understand.] With that, she finally took the money from Takeru’s hand.
Instead of the 90,000 yen that Takeru returned, she took the 10,000 yen that he took.
“Please take the 90,000 yen, not that one ! !”
No one would take 90,000 yen for half a month’s lunch money.
After an hour of persuasion, they managed to come to an agreement on the price of 500 yen per meal. Takatsuki did not seem to be convinced, so Takeru forced his way through. Takeru realized how broken Takatsuki’s money management was.
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Since the childhood friend did the jealousy game, that’s a red flag already~
Forgor your feelings to her and friendzone her~!