Vol 1. Chapter 2. Ichika's test

[This chapter will be about special exam they took in beginning of year 2 like in canon (where they should've paired up with first year students) Ayanokouji would go through the same Ichika's test]

1

[Ayanokouji POV]

[Flashback~]

"Well then, how about we meet up in front of Keyaki Mall at 4:30 after school tomorrow, Ayanokouji-senpai?"

"Keyaki Mall? Not the dorms?"

"The dish I'm gonna have you make for me is a secret. And you're naturally gonna have to purchase the ingredients and stuff too, right?"

Horikita asked if she could come along, but Amasawa refused.

So I guess i should do this on my own

"You'll be fine, right Ayanokoui-senpai?"

"Yeah. No problem."

But with my minimal cooking skills, how much could I actually do?

2

[Present]

Finally, just before the appointed time, Amasawa showed up.

"Perfectly done~ Ayanokouji-senpai~"

As soon as we met up, she smiled broadly and nodded her head several times, as if she was satisfied with something.

"What are you talking about?"

"You waited at the meeting place before the girl showed up. Without doing anything like, excessive either~"

She was surprisingly perceptive. Or, perhaps I should say that she had a solid understanding of my actions, no matter how trivial they might have seemed.

By 'excessive', she was probably referring to the fact that I wasn't messing with my phone or making a call.

It wouldn't be anything wrong if I searched for recipes and take various other countermeasures. But doing itself would mean that I am not competent in cooking. And she could've seen it. So I decided not to do this.

"Well then Ayanokoji-senpai, shall we go?"

She came closer to me and grabbed my hand. I was a little surprised and even subconsciously asked

"What?"

"You don't like it senpai~?" She said with a little pout

"Not that I don't like it, but why would you do something like this to me?"

"Because I like you senpai~" She gave me a bright smile and continued "Isn't it obvious?"

"No, it is not"

"So you have a problem with that?"

Actually yes, but...

"No, lets go"

We entered the mall together

"Oh yeah. You've gotta buy the stuff you'll make for me. Do you have the points~?"

"I should."

"Good! I don't need to hold back then~ Lemme see... I think I heard my classmates say that they sell all the essentials here, but... I wonder where the shopping baskets are~?"

Instead of heading for the supermarket, Amasawa walked straight into 'Hamming', a shop specialized in selling home goods and other daily necessities, and picked up a blue shopping basket that she had found near the entrance.

Amasawa stopped by the section where the kitchenware was on display.

Perhaps the fact that Amasawa had stopped by here meant that she was looking to buy some specific specialized equipment or something? After all, the store had peelers, graters, mortars, and countless other cooking utensils. Given all of the variety, there were naturally several that I didn't own as well. Either way, it was just weird that she hadn't bothered to run any of this by me. It made sense to me that she'd at least check to see which utensils I did or didn't have first. Considering our current time constraints, it would've been easy for her to ask me about it as we walked together, but...

I held back my desire to ask her about it, allowing Amasawa to remain in control for the time being.

I tried to bring up a subject that had nothing to do with cooking utensils.

"Have you done any cooking of your own before, Amasawa?"

"Me? Not at all. I'm not the type to just whip up a meal on my own. I'm the kinda girl who'd rather let others cook for me than make things for myself. But if you ask me to cook for you someday I would agree, because it will be for my favourite senpai~"

"Why would you tell me this?"

"Because we will spend more time together in the future, you know?" wink~

How am I supposed to know this?

She explained such before stopping in her tracks, having apparently arrived at her destination.

The journey so far had gone without a hitch. She looked away from me, fixing her eyes upon the shelf of goods in front of us.

For a couple dozen seconds or so, she stood there, lost in thought with her arms crossed, almost as if she was troubled by something.

Then, as if having made up her mind, she nodded confidently, muttering an 'Alright~' to herself as she did so.

"To start out we'll need a cutting board, right? Then a kitchen knife? Then there's bowls and a whisk, and after that we'll need a pot and a ladle as well, huh~?"

She tossed each item into the basket one after the next as she listed them out loud.

The last item she put in was a big round spoon, which, apparently, was known as a ladle.

"Hold on a second. I have almost all of these things you're getting back in my room already."

I was struck with a bad premonition about this, so I hurriedly began to speak up, but...

"It's fine, it's fine. I'm just having you buy these exclusively for when you cook for me."

She's just having me buy these for what now...? The cutting board she had put in the basket was of an even higher quality than the one I was using in my own room right now. It seemed like it was made out of hinoki cypress and cost just over 4000 points. All of the other items were high-class as well.

At this point, it didn't seem like she was finished yet as she went off once again, setting her sights on the next set of shelves. Her troubled demeanor from earlier was nowhere to be seen, as she proceeded to take hold of a small fruit knife without hesitating in the slightest.

"For someone to claim to be a skilled cook, owning a Petty knife is an absolute must, wouldn't you say~?"

She spoke in a casual, relaxed tone as she tossed the knife into her basket. For a stupid amateur like me who didn't even know that fruit knives were also known as Petty knives, that knife was very expensive, priced at nearly 3000 points. Even though there were numerous cheaper options on display next to the knife she had chosen, she didn't even feign an attempt at acting like she was interested in them. As far as I could tell, the difference in price ultimately boiled down to whether or not it was being sold with a sheath and whether or not it had been manufactured within Japan. But even then, the knife she had chosen was still an excessively luxurious one.

Apparently, a skilled chef was expected to have mastered the use of this kind of tiny cooking knife.

"This is just a question, but the one who's paying..."

She giggled at what I said and made a thinking expression

"Well, that would be you of course, right Ayanokouji-senpai~?"

I already knew I was supposed to be paying here, but the total was easily over 15,000 points by now. Since it has come to this, I might as well throw away the cheap one I had been using up until now. If I thought of the food I'd make for myself using these high-class tools when I cook on my own in the future, then maybe I could come to terms with the purchases somehow...?

"Ah, like I mentioned earlier, you're buying these to cook for me exclusively, so don't go wearing them out with everyday use, got it?"

"Why should I use it only for you?"

"Do you have anyone else you can cook for except yourself?" She curiously asked

"Am~ eh~ I think not"

"That's great senpai~! I will be the only one"

She looked very happy when she heard my answer

"Does that mean you would frequently visit my room?"

"Of course senpai~, only you and me. We can do plenty of stuff besides cooking, ya know hehe~?" She said while giggling

"What kind of stuff you are reffering to?"

She came closer and whispered me in the ear

"Anything you want sen~pai, but it will be my first time so be gentle ple~ase"

She said with a devilish smile

Did she do this on purpose? I am talking about that everyone were able to hear this.

Everyone were blushing around us.

I can sense that all boys were giving me jealous looks at the moment and saying something to themselves.

What a troublemaker she is.

In the end, it was decided that I would purchase everything, from the pot to the ladle and all sorts of things in between.

Each item, bought under the horrifying condition that I would only use it when cooking for her.

Afterward, we went to the supermarket to buy the ingredients, the thing we had come to the mall for in the first place.

Altogether I had ended up spending about 20,000 private points. Needless to say, I had never purchased this many things at once before.

We came out of the mall.

This is it for today's shopping.

Amasawa was walking on my left side.

My right hand was holding a plastic bag with everything we purchased this day and my left was free, but...

Amasawa immediately took my left hand.

"Hey Amasawa"

"What is it senpai~?"

"Dont you think if you continue behaving like that people will think of us as a couple?"

"This is exactly what I want senpai~ hehe~" She said while wearing the same grin

I guess I should've anticipated that.

While we continued walking she never let go of my hand

3

After some time, we finally arrived at the dorms.

"It is sad senpai~, but we should part our ways here. Did you enjoy our little date?"

She said with a curious expression

"Yes I did"

"Yaaay! It is good that you enjoyed it, I did too."

I saw her satisfied expression

"Bye~bye senpai~. I will come to your room tommorow after school. So be prepared to serve me a home-cooking meal"

"I know. Goodbye."

I said that and we parted our ways.

So i guess i should spend some time on learning how to cook.