The Angel in Cooking Class

"I'm looking forward to working with you."

Amane was normally never on the receiving end of Mahiru's angelic smile, so when

she turned it on him, it made him want to groan.

"…Same here," he responded in a quiet voice.

As a rule, Amane never approached Mahiru at school, but he didn't have much choice

if she was the one who approached him. But this time, it wasn't Mahiru's fault; instead,

it was simply because they had decided to team up, as friends.

Their home economics class was going to feature a cooking segment in several days,

and the students had been given the freedom to form their own teams, as well as the

right to choose what dishes they were going to prepare. However, they were required

to put together a menu that applied their lessons about nutrition, and they would be

graded on that menu, so they needed to take it seriously.

There were, of course, many potential suitors hoping to be on the same team as

Mahiru, but she formed a pair with her good friend Chitose, and her partner Chitose

pulled in her boyfriend, Itsuki. Amane, who thought he was paired up with Itsuki,

naturally came along with him, so from the outside it looked like he was with Mahiru.

They were getting even more stares now, and Amane could already feel a stomachache

coming on.

Chitose, the main culprit in a sense, was grinning cheekily as she arranged some nearby

desks for them. "Ah-ha-ha! You look like you swallowed a bug, Amane!" she cackled.

"And whose fault do you think that is?" Amane replied.

Once they had pushed four desks together and taken their seats, Mahiru smiled at him

apologetically, letting her angelic expression slip just a bit. "I'm sorry for intruding,"

she said gracefully.

"No, this isn't your fault," Amane insisted. "I'm just worried about whether I'm going

to be stabbed by those daggers in everyone's eyes."

"It's just like Amane not to appreciate his good fortune," Chitose admonished.

"I just don't wanna hog all the good luck, is all."

It was probably just his imagination, but he thought he heard displeased voices quietly

agreeing. All the other boys must have been clamoring for the chance to eat the angel's

handmade food, and he knew they were angry to see it go to a guy who didn't even

seem to want it that badly. He was being pierced by thorny gazes full of jealousy and

envy.

"But you know I'll have a hard time if you're not with me, man," Itsuki added. "Besides,

all the other teams are groups of friends."

"Hmm…" Amane couldn't argue that point.

He wasn't exactly an outcast or anything, but he certainly wasn't popular or charming

enough to insert himself into another group of friends and expect to get along well. It

would have been difficult for Amane alone to leave his group now that they were

assembled.

"Just give up and accept your fate!" Itsuki insisted. "If you're gonna whine so much,

maybe we never should have been friends in the first place!"

"…I don't regret being your friend."

"Oh, I'm getting all choked up!"

"Ugh, you know, maybe I'm starting to regret it after all," Amane shot back.

Itsuki pressed his hands to his face. "A cruel double cross!" he moaned dramatically,

and then he cackled with cheerful laughter.

Amane was not particularly impressed with his friend's performance. He was just

starting to think about pinching Itsuki's cheeks when he heard a quiet laugh mixed

with a sigh.

Mahiru was smiling in amusement.

"I've thought this before, but you two really are good friends, aren't you? It's enough

to make me jealous."

"…I guess."

Even though she already knew they were good friends, Mahiru was acting as if it was

the first time she had ever mentioned it. Amane felt uncomfortable not being able to

respond.

He was grateful she was keeping up the act, but when Mahiru pretended they were

strangers like this, it also made him feel both embarrassed and frustrated.

Chitose had been listening to their exchange, and with a grin, she patted Mahiru on

the shoulder. "Join in if you like, Mahirun!" she said.

"Hey, stop that," Amane scolded. "Don't try to get Shiina involved in your wild antics.

You're bugging her."

"No, that's not the case at all," Mahiru insisted.

"See?"

"Don't get carried away, Chitose."

Chitose liked the idea of getting Amane and Mahiru together. Actually, she more than

endorsed it—whenever she got the chance to steer the conversation, usually she made

every attempt to push them together. That was fine when they were at Amane's

apartment, but they were currently in school, and he wanted to avoid doing anything

that might draw attention.

"All right, enough with that stuff," Amane declared. "We've got to choose our menu."

They only had a limited time to decide on a menu before they would have to present

their choice, so he insisted on making a quick decision in a bid to show the rest of the

class he didn't hold any particular feelings toward Mahiru.

Chitose looked somewhat dumbfounded. "You can't cook, but you're taking charge?"

"Rude," Amane said, bristling. "I can make… omelets."

"…You might call them omelets, but what you make is basically scrambled eggs," Mahiru

whispered quietly so only the three other people in her group could hear, causing

Itsuki and Chitose to burst into a fit of giggles. Amane, still wary about being in public,

shot Mahiru a slightly reproachful glance, but she wasn't bothered by it at all.

Her expression was too much like her usual angelic smile, and Amane turned away

sharply. Chitose and Itsuki grinned once more at his reaction, which was even more

unbearable.

"How about you, Akazawa?" Mahiru asked. "How is your cooking?"

"Me?… Well, it's good enough to keep me alive," he replied.

"Itsuki can do pretty much anything around the house, you know," Chitose added.

Itsuki, who could somehow manage to do most tasks if he put his mind to it, could also

whip up a flawless meal. Naturally, it wasn't as good as Mahiru's cooking, but it was

plenty good enough to survive.

"It's 'cause my mom's never at home, thanks to work. I even used to go over to Amane's

sometimes to make food for him. Don't do that anymore, though, huh?"

Itsuki glanced over at Amane meaningfully, and Amane frowned, but Itsuki just smiled.

"I suppose that's true."

"…If you guys don't shut up, everybody's gonna find out what a loser I am."

"Too late, bro."

"Bit late, isn't it?"

"You guys are way too in sync."

"Heh-heh. Well, now you don't have to worry about meals; isn't that great?"

"…W-wait, I do make some effort!" Amane protested. "Sometimes I make something

when I'm alone…"

He didn't think it was good to leave everything up to Mahiru, so on the weekends or

when Mahiru wasn't around, he did take a stab at cooking. Of course, he stuck to

simple recipes that could be made in the broiler or using the range.

Amane had gotten quite flustered, when for some reason Mahiru smiled at him

affectionately and commended him. "How admirable."

There was a painful amount of meaning hidden in those words. Amane's cheek

twitched.

She was probably teasing him because she was perfectly aware of how much Amane

struggled when it came to cooking. Compared to Mahiru's cooking, his feeble efforts

were comparable to a child's. She was probably amused by how terrible they were.

But he was steadily making improvements—when he started, he couldn't do anything

for himself—and he needed it to be said.

"Well, how about we decide on a menu for now?" Mahiru suggested. "Our grades

depend on it."

Without making any overt reference to Amane's distressed state, Mahiru, still with a

gentle smile, tapped the menu worksheet they needed to turn in to complete the

assignment.

Mahiru was the best cook among them, so the group had quietly agreed to put Mahiru

in charge. Even though Amane had learned to make a few things, he was still an amateur,

especially when it came to creating a nutritionally balanced menu. So it made sense to

follow Mahiru's lead. After all, she chose the menu for dinner practically every night.

After some discussion, the group decided on a sanshoku soborodon, a dish of minced

meat, eggs, and vegetables served over rice, with miso soup and cellophane noodle

salad on the side, plus almond jelly for dessert. Chitose was grinning from ear to ear

at the menu.

Mahiru had casually included an egg dish, probably because she knew Amane liked

them. That fact did not escape Chitose's and Itsuki's notice, and Amane hid behind his

worksheet to avoid their taunting stares.

And then, on the actual day of the cooking class, Amane let out an exhausted sigh.

He was supposedly working as Mahiru's assistant, but really she was just babysitting

him. He stood near Mahiru and watched her put on her apron, a sight he had grown

accustomed to.

"I'm counting on you for support, okay, Fujimiya?" she said with a smile.

This wasn't any scheme of Chitose's. The group had simply decided that Amane was

the least useful when it came to kitchen work. He even had a prior record—he'd cut

his finger right in front of Mahiru—so they had thought it best not to let him handle

anything too involved.

He could understand their reasoning, as all of them were equally intent on avoiding

any bloodshed, and because they wanted to do their work quickly, since the students

would be dismissed to lunch starting with the finished teams, so he didn't argue.

However, he did still take the time to insist, rather loudly, that he "…wasn't exactly

totally incapable."

"…Are you sulking?" Mahiru asked him stealthily once she'd finished preparing the

vegetables.

As he was measuring out the seasonings, without looking at her, Amane replied, "No,

of course not. I just feel like I'm being unfairly judged."

"No one's judging you. It's just, well… um, you can't deny that the rest of us are more

efficient."

"I certainly can't."

It went without saying that Mahiru could cook, and Amane had eaten Itsuki's cooking

before, so he knew Itsuki could handle himself in the kitchen just fine, and as long as

Chitose didn't do anything crazy with the seasonings, she could be expected to perform

reasonably well. Amane wasn't entirely helpless, but he was objectively less capable

than the three of them, so he couldn't really shoot back if they teased him on that point.

"And so I think it's best to get you to work in your area of strength. Also, Chitose's liable

to get carried away with the seasonings, so I think we'd better leave that up to you,

Fujimiya… It's an important job, you know."

"That's a serious responsibility… is what I thought at first, but I just have to follow the

recipe, right?"

"Preventing a Chitose surprise before it happens is also a crucial job."

Mahiru let a giggle slip out, and Amane glanced over at Chitose.

She was simmering rice in a pot while cleaning up after she and Itsuki had prepared

the almond jelly and placed it in the refrigerator. There probably weren't any pranks

in the jelly.

Chitose didn't have an unsophisticated palate, but she did strangely enjoy extreme

flavors and surprises, so Itsuki had been tasked with supervising her to guard against

any of that. Plus, this way she could work alongside her boyfriend.

Laughing quietly, Mahiru pulled out the bean sprouts and carrots that had finished

simmering in their basket, so Amane pulled off two or three sheets of paper towel

from the roll sitting on the counter.

"Fujimiya?"

"Yeah, got it."

Mahiru handed him the boiled vegetables in their basket, so Amane chilled them

slightly and used the paper towels to sponge off some of the moisture, then threw

them into the bowl of seasonings he had prepared in advance, along with the rinsed

cellophane noodles and julienned cucumber and ham.

Recalling Mahiru's welcome words that cooking wasn't such a difficult thing as long

as you measured correctly and paid attention to the instructions, Amane performed

his tasks according to the recipe. The chef had left him with the simplest jobs, so there

wasn't exactly a ton to be proud of, though.

"After I stir in the sesame seeds, I can put this in the refrigerator, right?" he asked.

"That's right, and then…"

"Put the noodles in and take the minced meat out."

The simmering rice was almost ready, so he figured she was planning to get the bowls

out before too long.

Mahiru watched as he covered the bowl containing the noodle salad with plastic wrap

and wrote their team number on it. Apparently, he'd done it right, as she started to

ready the frying pan without making any corrections.

The vegetables for the miso soup were already done cooking, and they just needed to

dissolve the miso paste. Chitose and Itsuki had put the almond jelly in the refrigerator

to chill and congeal, so all that was left was to get the rice bowls ready.

Taking care not to bump anyone on the way, Amane exchanged minced meat for

noodle salad in the fridge and returned to their station.

As he was walking back to his own group's station, he took a sidelong glance at the

other teams. Some were doing all right, while others were bickering. One of the teams

made up of all boys was playing around and wasting ingredients, and the teacher who

was overseeing this exercise in student autonomy was glaring sharply at them.

…Seeing that makes me glad I have Mahiru with me.

The fact that Amane's team had been able to do their work more smoothly than other

teams was thanks to Mahiru's great familiarity with the cooking process and also

because they'd chosen a menu that wasn't too demanding.

"Rather than showing off with some complicated menu, it'll be easier to make a meal

that's nutritious and doesn't take too much time. Food is something you have to make

every day, so you shouldn't fixate on things that tire you out, right?"

Amane had asked her at home about her reasoning for the menu, and that's how she

had answered. He thought it was a rational way of thinking, typical of Mahiru, who

made dinner for the two of them every night.

From Amane's perspective, even this simple menu took plenty of work to get right, so

this cooking class was bringing him a renewed appreciation of Mahiru's worth.

Musing seriously to himself that the people in charge of the kitchens of the world must

have a hard time making every meal, he returned to their counter, where Mahiru was

giving Chitose instructions. Itsuki was nowhere to be seen, but Mahiru must have

understood his unspoken question from the look in his eyes, because she promptly

informed him, "I asked Akazawa to go fetch the dishes from the other room." She

continued, "All right then, I'm entrusting the meat to you."

"Got it," Amane replied. "Cook it until the juice dries up, right?"

"That's right. Thanks."

Mahiru seemed to be working on the yellow and green portions of the tricolor rice

bowl. She boiled water to parboil the spinach as she cracked and scrambled the eggs.

Mahiru had finished preparing the frying pan for use, leaving Amane with only the

simple task of heating the mixture of meat and seasonings.

As she used a cloth to dry the pot she had used and washed, Chitose watched him

frying the meat with a strange look in her eye. "…I thought you couldn't cook?"

"I keep telling you, I'm not completely helpless. I just look bad next to her; that's all."

The job he'd been assigned was to simmer the meat and seasonings, stirring the

mixture with a wooden spatula until the moisture was evaporated. He was offended

that she assumed he couldn't even manage this much. It wasn't like they were comic

book characters cooking up dark matter here.

Amane figured that most recipes got messed up when the cook used too much heat,

timed things poorly, or added too many ingredients. But they had Mahiru to guide

them, so they practically could not fail.

"If you must know, I memorized the recipe so I wouldn't get in the way."

"How thoughtful of you, Amane."

"Well, if I didn't pull my weight, the other guys would kill me."

He could feel them trying to stare daggers through him and could almost hear their

thoughts (…Is he gonna enjoy the angel's hand-cooked meal without working for it…?)

So he was trying to do something, at least.

Amane was fully aware that he was not naturally gifted at cooking, so he had studied

the recipe even more seriously than he would a textbook, but Mahiru had laughed at

him. "You don't have to take it that seriously," she had said at home, but he knew he

ought to be ready just in case.

Amane checked that the meat was browning and had started giving off a salty-sweet

aroma, and he stirred it appropriately with the wooden spatula so it wouldn't burn.

Beside him, Mahiru was using the other burner to cook scrambled eggs. Amane felt a

little embarrassed that she was making more than the usual amount because she

knew how much he loved eggs, but he was also happy she was thinking of him.

"Shiina, do I let this go a little longer?" he asked.

"That's right," Mahiru answered. "You should let it boil down a little bit more. But it'll

get dry if you simmer it too long, so please take it off the heat in about one minute."

"Mm, got it." He nodded.

Most of the moisture had already been cooked off, so he stirred the mixture with his

spatula to keep it from burning while Mahiru went back to her own work without

saying anything further.

Chitose was watching Amane and Mahiru from the side, and she shrugged, looking

slightly amazed. "…You know, the two of you seem, well, what can I say…? It's like

you're newlyw—"

"Chitose, please mind the miso soup."

"Eeep, yes, ma'am!"

Chitose let out an idiotic shriek for some reason and went to take the miso soup out

of the refrigerator.

Amane quickly looked over to Mahiru. "…Did something happen?"

"Nothing at all."

It didn't seem like nothing at all, but Mahiru didn't seem likely to tell him more, so he

gave up on getting any more information out of her and turned off the burner he had

been using to fry the meat.

By the time Mahiru had finished cooking the eggs and sliced and dressed the parboiled

spinach with seasonings, Itsuki had returned with the dishes.

"Aren't you a bit late?"

"Yeah, sorry. Some folks from the other teams came to talk to me."

Itsuki smiled flippantly, but his face didn't really look like he was joking around. He

wasn't the type to skip out on something like this, so he probably had actually gotten

held up talking to someone and couldn't extract himself right away.

It wasn't clear who he had spoken with or what they had talked about, but Amane got

the sense that it had something to do with Mahiru. Without her nearby, their jealous

classmates could speak freely, so they had probably directed their complaints at Itsuki

in Amane's stead. Of course, this was all conjecture; he didn't really know.

"Well, at any rate, I did my job, so…" Itsuki pointed to a tray bearing the right number

of plates and bowls.

Mahiru smiled gently at him. "Everything's ready. Let's arrange it and take a photo for

our report, then help ourselves, shall we?"

"Hell yeah!" Itsuki cheered. "I'm starving."

"That's 'cause you skipped breakfast, isn't it?" Chitose remarked.

"Not my fault; I overslept. Can I have an extra-big portion?"

"I don't mind," Mahiru replied. "I'm going to get the noodle salad now, so please

arrange things in the meanwhile."

Amane quickly spoke up. "I'll go with you, then. We've got to put the almond jelly with

everything else for the photo."

Amane said he would help, figuring Mahiru wouldn't have enough hands to carry the

dessert as well, and she nodded at him with her calm smile.

A little too late, he realized he should have sent Chitose, mostly to get it done without

inviting unnecessary speculation, but there was no going back now. Amane deliberately

kept a little distance between them as they headed for the refrigerator in the rear of

the kitchen classroom.

None of the other teams had Mahiru in their corner, so most of them weren't finished

yet. As usual, a few groups were only half-heartedly working through the exercise.

Amane thought it looked like they were going to get awful grades as he walked past

them indifferently.

There was even a team of boys who were chatting and fooling around instead of

cooking. One of them held his frying pan in one hand and laughed as he leaned away

from the table with an exaggerated movement—right into the path of a girl carrying a

pot full of soup.

In that instant, Amane sensed impending disaster and pulled Mahiru out of the way.

A few seconds later, he heard a loud splash followed by the faint, permeating smell of

milk as hot steam whirled around him.

The girl must have been making a cream soup, given the half a cup or so of thick white

liquid that was currently spreading across the floor. He peeled his eyes away to

confirm that none had splashed on Mahiru.

"Shiina, are you burned?"

"…Ah, no, it didn't hit me, but…"

Mahiru looked frozen with surprise.

The girl who had spilled her soup looked apologetic, and the face of the boy with the

frying pan who had bumped into her was ghastly pale.

"Did any of it hit you?" Amane asked the girl with the soup.

"Ah, n-no, I'm all right. S-sorry…!"

"It's okay. None of it hit me or Shiina, either."

Luckily, he had been quick to notice the danger, and neither Mahiru nor Amane was

injured.

He was quick to wave his hand and reassure his female classmate, who had set the pot

on a burner for the time being to apologize, while shooting a glance over at the boy

who had collided with her.

As one would expect, the other boys who had been joking around with him kept their

mouths shut, maybe because they felt guilty. They were looking practically everywhere

except in Mahiru's direction.

"…Look, guys, it's fine to live it up a little, but you can't mess around in a place with fire

and knives and stuff," Amane said. "If someone got hurt and it left a permanent mark,

you'd never forgive yourselves. Thank goodness nothing happened this time, but what

would you have done if you'd hurt one of the girls? Could you take responsibility for

that?"

It would be no laughing matter if someone got burned—or cut with a knife—and came

away from the incident with a scar. Amane wouldn't mind if he got hurt a little bit, but

it would be a serious problem if he injured another person, especially a girl.

Many girls, and even a lot of guys, would be pretty upset if they were left with a nasty

injury. And if someone got seriously hurt in a stupid accident like this, it wouldn't be

strange if they held a grudge.

Whether the wounded party was Mahiru or the other girl didn't matter. Someone

acting irresponsibly in a way that could cause injury to another person made Amane

angry, and he felt compelled to speak up.

Amane was usually very quiet and mostly kept to himself, so when the guilty boy, who

looked like he didn't expect to be told off, saw his narrowed eyes and heard his sharp

tone, he quickly tendered a disheartened apology.

"S-sorry…"

Realizing that if he spoke too forcefully, he was likely to cause a fight, Amane switched

to a more mellow tone of voice. "You don't need to apologize to me, but you'd better

apologize to Yamazaki, who you ran into, and to Shiina, who nearly got splashed.

Anyway, be more careful next time. The kitchen can be a dangerous place."

Then he looked at Mahiru.

He'd had one arm wrapped around her the entire time, and Mahiru's face had gone

slightly red. Though he felt some regret over touching her like that, it was too late to

worry about that now, so he gently released her and, taking care not to make any

strange faces, pointed toward the refrigerator.

"Shiina, I'm sorry for touching you without your permission. Please, go ahead and take

the salad over to our team. I'm going to help wipe up here."

"I-it's all right; I might have gotten jostled, but I'm the one who spilled everything,"

Yamazaki, the girl with the soup, stammered.

"Well anyway, I was involved, too, and all my team has left to do now is eat. It won't

take long, so don't worry about it."

She had only spilled a little bit, so cleaning it up wouldn't take that much time.

After reassuring his distressed classmate, Amane got the teacher's permission and

pulled off several sheets of paper towel from the roll on the counter and mopped up

the soup.

The small amount of liquid was quickly absorbed by the handful of towels. Right as

Amane was thinking that all he needed to do now was wipe it down with a wet towel,

Mahiru appeared from somewhere with a damp cloth in hand and did just that.

"It'll go faster if we work together," she murmured. Then she gave Amane an angelic

smile from up close, which was deeply unsettling for some reason.

"Welcome back!"

After they finished cleaning up, Amane and Mahiru returned to their table carrying

the noodle salad and almond jelly about five minutes later than expected, and Chitose

greeted them with an impish grin.

Amane's and Mahiru's portions, minus the salad and jelly, were already laid out on the

table, so Amane divided everyone's share of cellophane noodle salad into the salad

dishes and let out a sigh.

"I'm so tired…," Amane groaned.

"You looked pretty cool back there, man," Itsuki remarked. "And bold, for once."

"It's not like I was trying to cop a feel or anything," Amane insisted. "I had to get her

out of the way of the soup, that's all."

He hadn't set out to embrace the angel or anything. And even though no one had

criticized his split-second decision, several other boys did give him jealous looks that

made him uncomfortable.

As for Mahiru, she frowned at him just the slightest bit when she heard what he said.

Only someone who knew her well would have noticed this.

"Well, I feel like you really saved me. Thank you for holding me."

"I only did it because your apron or uniform might have gotten dirty, or even worse,

you might have been burned. That guy seemed sorry, too, so that's good."

As one would expect, the boy who had caused the collision received all the blame. After

all, they were in a place where a single misstep might result in a serious accident. At

the moment, the boy in question was getting a serious tongue lashing from their

teacher.

Amane was satisfied since ultimately no one had been hurt. And he hadn't been put at

risk, either. Yes, he had touched Mahiru where everyone could see, which could have

turned out worse than getting burned by hot soup. But judging by the atmosphere

around the classroom, he seemed to have been forgiven for that slipup.

"So if you can be that brave in the face of danger," Itsuki remarked, "then why are you

usually such a weenie?"

"I'm sorry, did you say something?" It was clear from the look in Amane's eyes and the

tone of his voice that he was not interested in hearing whatever rude thing his friend

was planning to say.

"Nothing at all," Itsuki grinned. "At any rate, we finished making our lunch without

incident, so let's take that photo, yeah?" He quickly occupied himself by fiddling with

the camera on his phone.

The students needed to check recipes and send in their photographs, so they were

being allowed to use their phones in class, but not for playing around. Itsuki was

obviously pointing his camera lens at people and not food, so Amane gave him an

exasperated look, but Chitose excitedly pushed her way into the camera's view.

"You too, Mahirun!" she urged. "Get in, get in."

"You guys…," Amane groaned.

Mahiru blinked dramatically, then drew her seat over slightly closer to Amane's with

a little smile.

Et tu, Mahiru…? Amane thought. He was surprised to see her flash him a quick, impish

little grin, just for a second, before she donned her angelic smile again.

"Come on, you too, Itsuki," Chitose insisted.

"Wait, but who will take the…? Oh, perfect timing, Yuuta! Come take this picture."

"Huh, what's this all of a sudden?"

Yuuta just happened to be passing by, probably on his way back from the refrigerator,

carrying a tray of thinly sliced pork. Itsuki pressed his smartphone into Yuuta's hand,

then circled around behind Amane and flashed a peace sign.

Yuuta looked surprised by the sudden request, but when he saw the completed dishes

lined up in front of Amane, he seemed to understand.

With a laugh, he said "Guess I've got no choice" and readied the smartphone. "You guys

sure finished fast, huh? Okay, I'm taking it."

"That's 'cause we got hustle, man!"

"But you hardly did anything, Itsuki," Chitose ribbed.

"C'mon, don't say that; you promised!"

Amane laughed at his friend's ridiculous protests. Then he heard the sound of the

camera shutter. He froze—Yuuta had taken the picture before he'd had time to compose

himself.

"That's a good picture!" Yuuta said, before handing Itsuki his smartphone and leaving.

"Wow, it's not every day I get a picture with Amane smiling," Itsuki remarked.

"That's 'cause he usually has a sour face on, right?" Chitose said. "Send the picture to

me, too, please!"

"Hoh-kay. Shiina, you get it from Chitose, okay?"

Mahiru had already exchanged contact information with Itsuki, but in this situation,

with people all around them, it was probably best not to say that out loud.

More importantly, it bothered Amane that Itsuki was sending the photo to Mahiru

before letting him check it.

He shot a look over at Mahiru and got an adorable, albeit restrained, smile in response,

so Amane could do nothing but groan and watch them quickly share the photo.

"…No one cares what my face looks like, so we might as well eat," Amane muttered,

hoping to end the conversation there.

Itsuki gave him a big grin, so before his friend could return to his own seat, Amane

poked him and turned away in a huff.

After that, Amane stuffed his face with the contents of the rice bowl Itsuki and Chitose

had thoughtfully served up with heaps of egg, and he quickly forgot the shame of being

photographed with a big grin. Mahiru just wore a happy smile, not paying Itsuki or

Chitose any attention.

"Aaamaaaneee, starting today we're eating lunch with you, too!"

One day, several days after the cooking class, Chitose bounded over wearing a beaming

smile, dragging Mahiru along behind her. Amane's cheek twitched.

He and Mahiru were acting less like acquaintances and more like regular friends around

each other. They'd even begun chatting together in public. But Amane wondered if

eating together might be moving too quickly.

Sure, if Chitose gave the pretense of coming over to eat with Itsuki, and Mahiru came

with her, they could probably live under the assumption that Chitose had simply

brought a friend. Their classmates shouldn't find that too enviable or suspicious,

Amane thought.

Allowing herself to be pulled along by Chitose, Mahiru wore a gentle smile, conducting

herself as she always did—like an angel.

But Amane was very troubled because he could also see something a little mischievous

in her expression. "Ah, maybe I should move over?" he asked.

Chitose was obviously not going to let him get away that easily. "Don't worry about it!

We're the ones who decided to join your table, after all."

Amane couldn't help feeling like this was Chitose's idea. But even when he glared at

the smiling—no, grinning—Chitose, she didn't seem at all bothered.

She must have planned this with Itsuki, or maybe he was just happy to be eating with

his girlfriend, because Itsuki gave his usual smile and said, "Great idea; let's all eat

together."

Amane withered under the expected stares of jealousy from all around them.

"Oh, are Shirakawa and Shiina eating with us, too?" Yuuta asked as he stepped up to

the table, looking like he intended to join them.

Amane's stomach started to ache.

"Yes, we were planning to sit with them today," Mahiru said.

"Really, now?!" Yuuta smiled. "Well, we should have a rather lively lunch, then!"

Amane was feeling anything but lively.

He wasn't upset with Yuuta.

He was just in complete shock that Mahiru had come over.

I'm so screwed.

"…Just give in, Amane; we've got you surrounded," Itsuki mumbled quietly enough that

Yuuta couldn't hear, and Amane let out a huge, exhausted sigh.

"Do you usually bring your lunch to school, Shiina?" Yuuta asked, indicating the open

lunch box in front of Mahiru.

Amane and Itsuki always ate lunch in the cafeteria, so Mahiru and the others, who

usually ate in the classroom, had joined them.

Once each of the boys had returned to their seats carrying the lunches they had

ordered, Yuuta became curious about Mahiru's lunch box.

Incidentally, Mahiru was sitting straight across from Amane. Chitose had encouraged

her to take that seat, and there hadn't been an opening for Amane to escape.

"Yes, but usually it's just full of leftovers from dinner."

On weeknights, Mahiru often cooked things that would pack well into a lunch box,

separating the leftovers into one portion for Amane's breakfast and one portion for

her own lunch, so that was what she had packed today as well. He could see that the

box contained the teriyaki chicken meatballs they had eaten yesterday.

"Wow, a homemade meal?"

"Yes. But really, it's nothing special."

"Mahirun, it's not nice to lie!" Chitose interrupted. "You're super talented at cooking."

"How about apprenticing with Shiina?" Itsuki added.

Chitose pouted. "Itsuki, you're so mean!"

"You just need to get her to teach you how to season things. You can cook the dishes

themselves, but… your seasonings are strange."

As she clearly demonstrated during the cooking class the other day, Chitose was

actually a fairly accomplished cook. It was just that her desire to cause mischief often

led her to experiment with unorthodox flavors. Itsuki often complained that everything

would be fine, if she just didn't have that bad habit.

"Okay, I'll get Mahirun to start a one-on-one cooking class. We'll get Amane to be the

taste tester."

"I don't think so," Amane replied. "Besides, that'll make a lot of trouble for Shiina. Don't

be so quick to say stuff like that."

"Actually, I don't think it'll be any trouble at all," Mahiru said. "I think I'd enjoy cooking

with Chitose again."

"Yay! Mahirun, I love you! It'll be so much fun! Leave your calendar open, Amane!"

Chitose was sitting beside Mahiru, clinging tightly to her with a wide smile.

Mahiru was smiling, too, as she nodded in agreement. Amane felt deeply moved to

realize they had become very close friends.

Chitose just set up a date with Mahiru, right here in front of everyone, just like that.

Whether it was part of a larger plot, he couldn't say. But when he looked at Chitose, he

could see that she and Mahiru were smiling pleasantly at each other.

Amane's face twitched as he noticed all their nearby classmates had their ears pricked

up, emanating waves of unvoiced jealousy.

"…Hey, Itsuki?" Amane asked.

"Hmm?"

"You think I have any chance of surviving this?"

"Eh, you'll be fine… probably."

He was getting dirty looks from Mahiru's fans, aka the boys who were madly in love

with her. It wasn't just his imagination. This had clearly been Chitose's suggestion, so

they weren't directing the full brunt of their bloodlust at him just yet, but he feared

what might happen the next time Mahiru suggested something, especially once it

became more obvious that they were good friends.

Yuuta leaned over. "That sounds like fun, huh, Fujimiya?"

"…If I were you, I could probably get through this without people being so jealous."

If Amane was attractive and talented like Yuuta, then people would see him and

Mahiru as equals, and even if they were jealous, they'd think there was little to be done

about it and simply give up.

"But I'm also jealous of you, Fujimiya."

"Jealous of what?"

"All sorts of stuff," Yuuta said cryptically. Then he laughed.

Amane couldn't do anything but tilt his head in puzzlement.

Itsuki chimed in, "Now, hold on a minute. There may be something to what Yuuta's

saying."

"Seriously?"

"It's hard for people to recognize what they have. And those who have it can't

understand the feelings of those who don't. On top of that, we all want what we don't

have. Chi's definitely always whining about what she hasn't got."

"Meaning what?"

"Well, what's one thing that Mahiru has plenty of but Chi doesn't have…?"

"You're definitely thinking something perverted right now, aren't you?" Chitose

interrupted. Apparently, she had been listening to their conversation, and even though

she was wearing a broad grin, her eyes were not smiling.

Realizing that this topic was a proverbial land mine, Amane shut his mouth and

watched as Chitose and Itsuki started bantering back and forth. Then he glanced over

at Mahiru. She looked perplexed at Chitose and Itsuki's exchange, but when she met

Amane's eyes, her expression changed into a smile.

It wasn't her angelic smile, but something closer to the happy yet bashful expression

she let him see at home, so Amane got flustered and quickly averted his eyes.

"Were you surprised?"

At home, Mahiru was grinning impishly.

Amane couldn't help but give her a wry smile back. "Surprised? I mean, I did think you

came on pretty strong."

"I know I said I was going to take it slow, but I thought it was about time to go to the

next step. I've also recently realized we won't make any progress if I don't push you a

little bit."

"That's true."

She had probably been extra proactive because she knew Amane was constantly ready

to flee, but in that setting, he had been surrounded and couldn't get away easily.

Amane had been startled because he hadn't expected Mahiru to be that pushy, but they

had simply talked. She hadn't tried to touch him or anything, so his mind was at ease.

If she had touched him innocently and casually like she did at home, he had no doubt

that deadly blades of jealousy would have closed in on him for the kill. He depended

on her, and she trusted him more than anyone else, but their classmates had no idea

about any of that.

"I'm trying my best to take things bit by bit, so that it doesn't shake up your routine

too much. But Amane, if something bothers you, please tell me, okay?"

Mahiru was perfectly aware of her popularity. Amane knew she was taking great pains

not to become too friendly with him too quickly, all so their classmates wouldn't get

jealous. Typical Mahiru—her first concern was protecting him.

Still, he couldn't deny that, this time, he felt like Chitose had gone a little too far. It was

too late to do anything about it now, though, so he would just have to be more cautious

moving forward.

"Well, it's okay for the time being…," Amane said. "Though, I do get jealous looks."

"Oh really? That's… Don't you hate that…?"

Apparently, she was still concerned about the fact that Amane had been sullen at first.

"But now I understand you were lonely. We were wrong to leave a friend out, and it

was obviously hard on you."

"…A friend, huh?"

"Hmm?"

"No, nothing."

It definitely seemed like something was bothering her, but Mahiru didn't appear

inclined to talk about it. When she turned away, Amane realized he must have done

something to dampen her high spirits.

He went right ahead and stroked her hair.

"…You aren't thinking you can solve everything just by patting my head a couple times,

right?"

"I don't, but I thought it might make you happy."

"Well, it does, but… please don't do it to just any girl when you're trying to smooth

things over."

"I don't do it to anyone but you, Mahiru…"

To begin with, the only other girl I'm friends with is Chitose. And there's no way I'm doing

this with her. Besides, I don't think it would make her very happy. No, Mahiru's the only

person I'd ever do this with—and the only person I'd ever want to. She's the only one I

want to pamper.

Amane thought he had made it clear that he was being serious. But Mahiru still looked

upset, and she pounded her fist into one of the cushions.

Amane started drawing his hand back and was surprised when she head-butted him

in the upper arm. It didn't hurt, but he was still shocked by how Mahiru had become

noticeably more aggressive lately.

"…Amane, you dummy."

"Why do you say that?"

"Just how hard do I have to try…?"

"I—I don't really understand what you're saying, but you'll wear yourself out if you try

anything too hard, so you should probably take it easy…"

"If I don't prod you along, we'll never get anywhere."

Mahiru looked a bit resentful as he peeked over the top of his shoulder, and yet he

thought he could see embarrassment and a touch of anticipation in her shimmering

eyes.

Amane couldn't bring himself to meet her gaze. "It r-really seems like you want

something from me."

"…I just want what happens next…"

Next—?

Mahiru must have wanted something further from Amane, but at the moment, she

didn't seem to be making any additional requests, so for the time being, Amane

decided to continue stroking her head gently and made every effort to please her.