NOVEL NEXT Chapter 91
“This has too much butter. Since we can’t waste it, let’s make a little more.”
“Yeah….”
“Tateyama, what are you adding right now?”
“Huh? It’s watapachi (わたパチ).”
“What?! Why on earth are you putting that in there?!”
“Doesn’t it sound more delicious? Enjoying the sweet flavor and then, boom! it pops….”
“Absolutely not! Aah… you’ve already added it…. Tateyama, you eat this yourself.”
“Hey, we should share it! We’re a community based on fate, right?”
“I’m not into that?! I never joined that community!”
The noisy cooking classroom.
I was busy whisking the meringue.
Next to me, Miyauchi and Tateyama were…
Well, Tateyama was playfully messing around, but it didn’t seem like Miyauchi truly disliked it, so I guess it’s fine.
The class had ended, and normally I would be going home right now, but there was a reason I was still here.
For that, I’d need to go back five days….
★
“What would be a good present for White Day…?”
[Huh? Oh, I just realized I got chocolate from a classmate during Valentine’s Day on broadcast, right?]
“Yeah… one was handmade cookies, and one was expensive chocolate….”
Both were incredibly delicious.
Miyauchi’s handmade cookies were soft and fluffy, while Tateyama’s chocolate had a strong aroma that lingered as you swallowed.
[So, it’s a gift to repay for Valentine’s Day….]
“I, I thought maybe just giving expensive sweets would be alright…”
This had been my biggest dilemma recently.
Of course, since Tateyama’s chocolate was commercially available and expensive, that would be sufficient for a repayment.
But Miyauchi’s cookies were homemade by her.
Eating cookies made with such care, can I really repay with money?
Someone might ask if I’m overthinking this, but it felt like an important dilemma to me.
“What should I do, Koga…?”
[Why are you asking me that? I’m not the one receiving anything anyway.]
How mean….
Koga was in the position of my supportive mom, and I wished she would really help me out when it mattered.
Of course, she didn’t have the courage to say that directly, so the best she could do was scribble “So mean” onto my Miss Code Koga memo.
[…I’ve said it multiple times, but I’m not Izumi’s mom, you know?]
“Ugh….”
[If you’re hesitating just because one of your opponents gave you handmade cookies, then you could also make something and give it to Izumi.]
“Umm… I-I’ve thought of that, but I’m just not confident….”
Miyauchi’s handmade cookies really were delicious.
Yet here I was, someone who knows nothing about baking, thinking of making cookies to give as a gift.
No matter how I tried to think positively, all I could envision was a future disaster.
[Then why not just ask the classmate who gave you the cookies directly? Tell her you want to make cookies for White Day, and ask for help.]
“I-I think asking the person I’m gifting to for assistance would be a bit….”
[I think it would be great! It shows your genuine desire to repay. It would probably be very touching, right?]
“Oh….”
That was a pretty compelling argument.
Miyauchi is so kind, she might actually appreciate me asking for help for that reason.
“…Then I’ll try asking her at school tomorrow.”
[Yep, good luck. And while you’re at it, make one for me, too.]
“…W-Well, I’ll think about it if you come to pick it up yourself.”
[Hehe… are you serious? Did you commit to that? You have to be ready, okay?]
“EEEK….”
Imagining the look on Koga’s face, I regretted my unnecessary words, but it felt like it was already too late.
“Uh, Koga, did you receive any chocolate on Valentine’s Day…?”
[I just exchanged with Ren… I mean, Ayaka, like usual. So I’ll need to prepare something, too, for sure? Got it?]
“Yeah….”
I think I failed to change the subject smoothly.
Adding ‘kindness’ and ‘scariness’ onto my Miss Code Koga memo felt necessary.
[‘Scariness’ has already surpassed 20 counts…]
[Delete all of them.]
“Okay….”
★
The next day. Asking Miyauchi for help at school wasn’t hard.
Actually, it wasn’t easy, but it quickly became possible.
Miyauchi always arrived at school right after me, so it was just a matter of timing while she was here.
“M-Miyauchi! I wanted to repay for the Valentine’s thing, but… I’m not good at baking… could you help me?”
“Ah! Of course! If I can help, then anytime!”
My plan was perfect.
Almost perfect, except for one variable I hadn’t considered.
“Let me join, Kayanoh! Miyauchi!”
Tateyama had started showing up at school earlier on rare occasions, and this was one of those days.
It seemed she had heard me asking Miyauchi.
“I don’t mind… but Kayanoh, are you okay with this?”
Honestly, having to be alone with Miyauchi after school felt a bit burdensome.
Unlike hanging out together simply as classmates, this felt much more purposeful.
But now that Tateyama was joining us too, I could only imagine how hard it would be for my awkward, socially-challenged self.
And Miyauchi seemed to notice that and sent me a glance.
“I-I’m fine with it….”
But refusing was out of the question for me.
Because that would mean I’m socially challenged….
“Then what should we make? Do either of you have anything specific in mind?”
“I’m fine with anything!”
“My, my plan is to gift it to Miyauchi, so it should be whatever Miyauchi wants….”
“Hmm… I’m okay with anything, too….”
After a while of deliberation, we decided to make macarons.
★
So, on White Day.
Thanks to Miyauchi asking the teacher, we were able to use the cooking classroom.
“Let’s start by making the cream for the macaron filling!”
We were going to make two flavors of macarons: chocolate and strawberry.
Of course, when it comes to macarons, it has to be chocolate and strawberry.
Personally, I’m a fan of cheese flavor too, but we were limited by the amount of ingredients we had, so we couldn’t prepare everything we wanted right away.
“Okay, Tateyama, you will put white couverture in the whipped cream, and Kayanoh, you put dark chocolate….”
“Is this how it’s done…?”
“Yup! And I brought baking rum from home, so let’s use this.”
I decided I would handle the chocolate macarons, while Tateyama would make the strawberry ones, with Miyauchi helping us from behind.
Before I knew it, the clock showed 6 o’clock.
Since we entered the cooking classroom at 3:50, this meant we had spent over 2 hours here.
“Ugh, I’m exhausted….”
Making macarons turned out to take longer than I expected.
I didn’t realize drying the batter would take over 30 minutes.
Ding dong!
“Oh, it seems it’s done.”
With the sound of the alarm, we all stood up and headed toward the oven.
Miyauchi carefully took the tray from the oven, and there displayed were the shells we had made.
And their condition was….
“They’re cracked.”
“Mine too….”
Except for Miyauchi’s, all of ours were slightly cracked.
I never imagined the results after putting in over 2 hours would end up like this.
Although I already knew from Miyauchi that making macarons could be tricky, facing that reality still left me with a lot of disappointment.
“They’re done.”
“Phew. Finally finished….”
“Th-Thank you for your hard work.”
After cooling the shells, we sandwiched the pre-made cream inside, completing our macarons.
“Here you go.”
“Th-Thank you….”
We took turns sampling what we each had made.
I made one of each flavor like Tateyama, while Miyauchi made both kinds.
And her macarons… of course, they were flawless.
They tasted just like the macarons I occasionally bought.
Mine felt slightly harder than Miyauchi’s.
They weren’t inedible, but they had a slightly awkward taste.
Finally, Tateyama’s macarons consisted of two. The first one tasted similar to my chocolate macaron.
As for the other one, which had watapachi in the cream…
“It’s surprisingly good?”
“Right? I had a feeling it’d taste great!”
Just as Miyauchi said, it was unexpectedly delightful.
How should I put this?
There was a popping sensation that balances out the overly sweet taste, which was oddly addictive.
“Great job today, you both.”
“Hey, Miyauchi did the most work helping us. Thank you!”
After cleaning up the cooking classroom, we headed out of the school.
We planned to share the leftover macarons to take home.
“I’ll take this one.”
“I’ll carry this one.”
“Um, excuse me…!”
“Huh?”
Just as we were about to part at the school gate, I quietly called out to Miyauchi and Tateyama.
“I-I wanted to give you this….”
As I spoke, I passed them the macaron and the cookies I had separately packed.
“Is this…?”
“Ah, yes. They’re cookies made by the same company that produced the chocolate Tateyama gave me….”
“Are you giving me one too?”
“Yeah. I just wanted to say thanks for the Valentine’s Day….”
Simply offering expensive cookies as a repayment felt somewhat apologetic towards Miyauchi for the handmade cookies.
But I didn’t feel confident enough in my skills to make something, and the value of the macarons I made couldn’t possibly exceed the chocolates Tateyama gifted.
So my conclusion was, ‘let’s do both.’
“So I’ll take my leave now…!”
After handing those to them, I quickly made my escape.
★
…What if they think badly of it?
What if they find it awkward that I took the time to respond to their simple Valentine’s give-away?
“Ugh….”
With worries swirling in my head, I finally got home.
“Kayanoh.”
…Koga was standing in front of my house.
“You said you’d give me macarons.”
I really didn’t think she would actually come to collect them.
I’m glad I prepared an extra pack just in case….