Chapter 26

Chapter 26 – Weekend With You

After the side dishes exchange was done, we had a chat about cooking.

At first, I was wondering what I should talk about over lunch with Amami-san, but this topic came up. Since it was a particularly safe topic, I decided to roll with it.

“Wow… So Maki-kun can also make sweets… I got the impression that you aren’t an ordinary person after tasting your egg rolls, but after hearing this… That wasn’t even half of your true power, huh?”

“If it’s only this much, even you can do it if you try though.”

Considering the cost of the ingredients and time, it was better to just buy sweets from a shop. But since I hated leaving my house, I’d rather make it myself.

“Then, what kind of sweets did you make recently?”

“I think it was… Banana Souffle Pancake?”

“B-banana Souffle Pancake??”

Astonished, Amami-san repeated the words that I just said.

“H-hey, Umi, did I hear wrong? Did Maki-kun just say that?”

“Get a hold of yourself, Yuu! It’s unbelievable, but he did say that!”

They were looking at me as if I was a Namekian or something.

What are they even so astonished about?

“I-I mean, it isn’t that hard. You just need to look up a recipe on the internet and follow it step by step.”

“Ugh… easier said than done… Some people struggle even if they follow the recipe, right, Umi?”

“You see, Yuu here has the ability to turn ingredients into dark matter.”

Wait, that’s actually possible?

“Ah, Umi! You’re the same as me! On Valentine’s day last year, you made me a pile of charcoal, didn’t you? Don’t tell me you forgot about that!”

“Those were cookies! At least mine were still edible compared to yours! What was yours supposed to be again? A replacement for fossil fuel?”

I guess neither of them had any talent for cooking. So Asanagi was just a big eater then.

“Ah, right. On Valentine’s, we usually just gave our friends chocolates that we made. We didn’t really have that certain someone to give our chocolates to, you see.”

“Come to think of it, both of you are from Tachibana All-Girls Junior High, right?”

Tachibana All-Girls was the best all-girls school in the city. The girls from rich families and the girls that had astounding grades attended that school.

It was an escalator school. They offered education from elementary school up to high school. I heard that the majority of the students would continue their education there instead of transferring to another school, but those two… Well, I guess I shouldn’t pry about this.

They probably had their own circumstances, like me.

“I’m so ~ envious ~ I love sweets, you know? Now that Maki-kun told me about his skills, I want to taste the desserts that Maki-kun makes! Banana Souffle Pancake ~ Banana Souffle Pancake ~!”

“Uhh… If you want it, I can make some for you.”

“Eh, really? You’ll make me some? Yay!”

Amami-san smiled brightly as she threw both her hands into the air.

The ingredients, including toppings, would cost around 500 yen. That should be cheaper compared to ordering at a cafe somewhere.

“Then, I’ll have to go to Maki-kun’s house again. Ah, I can’t go today because I have other things to do, but another day… How about this Friday? My schedule is free that day. Oh right, I won’t tell anyone about it, so you don’t have to worry!”

“This Friday…”

That would be inconvenient for me…

I had no definite plans at the moment, but I’ve set Friday aside to hang out with Asanagi. Of course, she never asked me to, but I wanted to make sure that Friday would be free so Asanagi could come whenever she wanted.

So, to make plans like this, I had to make sure that I had no plans to hang out with Asanagi first.

“…Ah, sorry, but Friday is a bad time for me.”

“Eh? Really?”

“Yeah. If possible, I want to keep my schedule on Friday open. Other days are fine though.”

There was a chance that Amami-san would find out about my relationship with Asanagi, so I needed to be careful when talking about this topic.

Should I make plans with Amami-san this week so that she wouldn’t find out about our secret?

“Ah, well, it isn’t like I have something to do, but… It’s just, my mom usually comes home late on Fridays, so it’s a rare chance to relax by myself, you know…?”

As expected, I’d rather spend my time with Asanagi.

I wanted to be there for her. I wanted to be the ‘friend’ that Asanagi could come to whenever she was tired from socializing with others. A different kind of ‘friend’ than what Amami-san was to her.

Hearing my reply, Asanagi mouthed the word ‘idiot’ while turning her gaze away from me.

…She didn’t need to tell me that, I know I’m an idiot.

But this was my honest feeling.

“So, can we do it on another day? If you’re fine with it.”

“Of course, I’m fine with it! I’m the one who is imposing on you, so I should be the one adjusting my schedule! Umi, do you want to go with me next week to Maki-kun’s place? C’mon, let’s go together ~”

“Eh? Well… Sure. As your guardian, I can’t just let you enter a man’s house by yourself, can I?”

“Hehe, thank you, Umi! It’s decided then!”

So we made an appointment to hang out next week. Just as we finished eating the rest of our lunch, the bell rang, a sign that lunch break will end in five minutes.

“Ah, it’s this late already… Umi, what’s the next class?”

“Is that so? Sorry, Maki-kun, we have to leave first.”

“It’s fine. Have a good day, you two.”

“Mhm! We’re off!”

“…Bye.”

After seeing them off, I sat down on the bench alone.

Immediately after that, my phone vibrated. Asanagi texted me.

[Asanagi: Idiot, you could have hung out with Yuu.]

[Maehara: Sorry for being an idiot. But I’m the one who decides who I hang out with.]

[Asanagi: That’s true, but… Do you really want to hang out with me that badly?]

[Maehara: No, not really.]

[Asanagi: Liar ~ C’mon, be honest with yourself, you want me, right?]

[Maehara: No, I don’t, you idiot.]

[Asanagi: Look at the mirror, idiot.]

[Maehara: Cut it out, idiot, go to your next class already!]

At this rate, we would end up arguing over nothing again, so I shoved my phone into my pocket.

Seriously that Asanagi, calling other people idiot like that… This Friday, I should properly show her who’s the boss.