Translator: Haruto.

“I believe that should be enough.”

A soothing voice is heard in the living room.

With the laundry done, Hibari has nothing left to do so she decides to return to her room. Her bedroom is incredibly clean and tidy, and she only keeps things she absolutely needs in it.

“…”

Hibari walks in circles around the room, as though she can’t seem to calm down… A few moments later, she finally takes a seat on her bed.

“I wonder if Yuuji-sama is having fun at the school camp,” she whispers, remembering what happened that morning.

I’ll try to enjoy the school camp the best I can, and I’d like you to also have fun here while I’m gone, Hibari.

The only thing Hibari was able to say in return was that she had nothing in particular she wished to do by herself…

“I spent so much time alone in the past when Yuuji-sama wasn’t around and yet… now it feels so dull…”

There’s a phone lying beside her… It’s been turned off.

***

“Haaaahh! I’m spent!!” Yuito lets out a heavy sigh as he rests his hands on his lap.

After reaching our goal—a waterfall—we returned to the lodging facility. We ended up walking a pretty long distance, which made my legs kind of sore.

“I’m pooped! I can’t walk anymore!” Rina exclaims.

And her sister Mahiro says in response, “You’re in terrible shape, Rina. That’s what happens when you spend so much time relaxing on the sofa and eating as many snacks as you want.”

“Not everyone can be a little fitness freak like you who loves running 5 kilometers every single morning, Sis!”

“I’m actually planning to go jogging tomorrow morning. Would you care to join me?”

“Never!!”

You can certainly tell how close they are. The only time they argue for real is when Yuito’s involved.

Also, what happened with Rina this morning was still hanging over my head, but she’s returned to her usual self now. I must say, though, cute girls don’t have it all that easy either, huh. Being judged by your appearance can really suck no matter who you are.

We take a break and then lunchtime comes around. Each group must prepare their own food—in this case, curry. I really like the idea of cooking in the middle of all this nature.

First, we must decide what each of us will be doing.

“Rina-chan’s a great cook so maybe she should be in charge of preparing the main ingredients and guiding our group?” Yuito suggests.

“If you want me to become the leader, I’ll do so gladly, Yui-kun!”  

“I’m just throwing this out there, but I can actually cook, too,” I say.

And Yuito praises me excitedly, “You can cook, Yuuji-kun?! That’s so cool!”

I feel kind of embarrassed being praised like that. Rina’s shooting daggers at me, though.

Yuito then adds, “I’m terrible at cooking. Maybe I should stick to something simple like cooking the rice.”

“Ohh! I’ll give you a hand!” Mahiro says.

“Thank you! I’ll feel more at ease having you there to help me, Mahiro-chan. Let’s cook the best rice ever!”

“Don’t worry, Yuito. Even if something goes wrong, we can just boil some udon noodles and serve them with the curry,” I offer.

“Udon noodles and curry, huh. That’s a great idea, Kasashima-kun” Mahiro comments.  

“Hmm, now I feel like eating noodles instead of rice,” Rina says.

“Gotcha. I’ll go back inside, ask for some noodles, and—”

“It’s like you guys are expecting me to ruin the rice! I won’t!!” Yuito cries out.

We all let out a giggle. It’s surprising how much we’re enjoying our time together despite being such an odd mix.

Having decided what everyone will be doing, we divide into two groups. Rina and I will be in charge of getting the main ingredients ready, while Yuito and Mahiro will be handling the wood stove and cooking the rice.

I start by washing and peeling the vegetables.

“Alright, the carrots and the potatoes are ready to be cut. As for the onions, I think we should let them cool down a little more first.

“Hmm, you’re not half bad. I thought you were just talking out of your butt earlier to impress Yui-kun.”

“Why would I even try to impress him?”

“…Pervert…”

“Why, though?!”

What the heck is she implying?! And why did she take a step away from me just now?!

Rina laughs as she beings to cut the carrots and the potatoes with incredible dexterity. She cuts them in a way that’ll help accentuate their taste better, which shows just how experienced she’s at cooking.

Well, I was already aware of her amazing skills thanks to the game… and I also have an idea of what Mahiro’s level of expertise is.

“Rina-san, what would you say are your sister’s abilities in the kitchen?”

“She can make the ingredients disappear.”

“What?” It takes me a moment to understand what she means.

“My sister’s a menace in the kitchen.”

“So basically, she sucks at cooking?”

“…”

Rina’s expression sours for an instant, as though she’s remembering Mahiro’s cooking.

The game did mention that Mahiro wasn’t great at cooking, but we never actually got to see her making something.

“…Let’s not talk about it anymore.”

“Alright…”

Rina’s tone was rather forceful and scary so I drop the subject and go back to preparing the rest of the ingredients. Since we’re going to add meat to the curry, I cut the pork into slices little by little, until Yuito shows up.

“Ohh! It’s obvious how experienced you are at this, Yuuji-kun!”

“Yeah…”

In my previous world, both of my parents used to work until late at night, so I had no option but to learn to prepare my own meals.

“Did Hibari-san teach you how to cook?”

“Hibari…? Um, yeah.” Let’s just say that she did.

Ever since I’ve come to this world, Hibari has prepared almost all of my meals, and everything she makes is a thousand times more delicious than anything I can cook.

“It’s great how close you two are!”

“Yeah… Hibari and I are like two friends that love cracking jokes with each other.”

“Ohh! I thought she was pretty serious and mature but I guess she acts different when she’s with you.”

I also had a similar impression of her when I first met her, but in reality, she’s a girl that loves messing around and chatting about anything and everything. It makes me happy to see how much she’s opened up to me.  

“Yui-kun! It’s not fair how Kasashima Yuuji gets all your attention. I wanna chat with you, too! And I also wouldn’t say no to a bit of praise!”

“Getting to eat your food during the school camp is like a dream come true, Rina-chan!”  

“Oh! Yui-kun!”

Despite how dense he is, knowing how to handle the heroines is like second nature to the protagonist, huh.

“How are you guys doing, anyway? Did you rinse the rice and light up the stove already?” I ask him.

“Yup, I lighted up the stove and Mahiro-chan rinsed the rice. She’s currently keeping an eye on the pot.”   

I guess everything’s smooth sailing, then… or so it seems, however, when I turn to Rina, I notice that her smile has completely disappeared from her face, as though she knows something bad is about to happen.

I ask her, “Rina-san, you called your sister a menace in the kitchen, but… there’s no way she can’t handle cooking a pot of rice, right?”

“I don’t think she can.”

“Are you serious?”

“?”

It appears Yuito has no idea how much Mahiro sucks at cooking, and for some reason, I feel like that’s a bad sign…

I run off to check on Mahiro.

“Oh! Hey there, Kasashima-kun! You’re done getting the ingredients ready?”

“Yeah, we just need to add the curry and let it cook.”

“Cool. As you can see, I’m also done with my part!”

The pot is wrapped in flames and there’s black smoke coming out of it.

“Mahiro-san… did you try removing some of the wood to control the heat…?”

“Doesn’t the stove regulate the heat automatically? The one we’ve got at home does so.”

“It’s a wood stove!! You gotta do it yourself!!!”

I now understand what we’re dealing with here. This is why Rina said her sister made the ingredients disappear and was a menace in the kitchen… Mahiro isn’t just lacking cooking skills, but some common sense as well.

I can already picture what’s inside, but I still put gloves on, open the lid of the pot, and take a peek. The rice has turned into some black… thing.

In the end, our group was the only one that burned the rice and ate curry with udon noodles.

“I love curry and noodles!!”

“Hehe, look at how happy Yuito is. Aren’t you glad we went with noodles in the end?” Mahiro asks me.  

“You sure look proud of yourself despite being the cause of the problem.” I let out a little laugh while being careful not to spill any of my curry.

I don’t know why, but eating together with them makes this curry taste like one of the best meals I’ve ever had… Hibari’s food is still at the top, though.

“Yuito, you have a bit of curry on your cheek. Hehe, let me wipe it off.”  

“Sis, you already made a mess of things so can you please try to behave for five minutes?!”

“Wait, calm down, guys! You’ll spill curry all over your clothes!”

Being around the two sisters is still kind of scary, but it’s hard not to enjoy yourself when things are so lively.

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