CH 10

“What are you looking for?”

I found myself speaking to that familiar figure.

He hadn’t originally planned on calling out to her, and he didn’t mind even if he got ignored.

However, when he saw the girl loitering in front of the liquor section, he couldn’t help but lend her a helping hand.

“…Why are you here?”

“Answering a question with a question, huh? Well, same as you, shopping of course.”

After asking her the question, he was prepared to be ignored 90% of the time, so Asahi was a little surprised that Fuyuka responded even though she was looking at him perplexedly.

Although it wasn’t the response he was expecting, she seemed to be willing to have a conversation, so he stated the facts in an indifferent manner, to which she replied with an equally indifferent manner, “That makes sense.”

Since they both live in the same apartment building, it was not surprising that they might encounter each other at the nearest supermarket.

In fact, once before, Asahi had seen Fuyuka in this supermarket.　

Thinking about it, I had a vague suspicion that the “Ice Lady” might not be able to cook for herself.

Since I had no involvement with her before than I do now, I could only observe from a distance, but I still remembered the shopping basket full of retort foods and prepared foods.

Today, however, the colors were much different.

If one looked closely at the shopping basket in Fuyuka’s hand, one could see that it was full of colorful red, blue, and yellow colors, not only vegetables, but also frozen rice and pork

“I see you’ve started cooking for yourself.”

“Please don’t speak as if I didn’t originally cook for myself.”

“My bad, my bad. Come to think of it, you said something about it’s not like you can’t do it.”

She didn’t seem to like it when people thought she couldn’t cook, and if one said otherwise, Fuyuka would give them a sharp glare.

I immediately bowed my head and managed to get out of the situation, but I felt a chill that reminded me of the Ice Lady for a moment, which wasn’t funny.

To put it another way, the current Fuyuka had no trace of the “Ice Lady”.

Her words were plain and her expression was still the same, so one couldn’t say that it was completely gone, but at least she didn’t have that cold atmosphere that she displayed at school.

“So what are you looking for after all? Minors can’t buy alcohol, you know?”

Fuyuka didn’t seem to be trying to cut short the conversation at the moment, so Asahi didn’t hesitate to return to the subject and ask the question that had been bothering him.

I should focus on getting the ingredients I plan to use for tonight’s dinner, but I took things such as milk that I drink on a daily basis and seasonings that I’m running out of. I also shouldn’t forget to buy specials that say “Limited to one bottle per person,” or the prepared foods that were on sale because they were about to expire.

“Because this is the most vacant place.”

“…I still haven’t said anything yet.”

‘Still’, which means she was planning on saying something.

It was possible that the roux was used in another dish to give it a curry flavor, but the carrots, potatoes, and onions almost confirmed it.

In the first place, the fact that I didn’t think Fuyuka could cook sophisticated food was also a factor in my decision, but there was no way I could tell her even if I wanted to.

The cashier immediately called out, “Next,” and any further conversation was forcibly cut off.

Looking at Fuyuka from behind as she casually took out a luxury brand long wallet, Asahi quietly waited for his turn.

“…I’ll carry it.”

After paying each other’s bills, Asahi once again called out to Fuyuka again on the way home.

Of course, they were not walking together shoulder to shoulder, and looking back, one could see them a few meters away from each other.

And once again, simply out of kindness.

You could ignore me all you want, but I wouldn’t feel better if I didn’t call out to you at least.

“…I’ll have to refrain.”

After a short pause, the response was exactly as I had expected, word for word.

She continued, “I’m fine, don’t worry about it, just go ahead.”

However, Fuyuka, walking with a plastic bag in both hands, didn’t seem to be fine at all.

If you buy several ingredients and bottled seasonings all at once, it would weigh more than five kilos.

A masculine hand like Asahi’s would have a hard time, much less a slender and thin girl like Fuyuka.

“Don’t be shy. You’ll never make it home at this rate. If you’re worried about owing somebody, you don’t have to think about it at all, just obediently rely on me.

He continued to speak, though a little too quickly, and approached Fuyuka and held out his hand.