CH 44

Chapter 44 The Night Before the Final Battle (Part 1)

February 25, 2022

“How are you doing, Isshiki-kun?”

Touko-senpai, who stood beside me with a slightly anxious look, asked me that.

“It’s delicious. It’s really good!”

I admired it without flattery.

I have no complaints with this dish!

“Yes!”

Touko-senpai smiled and made a girlish little gut pose.

She has long hair tied up with a chouche and is wearing an apron, unlike usual.

It was really cute to see Touko-senpai making a small gut pose in front of her chest as she turned her entire body.

“It’s only your third time, but you’ve improved so much. You’re really good, aren’t you, Touko-senpai?”

“It’s all thanks to you, I’m sure.”

With a not-so-satisfied smile, Touko-senpai replied.

It was about half a month ago when Touko-senpai started saying that she wanted to learn how to cook for X-Day.

On X-Day, or Christmas Eve, the members of the circle who were in good terms with each other were supposed to get together and have a party.

Touko-senpai told me that she wanted to practice making the “home-cooked food from the girls” that would be served at the party.

I’m going to practice cooking at my house, and I want you to taste it.

When she said that, I happily went to her house.

“There’s no one here, so come on in.”

When Toko-senpai greeted me with these words, I couldn’t help but have a strange expectation.

“It’s a magnificent house.”

When I was shown into the living room, I gave my honest impression.

The house itself was large and magnificent from the outside, but it was obvious that the interior was also quite luxurious.

“It’s not so bad, is it? My parents both work full-time.”

“What do your parents do?”

“They’re both doctors. My father runs a psychiatric hospital in Tokyo and my mother works at a cosmetic surgery hospital.”

…… Haha, so ……

I was strangely convinced.

“I guess my parents wanted me to go to medical school too, but I wasn’t interested in being a doctor.”

“If both of your parents work full time, what do you do about the housework and stuff?”

“I have a housekeeper who comes three times a week. Also, my mother’s parents live close by, so my grandmother comes over every day to cook and do the laundry.”

That’s why Touko-senpai can’t cook.

By the way, I’m an only child and my parents are both breadwinners, but I can cook and do all the housework.

Then I remembered something.

“You have a sister who is three years younger than you, right? Is she out today?”

“She’s a free-spirited girl, so you never know what she’s up to. I don’t know what she’s doing.”

With a troubled smile on her face, Touko-senpai brought out the food in front of me.

“Then try it. I want you to give me your honest opinion.”

But when I saw the food in front of me, I could already predict the outcome.

I didn’t even need to eat it, to be honest.

There was a blackened fried chicken, a misshapen cake, and a back rib that was charred in places.

The only thing that looked decent was the meat and potatoes.

“Is it a blend of Japanese and Western?”

I asked lightly.

“Yeah, I just wanted to see which one was easier for me to make.

She replied unsure.

I took a bite of the meat jaga first.

After one bite, my tongue said, “NG.

It was too salty.

“How is it?”

Toko-senpai asked anxiously.

“Well, yes, it does. Not enough sweetness, or too much soy sauce. ……”

I answered in a subtle way.

This is not meat and potatoes in soy sauce, but meat and potatoes in soy sauce.

“Speak up!”

Touko-senpai urged.

“Hmmm, yes. I think there’s not enough sugar or mirin. I think the soy sauce is too strong in comparison.”

“…… so ……”

Touko senpai seemed a little disappointed.

I then took a bite of the black fried chicken.

The blackish color of the fried chicken did not have much flavor.

This blackness is due to the fact that it was fried in too much hot oil.

Perhaps that’s why the meat was so dry.

“I think this one is probably over-fried. And you should season the chicken more. ……”

“Oh yeah, …….”

The tone of voice was still down.

Finally, the back ribs with their charred surface.

But this was the worst part.

When I tried to cut it apart to eat, red juice came out from inside.

I looked at the cut surface and saw that the part close to the bone was still raw.

It’s a pork back rib, so raw meat is not good.

As I looked at Touko-senpai, I said to her in fear.

“Hey, Touko-senpai. Did you take this out of the refrigerator and put it directly on the fire? The surface is blackened and charred, but the center is still raw.”

When Toko-senpai saw this, she let out an “aha” reaction.

“It’s true. The surface is completely burned, so I thought it would be okay.”

If the meat is not taken out of the refrigerator and brought to room temperature, there is a high possibility of this happening. Also, the oven didn’t have enough residual heat.”

“…… sorry ……”

Touko-senpai was completely deflated.

I couldn’t imagine her usual demeanor, so I shrugged it off.

You don’t have to be so downhearted. Everyone is like this at first. Cooking is something you get better at by making mistakes.

I encouraged the depressed Touko-senpai.

The second time I was called in, the menu was fried chicken, potato salad and chiffon cake.

The fried chicken was much better than the last time.

The potato salad was also very good.

However, the plasters on the fingers of both hands showed how hard he struggled.

The chiffon cake, however, was a complete disaster.

“Still no good?”

She seemed to have guessed by the expression on my face as I put the cake in my mouth, and said sadly.

The cake was not puffed up, the sponge was squashed and hard all over.

And there were lumps of flour everywhere.

“The sponge is not fluffy. And the flour is lumpy in places.”

I answered honestly.

Again, Toko-senpai was dejected.

“What should I do about ……?”

“That’s because I’ve never made a …… cake before.”

This is the third time I’ve had the pleasure of tasting Touko’s cooking.

The previous two times, it was more of a “human experiment” than a tasting.

This time, the suckling pig back ribs, fried chicken style, potato salad, and shortcake made by Touko-senpai tasted quite good.

It’s a level I wouldn’t be embarrassed to show in a store.

I couldn’t help but smile when I ate them, and Touko-senpai’s expression also seemed satisfied when she saw them.

When I finished eating, I asked her.

“You’re going to serve this as the X-Day dish, right?”

Touko-senpai’s face suddenly became stern.

“Yes. But before that, there is one thing that needs to be done.