Chapter 363: Almost Scared to Death
As noon approached, it was time to prepare lunch. Just like previous gatherings, Kaede had prepared a lot of ingredients, since everyone was a foodie.
The one difference was that the kitchen was completely occupied by the girls today, leaving no room for Kaede or Takasu Ryuji to work.
The main cooks were naturally Eriri and Kushieda Minori, with those two taking the lead, while Utaha, Aisaka Taiga, Usami Mizuki, and Kawashima Ami acted as assistants.
That Kawashima Ami also came over to help was something no one had expected.
Kawashima Ami's explanation was: "I live alone now and usually just order takeout. Although I want to learn to cook a little myself, learning alone is really boring. Since I have the chance today, I plan to learn a bit."
In the living room, the boys watched the busy kitchen with some worry.
Takasu Ryuji, in particular, was practically fidgeting.
"Um, Asakura, are you sure it's okay if we don't go watch them? Just Sawamura and Kushieda alone, I feel like they can't handle it. Leaving aside everyone else, Aisaka Taiga's destructive power alone is terrifying. When she dragged me to teach her how to cook before, it almost ended in disaster."
"Ryuji, what are you saying? I can hear you!"
Aisaka Taiga's voice came over, and Takasu Ryuji quickly covered his mouth and stopped talking.
Only then did Aisaka Taiga let out a soft hmph and continue diligently washing vegetables, though she had a small stool placed under her feet while she washed, which was quite amusing.
After a full two minutes, Takasu Ryuji observed her repeatedly, and only after confirming Aisaka Taiga was no longer paying attention to him did he lower his voice and whisper, "That's exactly it. She has no sense of proportion when cooking, but still refuses to follow my instructions. When the steps speed up, she mixes up the salt and sugar containers, and that's just the smallest mistake."
"Uh... is it really that exaggerated?"
Uchimaki Subaru said incredulously, "It looks like nothing has gone wrong yet, right?"
"They are still in the preparation stage. If something went wrong now, they would truly be hopeless," Kitamura Yusaku muttered, then smiled and said, "But this is great; we don't have to do anything but wait to eat. Asakura, who cooks more often at your place now, you or Sawamura?"
Counting briefly on his fingers, Kaede said, "For us, it's about half and half. Out of seven days a week, I'm responsible for about two days, Eriri is responsible for two days, and the remaining three days we cook together. When it comes to housework, we never say that one person has to do everything; we either divide the tasks or work together. Of course, this is also because we are both freelancers. If we choose to become corporate drones working nine-to-five in the future, then the pressure of housework would fall on Eriri."
"Corporate drone, huh."
Thinking of this, Kitamura Yusaku couldn't help but scratch his head and said with some relief, "Fortunately, that's far away for us. I haven't finalized my future career plan yet, so for now, I'm considering studying abroad."
"Oh? You're going to study abroad?"
Takasu Ryuji said in surprise, "This is the first time you've mentioned this."
Kitamura Yusaku laughed and said, "Haha, mainly because I haven't fully decided yet. If I want to study abroad, I need to keep improving my grades and also strengthen my English."
Kaede knew a little about the reason Kitamura wanted to study abroad: it was mainly because Kano Sumire had decided to go abroad, and this guy definitely intended to follow her. He just didn't know what the current progress was or how far things had developed.
Just as they were discussing studying abroad, and Kaede was conversing with Kitamura Yusaku in English, a sudden shriek came from the kitchen, forcing Kaede and the others to stop and rush over.
However, when they looked, they all wore speechless expressions, because unlike the screaming Aisaka Taiga and Kawashima Ami, Eriri was still standing calmly in front of the pot, watching the chicken wings being deep-fried.
She even took a moment to turn and look at Kaede, smiling as she said, "It's nothing, Kaede-kun. Just a little oil splashed out."
Kaede breathed a sigh of relief and said, "That's good. I thought someone had cut their finger."
"Hehe, don't worry. Minori, Mizuki, and I are the only ones doing the cutting. The others are just helping wash vegetables and prepare seasonings. Alright, alright, you guys go back. Everything is going smoothly here."
Only then did the boys return to the sofa and sit down properly.
After sitting down, Kaede grumbled, "I originally thought I could be quite relieved, but when they screamed just now, I panicked anyway."
"We can't help it. After all, we don't have as much confidence in everyone as we do in Sawamura," Kitamura Yusaku said with a laugh. "But speaking of which, did Sawamura never have any cooking disasters when she first started learning?"
This question truly stumped Kaede.
"Hmm~~~ I really don't know about that." After frowning and thinking for a moment, Kaede said, "The first time I knew Eriri had learned to cook, she had already made me a very good lunch. I really don't know what it was like before that; she learned everything from Sayuri-Auntie back then."
As he glanced at Eriri, who was dishing out a plate of food to the girls' applause, Kaede scratched his cheek, filing the matter away in his mind.
Around noon, with a table full of lunch prepared, everyone gathered around the dining table to eat their meal.
Picking up a piece of sparerib and taking a bite, Kawashima Ami's eyes widened in surprise: "Mmm! It's delicious, sweet and sour!"
"Hehe, isn't it tasty~~~"
Eriri said proudly, "This is something I made based on the recipe Auntie Reiko gave me, and I practiced it for a long time. Compared to Japanese cuisine, even everyday Chinese dishes require many more steps, and a lot of attention to things like heat control and the order of ingredients."
Gnawing on a chicken wing, Aisaka Taiga looked at Takasu Ryuji across from her and said, "Ryuji, hurry up and learn Chinese cooking too, I want to eat it!"
Takasu Ryuji's mouth twitched as he said, "I'm already learning, but it takes a lot of time. I've already asked Sawamura for many everyday Chinese recipes, but I can only study them on weekends. Just wait a little longer."
"Tch, so stupid."
"..."
Taking a deep breath, Takasu Ryuji knew that Aisaka Taiga hadn't fully recovered, so he forced himself to endure it.