Chapter 364: Learning to Cook
After lunch, the afternoon was for rest and entertainment.
Although Eriri excitedly suggested everyone watch a horror movie together, she was collectively rejected by the other girls and had to give up. In the end, after a vote, everyone decided to play poker.
Holding a hand of cards, Eriri said dejectedly, "You guys are really timid. With so many people together, you're still afraid to watch a horror movie. It's spring now, not winter. Even in winter, if we watched a movie here, we'd have the air conditioning on."
"Let's not talk about horror movies."
Shaking her head, Utaha drew a card from Eriri's hand, happened to make a pair, and threw it out. Then she said, "After watching a horror movie here last time, I got a little interested and watched five horror movies one weekend. I almost couldn't sleep at night, and after that, I just didn't dare to watch them anymore."
"Then you're really something. I wouldn't dare to watch so many horror movies at once."
Pouting, Eriri drew a card from Aisaka Taiga, and it turned out to be a joker. She immediately made a face as if questioning life, while Aisaka Taiga showed a brilliant smile.
The boys, however, did not participate in the Old Maid game, because the girls' wager was to draw a turtle on their face if they lost. Even with easily washable pens, they weren't very interested, so they gathered to play video games instead.
Playing Super Smash Bros., Kaede, who had the highest gaming skill among them, easily dodged the others' attacks while saying, "We talked about going to the beach this summer. Everyone should have time, right?"
"Yes."
The other few all nodded in sync. Kitamura Yusaku said, "I'm already prepared. I'll take time off from my summer job in advance. Opportunities like this are rare, a private beach and a beach villa. Tsk tsk tsk, it's good to have a rich friend."
"Rich is really an exaggeration."
Shrugging, Kaede said with a smile, "It was also reserved in advance, and with a little bit of connections, that's how we got it. If I were truly rich, it would be my own private beach and seaside villa."
"I estimate you, Asakura, might have one in the future, right? A private one?"
"Hmm~~~"
Tilting his head and easily knocking out the Mario controlled by Takasu Ryuji, Kaede said, "Doesn't seem necessary? Eriri's family seems to have a private beach abroad. Eriri, I remember you said you had one, right?"
Eriri, who was sitting back-to-back with Kaede on the other side, nodded upon hearing this: "Yes, we do. It's from my dad's side of the family, but going abroad and taking a plane just to go to the beach isn't necessary. If we're going to travel abroad, there are definitely better places, and we wouldn't choose our own place."
So this is what a truly rich person looks like.
Feeling everyone's gaze, Eriri shrugged and said, "Don't look at me like that. I already said it's from my dad's family and has little to do with me. Didn't you see my surname Sawamura in front? My dad also has siblings, so most of that family property won't be passed down to me, and I've never even thought about it."
Utaha smiled and bumped Eriri's shoulder: "Soon it will be changed to Asakura, right, Mrs. Asakura?"
"Urusai!"
Then everyone started taking turns teasing Eriri with the title "Mrs. Asakura," making Eriri blush, but she couldn't refute them.
Amidst the laughter, Kitamura Yusaku noticed that Kawashima Ami, who had been a bit out of place before, had unexpectedly become very relaxed today and was able to quickly integrate into everyone's conversations. Even her awkward personality hadn't shown much.
Of course, it wasn't that Kawashima Ami was pretending; her current state was the most ordinary version of Kawashima Ami that Kitamura Yusaku had seen before.
So Kitamura Yusaku was certain that in this environment, Kawashima Ami was very relaxed and didn't have to think about anything else.
Although no one was asked to do anything extra, this small group of people, and the atmosphere of their activities over the past year, was truly contagious. Even Aisaka Taiga, who initially had a bad temper, had changed many of her personality flaws and become a very cute little girl, happily playing and teasing with everyone.
Just as he was thinking this, Takasu Ryuji suddenly exclaimed, "Good opportunity!"
Then, Kitamura, who was originally sure of victory, was taken out by a combo from Takasu Ryuji, turning the situation on the field into a one-on-one between him and Kaede.
"Damn it, Takasu, you sneak attacked!"
"How can you call it a sneak attack?" Takasu Ryuji smiled broadly as he rushed over for the final showdown with Kaede, who had been waiting for a long time. "Who told you to get distracted just now? Getting distracted on the battlefield is a big taboo!"
"..."
Putting down his controller, Kitamura silently got up, poured a glass of cola, and drank it dejectedly.
In the evening, everyone, having had a fun day, said their goodbyes and left.
Closing the apartment door and sitting back on the sofa, Kaede waved to Eriri: "Eriri, come here for a moment."
"Huh? Coming!"
Putting down the cat in her arms, Eriri trotted over, jumped onto the sofa, and leaned into Kaede's embrace: "What's up?"
"I want to ask you something."
Stroking Eriri's single ponytail, which she had tied today, Kaede chuckled and said, "Do you still remember the first time you cooked for me?"
"Of course I remember!"
Eriri thought back and nodded: "That was after I learned from my mom. I came to your house and cooked for you. But now that I think back, my cooking skills back then were really just average, nothing compared to now. Hehe, Auntie Reiko said before that my current skills are already seven-tenths of hers, isn't that impressive!"
"Mhm, very impressive."
Gently pinching Eriri's cheek, Kaede continued, "But that's not what I wanted to ask. I wanted to know, how long did it take you to learn from scratch before you successfully mastered it?"
"From scratch?"
Eriri didn't think much and shook her head, saying, "It wasn't too long, not too short either, I guess. Every day after school, usually before dinner, I'd use that time, which I'd normally use for resting, to pester my mom to teach me how to cook, and I'd take notes. When I had more time, like on weekends or if I got home a bit earlier, I'd have my mom guide me while I cooked. When I first started cooking, I was really nervous, afraid of getting hurt by oil or high temperatures, but now I don't worry as much. Kaede-kun, why are you suddenly asking me this?"
"Because at lunchtime, wasn't someone over on your side calling out? So we boys started talking about it, and I made a mental note to ask you about when you first started learning."
Rubbing his cheek against Eriri's, Kaede said softly, "Thank you, Eriri, for being willing to cook for me."
"Hehe, it's nothing really. Don't you cook for me too, Kaede-kun?"
Eriri's cheeks were slightly red, and she squinted happily, saying, "Mom taught me that in a relationship, both sides have to put in effort, so I need to be more mindful too. But Kaede-kun, teaching Taiga and the others while cooking at lunchtime already made me quite tired."
"OK, I get it. I'll make dinner."