After Shikime Natsu stepped into Asahina Nazuna's dorm room, so thoroughly suffused with that pink, girlish atmosphere, Asahina Nazuna cleared her throat a little awkwardly and pointed toward the open space in the center of the room, where a soft carpet was spread out alongside a few cute floor cushions.
"Shiki-kun, just find anywhere you like to sit—no need to stand on ceremony."
Shikime Natsu nodded, walked over to the edge of the carpet, and sat down.
Once again, his gaze fell quite naturally upon that set of exquisite trading cards on the desk, the ones so carefully packaged and put on display.
Following the line of his sight, Asahina Nazuna also noticed what Shikime Natsu was looking at.
She walked over to the desk, reached out a finger, and gave a light tap on the transparent display case holding that set of cards. Then she turned her head and looked at Shikime Natsu, those purple eyes carrying a hint of mischief and an eager, raring-to-go smile.
"What's this? Could it be that Shiki-kun's hands are itching again?"
Asahina Nazuna spoke to him with a smile.
"How about... we have another little match, you and me?"
She tilted her chin up slightly, her tone carrying a few traces of unyielding, sore-loser stubbornness.
"I'll have you know—ever since I got these cards you gave me last time, I've actually been seriously training myself in secret this whole time. If we have a rematch this time, I can guarantee you, I'll definitely beat you more than just once!"
As she said this, Asahina Nazuna was actually grumbling a bit inwardly.
Back when she'd played the card game with Shikime Natsu, she'd been utterly annihilated by him, not a single piece of armor left intact. Although she had won against Shikime Natsu once at the very end, thinking about it now, it had probably been Shikime Natsu deliberately going easy on her—that was the only reason she'd managed to snag that one win. Otherwise, she really would have been shut out by Shikime Natsu completely.
At the mere thought that she'd had to rely on an underclassman's deliberate concession and pity just to win a single round—that feeling of having her hand seen through and then being "looked after"—made Asahina Nazuna, who had always styled herself as a reliable senpai, feel a little put out, as though she'd somewhat lost face.
But then again, looking at it from another angle.
Deep down, Asahina Nazuna actually felt quite gratified and warmed by this approach of Shikime Natsu's.
After all, if she were to play cards against a first-year underclassman and, as a seasoned second-year senpai, fail to win even a single round—getting shut out entirely—how would that sound if word got around?
That considerate gesture of Shikime Natsu's, quietly preserving her dignity without making a show of it, did make her feel a little defeated, yet it also let her genuinely sense this underclassman's gentleness.
Faced with Asahina Nazuna's challenge, laced as it was with a touch of provocation and anticipation.
Shikime Natsu let out a soft chuckle, those pale golden eyes carrying a hint of indulgence.
"That's certainly fine by me."
Shikime Natsu looked at her and agreed in a gentle tone.
"As long as Asahina-senpai wants to play, I'm happy to oblige anytime. However..."
His tone shifted abruptly as he reached out and lightly patted his own stomach, speaking with a slightly helpless air.
"Right at this moment, though, I really am feeling a little hungry."
Hearing Shikime Natsu steer the topic back to the matter of eating of his own accord, Asahina Nazuna only then remembered that she'd brought him back to her dorm in order to honor that promise of treating him to a meal.
"Ah, sorry, sorry—I almost forgot the main thing."
Asahina Nazuna hurriedly dropped that ready-for-three-hundred-rounds-of-battle posture of hers, looked at Shikime Natsu, and asked.
"So then... Shiki-kun, what would you like to eat for lunch today? Is there anything in particular you're craving?"
After hearing this little speech from Asahina Nazuna.
Shikime Natsu looked at her somewhat nervous—you could even say guilty—expression, and couldn't help but laugh.
Propping his chin in one hand, he asked Asahina Nazuna in a teasing tone with a hint of mischief.
"Oh? So senpai means that, even at this point in time, I'm still allowed to order whatever I please?"
Shikime Natsu's gaze landed squarely and unwaveringly on Asahina Nazuna.
Faced with this merciless ribbing from Shikime Natsu.
Asahina Nazuna's cheeks instantly flushed red.
She couldn't help shooting Shikime Natsu a sullen glare, and like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, she immediately fired back.
"Just who do you think you're looking down on, huh?"
She planted both hands on her hips and huffed at Shikime Natsu.
"Originally, as the guest who was invited, you did indeed hold the right to order whatever you liked. But now!"
She let out a snort and twisted her head off to one side.
"Because of that extremely rude remark you just made, your ordering privileges have been unilaterally confiscated by me! They're gone now! Whatever I make for lunch today, you'll just have to be a good boy and eat it—no picky eating allowed!"
Looking at this adorable display of Asahina Nazuna's, full of bluster and willful logic as she tried to cover her guilty conscience with sheer momentum.
Shikime Natsu merely chuckled softly and shook his head, saying nothing more, silently accepting this "tyrant's clause."
Seeing that Shikime Natsu wasn't going to call out her bluff.
Asahina Nazuna secretly let out a quiet sigh of relief.
She turned around and picked up a pink rubber band from a small cabinet beside the desk.
She deftly gathered up that head of orange-red long hair draped over her shoulders, swept it behind her head, and neatly tied it into a lively single ponytail, revealing a fair, slender neck.
Right after that.
She took out from the cabinet an apron printed with a little bear pattern, carefully fastened it around her waist, and tied a pretty bow at her back.
Finally, she very professionally rolled up the sleeves of her short-sleeved shirt, exposing a small stretch of her arms so as not to get her clothes dirty while cooking.
Although Shikime Natsu still had no idea, at this point, just what Asahina Nazuna's true level of culinary skill actually was.
But just from this fluid, seamless series of preparatory movements of hers, at the very least when it came to this prep work and sense of ritual beforehand, she had gone the whole nine yards.
Looking at Asahina Nazuna now, apron tied on and hair in a ponytail, standing in the small open kitchen.
Shikime Natsu gave a slight nod and praised her without the slightest stinginess.
"Mm, not bad."
"With the way senpai's dressed right now, you really do have the bearing of a restaurant head chef—you look thoroughly professional."
Hearing this praise from Shikime Natsu.
The corners of Asahina Nazuna's mouth curved up involuntarily, and inwardly she did feel rather pleased and happy.
However, she quickly came back to her senses, and couldn't help starting to fret a little in her heart.
This "head chef" who looked so impressive and dazzling on the surface—the so-called "feast" she was about to display her grand talents on in the kitchen and serve up for Shikime Natsu to taste.
Was, in fact... nothing more than the simplest dish, and the only one she could guarantee wouldn't blow up the kitchen—omurice, and that was it.
And it was even the basic version, the kind where the ketchup absolutely had to be piled on without limit.
Asahina Nazuna silently prayed in her heart.
When she carried that utterly unremarkable plate of omurice to the table in a little while, she hoped Shiki-kun absolutely would not show that too-disappointed, or distasteful, kind of expression.
Otherwise...
If he dared mock her cooking to her face, she would absolutely never forgive that detestable fellow!
Carrying this anxious, fretful mood.
Asahina Nazuna took a deep breath, turned around, and was just about to face the cutting board and start preparing the dish.
However, right as she was about to pick up the kitchen knife to cut an onion, out of some sort of nervous instinct, she subconsciously turned her head and glanced toward the direction of the carpet.
As it turned out, her gaze ran smack into Shikime Natsu's line of sight.
She discovered that Shikime Natsu hadn't, as she'd imagined, been playing on his phone or reading a book to pass the time.
Instead, he was just sitting there quietly, those pale golden eyes carrying a trace of a gentle smile, watching without blinking the busy figure of her back as she worked in the kitchen.
Being gazed at with that kind of look.
Asahina Nazuna's cheeks instantly took on a layer of crimson.
Her heartbeat couldn't help but quicken a few beats, and her movements grew a little stiff.
"D-don't watch me!"
She turned her head away in some embarrassment and annoyance, not daring to meet his eyes again, able only to forcibly concentrate all her attention on the ingredients before her.
"When I'm cooking, the thing I hate most is people staring at me!"
Asahina Nazuna began clumsily and frantically handling the ingredients—cutting onions, frying rice, beating eggs.
Because she was far too nervous inside, and because she truly did lack practice in everyday life.
When she attempted the most critical step—that is, the part where she had to spread out the egg sheet to wrap up the fried rice.
All she heard was a "sizzle" coming from the frying pan.
She hadn't controlled the heat well, and the egg sheet stuck directly to the bottom of the pan. Then, when she went to flip it over, it broke—predictably and without suspense—into a heap of shattered, utterly unbearable-to-look-at fragments.
That portion of omurice, which should originally have been a tempting golden yellow, turned directly into a plate of scorched, broken-egg rice scramble.
Looking at that hideous failed product in the pan.
Asahina Nazuna's hand holding the spatula froze in midair.
She felt her cheeks burning hot—she'd lost face, big time!
Just a moment ago she'd been over there boasting with such confidence, and in the blink of an eye she'd crashed and burned right in front of the underclassman she liked.
Not only had she failed to display the appearance an excellent, reliable senpai ought to have, she'd instead exposed the cruel fact that she was a kitchen killer.
Asahina Nazuna took a deep breath, turned her head, and looked at Shikime Natsu sitting on the carpet. "Um, that..."
She bit her lip a little awkwardly, trying to offer some explanation for this dreadful performance of hers.
"I... I think I just got a bit muddled because it was too hot, so my hand slipped a little."
She put on a brave front and said to Shikime Natsu.
"Just wait for me a bit longer! When I usually make this, I can actually do it perfectly—that one just now was only an accident!"
Looking at this adorable display of hers, Shikime Natsu held back his laughter and very obligingly nodded, agreeing to it.
"Sure, I'm in no hurry. Take your time, senpai."
Having received Shikime Natsu's leniency.
Asahina Nazuna pulled herself back together, dumped that failed creation into a clean plate, and set it aside.
Then she washed the pan again, beat fresh eggs, and began her second attempt.
This time, she learned her lesson and held her breath the entire way through.
Finally, after going through a long and tormenting stretch of time.
A barely-holding-its-shape omurice came out of the pan.
Although that layer of egg sheet looked somewhat uneven in thickness, and its color appeared a little dark because the heat had been slightly overdone, with even some breakage along the edges.
Its presentation could only be described as "so-so," absolutely nothing you'd call refined.
But.
At any rate, it was an omurice that completely wrapped up the rice inside—it counted, just barely, as a success.
Asahina Nazuna let out a long sigh of relief and used ketchup to draw a slightly crooked smiley-face pattern on top.
Then, carrying that finished plate that belonged to Shikime Natsu, she walked out of the kitchen and came over to the low little table beside the carpet, setting it down.
"There."
Asahina Nazuna handed the chopsticks to Shikime Natsu, lowered her head a bit bashfully, and added in a small voice.
"Go ahead... go ahead and give it a taste."
"This is actually the first time I've... made a dish with my own hands to entertain a guest other than myself."
Hearing these words.
Shikime Natsu took the chopsticks and looked at the omurice before him, with its somewhat dismal presentation, yet his gaze turned very tender.
"To be able to become the very first guest to taste senpai's cooking."
Shikime Natsu looked at her and stated in a very solemn tone.
"This is my honor."
Having said that.
Without the slightest hesitation, he used his chopsticks to pick up a piece of egg and fried rice coated in ketchup and brought it directly into his mouth.
Asahina Nazuna stared at him nervously, both hands unconsciously gripping the hem of her apron, even her breathing turning cautious and careful.
Shikime Natsu chewed slowly a few times.
After swallowing, he looked at the utterly nervous Asahina Nazuna, the corner of his mouth curving into a very sincere smile, and gave an unexpectedly good appraisal.
"Mm."
"The flavor's quite good—a lot better than I'd imagined. The rice is fried so the flavor's really soaked in, and although the heat was off by just a tiny bit, it doesn't affect the taste at all."
Hearing this appraisal.
Asahina Nazuna's purple eyes widened in surprise, and she looked at Shikime Natsu with a touch of disbelief.
"R-really?"
She even suspected that Shikime Natsu was just consoling her, so she asked.
"You're not deliberately lying to me just to cheer me up, are you?"
"Of course not."
Shikime Natsu replied with a smile, and picked up another bite to put in his mouth, proving his appraisal through actual deeds.
Watching him really eating the thing she'd made in big mouthfuls.
Although Asahina Nazuna knew perfectly well in her heart that this plate of omurice she'd made was only at the level an ordinary person could barely get down, a hundred and eighty thousand miles away from those truly delicious delicacies.
But.
When she heard Shikime Natsu praise her in that earnest tone, in her heart she still couldn't help but feel a strong surge of happiness and satisfaction welling up.
Just what kind of feeling was this, exactly?
Asahina Nazuna couldn't quite explain it herself, nor could she figure it out.
But still...
She really did feel happy, genuinely, from the bottom of her heart.
Mm, it should be said that Shikime Natsu could always so naturally come out with the kinds of words that please girls.
Even though she knew full well there might be some exaggeration mixed in, Asahina Nazuna found that she actually rather liked hearing him say such things.
In order to mask that secret delight and bashfulness inside her.
Asahina Nazuna reached out a hand, put it to her lips in a put-on manner, and gave a light cough.
She was a little embarrassed, yet she tried hard to put on the air of a very proper, very gratified senpai, and said to Shikime Natsu.
"Well, since you think it's not bad."
"Then, in that case, I suppose I'll reluctantly accept this praise from Shiki-kun."
Watching Shikime Natsu quietly eating over there.
Asahina Nazuna's gaze fell involuntarily upon that plate set out in front of her—the defective reject from her first failed attempt.
It was a mixture of charred-black egg sheet and half-cooked fried rice.
It was the thing she'd made herself.
What could be done about it now? She couldn't very well waste food and dump it out, could she?
What Shikime Natsu was eating was the successful one, so as a punishment, this failed creation still had to be eaten down with her very own mouth.
Asahina Nazuna took a deep breath, picked up a spoon, and with a do-or-die resolve, scooped up a big spoonful from that plate of defective rejects, shut her eyes, and brought it into her mouth.
"Mmgh—"
The very first bite she ate.
Asahina Nazuna's whole face immediately twisted into a pained look, her delicate features all scrunching up in agony.
It was so awful!
Sure enough, this was a thoroughly, utterly failed creation—the taste was downright terrible.
Not only did the presentation on the outside look dreadful, but the texture once it was in her mouth was beyond words too—both salty and bitter, and she could even chew up bits of raw, uncooked onion.
Just as Asahina Nazuna was struggling to swallow down the thing in her mouth.
Shikime Natsu, sitting across from her, noticed her wretched state.
He set down the chopsticks in his hand and stood up.
"Hand it over to me."
Shikime Natsu walked to her side, reached out a hand toward Asahina Nazuna, and said in a calm tone.
"Let me help you—I'll redo this omurice for you."
Hearing Shikime Natsu say this.
Asahina Nazuna was stunned for a moment, that mouthful of awful fried rice still held in her mouth.
She had no idea what Shikime Natsu intended to do that could possibly "redo" this failed creation, which had already been fried into a lump of charcoal, into something good.
But out of her trust in him, Asahina Nazuna still subconsciously nodded and pushed the plate in front of her over to him.
Shikime Natsu picked up that plate of failed egg fried rice, turned, and walked into the kitchen.
He didn't dump it out; instead, he tipped it directly into a clean wok.
Then he turned on the heat and skillfully added some clear water, fresh tomato chunks, and a few special seasonings.
He could be seen stir-frying with rapid movements in the kitchen, the flames leaping at the bottom of the wok.
In no more than a few minutes' time.
That original scorched, burnt smell vanished.
In its place, a rich and enticing tomato aroma gradually wafted through, spreading into the air of the entire dorm room.
When Shikime Natsu came back out carrying a new plate.
The moment Asahina Nazuna saw it, she was struck completely dumb.
On the plate, those originally charred-black bits of egg had been cleverly simmered into a rich sauce, coating every grain of rice that had now turned plump and round once more.
Sprinkled on top were some emerald-green chopped scallions as a garnish.
Although it was no longer omurice in the traditional sense, this brand-new tomato soft-egg rice looked exactly like a signature dish you'd find at one of those high-end Western restaurants!
"This... what's going on here?"
Asahina Nazuna's eyes went wide, her face full of incredulity.
This was just too amazing! It really was bringing the dead back to life with a miraculous touch!
Such a terrible, such an awful-tasting failed product—with just a few casual maneuvers in Shikime Natsu's hands, it could actually be made this excellent in color, aroma, and flavor all at once!
Asahina Nazuna couldn't wait to pick up her spoon and take a bite.
The sweet-and-sour, palate-pleasing sauce and the soft, glutinous rice melted on the tip of her tongue—it was simply too delicious to eat!
"This is way too good!"
Asahina Nazuna let out a slightly exaggerated cry of amazement, the look in her eyes as she gazed at Shikime Natsu brimming with adoration.
But after the amazement passed.
Asahina Nazuna lowered her head and glanced at that plate of self-made, shape-holding-but-utterly-mediocre-tasting omurice in front of Shikime Natsu, and her heart suddenly felt a little guilty.
She'd given him something like that to eat, yet he'd turned around and reprocessed the awful one to give to her instead.
"Um... Shiki-kun."
Asahina Nazuna looked at him a bit bashfully and suggested in a small voice.
"How about we just swap, then? You eat my portion, and I'll eat yours."
Faced with Asahina Nazuna's suggestion.
Shikime Natsu let out a soft chuckle and refused without the slightest hesitation.
"No need."
He picked up the plate of omurice in front of him again, looked at Asahina Nazuna, his gaze tender.
"I really like this one."
"Because this is the dish that Asahina-senpai cooked for me with her own hands for the very first time."
Hearing these words.
Asahina Nazuna's cheeks instantly flew up with a flush of red, her heartbeat abruptly accelerating.
She didn't insist on swapping anymore.
She only nodded gently, her face red.
"Mm..."
The girl lowered her head, concealing that sweet smile at the bottom of her eyes, and ate the rice on her plate in small, dainty bites.
____
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