"Ya-ho, Minato! You're early."
Yumekawa, who had arrived first, was busily getting the cooking preparations ready.
But there was no one else there besides Yumekawa.
"Hey, who's supposed to be teaching you how to cook?"
"Hmm, I think she'll be here soon... Oh, there she is!"
Yumekawa stopped what she was doing and waved toward someone behind me. I slowly turned around and couldn't believe my eyes.
"Huh... you?"
"What? So you got called here by Arisu too."
It was Beni.
So she was the cooking instructor...
"Oh? You two know each other?"
"W-well, we're in the same class."
"Ahaha, I guess that's right. Yuzu, Minato's going to be our taste tester today."
"I see. Arisu, let's get started, so go get your apron."
Unlike Yumekawa, who seemed excited, Beni began preparing in a matter-of-fact, businesslike manner without even looking at me.
Once the two started cooking, I had nothing to do, so I sat a little ways off and looked at my phone.
Every now and then, I glanced over at them. Yumekawa was all smiles, while Beni, as usual, didn't even raise an eyebrow.
Still, even though her expression was stiff, she somehow looked like she was enjoying herself. I don't think I imagined it.
So she really did have friends she could let her guard down with.
"Hey."
Beni called out to me while I was still fiddling with my phone.
"Wh-what?"
"Could you pass me that soy sauce?"
"Oh, yeah."
I was startled by her sudden voice, but Beni was as calm as ever.
When I brought the soy sauce over, Yumekawa cheerfully said, "Thanks, Minato!" and poured way too much into the beaten eggs.
"...Arisu, that's definitely too much."
"Huh, really? But I only have this many eggs."
"You're really hopeless, you know that? If you ask Mr. Kato in the staff room, he'll probably let you use some eggs."
"Really? Okay, I'll go right now!"
"Arisu, let me go get them."
"It's fine! So you two just wait here, okay?"
Yumekawa hurried out of the classroom.
"..."
I was left alone with Beni. We had never been alone together at school before. Feeling awkward, I started to move to a seat farther away.
"Hey."
Beni stopped me.
"...What?"
"You don't have to force yourself to be so distant, do you?"
"That's not what I'm trying to do."
"Then you don't need to sit that far away. Or is it that you really are worried about what Arisu might think?"
"...That's not it."
At school, Beni had almost never spoken to me first—she had only greeted me once. So I'd assumed she didn't want me to talk to her on school grounds.
But apparently that wasn't the case.
"But still, acting normal at school... well, it feels kind of weird."
"I can understand that."
"Look who's talking. Weren't you the one avoiding me?"
"Don't blame me. It's because you were giving off that 'don't talk to me' vibe."
"You're the one blaming me. When did I ever... no, I guess we both just thought that about each other. Well, now that you mention it, there's no real reason to avoid each other."
Probably, I had just been afraid. Afraid that she'd say, "Don't act so familiar with me, we're just friends with benefits."
"Well, sorry if I made it hard to talk to me."
"So you can apologize."
"What's that supposed to mean? What do you think of me?"
"Nothing much. I think you're a difficult person."
"Excuse me? That's my line."
"What's so difficult about me?"
"You have a friends-with-benefits thing going on, yet you say interacting with people is tiring. You're as contrary as they come."
"You're the same way, aren't you? So that makes us even."
"...Well, I suppose so. It really is one thing after another where we're even."
"Yeah... I guess so."
Conversations like that felt strangely comfortable.
If we had just talked like this from the very beginning, maybe our relationship would be a little different now.
Just as I was thinking that, the door swung open.
"Sorry to keep you waiting! Okay, let's get started!"
After that, Beni and I didn't exchange any more words. Yumekawa kept talking nonstop, and she made me eat her failed rolled omelets over and over again.
When the taste-testing was over, I left the home economics room first, leaving the two of them behind.