Like Hell I’m Gonna Get Captured! - Chapter 4

It’s Sunday.
After Kiho and Kaede-chan, there weren’t any other people I got close to. It’s a little lonely.
Well, I did converse with some people normally. But not to the extent that I could call them friends I feel.

By the way, since the entrance ceremony, it’s been 4 days.
By that I mean the 4th day has yet to pass. Even so. Even so! The number of idiots who have confessed to me has already reached two digits. The rascals who came to talk to me were generally meeting me for the first time. There were some brave souls (read: idiots) among them who after being rejected tried again the next day.
There’s nothing more irritating. I’ve accumulated a lot of stress so I want to go out and play, but next week is our preliminary proficiency test. As one would expect, I have no time to play.

Hence, I’m making a meal.
Though by that I mean lunch. I can get rid of stress–through cooking!
It’s fun, and it’s pleasant to make delicious things. I also like watching my family enjoying themselves eating. This is the best way to relieve stress. I would recommend this to everyone.

Alright! What should I make!?

Ah, that’s right! The Japanese peppers in our garden should’ve just sprouted by now. My meal should incorporate those. I know, let’s make a Pesto! Yeah, good idea.

I forgot to mention it, but our house has a garden which has a pepper tree planted in it. I’m the one who planted it.
Although it’s easy for a pepper tree to die, I raised it in a pot. Pepper sprouts are really delicious after all.
Not just that! NOT ONLY THAT! The leaves of the tree have a peculiar smell which can be used as an effective insect repellent. We’re in an age where every family has at least one plant. Well, it’s difficult to raise one, so I suggest Googling how to.

But enough about pepper trees.
I come out of the garden having picked the pepper sprouts. New sprouts nicely came out, so I pick a mountain of them.  I won’t use all of them, so I’m going to lightly boil and freeze the rest.
By the way, I’m also raising some Basil and Italian Parsley. However, I won’t be using them today so I let them be. No wait, if I use the Basil, I can make a salad.

I head back to the kitchen and wash the sprouts.

I blend the portion I’ll be using, and then I prepare the pasta. I’m feeling like Fusilli today, so I’ll use that. Make sure to put salt in the boiling water accordingly.

While waiting for the water to boil, I prepare the salad. 
It’s the spring season, so I should use some spring vegetables. I wash some baby potatoes and leave them with their skin still on. I hear a *ding* from the stove. OK, I finish skewering the potatoes. I leave them to steam on the stove, and then I put some lettuce in cold water and shake it. As for the snap peas, it will be pleasing to the eyes to cut them so that the beans can be seen, so I do that. I slice some paprika and fresh spring onions and cut up the steamed potatoes into bite-size. Preparations complete.
I put the lettuce, snap peas, paprika, basil, spring onions, and baby potatoes into a bowl and drizzle some olives.

Finally, some dressing.
Dressing is easy to make. In some olive oil, add wine vinegar, minced anchovies, and some shredded, crushed garlic. Then finish with some salt and pepper. That’s it.

While I’m making my salad, the pasta starts to rise with the boiling water, so I hurry up and add the finishing touches.
I roast some finely chopped garlic, salt, and olive oil in a frying pan, and a pleasant aroma is released. Once that’s done, I add some of the leftover boiled broth to it and shake the vinaigrette to emulsify it.
Afterwards, I put the initially blended sprouts into the boiling water with the cut up pasta and mix well.
It’s complete after I add some sprouts for decoration.

Fufun, it’s flawless if I may say so myself. Well, this is just a simple dish so I don’t know if I can act all haughty haha!
Cooking really is fun as I said. All my stress was already blown away. I know! I’ll send a picture to Kiho!

My family gives me a 10/10.
I’m troubled when my younger brother asks for seconds, but he’s my brother, so I give him half of mine.
I got too carried away making the salad and made more than normal, so this works out fine.
If I spoil him so much, he might not become a kid unable to separate from his older sister no matter how much time passes.

Afterwards, I study until dinner. Then, I study after dinner. Before going to sleep, I do calisthenics for thirty minutes. With that, the day ends.

Tomorrow is our first proficiency test. I hope I get a good score. Although I don’t think it’ll be a problem, I can’t make any careless mistakes.

———————–

Monday comes along. I was confessed to this morning. Seriously, give me a break.
The fuck is “Make me miso soup everyday.” Ain’t that a proposal!? I don’t even fucking know your name. What a joke.

“Morningー”

I enter the classroom and greet Kaede-chan and Kiho, who are already sitting at their seats.

“Hey! Sora! What was with that picture! Sending me that picture during lunch is foul play!”

The first words out of her mouth are angry ones about yesterday’s picture.
I apologize. But, I don’t regret nor reconsider my decision. Also, angry Kiho is cute.

“Sora-san, good morning. What’s this about a picture yesterday?”

Along with her greeting, Kaede-chan asks about the picture.
Because Kiho is quite a glutton, I sent only her the picture heh.

“I sent a picture showing Kiho the lunch I made yesterday.”
“Yeah! Right when I’m studying, I get a mail from Sora, and there was a picture of this really delicious thing attached! Thanks to that, until I was called down for lunch, I couldn’t concentrate at all!~”

While saying “Here, look at it!” Kiho shows Kaede-chan the picture.

“Wow! It looks delicious. What is it?”
“Hm? It’s a pepper genovese with a spring vegetable salad.”

Having looked at the picture, Kaede-chan asks me what kind of meal it was, so I explain to her.
As a result, I’m praised with, “That is amazing,” “It looks really good,” and “You sure are good at cooking.”
It’s just a simple meal, so I’m a little embarrassed!

“It’s simple you know. If I have a chance, should I make some for you?
“Really? Please, by all means.”
“YaYYYYyy! Gue~hehehehe-. Eating~ Eating!

It’s a little painful seeing her this pleased by a meal that doesn’t even take 30 minutes to make…
And Kiho, aren’t you a completely different character?

————————

The afternoon test is over, and it’s now lunch break.

I feel like the test only covered up to middle school material. I even dredged up freshman highschool level material, but it wasn’t needed.
……..Well. Honestly, classes haven’t even started yet, so there’s no way they would test on high school level material. I wonder what I was thinking.

Lunch has become a time where I’m together with Kiho and Kaede-chan.
Because those two have packed their lunch, there’s no need to go to the school cafeteria, so we go to a table in the middle of the garden outside.

“Damn, the Sakura are in full bloom and it feels great~! There’s nothing better than this!”

Kiho’s character today is quite unsettling.
There’s not a bit of elegance in her character.

“It is often said that, “Dangos over Flowers.” (Note: Meaning practical things like food are better than transient things like flowers.)
“Fufu, that is certainly true.”
“Hey you two! Aren’t you being a little rude?”

I mean, well. You knowー?

We sit at an empty table and open our lunches.
Kaede-chan is very lady like, but as expected, she doesn’t have one of those multi-tiered lacquer boxes. Perhaps my idea of a lady is a little narrow minded huh?
They each have a small lunch box. Well, Kiho’s lunch box is a little larger than the average woman’s.
Kaede-chan’s has some octopus sausages in it. They’re kinda adorable.

By the way, my lunch box has chicken rice with a warm salad made from the steamed remainder of yesterday’s vegetables. Also, I have some asparagus rolls and fried eggs. Horray for simple meals!

“Sora, your lunch looks delicious. Did you make it yourself?”

Kiho asks while peeking at my lunch. I only opened it halfway, yet she already has drool hanging from her mouth.
This kind of Kiho is cute too. Though I don’t really mind, shouldn’t you have some more self control?
Also, it’s merely a simple lunch, so I’m kind of embarrassed that you’re looking at it like that.

“It really does look delicious. It seems I have to start diligently practicing cooking.”

Even Kaede-chan is saying these kinds of things! Stahpー! Don’t elevate my lunch to such a high hurdleー!
When you tell me such things, I’ll start feeling like some vain-type character. So please stop!

After that, we exchange bits and pieces of our lunch and eat peacefully.
My warm salad with ginger dressing is quite popular because and felt pleasant.

—————————

No longer worrying about the test, I begin the road home.
Except when I’m going to leave, I’m confessed to again. It’s stressing me out, so I’d like it if you have some mercy. Still, I’m feeling quite good today.

(Note: Up until now, he has been fluctuating between ‘Jibun,’ a gender neutral way of saying ‘I,’ and ‘Ore,’ a manly way of saying ‘I.’ However, in this last part, he uses ‘Ore,’ with the kanji for ‘Watashi,’ a feminine way of saying ‘I.’ In other words, he accidentally used a female pronoun to refer to himself.)