“….C-cold”

As I arrived home, I trembled from the cold.

一 A house where you live alone, is cold. It's cold not only in a physical but also in a psychological way.

Though if you tell me that I’m feeling lonely because I’m still single even despite being over 30 I won’t be able to say anything back.

(But, it doesn’t feel inconvenient or anything. I’d be lying if I said that I wasn’t lonely, but that doesn’t mean I’d get married without caring about consequences….)

一 Long ago I was called something like a “loser woman” but I don’t really think that I’ve  lost at anything.

Besides, I’m pretty satisfied with this free lifestyle of being able to do anything I want.

“C-o-l-d”

While fumbling around in the dark house where no one replies back, I found the light switch and turned it on.

The recipe I wrote while leaving in the morning, was still left on the table untouched.

“Hot water, hot water”

I pressed the switch on the electric kettle.

Drinking something hot to warm myself up right after coming back come is my usual routine.

"I wonder what I should make today?"

Voicing out your thoughts must be a specific feature of living alone. I end up saying everything aloud.

Even though there’s n.o.body here to reply.

In the basket on the table there is stuff like a handmade citrus tea, bottled ginger tea bases of various flavors and cans of my favorite white peach-flavored oolong tea that I bought on internet put together in one place so I could drink it anytime I want as long as I had hot water.

I think that the fun of choosing makes life more charming.

“Today will be chilly so let's go with lemon ginger tea.”

I’ve pickled sliced lemon and ginger in honey. This was pickled last year. If it is immersed in plenty of honey, the lemon won’t rot. If you melt it in hot water you’ll get a perfect hot drink for winter that’s sweet, is good for the throat and warms up your body. In summer it’s also delicious if you chill it with ice, making a so-called Ginger Lemonade.

I do have A/C but I don’t use it that much. This bungalow was built 22 years ago, so it's incredibly drafty.

It does warm up when needed but I feel like it's a waste of electricity. Cost-performance wise it could be better.

While the water was warming up I took off my coat and headed towards the bedroom.

“As I thought, I forgot it here, huh….”

I spotted my cellphone near the side of the bed and was relieved a little.

Light pink gold colored mobile is already 3 years old. The girls at my workplace often tell me that such thick cellphones are no longer made these days. I hesitate each time a new model is announced, but because I haven’t found a phone which I’d like entirely, I haven’t been able to switch to something new.

As I looked at the screen, I saw 7 missed calls.

Having 7 missed calls after not having the phone on me for half a day might be many or few depending on the person, but for me it's many.

“Huh, that’s from Sakisaksenpai…..”

The answering machine was turned on as opposed to the usual, so let's try playing it

"Maychan? it's Sakisaka. I didn't get a reply on mail either so you probably forgot your cellphone…but give me a call when you come home. I have a job for you."

“…..I’m sorry. That’s exactly what happened~”

I think that talking to the answering machine, TV or other things is also something like a habit of people who've lived alone for a long time.

I put my hands together and apologized to the cellphone.

I, Izumi Maya, work as a Patissier as my main job and as a temporary cook at a wine bar as a side job.

I should probably say  Patissiere because I’m a woman, but the t.i.tle on the shop’s business card is “Chef Patissier” so I always end up saying Patissier too. Be it my main job or a side job, I wrap things up by saying that I’m a cook or that I work in field related to cooking.

For my main job, I work at the shop located at the back street of Ginza that specializes in fruit tarts.

It’s a popular shop, often featured in magazines.

I’m one of the three Chefs.

Including apprentices, there are 12 Patissieres in the shop, 4 people making a team.

The Chef’s privilege is that you don’t have to attend to the customers. I’m happy to hear customers’ voices while serving them but I prefer making things so I was happy when I got promoted.

I don’t dislike the work, but there are some parts that seem lacking.

It's natural, but the shop has a decided recipe and you obviously can't add your own improvisations to it, also it varies during the seasons but making the exact same thing every single day is a little stressful.

Making up for that is my other workplace.

Once or twice a week, only in the evening before the day the shop closes, I work by rotation schedule in the kitchen of the wine bar, that’s managed by the husband of a senpai that used to work in our store.

Although there is a menu of drinks here, there is no menu of cooking. One of its selling points is making dishes suitable for the wine selected by the customer with the ingredients purchased on that day.

There are always customers looking through the counter of the open kitchen, so I can't get rid of the feeling that not having a set menu is kind of hard. I'm deciding on the menu while communicating with the customers, so even though it's cooking, it’s also a serious duel! Or so I feel. I absolutely love that moderate feeling of tension.

The low salary despite being a late-night job is kind of hard, but I’ve started to acquire a taste for the wine while being trained by picky customers so it has become a precious time for me.

I’m often told that if I work on the day-offs it won’t really be a day-off, but I think it’d be better if they took it the same as, for example, dedicating your weekend to your hobbies.

Normal people will spend time on hobbies when they are off work, right? It's the same as that.

In my case I’m also earning money while doing what I love so it’s precisely killing two birds with one stone.

“…….I wonder if he’s busy? Senpai.”

I tried calling Sakisaksenpai back but it didn’t go through.

I sent a mail and went to the kitchen.

There are many Cooks who don’t want to make meals at home but, I do it at home too.

It also serves as research for various things so it's not uncommon for innovative menus to be done. Of course, taking responsibility and eating till the end is a standard…..though there are also things I can't eat no matter how much I try.

From the landlady that lives separately I’ve been told that in this bungalow once lived an old lady who loved cooking.

Because of that, the kitchen is quite complete.

It's easy to use because it has been thoughtfully designed and the fact that it comes with an oven is just the best. For a rented house to come with a genuine oven is very rare.

This oven was the biggest deciding factor for renting this house.

Today my dinner menu is Oden.

When I make oden, I use the stoneware pot. 一After cooking it together, I pack it in a newspaper alongside with the pot and then wrap it in a blanket to keep it warm. If I do that in the morning, when I come back the taste would have soaked in very well. It’s so-called thermal cooking. There seems to be a special pot for this, but I don’t need something like that at all. If you have a stoneware pot you can even cook rice in it and there are also plenty of other uses, so for people living alone this is a necessity good.

As I was making a kinpira of the radish’s and carrots’ skins, I realised.

(There is no mustard ……)

Oden without mustard is like a pudding without caramel sauce!

I firmly demand mustard!!Just~ kidding, even if I'm trying to be excited I still live alone. There is no other choice but to go buy it myself.

(It’s can’t be helped)

I decided to go to the convenience store that’s three minutes away on foot.

Supermarket is cheaper, but there's a bigger distance, so I don't really feel like going there at this time.

Recently everything has become dangerous. This place is close to the main street and there are many street lights too so we’re still better off. At those time I think that I’m glad to live in the city.

I felt relieved to see the light of a convenience store.

Relaxing from looking at the logo on its signboard is probably because I got accustomed to the life in Tokyo.

I’m originally from the mountains in Hokkaido, but it’s been 10 years since I’ve come to Tokyo,

The signal of the pedestrian crossing becomes blue.

At the moment I took a step, I heard a harsh braking sound and someone’s scream.

(….Too bright….)

As soon I realised why it was so dazzling, my body fluttered and flew into the air, and my consciousness blacked out.

—-

Notes:

And another one bites the truck.

This is gonna be a food p.o.r.n with sweet fluff to compensate for LAST BOSS b.i.t.c.h, most likely. I’ll do chapters interchangeably with that. Next chapter will be next week btw, after I finish new witch chapter, then it’ll be a smooth sailing because SummerTM.

Anyway, since I use mostly google to translate there are bound to be mistranslations so point them out by all means and laugh at my s.h.i.+tty reading comprehension.

Also this chapter was edited late at night so you can also tear me a new one about some LQ engrish (if u spot double s.p.a.ces hmu, I can’t be bothered tos earch the whole text for them on my own)

P.S I’ll do my best to at least research the proper food names and add pics so there’s that to look forward to

P.P.S Big thanks to Asd.i.c.k as usual <>

P,P.P.S Synopsis says pasty chef but I decided on patissier because even in the prologue there were some lines that needed it to be in original french for the sentence to make sense