VOLUME 6

Chapter 4: Part 2

It was the next day. My school was pretty stingy with the heater, so I was freezing in my cla.s.sroom as a girl glared at me.

She was a pretty girl, with an expression just as commanding as Sera’s. In fact, if Sera was one level more strict and let her hair down, then she would probably feel something like this.

Her name was Saras. She was Sera’s commanding officer in that weird group of vampire ninjas that Sera was a part of. As for why these vampire ninjas were attending the same school as I was… well, I still didn’t quite know.

Anyways, that’s not important right now. What was important was that Saras was holding onto a ninja-y looking scroll and looking down at me with her arms crossed.

“… and that’s pretty much what happened.”

It seemed like Sera had asked Saras for a good recipe, and I was charged with getting that recipe from Saras. But for some reason, Saras seemed a bit reluctant right now.

“I was wondering why I got that emergency call, but it was for something like this… Seraphim is a moron.”

“You know about Sera’s cooking, right? I really want her to be able to cook a proper meal.”

Saras let out a single chuckle.

“My darling, do you really think you can help with that?”

“I’m going to try. Also, can you stop it with that nickname?”

I had no idea what Saras was thinking, but apparently she liked me. Well, to be precise, she liked the shape of my b.u.t.t. So, even though we technically weren’t dating each other, she started calling me “my darling.”

“Hmph, saying that even though you’re clearly happy about it… what a cute guy you are.”

She wasn’t like this before either… so when in the world had she gotten all deredere on me…?

“You’re a tsundere as always, aren’t you?”

“Hm? I couldn’t hear you very well, but you weren’t just mocking me, were you? Depending on what you said, you may find yourself soon sinking to the bottom of the ocean with all the other seaweed.”

“Nothing. It was nothing. Come on, just give me that recipe.”

“I will, my darling. But, you should know that this is a meat and potato stew recipe written by Katsus.h.i.+ka Hokusai.”

Seriously?! This was a meat and potato stew recipe written by that famous ukiyo-e painter?! That was so d.a.m.n interesting that I could feel myself drooling already. But…

“Stop lying.”

“Well, it’s just a rumor. I have no proof that it’s a lie though.”

What the h.e.l.l? I looked at Saras and we shared a laugh, when another girl came into the cla.s.sroom. She came in with a sunny smile, bright like a blooming sunflower.

“Aiiikawa~~. What’s that?”

Her name was Yos.h.i.+da Yuki, and she was also a vampire ninja, the same as Sera and Saras. Although, it didn’t seem that she got along very well with the other two.

She was also my precious friend who kept me company everyday in the cla.s.sroom as I waited for nightfall.

“Hey, Tomonori. This is a meat and potato stew recipe.”

“Looks pretty fancy.”

Well, it was written on a scroll, so I guess it looked really fancy for a recipe.

“Well, I’ve faithfully delivered the goods. I will pray for Seraphim’s steady progress. I’ll take my leave.”

Saras began taking out her cellphone as she walked out the door. I didn’t say a word, just raised a hand in farewell. She also raised a hand in response.

In Saras’s place, Tomonori now leapt to my seat. Even though it was winter, she was still br.i.m.m.i.n.g with energy.

“Seems like Katsus.h.i.+ka Hokusai wrote this recipe.”

“Pretty cool. Pretty cool~~. I want a recipe like that too~~.”

Tomonori’s eyes sparkled. Well, I admit that if this really was Katsus.h.i.+ka Hokusai’s recipe, I really, really wanted to give it a try.

In fact, I was so curious at this point that I unfurled the scroll right there and then.

What was written inside was… such fancy cursive that I couldn’t read a word of it.

“Tomonori…”

“Hm? What’s up?”

“Can you read this?”

“Umm…”

Tomonori popped her head over and checked the contents, after which she gave me a bold smile.

“Ufufufu. Aikawa, don’t tell me you can’t read this~~?”

To think the day would come when Tomonori would be making fun of me…

“You’re telling me an idiot like you can read this…?”

“Don’t forget that I’m still a ninja! There are even people who write their orders using these kinds of letters.”

I guess even idiots could make something of themselves if they tried hard enough. Also, Tomonori sure looked like she really wanted something right now…

“H-Hey, Aikawa…”

“What is it?”

“It’s a bit hard to say this, but… could you lend me that today?”

“I had a sneaking suspicion you wanted this, but today?”

“Yeah. I’m getting a cooking lesson with Master today, you see… but we haven’t figured out what we want to cook yet. But yeah, if it’s meat and potato stew, I should already have most of the ingredients in my fridge.”

Now that I thought about it, Haruna was on the phone yesterday. Had Tomonori been on the other end of that call?

In stark contrast to Sera, Haruna was pretty much the best chef of all time. Seriously, that wasn’t even really an exaggeration. Tomonori had seen that, so now and then she would ask Haruna for cooking lessons, and had sort of become Haruna’s disciple.

This scroll was something that Saras had brought for me to give to Sera. But, when I saw Tomonori standing there with her hands clapped together and that pleading look in her eyes… well, it just made me want to say “fine, I guess.”

I thought about what to do for a bit longer.

Well… fine, I guess.

TRANSLATOR’S NOTES