Chapter 69: Perfection

“Hee, it was a piano when I first saw it, but to say that you’re just good at everything…I’m a little jealous?”

“Right? Sigh…why are all the guys around me so conspicuous…”

“Oh my, the legendary Sukeban…sorry.”

It was around the time when the Millennium Festival was over and even the remaining heat had cooled down enough, leaving only the afterglow.

On the weekend of the week after the Millennium Festival, I met Kazusa and headed to the house of Yumeka, a child who is now always with the children of the dessert club, a child who was a little anxious.

There was no special reason.

It’s just that Yumeka looked so anxious when I first met her, so I just became a little more concerned about that child, who seems to be enjoying her daily life normally now.

When I first met her, Yumeka was playing the piano with a high level of skill, so I expected it, but when I heard from Kazusa that she was talented in most musical instruments, I felt a little jealous and thought she was amazing.

It can be said that it’s a bit ugly to be jealous of a child’s talent, but still, isn’t being envious being envious?

Of course, on the other hand, I also had a strong desire to see that child grow up to be a great musician later.

That’s also a kind of jealousy and envy, if it is.

“Hmm, it seems like you’re already doing it.”

“I guess so…”

When I stood in front of Yumeka’s house, I could hear the sound of singing mixed with the fast tempo of the guitar and drums.

It was a sound I heard from outside the house, so it was a bit buried, but it was certain.

The genre is…rock?

It’s unexpected, but I was a little relieved that the lyrics didn’t blatantly include “death!”

It seems that the noise spreading to the surroundings doesn’t cause any major complaints, as long as it’s not during the night time when everyone is asleep, as it was in the form of a house.

“But…it’s not like you’re playing several instruments at the same time, how many can you hear at once…?”

“Ah…about that…”

The other children of the dessert club said that they wanted to eat a separate dessert today, so they went that way.

Since Kazusa asked me to take care of her share and Yumeka’s share and then parted ways, she would be alone unless she had increased her connections.

It’s a trivial question, and it was a problem that could be answered quickly.

“
….Huh? Kazusa-senpai and…Sora…senpai? When did you come…?”

-♪♩♪♩♩♪, Pick-

As soon as I entered the room following Kazusa, there was Yumeka, who was holding a microphone among numerous instruments and singing a difficult high-pitched and fast-tempo song with a beautiful voice that was not like a child.

As soon as Yumeka saw me and Kazusa, she stopped singing and naturally stopped the amplifiers that were spewing out the sounds of other instruments separately from the song in the room.

“I just came. Here, “

“Wow…it’s almost a professional’s room…? And…how many are there…?”

There were numerous instruments in Yumeka’s room.

There was no piano like the one I saw in the park, but from an electronic piano to a guitar, drums are basic, and even a saxophone, as if trying to cover various genres…

However, unlike other instruments, the saxophone was new.

Unlike the others, it was the size of an adult’s, so maybe she couldn’t use it due to the limitations of her body?

“Ah?! Did you eat breakfast with delivery food again?!”

“Ueek?! Wait…senpai, please forgive me…ueeeek!”

While I was admiring the forest of numerous instruments, Kazusa saw the container of delivery food placed in the corner and started to drive Yumeka.

She grabbed both shoulders and shook them vigorously.

I thought it was a bit harsh, but…

“Oh dear…I told you to eat properly…?”

“But…the deadline is just around the corner…?”

Yumeka was familiar with it and was making excuses, so maybe this is normal between them.

But deadline..? Deadline is a term often used when talking about the period when a company has to do something by a certain time.

It’s a story that is far from the story that Yumeka, an elementary school student, would talk about, so the uncomfortable feeling that comes to me makes me question.

“Deadline?”

“Ah, you wouldn’t know. This guy…is working with various game companies these days on a contract.”

“…It’s only been…twice…”

It’s not strange for a student to sign a contract with a company and work in Kivotos.

It’s a school city, and students are the mainstream, so there’s no big problem.

However, what’s worrying is…

“Aren’t you too young? Perhaps the contract amount is…”

“There were companies that tried to rip me off, but I was attached to those contracts. Of course, I’m not that familiar with that field, so I might have ripped them off a little, but I cut it off when they ripped off a child too much.

I got help from Sensei with the contract terms.”

I was worried that there might be companies that would make her sign a contract on unfavorable terms or play tricks with the contract amount because Yumeka is young and doesn’t know the world,

but I’m relieved that Sensei and Kazusa helped.

I still had some doubts in my head, such as how she got the money for all these instruments, but even that was completely resolved.

After that, I, Kazusa, and Yumeka continued to chat.

How long has it been?

“So, why me?”

“But Sora, you’re the only one who can cook properly?”

“Hehe…thank you…”

“Sigh…I’ll let it go because of Yumeka…”

Well…yeah…the time I and Kazusa entered Yumeka’s house was just around lunchtime, and the chatter of high school girls was enough to make me hungry quickly.

In the first place, it was true that it was getting close to lunchtime.

Naturally, the topic of conversation like “What should we eat for lunch?” started to come up, and we decided to cook at home because we were worried about Yumeka if we ordered delivery food.

In fact, I hardly eat delivery food while living alone, and I’m confident in my cooking, at least at an everyday level.

Well…in the end, it was decided that I would do today’s lunch, so I naturally headed to the kitchen.

Fortunately, Kazusa also said that she would help, so 3 servings, it wouldn’t be a problem with time to make a decent menu.

The kitchen was clean enough.

I don’t know if it’s because it’s used less or because it’s cleaned frequently, but at least it was a hygienic enough environment, so there was no problem with cooking.

However, the problem arose elsewhere.

Refrigerator, I usually decide what to do after looking at the ingredients in the refrigerator, not deciding the type of food and getting the ingredients, so I decided to open the refrigerator first.

…Isn’t this a bit too much?….

“No, how can there only be frozen food in the refrigerator?! Frozen fried rice…frozen dumplings…it’s driving me crazy…there has to be something to do…”

“Wow…this is a bit much…Yumeka, you…sigh…I’m sorry, I should have expected this…”

Even if it’s an elementary school student living alone, isn’t this too much?

No, in the first place, it was my fault to expect the contents of the refrigerator to be normal in a house where an elementary school student lives alone…

No, still, shouldn’t Kazusa or the other children of the dessert club be able to find out when they visit?

“Kazusa..?”

“No…that…I always just take her out, so it’s the first time I’ve seen the refrigerator…um…I’m sorry…”

“Sigh…well…even if it’s an elementary school student, it’s not very desirable to open the refrigerator of someone else’s house…”

Well…yeah…Kazusa and the other children of the dessert club are kind children, so maybe this is a normal flow if it is a flow.

In the end, we decided to eat lunch outside that day.

Kazusa contacted Kazusa separately to receive the dessert that the children of the dessert club had requested in advance, as she said at lunchtime.

I heard that they keep it separately in the club room?

Marugame Udon, it was located on the outskirts of Trinity as it is a udon franchise that has built up awareness throughout Kivotos, and as it is a franchise, it boasts a reasonable and guaranteed taste,

so it was chosen as an option.

“…Isn’t it familiar…? It feels like nothing has changed from usual…”

“…Well…that’s because…you always order delivery..!”

“Ueeek…!”

As it is a franchise, the udon quickly came to the table…and the expression of young Yumeka became subtle and the word that it was familiar popped out.

Well…certainly, Marugame Udon…there are so many stores, so it can be a familiar taste…but to feel that nothing has changed from usual, I think it’s a good idea to think that you’ve eaten too much.

Anyway, Kazusa started to drive Yumeka this time too, hearing that.

This time, she put one hand on her head and started to mess it up.

Wow, looking at Yumeka’s hair, it seems like cleaning up later will be very annoying…

“Really…you’ll eat dinner with delivery food if we just leave, right..?”

“Ugh…yes…”

“Sigh…certainly, delivery food is better than frozen food…ah! I can’t just leave it!”

“…Yes?”

After eating the udon, I was convinced that if I left Yumeka alone, she would eat her meal with delivery food again, so I decided to take care of Yumeka today and spend the evening at Yumeka’s house.

Today happened to be a weekend, so I had plenty of time…and it was a possible choice because I didn’t have any dinner plans.

In the end, as we talked about at lunchtime, I would cook dinner today.

I don’t know objectively how good my cooking skills are, but I’m confident, so I thought I would do better than average.

“Sigh…how did I become a cook for a day…really…”

“Haha, please take care of me?”

However, yeah…a variable…it’s not even a variable, but the variable happened on the way to Yumeka’s house after going to the market to fill the refrigerator with some normal ingredients along with Yumeka’s dinner.

“Hmm? It’s an unexpected connection?”

“What do you mean unexpected, we were on our way to meet anyway…”

“Haha…Kazusa, I brought it. I would have bought one more if I knew Sora-chan was here…”

“Heh…thank you, Airi.”

“I’m fine, actually, I’ve eaten that before…”

On the way to Yumeka’s house, I encountered the children of the dessert club who said they had a separate schedule today.

They said they had a schedule, but it was already close to dinner time, so it would have been enough time to eat all the dessert.

Therefore, the children of the dessert club naturally tried to join Yumeka and Kazusa, and it seems that they also brought the dessert that Kazusa requested.

The dessert that the children of the dessert club wanted to eat was unexpectedly familiar.

It was a product sold at a dessert shop located on the outskirts of the Trinity Autonomous District,

and it was a product that was often ordered at the Tea Party because it was highly evaluated for using cream with a moderate sweetness and harmonizing scent.

“Hoo? As expected of the Tea Party? You’ve mastered various desserts…”

-Crack!-

“Ow…you’re faster than me now…”

“What? Shall we go now?”

“Ah…yes…”

“…Isn’t that too much? Even I get hurt…”

I hit Natu’s crown, who was starting to run her mouth again, to block her nonsense in advance, and headed to Yumeka’s house with Kazusa as if nothing had happened.

Let’s ignore the words coming from behind.

“…I think it’s self-inflicted…Natsu…”

“Ugh…she wasn’t a knight, she was a demon lord…”

Let’s ignore it.

“…The mackerel is…moderately cooked…the stew is…a little bland…?”

I arrived at Yumeka’s house and was preparing dinner, perhaps half-forced to borrow the kitchen.

“Hmm…it’s surprisingly normal…?”

“Surprisingly? Then what were you expecting…”

“…”

Kazusa that guy started to stick to me and watch, saying that he was curious about my cooking.

Um…I feel like Yumeka’s gaze is stinging, but maybe it’s just my imagination.

“Well…something Tea Party, elite…young lady…no…yeah, noble? I thought it would be a little more like that kind of diet…”

“Sigh…I don’t know about elite…but I’m not a young lady…?”

Well…yeah…I think it’s okay to say that the image I’ve built up is elite, but I don’t think it’s noble…but it seems like I was noble enough to other children.

The diet I make is infinitely close to a normal home-cooked meal, so that’s understandable…

“Hmm, it’s not convincing.”

“Sigh?”

“Pfft, Natu says so too?”

“Even Yoshimi…?”

I don’t know what makes me look like a noble…but well, yeah…it feels much more positive than being like a beggar, so I moderately accepted it and continued to chat while preparing dinner.

“I’m done using the kitchen, Yumeka.”

“Ah, yes…that…thank you for the dinner…”

“Yeah…I didn’t make it, but there are side dishes I bought separately in the refrigerator, so stop eating delivery food now…”

“Yes…”

Honestly, I wanted to make the side dishes that Yumeka would eat later, but realistically,

I thought I would be short on time, so the side dishes other than the side dishes that will be on the dinner table today are those purchased separately from the side dish store.

It’s a little disappointing, but it’s a compromise with reality.

Anyway, today’s dinner is a normal home-cooked meal, including miso stew and grilled fish.

Even though I often eat out, I try not to give up on meals while living alone, so shouldn’t I be able to do this kind of home-cooked meal alone?

“…Huh? It’s better than I thought?”

“Um! It’s delicious!”

“It’s amazing, Sora-chan…as expected, you’re capable…!”

“Hehe, I’m glad more than I thought. Is this the reason why people who cook start cooking…”

Starting with Kazusa, Yoshimi and Airi’s evaluations were full of praise, and especially Airi’s pure praise was quite effective for me.

“This kind of meal…it’s been a while…”

“Eat a lot, there’s still more, so eat slowly.”

The impact of Airi or more, Yumeka, who is still a young child, said that it’s been a while since she had this kind of meal and started to put food in her mouth at a terrifying speed.

Compared to when I first met her, her appearance has clearly brightened, and yet, I felt a bit of bitterness when she said that it’s been a while since she had this kind of meal.

“Hmm, Sora?”

“Why? Natu? You’re not going to say anything nonsense again, are you..?”

Natsu that guy started to open his mouth.

And the words that came out of that mouth…had enough impact to cut off my spirit for a moment.

“You’re a good wife material?”

“Ha…ah? Eh? Yes?!”

It was a very embarrassing remark.