A Man Who Cooks For Himself And A High School Girl (WN)

25th Meal

Highschool Boys and Stalking Part 3

Mahiru and the co., who seem to have finished their shopping at the supermarket, leave the store together.

“I’m very sorry that you had to pay for my practice ingredients, Onii-san…”

“No, it’s all right since you’re the one who’s buying all this time.
I'm always getting my share of the food for whatever reason, so we have to be equal there.”

“W-What did they say!? That man and Asahi’s home-cooked food…!? How envious—I mean, how shameful!”

“It's us who are shameful, though? Isn’t it us who are sneaking around and stalking them?”

Ryou sighed as if he was tired of hearing the conversation between the two of them.
Normally, Yuzuru would not be so open about his feelings for Mahiru, but today he was so irritated by his rival's unexpected appearance that he seemed to have forgotten to conceal his feelings.

“…But, I didn’t know that Asahi could cook, and I thought she wasn't good at it since she always eats sandwiches from the store for lunch.”

“Fufu, of course.
It’s Asahi we’re talking about here, you know?”

“Why are you looking so smug…?”

(Tired: I kinda want to punch this guy.)

Mahiru, Hiyori, and the six others have known each other since Junior High School, but it wasn't until they started high school and were in the same class that they started hanging out as a group.
As a result, Ryou is unaware of many details about Mahiru.
Yuzuru has known Mahiru a little longer than Ryou, but the difference is probably not significant.

In other words, in their minds, the girl named Asahi Mahiru is already a reasonably good cook, and she's being taught to cook by that college student, who's probably an expert at cooking, in order to improve her cooking skills.

Two high school boys gulp quietly at the sight of the unknown college student.
Thinking about it, even though his appearance is quite rough, he seemed to be a confident and strong-willed person.

But despite that, both of them were talking casually to each other in a relaxed atmosphere.

“Ah! by the way, Onii-san! There's a sports festival coming up at our high school soon!”

“Hee~ I didn't know it was that time of year already.”

“I said ‘Soon,’ but that's still more than half a month away, you know?”

“Oh, Come on! Half a month is not that long!”

“Well, that’s true, but…”

In fact, the atmosphere in the school is already becoming tinged with a festive mood, as the students are being instructed in group activities for the sports festival, such as the double-row vertical formation and the four-row horizontal formation in physical education class.

“Um, would you like to come and watch the sports festival?”

“Eh? I’m an outsider, so am I even allowed to?”

“Yes, it seems that anyone can enter as long as they have a letter of invitation sent out by a student.”

“Is that so? Well then, I guess I'll go and watch.”

“R-Really!? Yay~!!”

“What are you so happy about?” The man chuckled and said so as Mahiru who jumps up and down with joy.

“So, what are you guys competing in?”

“I’m competing in the Obstacle Race!”

“I'll be in the cavalry battle and the inter-grade relay.
The rest of the events are minor grade-level events in which everyone participates.”

“I-Inter-grade relay? Is Kotsubaki-san good at sports?”

“Fufun~ Hiyori does Kendo, you know? That’s why she’s very athletic!”

“Why do you look so smug?”

“If Onii-san comes to watch, I'll definitely win first place, so please look forward to it!”

“I see.
Then I'll be expecting it.”

“Yes!!”

Mahiru said so and brightly smiled as if she was really looking forward to the man's visit.
Then Yuzuru, who had been quietly watching her, eventually turned his back on them with a small sniff.

“…Let’s go home, Ryou…”

“Eh…? A-Are you sure…?”

He prepared himself for the fact that his friend, who had been on a rampage earlier, could have gone insane at such a sight.

But he just pushes his glasses up and mutters in a moody voice,

“I don't mean that I approve of the man.
But in honor of Asahi, I'll give him a special pass for today.”

“Yuzuru, you…”

(Tired: Sad, but his fault since he was already given a chance but didn’t do it because of the stupid peace treaty thing.)

Ryou was moved beyond disbelief by the sight of his friend who was walking away, probably because he was in love with Mahiru.
Then as he was about to run up to his manly backside, someone grabbed his shoulder from behind.

With a bad premonition, he slowly turns around and… sees that the owner of the hand is Hiyori Kotsubaki, aka the “Mom.” She was supposed to be talking with Mahiru and the other until just now, but she was standing there before he knew it with a disturbingly smiling face.

“—So, what are you guys doing here?”

“….S-Strolling…”

—On that day, the memory of the two men whose stalking behavior was exposed to the guardian was strangely cut off there.