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

chewed the Onigiri, swallowed it down, and looked at her face.

“…I-It’s bad…”

“I told you so! I mean, I knew it would taste like that, but—!”

Mahiru gets teary-eyed again, but I take another mouthful of the remaining piece lying on the plate.

“…You probably put too much water in your hands.
The whole thing is pretty loose.”

“Eh?”

Mahiru's eyes widened in surprise as I blurted out.

“Also, the saltiness is uneven.
The part I just ate was very salty, and the other one had almost no salt on it.
The salt you use was probably enough that the rice didn’t absorb it.

“U-Uhmm…Onii-san…? W-What…?”

Mahiru looked puzzled when I suddenly started listing all the mistakes.
In front of her, I took another bite of the rice ball, this time with a salty, crunchy taste, and then said–

“I don't know about you, but you said you want to be able to make Onigiri, right? If that's the case, then you've got to learn from your mistakes this time.”

“!!!”

“Failure is the source of success,” according to a quote by Thomas Edison or Graham Bell, but it seems that words that are handed down to posterity are usually right on the mark.

“No one can do everything right the first time.
If you didn't do well today, you just have to figure out how to do better next time.”

“Onii-san…”

Mahiru looked at me as if she was impressed, and she picked up the last rice ball on her plate and ate it quickly.

“…Uwahh!? S-So salty! It’s like I’m eating a rice porridge…”

Even as she said so, the high school girl had a glimpse of fire being lit behind her eyes.
Then she said so in a serious voice while keeping her eyes on the plate.

“…Onii-san.
I'll definitely learn how to make onigiri, and the next time Onii-san eats I will definitely make you say it’s delicious!”

“…I see.
Then, I'm looking forward to it.”

Mahiru, who always seems to be smiling brightly, showed her competitive side, to which I reply with a wry smile.
Unlike me, who failed once and gave up—she still has no intention of doing so.

She’s a strong kid.
That's why I wanted to lend her a hand.

“…But this one is also surprisingly tasty…”

“Ehh, R-Really…?”

“W-Why are you looking at me like that!?”

After that, The afternoon spent with her passed in a friendly manner, while I was slightly taken aback by the girl who still says that whatever she eats is delicious.