“Okay, then today I’m thinking of making bitter melon chanpuru among chanpuru.”
—I wonder what in the world I’m doing right now.
In the passage from the front door to the room where there’s just a cooking stove and a sink lined up along the wall where it’s a little laughable to call it a kitchen, I dove into my memory with a cramped smile at Tendou who was holding up her phone.
When I’d said ‘sure’ when she’d said she wanted to record a video of me cooking, she’d also unreasonably requested of me to make it like video commentary while at it, and when I’d brushed it off like ‘impossible,’ I’d gotten reproached about how I’d refused it, and I’d found myself having to excitingly respond to that request.
As for the conclusion, isn’t our power balance finally going down bad?
It will instantly turn into a widespread theme once you can’t refuse a cute girlfriend’s request, and actually Tendou’s face quality goes beyond cute, so I also feel like there’s not much I can do about it, though.
And Tendou’s also beautiful even with that puzzled face.
She sure is a woman with an utterly good face. And my taste isn’t so good if I say so myself.
What’s she really gonna even do with recording my pointless cooking video?
“Ah yes, let’s see, first is…”
Well it’s not like she’s gonna upload it online, so I just resolved myself to go with it half-heartedly.
“Cut open the bitter melon, gouge out the inside, and then scatter it and sprinkle salt.”
Chop chop chop, the knife’s making a satisfying sound on the chopping board.
Bitter melon is not too hard or too soft; it’s taking me no effort at all to thinly slice it. I wish those pumpkin and tomato bunches would follow its example a bit (past two defeats).
“Next dress the tofu with paper towels and hug them with a weight, lock it up in the fridge to drain the water for about an hour, and then tear off the tofu by hand.”
“Like I said your words.”
Even though the water content is reduced, the coldness of the tofu will reach deep into the fingers holding it. So, just quickly tear it off and be done with it. This is a process you definitely don’t wanna do in the winter.
“And then cut up the dead pig’s meat into thin—”
“You’re totally on purpose now. Why’re you saying it in an unappealing way like that?”
It was hard to say that it’s because Tendou’s reaction was a little amusing.
But man, she sure is skilled at retorting; I wonder if it’s part of a wealthy young lady’s etiquette.
“Also, the video I originally referred to roughly had this kind of vibe to it, too.”
“Why did you use such a horrible one as a reference out of all the cooking videos out there…?”
“It’s fate, I guess…” Also it’s not horrible.
While having exchanges like that, I put the thinly sliced pork belly seasoned with salt and pepper into the heated up frying pan, followed by throwing the bitter melon and tofu.
The truth is that it seems the bitter melon and tofu should be cooked browned in advance, but I’ll have her think that this is just the kind of cooking a man living alone is doing. It’s also bothersome anyway.
“After seasoning it with seasonings adequately, it’s finally time to crack in the eggs.”
So as not to lose out to the growling exhaust fan and the frying pan, I raised the volume of my voice a little.
Then it’s time for the finishing touches while twirling the frying pan to give it a good mix.
Even while startled by the repeated indications of it overflowing, maybe because the bitter melon was kinda big, I managed to complete it without any droppers.
“Then serve, sprinkle the bonito, and it’s complete…” Transferring the steaming hot bitter melon chanpuru to a large platter, I turned to Tendou with a triumphant look on my face. “Dig in!”
Then, having put down her phone, she gave a picture-perfect smile as usual.
“Thank you, Iori-kun. It was very empowering. I will also make a dish for you one of these days.”
“Ah, yeah, I’ll look forward to it.”
—Huh? Was I not subtly dissed here?
And after watching, while breaking into a smile at the cohabitation feel, at Tendou doing the dishes as a thank you for the cooking, we decided to watch a foreign drama on a laptop along with having a rest after a meal.
Tendou said that English audio with subtitles in two languages can be a way to practice listening, but with a historical drama, I wonder if the expressions aren’t dated.
In the first place she, who’s leaning her back to me, isn’t that enthusiastic, and it’s also practically just a substitute for a BGM for me now.
“—So, what did Ogura-san end up talking about today?” then Tendou spoke up, seeming to have completely lost interest ten minutes after the start.
“Eh, now you’re asking me that.”
“It’s because you’re just keeping silent all this time even though I’ve been waiting for you to talk to me about it, don’t you think?”
I was completely sure she didn’t want to hear about the conversation with Ogura.
“Errr, I got shown a naughty image, and she said to be careful since that’s become a rumor if that’s you or not, Tsukasa-san.”
“—Haahh, so she’s being a busybody with a friendly face at someone else’s man again. Even though that’s why she’s distanced.”
There was more to Tendou’s words than mere antipathy towards Ogura.
“She’s close with guys, right? So, she seems to be telling talks between girls like it’s none of her business, so she has a pretty bad reputation, you know?”
Since Tendou continued with, “might be ironic for me to say it, though,” I laughed “haha,” and got glared at. Unfathomable.
“Also she’s not quite aware of it, and too direct in the way she tells it so it seems she’s getting under guys’ skin, too. Wasn’t it like that even in high school?”
Now that she mentioned it, there’s certainly something popping up in my head.
Ogura being Ogura, she’s making a group, and moreover she’s sports-minded so it hadn’t felt like she’d been left out, but it’s not like I hadn’t felt that sometimes the girls had been sour with her or that she’d been talked about by guys behind her back.
“She probably also asked you in a way trying to make you believe it like ‘isn’t that me?’, didn’t she?”
“Certainly, now that you mentioned it it might be.”
It’s absurd to think that Ogura’s motive is righteous indignation at the wide spreading of misunderstanding about Tendou, and if I had to say, maybe the aim could be about wanting to make me open my eyes.
As for this, she must totally hate Tendou, huh. Totally a pain.
And on the contrary, it’s also rare for Tendou to speak ill of others this much. Their compatibility is really bad, huh.
“Good grief, even though it’s pointless doing something like this.”
“Well, I can tell it’s not you anyway when I took a closer look.”
Eh, what? Why is she making scary face like that?
“You denied it right away, right?”
“Eh, yeah, I said it’s a different person since the breasts were bigger than yours.”
Tap tap tap tap, her prettily manicured fingernails tapping the table.
It’s a movement that clearly shows her feelings were hurt.
“Didn’t I tell you before you can rest assured because I wouldn’t let anyone take a shot of me like that? Did you forget?
“It’s not that I forget, but you know, it just looked similar at a glance, so I was like, ‘could it be’.”
Bang bang, the banged low table screaming.
It was Tendou’s bad habit that I got to very rarely see lately.
“No, I mean, look, there’s also a possibility that you got photographed without being aware of it.”
“What, was the image like something taken secretly?”
“Nah, it was totally in a pose for the camera, though.”
“Then you can tell it’s not me, right!? Or did you think I was lying!?”
It’s a little awkward to get asked that so directly.
Tendous is basically honest, and I know that she’s been so sincere with me to the point that I want her to be a bit considerate instead, especially about her men-related past, but something like this is just emotional issues…
“No, I think it’s true there, but… is it really something to be so bothered about when it took a bit of time to confirm it? I clearly said it’s not you at the end, you know?”
I ended up spitting words that sounded like an incoherent excuse.
“I hate it when that woman thinks you don’t trust me!”
“What else? Anything else you’re not telling me?”
“Errr… that after vacation I’m totally gonna get looked at with cold eyes, something like that.”
“I said that’s you paying for your own mistakes, so it can’t be helped.”
“Why! Are you! Not! Defending me there!?”
So she said, but that’s simply a sincere fact, though.
“It’s seriously too late now for that kinda thing, too; to begin with, have you ever been the type to mind that much about what people think or rumors?”
If so, I think it’s strange that she’s been letting her bad reputation spread so much like that, though.
“It’s not like that; to think that you also think so, it seems like you think it serves me or something, and it’s irritating!”
“It doesn’t matter, does it?”
Hmmm, a girl’s situation is totally complicated and mysterious. There’s so much I don’t understand that it’s not enough just to stop being a virgin. I also feel like I’ll never understand Tendou for the rest of my life, though.
“In the first place! I don’t even let you take any naughty photos, so there’s no way I would let any other guys do it!”
I wonder if I should be happy about that. Also, I think that the swimsuit and yukata were pretty naughty, though.
Having roared, Tendou began to tap her phone furiously, disregarding the bewildered me. As I was watchfully waiting like letting the sleeping dragon lie, immediately, bang, the table got slammed again.
“And it doesn’t even look similar!”
What was thrusted out at me was the same image Ogura had shown me.
“Just who sent this to you.”
“My face isn’t round like this, and aren’t the things like the skin obviously altered to begin with!?”
When compared to the person in question, I feel like they’re indeed not so similar.
“Also you said it’s bigger than mine, and these breasts are like, obviously filled with stuff! What even is this hard and unnatural shape!?”
But maybe it’s just infuriating her as Tendou was getting more and more heated up.
As I was raising my both hands saying, “calm down, please calm down,” she separated away from me, and in a truly manly fashion, tossed off her clothes and got into her underwear. It was an ardent, lewd red top and bottom.
What is she even doing; and was she wearing something like this today under that flight clothing?
“So that you won’t mistake me for someone else ever again, I’m gonna have you burn me into your retina and hippocampus now.”
“Eeh… No no no, I told you I’m not mistaking you.”
I held down her arms as she was about to strike some kind of erotic pose.
After grabbing both her wrists, I realized that this is totally giving an impression of me about to strike her if looked from an outsider.
“Hey, why are you stopping me?”
After what she said with a sulky look, I felt that there’s also no particular reason to stop her other than it’s immodest.
No doubt we’re gonna have sex after this anyway…
“—You know, Iori-kun, I hate to be mistaken for another woman, and I also hate that you leave a gap open to someone like Ogura-san. You understand?”
After pondering over her unusually dispirited upturned eyes with high level of moistness and her words, I suddenly came to a realization.
“Could it be that you’re jealous, Tsukasa-san?”
“Nah, rather than bad, I guess I’d say unexpected…”
Somehow I have been under the impression that the one who was jealous was always me, and that Tendou had nothing to do with such a thing.
Perhaps that was conveyed to her as the sour atmosphere softened a little after she let out a sigh.
“—Hey Iori-kun, why do you think this matter came up in the first place?”
Isn’t it because your history with men is awful??
“Well of course, isn’t it harassment against you?”
“You’re making a face like there’s something else you wanna say, though…”
Ridiculous, I was so sure I had it safely placed in the second channel of my mind.
“Do you think an image claiming that it might be my nude circulating is gonna turn into harassment in the first place?”
“~,~,~,~~~!” And turning-into-young-lady-bangbanging-the-desk-three-times Tendou, so angry after setting it up herself.
I totally can’t tell if she has a strong or weak mentality.
“So I’m telling you! In any case this means it’s a rumor aimed not at me, but you, Iori-kun!”
“Aimed at me? What’s the point in even doing something like this?”
“No one would find it funny if an image claiming it’s their lover’s nude is circulating, right?”
That’s certainly true, but still.
That sure is a very roundabout way for harassment.
“Or like wanting to delusion you, and make you break up with me.”
“That’s exactly what I’m feeling at this point, but well, in that case the source of this matter is—”
“Gotta be a girl.” “A guy, huh.”
We looked at each other’s faces like, ‘hmm?’
“Isn’t the plan to cut down my mental health in order to make you single, Tsukasa-san?”
“Supposing that happened, it doesn’t mean they’d be able to immediately become this and that with me right? And leaving that aside, isn’t it easy to comfort and topple you who’s broken up with a cruel woman?”
You little, completely making me sound like I’m an easy man.
Just because that’s true, there are some things you can say and some things you can’t, alright?
“But Tsukasa-san, there is one big hole in that reasoning.”
“I am—unpopular to anyone but you.”
“I wonder if it’s progress of just having made me an exception there…”
It’s cute that she’s subtly happy, but I think it’s time for Tendou to get dressed.
It’s a sight for sore eyes so I’ve been staying silent, though; or so I thought but then obliquely she squeezed her breasts close together.
“But you know, if you say that, there are three things you’re overlooking, Iori-kun.”
“There’s three even.” Even though two is plenty already.
“I suppose the one most likely is pure kindness. Can you declare that there isn’t a single girl who’s thinking ‘let’s wake up Iori-kun who got ensnared by an evil woman’?”
“I can’t declare there’s none, I guess…?”
It’s probably mixed with personal grudge, but Ogura is exactly that kind, too.
“The next one is almost the same; I suppose it’s simply a girl who likes you.”
“I think that possibility is slim, though.”
If there is an active girl like that, sounds like she would’ve been approaching me until now.
It’s not like I’m wishing for there to be any, so please stop the reproachful eyes like reading my mind, Tendou.
“—And lastly, a girl who thinks, ‘I want to steal Tendou Tsukasa’s man’.”
“Eeh…? The heck with that?”
“Exactly as you’ve heard it. Simply for hating me, revenge, or anything else… Well, no matter what the motive is, I guess it’s the worst possible match for you.” Continuing, Tendou said, “it’s not like they’re doing it out of feelings for you either,” and was making another kind of complicated face.
“Does someone like that exist?”
“They’re normally around, you know?—let’s see, for example for guys, a girlfriend who is a ‘beauty’ or has ‘big breasts’ is something to be proud of, right?”
“Well, I guess something like that is what they’d be envious of.”
“In girls’ case, besides looks there’s also like ‘smart,’ ‘rich family,’ ‘talented in arts or sports’ and so on; there’s just more targets for status of being a lover. And especially when it comes to college students.”
Now that she’s told me that, I sure can see how we guys are just prisoners of our sexual desires.
So this reason is why Tendou never misses to appeal to me that she is a beauty with a good figure, huh.
For the fact that she’s also occasionally bringing up her family’s deep pockets, somehow I also feel like she’s already that kind of character, though.
“That’s why the so-called truly ‘popular’ also becomes a pride, and because of that, simply being ‘someone else’s boyfriend’ comes into demand among a certain group. So, when it becomes the lover of a beautiful and rich girl with a good figure like me, see?”
“So I’m that kind of trophy, huh.”
Then girls being girls, it was another terrifying story.
Well, Tendou even went out of her way to bring it up in the end, so probably it’s simply limited to a portion of like, love-for-brains or carnivorous type, though… right?
“…For the record, I’m not that type of person, okay? Iori-kun.”
“Well yeah, for you, ‘Tendou Tsukasa’s boyfriend’ is just a fact of life after all.”
Without thinking I ended up making a wry smile to her who’s giving a subtle probing-like eyes.
“That’s not what I mean, though.”
“It’s all right, I know exactly what you’re talking about… probably.”
And at the same time, I became desperate not to think unnecessary things. Don’t even think about whether having a big something or good at sex was a criterion for the past Tendou (desperate).
“I said that before you ‘no strings attached’ was my maximum priority, right? Everything was just playing.”
Like that, what’s in my heart got easily found out by her.
Haahh, and after having inflicted a mental damage with a small sigh, Tendou’s right hand traced my shoulder and neck with a graceful movement, and went tapping my cheek.
“—I wonder when you will gain confidence, Iori-kun?”
“Heheh, as long as I also have no honor.”
It’s relieving that I’m not being criticized for being pathetic and stuff, but I’ll still ask to be overlooked in this regard; it’s what’s called ‘even if a guy’s virginity lasts three days, the virgin spirit lasts for a hundred.’
“If there’s something similar happening again, trust me next time, okay?”
“Geez,” she muttered as her extremely above standard beautiful face was coming closer, which I‘ve gotten totally used to (I’m not saying my heart isn’t beating fast).
Then, the situations where I’m misled by someone’s agenda would probably become less and less eventually, just as she hoped for.
Her lush lips moved to pick at mine, and her soft tongue wildly slid in and out of my mouth repeatedly.
I responded as best as I could to the passionate kiss that made me picture her mischievous smile.
Schlop schlop, after making numerous watery noises, Tendou finally pulled her face away.
A silver thread stretched across our lips, and then broke.
Having made an expression that’s making me believe that it’s totally on purpose, Tendou’s cheeks are vermillion, and eyes are moist.
I’ve got the conviction that I probably will never get tired of seeing both her waiting-for-kiss face and after-kiss face no matter how many times I see it from now on.
“We’re done talking now, right? —Now then Iori-kun, make sure you burn all of me; every last bit of me into your eyes, okay?”
Tendou Tsukasa smiled with overwhelming bewitchment, her soft weight came leaning on me.
Of course, there was no room for me to make a choice.
—Tendou was a little meaner than usual that night.
I think I’ll keep quiet about how I felt where she’s maybe also got something like this going for her.