338 - Story About Buying My Classmate Once A Week

**Chapter 338** "I'll chop the onions into small pieces, so Miyagi, prepare the frying pan." The rice was already washed, and the rice cooker switch was turned on. All that remained was to make the hamburg steaks, and our roles for that task were determined from the beginning. Although it's not an issue to entrust the chopping to Miyagi, as she's no longer a high school student, it's faster if I handle it. "Got it." Miyagi said as she brought over the frying pan. With two of us in the kitchen, everything moved smoothly. I prepared the knife and cutting board, slicing the onion into quarters. As I finished chopping one quarter into fine pieces, Miyagi walked towards the fridge saying, "I'll get the minced meat." "Hold on a minute. We don't need the minced meat yet. It won't be used until the onions are sautéed and cooled." "We don't need to sauté them today, right? We'll just mix it with the meat and bake it anyway. I'm hungry." "I think it tastes better when fried. Just hang on a bit." Stopping Miyagi's hasty approach to cooking, I asked her to put the remaining onions in the fridge. As I began sautéing the minced onions, Miyagi approached with a dissatisfied look, intently watching them to the point they might burn. "Miyagi, you're really watching closely today, aren't you?" I spoke without halting my work. "I'm not watching." An unhappy tone replied back, with an added "I'll wash the knife and cutting board." "It's alright to leave them for now. We'll have some time while the onions cool, and I can wash them then." "I'll wash them. Sendai-san, just keep your eye on the onions." With a flat tone, Miyagi who was beside me began to wash the knife. That signified a distance had formed between us, and it also meant I said something unnecessary. That was a mistake. While washing things ahead of time creates some breathing room, that's not what I want. What's important is not creating a little spare time, but having Miyagi by my side. But I can't imagine Miyagi returning to my side even if I asked her to, right now. I decided to quietly continue sautéing the onions, glaring at the frying pan. Carefully, until golden brown. Whenever I'm making hamburg steaks, I always take my time to sauté the onions. Today is no different, as I persistently fry them. The sounds of the frying pan sizzling and Miyagi washing dishes echo throughout the kitchen. "...Sendai-san." As the onions slowly reached a golden brown, Miyagi's voice reached me. "What is it?" "Did you learn cooking from your mom? You two used to get along, right?" Miyagi returned to my side after finishing the dishes. It's not a pleasant topic, but I do want to talk with Miyagi, and there's no longer a reason to hide it. "Well, it's true we used to get along, but I didn't particularly learn from her. I just helped out a bit. Seriously starting to cook only happened after my relationship with my family turned sour." With the onions golden brown, I turned off the heat. While listening to Miyagi's emotionless "I see," I prepared a bowl. Taking some ground meat from the fridge and adding it to the bowl, I looked at Miyagi. There's something I've been wanting to ask her but haven't managed to. I always thought it's a question I shouldn't ask, but now I feel like it might be okay. "...Can I ask you the same thing, Miyagi?" "The same thing?" "—About cooking." To be precise, I want to hear about 'Miyagi's mom.' "Can I handle mixing the minced meat?" Miyagi spoke words unrelated to the question, dragging the bowl towards her. I quietly told Miyagi, who started kneading the minced meat, "Knead it well," watching her hands intently. Miyagi remained silent, kneading the minced meat. Halfway through, I added salt, pepper, and nutmeg, having her knead more. "...About cooking." Miyagi mumbled. But the words trailed off, as did her hands. She looked at me instead of the bowl. Our eyes met, and she wove together the end of her trailed-off sentence. "Before I could learn, she left me." "What?" "I haven't seen my mom ever since." Miyagi's words scattered like pieces of a puzzle, and I couldn't immediately understand. I began piecing together the answer to the abruptly thrown question in my head. Miyagi's mother left her behind. This happened before she learned to cook, and she hasn't seen her since, implying it's not a recent event. It likely dates back to when Miyagi was a child. The part of Miyagi's past I couldn't grasp before connects to why she dislikes being alone in a house. It links to Miyagi, who was living on instant noodles, and to Miyagi, who prefers not celebrating birthdays with whole cakes. It connects to every Miyagi I've observed. I'm glad to uncover a fragment of how Miyagi became who she is now. But surely, I've made Miyagi reveal something she wished to keep hidden. Had she come to terms with her past, she likely would have shared it already, leaving me with something to say in response. I'm sorry. But before I could utter those words, Miyagi asked, "When do we add the onions?" "Oh, we should add them now." I soaked breadcrumbs in milk, adding them along with onions and a beaten egg. Then had Miyagi knead it again until it was evenly mixed. "Sendai-san." Miyagi called me without halting her work. "What is it?" "I'll get angry if you apologize." A small, quiet voice reached me, to which I replied with a short "Okay." "I'd like to shape the hamburg steaks, so can you teach me how?" Miyagi asked, her voice not bright but without irritation. Understanding that she was concerned for me warmed something deep inside my chest. Miyagi is always like this. She freezes me with words as cold as a north wind, yet unexpectedly surprises me with a warm southern breeze. The concept of "pleasant temperature" doesn't exist with her. She's always to one extreme or the other. "I don't mind teaching you, but no 3D shapes." "I know that," Miyagi replied, slightly dissatisfied. She once attempted to mold cookie dough like clay to form a 3D cat. "We need to remove the air inside, so just copy what I do." After dividing the mixture Miyagi made in half, I lightly shaped one portion into an oval. Tossing it between my hands to remove the air, I shaped it and lightly pressed the center before placing it on a plate. "Got it?" I inquired, seeing Miyagi pick up the remaining mixture. Oddly enough, she shaped it into a circle, not an oval, tossing it between her hands to remove the air. After shaping it, she placed it on the plate. Finally, as if completing a finishing touch, she pinched the two and ten o'clock positions on an imaginary clock and lightly pressed the center of the mixture. "Cat ears?" I asked Miyagi, who responded in a low voice, "Is there a problem?" "It's cute." I flashed a smile before heating the frying pan and adding oil. While the oval and cat-shaped hamburg steaks cooked, I made a salad, and Miyagi finished the washing. Once the hamburg steaks were cooked to perfection, I plated them alongside the salad. While I prepared the sauce and drizzled it over the steaks, Miyagi brought over rice and chopsticks, arranging them neatly on the table. The calico and black cat chopstick holders were, of course, placed in their usual spots. All that remained was for me to carry over the plates with the hamburg steaks, but Miyagi took over that task. "I'll carry them." With a curt remark, she placed the plate on the table, setting the cat-shaped hamburg steak at the spot where I always sit. "Isn't that one yours, Miyagi?" "It's for you, Sendai-san." Miyagi declared resolutely, taking a seat at the position marked by the calico cat chopstick holder. "Why? Didn't you make the cat-shaped hamburg steak for yourself?" "Sendai-san... I'm having fun today." "Eh?" The conversation was so disjointed that my response came out dumbfounded. "We promised to tell each other when we're having a good time, so it's alright to say it in the middle of having fun, right?" Her voice brought to mind the promise we made on the way back from the aquarium. I had indeed asked her to let me know whenever she was having a good time. Miyagi remembered this promise clearly. "So, enjoy that one... because it's more fun to eat something cute." Miyagi muttered softly, adding, "Hurry up and sit down." I simply replied, "Thank you," and took my seat. "Itadakimasu." We didn't coordinate, but our voices harmonized perfectly. I bit into the “ears” of the hamburg steak. As I chewed slowly, the meat juice and sauce melded exquisitely in my mouth. Delicious. More so than anywhere else. It's soft, fluffy—cooked perfectly, if I do say so myself. When I glanced at Miyagi, she commented, "I wanted to draw a face with the sauce." "You should have said something sooner." "Before I could speak, you poured the sauce." "I feel bad about that, but if you want to do something like that, tell me early." "Usually, if it's shaped like that, you'd draw it without needing to be told." "You really do like cute things, don't you, Miyagi?" "I don't 'like' them." Miyagi retorted with a hint of dissatisfaction and took a big bite of her hamburg steak. "Delicious." I heard her soft voice. I took another bite and echoed, "Delicious." Perhaps because I skipped lunch, the hamburg steak was disappearing faster than I anticipated. Half of it vanished into my stomach, and soon, the other half followed suit. I couldn't help but think I should have made a larger hamburg steak. It was so delicious that my chopsticks never stopped. When I looked over, Miyagi was about to take her last bite, and I watched her quietly. The hamburg disappeared into her mouth, was chewed, and then swallowed. Her chopsticks came to rest atop the calico cat chopstick holder. "Sendai-san." Miyagi addressed me. "What is it?" "Because your earrings are watching you eat, make sure you have proper meals on the days I work part-time." On the days Miyagi works, my dinners tend to be pretty lackluster. But I've assured her that I eat properly. I don't know if she can see through my lie, but I promise, "I'll eat properly." "The stone in those earrings... It's my birthstone, so please, don't break this promise." The blue stones adorning my ears. It's sapphire—Miyagi's birthstone. She still never told me outright that this blue stone is a sapphire. But for the first time, she acknowledges it as her birthstone. She says it's a part of herself. "I understand." Miyagi is worried about me. She's concerned for me. Though she hasn't explicitly said so, it's clear to see. I like everything about Miyagi's existence, but perhaps it's parts like this that I love even more. Her roundabout way of showing kindness creates a comforting atmosphere for me. I want to stay by Miyagi's side forever, experiencing the unique way she cares for me in a way that only I understand. The Miyagi here now is not the one who is always with Utsunomiya or at work with Mio. She must be kinder to her friends in a more straightforward way, but the kindness she shows me is a special facet that no one else knows. "And once we clean up here, we'll swap the crocodile in my room with the platypus in yours." Miyagi abruptly suggested something I didn't immediately comprehend. "Swap? Why?" "For you to report to the crocodile that you've eaten after you have your meals when I'm at work. And say ‘I'm home’ too." "Is that necessary?" "...It feels like it might help with loneliness." Miyagi mumbled as she stood up. Before she could clear the empty plates and bowl, I mustered a small request. "Even with that, I might still feel a bit lonely." Because Miyagi isn't there. It all comes back to that. The gap left by Miyagi can only be filled by Miyagi. "You're greedy, Sendai-san." "I suppose so." "...Should I lend you the black cat plushie too?" "Roro-chan?" "Yes." Miyagi's unusually kind today. Roro-chan is a plushie I gifted her, and sometimes it even sits on her bed. The fact that she'd even offer it along with the crocodile means I must appear incredibly lonely. "Just swapping the crocodile and platypus will suffice." The crocodile tissue cover can't fill the void completely, but knowing Miyagi is thinking about me helps me avoid focusing on the emptiness left behind. Her part-time job won't last forever. There's a clear end in sight. Until that day comes, I'll sleep with the crocodile by my side, a constant companion of Miyagi's.