A Story About a Blonde Gal Angel Who Excessively Praises My Cooking. After Asking Me to Teach Her How to Cook, Feelings of Mutual Love Began to Grow - Chapter 114-115

Chapter 114: Poking Around

“By the way, I’ve decided to join the student council.”

“Oh.”

The stairway on the connecting corridor had become a regular spot to relax with Tomitsugu-senpai.

He was still as unfriendly as ever, but he always responded properly.

“It’s fine to join the student council, but don’t quit the cooking club.”

“I’ll quit if someone else joins the cooking club, but for now, I’m staying.”

“You’re so full of yourself for a ghost member.”

“Well, thanks to this ghost member, the club’s barely hanging on.”

As a ghost member of the cooking club, my membership was the only thing keeping the club from being dissolved.

Rules and systems may help everyone, but they also discard the few.

Well, it’s not like joining the student council would change anything, or that I could change anything, for that matter.

“Hey, Motobu.”

“What is it?”

“Try this.”

Tomitsugu-senpai handed me some food, and I accepted it in my lunch box.

I had never seen this dish before, but considering it was something Senpai made, it was probably good.

Without hesitation, I took a bite and chewed.

“This is really good. It’s my first time having this.”

“Oh, that’s good to hear.”

“You paid attention to the heat and cooked it carefully. The texture is really nice, and it tastes great.”

“O-oh, thanks.”

Tomitsugu-senpai turned away, looking grumpy. Maybe the praise annoyed her, due to her competitive nature.

No matter what, Senpai always seemed to be in a bad mood.

“Senpai, would you like to try some of mine?”

“Fine. I guess I’ll give it a try.”

“Thanks. It’s chicken breast pâté.”

*Chomp.* “Hmm…Well, it’s not bad.”

“I’m glad to hear that.”

I had impulsively bought some discounted chicken breasts at the supermarket, but of course, they were close to their expiration date.

High in protein and low in carbs, they’re perfect for dieting, but with just the three of us at home, finishing them all was tough. So I made pâté and terrine to preserve them, and they turned out to go well with lunch.

I didn’t really want to make pâté just for lunch, but now that Senpai gave her approval, it might be a good idea to add it to my lunch regularly.

Cold dishes that still taste good are a lifesaver for a stay-at-home husband.

“By the way, has your class decided what to do for the school festival?”

“No, not yet.”

“If it’s food-related, it’s a challenge.”

“Whether or not I’ll be in charge of cooking is another matter.”

“Then make sure you’re in charge of cooking. This battle won’t end until I win.”

“…Then hurry up and win already…”

The student council president election was approaching. We’d talked about ideas for the festival once, but nothing had been decided.

With helping the student council and handling class duties, I was pretty busy.

“I’ll win next time. Just you wait.”

Tomitsugu-senpai finished her lunch first and stood up, declaring her challenge. Her skirt fluttered mystically as she moved.

“Hmph.”

She walked off briskly, her red ponytail swaying behind her.

“…Pink lace, huh…”

Senpai probably hadn’t noticed I saw it.

If she ever found out, she’d kill me. Yet, I was oddly relieved to see that her underwear was unexpectedly cute.

“…Maybe Senpai has a soft spot for cute things.”

It probably wasn’t something I should think about after accidentally seeing my scary Senpai’s underwear, but I couldn’t help but feel a bit warm inside.

—

Chapter 115: The Class’s School Festival Booth

“We definitely should do a maid café!!”

Yurina Kiyan shouted enthusiastically, her eyes sparkling.

“What about other options?”

Currently, we were in the homeroom, discussing what our class should do for the school festival, but no decision had been made.

“We managed to narrow it down to two choices, though…”

Even the ever-composed Amatsuka-san was struggling. The two remaining options were a maid café or an exhibit.

Personally, I didn’t care. It wasn’t an event that would affect our grades much. In fact, it would just reduce study time, and on top of that, increase my workload with student council duties, so it was more of a nuisance.

But students, as always, are eager to take part in events like school festivals. It’s not just limited to students; this kind of excitement is typical for anyone in a small community like school.

“We’re split pretty evenly, huh.”

Kurose also seemed troubled by the vote results. And it made sense.

The students supporting the exhibit were either unmotivated or wanted something easy so they could enjoy the festival without putting much effort into the class booth.

“Exhibits are definitely easier.”

One of the exhibit supporters voiced their opinion lazily.

“But a maid café sounds fun! With maid outfits and butler uniforms!”

Normally, Yurina speaks leisurely in Okinawan dialect, but today she was passionately and eloquently pushing for the maid café.

From my point of view, this was bad news. Whenever Yurina gets talkative, it never leads to anything good.

Another issue was Yurina’s surprisingly strong influence, even though she had only transferred to this school recently.

“What do the class representatives think?”

The students turned to us for our opinions. It seemed like the decision could very well rest on the votes of me, Amatsuka-san, and Kurose.

“Hmm, I’m okay with either. As long as it’s fun.”

“I don’t really care either. Both seem the same to me.”

Kurose’s “both are the same” probably meant she truly didn’t care. Even though she’d become a bit more sociable recently, her tastes were still far from those of a typical high school girl.

She also had a taste disorder. Since she can only taste food I’ve made, she has no interest in festival food, which might explain her lack of enthusiasm for the event.

“What about you, Motobu?”

“…I don’t really mind either. Since I’m busy with the student council, I might not be able to help much, so my vote might be a bit selfish.”

The student council elections had ended smoothly, and I was officially appointed as the vice president (even though I hadn’t really wanted it).

For a time, some rumors had spread that I was dragged to the office because I had done something wrong, but after my appointment as vice president, my reputation had oddly improved.

Now, I was in a strange position, receiving some level of respect from my classmates, even though I was just another student. While it wasn’t as bad as being bullied, it was still uncomfortable.

“Let’s go over the pros and cons of the exhibit and the maid café.”

“That might be helpful.”

“First, for the exhibit. There’s the question of what exactly we’d display.”

This school is primarily academic. If it were a technical or commercial school, we could display something relevant to our field of study. But at our school, that’s not possible.

“If we do an exhibit, we’ll need to make something to display. Sculpting clay into art pieces, for example, would solve the problem.”

Honestly, it would feel like one of those elementary school art projects that you show to parents during open house.

Unless we were an art-focused school, having unmotivated students put together random displays wouldn’t make for an impressive exhibit. A bit of a harsh judgment, perhaps.

“Now for the maid café. First, we’d need to get permission to serve food, and there’s also the issue of costumes and ingredients. Then, we’d need someone to cook. Since we’re dealing with food, there would be strict hygiene standards, and a food poisoning incident could seriously affect future festivals.”

A maid café is a pretty common booth at school festivals (though that’s just my personal impression).

However, the question is whether we could actually serve food that’s good enough, and whether the class could divide responsibilities and run the café smoothly.

There were too many risks.

“Also, other classes might already be planning a maid café. I’ll check with the student council, but if another class has already submitted the idea, they’ll likely get priority.”

Since it’s such a common idea, it could already be taken. In this world, it’s still first come, first served.

“If it’s about cooking, Motobu could handle it, right? Didn’t you beat that senior Tomitsugu in a cooking contest?”

“Even if you can’t cook on the day, you could at least teach us, right?”

The maid café supporters started bringing up the cooking contest between me and Tomitsugu-senpai. Some students already knew about it, but ever since I joined the student council, the story had spread even further.

“Exactly, Takeru! Plus, we have Miu for cooking, and Kurose is great at sewing, so we’re set!”

“I’m not sure about sewing…I’ve never made a maid costume before.”

Cooking is one thing, but I had no idea how much time or money it would take to make costumes from scratch, or even if we could finish in time.

There were many challenges.

“…Everyone…”

Yurina muttered softly.

“Don’t you want to see the girls in maid outfits?!”

…Yurina had decided to rile up the class and push her agenda. Watching her do this made me hold my head in my hands.

“Don’t you want to wear cute clothes?!”

Hey, calm down, pervert…You’re practically panting…

“I want to see it! I’ve just transferred here, so I don’t know everyone yet, but I want to see all of you dressed up!”

…She’s trying to make it sound like a heartfelt speech, but I know the real reason, Yurina. You’re not doing this to bond with everyone; you just want to see the girls in maid outfits, don’t you?

“Girls, think about it! When else will you get the chance to wear a maid outfit? You can’t just wear it out normally; people would think you’re crazy! But for the school festival, you have the perfect excuse! Because we’re high schoolers!!”

…Yurina always seems like she’s enjoying life…

“And there will be photographers on the day, so let’s all have fun together!”

With that, the mood of the class shifted. Even the students who weren’t into the idea were swayed by the mention of photographers. They were probably thinking about the pictures that would be taken.

“One more time, who wants a maid café?!”

And so, about 80% of the hands shot up. For the first time, I found Yurina terrifying.

“So, I guess it’s decided…We’ll do a maid café for our booth.”

Just like that, our class’s booth was decided.

…It’s going to get busy…