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 118-119

Chapter 118: Mika Yoshimura

“You’re looking down again today, Miu-chan.”

“Yeah…”

At the usual salon, as Minamo Yoshimura cuts my hair, she immediately notices that something’s bothering me.

“Lately, it feels like there’s some distance between me and him.”

“You mean the guy you were talking about last time?”

“That’s right.”

Ever since summer break ended, it feels like there’s been a gap between us. That’s just how it seems.

“I caught a cold near the end of summer break. He took care of me at that time.”

“If he took care of you, why is there distance?”

“Did I…maybe do something wrong…?”

“Did you do something? Or maybe you made the first move?”

“I-I-I definitely didn’t do that! Though, I might have gotten a little too clingy…”

“Oh really?”

I regret getting carried away. Maybe he was turned off because of that.

I was probably out of my mind with fever at the time. Just thinking about it now makes my face turn bright red. I was really out of it.

“So, what exactly did you do? Tell big sister Minamo all about it.”

“Well…I let him wipe my back.”

“Mhmm, go on.”

“And…he fed me some of the egg porridge he made for me.”

“Wait, that’s practically dating already!”

“But that’s not the case, and that’s why I’m worried.”

“Minamo, it seems that high school romance and adult romance are different.”

“Midoroku-san.”

Midoroku, looking sleepy, comes out from the back. I wonder how high school and adult romance are different.

“Yeah, that’s true. But you know, Miro and I started dating in high school and ended up getting married.”

“That’s right.”

Midoroku sits in the chair next to me, coffee in hand. To me, these two are like a big brother and sister from the neighborhood, but I’ve never really heard much about their relationship before.

“How are they different, exactly?”

“Well, it depends on the person, but in high school, it’s easier to start dating from a confession. I don’t really like women, but I started dating Minamo out of necessity, and here we are.”

“It took a long time for him to warm up to me!”

“What am I, a dog?”

So, it’s easier to start dating after a confession? Isn’t that normal? Or maybe after getting to know each other a bit, you gamble on a confession?

For someone inexperienced in love, it’s tough.

“In adult relationships, like Minamo said earlier, you’re already practically dating by the time you confess. The confession is just a formality to confirm the relationship. I feel weird saying this to a high school girl, but it’s kind of like confirming after you’ve already crossed a certain line.”

“Miro, can I punch you now?”

“Wait, Minamo! It’s not harassment, it’s totally fine.”

“Anyway, Midoroku-san, please continue.”

By crossing a line…does he mean, like…sex? I think I get the nuance, sort of.

“Of course, not all relationships are like that. Love comes in many forms.”

“That’s really informative!”

“By the way, Miro, where do you get all this knowledge from? Are you cheating?”

“No. People come to me for advice. It comes up in all kinds of conversations, even at work.”

“Really?”

Surprisingly, Midoroku might know more about relationships than Minamo. But then again, maybe it’s not that surprising, considering their high school romance turned into marriage.

Still, Midoroku is the same.

Love is difficult.

“What I’m saying is, you should just confess already.”

“I-I’m not mentally prepared for that yet…”

“You’ll be fine, Miu-chan. You can do it.”

“Maybe…but he’s been scouted by the student council lately and became a council member, so he’s been really busy…”

Since the end of summer break, he hasn’t been able to teach me how to cook either. Maybe it’s because, during the time he took care of me, he said there wasn’t much left to teach.

“Minamo-neesan, cut my hair too!”

“Oh, Mika-chan, welcome! If you can wait until next, I’ll take care of you.”

“Oh, that’s rare. Even big bro’s here.”

“Hey, Mika. It’s been a while. Welcome.”

The mysterious beauty who calls them big brother and sister. She must be their sister, but she’s an adult, so it’s hard to tell.

“Oh, right, I haven’t introduced Mika to Amatsuka yet, have I? She’s my sister, Mika.”

“I’m a high school teacher.”

“Nice to meet you, I’m Miu Amatsuka.”

“But haven’t you two met at school? You’re at the same high school, right? Teacher and student.”

“I’m in charge of the second-year students. So I probably don’t know her. I only know some of the student council kids.”

“Student council…are you the student council advisor?”

“Yes, I am.”

Student council advisor…

If she’s the advisor, then maybe she knows something about Motobu-kun that I don’t.

“Ms. Mika, could you tell me more about the student council?”

I want to stay close to Motobu-kun, to make sure he doesn’t drift away from me.

—

Chapter 119: The Story Kurose Touka

“What’s going on, Naoto-san? You suddenly called me out.”

“Sorry about that. There’s been some stuff going on with Touka.”

It was a day off when Naoto-san called me. We were sitting in his study, just the two of us.

He was still dressed in women’s clothing, likely due to his detective work. Honestly, I’ve seen him in that form about 60% of the time, so it’s almost normal by now.

“Your school’s festival is coming up soon, isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. I’m even the vice president of the student council, so things are pretty hectic.”

“Vice president as a first-year, huh? Quite a sudden rise from being a background character.”

“It’s unfortunate there’s no salary for it.”

As Naoto-san sipped his tea, he quickly got to the main point.

“I want you to protect Touka at the festival.”

“…Me?”

“Yes. But it’s not like I’m asking you to protect her physically.”

Well, of course not.

Honestly, Kurose-san is probably stronger than me. Plus, she’s got weapons hidden all over her body and can even turn office supplies into weapons.

If her left arm turned into a psycho-gun or she shot lasers from her eyes, I wouldn’t even be surprised.

“If these two show up in your class, I want you to hide them.”

He handed me two photos. They were of a man and a woman in their late 30s.

“Who are they?”

“I can tell you, but knowing more will make you more responsible for Touka’s situation.”

In short, it means getting more deeply involved in Kurose-san’s past.

“So, I want you to help as much as possible to keep Touka from coming into contact with them, or anyone related to them.”

“…Alright. But, I want to hear Kurose-san’s story, including her past.”

At this point, I’ve already become pretty involved in Kurose-san’s situation.

It’s too late to stay unclear about it. If I don’t hear it now, I feel like I’ll mess up in how I handle things later.

I know I’m walking into a minefield. But it’s too late now. At the very least, I can’t leave things as they are.

“Have you had a change of heart since the last time? Or have you fallen for Touka?”

“It’s not like I’m in love with her. I just can’t leave her alone.”

“That’s pretty much the same thing.”

Naoto-san smirked mischievously as he said that.

Even though it was him who said I should learn about Touka’s past before.

“The two people I just showed you are Touka’s biological parents. And the woman is the daughter of someone I killed, though they’re not blood-related.”

“…”

“Her name is Tachikawa Shino. She was my classmate in high school.”

I was already starting to feel afraid.

These people are not only connected to Kurose-san’s past, but they’re also linked to Naoto-san’s.

I hadn’t expected this to be a story that would significantly impact Naoto-san’s past as well.

And more than anything, that shocking phrase—she killed her father.

“Tachikawa was the ringleader who bullied my stepsister. After my stepsister died from illness, I lashed out and drove Tachikawa’s family to ruin. Her father, who was a politician, committed suicide.”

“So, you didn’t directly kill him, then…”

“It’s the same as if I had. If I hadn’t done what I did, her father wouldn’t have committed suicide.”

Naoto-san said that nonchalantly.

It was a kind of talk about cause and effect.

About how things might have been different if you hadn’t done something.

About how things might have changed if you hadn’t said something.

Or how things would’ve been different if you hadn’t been born at all.

“…If you take it that far, you could even say that humans shouldn’t exist.”

“Haha. That’s a bit extreme. You sound like you’ve got a bit of a chūnibyō streak.”

“I am a high school student going through puberty, after all.”

I’m the same.

If I hadn’t started using Instagram, maybe Kurose-san wouldn’t have taken an interest in me.

If I hadn’t eaten lunch in the classroom, I might’ve spent my days without getting involved with Amatsuka-san or Kurose-san.

If I hadn’t gotten involved with Amatsuka-san and the others, I wouldn’t have ended up joining the student council.

There are a lot of “what ifs.”

You could even say, “What if Naoto-san hadn’t helped me back then?”

The world is filled with countless “what ifs” connected to everything. That’s the reality we live in.

“No matter where you go in this world, everything is connected. It’s something we’re painfully reminded of, yet it’s also something that has saved me.”

Naoto-san smiled faintly, stroking his teacup as if reminiscing about something. Even though I knew he was a man, his gestures and expressions were alluring.

“I happened to come across Touka by chance. She attacked me when she ran away from the orphanage. She demanded I give her food.”

“…Touka was unlucky to have attacked you.”

“Yes. She tried to stab me with a broken pencil, so I pinned her down and talked to her. She was ten years old at the time.”

Kurose-san was already violent at the age of ten.

I can tell, just from seeing her parents and the current situation.

“The first thing Touka learned was that threatening people gets you what you want. That’s how she survived.”

The reason they threatened me with a key-shaped knife was because they wanted information about me, “Background Mobtaro.”

They must have been desperate for it.

“Shino Tachikawa dropped out of high school after the incident. Because of her good looks, she made a living through the nightlife and sex industry, and at one point, she became pregnant.”

“And that was Kurose-san?”

“Yes. But back then, she didn’t go by the name Kurose Touka.”

“…What do you mean by that?”

“I can’t talk about it. There are things you’re better off not knowing. There’s a lot behind it.”

It seems Naoto-san doesn’t want to talk about this particular topic.

As a high school student, I can’t even begin to imagine what it might be.

“Right now, Touka is, on paper, a minor with no family. I did that on my own to cut her ties with Shino Tachikawa and the others.”

On paper, she has no family.

What does that even mean?

It’s not about her parents being dead or having distant relatives. I could sense that much.

“I took Touka back to the children’s care facility, and I looked into her background. I found out she was Shino Tachikawa’s daughter, that she had been a victim of child abuse, and that she had a personality disorder.”

“A personality disorder?”

“Something like multiple personalities. That’s why she doesn’t have memories from her childhood.”

Multiple personalities, dissociative identity disorder.

I’ve heard of it.

I recall it’s something like a person splitting their personality to protect the main one from severe psychological pain, stress, or trauma.

Of course, this isn’t exact, but the main personality doesn’t remember the events or memories that caused it.

“Well, but honestly, there are many things we still don’t know about Touka. Whether it’s really multiple personalities or not is unclear. It might just be that she sealed off her past memories without splitting into different personalities. But she’s mentally very unstable.”

Naoto-san said this as she gazed out the window.

When she talks about the “many things” going on, there really are too many.

At the very least, these are things that ordinary people like me don’t usually experience.

“And so, I gave Touka a new identity as ‘Kurose Touka.’ At that time, her memory was already messed up due to her mental condition, so I just kept her beside me as ‘Kurose Touka,’ without changing anything.”

“Then, you’re kind of like her foster parent, right?”

“Yes, in a way. At one point, I even considered adopting her as my and Hinata’s child. But I decided against it.”

“…Why?”

Naoto-san brewed a fresh pot of tea.

As she watched the steam rise from the teacup, she answered.

“For when she’s ready to face her past and make a choice.”

“Choosing between Shino Tachikawa and you?”

“Yes. Or perhaps another option altogether. I want her to be able to choose properly.”

We don’t get to choose our parents.

It’s decided for us from the moment we’re born.

In a way, that might make it easier.

But Kurose-san might have to make that choice, between the “abusive biological mother” and the “parent who erased her past and raised her.”

“I have expectations for you. For you, the one Touka clings to. Maybe you’re the only one she can rely on. But still, Touka found someone on her own. Whether that’s by chance or fate, I don’t know.”

Clinging to someone likely means finding someone who can make food with flavor, I suppose.

“Kurose-san cried when she ate my cooking, saying, ‘I feel like I became human again.'”

“Yes, I know. She started threatening people because her parents never gave her proper meals. One day, she happened to see it in a drama or something—getting what you want by threatening others.”

Extreme hunger.

Young Kurose-san, still growing, had learned survival tactics just to stay alive.

“Even without her memories, she is still hungry for food. And fear is carved into her as well. That’s why she always carries a weapon.”

Her intense attachment to my cooking and her constant state of being armed.

Is it her instinct to protect herself?

“One of the three basic human desires, the need for food, wasn’t being fulfilled. But thanks to you, that desire is being satisfied. That’s why she feels like she’s become human again. To us, it’s something normal.”

Saying this, Naoto-san finished her tea.

“My revenge has made Touka unhappy. But I can’t make her happy.”

She stared at the empty teacup with a vacant expression.

Frustrated, hurt.

Even after doing everything she could, Kurose-san couldn’t truly become human.

“Touka’s birth is the result of my sins. The fact that I can’t make her happy is my punishment.”

I had no words.

Someone like Naoto-san, who can do anything, was left with this feeling of helplessness.

“But I can’t ask you to ‘make Touka happy.’ That would be too much to ask. Still, I hope you can at least be her friend.”

Naoto-san smiled sadly.

Carrying the weight of her sins and punishment, the beautiful Naoto-san said this to me.