After I Started Living Alone, My Place Turned Into a Hangout Spot for Beautiful Girls - Chapter 16: Takoyaki Party

Chapter 16: Takoyaki Party

I accidentally caught a glimpse of Shizuru Mizutani and Sakuya changing.

Shizuru was wearing a cute blue bra.

Sakuya had on black, somewhat sexy panties.

Seeing their captivating underwear made me feel incredibly awkward.

Even now, after going to the convenience store to buy a gas canister and finishing all the preparations to start making takoyaki, that awkwardness lingered.

My discomfort must have been obvious, because Sakuya let out a small chuckle at me.

“Why is it that Teruaki, the one who saw us, is still fidgeting more than us, who got seen in our underwear?”

“Well, I mean… both of your faces were bright red!”

“Sure, but I think your face was even redder than ours, Teruaki-kun.”

“…Seriously?”

“Oh, yeah, hilariously so.”

Both of them seemed to care a little, but they were already pretty much back to normal.

I was the only one still feeling awkward, and that started to make me feel a bit embarrassed.

“…Alright, let’s get cooking!”

To shake off the awkwardness, I lit the gas-powered takoyaki maker.

Once I confirmed the takoyaki maker was hot, I poured in a small amount of batter, added pieces of octopus, and scattered green onions, tempura bits, and pickled ginger evenly.

After adding all the ingredients, I poured more batter generously on top.

“It’s overflowing from the round molds, is that okay?”

Shizuru didn’t seem to have made takoyaki at home before.

I explained with a bit of a know-it-all tone.

“When you shape them, you fold in the batter from the edges. Otherwise, the takoyaki won’t turn out nice and round.”

Now that I’d poured enough batter, it was time for a short wait.

I started waiting for the takoyaki to cook enough to flip, but…

“Can’t I flip them yet?”

Shizuru was eagerly, adorably waiting for the moment to turn the takoyaki.

“It’s nice to see you enjoying this.”

“Ehehe. Hey, Teruaki-kun, do you make takoyaki often?”

“Not really. Maybe three times a year, tops?”

“Dude, people would call that doing it often.”

Apparently, making takoyaki three times a year was considered a lot.

What’s normal at my house seems to differ from other places.

Oh, they’re starting to look nicely cooked.

“Your turn, Shizuru.”

I handed the bamboo skewers for flipping the takoyaki to an excited Shizuru.

She took the skewers and grinned confidently.

“Hehe, I’ll show you my dazzling skills!”

Shizuru enthusiastically started flipping the takoyaki.

But a few minutes after she began…

“Why?!”

The takoyaki maker was a complete mess, a total disaster.

I’d made the batter a bit softer, hoping for fluffy, melty takoyaki.

Soft batter makes it tough to shape takoyaki neatly until you get the hang of it.

Well, there’s still time to fix this, so let’s help her out.

* * *

We kept making and eating takoyaki over and over.

Sakuya, Shizuru, and I were all stuffed and groaning, but Sakuya handed me a 1,000-yen bill.

I knew why she gave it to me.

“Ice cream, right?”

“Yeah, my rule is to finish a takoyaki feast with ice cream. I’m in sloppy loungewear, so I don’t want to go out. Since I’m asking, can you grab some for you and Shizuru too?”

“Sure, got it. You really haven’t changed since way back, huh?”

Eating ice cream after gorging on takoyaki.

That’s Sakuya’s routine.

When we were kids, she even cried once because there was no ice cream after takoyaki.

As I reminisced, Shizuru pouted and said to me,

“Your relationship is kinda nice, all childhood-friend-like.”

“Well, Sakuya and I are kinda like cousins, family, and childhood friends all at once. From your reaction, I’m guessing you don’t have a childhood friend?”

“Nope. But you two are super close, right?”

“…Yeah, I guess so.”

“Okay, okay, don’t start with the ‘we’re not close’ thing—wait, what?!”

Shizuru’s eyes went wide with surprise at my unexpected comment.

Was it really that shocking?

I gave her a wry smile and explained.

“I mean, I think we used to not get along. But lately, you can’t deny Sakuya and I are pretty close.”

“Exactly, Teruaki’s right. Since meeting you, Shizuru, I feel like we’ve been getting along really well.”

We used to fight over the smallest things and were pretty bad at getting along.

But saying we’re not close now would be absurd.

“Hahaha, you two finally admit it?”

“After hanging out like today, I can’t exactly say I’m not close with Sakuya.”

“Yup, yup, being close is a good thing!”

“Alright, I’m heading to the convenience store.”

I started to dash off to buy ice cream, but…

“Can I come too?”

Shizuru said she wanted to come along.

She was wearing my slightly worn-out T-shirt and shorts.

Her outfit was just barely okay for going out, but also just barely something you wouldn’t want to be seen in.

“You sure about that outfit?”

“Yeah, it’s fine for the convenience store!”

“But why come along when you could just wait here?”

“No reason, just felt like it. Don’t you ever get that urge to tag along when someone’s heading to the store?”

“Hmm, kinda get it, kinda don’t.”

Whatever, it’s not a big deal.

No reason to say no, so I decided to go to the convenience store with Shizuru.

As we headed toward the entrance, Sakuya stood up too.

“Don’t you think it’s harsh to leave me behind?”

In the end, Sakuya decided to come to the convenience store too.

Which meant no one would be left at home.

“Just make sure to lock up properly. You two go ahead to the store, and I’ll catch up after.”

I told them that and started locking up.

When I finished and got to the entrance…

“Let’s go, then.”

“Yeah, shall we?”

The two who I’d told to go ahead to the store were still there, waiting for me.

Well, yeah, that makes sense.

Leaving one person behind and going ahead feels kinda wrong.

The three of us walked off together to the convenience store to buy ice cream.