Be careful with the laid-back beauty who took a liking to me. Otherwise, it will be too late!

https://ko-fi.com/senna2003

Episode 4: Enthralled by My Cooking

When I arrived late to the classroom, Koga-san was lying on her desk.

But as soon as she noticed me, she raised her head and handed me a paper bag that was placed beside her desk.

“What’s this?”

“It’s a thank-you gift from the other day. Thank you for taking me home and taking care of me. Do you want it?”

“You don’t have to thank me… But thank you.”

I didn’t know what was inside, but when I looked into the bag, it was filled with cute, wrapped cookies and snacks.

“That’s custard cookies. I made them myself.”

“Custard?”

I’ve never had custard cookies before, so I was very curious about the taste.

“I’ll eat them when I get home.”

“Yeah… Let me know what you think after you’ve tried them?”

After handing over the thank-you gift, Koga-san had the expression of having done what she needed to, and she was about to lie back down on her desk, but someone approached us, so she pouted her cheeks sullenly.

“Good morning, Hiyuki.”

“Oh, good morning, Maika.”

“Good morning, Koga-san.”

“…Good morning.”

Maika seemed concerned about Koga-san missing school at the beginning of the new term.

“Are you feeling better now? You were absent for a couple of days at the start of the new term.”

“I’m okay… because Kawai-kun took care of me.”

“Huh?”

Though I said I took care of her, all I did was take her home, put a cooling pad on her, and leave some food and drinks nearby. Can that be considered taking care of her?

“You took care of Koga-san when she was weak!?”

Maika seemed to imagine something strange, but I didn’t quite understand what she meant.

“Maika, I just took her home.”

“Huh, is that so? You should have said that.”

When Maika said that to Koga-san, she smiled.

“What did Ohara imagine?”

“W-What? I didn’t imagine anything!”

Saying that, Maika’s face turned red.

***

A few days had passed since the start of the second year of high school. Groups were formed in the class, and at lunchtime, we would eat with those group members.

The girls would gather in groups to eat, but the boys would sometimes eat with different people depending on the day.

I usually ate with my close male friend, Kubo Asahi.

Today, though, Koga-san brought Maruyama-san and came over with their lunches.

“Kawai-kun, want to eat together?”

“Well, I don’t mind…”

I didn’t mind, but since Asahi was here too, I wanted to confirm if it was okay with him. However, before I could say anything, Asahi and Maruyama-san exclaimed, “Ah!”

“Asahi!”

“Yuna-chan!”

“I’ve been feeling like I’ve seen you somewhere, and it turns out we went to the same kindergarten.”

“It’s been ten years since we’ve seen each other.”

It seemed that Asahi and Maruyama-san had gone to the same kindergarten, so they remembered each other after a long time.

Without needing to ask Asahi, Maruyama-san brought a chair over to us and sat nearby, so Koga-san also brought a chair.

“I’m sorry to intrude, Kawai-kun. It’s surprising that you and Yuna-chan know each other…”

“Yeah, I didn’t know.”

While we were talking, Asahi and Maruyama-san seemed to have a lot to catch up on, so they were chatting happily.

As they took out their bento boxes and opened them, I felt that Koga-san had moved closer to us.

“Hey, Kawai-kun… Do you want to walk home together again today?”

“Sure.”

I had a lot of fun when we took a detour together that day. I didn’t know if we would take a detour today, but I wanted to walk home with her, so I immediately agreed.

Then, Koga-san clasped her hands together without making a sound and had a happy expression on her face.

“Yay! There’s something I want you to come with me for a bit.”

“Something you want me to come with you for?”

I asked her that, and she clasped her hands together before picking up a piece of tamagoyaki with her chopsticks and putting it in her mouth.

Then Koga-san was looking at my bento with sparkling eyes.

(It’s like she’s signaling that she wants food…)

“Do you want some?”

Picking up a piece of tamagoyaki with my chopsticks, I offered it to her. She nodded eagerly.

She waited with her mouth slightly open, so I realized something and stopped my chopsticks.

(Does she want me to feed her like “aah”?)

I wondered if feeding her would make my heart race like it did before.

(Feeding someone really makes your heart race like this…)