I Want to Completely Avoid Troubled Girls, but It Seems I’ve Reincarnated as a Background Character in the Most Dangerous Yandere Academy

Chapter 18: Cooking Class and Flashbacks

The next day.

It was the day of the cooking class.

I was on my way to the kitchen. The three most beautiful girls in the class were walking ahead of me, chatting together.

Let’s rewind a bit to this morning.

Once again, Ruriko-san came to my house. She was practically living there like a housewife.

“To truly understand Issei-kun, I need to spend as much time with him as possible, even if I have to force it, ” she said.

“Ruriko-san targeting the morning is terrifying, ” I muttered.

For breakfast, we went with a simple menu: cheap pre-made bread rolls, keeping the cooking class in mind.

After quickly finishing breakfast, we spent the remaining time chatting.

“Issei-kun, do you believe in fate?”

“I’d rather not hear about something so dubious.”

“Putting all else aside, I just want to know what you honestly think about it.”

Fate, huh.

“Sometimes I think maybe it exists, ” I admitted.

“So you think so too, Issei-kun, ” she replied.

“It’s like when something unbelievable happens, I try to rationalize it by calling it fate. I’m skeptical, but I can’t completely deny it either.”

“I see, ” I said in return.

“What about you, Ruriko-san?”

“I believe in it. The results of our actions may seem like free will, but they’re predetermined to some extent. You can’t fight fate, ” she said.

“Are you enlightened, or just pessimistic?”

“Who knows? Maybe it’s partly resignation that gives me the courage to act.”

It was a deep and complicated conversation. I didn’t feel like prying into whether she was trying to tell me something specific.

“In the end, I believe everything will turn out the way it’s meant to, ” she concluded.

For some reason, those words lingered in my mind…

“Issei-kun, it’s about time, ” Ruriko-san said, pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Finally, ” I replied.

“Watch me give it my all today. I’m going to win your stomach over, ” she said playfully.

“I’m looking forward to it, ” I answered.

The home economics teacher told us, “You’re free to form your own groups for this class.”

I ended up grouped with the three most beautiful girls in class, which immediately drew curious stares from the others.

By now, people seemed to be getting used to it. The reactions were becoming less dramatic. People truly adapt to anything.

We started by reviewing the menu and going over some precautions.

It would be my first time making hamburg steak. I was counting on Ruriko-san, who excelled at cooking. Her seasoning was always spot on.

“I’ll start by cutting the vegetables, ” said Kana, volunteering as the vegetable prepper. She washed the vegetables, grabbed a cutting board and knife, and began working.

From a distance, I watched her slice through the vegetables.

The sound of the knife hitting the cutting board echoed rhythmically.

But as I observed her, an unpleasant memory began to surface in my mind.

The memory of being stabbed by Satsuki.

Just seeing a knife in use triggered an intense flashback of pain. It was terrifying, sending shivers down my spine.

Here I was, meant to be enjoying cooking with these three incredible girls, but the past haunted me.

I thought I’d overcome that horrific experience, but the fear of death remained etched into my soul.

Even if it wasn’t a direct act, the association with knives brought back the trauma.

Noticing my growing unease, I avoided looking at Kana and focused instead on helping Ruriko and Yu with their preparations. I distracted myself by setting the table and coordinating the steps.

“It’s harder than I thought to cut evenly… It was perfect in my mental simulation, ” Kana muttered.
“Are you aiming to become the ultimate robot or something?” Yu joked, laughing softly.

Despite her earlier struggles, Kana managed to slice the vegetables with almost perfect thickness and spacing. Even when I tried to ignore it, her precise cuts kept drawing my attention.

“Ouch!”

The perfect rhythm broke abruptly.

When I looked over, Kana had nicked her finger.

“To think my beautifully even cuts would fail… Issei-kun, sorry, but could you lend me a tissue later?”

“Ah, yeah, ” I stammered.

Fortunately, the cut was shallow and only needed a quick rinse under water.

I handed her a tissue. As she pressed it against the wound, a small amount of blood seeped out.

“Could you give me another one?”

She handed me the used tissue, and I replaced it with a fresh one.

But when I took the blood-stained tissue, something inside me shifted.

My vision warped, and a high-pitched sound like howling filled my ears.

It felt as though the world itself was distorting.

An unfamiliar sense of paralysis gripped me, and I dropped to my knees.

My head throbbed painfully as I pressed a hand against it, trying to steady my breathing.

“Are you okay? What’s wrong?” Yu asked, concerned.

I couldn’t even muster the strength to pretend I was fine. All I could do was crouch and wait for the paralysis to subside.

“Ugh, ” I groaned, but it wasn’t me this time—it was Kana.

The suddenness of it all led Ruriko and Yu to decide to take both of us to the infirmary.

“Sorry, Ruriko, ” I muttered.

“It’s okay. You’ll be fine. I’m sure of it, ” she said, though her worried expression suggested otherwise.

“I didn’t hear about anything like this happening, ” Yu said.

“Neither did I. It’s like you two are resonating with each other, ” Ruriko replied.

“Something’s seriously wrong here, ” Yu concluded.

“No kidding, ” Ruriko agreed.

With Ruriko supporting me and Yu helping Kana, we made our way to the infirmary. Yu’s reassuring words to Kana made him look quite reliable.

Once we reached the infirmary, my body gradually began to feel lighter.

“Are you okay now?”

“I should be asking you that. Are you sleep-deprived?”

“No, I’m perfectly healthy. It felt like I was possessed by something sinister, ” I replied.

“It’s unscientific, but I can’t blame you for thinking that. At least it didn’t spread beyond the two of us, ” Kana added.

Kana looked thoughtful for a moment.

“I don’t know. My mind feels jumbled, like I’m not myself anymore, ” she said.

“Is the world distorting for you too?” I asked.

“For me, it feels more like things are merging together, ” she replied.

It seemed that whatever was happening to us had the same cause.

What that cause was, I didn’t know—and I didn’t want to find out.

As time passed, our symptoms eased, and the world returned to normal.

“I think I can go back now, ” I said.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah, I’m starting to feel better.”

After explaining the situation to the infirmary nurse, we returned to the classroom.

I told her it was just dizziness, and she reluctantly accepted the explanation.

“Shall we get back to it?” Ruriko asked.

“You really know how to worry people, Issei-kun. My part, where I season the food, got cut entirely, ” she teased.

“Sorry. I couldn’t help it, ” I apologized.

The hamburg steaks were nearly finished.

All that was left was to plate them and add ketchup.

“I’ll do the finishing touches, ” Kana said before I could volunteer.

She opened the ketchup tube and squeezed it, but an awkward noise escaped as the ketchup spilled out.

The sight of the ketchup spreading over the hamburg steak brought a different image to my mind.

This time, however, I didn’t feel sick.

But something seemed to happen to Kana.

After squeezing the ketchup, she froze like a malfunctioning computer.

“…Ah, ” she muttered.

Before I could ask if she was okay, Kana spoke.

“Issei-kun?”

She seemed confused about who I was.