I Will Do Everything In My Power To Bring Happiness To The Enchanting Beauty Who Can No Longer Smile. - Chapter 13: The Surprising Face Of Her’s.

The Surprising Face Of Her’s.

“Shigure-kun, do you like eating?”

“Hmm? Yeah, I do.”

It was Wednesday afternoon. While eating lunch with Tsubame, she suddenly asked me that.

Since we always spend lunchtime together whenever she’s around, we’ve started having more casual conversations.

Ideally, I hope that by continuing these conversations, someone will eventually want to get closer to Tsubame.

With that thought in mind, I returned to our conversation.

“Come to think of it, you’ve always been like that, haven’t you? You never left anything on your plate during school lunches. You liked snacks too.”

“I never really had any dislikes when it came to food. Around my last years of elementary school, I started learning how to cook from my mother.”

I took a bite of the tamagoyaki in my bento.

“Our family’s tamagoyaki used to be sweet. But one day, I suddenly felt like eating a savory version. When I mentioned it, my mother suggested we make it together. That was the first time I tried cooking.”

The tamagoyaki I was eating now was also on the savory side.

“That first attempt at making a savory tamagoyaki was surprisingly well-received at home. Eventually, we switched from sweet to savory tamagoyaki. Though we still make the sweet one from time to time.”

“Is that when you started cooking more regularly?”

“Yeah. I was happy whenever I got compliments, so I began learning how to cook from my mother on my days off. Eventually, I grew to love cooking, and by the time I entered middle school, I started telling my mother to leave the cooking to me.”

At first, she was hesitant. But once she saw how much I enjoyed it, she began to trust me with it.

Just as I was about to reach for another piece of tamagoyaki, I felt a light tap on my arm.

“Can I try one?”

“Hmm? Oh, sure.”

It was a sudden request, but I had no reason to refuse.

More than anything, I was happy. Even if she couldn’t taste it, just the fact that she wanted to try it—just the fact that she expressed what she wanted—made me glad.

As I pulled back my chopsticks, Tsubame opened her small mouth.

“…Ah.”

Her unexpected action caused the students around us to freeze in place, catching the moment from the corners of their eyes.

“Tsubame?”

Even when I called her name, her expression remained unchanged. She simply sat there with her mouth open, gazing at me intently.

Could it be… she wants me to feed her?

The thought alone felt absurd. And yet, no matter how I looked at her, her posture suggested nothing else—she was clearly waiting to be fed.

There was no way… no way this was actually happening.

I wanted to deny the ridiculous notion forming in my head. But once the idea surfaced, I couldn’t shake it off.

When we were little, we used to do things like this all the time.

Of course, that was back when we were kids.

But then again, this was Tsubame. She had once casually suggested that I could touch her cheek, after all.

As I hesitated, Tsubame remained in place, her mouth open just wide enough to fit a piece of tamagoyaki.

—At this point, I had no choice but to go along with it.

I picked up a piece with my chopsticks. My hands trembled slightly.

As I brought it closer to her mouth, she opened it just a little more.

And then—she took the tamagoyaki into her mouth.

She chewed slowly, carefully, and then swallowed.

That seemed to be the right move.

“I still can’t taste it,” she murmured, her voice barely audible—probably meant for me alone.

“But I can tell one thing. The food you make is different from the food my mother makes.”

Tsubame reached into her bento and picked up a small hamburger patty. She took a bite, chewed, swallowed, and then extended the remaining half toward me.

“Try it.”

“…Huh?”

“Ah.”

Tsubame mimicked her earlier action—this time, opening her mouth as if instructing me to do the same.

After a brief moment of hesitation, I complied. The small hamburger was placed into my mouth.

“…It’s delicious.”

The words slipped out unintentionally. That was how good it was.

“What kind of delicious?”

Her question made me realize—oh, I see.

She wanted to know. What her mother’s home-cooked meals tasted like.

From what she had said earlier, she probably understood the warmth and care that went into homemade food. I had felt it too.

The hamburger I just ate—it was prepared without compromise, as if waiting for the day when Tsubame’s sense of taste would return. It was definitely not frozen food. Most likely, it was made to match the flavor she had always loved.

“It leans on the sweeter side. But the slight acidity balances it out well, making it perfect with rice.”

“…It’s the same as always, then,” she muttered softly.

This time, she picked up a portion of spinach ohitashi.

“Shigure-kun.”

“Yeah?”

“Let’s trade half of our lunches today.”

“Sure.”

I didn’t need even a second to think about it.

I nodded, and Tsubame did the same. Then, cupping her hand to hold the spinach, she brought it toward me.

“Wait—mgh!”

Just as I opened my mouth to speak, she mistook it as me getting ready to eat and shoved the spinach in.

Sharing our food was fine, but… feeding each other like this was definitely not.

And yet—

“Is it good?”

“…Uh, yeah. The seasoning is well-balanced.”

Before I could object, she had already moved on to asking for my feedback.

Each time I tried to say something, another bite of food was placed in my mouth, followed by another request for my thoughts.

At some point, I had eaten half of Tsubame’s lunch.

And now, it was her turn to open her mouth.

…I didn’t understand.

Why had she gone this far?

Even after lunchtime ended and afternoon classes began, I found myself unable to stop thinking about it.

“Man, you really put on a show back there, huh?”

“…That wasn’t my intention at all.”

During the break between classes, as I headed toward the restroom, my friend Shirao followed and made a comment.

“So? When did you two start dating? You could’ve at least told me.”

“We’re not dating.”

“No way. You seriously expect me to believe that?”

…I had no comeback. If our positions were reversed, I’d probably be saying the same thing.

But it was the truth.

“I’m serious. Honestly, I don’t even understand why things turned out like that. I have no idea what happened.”

“For real?”

“I wish I knew why she did it.”

Sharing lunch made sense. But feeding each other? That was unnecessary.

Shirao hummed, looking amused.

“Maybe she just enjoys teasing people?”

“…Huh?”

“My girlfriend does the same sometimes. She loves messing with me, just to see my reaction.”

“Oh… You mean her.”

“Yeah. Haven’t you ever seen signs of that from her before?”

As I considered it, a memory surfaced—her casually offering to let me touch her cheek in front of everyone.

…Could it be? Was Tsubame actually the mischievous type?

It seemed unlikely, yet I couldn’t completely dismiss it.

Looking back, she had always been like that. Sneaking into my bed in the morning, grabbing my hand in front of everyone at school…

…Maybe it wasn’t so far-fetched after all.

“Looks like you’ve thought of something, huh?”

“N-no.”

“Heh. No need to get so flustered. Or maybe she’s just naturally straightforward?”

Hearing Shirao’s remark, I let out a small grunt. If I had to choose which possibility was more likely, I’d say it was the mischievous side of her.

With a deep sigh, I reset my thoughts.

“…Well, it doesn’t really matter.”

“My bad, my bad. No need to sulk.”

“It’s not like that, so don’t worry. Anyway, thanks—your insight was helpful.”

In the end, the reason behind Tsubame’s actions doesn’t really matter. And I’m not just saying that to brush it off.

What truly matters is that she’s changing, little by little. She’s starting to show expressions like she used to in the past.

That alone is enough for me. It means we’re getting closer to the relationship we once had.

…That said, I should at least ask her to save these kinds of things for when there aren’t so many people around. It’s causing quite a stir.