In This World That Favors Men, I... ~Starting a Sweet School Life in a World With a 1:8 Gender Ratio~ - 114

Chapter 114: Staying Home

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“Have a nice trip!”

“Enjoy yourselves!”

Yui and I saw off our affectionate parents as they headed off on their trip.

So, what should we do now? Just the two of us home alone. It’s like we’ve gone back to when we first came to this world. 

Back then, we were in the middle of transferring schools, so it was all pretty hectic. But now…

“It’s summer vacation, so should we go out somewhere too?”

“Yeah, that sounds nice. But if possible, I’d like to invite some friends over!”

I see. That did sound fun too.

“Sure, I’m fine with that. But can they come today? Do you think they’ll come if you invite them on such short notice?”

“Then I’ll ask them and see!”

＊

“Alright! First, we go shopping.”

“What we need is flour, eggs, dashi stock, green onions, pickled ginger, and tenkasu, right?”

We checked everything off while taking notes so we wouldn’t forget.

“Onii-chan, you’re forgetting the most important thing.”

“Uh… Oh! The octopus!”

Oops. Without that, it’d just be a plain, round takoyaki.

“Right. And we’ll need to buy some sauces too. I want to make some unusual takoyaki, so I’m planning to get a bunch of different ingredients.”

Since Yui wanted to have a takopa—a takoyaki party—we were now heading out to buy all the ingredients. I did think, Takoyaki? In this heat? at first, but Yui reminded me how good takoyaki tasted at summer festivals, and I figured she had a point.

“What do you mean by unusual ingredients?”

“Let’s see—corn, sausage, bacon and cheese, shrimp and kimchi, cherry tomatoes and mentaiko. Something like that? Maybe we could even add mushrooms or cabbage.”

“That’s quite a lot.”

“Is that bad?”

“Not at all. Why don’t we just buy everything?”

“Yay! Awesome!”

When Yui invited her friends, Tahara-san and Sagara-san, it turned out they were both free and said yes right away. So the four of us were going to have a takopa. Besides me, it would be all girls, so maybe they wouldn’t eat that much. But if we had leftovers, we could just pack them up for them to bring home. Right. It’d probably be good to get some takeout containers too.

“We should get extra drinks too.”

Yeah, since it’s hot outside.

“Yup. Maybe we should bring the shopping cart.”

It wasn’t like we couldn’t carry everything, but it would definitely be easier.

So we headed to the supermarket near the station. After finishing our shopping as planned, we were on our way back. Just as we passed by the edge of the park, pulling the cart along with a rattling sound, we ran into someone completely unexpected.

“Takeda? What a coincidence running into you here. What brings you out this way?”

“That’s my line. We live in this neighborhood.”

“Oh, I see. Then, that must be your little sister.”

“This is Yui. You’re Yuuki-senpai, right? Thanks for always looking out for my brother.”

“Likewise. Thank you.”

The two of them bowed politely to each other.

“So, Yuuki, what are you doing in this park?”

“I started playing this new Real Cross Game recently. I came here to tame a limited-time rare monster.”

Oh yeah, I think I’ve heard of that. It’s a game that’s been getting a lot of attention lately.

“Really? Is it fun?”

“It’s okay, I guess. Good for getting some exercise. The map’s huge, after all.”

In Real Cross Game, the game world and real-world maps were linked. When you went to marked points in the real world, you could get in-game items or monsters. That was the gist of it.

“During summer break, they’ve partnered with train companies, so you can play it like a stamp rally. If you’re into collecting stuff, it’s pretty fun.”

“I’m not really into collecting. So, are you still going around after this?”

“Yeah, I was planning to. Why?”

“We’re about to have a takopa at our place, so if you haven’t had lunch yet, wanna join us?”

“Now that’s an irresistible offer. Is anyone else coming?”

“Yui’s friends—two of them. We invited them as a thank-you for coming with us to the open campus.”

“Mind if I join them too?”

“I think it’d be great. Right, Yui?”

“Yup. They both said they’d be happy if more people came. And you’re my brother’s friend, so you’re more than welcome to join us!”

“Aww, what a sweet little sister.”

“I think so too.”

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“Hello. Thank you for inviting us today.”

“Here, this is just a little something from the two of us.”

“Why are you two being so formal? You can relax and act like usual.”

“R-Really? It’s just… This is our first time visiting a house with a guy in it, and we weren’t sure how to behave.”

“Yeah. That’s why we’re both super nervous.”

“I mean, it’s my Onii-chan we’re talking about, you know?”

“That’s exactly why!”

“I guess you’re just used to him since you’re always around him, Yui.”

“Exactly. Oh, and we actually have one more person joining us.”

“Really? That might help. It’s easier to relax when there are more people.”

“Who is it?”

“He’s already here. He’s Onii-chan’s friend, Yuuki-senpai.”

“Wait—Yuuki-senpai!?”

“You mean… Ren Yuuki-senpai!?”

“Yup. Oh good, do you two already know him?”

“N-Not exactly…”

“Yuuki-senpai’s kinda famous, after all.”

(This is bad. One hundred percent, I’m gonna get smacked by Saki-nee.)

(Is it because of Yuuki-senpai?)

(Yeah. Yuuki-senpai is Saki-nee’s crush. She finally got him to say yes, but they haven’t even gone on a date yet.)

(So it’s like Sanae cleared the dating event first.)

(Exactly. I’m so screwed. I need to come up with a solid excuse… Though I might just end up groveling in the end.)

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“Sanae-chan, Haruka-chan, thanks for helping out. I think we’ve got all the ingredients we need now.”

“Yeah. Should we get started?”

“Yup. Onii-chan and Yuuki-senpai said they’d take care of the grilling, so we can just sit back and relax.”

“Wait, what? That’s kind of… I mean, Yuuki-senpai’s handmade takoyaki… Guh!”

Sanae took a critical hit—of course, delivered by the ghostly vision of her big sister Saki.

“Sanae, it’s fine. As long as you don’t say anything, no one will know the origin of the takoyaki.”

Said her best friend Haruka, already working to cover things up.

“Origin? You two want to know where the octopus came from? Hmm… Where was it again? Akashi? No, I think it was imported. Morocco, maybe?”

“It’s fine, Yui, really. We don’t mind if it’s of unknown origin.”

“I don’t know about Onii-chan, but Yuuki-senpai said he’s used to making takoyaki, so we can leave it to him. He said he’d cook up a storm. I’m excited!”

“G-Guh! Y-Yeah! We-We’re already here anyway! In that case, I’ll enjoy it to the fullest!”

“Exactly. Opportunities like this don’t come often. We’ll worry about everything else later. Don’t worry—I’ll help you come up with an excuse later.”

“Heeey! The first batch is almost done. Dig in!”

“Whoa. Yuuki’s way more active than usual—he’s really good at this.”

“Well yeah. I’m pretty serious when it comes to takoyaki. Okay, everyone get your plates ready.”

“Yaaay!”

“Alright, everyone ready? Hands together… Itadakimaaaasu!”

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