My Beautiful Childhood Friend Is Working in a Maid Cafe For Some Reason - Chapter 100

One day, I suddenly got a message from Tadokoro.

The content was—

“The pool the other day was disappointing, so let’s have a training camp. A training camp. At your house, Senpai!”

I replied saying no for now, but I could already imagine her flailing around, throwing a tantrum in response.

“Nooo! Nooo! Nooo! Let’s have a training camp! Come on, let’s make fun memories together!”

Well, I could concede on the training camp idea, but why my house? There’s no space for four people to sleep.

“…Also, I thought I’d cook as a thank you for the other day. So, let’s do a training camp!”

I remembered she mentioned something about a reward for helping with the stalker situation.

“…Sigh.”

I had only meant it as a small joke to cheer her up. Besides, I wasn’t much help. Haru was the one who caught Kurano. Akiba protected Tadokoro when she was about to get hit. And Yukina was the one who made Kurano apologize.

So, I really didn’t need a reward anymore.

But Tadokoro might have taken it seriously, and perhaps she’d been thinking about it all summer vacation.

If that’s the case, I guess I can at least offer my place…

When I replied with an okay, she sent a response so enthusiastic I could almost picture her hugging her phone.

“Yay! I’ll work hard, so look forward to it!”

I replied with a casual “Sure, sure,” and ended the conversation.

A training camp, huh…

I stood up and checked the dishes. When I moved out, my mom had insisted on giving me extra dishes, so I had enough for four people. No problem there.

The main issue is sleeping arrangements…

The setup would be two on the bed, one on the couch, and one on the floor. Yukina and Tadokoro would likely take the bed. Yukina wouldn’t mind, but would Tadokoro be okay with it? She might not like it, which would be the normal reaction. Well, I’ll just let them decide on the day.

Worst case, Akiba and I can sleep on the floor.

The next day, when I told Yukina about the training camp, her eyes sparkled.

I coordinated with Tadokoro about when to meet, and soon, the day arrived.

“Yuu-kun, do we have everything we need?”

“I think we’re good after that shopping trip.”

We’d bought snacks, drinks, and some things to play with during a shopping trip with Yukina.

“Okay. Now we just wait, huh?”

Yukina had been in a high mood since morning. She was swaying in her chair and humming a tune, clearly excited for today.

“If you’re that hyped up from the start, you’ll be tired later.”

“I’ll be fine!”

Yukina declared with a clenched fist, looking so confident that I couldn’t help but sigh.

I mean, who’s the one who keeps falling asleep lately? And seriously, you’re off-key, even while humming.

“They’re taking a while.”

“They said they’d come in the evening. It’ll still be a while.”

“So, it’s just the two of us until then. What should we do?”

“Let’s do nothing and relax.”

“Come on, let’s do something!”

Even if she says that, we usually just laze around. Nothing special. What should we do…

“How about playing a memory game with the cards we bought?”

It’ll probably be boring as hell, though.

“Ah, teach me how to cook!”

“Cook?”

“Yeah, let’s make lunch together.”

“That’s fine, but why all of a sudden?”

“I want to improve my girl power!”

She doesn’t need to…Also, what even is ‘girl power’?

“Is cooking considered girl power?”

“I don’t really know, but doesn’t a girl who can cook seem more…girly?”

“Well, I guess.”

“Right? So, I want to learn to cook a little.”

I remembered the porridge she made when I was sick. It was devastatingly sweet. Not metaphorically, just way too sweet.

“If you want to get better, ask Akari for help.”

“I want to cook with you, Yuu-kun. Besides, if I ask Akari-chan before I improve, she’ll completely outclass me.”

Akari’s cooking skills are top-tier. As her older friend, Yukina probably didn’t want to lose to her.

“Alright, let’s make something. But I’m not that great either. I can only manage something edible.”

This is just me lowering expectations, to be safe.

“I love the food you make, Yuu-kun.”

“…I’ll take that as a compliment. So, what do you want to make? Just make sure it’s something we can look up on our phones.”

“I love your fried rice, so let’s do that.”

“Fried rice, huh? That’s easy enough.”

It was a good time to start cooking, so we moved to the kitchen.

We made a simple fried rice with onions, carrots, and ham.

“You know how to wash rice, right?”

“Yep.”

She set the rice to wash and started the timer. While we waited, we cut up the vegetables and ham.

“Hold the knife properly. Your other hand should be in the shape of a cat’s paw.”

“Like this?”

Yukina mimicked a cat’s paw and even made little meowing sounds.

It’s…overwhelmingly cute, even though I know she’s trying to be.

“Y-Yeah, that’s right.”

“Okay, I’ll start cutting.”

“Take your time. We’ve got plenty of it, so go slow and be careful not to hurt yourself.”

It was nerve-wracking to watch Yukina, who rarely cooked, handling a knife.

“Yuu-kun, you’re being noisy. I can’t focus.”

“Oh, sorry…my bad.”

Yukina was tense, moving the knife cautiously as she cut the carrot. Finally, with a soft thud, she sliced it.

“I did it! Look, Yuu-kun!”

She proudly held up the sliced carrot. It wasn’t really anything special, but seeing her so happy made me feel an odd sense of affection, like I wanted to praise her.

“Good job.”

“Hehe.”

When I patted her head, she smiled innocently.

“Okay, I’ll keep going.”

With that, Yukina resumed cutting slowly…until—

“Ugh, why…why am I crying?”

“Well, it’s an onion.”

As soon as she started cutting the onion, the tears began to flow, as expected.

“Take a break and wipe your eyes. It’s dangerous if you keep going like that.”

“Yuu-kun, can you wipe them for me? Please?”

She closed her eyes and turned her face toward me, her lips pressed together…almost like she was waiting for a kiss—wait, what am I thinking!?

Trying to hide my flustered thoughts, I quickly wiped her tears.

“Thanks…!”

As she was about to start again, she looked away for a second and ended up cutting her finger. A small bead of red blood welled up on her pale finger.

“W-Wait, let me get a bandage! Wash it with water for now—”

“Yuu-kun.”

“Huh?”

Just as I was about to fetch the bandage, she called my name. When I turned around, she stuck her finger in my mouth.

“Yuu-kun, suck on it.”

The bitter, metallic taste spread in my mouth. I was so shocked, I accidentally swallowed it.

“Mm, don’t talk…”

Yukina’s body twitched slightly.

This is bad. This is really bad. This is really bad!!!

Even though sucking blood seemed questionable, letting things stay like this felt much worse. I quickly sucked the blood from her finger, then grabbed a bandage and wrapped it around her wound.

“No more cooking today.”

“Huh? Why not…?”

“Just no!”

To calm myself down, I finished cooking the fried rice on my own.

As we ate, Yukina said, “This fried rice we made together is delicious,” but I couldn’t taste anything.

All I could taste was Yukina’s blood, lingering in my mouth.