The Issue of Why I'm Frequently Mentioned in Conversations Among S-Class Beauties ~Please Stop Fabricating Things I Have No Memory Of~ (Dropped) - Chapter 18: Dinner with the S-Class Beauty

Chapter 18: Dinner with the S-Class Beauty

“Sorry, my place isn’t really tidy…” Yuna apologized as they entered her home.

“No worries, it’s not a problem… In fact, it’s quite clean,” Haruya reassured her, though he immediately regretted setting foot inside her home.

Haruya was a respectable high school boy. But entering the home of a female high school student who was close in age to him, and moreover, a beautiful girl who lived alone, naturally made him nervous. Visiting the home of the opposite sex was a first-time experience for him too.

“Don’t stare too much… It’s embarrassing,” Yuna said in a small voice.

“Sorry,” Haruya replied.

Yuna scolded him for looking around the unfamiliar room and noticing the spotless furniture. Haruya himself was curious about her home… or rather, he felt uneasy and so his gaze was wandering, but since the homeowner had spoken, he had no choice but to comply.

While he was internally restless, trying to calm himself down, Yuna eventually called out to him in a timid voice.

“For now, I’ll make dinner… In the meantime, you can look at the manga in that drawer over there.”

It seemed that the manga was stored in a drawer, not displayed on a bookshelf.

With her blue eyes sharply pointing at the drawer, Yuna put on a domestic apron. Haruya couldn’t help but feel that her pink, girlish appearance in an apron was charming.

“I can help too…”

Although Haruya offered to help since he felt guilty about indulging in his hobbies while she cooked, Yuna narrowed her eyes and said this.

“Weren’t you relying on frozen food and instant ramen?”

“…”

“If you’re not confident in your cooking skills, it’s more efficient for me to do it alone instead.”

“…”

He wanted to deny it, but unfortunately her statement was nothing but the truth. 

Of course, Haruya is not someone who enjoys cooking, but it’s not like he can’t cook at all. He can safely make simple dishes, but compared to the efficiency of this girl who is used to cooking on a daily basis… it was obvious that he would only slow her down.

Feeling sorry for himself, Haruya couldn’t do anything but keep quiet, and Yuna probably wanted to say that silence was the answer. She went to the kitchen by herself, making her way with small steps.

“Oh, by the way… do you have any allergies or foods you don’t like?”

“No, not really…”

“I see, that’s helpful. Don’t worry about me, just keep reading your manga.”

“…Alright.”

Resigned, Haruya opened the drawer as instructed by Yuna. Although he was still nervous and couldn’t calm down, as soon as he looked into the drawer, the tension seemed to disappear in an instant to him.

(…These are, wow, these are all hidden masterpieces, aren’t they?)

Like a treasure-hunting thief or pirate, Haruya’s eyes shone brightly as he raised his excitement level. The drawer was filled with, needless to say, a large amount of “shoujo manga”. There were a wide variety of well-organized shoujo manga, ranging from popular ones to obscure ones, and it felt like you could build a specialty shoujo manga bookstore with them alone.

The fact that each and every book had a transparent book cover neatly attached to it also revealed her meticulousness. Haruya began to relish the feeling of excitement as he compared the shoujo manga he knew with the ones she had.

(This one… is good too. Especially that scene. Oh, and this one too…)

At that moment, the borrowed cat-like state of Haruya was no longer there.

♦︎♢♦︎

After some time had passed — although, from Haruya’s perspective, it didn’t feel like much time had elapsed — the food was brought out.

Before he knew it, about 30 minutes had already passed by. 

“It’s ready, so let’s eat soon,” Yuna said coolly, her black hair swaying as she took a deep breath. 

Caught off guard by her sudden voice, Haruya’s shoulders twitched for a moment, but he felt relieved when he saw her face.

Now he noticed the pleasant aroma of ginger and miso filling the room. Haruya had been absorbed in his manga and hadn’t noticed the smell before, but once he became aware of it…his stomach growled, completely independent of his own consciousness.

“Well, it seems like perfect timing after all.”

“I apologize for my lack of self-control.”

“It’s totally fine. In fact, I invited you, so you should feel free to be yourself.”

“No, it’s too much to ask.”

“Fufu. Despite what you say, you were so absorbed in your manga that you even forgot about eating and just enjoyed yourself freely.”

“…”

Haruya was rendered speechless by her logical argument. Her observation was so accurate that he couldn’t help but feel embarrassed. Yuna’s lips curled up into a slight smile, although she was not the type to show much emotion.

“Here’s some ginger pork and miso soup. Help yourself, and feel free to have seconds.”

“Home-cooked, of course…”

What an obvious thing to say, Yuna complained with narrowed eyes. But for Haruya, eating homemade food was something he hadn’t done in a while.

For someone who had relied on frozen foods until now, the experience of being able to enjoy freshly made, warm dishes was simply blissful.

“If you don’t eat it, I might just eat it all.“

“No, no, I’ll eat it. Please let me have some.”

Haruya responded eagerly, his growling stomach adding to his appetite. The sight of the delicious dishes and their tantalizing aroma in front of him had pushed his hunger to its limit.

Yuna chuckled, urging him to start eating first.

“I-Itadakimasu!”

Having reached the end of his patience, Haruya finished his greeting early and began to eat the steaming dish.

The food was, of course, delicious, as Haruya had expected. But undoubtedly, the “hunger” itself was the ultimate spice that made the meal taste even more exquisite.