Chapter 91: I Wish koga Yang would realize that she’s my mama’s position

“This has too much butter. We can’t waste it, so let’s just make a bit more.”

“Okay…”

“Tateyama! What are you adding right now?”

“Huh? It’s Watapachi.”

“Excuse me?! Why are you putting that in there?!”

“Don’t you think it’ll taste better this way? Sweetness that suddenly pops—sounds fun, right?”

“Of course not! Oh no… You already added it… You’re eating this yourself, Tateyama.”

“Come on, we should all share. We’re in this together, right? Destiny partners and all.”

“I’m not interested, okay?! I never signed up for this kind of destiny partnership!”

The lively chatter filled the cooking practice room.

Meanwhile, I was focused on whipping up meringue, moving my hands busily.

Next to me, Miyauchi and Tateyama were… well, Tateyama was playfully teasing Miyauchi.

But seeing Miyauchi not looking entirely annoyed, I figured it was fine.

Despite the class ending and it being time to head home, here I was, still working. And for a reason.

To explain why, we’d have to go back to five days ago.

“Wh-what would be a good White Day gift…?”

[Oh? Come to think of it, you mentioned on stream during Valentine’s Day that you got chocolates from classmates, right?]

“Yes. One was h-handmade cookies, and the other was expensive chocolate…”

Both were incredibly delicious.

Miyauchi’s handmade cookies were soft and delicate, while Tateyama’s chocolates had such a rich aroma that lingered even as you swallowed.

[So, you want to reciprocate their Valentine’s Day gifts, huh?]

“I thought maybe just giving them some fancy sweets would b-be okay…”

This had been my biggest worry recently.

Sure, for Tateyama, since her chocolates were store-bought and pricey, an equally expensive gift should suffice.

But Miyauchi’s cookies were handmade, crafted with care.

After receiving such a heartfelt gift, could I really just respond with something bought with money?

Someone might say I was overthinking it, but for me, this was an important dilemma.

“What do you think I should do, Koga?”

[Asking me won’t help… It’s not like I’m the one receiving it.]

So cold…

Koga, as my “mom figure,” should understand that helping me wholeheartedly in times like this is part of the job description.

Of course, I didn’t have the courage to say that to his face, so I just scribbled [So mean] into my Miscord notes under Koga’s name.

[…I’ve told you countless times. I’m not your mom, Izumi.]

“Ugh…”

[And if you’re hesitating because one of your classmates gave you homemade cookies, wouldn’t it be fine if Izumi made some herself?]

“Umm… It’s not that I haven’t thought about it, but I’m not confident….”

Miyauchi’s homemade cookies were genuinely delicious.

However, the idea of someone like me, who knew nothing about baking, attempting to make cookies as a gift seemed disastrous.

No matter how I tried to imagine it positively, the outcome always looked grim.

[Then why not ask the classmate who gave you the cookies directly? Tell them you want to make cookies for White Day and ask for their help.]

“W-Wouldn’t it be a bit strange to ask the person I’m giving the gift to for help making it…?”

[I think it’d be great! It’d show how earnest you are about reciprocating. They might even be deeply moved!]

“Oh….”

That did sound reasonable.

Miyauchi was kind, so if I asked her for help with such a reason, she might even be happy about it.

“…Well, then, I’ll ask her at school tomorrow.”

[Okay, good luck. Oh, and while you’re at it, make one for me too.]

“…If you come to pick it up yourself, I’ll consider it.”

[Really? You promise? Better have it ready for me, then.]

“Eek….”

I imagined Koga smiling mischievously and immediately regretted my words, but it was too late.

“Uh, K-Koga, did you get any chocolates on Valentine’s Day?”

[Just the usual. I exchanged chocolates with Ren… I mean, Ayaka. So, make sure to prepare mine properly, okay?]

“Yes.”

It seemed my attempt to change the subject had failed.

So, I added [Kindness] and [Scariness] to Koga’s memo in Misscode.

[Scariness] was already over 20 entries.

[Delete all of it.]

“…”

The next day, asking Miyauchi for help at school turned out to be easy.

Well, not exactly easy, but at least I managed to do it quickly.

Miyauchi was always the next to arrive after me, so I only needed to wait for her to show up.

“Uh, M-Miyauchi. I’d like to give a return gift for Valentine’s Day, but… I’m not confident in baking. Could you help me…?”

“Oh, o-of course! I’d be happy to help!”

My plan was perfect.

Except for one variable I hadn’t accounted for.

“Let me join in too, Kayano! Miyauchi!”

Tateyama had started coming to school early on some days, and today happened to be one of them.

It seemed she overheard me asking Miyauchi for help.

“I don’t mind, but… Is it okay with you, Kayano?”

Honestly, I already felt pressured about spending time alone with Miyauchi after school.

It was different from just being classmates; this was meeting with a clear purpose.

But now Tateyama wanted to join too.

I didn’t even need to imagine how my introverted, socially awkward self would struggle.

Even Miyauchi seemed to notice, as she glanced at me.

“I-I’m okay with it….”

Refusing wasn’t an option for me.

Because that’s just how my awkward social anxiety worked.

“Then what should we make? Do you both have anything you want to try?”

“I’m fine with anything!”

“S-Since it’s for Miyauchi, I’ll leave it up to her….”

“Hmm… I’m fine with anything too….”

After much deliberation, we decided to make macarons.

On White Day, thanks to Miyauchi asking the teacher for permission, we were allowed to use the cooking lab.

“Let’s start by making the cream for the macarons.”

We planned to make two flavors: chocolate and strawberry.

After all, chocolate and strawberry were classic macaron flavors.

Though I personally liked cheese flavor, we were limited by the ingredients we had, so we couldn’t make everything we wanted.

“Let’s have Tateyama handle the white couverture for the strawberry cream, and Kayano can work on the dark chocolate. Does that sound good?”

“L-Like this…?”

“Yes! And I brought some baking rum from home, so we can use that too.”

The plan was for me to make chocolate macarons, Tateyama to make strawberry ones, and Miyauchi to assist us both.

By the time we checked the clock, it was already 6 PM.

We’d been in the cooking lab for over two hours, having started around 3:50 PM.

“Ahh… I’m so tired…”

Macarons took a lot longer to make than I’d expected.

Who would’ve thought just letting the batter dry would take over 30 minutes?

Ding-dong!

“Oh, it’s done.”

At the sound of the timer, we all stood and approached the oven.

Miyauchi carefully pulled out the tray from the oven, revealing the shells of the macarons we had made.

And their condition….

“They’re cracked.”

“So are mine….”

All of them, except Miyauchi’s, had small cracks in the shells.

To think we’d invested over two hours for this result.

I had already heard from Miyauchi that macarons were a difficult type of cookie to make, so I knew this could happen. But facing it myself still left me feeling disappointed.

“They’re finished.”

“Phew, finally done….”

“G-great job, everyone.”

After letting the shells cool, we sandwiched the pre-made cream between them to complete our macarons.

“Here you go.”

“Th-thank you….”

We each handed one of our creations to each other and started tasting them.

Unlike me and Tateyama, who each made one flavor—chocolate and strawberry—Miyauchi made both.

And her macarons… as expected, were flawless.

They tasted exactly like the ones I occasionally bought from a bakery.

Mine, on the other hand, felt a little harder than the ones Miyauchi made.

Not to the point of being inedible, but it had a slightly awkward texture.

Lastly, Tateyama’s macarons were two in total. The first one was similar in texture to my chocolate macaron.

And the second one, the one with cream mixed with Watapachi, was—

“…Surprisingly good?”

“Right? I thought it’d be tasty!”

As Miyauchi had said, it was surprisingly good.

How should I describe it?

The popping sensation in my mouth balanced out the sweetness, creating an addictive flavor.

“Both of you worked hard today.”

“Come on, Miyauchi, you’re the one who helped us the most. Thanks a lot.”

After tidying up the cooking classroom, we left the school.

We decided to split the leftover macarons and take them home.

“Well then, I’ll head this way.”

“I’m going this way.”

“Uh, um…!”

“Hm?”

Just before parting ways in front of the school gate, I quietly called out to Miyauchi and Tateyama.

“I-I wanted to give you this….”

Along with those words, I handed them a package of my macarons and some cookies I had bought yesterday.

“Oh, is this…”

“Yes. These are cookies made by the same company that made the chocolate you gave me, Tateyama….”

“Are you giving this to me too?”

“Yes. I-I just wanted to say thank you for Valentine’s Day….”

It felt a bit awkward to simply give expensive cookies as a return gift for Miyauchi’s handmade ones.

But I wasn’t confident in my baking skills, and I doubted the macarons I made could compare to the value of the chocolates Tateyama had given me.

So, my conclusion was, ‘Why not both?’

“Well, then, I’ll be going now…!”

After handing the gifts to them, I quickly bolted from the spot.

…What if they think it’s weird?

They might feel awkward if a classmate they’re not close to took this so seriously just for a friendly Valentine’s gift….

Worrying about these thoughts, I eventually arrived home.

“Kaya.”

…Koga was standing in front of my house.

“You said you’d give me macarons.”

She really came.

Good thing I had prepared a separate package for her just in case….