Chapter 2: The Progress of Breakfast is Especially Fast Before the Deadline
[Yukari’s pen name should be Hikari Kairou, not Hikari Ebiwara. Sorry.]
The next morning. 7 AM.
The bird calls outside the room woke Ayu Shirakawa up. She doesn’t know the exact names of these birds, but she knows they are different species.
She opened her eyes. Her brain was still a bit dizzy as she woke up from the blanket and observed her surroundings.
This is the novelist Hikari Ebiwara’s- her real name is Yukari Ebiwara’s- home.
Aside from the futon Ayu slept in, only a small table and chair is in this 4m2 room. This room is for guests to stay. It was mainly used by Hikari’s editor, Ayu's cousin, Miyako Shirakawa. She used to stay up all night to wait for Hikari’s draft.
Starting today, this became Ayu’s room for living.
Perhaps it’s because there’s nearly nothing inside. Ayu feels like it’s more spacious than her own room.
Although Miyako introduced her already, she just saw Hikari yesterday. Is it really okay to let her stay here? Also, she’s as beautiful as a goddess-
“…!”
Hikari’s naked body in the bathroom a few hours ago came into Ayu’s mind again. She quickly suppressed that image.
Hikari lets Ayu stay because they are both girls. If she knows her feelings, it’s guaranteed that she’ll kick Ayu out.
Stay sharp. Don’t expose my emotions. Calm down. Keep your cool.
“Phew…”
Ayu adjusted her breathing, stood up, and pulled open the door of the room. She’s still wearing a T-shirt and her high school PE clothes as pajamas.
The room is connected to the living room and kitchen.
The bird calls got louder the moment she opened the door. It wasn’t until now that Ayu realized the noises came from the living room instead of the outside.
Is there a bird’s nest inside the house?
She raised her head in surprise. The bird noises became louder. Ayu finally realized it was from the speaker on the ceiling light.
“Tokyo is amazing…”
Unlike our shitty countryside.
Ayu couldn’t help but let out praises.
“What’s wrong with Tokyo?”
“Ah!”
Someone’s sudden voice made her jump.
When she turned around, she saw the house owner- Hikari Kairou was looking at her. She slowly stood up from the sofa in the living room.
“G-Good morning-“
Ayu hastily greeted her. She thought about how she should call her. Ebiwara-san, Yukari-san, Kairou-san, Kairou-sensei, Hikari-san, Hikari-sensei. …Ahh, she looks really cute in her pajamas.
She eventually gave up on calling her name.
“…Can I ask whether you slept there for the whole night?”
“Yes, I think I passed out after taking a sip of grape wine when Mya-san left.”
A red wine bottle and glass are on the short table in front of the sofa. There’s still a bit of wine left in the glass.
“Phwah…”
Hikari took a big yawn. Then, she stopped the bird noises from the speaker with her phone.
“What’s with the bird calls…?”
Hikari bitterly smiled after hearing Ayu’s question.
“The sparrows in this area are really loud during the morning. There are also crows. I don’t really like their noises. So, I play random bird noises at 7 AM every morning to compete with them.”
Hikari said that as she opened the tiny window in the room. The familiar noises filled the entire room. There are sparrows in the city too. Damn you, sparrows.
“Did the speaker wake you up? I’m sorry.”
Hikari closed the window and asked.
“I-It’s fine. I usually wake up even earlier.”
“Right, you’re a high school student.”
“Eh? Oh, right…”
Ayu looked away awkwardly.
How much did Hikari hear about Ayu from Miyako? Ayu didn’t explain all the details to Miyako. However, at the bare minimum, Hikari should know she’s a rural high school girl who ran away from home. Someone can’t welcome a person who makes trouble in their home. Am I indeed a source of the problem?
“Well, if we woke up anyway, then please make breakfast for me.”
Hikari didn’t realize the feelings in Ayu’s heart. She said that cheerfully.
“Breakfast?”
Hikari nodded.
“This is Ayu-chan’s first task. Mya-san said you’re excellent at cooking, right? I’m looking forward to a tasty breakfast. Hoho.”
Hikari’s pranking smile made Ayu freak out.
“P-Please don’t have too much expectation. …Uh, what do you want?”
“Anything. You can use all the ingredients and seasoning you want. Just make it simple.”
Freedom, simplicity, anything.
Honestly, this is the hardest request.
She hoped for more clear instruction. …Ayu suddenly realized something before she said it.
Hikari knows how to cook too. She must know “anything” is the most troublesome request.
If she still asked for that, it means this is probably a test. It’s used to examine whether Ayu is capable of being the chef in the house.
“…I-I got it. I’ll try my best.”
Ayu gulped nervously. She walked to the kitchen.
This Nakajima kitchen is much cleaner and cooler than the one at home. There are 3 stoves. They are gas stoves instead of IH stoves. Ayu was relieved to know that. It’s because she has never used an IH stove before. The conditioning table and sink are huge too. It can fit a couple more people. She couldn’t help but imagine cooking shoulder-to-shoulder with Hikari.
There’s a family-sized fridge. A grape wine shelf is next to it. The seasoning includes ketchup, mayonnaise, salad dressing, and barbecue sauce. There is also some sauce (she can’t read the kanji), some sauce, some sauce, some sauce, and some sauce. A huge variety of juices and wine. Yet, there aren’t many ingredients inside with a total lack of vegetables.
After that, she opened the refrigerator. Unlike the emptiness of the fridge, it’s filled with meat, seafood, rice, ice cream, and all kinds of frozen food. However, there are still no vegetables.
“Why are there so many frozen…”
Ayu couldn’t help but mumble to herself.
“Hahaha, it’s because of the hometown tax. I bought too much stuff online too. There’s no way I can eat all of them.”
Hikari is already looking at her from the other side of the Nakajima kitchen.
…A high-class cuisine can be made from the ingredients in the refrigerator. However, it’s a bit too much to have steak, snapper, or crab for breakfast. So, she closed the fridge and decided to use them later.
After that, she looked at the shelves under the kitchen. She found all kinds of seasoning and spices. Aside from the common salt, pepper, MSG, and Soumi stock, there is also high-class stuff like truffle salt. There are also basil, rosemary, and coriander. She only knows the name of those herbs. Some turmeric, cardamom, and garam masala can be found too. These are for curry, but she has never used them.
A bunch of cooking equipment is available too. There are pots and pans of all sizes, a couple knives for different purposes, a scoop, and a spatula. All of the basic stuff is here. She also saw some other tools with unknown purposes.
She grabbed one of the mysterious tools and asked Hikari. It’s a metallic rod with a circular cup at the front.
“Can I ask…what this is?”
“That one? Uh, I think it’s used for cracking eggshells.”
“…C-Cracking eggshells?”
Ayu repeated after her once. She never thought cracking eggshells needed a specialized tool. People from Tokyo are amazing.
“Uh, what about this one?”
“It’s used to slice up soft-boiled eggs.”
“…Why not just use a knife?”
“You can just cut it once with this.”
“I see. …That’s convenient, …right?”
“But if you include taking it out and washing it afterward, just using a knife is easier.”
Hikari explained in honesty when she saw Ayu’s confused face.
“Uh, what about this one?”
“It’s a high-tech product that can easily separate egg white and egg yolk.”
“Oh.”
This is probably convenient, right? But if you ask her whether she really needs it, the answer is probably no.
There are still a bunch of unknown tools left. However, it’ll take forever to ask for each one’s uses, so she stopped there.
Ayu returned to the fridge. She thought about what kind of breakfast she should make to satisfy Hikari’s expectations?
“Hmm…”
“Hoho…”
Ayu saw Hikari staring at her troubled expression with a smile. Her face turned red.
“I’ll get awkward if someone’s looking at me.”
“Really? Well, I’ll wait over there. I’m hungry. It will be great if you can make something quick.”
“I-I got it.”
*
Ayu looks like she’s forcing herself. I wonder if she can make it.
Yukari Ebiwara is sitting on the sofa in the living room and reading the news with her tablet. At the same time, she is paying attention to Ayu, who’s making breakfast behind her.
Whatever the ingredients or kitchenware she uses, it’s fine as long as she can make something simple as fast as possible. No matter how bad it is, she’s fine with egg on rice or toast.
…Yukari isn’t really looking forward to it, anyway.
Although Miyako said her cooking skills are superb, Yukari doesn’t think a mere high school girl can make something amazing.
Yukari doesn’t really spend time and effort on what she eats.
Sometimes, she may suddenly want to make delicate dishes like the roasted beef from yesterday. However, she normally chooses supermarket bentos or microwavable food for lazy people. She bought a bunch of seasonings and spices a while ago to make an authentic Chinese dish and curry. Yet, she only used them a couple times. The Chinese food and curry from the convenience stores are quite good, anyway.
By the way, it’s been a long time since she last saw an egg knocker (she forgot the proper name).
The boiled egg cutter and the egg yolk egg white separator-kun (temporary name) aren’t even used after she bought it. Honestly, she almost forgot these things existed.
Yukari loves tools that can only do one specific yet unimportant thing for some reason. She can’t help but buy them, even if she doesn’t need them.
These things are made with a single purpose only. They are here because of that particular purpose. Even if they are forgotten when no one’s using them, they don’t complain or overthink. All these things do is wait for their chance to shine silently.
Sometimes, she’s really envious of an existence without the freedom of choice.
…It’s because only having to do one thing makes you not worried about your life.
*
After a while of consideration, the final breakfast Ayu made is the usual dish in her home.
The main dish is white rice (taking one of the rice sets in the refrigerator and microwaving them). The sides are seaweed tofu miso soup, egg rolls, small stir-fried fish with sesame seeds, stewed chicken, and salad with whitebait, tofu, plums, and kelp.
Actually, she initially wanted to make a dish with veggies too. However, if there’s none, she can only make dry kelp do the trick.
Every dish here is pretty simple. She is pretty hesitant about letting Hikari “check” her work. However, instead of challenging ingredients and seasoning she had never used before to make a terrible meal, she would rather take a step back.
“H-How is it?”
“…………”
Hikari stared at the whole table of dishes for a while.
“Amazing. …It’s far better than what I expected.”
“Eh?”
Ayu is surprised to hear comments like that.
“But every dish here is so simple…”
“Indeed, everything is simple, but it feels like I’m eating at home.”
“Eating at home?”
Ayu was confused. She didn’t understand what this meant.
“It was always like this when I was eating at home. There would be a lot of plates. I only realized it’s actually an amazing thing after I started living alone. After all, isn’t this troublesome? You have to make a bunch of stuff, do a lot of preparation, and pack up. Every day.”
…Is that the case?
Ayu’s home meal always comes with 3 dishes and soup, so she thought this was obligatory. Preparation and packing are her routines. She never thought about how annoying it was.
“I always prepare a plate only when I cook. Roasted beef is really just roasted beef. Curry is just curry. A rice bowl is a rice bowl. There won’t be any soup or side dishes.”
“You should at least eat some vegetables.”
“I have my supplements and vegetable juices. Relax.”
“…………”
Ayu is definitely making vegetable dishes every day if she passes this test.
“Alright, let’s eat before the food gets cold. You should sit down too.”
“Oh, sure.”
Ayu sat opposite Hikari under her urge.
“Let’s eat.” Hikari’s first choice is egg rolls after sitting down.
“Oh, your egg rolls are in the sweet faction?”
“Oh, no. The three on the right are sweet. The three in the center are original. The three on the left are salty. It’s because I don’t know what you like…”
“So you went out of your way and made three kinds of them? You’re amazing, Ayu-chan…”
Hikari was pretty surprised after hearing Hikari’s explanation. She tried the other flavors of egg rolls.
“…Yeah, all of them taste good.”
“Glad to hear that.”
Ayu sighed in relief.
“Right, don’t tell me you also know how to make cheese filling or mentaiko filling too?”
“If there are ingredients…”
Hikari’s eyes brightened up after hearing Ayu’s answer.
“Well, please make cheese filling starting from tomorrow. I know how to make regular egg rolls, but it collapsed after I added the filling in. I can’t make such smooth egg rolls either.”
Tomorrow.
“…Can I make them for you tomorrow as well?”
Ayu asked that anxiously. Hikari tilted her head. “Isn’t this your job?” She asked with a natural tone before continuing.
“Oh, right, speaking of your job, we still haven’t decided your pay yet. How much does a tiny helper with housing cost…?”
“Y-You don’t have to pay me! Just letting me live here is enough.”
“I don’t think I can do that, but Mya-san actually said the same thing. Well, I won’t pay you in salary at this stage first. Your meals and living costs will be covered by me. We can talk if you suddenly need money. I can give you extra pocket money depending on your performance. Is that alright?”
“S-Sure, no problem.”
Hikari said all of that in one stroke. Ayu could do nothing but nod.
It feels like Hikari is used to dealing with servants. One example is how quickly she let someone she just met live in her house.
“Well, I’ll introduce my home after we’re done eating.”
Hikari said that as she prepared to grab another dish. During this time-
“C-Can I ask…”
“Hmm?”
“Uh…”
“Hmm?”
Ayu blushed as she looked at Hikari directly.
“H-How should I call you!?”
“Hmm?” Hikari is a little puzzled.
“I mean…your name.”
“Oh-“
Hikari nodded a few times. Then, she showed a mischievous smile.
“Well, you can call me ‘master’ from now on.”
“Master!?”
After hearing such an unexpected answer, Ayu still answered while shocked.
“…Uh, …I understand. …M-Master.”
“U-Uwah, …this feels more guilty than I imagined. …I take back what I said! Mya-san will probably break my collarbones if she knows I told you to call me master…”
Hikari’s shivering with cold sweat.
“Then what should I call you…?”
“Whatever suits you. Ebiwara, Kairou, Yukari, Hikari, Hitmonchan, Ebitchi, Yukarin are all okay. One shitty- …one senpai novelist I know even calls me Ebiko.” [TL: Hitmonchan’s Japanese name is Ebiwaraa.]
Ebitchi and Yukarin must be her nickname given by her friends in the past. It’s too rude to call her Ebiko.
Anyway, Ayu won’t call someone older than her by their nickname, but it’s too close to use her first name. If that’s the case, it’s safer to just call her “Ebiwara-san” or “Kairou-san”, right-
She finally made up her mind after a while of hesitation.
“…Well, I should call you Kairou-sensei.”
She felt that this name fits her role now the most. In other words, she’s the novelist Hikari Kairou’s tiny helper.
Ayu was a bit worried about whether Hikari would be upset from the distant name. However, Hikari’s expression didn’t change. She just nodded gently and said, “Hmm, got it.”
“Well, please take care of me from now on, Ayu-chan.”
“O-Okay, please take care of me, …Kairou-sensei.”
With that, their new life has finally begun.
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