Author’s notes: The final part starts after the interjection by the extra chapter in the middle.
The hopeless people increase.
~Side: Mako~
First day of my long-awaited elective classes. I did my best to cook with all the skills I had in front of Kazumi Kiyono-sensei, whom I respected so much.
And when it came to the actual tasting—-
“—– You girls have failed.”
The sensei made a sudden change and has discarded it. Eh, eh….?
“Ah, ahm… Sensei…?”
“Wh, why did you…”
“Don’t speak without raising your hands when I haven’t given you permission, little girls!”
“””Hiii!? I’m, I’m sorry….!?”””
Wha, what!? What happened!? Where is the sensei I admired so much, who seemed so timid and kind a moment ago? From the moment she held the ladle… Hasn’t her character changed for some reason!?
“You girls… Everyone’s skills are inadequate. Efficiency and choice of materials and tools are poor. You’re no better than a bunch of amateurs, though, it changes nothing much.”
“””Uuu…”””
“But, even so I won’t hold you to that. I knew it from the start. You are only new recruits here, I have no expectations from the start for you. It’s just a matter of giving you a good hard time from now on.”
The sensei scolds us sharply with her eyes, as if she were some oni sergeant. She was so powerful that everyone in the room, including me, stood up at once and listened to the sensei’s talk with all our might, standing upright and immobile.
“Though I may look like this, I’m a teacher too. Originally, I ate and rate the food served by my subordinates, no matter how rubbish it is. Originally… However…”
“””However…?”””
“It’s too inefficient…! You are definitely lacking in cookery! Your dishes are not even worth serving! It’s a pre-evaluation problem!”
“……!?”
I’m lacking…? Pre-evaluation problem…? My cooking, I…. I’m lacking…?
“I’ll give you homework about it till next week. If you want to be taught by me in the future… What on earth was missing from your own dish… Do think about it, little girls… Aah, you are responsible for the food you cook and you are responsible for handling it yourselves.
The sensei says this and quickly leaves the kitchen. We were so taken aback by the intense sequence of events that we couldn’t even complain to the sensei, we were just at a loss of words…
◇ ◇ ◇
“”’”Nee-sama’s(Mako’s) cooking…. She didn’t eat it!?”””
“U, un…”
At lunch break. I’m meeting up with the usual three people – Koma, Kanakana and Himecchi. What on earth went wrong? I tried to think about what went wrong, but in the end I didn’t have an answer, so I decided to talk about what happened in the elective class to get advice from these three intelligent people.
“Eh, it’s a lie… It has to be? Mako-nee-sama’s cooking?”
“Aah, no. It’s not just mine… She didn’t even get to eat the other people’s food.”
… Afterwards, I tried the food prepared by everyone else in the cooking class to verify what the hell had gone wrong, however… Honestly speaking, everyone’s dishes were very tasty and I didn’t see anything particularly wrong with them. And everyone who ate my food,
“Tachibana-san’s cooking is extremely delicious!”
“How can she call this dish a failure!? I can’t understand her at all!”
“What’s wrong with that sensei!?”
And were saying that. I don’t know, I really have no idea what went wrong from the sensei’s point of view….
“Is that so… She is complaining even when she doesn’t eat the food that Nee-sama has worked so hard to prepare…”
“Ko, Koma? Koma-san? What’s wrong? Your face is really scary for some reason?”
“Fu, fufufufu…. Please don’t mind me, Nee-sama. I will just be disciplining the one who speaks ill of Nee-sama♡”
“How exactly!?”
Dangerous, my little sis’s eyes are not joking…
“Good grief… Stop it, Koma-chan. For the time being, slow down.”
“We, well put, Kanakana! That’s right, Koma, calm down—”
“I’ll go too. It would be easier to deal with her with the two of us, right?”
“My best friend, calm down, you too!?”
This is bad. My dear best friend’s eyes are serious, too…
“….. Hnnn. But, I really don’t get it. Mako-shishou’s food is delicious as always.”
Beside my wife and best friend, who are seriously pissed off and planning to use force on my behalf, Himecchi, my best cooking pupil, tilts her head as she tastes my cooking.
“That’s right. Mako’s cooking is delicious. I see no problem with it.”
“Yeah, yeah! Nee-sama’s cooking is the best in the world! I eat it every day and I can vouch for it!”
Koma and Kanakana eat my food after Himecchi… I knew everyone would react the same way. They’re saying that they don’t know what is the problem with it.
“Hey, Mako. If I’m not mistaken, your cooking-sensei… She’s a professional that’s teaching you. She’s someone who writes all sorts of cookbooks and stuff.”
“Hn? Un, yeah.”
“In that case, isn’t that? They’re too professional to look for and point out rough edges at a level that amateurs don’t recognise? And then feeling good by asserting dominance over her students?”
“… Aah. I get what you mean. The kind that is thick-headed by having a real tongue?”
“It’s possible. I mean, in the face of my Nee-sama’s superbly wonderful food, not eating is usually not an option!”
“… Hnn.”
I try to consider their inquiries… Certainly, I’m a student that’s no better than an amateur. For someone who works professionally in the field or as a teacher, my cooking may not even be comparable.
Thinking that… It may sound right for the reasons given by them…
“… I think, it’s different.”
“””…. Different?”””
“She doesn’t feel like that. I was surprised when she suddenly changed, however… I don’t think I ever felt thick-headedness or her being dominant.”
It was the first time I’d met her in person and I didn’t know much about her personality or anything yet…. But, I somehow understand. From that sensei… She was always very sincere about cooking, and I could sense her own straight-forward convictions.
That’s why, I think I don’t feel that kind of harassment from her.
“But, then why wouldn’t she eat Mako’s cooking? I don’t get it.”
“Same…”
I’ll taste the dish I made myself and consider what went wrong. Uumu. Maybe it’s the salt? Was it the heat? …. Not it. And that in itself, according to the sensei, is not a problem even if you’re still half share…
What I… lack as an… amateur…
“Let me see. Let’s assume we’ve already assessed it at a pickiness level… In my opinion, the seasoning could be a little lighter.”
“…. Is that so? I would think it would taste better if it were just a little bit thicker.”
“Yes? Kanae-sama, and, Hime-sama you too, what are you both saying? This sure is supreme workmanship and supreme seasoning?”
“””……?”””
When I rack my brains like that, these three people give me three different opinions for my seasoning.
“Isn’t the lighter the seasoning the more the ingredients will come out?”
“… I like the thick seasoning.”
“I think right now it’s the best?”
“Ahaha. Now, now, everyone. It’s no wonder you have mixed reviews. After all, I seasoned it… as Koma’s favourite… as a base…”
At that moment. An electric current runs through me.
“…. Ah.”
“Nee-sama? What happened?”
“… Did you think of something?”
…. Hu, h? Don’t tell me, could it be…? Was that about it…?
“Sorry, I have to… I’ve got somewhere to go now, I believe…”
“Go? You say you’ll go…. Where are you going and why, Mako?”
“Un. Well, it’s that…. I’m going to answer the question she gave me, I think?”
◇ ◇ ◇
—-Staff room—–
~Side: Kiyono Kazumi~
“U, uuuuuu…. aaAaaaaa…! Ighiiiiiiiii…. Uboaaaaaa….!” (TN: I presume she’s in anguish?)
After the first class of this year. I, Kiyono Kazumi… I had plonked down on my desk… in the staff room, emitting bizarre cries, groans and wailing pathetically.
“Kiyono, sensei? Hey, hello? What happened today, Kiyono-sensei?”
“Nothing at all, it’s just the usual. She said she had done the usual stuff with her new students.”
“Aah… so it’s that? It’s that where she changes her character once she holds cookware?”
It’s painful… I want to die… This year, definitely… I had made up my mind to curb my vices and lead my lovely students to take my classes as a respectable teacher. I was trying to lead my students in a cheerful and fun way… But before I knew it, I ended up in this mess…
I noticed a complete change of character, as usual. I abuse my students with a few heartless comments and then abandon the class without even taking a bite of the food they have prepared for me. I’m sorry, please forgive me, my first year students. You must’ve been surprised? I must’ve scared you, right? I must’ve hurt you, right? … No matter how I put it, I’m the worst… I can’t forgive at myself…
“With this… What do I do… if no one comes to the next class?”
Last year, and this year too. I did the same thing and only a handful of students ended up taking my classes. At this rate… Everyone will hate me… And fired from my job…
“I, just… want to teach them… the beauty of cooking… just that, but….”
I just can’t stop sighing. Aah, why am I… so inflexible like this? Am I worthless? I repeatedly crush students who are seriously trying to learn how to cook because of my trivial obsession…
“…. Fr, from now… Should I apologise… when I’m meeting the first year…?”
B, but… but… After all that happened. When I go to apologize shamelessly, they will probably think, ‘What’s with this sensei… she’s disgusting’…. They might be drawn aback by my character gap gap and scare them off even more…
“What should… I do?”
“— Pardon my intrusion! I’m Tachibana Mako, first year! I’m entering! Is Kiyono Kazumi-sensei available?”
“Fueeh!?”
I muttered to myself, and that’s when. No sooner than that, the door to the staff room was opened vigorously, and then a student came running in from there, calling me in a very cheerful voice.
“Aah….! She’s here! Sensei, sensei!”
“Ha, hahah… Hyhe!”
As soon as she sees me, she comes to me at once. Hu, huuh…? Looking at this girl better… She was in my class earlier… First year… Tachibana Mako-san… I think she was?
“I’m sorry for coming to you at your lunch break! I’m here to request something from sensei!”
“Wa, wawawa… A request, from me…!? Wha, what is it…?”
Frankly speaking, it’s very awkward, especially after what happened just a few minutes ago… I can’t make eye contact with her…. In contrast to me, who does her best to look away, Tachibana-san looked at me with a serious gaze and then said to me, ‘I have a request for sensei to ask of’.
…. What on earth, is her request for me? ….. Haa! Ma, may, maybe… Could it be that…?
“I don’t get on well with sensei! I’ll be taking another elective from the next class!”
I’m going to be told off right away…? Or it will be….
“I don’t want this sensei to stay here! Let’s go to the principal’s office now! I’ll have sensei leave this school right now!”
Conversation like that…!? That, that’s….! What should I do. What should I do…? I have not yet fulfilled my purpose of being a teacher in this school… My dreams, they have not been fulfilled and already… That’s terrifying… I don’t want to resign….
I feel like I’ve been decapitated standing and I’m about to pass out. Tachibana-san takes a deep breath. And then…
“Give me another chance, please! Please let me cook for you, Sensei!”
“……… Eh?”
She bowed down her head to this wortheless me and made such a request to me…. Cook, for…..?
“… Ah, m?”
“Yeah!”
“…. Weren’t you here to make… me quit as a teacher…?”
“…. Ye, ah?”
Tachibana-san shows a cute, absent-minded face, as if to say that she really doesn’t understand the meaning of my words. Oh, this is not good… I’ve been thinking too much, and I’ve said some weird things…I’ll be treated like a weird woman even more…
“It, it’s nothing! Don’t mind what I say! More, more importantly, Tachibana-san… You… Cook for me…!?”
“Ah, aah, yeah. That’s right. I want to make it properly again. I want it to be approved by sensei… Is it bad… for me to try again…?”
“N, no, not… Not at all! I, I’m fine with it! Sensei loves your willingness to take on more and more challenges! Eh, eetto… That is… I know it’s abrupt, but… Let’s go, to the kitchen…?”
“Yeah! Please treat me well!”
…I have regained my composure and taken a serious look at this first-year student, Tachibana-san… I’m surprised. I didn’t believe, on the first day after that happened… I can’t believe that she even went to the trouble of taking time out of her own lunch break to say, ‘I want to cook, I want to try again’….
I’m genuinely happy. And I’m hoping for her. Maybe this child with the assignment I gave her…. Maybe she realized ‘what she lacks as a chef’. If it’s this girl, maybe she will understand my ideals—-
“(….. Sto, stop. Not good…Stop having strange expectations, me. Even if things do not go according to my expectations, cold attitudes and words are not acceptable!)”
I should never behave in a way that this girl who says she’ll still take my classes, leave by her own volition. For the time being. I need to suppress my bad vices like crazy. If… Even if she doesn’t realise ‘what she lacks as a cook’… I’m just going to have to teach them in person from now on…
While I was agonising over this, I and Tachibana-san were in the kitchen again. She wash her hands, and wears her apron. And she stands before me with a dignified expression on her face.
“Sorry to take up so much of your time, Kiyono-sensei. Then, I’ll be starting.”
“U, un… Eh, etto. Like I said, you can use the utensils and ingredients here as you like…”
“Thank you very much. Then I’d like to move on to cooking, but… Before I do that, I’d like to ask sensei a few questions.”
“Ask me, a few questions…?”
I naturally straighten my back at her few words… Now, what do I do. Tachibana-san is… I wonder if she’ll give me the answer I’m hoping for….? I feel like a girl before I get proposed to… I wait for her to say something, half in anticipation, half in anxiety. Tachibana-san has a very good, confident expression towards me…
“Sensei, what do you wish to eat?”
“……!”
… What I wanted to hear the most. She asked me which is the most important thing for a chef.
“Do you have any likes or dislikes? Are you allergic to anything? …. Do you want to eat something healthy today. On the other hand, if there are things like this that you don’t want to eat, please let me know. Don’t hesitate to tell me if you have any preferences for seasoning or anything else.”
“…. Tachibana, san…”
“….I’m sorry. It’s, this, right? What the sensei said I was ‘lacking as a cook’.”
Without me telling you, and without even giving her a hint. Tachibana-san, who arrived at my ideal answer herself and put it into practice.
“Cooking as I thought, it’s about having people eat your food. You can’t cook without understanding the people who will be eating it… I was getting a bit carried away. ‘I know how to cook’, I’ve let it get over my head… All I could think about was ‘I want my cooking skills to be seen’ by the sensei I admired so much… I didn’t think about the most important thing, the feelings of the people who would eat my food.”
“Ah, etto… U, un… That’s corr, ect…”
“Thank you so much, sensei. For reminding me. I had forgotten something important. Who to cook for. Who do you want to eat it and make them smile… That’s obvious, but very important… Sensei reminded me of it…”
I can’t believe that she was so arrogant, but instead of getting angry, she thanked me… I can feel my heart getting hotter and hotter!
“That being said. Please tell me, sensei’s like. A lot of it!”
“…. Un, un….!”
… Afterwards, Tachibana-san asked me about many things, and this time I properly tasted… the food she made after asking me. There is still a lot of room for improvement in cooking techniques, but Tachibana-san’s cuisine… It’s really warm. And… For the first time in a long time, my tongue… and heart howl. Her food seemed really delicious.
Aah, aah…! I’ve waited… Finally, I’ve met her…! A girl that shares my ideals. My ideal girl…!
◇ ◇ ◇
~Side: Mako~
“… That’s how. In the end, you got to learn how to cook from you-know-who, Mako.”
“Umusu! Ohmy, I’m glad I got the answer right!”
My, my, I’m really glad that I answered right. I was able to participate in Kiyono-sensei’s classes in earnest.
“… Something I heard from a girl taking another cooking class. I hear Kiyono-sensei’s quite spartan. Particularly… I heard that the coaching for Mako was pretty harsh.”
Himecchi asks me that, looking a little worried for me. Ahaha… That’s right.
“Well, it’s that. She’s like the female sergeant Hartman. She’s usually a calm and lovely sensei, like a little animal…And she’s seriously awesome when it comes to cooking. She changes her character and that’s all the more bewildering… If you are distracted even for a moment, immediate instructions will fly…”
“… Maybe. She’s got her eyes on you? Is everything okay?”
“I’m fine! Rather… I feel that she should bring on her challenges!”
After all, I get direct guidance from someone I respect. To be honest, her classes themselves are pretty harsh… Thanks to them, I can feel my cooking skills and knowledge, and I can feel myself growing rapidly.
Above all, if I take my cooking to a higher and higher level… Inevitably, I’m going to give more and more pleasure to my Koma!
“…. I see. If it isn’t too harsh on Mako, then it’s fine.”
“Ahahaha, thank you, Himecchi. Usshi! Let’s get cooking today, shall we?”
“….. (*Mumble*) A few, maybe two… Some people may think that’s not funny. But if it’s Mako, it’ll be fine.”
“Huh? Did you say something, Himecchi?”
“…. Nothing at all.”
“”….””
“…. Hey, Koma-chan. That Kiyono-sensei…. Don’t you think she’s dangerous?”
“…. What a coincidence. I’m of the same opinion, Kanae-sama. That sensei… Her attitude to Nee-sama, it’s clear.”
“I was told that during the classes, she is almost always with Mako, teaching her one-on-one.”
“Calling Nee-sama for one thing or another outside of class… And she organises special extracurricular classes and generously gives away her own cookbooks and expensive cookware.”
“…. She’s the real deal, that sensei. She’s saying it publicly in the staff room. ‘That girl is the perfect student to succeed me!’….”
“…. Feelings of being in love… I’d like to believe she’s not, but. When she opens her own shop in the future, she wants to take her on as her first apprentice… I mean, they’re scouting Nee-sama as soon as possible at this point, or something…”
“”… Haaaaaa….””
Author’s notes: Thank you for reading. The competition for Mako gets another rival. Sensei and student… Is Myon Myon suffering from a curse that makes her only write immoral stories?
TL: I’ve been busier and more tires with from work as of late, hence for the late update.
Tintan 