A Very Popular Idol Classmate Has Taken a Liking to Me, A Person Who Doesn't Want to Work for W

Act 1 - The Hungry Idol Part

4-2 

The experienced ones among us, Nikaido and I, would be in charge of the main dish, the hamburger steak, while Rei and Kakihara would be in charge of the soup and rice.

By the way, Nogi and Duomoto were in charge of the salad, which did not involve fire.

Anyway, Nikaido and I would finish the preparation of the hamburgers as soon as possible and help them if they were in trouble. It's a pretty good division of labor.

I didn't know if Kakihara himself was aware of it, but I thought he was quite a capable leader.

"You're really used to it, Shidou-kun." (Azusa)

"Pardon?" (Rintaro)

"You're so good at finely chopping onions, I'm a little surprised." (Azusa)

I looked down at my hands.

The finely chopped onions were not all the same size, but they're not so uneven that you couldn't tell unless you looked closely.

Perhaps because I'd been doing this for years, I'd unconsciously done this.

"This is a Translation Content of pemudatunawisata[dot]my[dot]id. so, read only on there, kay~"

"A, aah......, I personally like to prepare food. That's why I've been practicing a lot." (Rintaro)

"So that's it. I've always been bad at cutting....... See?" (Azusa)

When I looked at Nikaido's hand, I saw that she was chopping onions into small pieces, which were certainly not very fine.

It's not that she was not good at it, but――――she just seemed to be a little concerned about it.

"You don't have to worry about it. It's small enough that you won't be able to tell once it's turned into a hamburger steak." (Rintaro)

"I wonder about it......" (Azusa)

"As long as the food tastes good, it's fine, unless you're in a restaurant. I think it's fine if the food tastes good to you or to the person you are feeding it to. Also, it's fun to make food according to your taste." (Rintaro)

"......" (Azusa)

The sound of the knife disappeared from Nikaido's side, and I looked at, curiously.

Then, for some reason, she was staring at me with a surprised look.

"This is a Translation Content of pemudatunawisata[dot]my[dot]id. so, read only on there, kay~"

"Wh, what's wrong?" (Rintaro)

"Ah...... It just, I just thought you had such a kind face, Shidou-kun." (Azusa)

"What?" (Rintaro)

I usually always tried to maintain a gentle face, though.

"You usually look like you're trying to fit in with everyone else, but right now you seem very genuine." (Azusa)

"......Is that so?" (Rintaro)

"Ah, S, sorry for it. I didn't mean to stare at you." (Azusa)

"No, it's fine, I don't mint it......" (Rintaro)

I guess it's not a fluke that she became the class representative.

She saw through me, even if she couldn't be sure, who usually tried to keep a low profile and maintain a good distance from others.

It didn't bother me that she could see through my real character, though.

The reason why I don't want to show my true self is that I'm afraid of exposing myself when I don't even know the person well.

If I am convinced that I can trust someone, like Yukio, I will be more than willing to talk to them without any pretense.

"I really admire how good you are at what you do....... Did you learn that from your mother?" (Azusa) (PTW/N: She stepped on a landmine.)

"......." (Rintaro)

At that moment, I felt a sharp pain on the tip of my finger.

It seemed that I had cut myself with a kitchen knife.

I was stunned to see this, as if it was someone else's problem.

"Are you okay!?" (Azusa)

"......Yeah, no problem." (Rintaro)

I laughed to myself. I had never made a mistake in the past few years, but I never thought I would make one here and now.

When I was a little stunned, the other members who were working around me came up to me to see what was going on.

"Shidou? What's wrong?" (Yusuke)

"Sorry, Kakihara-kun. I just cut my finger a little." (Rintaro)

"Are you okay? You should go to the infirmary for now. I'll take care of the rest." (Yusuke)

"......Okay. I'll be right back." (Rintaro)

I told the teacher that I had cut my finger and left the home economics room.

As I was leaving, I caught Nikaido's gaze, her face twisted with guilt that she didn't need to feel, and I cast my eyes down a little.

"This is a Translation Content of pemudatunawisata[dot]my[dot]id. so, read only on there, kay~"

"Bujangga | pemudatunawisata[dot]my[dot]id"

"――――With this, it's okay. It's not that deep, so disinfectant and a bandage will do. I wouldn't recommend working with water for a while. It will cause infection."

"Understood. I apologize for bothering." (Rintaro)

"It's okay, it's my job after all. You can go back to class."

After Mizuhashi-sensei, the health teacher, took care of me, I walked out of the infirmary into the hallway.

I frowned when I saw the bandage on my finger.

(I didn't think I'd be so upset just hearing about it......)

It's not Nikaido's fault. This is a mental problem for me.

I'm rather shocked that just hearing a word I don't like――――can make me this way.

I opened the door to the home economics room with a melancholy feeling.

When I tried to rejoin Kakihara's group, they surrounded me with a very worried look on their faces.

"Shidou, how was your wound?" (Yusuke)

"It was nothing serious. But I was told not to do any waterworks. So I guess I can't be......of much help. I'm sorry." (Rintaro)

"I see...... Ah, but don't worry about it. As for the hamburger steak, we've already prepared it to the point where Azusa can cook it, so I think we can handle it. The other dishes will probably be...... fine as well." (Yusuke)

When Kakihara looked at Nogi and Doumoto anxiously, they both gave him thumbs up.

Seeing this, Kakihara looked more and more anxious, and I was convinced that for once, these two were really unreliable.

Yup――――even from my point of view, I don't feel relieved for some reason.

"I, I'm sorry, Shidou-kun. I spoke to you while you were using the knife earlier." (Azusa)

"It was my carelessness, so there's no need for you to apologize, Nikaido-san. Instead, I'm sorry for making you prepare the dish by yourself." (Rintaro)

"Mmmh! I was just doing what was natural." (Azusa)

"This is a Translation Content of pemudatunawisata[dot]my[dot]id. so, read only on there, kay~"

I took my gaze off Nikaido and looked at Rei.

She looked vaguely worried about me, but there was a hint of confusion in her eyes. She had never seen me make a mistake before, so she must be shaken up.

In the meantime, I checked the hamburger patties Nikaido had made. It seemed that bread crumbs and eggs were used as a garnish, and there were no irregularities. The hamburger steak would be perfect if we deflated it and then cooked it.

"Shidou, I'm sorry if I'm imposing on you to do some chores, but can I ask you to take out the trash or arrange the dishes?" (Yusuke)

"I'd rather you let me do that. I can't help with the cooking anyway......." (Rintaro)

"Okay. Then, please." (Yusuke)

What a thoughtful guy he's. He anticipated that I would feel guilty about just eating the food without helping, so he assigned me the job.

If he can think so much about other people's feelings, it's no wonder he's so popular.