Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

“Good morning, Satou-san.”
“Mmm, good morning…”

Normally I wake up to the sound of my phone’s alarm, but today I woke up before it.
When I looked at Mashiro in the kitchen with blurry eyes, she seemed to be using the stove to cook in the morning, unlike usual.

The smell from the kitchen was so appetizing that even my sleepy tummy couldn’t help but make a pitiful noise.
Perhaps it was this smell that had woken me up so early today.

“It smells so good, what are you making?”
“It’s a secret.”
“Ehh…?”

It was unusual for Mashiro to say something like that, so I couldn’t help but let out a strange sound from my sleepy throat.

When she said something like that, I couldn’t help but be curious.
It was not that I don’t care, it was just that I can easily find out by peeking in from behind, but I don’t feel comfortable searching for something that Mashiro is unusually secretive about.

For the time being, I headed to the washroom and finished washing my face and changing my clothes before coming back to the living room.
Then, on the table, breakfast was prepared as usual.
I somehow thought that she was trying to make a different breakfast, but I was wrong.

The two of us ate breakfast together without any particular change.
Toast and hot cocoa, the usual menu for me who can’t eat much in the morning.

Mashiro, who still struggled with cocoa due to her cat tongue, soothed me as the morning passed by gracefully.
Today was the start of another weekday, but if I get this kind of comfort in the morning, my motivation for the day will suddenly change.

“Okay, I’m off.”

After eating breakfast and washing the dishes, I told Mashiro and headed for the door.

“Satou-san.”

As I put on my shoes and adjusted my tie, I suddenly heard my name called from behind me.
I turned around to see Mashiro standing there, a small box wrapped in cloth in her hand.
She looked a little lost for a moment, but held out the box to me.

“…This is?”
“Well, um. You said you always eat lunch at a convenience store, so I made you a bento.
“B-Bento…!?”

I couldn’t help but freeze at the sound of her words and looked from her face to the box she offered me.

“Is this what you made in the morning?”
“Yes… Did I bother you, by any chance?”
“No, of course not. I’m grateful for the food.

Then I took the box from her…a lunch box filled with Mashiro’s homemade food.
She had woken up early to make this lunch for me. I’m not going to be inconvenienced.

“Thank you for waking up so early in the morning, Mashiro.”

Breakfast and dinner every day. And now the bento. I really can’t thank her enough.
My heart was filled with joy, it was as if Mashiro had responded to my desire to take care of her.
I couldn’t contain my joy and found myself stroking her head.

“Nya…n.”

Mashiro closed her eyes and let out a small voice.
Her voice was thin and embarrassing, different from her usual calm voice.
Suddenly I felt as if I was doing something wrong, and I quickly pulled my hand away.

“Sorry.”
“N-No…”

When I first picked up Mashiro, she would run away as soon as I stroked her head, but after a while she started to let me.
However, now Mashiro is in human form. Carelessly patting the head of a girl of her age would not be advisable.

“I’m off.”
“Y-Yes.”

Both of us felt awkward, so I hastily put the bento in my bag and left the house as if I were running away.

It was time for my lunch break at work. As soon as the clock struck that time, my colleagues were leaving the office one after another.
Normally, I would be in a hurry to get to the nearest convenience store before they ran out of stock, but today I didn’t have to.

“Don’t you have to go to the convenience store? Satou.”

A voice called out from the desk next to me. Sakakibara, who had a curious look on his face, stood up from his chair and asked me that.
“Yeah,” I replied, but then he looked worried and asked, “Is that so?” Sakakibara came closer to me.

“Maybe you don’t have an appetite?”
“Not much.”
“I can’t give you my beloved wife’s bento, okay?
“I don’t want it. When did you guys get married?”

Sakakibara took out a bento from his bag, hid it in his pocket, and held it up as if to protect it.
Without saying, his bento today was filled with his girlfriend’s homemade meal.
Why do I call the guy who mounted me like this every time we have a lunch break my best friend? It was a serious question.

But today, I’m different. That kind of attack doesn’t sting at all.
As all know, I’m not inferior to Sakakibara in any way. Yes, I have my own homemade bento today.

“Eh, what’s with that?”

I took my lunch out of my bag, just like Sakakibara did, and Sakakibara rolled his eyes and asked me what I was doing.
I almost let it slip that Mashiro had made it for me, but I held back just in time.
I haven’t told Sakakibara, or anyone else, that Mashiro has taken that form. I don’t even think they’ll believe me when I tell them.

“Did you make it yourself?”
“No. Well, I was happy enough to have it made.”
“Eh, who made it?”
“That’s…well, that’s a secret.”
“…Hmm.”

Sakakibara looked at my bento and seemed to have an idea of what I was talking about.
I have a feeling that something was being interpreted in his favor, but I’ll let it go for now.

I moved out of the office with Sakakibara, who didn’t pursue the matter any further, and we sat together as usual and spread out our respective lunches.

“Oh…”

I opened my own lunch box and marveled at its contents.
In a two-tiered bento box, which I hadn’t used since I was a student, the side dishes and rice were carefully arranged separately.
Looking at the side dishes, I saw that the main dish was fried chicken, with colorful vegetables and fried eggs on the side.

“Itadakimasu.”

I put more emotion into the words than usual, then picked up my chopsticks. I put a piece of my favorite fried food into my mouth.

“So good…”

Even though it had been a while since the morning and was a bit cold, the fried chicken tasted better than any fried chicken lunch I’ve had.
The meat was lightly seasoned, as was typical of Mashiro, but the flavor of the meat was firmly locked inside, filling my mouth with the flavor of the meat with every bite.

“Satou, you look happy. Something is melting.”
“It’s good, it’s good.”
“It’s no good. He’s not functioning except for his sense of taste.”

It’s not just fried chicken. The fried egg was also surprisingly fluffy and had a satisfying taste.
The other vegetables were also well-balanced and perfectly seasoned without interfering with the rest of the food.
The ingredients were the ones I had bought, but I wondered how a dish filled with so much happiness could be completed just by having a better cook.

“But it looks really delicious. There’s a lot of love there.”
“No, I’m sorry, but I’m not giving it to you.”
“I never said that…”

When I told him that as my usual payback, he looked dumbfounded and said, “I have Ayano’s,” and started eating his lunch.
I’ve won…my first victory in a long time. It may technically be a draw, but if you round it off, it was a complete victory for me.

“By the way, how much did you pay that person, Satou?”
“Hey, don’t talk nonsense. I said it was a favor.”
No, if that’s the case, isn’t he too nice? That person.”
“Well…sure. But he seems to be very grateful to me. …How can I say no to him if he does this much for me?”
“That may be true, but…”

Of course, I’ve never forced Mashiro to do anything. I’ve tried to give Mashiro as much freedom as possible.
But as Sakakibara said, she’s too good a person for that.
She is trying to use the freedom she has gained to repay me for my kindness.

“I don’t mean to pry, but you should take good care of that person, okay?”
“You don’t have to tell me.”

I replied confidently and threw another piece of fried chicken into my mouth.