Mandarin Orange, Kotatsu, And A Found Cat

My day off was a few days after Mashiro became interested in baking.
During my free time in the morning, I was doing some shopping; I looked at my phone where I had written down what Mashiro had told me to get.

Normally, all you need to make sweets is the right ingredients, but in our house, we have a different problem.
The kitchen of a man living alone who has almost never cooked before, does not have the tools and utensils to make sweets.
That’s why I’ve been dropping by supermarkets and 100 yen stores to buy ingredients and cooking utensils.

It took some time because I was buying all these things for the first time, but I managed to buy all the things Mashiro asked for.
When I got home, Mashiro had already prepared lunch for us, so we went ahead and ate.
I thought that if she started making sweets after this, she would be able to finish them at a good time for a snack.

“Is this okay? Let me know if there’s anything I’m missing.”
“No, it’s more than enough. Thank you very much.”

I opened the packages in the kitchen and sorted out the items I had bought.
As a novice cook, I didn’t know what some of the items were for, so I bought several spares.

“I thought I would need a lot more than that, but I guess not.”
“What more did you think you would need?”
“Something like an oven the size of those drawers.
“Are you going to open a bakery..:?”

I had never baked in real life, so I was thinking completely in terms of fictional influences, but Mashiro gave me a brilliant comeback.

“If you want to make it at home, the same oven you use to bake bread is enough.”
“I see.”

i thought that if she was going to be making sweets, I might as well buy a special oven like that, but I don’t have to.

“If there’s anything I can do to help, just let me know.”
“Don’t worry. It’s my first time taking on this challenge, so I’m going to take it easy.”

For now, I had finished all the work I had to do, so all that was left was for Mashiro to actually make it.
However, I was feeling a bit bored, so I offered to help Mashiro, but she softly refused.

“Really? Well then, I guess I’ll just wait quietly.”
“Yes. Please look forward to it.”

I left the kitchen, returned to the living room and sat down on the sofa.
I was in the mood for reading instead of watching TV, so I turned the pages of my book while playing background music on my phone at a low volume.

However, I couldn’t get into the world of the book as much as I wanted to, and found myself glancing at Mashiro all the time.
I closed the book and went to the kitchen to check on her progress from the side.

“Hmm, can I help you?”
“Ah, no, I was just wondering…”
“Weren’t you going to wait quietly?”

I couldn’t even look at her because she was so right, but I was simply curious because I don’t usually watch Mashiro cook.

“Can I watch from the side if it’s okay with Mashiro?”
“I don’t mind, but I don’t think it’ll be fun to watch.”
“Don’t mind me.”

Mashiro said so, but I never get bored just watching her.
It was a much more meaningful time than just idly watching TV or reading a book.
Mashiro looked at me just standing there and let out a small giggle.

“You’re a strange person, Satou-san.”
“Is that so? I’ve often been told that I have an easy to understand personality.”
“That may be true, but to me you’re a strange person.”

For a while Mashiro concentrated on her work, staring at her notes on the recipe, but after a certain amount of time she seemed to get the hang of it.
Thanks to that, she had a little leeway, chatting with me in the middle of the process, and discussing and arranging them together.

“Have you ever eaten homemade sweets, Satou-san?”
“That’s quite a stinging question for a single person…”
“I-I don’t mean that. I just meant that if your mother made them when you were a kid.”
“Ah, I don’t know.”

When she said that, I went back in my memory.
Our family was a very normal one, and we lived without any major incidents until I was older.
My mother was a housewife who cooked for us every day, but she was not a person who enjoyed baking.

“Well, I guess she did make bread once in a while…I heard that even earlier, she once made pudding before.”
“I see, homemade pudding. That sounds delicious.”
“I used to eat it when I was little, when I caught a cold or something. I don’t remember the taste anymore, though.”

I don’t remember if it was because it was nutritious or easy to digest or what, but I do remember my mother talking about it in the past when she sometimes bought store-bought pudding.
It seemed that I was a selfish type of person when I was a child, and she had to go through a lot of trouble.

“I think that’s kind of nice. You’re very close with your parents, aren’t you?”
“I think it’s normal for parents and children to get along, but is it that good?”
“Yes, very much.”

Mashiro chewed on the words as if staring off into the distance somewhere.
…Now that I think about it, I don’t know anything about Mashiro or her family.
When I thought about it, all kinds of emotions speared me at once, and I couldn’t ask anything more.

“I need to make cookies as good as that!”
“I don’t know if it’s my mom you’re competing with…”
“No good?”
“No, not really. I mean, you’re not inferior to my mother in any way.”

Of course, I don’t mean to neglect my mother, but that’s just my honest opinion from spending time with her.
Mashiro’s taste in food was more suitable for my taste buds than my mother’s.

I apologize to Mashiro for getting angry at her for saying such a thing, but I’m not lying.
I’m just saying that I honestly preferred Mashiro’s.

“You’re not going to get anything out of me by flattering me so much now, okay?”
“I hear you do serve good cookies, though.”
“I don’t know if I can make it right.”

Mashiro smiled kindly back at me, humbled by my teasing.

Her past and her family. It would be good to hear about that a little later.
It’s just, I don’t want to know now. I’ll just have to indulge in our current relationship for a little while longer until she’s willing to tell me.