Mafuyu’s Cooking Skills

Watching Mafuyu awkwardly trying to tie her apron, Ren suddenly felt familiar with this scene.

He remembered being bad at tying aprons initially, and Nino used to tie it for him. So Ren took the initiative and asked, "Do you need my help with that?"

"No need, I can handle something as small as this myself," Mafuyu firmly refused.

"Okay."

Then, Ren witnessed her struggle with the apron strings. Realizing he seemed to be enjoying the sight, Mafuyu wanted to prove herself and show him that, as a teacher, she was not incompetent.

In the end...

"Problem."

Mafuyu approached Ren obediently and handed it over.

She failed.

"Okay."

Ren took the apron from her and tied it slowly.

Feeling his movements, Mafuyu couldn't help but recall her experience with Ren.

The more she thought about it, the more embarrassed she felt. Despite being a teacher, she still needed his help as a student in everything, even for small things like tying an apron.

If they really discussed it, it was beyond the usual teacher-student assistance, wasn't it?

As she reminisced, his hand lightly touched her waist, immediately grabbing her attention.

"I'm sorry."

Ren wasn't too skilled at tying aprons either and accidentally touched Mafuyu's body earlier.

"It's okay."

Mafuyu didn't pay much attention to it. After he took two steps back and distanced himself, she took the initiative to ask, "Is it done?"

"Um."

Ren nodded slightly.

He tied it in a bow because that's all he could manage for now.

However, the apron didn't seem to suit her.

Moreover, Mafuyu, who usually appeared cold and unapproachable, was wearing a very girly pink apron.

"Don't look at me like that. This is the only apron left at the convenience store, so I had no choice."

Feeling his doubtful gaze, Mafuyu turned to the side out of embarrassment and defended herself with a red face.

She initially wanted to wear it at home, so it wouldn't have been an issue if she bought it herself, but she didn't expect Ren to see her like this.

"Yeah." Ren chose to trust her statement.

After ensuring the room was cleaned, he was ready to leave and continue exploring.

However, at this moment, Mafuyu loudly said, "Kamikawa-san, it's lunchtime now, and I'll cook. If you can, please stay at my house for a while and have lunch before leaving. And help me taste the dishes I plan to teach in the cooking class."

"Sure."

After a moment of thought, Ren agreed.

This was almost impossible to refuse, whether it's for lunch or helping with tasting.

"Alright, then you can rest here for a while."

After pouring a glass of water for Ren, Mafuyu turned around and walked to the kitchen.

···

Not waiting long, Mafuyu came out holding a plate and placed it in front of her.

"Please try it." Sitting across from him, Mafuyu said seriously.

Ren picked up his chopsticks, looked at the indescribable dark substance on the plate, and thought hard.

"What is this?"

He tried hard to remember all the dishes he had eaten in his life and found that none could match the dish in front of him, so he asked with curiosity.

Could it be that Mafuyu made a dish he had never eaten before?

"Curry," Mafuyu answered without hesitation, "Quick, try it while it's still hot."

Ren: "😐"

This was the first time he saw black curry, and it truly opened his eyes.

And judging from its appearance, this curry might not taste good.

However, he couldn't judge the taste of a food just by its appearance.

Under Mafuyu's hopeful gaze, Ren picked up a piece of the black substance that looked like a potato with chopsticks and put it in his mouth.

After chewing it twice, he found that the black solid had no taste.

Of course, this black solid must have triggered his body's protective mechanism and helped him avoid the taste.

As for food that could trigger his body's protective mechanism, it could be imagined whether it was tasty or not.

Seeing Ren had eaten, Mafuyu took the chopsticks and ate it too.

As soon as she bit into it, she rushed to the kitchen and spat out the contents of her mouth.

"It tastes awful. What is this? Why is it bitter, salty, hard, and sour?"

After rinsing her mouth, Mafuyu felt better.

Ren was very satisfied to see her so self-aware. This way, he didn't have to work hard to make some difficult comments for her.

"You don't need to taste it again; I'll throw away this dish."

Returning to the table, Mafuyu took the plate and prepared to empty it.

"This is not food. If possible, please don't waste food."

In this regard, Ren didn't stop her; instead, he corrected her words and asked seriously.

Indeed, he didn't waste food, but only to the extent of food. The dish Mafuyu made was not worthy of being called food at all, so it was reasonable not to consider it a waste.

On the contrary, throwing away food because Mafuyu used so many ingredients to make a dish like this was wasteful.

"I know, next time I will do better."

Faced with such words from her student, Mafuyu could only weakly agree and couldn't refute at all.

···

It didn't take long to finish it for the second time, and Mafuyu came out again with the plate.

"Do I still need to taste it?"

Seeing the strange black thing on the plate, Ren confirmed with her.

"Okay... Let me try it."

Seeing the peculiar curry she made, Mafuyu couldn't even ask for help to taste it.

Under Ren's gaze, she took the unknown object and put it in her mouth. The result was exactly the same as before; she immediately spat it out.

"It tastes terrible."

Mafuyu covered her mouth, and her face turned very ugly.

"No, if I try again, I'm sure I can't do it."

After saying this, Mafuyu stood up and planned to try again.

Finally, Ren couldn't stand it and said again, "Sensei, do you need my help?"

"Eh?"

At this moment, Mafuyu seemed to see her savior.