Celebration

"Eh? 15?!" Shocked by my ranking, Kento shouted. However, my reaction was only:

"Hm really?" I said in my usual tone.

"Oi oi, why are you not shocked even by a little bit? You know that the top class dominates the top 30. And you're usually on the lower side of the grades in our class, which is the second highest class in this school."

"Well, I did say that I got some help from someone."

"And who is this someone?"

"I'd like to remain silent about that matter, your honor."

"Fine. Introduce me to them later okay~"

"I will not."

"What a killjoy."

I then just ignored Kento and looked back at the rankings. As expected, Sakurai was in first. She has always been 1st in our year. Probably because she studies a lot unlike me who only studies last minute.

I want to give her a present for her achievement. And since I already knew that she was going to get first in the exams, I already asked beforehand if she likes cakes.

…

..

.

(Tuesday after dinner)

"Hey Sakurai." I said while we were washing the dishes.

"What?"

"Do you like cake?"

"Hm? Yes I do. Why are you asking me this?"

"Nothing, just curious. So what kind of cake do you like?"

"…Black forest cake."

"Heh~"

"So? Why did you ask me?"

"Nothing, just forget about it."

"…Sure."

.

..

…

I already finished making the cake yesterday, so we'll have it for dessert today. And of course I did not forget to treat myself. I made my favourite food for dinner.

"Let's go to class now." I said to Kento.

"Yeah, we should probably go."

And so our class started.

—

"Thanks for always taking care of me."

"Yeah sure."

That has become a normal exchange for us starting on Monday whenever she comes in my house.

Anyhow, as always, she came to my house for dinner. So I got dinner ready, and we started eating.

"Here's today's dinner. Lasagna!"

"Oh… so this is a lasagna…" she said as she stared at the pan i'm holding.

"You've never eaten one before?"

"Un. My parents only make traditional meals most of the time."

"Heh~ Well, I'm proud to say that lasagna is my specialty. So I hope you like it."

"I mean, based on your previous dishes, I'm sure it'll be good."

"Let's put that to the test, then. Here's a slice." I said as I got a slice ready and put it onto her plate.

She then got a spoonful and…

"I shall taste it now. Num"

I then stared at her, chewing. She kept making different expressions till finally…

"Tasty! The creaminess of this white stuff on the top cancels out the acidic flavor from the tomatoes! And when combines, the flavors this cream and meat sauce has… It's wonderful! Definitely one of the best dished I've tasted yet!"

Sakurai entered some sort of zone and said something you'd only hear from a certain lewd food anime.

"Um Sakurai… please don't eat too much. There's still dessert."

"Dessert?"

"Yes, I'll bring it out later. For now, Let's eat."

"Yup."

We then ate 2 slices each.

After we ate, I finally brought out the cake.

"Here's our dessert. I baked this myself so I hope it tastes somewhat decent." I said.

However, Whilst I was talking, Sakurai just stared at me, speechless.

"Is that… A black forest cake?"

"Yup."

"…Is that the reason you asked me that question a few days ago?"

"Yup."

"…You should've just made something for yourself. Even I don't treat myself for something like getting first in rankings."

"And that's exactly why I made this for you. And besides. I already made something for myself. My favourite food is lasagna, so that was for me."

"But still… compared to this, my gift is…"

"Hm? You have a gift for me?" I asked her.

I seriously wasn't expecting her to give me a gift though.

"Well yeah. I was fairly sure you'd get into the top 50 when I saw how you studied so I made an illustration in advance… I sent it to you via SMS a before I went here."

"Eh?" I then got my phone from my pocket and checked SMS. There, I saw an illustration of a cute chibi character who looks somewhat like me, studying at a table with another chibi character which looked like Sakurai. It was a very cute illustration.

"…Wow." Those were the only words I could make up and say.

"How is it?…"

"It's amazing."

"Eh? …thank you" she said as a pink tint spread throughout her cheeks.

"…Why are you blushing?"

"Sorry, it's just that I'm not used to getting a genuine compliment… most people only compliments me to get closer to me…"

"Well… Uh… You're welcome… I guess?"

Ugh... this situation is making me feel conscious about her...