Episode 29 – Exchange side dishes with Sora’s friend

At the same time that Saara and Nagase san became friends, I also made a friend.

“Yoo Sora. You’re having lunch today too, right?”
“You’re so diligent, Iida kun. As expected of the cooking club.”

Odawara Seiichi and Hayama Shun.
They were the first two who showed interest in my writing materials.

Seiichi is a short-haired soccer player and a guy about my height.
He can get through games and manga, and is easy to talk to.
I feel comfortable hanging out with him because his looks match what’s inside.

On the other hand, Shun is a very short guy. Even among girls, he is on the short side.
He has semi-long, slicked-back hair and a beautiful face, but he is a real man.
It’s kind of brain-boggling.
“Are you two eating in the school cafeteria?”
“Fufufu….. well done for asking, Sora”
“Today, I have something for you.”

The first thing he took out was something wrapped in a handkerchief.
This is, no way ……!

“Today only, but I made lunch!”
“We made a schedule together, and I made it for today.”

He then brought his desk up to my seat.

“Seriously, that must have been a lot of work.”
“Seriously, it was a lot of work. …… I don’t know how you prepare something like this.”
“I made it as easy as I could, but I still had to get up early just to get it ready.”

He did it quickly, but this is for me, who’s been eating my lunch in the classroom lately, and for us to eat together at our desks.
Of all the surprises, it must be hard for a male friend to do it.

“I’m a little touched, thank you.”
“No problem. Mom started checking the weather as soon as I said I’d make lunch.”
“That’s the same reaction I get at my place.”
“You can’t be serious about that reaction, can you?”

While having such a conversation, they opened their lunch boxes.
Inside there is plenty of white rice and a good amount of side dishes. There is a red sausage, a small fried fish, a green salad,……, and a lunch box.

“By the way, except for the rice, the rest of the food is frozen.”
“Mine a frozen food too. As expected if I cook it slowly.”
“I think that’s good enough. I also reuse the leftovers from the day before.”

Incidentally, the contents of my lunch box are about half and half made by me and Saara.
Needless to say, the lineup in Saara’s lunch box is probably almost similar.

In addition, Saara is eating her lunch box next to Sato-san and Nagase-san, who are eating in the cafeteria together.
As one would expect, if the contents of the lunch boxes are always the same, even those with dull intuition would recognize them.

“Even a lunch box full of cold food like that is interesting when it’s filled with your favorite foods, isn’t it?”
“I know, it’s fun, isn’t it?”
“So, Sora, why don’t we trade something?””

Seiichi shows me his own lunch box.
I see. …… frozen food side dishes.
I’m kind of curious to see what it’s all about.

“Well, one of the five fries in Seiichi’s. Shun’s is for those spring rolls. Do you want anything from mine?”
“I’m interested in all of them, but first I’m interested in that dark-colored stew.”
“Me too.”

That’s chikuzen-ni.
I’m the one who made it.

“It’s from yesterday’s dinner, so it’s good. Carrots, lotus root, and some chicken and bamboo shoots.”
“All right, it’s my first Sora’s dish.”
“I’ve always been interested in it.”

The two of them first ate their own cold food and then my chikuzen-ni.
We started eating and looked at each other.

“……very good, better than commercial or restaurant food. I’ve eaten this kind of thing outside, even if it’s cold, it’s still good.”
“Perhaps at hot spring? Or maybe an expensive lunch box?”
“Well, I’m glad you like the food.”

I relax my cheeks at their impressions and eat my food.
Yes, it’s not bad even if it’s cold.
I’m glad that Saara praises everything so enthusiastically, but it’s valuable and appreciated to get this kind of honest feedback.

Now, ……an opportunity to eat frozen food, a genre of food I don’t usually use.
Let’s try it.

First of all, Seiichi’s fries.
The oil may be unique or thicker ……, but the color of the fries is translucent.
When I tried it, I found that the batter had a unique sweet taste, a bit like junk food, which is not so bad.
The inside is white fish, and the batter is thick, as if it were the fruit of modern technology.

Shun’s spring rolls were surprisingly properly spring rolls.
It’s amazing that such a troublesome procedure is a cold food.
However, I think there is a kind of strange and unique aroma.
Is this a characteristic of frozen food?

It was quite an interesting experience.
I don’t like to eat fried foods every day for health reasons, but I was surprised at how good it was.

“Hey, can I have the eggplant next to that?”
“Ah, ……, this one’s mine. You can have the omelette.”
“Can I have one too?”

I handed them both a portion of the egg rolls I had made this morning.
I put the eggplant in my mouth as the two of them were saying, “This tastes just like at the restaurant,” and “This is dashimaki.”
The taste of the eggplant spread in my mouth.

Sorry, you two.
This is leftovers from Saara’s kitchen.
Maybe I’m narrow-minded, but I want to keep this taste to myself just for now.

—Tss!?

I suddenly turned toward the door and saw Saara leaning against the wall in the hallway, looking at me.
The whole sequence of events was seen ……!

As soon as my eyes met Saara’s, a chime rang out in the school.

“Oh, eat slowly and lunch will be over.”
“Thanks for the food. Iida-kun, it was delicious.”

The two boys, oblivious to my inner thoughts and feelings, returned to their positions with their desks.
As everyone in the class takes their seats, Saara puts her mouth to my ear and whispers in a small voice.

‘–I, too, have never given Sora kun’s cooking”

A warm breath in my ear, the meaning of the words rushing through my head.
I looked at the window and saw that Saara had already backed away and turned her head away from the window.

Still, the only thing I could see was that her ears were bright red.