Chapter 16: Apron and Homecooked Food are a Man’s Romance (1/2)

When Mahiru agreed to cook at Amane’s house, she raised the following conditions.

・Amane was to pay for half the ingredients, along with labor costs.

・If they could not eat together, one was to notify the other a day in advance.

・Both of them would have equal responsibility buying ingredients and cleaning up.

The labor costs in the first condition was suggested by Amane, who was sorry about taking advantage of Mahiru’s time. The latter compromised on this, and there was not much dispute about the rest, so they managed to work out these details.

It was established that she would be the one cooking, so there was nothing to worry about.

On the day after it was decided, Mahiru arrived early with a grocery bag in hand, or rather, two hands as she prepared to cook.

“…It really is new and unused…”

“Shut up.”

A girl was dressed in an apron, standing in his house. Amane was practically living in a man’s romance, but for some reason, he was on tenterhooks.

One reason was that he was not used to that sight of Mahiru with a ponytail. The main reason however was that she pointed out that the kitchen was unused.

“You have so many good things here, and you let them rust away.”

“They won’t rust when you use them, right?”

“That will be the outcome. These utensils are crying from being unused.”

“So use your cooking skills to get them to stop crying.”

I can’t do that, so he bluntly admitted, and she gave him a dumbfounded look. She might have expected that however, for she merely sighed and did not grumble much.

“So do you have any seasoning lying around?”

“Of course, you think I’m an idiot? No issues with storage and expiry here.”

“Oh that is surprising.”

“They’re still sealed, that’s why.”

Most of the seasonings remained sealed in a cool, dark place, so he probably did not need to worry about that.

He bought them, but he never had the chance to use them. In fact, Amane never once touched them since he never actually used the kitchen. Truth be told, the seasonings were in good hands given that someone like Mahiru would be cooking.

“That is not something to be proud about. If there is insufficient, I can just go back to take them.”

“Thanks for the assist.”