第18話 氷の令嬢とお弁当の相談
「......お邪魔します」
約束した時間ぴったりにインターホンが鳴り、扉を開けると私服姿の冬華が立っている。
夜ご飯を共にすることになってから二日目。まだ慣れない、というよりはいつまで経っても慣れそうにない光景だった。
「これ、昨日のお代と今日の分です」
玄関に入るや否や冬華が差し出して来た白い封筒を今度は押し返すことなく素直に受け取る。
四日後の金曜日にある球技大会までの短い関係だが、後腐れないようにと冬華は二つの取り決めを朝陽に提示した。
一つ、材料費は折半、その上で冬華が手間賃として少し多めにお金を払う。
二つ、調理を始める前に集合し、洗い物を終えた後に解散する。
前者は頑なに材料費の全額負担を主張した冬華を朝陽が根気よく説得した結果だ。
作ったものは朝陽も食べるので、材料費を折半するのは当然の事だろう。
朝陽としては手間賃も、一人分も二人分も労力はさほど変わらないという事で断るつもりだったが、どうしても冬華が譲らないので仕方無く妥協する形となった。
そして、後者は冬華のポリシーが関係しているもので、朝陽には決定権も拒否権も与えられずに決まっていた。
冬華曰く、洗い物が終わるまで帰らないのと同じ理由で、調理中も朝陽の家に居ないと気が済まないらしい。
「もう作り始めますよね。何か私にできることはありますか?」
「あったとしても任せるわけないだろ。何の為に二人分の飯を作ると思ってんだ」
「......左手があります」
「本当、頑固だなお前......。いいから大人しく読書して待ってろ。万が一、左手も怪我したら困るだろ」
短い付き合いの中で、何度もお節介を焼いているうちに何となく気づいた冬華の取説だ。
今回も説得が上手くいき、「わかりました」と小さく頷いた冬華は昨日と同じタイトルの小説片手にリビングへと向かった。
そして、ソファー前の長机に本を置いて、あろうことかキッチンへと再び戻って来た。
「......何で戻って来た?」
「見る分には安全ですし、邪魔になりませんよね」
「では、私はここに居ます。火神さんは気にせず調理を始めてください」
こうなると、反論する余地がないので冬華を説得する術が無い。
人が料理をしているところなど見て楽しいものかは分からないが、冬華の言う通り、安全だし邪魔にならないのは確かだ。
それなら勝手にすればいいと、朝陽は早速夕飯の準備に取り掛かった。
今日は鮭と肉じゃが、そして味噌汁といった和食で統一されたメニューを作るつもりだ。
それぞれの調理時間を考量して、まずは肉じゃがを作るために野菜の皮を剥き、一口サイズに切っていく。
「......なるほど、そういう風に切るのですね」
「逆にどういう風に切るつもりだよ」
「......両手で?」
「おい、聞き捨てならねえぞそれ。斬新かつ危険すぎるだろ」
「でも、一番力が入る方法です」
「......深く追求はしないから、猫の手くらいは覚えてくれ......」
本当に、話せば話すほど冬華のことが色々と心配になってくる。
この際、普段から自炊をやっていないことは確定として、それを指摘したところで冬華が不機嫌になるだけなので口を噤む。
ただ、基本的な調理方法くらいは是非とも覚えて帰って欲しかった。
そういった面では、冬華が興味本位なのか料理を作る過程を見学し出したのは良い事と言えるだろう。
「いいか、まずはフライパンにサラダ油をひくんだ」
「サラダ油、ですか......?」
「こうすることによって食材が底にくっつくのを防げる。テフロン加工の場合は話が別だけど、旨味と水分を囲う意味もあるからサラダ油はどのみち必要だな」
いつの間にか、初心者コースのお料理教室と化したキッチンで着々と調理が進んでいく。
何と言わずとも冬華は料理を学ぶ気がある様で、朝陽の言葉に真剣に耳を傾けていた。
それが朝陽お得意のお節介だとは気付いておらず、自炊経験を完全に疑われていることにも気付いていない様子だ。
(まあ、料理を学ぶ姿勢が見られるだけマシか......)
一人暮らしをするにあたって、レトルトとお惣菜オンリーでは腹は満たせども健康的とは決して言い難い。
毎日とは言わずとも、一週間の半分は夜に自炊を。そして、昼もお弁当を作るのが理想的だ。
お弁当に関しては、夜ご飯と同じ要領で冬華の分も作ろうとしたところを丁重に断られてしまったが、断られた理由的にはまだ希望がある。
そんな思いを密かに抱き、朝陽は誰に頼まれた訳でなく、調理過程を一々説明しながら夜ご飯を作っていく。
「この白いのはアクって言って、放置しておくと仕上がりの味が悪い方に左右される。だから、こまめに取り除いて味を調えた方がいい」
「これはかなりの手間と時間が掛かりますね......。後、どれくらいで完成するのですか?」
「十分、十五分ってとこかな。まあ、後は加熱して煮るくらいだけど」
「完成まで四十分程度ですか......。お弁当を作りたいのですが、手間暇的に肉じゃがは不向きそうですね」
「......ごめん、もう一回言ってくれないか?」
「ですから、お弁当を作りたいのです。そこに肉じゃがを入れようと思いまして」
聞き慣れない単語の羅列に思わず聞き返してしまったが、冬華から返って来たのは先程と変わらぬ言葉だ。
お弁当を作りたい、冬華は確かにそう言った。
だから何だといった話だが、朝陽にとってはかなりの驚きを伴う事だった。
「昨日、昼ご飯は食堂と決まってるとか、そもそも弁当箱を持っていないとか言ってただろ。一体どういう風の吹き回しだ?」
「私としても不本意な事です。ただ、球技大会の日は学食が開いていないようなので、お弁当を作らざるを得ないというか......」
「その怪我してる右手でか?」
「......左手が――」
「ダメに決まってるだろ。何の為に俺が二人分の......って今日二回目だぞこのやり取り」
肉じゃがと並行して、色鮮やかな切り身の鮭をグリルに入れながら朝陽は大きなため息をつく。
本当に、冬華の頑固さには呆れてしまうことばかりだった。
「その日は俺が氷室の分も弁当を作る。どうせなら最後までお節介を焼かせろ。弁当箱も予備があるから大丈夫だ」
「......お任せしてもいいですか」
「最初から大人しくお任せしておけ」
ただ、必ず一度は手を借りようとせず、一人でやろうとするのは何かしらの癖なのだろうか。
最初から素直に頼る。当然と言えば当然だが、そういった信頼関係がまだ冬華と築けていない証明のような気がした。
(まさか、千昭と日菜美みたいなことになるとはな......)
弁当を作る、に含まれる意味合いは大分違うが、奇しくも今日の昼休みに話していたことが朝陽の頭に過る。
せっかくだし少しだけ豪勢なもの作るかと、早くも球技大会当日のお弁当の中身を考えながら、朝陽は手際よく味噌汁を作る作業に移った。
Ch 18
"...Please excuse me."
The intercom rang at the exact time we had promised, and when I opened the door, Fuyuka was standing there in her casual clothes.
It was only the second day since we had started to have dinner together. It was a sight that I still couldn't get used to, or rather, couldn't seem to get used to.
"This is the fees for yesterday and today's meal."
As soon as she walked in the door, Fuyuka offered me a white envelope, which I obediently accepted.
Although this relationship would only last until the ball game in four days' time on Friday, Fuyuka presented two arrangements to Asahi so that their relationship wouldn't turn sour.
First, they split the cost of the ingredients, and Fuyuka paid a little more for the labor fee.
And second, meet up before cooking, and then dismiss after doing the dishes.
The former was the result of Asahi's persistent efforts to persuade Fuyuka, who stubbornly insisted on paying the full cost for the ingredients.
Since Asahi himself would be eating too, it was only natural that they would split the cost of the ingredients.
As for Asahi, he was going to refuse because the effort required for cooking for two people was not that different for just one, but Fuyuka insisted, so he had no choice but to compromise.
And the latter was something related to Fuyuka's policy, which had been decided without giving Asahi the right to decide or reject.
According to Fuyuka, it was the same reason why she didn't leave until the dishes were done as she didn't feel comfortable not being at Asahi's house while he was cooking.
"You're going to start cooking, right? Is there anything I can do to help?"
"Even if there is, I wouldn't let you do it. Why do you think I'm cooking for two people?"
"...I still have my left hand."
"You're really stubborn, you know? Just sit there and read a book. In any case, It would be troublesome if you hurt your left hand too, right?"
This was what I somehow noticed after getting to know her for a short period of time.
After another successful persuasion, Fuyuka gave a small nod of understanding and headed towards the living room with a novel in her hand with the same title as yesterday.
She then put the book on the desk in front of the sofa and came back to the kitchen.
"...Why did you come back?"
"It's safe just looking, right? I won't get in your way."
"I'll stay here then. Kagami-san, please don't mind me and go ahead."
When this happened, there was no way to persuade Fuyuka because there weren't any problems with it.
I don't know if it was fun to watch people cook, but she was right, it was safe and won't be in the way.
"If that's the case, alright." Asahi replied as he immediately started to prepare dinner.
Today I'm going to cook a selection of Japanese dishes which include salmon, miso soup, meat and potatoes.
Considering the time required for cooking each, the first step was to peel and cut the vegetables into bite-sized pieces for the meat and potatoes.
"...I see. That's how you cut them, huh?"
"On the contrary, how do you think it will be cut?"
"...Using both hands?"
"Hey, I can't let that slide. It's too novel and too dangerous."
"But it's the most powerful way to do it."
"I won't pursue this too deeply, so at least learn the cat's paw." [TL: imgur.com/a/kFwbwIy]
Really, the more we talked, the more I worried about her in many ways.
At this point, It was pretty certain that she didn't cook for herself on a regular basis, and pointing that out would only make her grumpy, so I kept my mouth shut.
However, at least I wanted her to learn the basic cooking techniques.
In that sense, it was a good thing that she started to observe the cooking process out of curiosity.
"Listen, first you need to put some olive oil in the frying pan."
"Olive oil..?"
"This will prevent the food from sticking to the pan. It's a different story if it's a non-stick pan, but you'll need olive oil anyway because it's meant to surround the umami and moisture."
Before I knew it, It had suddenly turned into a beginner's course cooking class while steadily cooking.
Fuyuka seemed to be willing to learn how to cook, and listened intently to Asahi's words.
It seems that she didn't realize that this was just Asahi's usual meddling, and she didn't notice that she was being completely questioned about her own cooking experience.
'Well, I guess it's better to have a view of wanting to learn how to cook...'
When you live alone, you could never be healthy if you only ate canned and ready-made foods.
I cook for myself at least half of the week, if not every day. And ideally, you should also make your own bento.
As for the bento, I tried to make one for her in the same way as I did for dinner, but she politely refused, but there might be a reason why she refused.
With this thought secretly in his mind, Asahi cooked dinner, explaining the cooking process one by one, without being asked to do so by anyone.
"This white stuff is called 'scum,' and if left unchecked, it will affect the taste of the finished product in a negative way. So it's better to remove it frequently to adjust the taste. [TL: I had to research this one, though I know what it meant, I didn't know the term. Link: bit.ly/3d4S39B]
"This is going to take a lot of work and time, isn't it? How long will it take you to complete it?"
"Ten minutes, no, fifteen minutes, I think. Well, the rest is just simmering."
"It takes about forty minutes to complete, huh? I'd like to make a bento, but I don't think meat and potatoes would cut it."
"...Sorry, but can you repeat that for a second?"
"I said, I want to make a bento, I thought I'd put meat and potatoes there."
I couldn't help but ask back at the unfamiliar string of words, but what came back from her was the same words as before.
I want to make a bento, Fuyuka said for sure.
It was certainly a surprise for Asahi.
"Yesterday, you said that you were gonna go to the cafeteria and that you didn't need a bento. What changed your mind?"
"It's something I'm not willing to do. However, it seems that the school cafeteria is not open on the day of the ball game, so I need to make my own bento."
"With your injured right hand?"
"...My left hand-"
"Of course not, Why do you think I'm cooking for- this is the second time we had this exchange today, you know?"
Asahi sighed loudly as he placed a brightly colored fillet of salmon on the grill alongside the meat and potatoes.
Truly, Fuyuka's stubbornness was quite the headache.
"I'll make lunch for you that day, Himuro. Since it came to this let me be nosy until the end, I've got a spare lunch box, so don't worry."
"...Can I leave it to you?"
"You should have just let me handle it from the beginning."
However, was it some kind of habit that she always tried to do anything alone instead of asking for help at least once?
From the very beginning, she should have relied on me obediently. It was only natural, but I felt like it was proof that I hadn't built that kind of trust with her yet.
'I never thought it would be a conversation like I had with those two.'
The meaning of "making bento" was quite different, but oddly enough, the thing we talked about at lunchtime today came to mind.
Since it was the ball game, Asahi thought about cooking something extravagant as he quickly went to work making miso soup.
How To Melt the Ice Lady
【コミカライズ連載中】氷の令嬢の溶かし方　～クールで素っ気ないお隣さんがデレるとめちゃくちゃ可愛い件～
https://www.novelupdates.com/series/how-to-melt-the-ice-lady/
Comedy Romance School Life Slice of Life
Adapted to Manga Beautiful Female Lead Caring Protagonist Cooking Cute Story Famous Parents Kind Love Interests Kuudere Male Protagonist Modern Day Popular Love Interests
https://ncode.syosetu.com/n2567fv/
高峰 翔