Chapter 19

Parsed with an automated reader. The content accuracy is not guranteed.

Series: A Love That Lurks at the Dining Table

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It’s been over a month since I learned that Hino-kun liked me.

Autumn was slowly turning into winter. And today, like usual, I was making food so we could eat dinner together. A delicious scent floated up from the pot I was cooking in.

Today, we were having hotpot. It was an Ishikari hotpot-like miso hotpot with salty salmon and plump shrimp as the main ingredients, fresh Chinese cabbage, garland chrysanthemum, daikon radish, carrots, shirataki and tofu to save calories, maitake and shiitake mushrooms, and corn for an unusual twist.

The base of the soup was of course miso, and the broth was made from kombu and bonito. To thicken the flavor, I added grated ginger. Even though the soup was thick, the addition of ginger made it easier to eat and warms you up.

The side dishes were marinated tomatoes in a honey-sweetened marinade and a Chinese-style radish salad with vinegar and sesame oil. I sliced the tomatoes and daikon thinly to make a refreshing salad, since the miso-based hotpot was relatively rich in flavor.

I tested the Chinese cabbage soaked in the rich miso sauce and the crunchy prawns. Everything tasted better when I ate it with Hino-kun, but hotpot was exceptional.

“What did you want to eat next, Mizuka?”

“Oh, I want shirataki… and salmon. …Can you serve it up, Hino-kun?”

“Yep. Then leave it to me~”

“Thanks~”

I served up Hino-kun’s portion and he served up mine. The flavor shouldn’t be any different, but it felt like he placed a delicious spell on it when he served it.

“What is it, Mizuka?”

He tilted his head as he held out my plate, face filled with happiness. After we started going out, he asked if he could call me by my first name and I agreed.

I still wasn’t used to it, but when he called my name, I felt warm and happy.

“…It’s sudden, but thanks for liking me, Hino-kun.”

I started drinking my tea out of embarrassment after thanking him, but he seemed to be lost in thoughts as he stared at me. He finally spoke when I placed my glass down.

“…Can I ask you something, Mizuka?”

“W-what is it?”

“When did you start liking me?”

“Eh-“

While I was stunned by his sudden question, he continued in a slightly dark voice, “You said you like me, but I was wondering when you came to like me.”

His serious, strong gaze seemed to stare right through me. But there was some kind of darkness shimmering behind his eyes that seemed to suck me in.

…But, what should I do? Should I say, “I fell for you when I saw you eating my muffin”? But I’d be embarrassed if he thought all I thought about was food.

Actually, he wouldn’t think that. But I couldn’t get rid of my embarrassment. I didn’t want to be weird, even if he didn’t think I was.

“D-do I have to say it? Can it wait until our anniversary?”

“This is the anniversary of the fifty-forth day since we started dating.”

“U-um… And you want to hear it..?”

“I do. You may not like it, but I really want to hear it… No matter what it is.”

I felt my chest squeeze at his low voice. He gripped my hand tightly and chided me when I looked away.

“…F-from the m… muffin.”

“Muffin?”

“Um, that, the cooking class, I saw when Sasaki-san gave you that muffin. And then, when I saw your s-smile, my heart squeezed… And since then, little by little, I started to come to like you.”

“Really…?”

I raised my gaze to see Hino-kun staring straight at me with his mouth slightly agape, looking more shocked than I expected. His shocked expression combined with the love I felt for him slowly calmed me down. But when he suddenly touched my cheek, my heart jumped up and started running a marathon.

“Eh, Hino-kun?”

“…You know, that muffin? Before I accepted it, I already knew you made it, Mizuka.”

“Eh?”

“I was watching you the whole time you made it. Because I can’t touch anything homemade unless it’s from you. I accepted it because I knew you made it.”

Eh, he knew I made it so he accepted it? So it wasn’t Sasaki-san–?

Hino-kun chuckled as I sat there stunned, looking at me with a dark gaze.

“It irritated me that that thief said she made something that you did, but I was still happy to get something that you made… So I ate it right away. The thought that Mizuka was inside of me gave me the greatest excitement… But you saw me. That’s embarrassing.”

“When you say it like that, you make it sound like I became small and you ate me.”

“That sounds nice. Then couldn’t I gobble you up whole?”

Hino-kun’s voice quickened. His eyes were shining with excitement.

But wait? What about me making his bentos? I thought it was because the muffin was delicious…?

“Eh, wait, when you asked me to make you bentos, was it not because you ate that muffin? That’s when we started eating…”

“Well, there was that, but when I ate your muffin, I couldn’t wait any longer. I originally planned on meeting you in the summer, but I went to meet you then. Sorry.”

My heart beat fiercely after Hino-kun stuck his tongue out seductively. Wait, no, what did he mean by “plan”…? Has he been trying to meet me for a while before that?

“A-a planned meeting!?”

“Yep, I constructed it myself. I thought about how to make it seem like a destined meeting; what to get rid of, the proper things to say, a way to remove all my obstacles and how to gobble you up so you couldn’t run away.”

I felt something run down my back at his words. Somehow, I couldn’t help but feel danger. I had a feeling I shouldn’t hear more, but I also had a feeling that I had to hear more.

“Um, I don’t really fully understand, when did you start liking me…? Didn’t we just meet in high school…?”

“We didn’t.”

“Eh?”

“Before the high school entrance exams, when we were in middle school, I saw you at the city library.”

At that time I couldn’t cook at home, but I didn’t want to study, so I went to the library to force myself to study. Although I would often read recipe books during my breaks, it was still a heartbreaking time.

“My chest tightened as soon as I saw you… I thought there was no other girl like you… Before that, I was just living in a daze, but after I saw you, I felt everything become clear. So I looked up your middle school from your uniform and asked an acquaintance at your school to give me your school of choice form and entered the same high school.”

“But wasn’t there a chance we wouldn’t make it into the same high school?”

“That’s why I’m glad you went with the recommended school, so unless something happened, all I had to do was pass and we could attend together.”

It’s true that even though my grades were low, when the teacher recommended this high school, I did my best to study. And Hino-kun knew that and entered the same school?

Eh, he liked me? He liked me from that time? He looked up my personal information and entered the same high school? And he likes me? But isn’t that… a crime? Even if it isn’t… Um, but, I…

“Are you scared of me?”

“Eh?”

“I investigated so much about you… Did you want to break up?”

Hino-kun caressed the ring finger of my left hand and asked me gently. His kind, soft voice squeezed my chest and made my head go blank. I found myself looking him in the eyes and expressing my feelings.

“No… I never want to break up…”

“But you are bothered, right?”

Hino-kun stroked my hair. This wasn’t the time for him to do that and now that I knew what he did, I shouldn’t feel relaxed, but I was relaxed. I wanted him to touch me more This wasn’t good at all. My reasoning was gone because I liked him so much. I felt strange.

“I’m scary, right? Be honest.”

“No, that’s not it. Really. Right now, I’m in a hundred times scarier and more complicated state than Hino-kun, so please don’t do anything to make my heart clench.”

“What do you mean?”

“Because I’m not scared, um…”

I wasn’t feeling fear. I surely would if it was someone other than Hino-kun. But it was Hino-kun. Right now I liked him so much I didn’t know what to do. I didn’t feel scared or disturbed at all. So I was scared. He was the exception, no matter what he did. Just like when he said I was the only one he wanted liking him, I felt the same. I would probably hate it if someone other than him liked me.

“What is it?”

“Usually if I hear of a crime, I would call the police. I would hate it and be scared. But right now, I don’t feel scared at all so I’m really shocked… Usually, even if I liked them it would be unforgivable. I would probably be scared or want to run away or break up and I wouldn’t be able to trust them. …But I like you so much I can’t think right and I… I would hate that. I wouldn’t know what to do with the jealousy of you eating somewhere else, Hino-kun… I really don’t know…”

In the past, I had been severely damaged when I saw Hino-kun eating another girl’s homemade food in the cooking class, and I felt like a criminal when I ate the udon noodles that I loved so much when I first fell in love with him. I even gave curry to a classmate. But now I was becoming more and more blind by this love by the day. I was certain.

I was stunned by my own change as Hino-kun chuckled, stood up, and approached me.

He looked very amorous.

“…I’ve never been so happy in my life.”

“Eh?”

“Because you like me so much you can’t think right, right?”

“Yes, but… but wouldn’t that burden yo…”

“I love you, Mizuka. So much. So you can tie me up as much as you want. But in exchange, even if you come to hate me so much you want to kill me, I won’t let you. I’ll never let you go, so I’m sorry?”

Hino-kun hugged me so tight I felt like he was confining me. Our bodies were pressed together almost a little too tightly, as if he was trying to tuck me inside him. But I wasn’t scared. I loved him.

“I’ll never hate you, Hino-kun.”

“Really? Never?”

“Yes, really. Never.”

Hino-kun steadily brought his face closer to mine. His voice was a little hoarse. This wasn’t good. I couldn’t escape. But… I didn’t want to escape.

“Thanks for the meal.”

He looked at me with a gaze of pure love and kissed me. I closed my eyes and reciprocated.

THE END

This is the end of the main story. The next chapter is a bonus “what if” bad ending, just please be aware that it contains crimes that may make some readers uncomfortable.

Regardless, thank you for reading my translation to the end and please support the original author if you are able to.

-Merry Kii

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