“Would you please lend me your strength!?”
“Huh!?”
The next day, I caught up with Wakana on the way to school and immediately bowed my head.
Wakana froze in shock. Well, I hadn’t even explained the reason yet, so it was only natural she’d be confused.
“Wh-what’s gotten into you all of a sudden, Eiji-san!? Um, strength? Like, um…!?”
Wakana usually had a good sense for things, but even childhood friends don’t have telepathy, it seems.
Of course, I wasn’t trying to fluster Wakana for fun, so I quickly got to the point.
“Actually, I was thinking of cooking together to get closer with Suzuna.”
“Huh? But why go out of your way to cook?”
“Well… I just have my reasons.”
I could understand why Wakana found it strange.
Usually, cooking together is something you do after getting closer, not as a way to become friends. I mean… let’s be real, you don’t exactly want to eat food from someone you don’t fully trust.
There’s also the sance of wasting ingredients, or maybe our tastes wouldn’t even match… People argue over something as simple as whether to put lemon on fried chicken at an izakaya. What could come from amateurs cooking together besides potential disaster?
“But, Wakana, you’re no amateur, right? You’re really good at cooking!”
“Good at cooking…? Well, I did help my mom in the kitchen when I was young, so I’m not totally clueless.”
“Come on, no need to be modest. Remember when you made hamburg steak for me? That was delicious.”
“Eh!? You remember that?”
“Of course I do. That was back in fifth grade, right?”
“…It was fourth grade, actually.”
At first, Wakana looked surprised that I remembered, but when I couldn’t quite recall all the details, she pouted a bit.
“If you’re talking about that hamburg steak, it wasn’t that great. I’d just started learning, so it got a little burnt.”
“Really? You remember that so well.”
“Of course! I practiced for that meal since it was for your birthday, Eiji-san.”
“Oh, right.”
“…Did you forget that?”
“N-no, I totally remember! Absolutely!”
Now that she mentioned it, back then, I didn’t really think of Wakana as someone who could cook.
The memories feel fuzzy, partly because my past life memories got mixed in, but I’m sure I remember it tasting good.
“Anyway, I’m really counting on you here. I’d like to do this without involving our parents.”
“Why’s that?”
“Well… if it becomes a whole family thing, Suzuna might feel burdened, like it’s too much or something.”
“That makes sense. But… honestly, I thought you’d be the type not to worry about things like that.”
“What!? Do I come off as careless!?”
“Not careless, but more… narrow-minded? The type to charge forward once you set your mind on something.”
“Urgh!”
The blunt evaluation hit me hard.
But I couldn’t deny it. If I hadn’t regained my past life memories, I might have kept worshipping Suzuna as an angel, cut ties with Wakana, and ended up as the oddball guy.
“But now, Eiji-san, you seem a lot more grown-up.”
“Eh!”
That threw me off too.
If she saw me as more mature, it was definitely thanks to my past life memories.
One day, out of nowhere, her childhood friend had sanged. Like I’d become someone else.
Could she really see it as a good thing?
“R-really? I mean, we’re already in our third year of middle school!”
As my doubts lingered, I tried to brush it off playfully.
I was kind of afraid of what Wakana might think of me.
“Hehe.”
Wakana chuckled as she watched me.
She looked calm… Wasn’t she the one who seemed more mature?
“But even though you seem more mature, Eiji-san, the parts that make you you haven’t sanged.”
“Well, I am me, after all!”
“Yeah. Eiji-san is Eiji-san.”
Though the conversation made me sweat a little, Wakana’s cheerful smile reassured me.
Still, my essence, huh… Maybe I hadn’t sanged that much from my past self.
“Alright. I’ll help you.”
“Huh, with what?”
“With cooking for Suzuna-san! That’s what you asked, isn’t it?”
“Oh, right!”
I’d nearly forgotten the main reason I approached her.
What mattered wasn’t my self-image but closing the distance with Suzuna!
“But why did you agree so quickly? You seemed hesitant at first.”
“I wasn’t hesitating. I just didn’t understand your intentions.”
“Y-yeah, I can see why it sounded suspicious.”
“No, it’s not that! Not suspicion…”
Wakana hurried to deny it, fidgeting for some reason.
She looked down, playing with her fingers… What was going on?
“We only just made up, and… I never thought we’d be doing something like cooking together so soon…”
“So I really was too sudden?”
“No, that’s not it! I mean, I already said I’d help, didn’t I?”
“Y-yeah, you did.”
“I encouraged you to pursue Suzuna-san, so I was a bit curious too.”
“Thanks for caring.”
Wakana really was a good friend. Game or reality, that never sanges.
“N-no problem! Hehe…”
As I thanked her, she fidgeted even more.
“So, about the dish…”
“Actually, can I plan that? I’d like to think of something fun and beginner-friendly.”
“I mean, I appreciate it, but isn’t it too much to rely on you that much…?”
“It’s fine! A-and… can I call you tonight to discuss it?”
“Of course.”
Even though I felt bad relying on her, it was a relief.
I wasn’t confident in cooking, so Wakana planning it was a big help.
“Okay then! I’ll call you tonight!”
“Y-yeah.”
“And that’s settled!”
Wakana hurried off toward school like she was running away.
Fidgeting, almost acting suspicious… Huh!?
(Did we spend too much time talking here!?)
If we kept chatting like this on the way to school, people were bound to notice.
For her, a guy talking to her so long might be embarrassing.
Due to my lack of romantic experience in both this life and the previous one, I might have put Wakana in an awkward spot.
“Guess I need to be more careful…”
What’s done is done, but I’d better not let it happen again.
At this age, I should know how to be considerate if I want to seem mature.
With that thought, I walked toward school, following Wakana’s path.
