07 – the angel’s motherly conversation
“I’m returning this. It was tasty.”
The next night, Amane visited Mahiru, holding the Tupperware he was lent the day before.
Amane wasn’t good at doing housework, but he wasn’t incompetent enough that he couldn’t wash things. He was polite enough to thoroughly clean the Tupperware before returning it.
It was difficult to wash, but he couldn’t say that to Mahiru.
Mahiru seemed to know Amane was the one who rang the doorbell, and came to open the door, no questions asked.
Wearing a Bordeaux nightgown, she recognizes Amane’s figure and narrows her eyes a bit.
Amane double-checked the Tupperware with a glance and said, “I washed the Tupperware. It was tough.” He whistled much like a child expecting praise.
“Thank you for the effort.”
Mahiru took back the Tupperware, which was good, but then she placed another Tupperware in Amane’s hands.
This one ended up being really warm, too.
This meal seemed to consist of pork and dumplings. The meal was cool enough to not be cloudy, so you could see the colour of the eggplant, pork, and sprinkled sesame.
Based on the colour of the sauce, it was probably seasoned with miso, and the combination of pork and dumplings was enough to give someone an appetite.
Amane thought it was really tasty.
He also wondered what the deal was with this new delivery.
“…wait, uh, I already returned the Tupperware.”
“This is today’s dinner.”
“Yeah, I can see that.”
“I’ll ask you just this once. Are you allergic? I won’t take ‘I hate this food’ for an answer.”
“No, not really. I’ll accept this once again.”
He guessed he’d be having dinner from her for two days straight.
He appreciated the fact that it was not just healthy, but also since Mahiru had above-average cooking skill for a girl her age, it was tasty to boot.
And so, he came to the conclusion that what was inside was obviously going to be great.
If people from school saw this happening, it would be a catastrophe. For Amane’s relatively peaceful school life, that is.
Though these were one-bedroom apartments, the rent was still high due to location and facilities. Amane wouldn’t have to worry about that, since he’d never seen another student here aside form Mahiru. Still, he felt hesitant about making this kind of connection with her.
“Since you made this on your own by hand, I’m really grateful.”
“…I’m glad you think that way. Normally if something like this happens, you’d think I wanted you to owe me a favour.”
“Do you have a favour?”
“No~pe. I don’t.”
Unless you were a complete idiot, there’s no way you could misunderstand that.
In the first place, Amane couldn’t even fathom doing a favour for a girl such as Mahiru, being the slob that he was.
There was definitely no love-comedy element here, where the cute neighbour holds a secret from you. This wasn’t a love comedy. There was no love in this relationship, and there certainly wasn’t any comedy. Incidentally, there was no rice in Amane’s house either. (tl note: hmmmmmm. also pretty funny play on words here. ラブコメ (rabukome) = love comedy. 米 (kome) = rice.)
There was only warmth from the thorned mercy the angel had every time she spoke.
“…well then, there’s no problem. This way, you’ll finally stop surviving on convenience store food and supermarket specials.”
“How’d you figure that out?”
“There’s no evidence that you’ve ever used your kitchen, and there were a lot of instant meals on the desk. Even an idiot could figure that out. Also, you have an unhealthy complexion.”
Looking back at his home, Amane realized what she was talking about. He blushed, but couldn’t say anything because he knew she was correct.
“Well, that’s all.”
Saying what needed to be said and handing over what needed to be handed over, Mahiru went back home.
As he listened to the jingle of the door chain, Amane looked down at the Tupperware he was given.
Feeling a warmth in his palms, he sighed and returned home.
After all, the pork and dumplings still looked delicious, and the rice was as unreal as ever.
Since then, Amane’s diet had drastically improved. Every time he finished a meal, a new one would be sent over to him.
Although Mahiru’s dishes weren’t rich in seasoning, they still made you want to eat rice with them, so every meal was accompanied by retort rice prepared by her. (tl note: retort rice is apparently rice that has been sealed in a tight bag. you might see it a lot in supermarkets, apparently that’s what it’s called)
The meals varied in genre, from Western to Japanese, and the ingredients varied with them.
Expecting them to be made was becoming a sort of bad habit for Amane, and yet he relied on them so much that if his supply was cut off, he would miss the food like he’d miss a lover.
The angel’s cooking had become his reason to live. Although he thought it was a bad habit to develop, he still accepted the Tupperwares and treated his tongue to flavour.
“…you’re looking a lot more healthy recently. Is your diet improving?”
Amane’s complexion seems to have improved due to the nutritional value his dinners now had, and Itsuki’s strict eye towards his lunchtime meals.
Though Amane used to bring instant udon for lunch, Itsuki’s interference was enough to make him break into a cold sweat.
“Itsuki, you’re scaring me.”
“Hey. Did I hit the bullseye?”
“No… well… I was forced to change my diet.”
Every day, when getting back home, Mahiru would check in on Amane to see that everything was going well, and due to the added perk of handmade dinner, Amane’s quality of life improved greatly.
Though Amane wanted to leave the reasoning at “she’s an angel”, Amane couldn’t help but feel that Mahiru genuinely cared.
Itsuki laughed at Amane, who was still shaken.
“Well, not like I’m wrong. You’re unhealthy, and that’s probably a lifestyle habit.”
“Shut up.”
“Anyway, what made you change up your diet?”
“…I was forced?”
“Haha, was it your mom?”
“…you’re so close yet so far.”
Mahiru was as close to a mother as she could get.
Calling her “mom” would be a misnomer since she was still young and cute, but Mahiru’s warm care was irresistible.
“Hey, Itsuki. Am I that unhealthy?”
“Yeah. You looked pale, lanky, and dead inside, so basically you are that unhealthy.”
“I’ve always looked like that.”
“Yeah. Maybe if you showed more expression.”
“Don’t say that. …well, maybe I do look dead inside…”
Amane didn’t really pay attention to how he looked so he didn’t notice, but apparently people did think his face didn’t look lively at all.
Maybe Mahiru was worried about him because he looked dead inside all the time.
“Amane, you should pay more attention to how you look.”
“Hey, don’t just say it like that.”
“Hey~. Don’t get all fussy about your dead face. You can’t help it.”
Amane then decided to take more care of his appearance, and after receiving advice from Itsuki, he said “I’ll take care of that problem,” and turned back home.
