Aoishiro
Chapter 2
Passing by the temple gate, we got to see the compound and the main building. The wild grass that grew between the spaces of the stone pavement and the flowers that fell as they liked, gave the place a dilapidated look. The twilight that bathed the area in sepia-colored light made the area look subdued. Though not as bad as the temple gate that had plaster falling off, the main building was also rather old.
Momoko: Wah! It's rundown as expected.
Migiwa: So it is. But the rooms you're using are neat and tidy.
Momoko: That's good news.
Ayashiro: I'm a little relieved.
Aoi: Hey, you guys. Don't say such disrespectful things. We're going to be under the care of the people of this place.
Old person's voice: No, no,that's quite all right.
The person who interruped Aoi-sensei's objection was not one of us. He was not standing in front of us either, but at our side. He had a refined and cheerful voice.
Refined and cheerful voice: As you can see this is a rundown temple, but thank you for coming.
As expected, when we turned around, we saw the master of the temple. He was wearing simple, black, Buddhist robes. The figure of the Buddha around his throat was hidden by his white beard. Looking up we could see a prominent nose and thick eyebrows. From his forehead to the top of his head was a shiny area and that was all. He looked like the stereotypical mountain temple monk found in picture books. It was a big difference from the slender build of my own grandfather.
Yuukai: Oh? Did I scare you?
His shoulders formed a line upwards and standing right next to him, for Momoko, who was the shortest in our class, it must have seemed like standing next to a wall.
Yuukai: I, Suzuki Yuukai, am the humble self who is the chief priest and the only Buddhist monk on the premises. The temple is a little run-down but it is hard to handle all by myself. Because I was ringing the temple bell, I was even late in coming out to meet you.
I see. The direction the monk was pointing had an altar bell. Like what you would see on a television broadcast on New Year's Eve, it was the generic shape of an altar bell. With four pillars on four sides, it was surrounded by vegetation on three sides which gave it a peculiar look.
Ayashiro: So, the bell we just heard was run by monk-sama?
Yuukai: Yes.
Ayashiro: The sounds felt like they were purifying the heart.
Yuukai: I am sincerely grateful for your appreciation.
Ayashiro: Though, it was quite a random time to ring the bell.
Syouko: Yes...that's true.
It wasn't rung at 5 or 6 o'clock on the hour.
Yuukai: I see you've noticed. It's true that's it's rung at a random time in the middle, but as you can see, this is a poor temple, and if I used an automatic, wooden, bell hammer it wouldn't imply good karma.
Ayashiro: Automatic?
Yuukai: Fufufu. Nowadays, there's such things.
Ayashiro's eyes took on a blank look as the monk scratched his beard and continued.
Yuukai: It seems that Shoushinji is a small temple with too many parishioners, if it were like a large temple...
In the middle of speaking, he suddenly stopped and put his hand in the sleeve of his robe
Yuukai: It's a bit hard to ring the bell at a predetermined time every morning and evening. I completely understand the difficulty and it's part of my daily training, but unfortunately, I'm the only one here.
Syouko: Huh?
If the monk was the only person taking care of the temple, then...
Syouko: Kyan-san, you aren't a part of the temple's caretakers?
Migiwa: Though I came out of my way to greet you, I'm just a normal guest.
Facing my glare, she was calm and didn't look ashamed at all.
Migiwa: Anyways, I never said I was from the temple
Syouko: .....
Yuukai: Anyways...The bell at Shoushinji sometimes rings on time, and sometimes it rings late. Sometimes, the bell doesn't ring at all.
Syouko: Haa...
Yuukai: In other words, it all depends on my circumstances and feelings at the time. Wahahahaha.
If we wanted to put a bad slant on it, the joyfully laughing monk could be considered too rough, but we could also consider him as a broadminded, fine person who didn't worry about minor details.
Yuukai: Mmm?
The monk narrowed his eyes and stared at me.
Yuukai: The lady over here and the lady over there.
Syouko: Yes?
As he was speaking, the monk also looked at Yasumi.
Yuukai: Is this your first time coming here?
Yasumi: Eh? Why do you ask?
Yuukai: Searching my memory...
The monk rubbed his head.
Yuukai: You seem familiar, so I thought I'd ask.
He frowned and shook his head.
Momoko: I understand. I understand. When you want to remember, but you can't, it gives you a bad feeling. So anyways, Zawacchi, have you been here before?
Yuuka: Hmm, so the lady over there is something Zawa-san?
Yasumi: .....
As if looking to me for a clue, Yasumi glanced my way before giving a apologetic expression.
Yasumi: I'm Aizawa Yasumi. I'm the manager of the club. This is my first time coming here.
Yuukai: Hmm. In my line of work, I should be good at remembering people's name and faces, but...
Continuing to rub his head, the monk looked at the other students and then returned to look at me.
Momoko: What about you, Osa-sempai?
As she asked me, Momoko looked at the surroundings.
Syouko: They're not red, are they?
Momoko: Do you mean Osa-sempai's face?
Syouko: No...not me
Blooming from the trees, covering the ground, the color of the flowers
Note: In the game, you can choose whether you 1) remember the crimson tsubaki or 2) whether you have a sense of deja vu. The web novel is choice 1). Choice 2) makes you think about your cousin Nat-chan and of course Migiwa teases you mercilessly when you whisper Nat-chan's name.
Momoko: Do you mean the summer tsubaki?
Bathed in the light of dusk, I could confirm that the flower petals were a refreshing white color.
Momoko: They're definitely not red, but there might be red ones blooming somewhere. Are there any around here?
Yuukai: The blooming flowers, resulting whiteness, therfore, become sal
The monk answered Momoko's question in seven-and-five syllable meter. And not only did he use metered syllables, but he also added seasonal words used in haiku. He might have been a skilled artist. The person who continued the monk's explanation was Aoi-sensei who liked to turn modern words used in class into Japanese 31-syllable tanka poems while explaining things.
Aoi-sensei: A white flowered sal tree bloomed at the place in India where Buddha died. So if it's a different color, it shouldn't be a sal tree...
If that's true, then it wouldn't it be blooming at this temple where there are so many? In other words, there shouldn't be anything like a crimson tsubaki.
Syouko: I guess it was someplace else then...
Yasumi: Do you have any other clues?
Syouko: Akiko-san, my grandmother liked to travel a lot and when I little she brought me to lots of places.
Since her husband liked to stay at home and her daughter and son-in-law were busy with work, the only remaining travel companions were her granddaughter, who was still young and her niece...
Syouko: Though those long stairs seemed to bring back some weird memories...
The color of the tsubaki were burned somewhere in the back of my mind
Yasumi: Is that why you stopped walking earlier?
I nodded as an answer as I tried to organize my memory. I've visited many oceans and temples and I couldn't say the possibility was zero that the ocean wasn't Unasaka and that the temple wasn't Shoushinji.
Syouko: But I was dragged around a lot and since my memory is not altogether reliable, I might've gotten mixed up.
There isn't anything like a totally reliable memory that remembers from beginning to end.
Syouko: I don't even really remember the names of the places we went.
It could be that the red color of the flowers were mixed up with some other memories of white flowers.
Yasumi: Also, Syouko-sempai, the monk said your name sounded familiar...
Momoko: My grandfather in the country is old, but he can only clearly remember things that happened a long time ago in the past.
Aoi-sensei: Hey!
Aoi-sensei shook at fist her Momoko's rude comments which the monk restrained with an 'It's ok.' He then returned his gaze to me.
Yuukai: So what is your name, young lady?
Syouko: Do you remember anyone by the name of 'Syouko'? My name is Osanai. Osanai Syouko.
Yuukai: Osanai...Osanai...Osanai Syouko...
Stroking his beard, it didn't seem the monk recognized the last name.
Yuukai: ...I guess it was someone else.
Momoko: Syouko-sempai, it's time.
After separating to go to our assigned rooms, it was time to meet up again. There was only enough time to change out of the tight school uniforms into something more comfortable. The old, greenish tatami looked like it was recently cleaned. It would be nice to just fall down and rest but there was a little more work to do.
Syouko: Has everyone gathered?
Momoko: Aoi-sensei isn't here yet.
Syouko: Sensei didn't even need to change her clothing.
Momoko: She was already in a jersey, yes?
Ayashiro: She might be talking with the monk.
Syouko: Has anyone heard anything?
Everyone: .....
Yasumi: Let me go see.
Since arranging the schedule was the manager's job, Yasumi headed towards the hall. She walked to the sliding screen door and reached her hand towards the handle. Just as her slim, white fingers were about to reach, the tsubaki painted on the sides of the door suddenly shifted to the side and her stretched fingers paused midair. I could see Migiwa's face over Yasumi's slender shoulder. As if there was something amusing, Migiwa's eyes closed into a smiling position.
Migiwa: Hiya!
Syouko: Hello
She was the same as our Momoko and was not a bashful person. Though we'd just met a while ago, she was acting too friendly, which made me suspicious.
Syouko: Is there something you wanted?
I perversely answered in a harsh voice.
Migiwa: What kind of courtesy was that?
Momoko: This isn't the first time that Osa-sempai's acted like this.
Migiwa: Oh, is that so? Then, that's fine.
Syouko: .....
Migiwa: Anyways, I have a message from Aoi-sensei to Osa.
Syouko: Osa?
Migiwa: At first I was going to politely call you Osanai-san or something like that, but then it'd be a little hard if I changed how I was going to call you in the middle of speaking. And lastly, Osanai-san is such a long name and dull.
Compared to the more commonplace names like Satou-san or Suzuki-san, my last name has an extra character but did that make the name dull?
Migiwa: Also, we're the same age so calling you sempai is also out
I don't remember telling her my age or year in school but she might have found out from Aoi-sensei. She might also have guessed from our conversations up until now.
Syouko: Fine, you can call me that.
She was a little too friendly for someone I just met, but I was used to being called 'Osa' so I didn't have any other objections.
Migiwa: Well, you can call me something appropriate too.
Momoko: Then, how about Kyan-Kyan!
Migiwa: That's what you came up with!?
That was as expected from Momoko.
Ayashiro: Kyan-Kyan
Yasumi: Kyan-Kyan
This was like fighting poison with poison or barbarians with barbarians. It was an atrocious display.
Migiwa: Umm, Momo-chi. Could you pick a more stylish and cool name?
Momoko: Then, Migi-san.
Migiwa: .....
Momoko: Don't you think Kyan-Kyan sounds sharper than Migi-san?
Migiwa: Ah...
Kyan-san wound her finger in her short hair with a 'what's up with this' expression.
Migiwa: ...Okay, whatever.
Syouko: Then, that's fine.
She accepted everything lightly.
Migiwa: Osa can also call me Migi.
Syouko: ...I'll just call you Migiwa as normal
Migiwa: Really?
And why is -san added to her name when used as Migi-san?
But back to the main topic.
Syouko: So, what was the message from sensei?
Migiwa: Sensei said she'll leave the pinch-hitting to you and she was going to take a break.
Syouko: Pinch-hitting?
Migiwa: Yes, pinch-hitting.
She made a gesture of swinging a bat and after that, pointed her thumb at her chest.
Migiwa: Well, that's me I guess.
Momoko: Was sensei bribed or something?
Migiwa: Well, that could be true or not depending on your point of view. During your training camp, you'll be having meals with the monk, right?
Yasumi: Yes, that was the plan.
That was our way of returning the favor and adding one more person to the table didn't make much of a difference. Aoi-sensei's plan was to exchange three meals a day in exchange for the room fees. But that exchange didn't take into account Kyan-san, Migiwa's appearance.
Migiwa: It's lonely if I'm the only outcast.
Yasumi: It would be a shame since we will have leftover rice and miso soup.
Migiwa: So this was the result of the meeting between myself, Aoi-sensei, and the monk.
One, two, three, she lifted her fingers in turn starting from her index finger and ending with her ring finger.
And then she exchanged one of those fingers with her thumb.
Migiwa: So I'll also be joining you.
She used her thumb to point to herself indicating 'give'.
Migiwa: And in return, I'll help out as much as I can.
She opened up her palm and pointed at us indicating 'take'.
Migiwa: So that was the result. Yoroshiku!
No one had any objections so she shook hands with me, the captain, and that established the agreement.
Syouko: And what about sensei?
Migiwa: Since she's already confirmed whose helping out, she didn't need to be here anymore so she's taking a bath. And also, at Shoushinji, the baths are onsen.
Momoko: Onsen?
Migiwa: It seems they draw water from a water pipe from a location higher than the temple and they can draw water from the source of the spring.
Since there were famous volcanoes in the area, this was not unusual.
Momoko: It's like high-class living.
Migiwa: I did bring the idea up with sensei and she was ok with it.
Sensei believed that summer training was important and this was just a side benefit.
Migiwa: So, Osa, what are you going to do now?
Syouko: First, let's do job assignments. I was thinking let's have the minimum number of people prepare dinner and the rest of us will clean.
I looked around the room.
Ayashiro: From Momoko-chan's description, I was afraid the room would be in need of more cleaning.
Yasumi: Ah, me too.
Our rooms were probably cleaned before we came. They were swept and in a clean condition so no one could complain.
Though the room was old, it wasn't dirty. The tatami that lost its color had a grassy smell, which was not unpleasant. It would be a comfortable room for most people.
Syouko: If the room needs cleaning, then we'll leave it up to the individual.
On the other hand, the places besides where people were living needed to be tidied up. I looked at the window that had been opened to let in the wind. It was probably too much for one person to handle and the place was littered with countless numbers of tsubaki that had fallen to the ground. Blossoming in the morning and falling in the evening, the flowers of the sal trees littered the ground like a white mountain.
Syouko: Anyways, let's clean up the outside areas first.
The mountain of white flowers would probably rot if let be.
Syouko: It'll be hard, but let's try not to disturb the hall or courtyard.
Ayashiro: During those situations, I'll check with the monk if it's ok.
Syouko: Yes, please do that.
Was there anything else that should come first besides cleaning outside the rooms?
Syouko: Sensei is using the onsen so let's leave that alone.
And also, the onsen are on all-day and night.
Ayashiro: Then, there's preparations for dinner.
All the eyes of the club members turned to Yasumi. The only one who didn't know the situation finally turned her eyes towards Yasumi.
Migiwa: Oh?
Just looking at Yasumi was not enough so she took one step, two steps, and walked up to Yasumi.
Momoko: Ah!
She placed her hands on both sides of Yasumi's face and brought it close to her own.
Yasumi: ...Eh?
Under the shadow cast by Migiwa, Yasumi was watched carefully.
Migiwa: I see. This IS the face of someone who looks like they make snacks.
Yasumi: Eh? Eh? Eh?
Momoko: Wait...! Migi-san! What are you doing....!?
Migiwa: I'm examining Yasu-min.
Momoko: Aren't you getting a little too friendly!? Osa-sempai! Don't just stand there staring. Hurry and help Zawacchi!
Momoko looked at me after voicing her protest against Migiwa. I gave a big sigh and stepped between Yasumi and Migiwa.
Syouko: I'm glad you're willing to help us out, but don't do any weird things to the club members.
Migiwa: Why not? It doesn't hurt.
Syouko: It does. It'll affect their nerves or their spirit.
Migiwa: Wah! That sounds bad.
Migiwa stopped joking around and dropped both her hands with a sigh. She definitely was too friendly or something.
Migiwa: Then giving me information is enough. Is Yasumin the head cook of the kendo club or something?
Yasumi: Eh...
Yasumi who didn't have enough confidence didn't answer but why did Momoko answer with such pride?
Momoko: Zawacchi's food is so delicious it'll cause you to stuff yourself until your cheeks droop.
She said that with a lot of confidence. I don't know if she was just being silly or not.
Migiwa: Ho, ho!
Momoko: And she also cooks at the dorms and the other cooks are all jealous.
Yasumi: Momo-chan, that's saying too much.
Momoko: No, it's not too much! Not at all!
Migiwa: If it's true, you're pretty good.
In a traditional and formal school such as Seijou, there were also a lot of rich, young ladies who were brought up on rich food so the working conditions for the cooks were quite hard too. The students agree that the food at the dorms is good so if 80 percent of what Momoko was saying was true, that's impressive.
Migiwa: Osa, did you know about this?
Syouko: I've only heard rumors since I commute to school.
Migiwa: So you've never tasted it before?
Momoko: Fufu! Only dorm students have the right to taste Zawacchi's food.
Migiwa: What about lunch?
Syouko: There hasn't really been an opportunity.
Ayashiro: Fufu. I'm looking forward to dinner.
Due to those circumstances, Yasumi was put in charge of dinner.
Syouko: So, Yasumi, how many people do you need?
Yasumi: Eh?
Syouko: How many people do you need to help with preparing dinner?
Yasumi: With this many people, I'll be fine by myself.
Syouko: Really?
Yasumi: I'll just make something appropriate for this amount of people.
It's not limited to cooking, but normally if you increase the number of people you increase the efficiency. And we should also check the size of the kitchen area and the cooking utensils available.
Syouko: But still...
Even if one person is enough we should have people proportional to the workload.
Syouko: Anyways, let's have one more person help out Yasumi.
There'll be a difference in ability but with two people you can still work together and be more efficient and also plan things out together.
Syouko: If you don't care who it is, I can help you out.
Yasumi: Syo...Syo...Syouko-sempai!?
Syouko: Is it that surprising?
Yasumi's eyes darted back and forth and her cheeks flushed as she gave a confused look and put her hands on her hips with a little sigh. Was it that surprising that I offered to help out with the cooking?
In order to assuage everyone's uneasiness about today's dinner and also to restore my pride I should say something.
Syouko: I do help out quite a bit with the housework at home.
My parents were both busy with work and my grandfather was still on active duty so there were many opportunities for me to cook.
Syouko: But if it would be hard for you to work with me...
Yasumi's concern might not be about my cooking ability but psychological instead. Under the command of a gruff captain, she might be the type to get unnecessarily tired. I looked around to find a suitable replacement which Yasumi wouldn't reject though I couldn't find anyone on the same level as her.
Syouko: That's right. How about Momoko instead...
Yasumi: That's ok! Sempai is fine. Sempai is fine.
Syouko: .....
Note: In the game, you have a choice to 1) help out in the kitchen or 2) help tidy the yard. If you choose to tidy up in the yard, The web novel is choice 1). In choice 2), Momoko will be assigned to help out and Yasumi replies that if Momoko's helping, she rather do it alone... But eventually someone else is assigned to help Yasumi. See Aoi Shiro Ch. 1 - Yuri-hime version in Vol 9 to see Momoko helping Yasumi in the dorm kitchen and the results.
That was strange behavior for her. I was more surprised by her sharp refusal than by her interrupting me. It could be that she just reacted because she blushed and looked down.
Yasumi: It's not that. Momo-chan is...
Momoko: Ok, ok. I understand. I understand
Yasumi's voice trailed off and Momoko clasper her
shoulder and looked towards me.
Momoko: Osa-sempai.
Syouko: Yes?
Momoko: I'm actually more the type of person who just eats.
At our school, there are the type of people who aim to be good wives and mothers, but on the other hand there are also pampered girls who never hold a knife outside cooking class. And that's the disappointing truth.
Syouko: .....
That was the way things were at school, but she was saying that she herself was the latter type.
Syouko: I guess that is a bit disappointing.
Well, if I was ok, then there's no point in forcing Momoko to help. And also I didn't want to insist on it and take any additional risks.
Syouko: Ok, then, I'll help Yasumi and the rest of you are responsible for cleaning.
Ayashiro: Ok, leave it to us.
During its best times, there must have been a lot of priests as indicated by the size of the monastery kitchen.
Syouko: We're not lacking anything are we?
Yasumi: No, we have everything.
We confirmed and arranged the ingredients we bought in advance and then started cooking.
Syouko: So, what are we making today?
Yasumi: Since it's the first day, I thought we'd make something not too difficult.
Onions, carrots, potatotes. There were plenty of each of those ingredients and I could guess what we were going to make.
Yasumi: I thought we could make curry.
Syouko: It's true, that's not too difficult.
Yasumi: And also have miso soup and salad.
Syouko: Sounds good.
If you don't make something too difficult, it'll be hard to make something bad-tasting. And if there's a big enough pot you can make everything all at once. And also curry is something that can be made as a practice dish or at camp so it's a suitable dish. The only additional thing is to determine the spicyness. In Japan, there's very few people that dislike curry. I also don't mind eating curry.
Syouko: How spicy do you want to make it?
Yasumi: I was thinking about medium hot for the base because the other ingredients would sweeten it.
Syouko: You really did pick an easy dish.
Yasumi: Sorry.
Syouko: I'm fine with medium hot.
Yasumi: If you like it a little spicier, I can try to add some spices or something.
Syouko: Medium hot is no problem for me.
I don't know if it was my attitude, or if it was my face, but I was thought of as someone who liked to drink, yet I was only average in my ability to handle spicy food. And also, I don't hate sweet things, but there's also a limit to how much I can eat. All in all, I had average tastes.
Syouko: It'll take a long time to stew, so let's do that after the curry?
Yasumi: That's true, it'll be bad to stew too long.
Syouko: It's said that the second day is more delicious.
That was the common belief and I've already tried it. In this situation if we slowly boil it, the second day's curry will be different and have a different taste.
Syouko: Did you also plan to have curry tomorrow morning?
Yasumi: I was thinking about it if there was extra but then it's also summer so...
If it was just for a couple people, we could put the portions in the refrigerator but there was no room for ten or more people. If we slowly stew it it should be ok, but everyone's digestive system was different and the personal welfare of the training camp was most important.
Syouko: That's true, let's finish everything today then.
Yasumi: Momo-chan's here so I think it'll be ok.
I carefully washed both my hands and started preparations.
Shoushinji is a temple that has apprenticeships so it has the 3 great lifelines - water, gas, and electricity. It also had a rice cooker and microwave but they looked to be only of the size to feed a person away from his family or for a student. It didn't seem enough to feed girls who could eat without getting fat. I looked around for a suitable replacement and saw an iron kettle with a thick bottom. Rice cooked in an iron kettle sounded as if it would be more delicious than cooked as normal and it seemed suitable for a training camp.
Syouko: Do you think you can cook with this?
Yasumi: If we could control the fire, we could somehow manage.
Even traditional Japanese restaurants use easy to control gas powered iron kettles. As a kid raised by my grandmother, I have never used anything that was cooked over a fire. This would be like cooking rice with utensils at a campfire.
Yuukai: How are preparations going ladies?
Yasumi: Ah, monk-san.
The monk came in with his neck twisted around an object which he was holding.
Yasumi: We were thinking about cooking rice, but...
Yuukai: I also forgot that we only had such a small rice cooker.
Pointing to the rice cooker and iron kettle, the monk understood our point. The monk put his package on the kitchen table.
Yuukai: I borrowed these from parishioners. You can use these.
The monk put down various models of rice cookers. You need lots of rice for curry but with five rice cookers, you could cook enough rice for 4 tables with enough to spare.
Syouko: Ah, we're saved.
Yasumi: We're a little inexperienced with cooking rice in an iron pot.
What Yasumi said was true, but cooking that was was also a little romantic.
Syouko: Without a rice-cooker, it's hard to control the temperature.
Yuukai: We're living in a time with convenient things.
The monk put his hands in his sleeves.
Yuukai: Then, good luck to you.
I wondered what the parishioners were going to do about their dinner. For tonight and tomorrow morning, they could have noodle dishes and bread, but training camp was going to continue beyond that.
Syouko: .....
I'll check with the monk later to make sure. While the rice was soaking, I was going to finish chopping ingredients but...
Syouko: Looking at this, we're going to be making a lot of food.
Looking at the amount of food gathered, it seems I was a little naive in my estimation of the amount of work. When practicing cooking in class, we were in groups of five so we only had to make enough food for 4 or 5 people. Even when cooking curry at home, it was for a normal sized family so that's the amount of people I've cooked for.
Syouko: Maybe we should call some more people to help.
Yasumi: I think it's ok. Even with the monk-san and Migiwa, it's less than 20 people.
Syouko: I think it'd be a lot of work if it were more than 10 people...
Yasumi: I'm used to it...
Yasumi looked embarrassed for a moment.
Syouko: That's right. You're quite famous in the dorms.
Living together in a place like that, it was easy for gossip to get out.
Syouko: They cook three meals a day in the dorms, right? I heard it's quite good.
Yasumi: Yes, it's delicious, but they don't cook on weekends and holidays.
It's the first time I heard that, but it made sense.
Yasumi: At Seijou, there aren't a lot of girls that live really far from their home.
It's true that a lot of my classmates could commute if they troubled themselves a bit. So living in the dorms was actually a sort of status. It was a good compromise between girls that wanted to have some freedom from their parents and their parents who worried about their kids away from home.
Yasumi: So during weekends and holidays, a lot of people return home. So then it became a day off for the cooks.
Syouko: I see, because not many people stay.
Then in that situation it would quickly become custom.
The peeled skin was long and thin.
It was a fascinating display of skill.
Syouko: I see...so Momoko didn't say you cook well just because of favoritism.
Yasumi: Ehehe...I do have lots of practice though. Practice does compensate for ability up to a certain level.
Syouko: That's true. It hasn't been more than half a year since you moved to the dorms though, right?
Yasumi: Yes, that's true.
Syouko: So saying you had lots of practice, you were cooking before you moved to the dorms?
Yasumi: Well, cooking is my hobby.
It seemed that her knife slipped and slowed a little bit.
Yasumi: I only started cooking a lot starting this year, but I've been cooking since I was a little child. I was in a single mother family so I was in charge of the chores.
Syouko: So your mother should be lonely since you moved to the dorms.
Yasumi: .....
This time, her hand stopped completely.
Yasumi: I'm alone now.
Syouko: Eh?
Yasumi: My mother died in a car accident before high school exams.
Ah, I was thinking too lightly. When she said she WAS in a single mother household I thought she was talking in the past tense. I should've considered that her mother passed away or remarried. If only I knew Yasumi a little better. I am the captain, but I know nothing about the members. That could be another reason for the training camp.
Yasumi: I don't have any relatives either. I owe a lot to the apartment owner back then. That person recommended Seijou as a good school with a dorm and also confirmed my identity to the school. I don't remember much of what happened back then. Taking the school exam was also hazy and before I knew it, I was at Seijou.
Syouko: Is that true?
Yasumi: I did take the exam.
Syouko: Yes, that must be true.
Yasumi: Then spring came and I became roommates with Momoko and I was able to enter the club I wanted, unlike middle school...
She finished her story and smiled.
Syouko: But still, you're impressive. Momoko didn't praise you for nothing.
She cut the ingredients without any wasted motions. Everything was also the same size so it would absorb the flavors evenly. The skin of the potato was also peeled quickly into a corner.
Yasumi: Syouko-sempai is also familiar with using a knife.
Note: In the game after Yasumi finishes the story of her past, you choose to 1) praise Yasumi or 2) ask what happened to the rest of Yasumi's family. The novel chooses 1). If you choose 2), Yasumi says her dad and older sister died when she was young and Syouko will think about Nat-chan.
Syouko: This is normal, to know this much.
I could feel my face heating up but unfortunately, both my hands were occupied so I couldn't put my palms to my face to cool down. There was no helping it so I used the knife to concentrate on digging out the sprouts on the potato.
Syouko: .....
The level of my cooking was such that I could cook so that it was edible. I also didn't have a big repository of things I could cook. I couldn't be compared with someone like Yasumi who could cook sweets and such. Though if I was given instructions, I could strain stuff and use a mortar and pestle.
Syouko: Both my parents are alive and well but they're both busy with work since it's their interest. And also, Akiko-san, my grandmother also cooked, and since I was her little granddaughter, I helped her. The reason I'm familiar with cooking is because of that I think.
Yasumi: Eh? I thought sempai's grandmother died a long time ago.
Syouko: Eh? Did I say that?
Since people joked that I acted beyond my age, I might've explained the reason sometime before.
Yasumi: Ah...eh...am I wrong? I thought I heard it from Ayashiro-sempai or someone else.
Syouko: No, you're right. After Akiko-san died, my mom who didn't have a lot of work to do wanted to return to work quickly. That was when I was in elementary school.
Yasumi: Wah...
Syouko: Well, I don't really care as long as it's edible. Though I can cook, I don't really like to.
Yasumi: That's too bad since you can cook this well.