About a month passed by.
“How is today’s bento?”
“Yes, it’s delicious.”
Yuzuru and Arisa were eating their lunch together.
After finishing Arisa’s homemade bento and Arisa finishing her own …
Yuzuru took out a small package from his bag.
“… Arisa, here. Take it.”
“Is it correct to assume that it’s the return gift for White Day?”
Right, it was White Day that day.
This was the day for boys to give back gifts to girls.
“Yeah, well, something like that.”
“Thank you very much. May I open it?”
Yuzuru nodded a little nervously at Arisa’s question.
Arisa carefully removed the ribbon and opened the package.
“Oh…?”
Arisa’s eyes widened in surprise.
What appeared from it was some cookies.
Of course, cookies weren’t so strange as a White Day gift.
The problem was the cookie itself.
They were slightly misshapen and carefully wrapped one by one in a transparent bag.
When she saw the cookies, which looked more homemade than store-bought, her eyes fluttered a few times.
Then she asked Yuzuru,
“Are they handmade by Yuzuru-san?”
“A-ah… well, something like that”
It was Yuzuru’s handmade cookies.
There were three flavors: plain, chocolate, and green tea.
Each of them was cut out in a shape that could be seen as a heart shape…
“May I try one?”
“Please, go ahead… I’d like to know what you think of them.”
“Well then, let’s get right to it.”
Arisa nodded and picked up one of the plain cookies and brought it to her mouth.
She chewed it slowly as if savoring it.
“…How is it?”
Yuzuru asked after confirming that Arisa had swallowed it.
“Let’s see….”
Arisa looked a little thoughtful before answering.
“It’s buttery and tasty.”
“I-I see. I’m glad to hear that.”
Yuzuru patted his chest in relief.
For the first time, Yuzuru learned that it was nerve-wracking to ask for feedback on a dish.
Every time Arisa served Yuzuru a dish, she felt similar nervousness.
“If I may dare to add…”
“…dare?”
Briefly relieved, Yuzuru was unintentionally startled by Arisa’s disturbing words.
“The thickness of the dough should be even. Also, it is better to cool the dough properly before baking so that it will not lose its shape.”
“I-I see… that’s helpful… But, still, you’re amazing.”
Yuzuru was amazed that Arisa could tell just by the shape and taste of the cookies that Yuzuru had baked the dough without letting it cool.
Arisa, on the other hand, shook her head.
“No, I’m used to making them… Yuzuru-san, this is your first time making cookies, right? Based on that, I think they are well made.”
Yuzuru couldn’t help but chuckle at Arisa’s words.
“Ah… no, well, I did make a few mistakes. I gave you the one that turned out the best.”
Incidentally, the failed batches were handed over to Ayaka and the others.
Of course, he did not give them anything that might cause physical problems such as burnt or charred food.
“I-I see, this is the best of them…”
Arisa looked a little puzzled.
But immediately shook her head.
“No… we all don’t make it well the first time. Don’t worry about it.”
“…r-really?”
Yuzuru was very curious about Arisa’s true feelings, which were probably contained in that ‘No….‘.
But Yuzuru decided that he would be happier if he did not know, and decided not to ask too much about it.
“By the way, Yuzuru-san. What are you going to do about the spring semester prep school? I’d like to take it…”
“I’ll take it too.”
“Oh, really?”
“…Is it that surprising?”
Yuzuru chuckled unintentionally.
Of course, Yuzuru never liked to study.
But when he had to do it, he would do it well.
There were certain techniques for taking examinations and tests in the first place.
They could not be learned by self-study or in school classes alone.
Although the effectiveness of these techniques could not be determined…
The option of attending a spring semester course for a trial was not that bad from a cost-effective standpoint.
“No, but… you see, Yuzuru-san, you know, I thought you might be traveling with your family…”
“Ah… That certainly happened last year, didn’t it?”
The Takasegawa family had a tradition of going abroad for a family vacation around springtime.
Last year, he could not see Arisa for a while because of that.
“Last year?”
“I’m not going this year… I’m thinking of concentrating on my studies for the whole year.”
Yuzuru also did not think that going or not going on a family vacation would make a difference in whether or not he passed or failed.
In short, it was a matter of preparedness.
“I see. So that’s the case.”
Arisa clapped her hands in a happy voice.
Even if it was only for a short time during spring break, being unable to see Yuzuru was something that Arisa would miss.
“Then we can spend this year’s spring vacation …together”
Arisa said with a happy expression on her face.
During the summer vacation, she spent a lot of time with Yuzuru, almost living together with him.
That made Arisa very happy, and she was delighted to be able to do the same in the spring.
“Ah… about that…”
However, Yuzuru scratched his cheek in response to Arisa’s reaction.
Arisa tilted her head at Yuzuru, who had an awkward expression on his face.
“Um…, do you have any plans?”
“I don’t have any plans. As I said before, I want to concentrate on my studies… So about that, I’m thinking of stopping living alone from spring break.”
Arisa’s eyes widened as she heard Yuzuru’s words.
“That’s… Ah, yes, that’s right. Originally, you could commute from your parents’ house if you wanted to. That would be better for you if you wanted to concentrate on your studies.”
Yuzuru lived alone because he ‘wanted to live alone’.
The condition for such selfishness was that he had to earn his living expenses by working part-time.
Of course, the amount of study time would be reduced by the amount of working hours.
If he wanted to concentrate on his entrance examinations, he should not work part-time.
“Then, does that mean you are going to quit your part-time job as well?”
“Yes, that’s right. Well, I won’t quit right away, …but I’m sorry for acting on my own.”
Yuzuru then bowed lightly to Arisa.
Arisa also worked part-time at the same place as Yuzuru.
She did this partly to earn money for gifts for Yuzuru, but also because she wanted to work together with Yuzuru.
If he quits, Arisa will have no reason to work at the restaurant.
“No, it’s okay. Studying is more important… That’s right. I also… right, to be honest, I was also wondering if I should continue in my third year.”
It seemed that they both concluded that they would have to stop working part-time.
They naturally felt sorry about it, but…
In the first place, their employer must have known that Yuzuru and Arisa are high school students and that they would most likely stop in their third year to focus on their exams.
Above all, they had no intention of abandoning an important time in their own lives because of it.
“But, I see. That would mean… I would have less time to spend with Yuzuru-san, wouldn’t it?”
“That’s true… That would be the case for next year, I guess?”
If they could attend the same prep school, the time they could spend together would be the same.
They thought for a moment but did not say it out loud.
The two of them did not take the entrance examination so lightly that they would attend a prep school just because they wanted to spend time together.
“…Next school year? Won’t you be spending spring break at your parents’ house?”
Therefore, Arisa was curious about Yuzuru’s term ‘next school year’.
The next school year would mean after April of this year.
However, spring vacation goes through March… which would be the current school year.
“Ah… about that, you know… if you don’t mind, would you like to come to my house?”
Arisa’s eyes opened wide at Yuzuru’s words.
“Of course, I’ve already talked to my family about it. You know, I’m going to miss spending time with you all of a sudden… especially since I’ll be all alone while my family is abroad. Well… of course, if you don’t mind, but, um, what do you think?”
“By all means!”
Arisa took Yuzuru’s hand with a twinkle in her eye.
TN: And the new arc begins… :p
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