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The teacher came in, and the frenzied atmosphere in the classroom faded a lot. They still had several exams waiting before Christmas. If they didn't do well in the exams, they would probably have a hard Christmas.
After class, Shiina Mahiru grabbed Natsume Rin's clothes and led him to the corridor to discuss something.
"Eh?" Natsume Rin glared at the boy who was making a fuss and looked at her with a confused expression.
"Come to my house this weekend." said Shiina Mahiru.
"Why don't you just knock on the door? Is there any need to call me out?" Natsume Rin scratched his head in confusion, "And is there something urgent?"
"It's about Eriri-senpai."
When she said this, Natsume Rin immediately recalled the request that Eriri made after tasting the barbecue she prepared, but she didn't expect that it had not been fulfilled yet.
"Then why should I go there?"
He still didn't understand why the senior asked her to help with cooking and why she had to bring him along.
"We may not be able to finish it, so you have to come and help." She succinctly broke all of Natsume Rin's strange thoughts and simply pulled him over to eat.
Since the senior student showed so much importance, she would definitely use all her skills. By that time, there would be no way to solve the problem with two more girls, so Natsume Rin would have to put up with it.
"...I'm really good at this, I hope Shiina-san can perform better." Natsume Rin expressed her expectations tactfully.
When he returned to the classroom, Totsuka called him over. Now he finally understood why the class monitor and the others were so excited.
"The school will organize a dance at Christmas. If I behave well at that time, I should be able to escape the fate of being single!"
prom?
Natsume Rin remembered that this was also a ghost thing left by Yang No. Ever since she organized this event when she was the president of the student union, the school has regarded this matter as a rule.
On the one hand it was indeed a dance, but on the other hand it was also a place to bid farewell to the third graders.
"Do you have a dance partner?" Natsume Rin discovered the blind spot.
You can't just wait and try your luck at the dance without a dance partner.
"In fact, most of the students are paired up at the dance, so it's not a problem even if you don't have a dance partner." Totsuka Ayaka spoke up for him.
"It seems that there is none."
Natsume Rin smiled. He was not very interested in the dance party, but he was very interested in making fun of his good brother.
"That's why I want to go because I don't have any. If I had a friend of the opposite sex who could become a dance partner, I wouldn't even think about going to the dance!"
After despising him, Natsume Rin brought up the topic during the after-school service club.
"Not interested." "Waste of time."
The two young ladies had unusually consistent attitudes, almost making Natsume Rin suspect that their broken relationship had been restored.
No, it cannot be said to be a breakup. It can only be said to be a small conflict and friction between best friends. On the surface, the two of them still maintain a close appearance, but the frequency of sabotaging each other while talking has increased a lot.
"A high school dance is pretty interesting when you think about it."
Natsume Rin wasn't too interested either, and after a slight sigh, she put the matter behind her.
As for the two young ladies, they had probably attended quite a few balls, so they naturally had no interest in this kind of group.
Especially for Minister Yukino, considering that the dance tradition of Sobu High School was established by her annoying sister, we can't expect her to have too much enthusiasm.
Senior Eriri finally broke the routine of going back and forth between home and school and came to the house openly for a free meal.
Chapter 196: Are you guys living together?
"Oh hayo, I brought a present for Shiina-san."
Eriri pushed open the door and walked in. As soon as she put the gift on the table, she couldn't believe her eyes when she saw Natsume Rin helping in the kitchen.
"You two are not living together!"
Although the relationship between them was expected, seeing such a home scene is still very visually impactful.
"Senior, you guessed it right, but it's a pity there is no reward." Natsume Rin poked her head out of the kitchen, and her triumphant laughter didn't last for two seconds before she was pulled back by Shiina Mahiru.
"Don't listen to his nonsense, I just came here to help." Shiina Mahiru, who was wearing a scarf, explained to the senior, but seeing that she looked very unconvinced, she gave up the idea of continuing.
They were familiar with each other, but not familiar enough to know each other intimately. Moreover, her relationship with Eriri was one level lower than that with Senior Kasumigaoka.
Although they are rivals, it is precisely because of this that she has very in-depth exchanges with Kasumigaoka-senpai in order to discover the elements that can defeat her.
There was still some time before lunch was ready, and Ying Lili was too embarrassed to eat rice, so she tried to go into the kitchen to help.
Then, she was politely kicked out by Natsume Rin.
"Senior, please don't come in and make trouble. The space in the kitchen is limited. Just sit there and prepare to eat."
The tone was polite, but the content was a blatant disdain for her being a burden.
Ying Lili sat at the table, her chin supported by her hands, looking at the kitchen angrily.
How long have these two people been working together? Their movements are so skillful and coordinated that she couldn't find many loopholes even if she wanted to cause trouble!
"Let's prepare dinner. I might have made a little too much this time. I don't know if I can satisfy Eriri-senpai."
Shiina Mahiru brought a steaming pot to the dining table, while Natsume Rin was preparing the main course.
Because of the customs of the island country, and also for Shiina's consideration for his senior, in addition to steamed rice, he also specially prepared noodles. Given the richness of today's dishes, a large part of them would be left over.
Natsume Rin glanced at the full plate of food and touched her stomach unconsciously, wondering if it would be too cruel for her to finish them all by herself.
He is not a big eater.
"This is the hairtail fish I bought from the market this morning. Senior, how about trying my steamed fish?"
"How about this soba noodle recipe I learned from TV?"
"I specially asked someone to bring the duck from the countryside. The meat is more tender than the ones in the city."
Shiina Mahiru is like a salesperson selling products. She introduces each dish to the customer in detail, and only leaves satisfied after seeing the customer give a thumbs up after eating it.
By the time the table was fully stocked, Eriri was already stroking her belly and squinting her eyes in satisfaction after the first round of tasting.
"Senior, come and try the rice from Hokkaido."
Eriri waved her hands timidly, trying to express that she had absorbed enough inspiration, and when she returned home, the difficulties she faced in painting would be solved.
Natsume Rin, who was staring at them eagerly, suddenly slammed the table, scaring the two girls.
"Senior, this meal must take two full hours, otherwise it will be a waste of Shiina-san's kindness."
"That's not necessary..." Shiina Mahiru wanted to speak, but after seeing his painful expression, she reacted.
He is reducing the burden on himself.
Thinking that it would be difficult for him to eat all the remaining food, she spoke towards Natsume Rin unconsciously: "Senior, we spent the whole morning making this, and if he only eats a few bites..."
Having said that, in order to have a reason to come over for a free meal in the future, Ying Lili could only grit her teeth and start eating.
“But can food really serve as an inspiration?”
Natsume Rin put down the drink in her hand and looked at Eriri with great curiosity.
He had eaten Shiina's meals many times, and every time he felt that the food tasted great, but he had never had the illusion that he could write tens of thousands of words without stopping after eating.
Could it be that the effects of this vary from person to person? And is Eriri-senpai particularly suitable for food therapy?
"I can't explain the specific principle, but when I ate the barbecue made by Shiina-san at the resort, I did have this thought: 'As long as I can eat Shiina-san's food, the problems that are bothering me will disappear.' The success of the work that night also proved my conjecture." Eriri stuffed a few buckwheat noodles in her mouth.
"You actually have this superpower?"
Natsume Rin looked at Shiina Mahiru and expressed this meaning with her eyes. The other party also looked confused. Although the cooking skills he learned from his aunt were indeed good, he had never encountered such a situation before.
"It's Eriri-senpai's own problem."
Natsume Rin thought about it carefully and felt that it should be so.
Maybe it was because Eriri already had enough accumulation, and she happened to eat the food she cooked, which made her happy and made her subsequent work go smoothly. However, if we attribute all the reasons to the food, it feels like we are entering the plot of "The Cooking Master Boy".
"No, I really can't eat any more."
Naturally, Ying Lili could not be satisfied with the two hours that a normal person could hardly reach. After barely finishing the rice in the bowl, she leaned against the sofa and refused to eat.
They were all good kids, so naturally there would be no forced plot. Seeing Shiina Mahiru standing up while holding her stomach, Natsume Rin resigned herself to cleaning up the table and preparing to put it in the refrigerator to freeze, to be slowly consumed over the next few days.
"Hehe." Seeing his expression, Eriri proudly showed her cute fangs: "Natsume, how is your relationship with Kasumigaoka?"
"How about what?"
Shiina Mahiru, who was cleaning in the kitchen, pricked up her ears to eavesdrop on her competitor's situation.
Before she found out who his real girlfriend was, he had already been exposed and was single again. Although Mahiru was very angry when she was deceived, she became restless again when she saw an opportunity.
"Don't play dumb. She's busy looking for a dance partner for this dance. You can't escape." Ying Lili smiled and betrayed her best friend's next plan.
prom?
Shiina Mahiru became alert. She had not had the slightest interest in the dance before, but now she had decided to go over and disrupt it.
"Why is she going to the dance?" Natsume Rin rubbed her forehead in distress while packing her things.
I've never heard of a cool senior being interested in this kind of thing before.
"Because you can't refuse her legitimate request, and it's the last event of high school, so it's normal for her to bring you along."
Natsume Rin raised her head and met the eyes of Shiina Mahiru who was looking over. The meaning in the girl's eyes was unpredictable, and Natsume Rin felt her head hurt even more.
Chapter 197 Meeting the Parents
After seeing off the satisfied senior Eriri, Shiina Mahiru stopped him.
"Are you free tonight?" She pinched her hair and asked softly.
Eh?
Natsume Rin, who was confused about the situation but had a free meal, nodded, indicating that she still had plenty of free time.
"My father wants to meet you because of something at the resort. Please dress up nicely tonight."
She said this lightly, without giving Natsume Rin a chance to react, and pushed him out. Natsume Rin, who was standing outside the door in a daze, finally reacted, opened his mouth and looked at the closed door, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Wait, he doesn't seem to agree.
And how did the situation develop to the point of meeting the parents? Shiina's father should have known him for a long time.