As everyone knows, for those who rarely cook, terms like "a pinch," "to taste," "half a spoon," and "a dash" are basically unsolved mysteries of the world!
When Izumi Aimi saw these ambiguous terms in the recipe, she was utterly dumbfounded.
Hearing Aimi's explanation, Izumi Kotomi finally understood why Aimi had added so much salt.
Half a spoon? What even is half a spoon? Half of what size spoon?
After gulping down two large glasses of cold water, Aimi felt better. For a mont after that one bite, she thought she had completely lost her sense of taste.
With her head hung low, Aimi let out a disappointed sigh and mumbled, "I just wanted to make tamagoyaki that you'd like, Onee-chan, but I ended up failing. It's way too salty. I should just throw it away."
How could her sister possibly enjoy such a salty, scrambled-egg-looking tamagoyaki?
As she lifted her head and was about to toss her failed attempt in the trash, Aimi saw Kotomi scoop up all the tamagoyaki into her bowl, mixing it with rice. Without giving Aimi the chance to throw it away, Kotomi devoured everything in just a few bites.
"Don't eat it, Onee-chan!" Aimi rushed over to stop her.
But Kotomi simply set her bowl down with a clatter after finishing off the salty, scrambled-egg-like tamagoyaki, leaving nothing behind—not even a single scrap of egg.
"Sis, how could you eat it all? Isn't it too salty? Aren't you uncomfortable? You should've spat it out!" Aimi hurriedly poured a large glass of cold water for Kotomi, her eyes reddening in worry. After all, Aimi had only taken one bite and thought her sense of taste was gone, yet Kotomi hadn't even flinched and had eaten it all.
After downing the water in one go, Kotomi wiped her mouth with her sleeve and, with a look of pure relief, exclaid, "That was terrible!"
"I know, it was like sothing out of a horror movie! So why did you eat it all… even though it tasted so bad?" Aimi asked, completely baffled.
Kotomi rely looked at Aimi, smiled warmly, and said with genuine encouragent, "Looking forward to next ti!"
Aimi was stunned. Despite how awful her dish had been, her sister had eaten every bite and, with the warst smile, told her she was looking forward to her next attempt.
Looking forward… to the next ti?
After a brief pause, Aimi smiled too. With newfound determination, she nodded vigorously and said, "Mm!"
For a while now, Aimi had felt as though the distance between her and her sister was growing wider and wider, but now she realized that Kotomi was still the sa—always supporting her, no matter how much she ssed up, always giving her a reason to keep trying.
Kotomi was her sunshine and air!
She had almost "lost" Kotomi once—lost her sunshine and air—but this ti, she was determined to hold on tight!
In the distance, Izumi Akina, who had been secretly watching her two daughters, smiled a complex smile—a mix of relief, amusent, and warmth—before turning back into the living room as if she hadn't seen anything.
...
The next day, Friday morning.
At Sobu High School.
Yui Yuigahama turned around and noticed that despite it being almost ti for the first class to start, Kotomi Izumi still hadn't arrived.
Could it be… that she was late?
"Kotomi still hasn't shown up, and class is about to start. Maybe I should give her a call," Yui said with concern.
The first class today was Japanese, taught by Shizuka Hiratsuka, their horoom teacher. Being late for her class was not sothing anyone wanted.
Just as Yui pulled out her phone to call Kotomi, gumi Kato spoke up, "No need to call. Kotomi's taking half a day off this morning."
"Taking a day off? What happened? Is she sick?" Yui asked, worried.
"If she's sick, it would make more sense for her to take the whole day off. Should we go visit her after school?" Yukinoshita Yukino chid in, having overheard the conversation.
"Go to Kotomi's house? I'd like to go too," Mashiro Shiina added, her eyes lighting up.
As the three girls expressed their concern for Kotomi, gumi simply smiled and said, "No need to worry. I went to her house this morning, and Kotomi's mom told she just has an upset stomach. She's resting for the morning."
"An upset stomach? Could it be… that she's pregnant?" Mashiro tilted her head innocently, blurting out the most outlandish idea imaginable.
Yukino didn't buy it, but Yui, sitting right next to her, suddenly gasped in shock, her words stumbling out in disbelief, "Kotomi… Kotomi's pregnant… who… who's responsible?!"
"It was ~" gumi teased with a playful smile, her expression so convincing it looked as though she were confessing to the truth.
"What?! gumi, you, you, you…!" Yui stamred, utterly floored by the revelation.
She was shocked beyond belief!
"Yui, calm down. gumi is clearly just ssing with you. Besides, two girls can't get pregnant. Let's be rational here," Yukino interjected, giving Yui a firm pat on the back to snap her out of it.
Looking at Yui, who seed on the verge of a breakdown, Yukino felt she had no choice but to step in. Otherwise, Yui might have passed out from the shock.
"Wait, so gumi was just joking? Oh, thank goodness!" Yui let out a huge sigh of relief, then turned to gumi and said, "gumi, don't scare like that!"
"Hehe~" gumi chuckled mischievously, propping her face up with one hand as she glanced at Kotomi's empty seat. "Kotomi must've eaten sothing bad last night. She had an upset stomach all night long."
It wasn't until right before the end of lunch break that Kotomi finally walked into the classroom.
Originally, she had considered taking the whole day off, being that it was Friday and she could use the ti to be lazy and sleep in. But when she rembered she had promised to tutor Yui after school, she reluctantly got out of bed, ate a simple lunch, changed into her uniform, and headed to school.
"Kotomi! You're finally here!" Yui, who had been half-asleep on her desk, perked up imdiately when she saw Kotomi enter the room.
"Good afternoon. How's your stomach? Feeling any better?" Yukino asked.
"Kotomi, does your stomach still hurt?" Mashiro added with concern.
Kotomi's heart ward at their concern, and she replied, "Thanks for asking. After taking so dicine late last night, my stomach started to feel better. I only took the morning off because I couldn't sleep at all last night."
Just as Kotomi was about to sit down, gumi suddenly reached out and gently placed a hand over Kotomi's completely flat stomach, her voice soft as she said, "Be careful. Don't disturb the baby."
Kotomi: ???
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