The day of the cooking class arrived.
That morning, the classroom was abuzz with conversation. Students on the left and right, both boys and girls, were completely preoccupied with the plans for after school.
Looking at the scene, I could clearly tell how much my classmates were looking forward to the event.
That said, it was quite surprising that The Saturday Incident didn't seem to be lingering. Since it had caused such a stir, I had expected the number of participants—particularly the boys—to decrease at least a little. I thought things looked fine yesterday, but seeing the actual turnout today, the numbers remained unchanged.
Against my expectations, we reached the day of the event with a full turnout.
Of course, that was a good thing in itself, and as someone involved in the planning, it made me happy.
Yeah... it was supposed to be something to be happy about...
"Ah, man, I'm seriously looking forward to today."
"Just being in the same space as Satsukawa-senpai makes me too happy..."
"I wonder if she'll let us taste her food? Man, I'd love to eat something Satsukawa-senpai made."
"I've been counting on that from the start. Satsukawa-senpai's home-cooked meal... just imagining it is too much!!"
"Takanashi gets to eat it every day, though."
"""Don't say thaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaat!!!!"""
"Somehow... I'm getting déjà vu..."
"No, it's exactly the same..."
"The fact that there's nothing but idiots here is the same, too."
"Well, I can understand how they feel, though."
Mirroring the girls' sentiments, I felt a strong sense of déjà vu watching the exchange in front of me. Seeing a scene like this left me with complicated feelings.
Based on what I could hear, they seemed to understand the relationship between Sara-san and me. The fact that they could maintain that high energy despite that suggested they really had turned into an "idol fan club."
"Takanashi, if it's bugging you, why not just go all out and show off a bit?"
As I watched the boys, Kawamura spoke to me with a wry smile.
Even if he told me to show off... what was I supposed to do?
"Show off, you say...?"
"Even if he doesn't mean to, the display will happen soon enough anyway."
Hanako-san, who had been casting cold glares at the boys beside me, suddenly said something outrageous.
I wondered what she meant by "showing off," but I was well aware that I'd already caused my fair share of scenes. That was why it was painful not to be able to flatly deny her claim.
Furthermore, I had just added to my track record by messing up grandly yesterday. If that was brought up, I wouldn't have a leg to stand on.
"I-Is that so?"
"The people around him just don't know the truth. If they knew what the daily life of Kazunari and his wife was really like, those idiots over there would have nothing left but despair."
"That much...?"
Whatever he was imagining, Kawamura stared me in the face with a strangely surprised expression. When someone looked that shocked, I naturally became curious about what was going on in their head.
"No, it's nothing that incredible..."
"Really? In that case, can Big Sister give Kazunari a hug next time?"
"""A hug!!??"""
Wait, what!?
Hanako-san's borderline bombshells were nothing new, but this one was cutting it dangerously close!
I hurriedly checked our surroundings. The boys were still just making a fuss as usual, and the girls... they seemed okay for now.
Phew... honestly.
I didn't know how much she realized it herself, but Yamakawa wasn't the only boy who had feelings for Hanako-san. If she said such suggestive things, there was a risk she would bring unnecessary trouble on herself again.
I really wanted her to be a bit more mindful of that.
...Wait, speaking of which, when did Yamakawa and Tanaka get here?
"Y-You, what are you always doing with Satsukawa-senpai...?"
"I-I'm so jealous..."
I obviously offered no comment on their questions. There were many aspects of my daily life with Sara-san that I couldn't even tell my best friends. It was, so to speak, top secret.
When I instinctively glanced at Hanako-san beside me, for a fleeting moment, she seemed to be grinning.
No, no, please stop, Big Sister...
"B-By the way, Hanasaki-san, how are you with cooking?"
I almost laughed at the incredibly obvious change of subject. That topic was clearly his main goal, but the transition was too blatant. Moreover, he seemed more nervous than ever; it was plain to see that he was extremely conscious of her.
Well, I felt that couldn't be helped since he had just been rejected, and we just had to let time handle it. But if he lost his nervousness and became too familiar, that would only lead to Hanako-san disliking him. I felt like I needed to make sure he was careful about that balance.
"What, is a woman useless if she can't cook?"
"Eh!? N-No, I don't think that at all!!"
"It was a joke."
"...Huh?"
It was rare for Hanako-san to joke with anyone outside our circle. To others, it might have looked like her usual behavior, but I could see a mischievous glint in her eyes. However, judging by the words alone, it sounded like he had stepped on a landmine, so it was no wonder Yamakawa panicked.
"W-What, it was a joke? H-Haha, you gave me a scare."
Hearing an unexpected joke from Hanako-san, Yamakawa wore a happy smile. Considering she had mostly ignored or bypassed him until now, I agreed that it was a huge step forward just to have her joke with him. Compared to how she treated the other boys, there was a world of difference.
"H-Hanasaki-san made a joke!? Yamakawa, y-you, don't tell me..."
Naturally, it wasn't strange for someone to misunderstand after seeing such a scene. Since it was rare for Hanako-san to treat anyone but me like that, Tanaka's surprise was understandable.
"No, no, nothing like that..."
"It's annoying because you try to connect everything to romance. I have no interest in men other than Kazunari."
"...I thought as much."
Even though Hanako-san had finally shown a bit of approachability, Tanaka's unnecessary comment ruined the mood. Yamakawa, hit by the fallout, slumped his shoulders in disappointment.
Even if he had accepted the heartbreak as reality, it wasn't strange for feelings to remain in his heart, and those weren't easily discarded. Even if he fully understood that Hanako-san was fixated on me, it wasn't something he could easily rationalize away. Being told so clearly... even if he knew the truth, it had to be painful.
"I'm practicing cooking at home, but I don't think I'm very good yet. I have to at least be able to do half... or maybe a third as well as his wife, or else my pride as a big sister will..."
I thought she would just let the conversation drop, but Hanako-san actually answered Yamakawa's question. However, it was less an answer and more of a subtle monologue. And in the end, it still circled back to me.
"Wife?"
"Ah, speaking of which, she does call Satsukawa-senpai 'Wife'."
"Is that because she's your younger brother's fiancée?"
"Naturally."
Hanako-san nodded as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
Come to think of it, when did Hanako-san start calling Sara-san "Wife" in the first place? Before I knew it, it had become her standard term for her, and the rest of us had just accepted it. I had assumed she started calling her that simply because of the way Sara-san treated me...
Maybe it happened at the same time she started thinking of me as her younger brother. Now that I thought about it, that made sense. But if that were the case, her stubborn use of the word "Wife" wasn't just a lingering habit—it was how she truly viewed her.
"...Thinking about it again, it's pretty wild. You're talking about marriage like it's a given, but we're still only in our first year of high school, right?"
"Well, normally I'd say that's impossible, but since the partner is Satsukawa-senpai, it wouldn't be strange if there were special circumstances."
Kawamura was as analytically meaningful as ever. He likely didn't know the specifics regarding the Satsukawa family, but I was impressed that he could take such a calm, objective view of the situation. Between his analysis and that of our classmates, I found I quite liked types like Kawamura. He reminded me a bit of Yuji.
"Must be nice... Just having Satsukawa-senpai as a girlfriend is incredibly enviable, but having the marriage already decided? The jealousy directed at you must be intense."
"Well, the jealousy has been there for a while. But considering I was able to find this kind of happiness with Sara-san, it's no big deal."
Tanaka's point was old news. I had long since grown accustomed to being envied and being dismissed as unworthy. I didn't care what others thought; I would simply hold my head high and walk forward with Sara-san.
"I've been wondering about this for a while, but Takanashi, you have a certain philosophical side. Normally, can someone at our age think about marriage that calmly?"
"Rather than being calm about it, it's more like... if I keep dating Sara-san, that's just the natural conclusion, right?"
"No, that's true, but... Takanashi, this is just a general observation, but I don't think it's common for relationships at our age to last long enough to consider marriage. But the fact that you got engaged means that from now on, forever..."
"Yeah, I will absolutely never leave Sara-san. I can't tell you the detailed reasons... but the only reason I can be myself is because Sara-san is there for me. That's why she is more important to me than myself, and that will never change."
I knew Kawamura was indirectly pointing out the possibility of a breakup. But for me, our bond was absolute, and there wasn't even a millimeter of a chance that it would change in the future. It was something I could say with total conviction.
"......You can go that far, huh."
However, I didn't expect someone who didn't know our history to understand that easily. Kawamura's surprise was unavoidable.
"For the record, his wife feels the same way."
Hanako-san spoke for me on the part I felt but couldn't say aloud. I was well aware that if I said it myself, I would just sound like a self-absorbed guy, so I had intentionally held back.
"...You mean Satsukawa-senpai feels the same?"
"Yes. His wife stays with Kazunari for the same reason. That's why she only has eyes for Kazunari. No one can ever come between them."
"「「............」」"
Hanako-san's words might have sounded exaggerated to an outsider. But no one joked about them. The weight in her voice and the gravity of her words wouldn't allow it.
You could say that for Sara-san and me, Hanako-san was the person who understood us best. Natsumi-senpai, who was closest to Sara-san, and Yuji, who had seen my past directly, were both supportive, but Hanako-san had a different perspective. She was likely the only one who could truly grasp the core of the "feelings" between Sara-san and me.
Because of who she was, her words carried weight.
Before I knew it, the people around us who had been making a racket until she spoke had all fallen silent. The girls were watching us with intense interest, and the boys looked awkward or disappointed.
...They had all been listening.
"S-Something about this is incredible. The scale of the story..."
"No, it makes sense in a way. It's precisely because they have such firm feelings for each other that they can already talk about engagement and marriage."
"W-When you put it that way, I guess... that's how it is?"
Even if they didn't understand the emotional depths, they could see that we had our reasons. If they could accept that, they might arrive at a conclusion like Kawamura's.
"I know it's early to talk about it, but it doesn't feel out of place to me. I'll never leave Sara-san, so I think the engagement and future marriage are only natural."
I wasn't just following Hanako-san's lead, but since the others were listening, I decided to state it firmly. I didn't think they would try anything now, but a little prevention never hurt.
"Sigh... somehow, Kawamura has a different vibe than us, but Takanashi is on another level too."
"Yeah. There are times when I feel like I'm talking to someone much older."
"I've never really been conscious of that, though."
I never thought about how I compared to those around me. Well, if I had to be honest, I did think of the guys making a fuss over there as younger—essentially, as brats.
Come to think of it, I had felt the same about my classmates back in my 3rd year of middle school days. I didn't know if this was a remnant of that or if there was another reason. The only thing I knew for sure was that the Yamasaki incident had changed me.
"Anyway, if you want to shut them up quickly, I think the shortcut is for you to just show off how close you are with Satsukawa-senpai."
"Even if you tell me that..."
It was true that we had caused scenes in public, but that wasn't something we did on purpose. It was just that we lost sight of our surroundings... wait, isn't that exactly what Hanako-san had said? I felt like I had just dug my own grave.
"His wife wouldn't mind hugging or kissing him in public if Kazunari asked."
"""...Ha?"""
With Hanako-san's latest bombshell, all eyes were on me again. This time, even people in the surrounding area turned to look. Wait, Hanako-san, what are you trying to do now!?
"I said it earlier, but his wife only looks at and thinks about Kazunari. For his sake, she doesn't care about being in public. If she says she'll do it, she really will."
"「「............」」"
Hanako-san declared grandly that this was no joke. Naturally, a flurry of gazes filled with various emotions converged on me. My classmates knew Hanako-san wasn't the type to tell jokes, and they knew about Sara-san and me. It was difficult for them to laugh this off.
...Wait, could it be that Hanako-san was doing this to back me up? She was a big sister who was good at reading my feelings, so maybe she was acting on my behalf because I felt complicated about the boys' farce.
"For the record, I could do it too, if Kazunari asked me to."
"...Wha!?"
"...Uugh, why is it always Takanashi..."
"...The world is so unfair."
...Wait a minute, why are you adding your own Big Sister Appeal there? What on earth was this situation? She was just throwing more fuel on the fire.
"N-Now, Hanasaki-san, that's a joke too, right? Hahaha..."
"I have no reason to joke."
"「「.............」」"
Then, for the third time, every eye in the room fixed on me. I didn't quite understand Hanako-san's true intention, but for now, I tried to view it in a positive light.
Was it support for me? An attack on the boys? A Big Sister Appeal?
...Or perhaps a deterrent against any guys who might be interested in her?
Though that was just my imagination.