A Sincere Dream

A Devilish Kouhai

The phone rang. I got up from my bed and answered it.

[Good evening, Ayanokouji-kun.]

"Good evening, Horikita."

[You are aware that tomorrow you will have to cook for Amasawa-san, right?]

"Well yes, after you basically forced me to."

[I apologize for forcing you, but it is needed to get Sudou-kun a partner. If you'd like, I'll pay half the points that Amasawa-san makes you buy. At most, it should be around 10,000 Private Points, right?]

"Thank you Horikita, but..."

[What is it?]

"I want some food as well."

[What?]

"I want you to cook me a bento in return."

[...]

"Is that fine?"

[Fine. I'll make you a bento.]

Yay. Horikita's food. If you want me to do something, you have to use food as a trap or a reward.

[But, Ayanokouji-kun. What do you intend to do regarding cooking? I don't think I've ever seen you bring home-cooked meals for lunch.]

"Don't worry about it Horikita." I stated.

[... Do you have a plan in mind? I was about to suggest wearing an earpiece and I give you the instructions.]

"Horikita, what do you think I've been doing these past few days?"

[Don't tell me.]

"Yes, your assumption is correct. Over the past few days, I have studied exactly 458 recipes."

[How—]

"Who knows."

Thanks to my extremely-reliable photographic memory, I was able to memorize entire recipes within seconds. I was able to cover around 200 recipes within an hour, so it didn't take much time away from me.

The only time-consuming process was learning how to operating cooking utensils and techniques. I had to watch videos on double-speed in order to not take too much of my time.

At this point, I am convinced I can become a Michelin Star Chef.

[Hah... At this point I have to make you a good bento, or else it wouldn't be worth your efforts.] She said.

Efforts? What is that? It was only a total of three hours out of my time.

... Three hours that could've been used thinking about freedom, or something.

"Yes, make it the best bento possible. I put a lot of work into this." I lied.

[Then, make it the best dish possible as well. The meet-up time is almost here. It's best if we hang up now.]

"Mhm." I hung up the phone.

I stared at the time on my phone. It was currently 15:29, a minute before Amasawa was supposed to arrive.

The time advanced forward, as the clock hit 15:30. At that exact moment, I heard a voice call from outside my room—

"Senpai!~ It's me!~" She called.

I opened the door, and a girl with scarlet-colored hair, with a grin that gave a dangerous and mischievous vibe.

"How did you get in..." I asked.

"Oh! I simply asked a senpai to let me enter! His name was... Um... Ikea Pantie? Ikea Kanji? Something like that."

Ike, what have you done.