During the following days of Seiji's illness, Hideaki had to take on the responsibility of cooking. Seiji was recovering, but he secretly kept an eye on his roommate's progress.
Initially, Hideaki's attempts were failures, with Seiji struggling to consume them. As days passed, Hideaki improved slightly...
slowly...
very slowly...
but he was driven by his determination to prove to Seiji that he can do this better than Ken.
He wouldn't be mocked by how lack of skills he actually have in cooking.
Despite his rage from continuing failures, he kept practicing and making food repeatedly.
Seiji was taken aback how his roommate took personally his comment about making food, but on the other hand, he was happy that Hideaki finally starting to improve himself.
One November evening, Seiji returned home exhausted. Work had taken its toll, and the thought of preparing food for himself felt overwhelming.
"I'm back..." he said wearily, removing his shoes and continuing into the living space.
Suddenly, he spotted a still-warm Onigiri on the table.
It looked decent, though the shape was slightly crooked.
"What...? Who did this...? Hideaki...?" Seiji searched for Hideaki on the couch, expecting to find him there, but he was nowhere to be seen.
Surprised by the unexpected dish and a bit suspicious, as Hideaki had never done this before, Seiji thought that the killer might be up to something. Hungry, he cautiously took the Onigiri in his fingers and tasted it.
"Hmm.... It's not that bad," he assessed after swallowing the bite.
Suddenly, Hideaki emerged from the bathroom. Upon spotting Seiji enjoying the Onigiri on the table, he panicked and sprinted toward the programmer."N-no! Don't eat it yet!"
"What why?" Seiji asked
"I still need to add the last ingredient to this! Spices!"
"Hideaki, but it's good the way it is!" Seiji declared.
Hearing this, Hideaki halted just before lunging at Seiji. "What did you... say?" he asked in disbelief.
"Well, it's quite good. It still has some mistakes, though. It's slightly crooked, but the taste... It's edible. Certainly more than what you made last week."
"R-really..?"
"Mhm. Tell me, what did you add here?"
"Um... Well.. only salt and a little bit of pepper..."
"Oh, great. Believe me, adding more spices here would ruin it."
"I wanted to try again... Maybe now I would do it better..."
"Okay... Hmm... What spices did you want to add?"
"Basil, Ore-"
Here Seiji interrupted him,
"No. None of these things fit here. Let it go. Leave it... Sometimes the simplest things are the best to make someone happy." he added with a smile.
"So... is.. it good..?" the murderer asked uncertainly.
"Yes. It's good. So far, it's probably the best dish you've come up with. It still has its flaws... but overall, it's quite tasty." Seiji replied.
Hearing this, Hideaki smiled widely,
"I finally made food that doesn't taste terrible!" he said happily.
"Mhm! Heh, just keep it up and soon you might even surpass me in cooking."
"You? Pfft! Good joke!"
"Who knows, who knows... Heh..." he said with a slightly mysterious smile on his lips, thinking watching his roommate positive reaction,
'Maybe you will finally improve for the better... If you want, you can do it... you try, move forward... You can do it if you find the right motivation or spark to take action... Keep it up. A little more work on yourself and finally, you'll become a normal person...'
YOU ARE READING
Everyday Life with a Murderer
ActionA adult Japanese man, Seiji Sekiguchi was devastated by his life. During one rainy evening, he went to the rooftop of a building to commit suicide. Unexpectedly, on his way he meets a man, who apparently wants to kill him. Prepared for certain death...
