[Hypnosis Mic] Cooking Together

Dashi

The three adults all disappeared behind the curtain in the corner of the room, and Saburo settled in and tried to find a game on his phone that didn’t need an internet connection. Even if the shack wasn’t comfortable, per se, it was warm and now it was pretty quiet, too, barring the sounds of chopping, washing, and occasional conversation from the other room. He could see why some people liked camping. Not that he’d ever want to do this again.

Riou went back and forth between the kitchen and outside, moving around meat and supplies. He largely ignored Saburo, until--

“Here,” Riou said.

Saburo looked up from his phone and saw Riou holding out a deer foot at him. He couldn’t hide the mixture of horror and bewilderment on his face. “Wh-what the hell!?” he shouted.

“To pass your tests,” he said, like that meant anything at all.

Saburo had no idea how to respond. He was not going to touch the hoof that he was apparently being offered.

Thankfully, Doppo took that moment to join them in the room. “U-um, Busujima-san, I believe it’s serow hooves that give luck on tests, not deer. A-and I don’t think it’s their actual feet. Just charms.”

“Oh.” Riou left.

Doppo watched him go, almost smiling, but then turned back down to Saburo. He leaned down in front of him, holding two small bowls of liquid and a spoon. “So, Busujima-san left it to Arisugawa-kun and me to make the broth. O-of course, we can’t agree which type to do. So, which do you think is better, Yamada-kun?”

Saburo tasted them both and decided on one (which was vastly superior, it wasn’t even a question). Doppo nodded and started to move back to the kitchen, but before he could disappear again, Saburo asked, “whose was that one?”

“Ah, that one was my choice.”

“Is Arisugawa-san’s taste actually that bad, or was he just arguing with you to mess with you?”

“Hm, well,” Doppo hesitated, “it’s rude to think that of people, don’t you think?”

He went back behind the curtain.

Saburo returned to his phone game. Minesweeper was so boring. Was this how people spent time in, like, the olden days?