After showing Shiina around the school, Sorata took her to the supermarket. It was his turn to cook dinner today, after all.
"Let's see… What should I buy tonight?" he muttered, pushing a shopping basket as he scanned the aisles.
At Suimei High School, the Sakura Dormitory was pretty much a dumping ground for "problem children." Which meant things like cleaning, cooking, and general upkeep were handled by the residents themselves, on a rotating schedule. Everyone took turns.
That said, now that Shiina Mashiro was here, Sorata was well aware that Jin and the others would try to dump her share of the chores onto him. But hey, he brought this on himself the moment he decided to take care of her.
"Hey, stop. You can't eat that."
Sorata rushed over as he saw Shiina holding a pack of glaringly red hot pot seasoning, her fingers dangerously close to tearing it open.
"Red… so bright. Want to open. Not eat," she said, tilting her head and staring at him with wide, curious eyes.
Sorata sighed and gently flicked her forehead. "Oww…"
"I told you this morning, remember? You can't just open stuff in the supermarket without paying for it first."
"Don't remember Sorata saying that," Shiina said, rubbing her forehead and pouting.
"Really now? You were nodding while eating Baumkuchen when I told you…"
He let out a breath and took the hot pot seasoning from her hand, pondering for a second.
"Wait… didn't I exchange for cooking skills back then? Was it level six?"
Back when he first entered the Nightmare Space, Sorata hadn't yet reached the whole "I'm so powerful I don't need food" phase. After being tossed into a few ancient settings where the food was… let's say questionable, he caved and spent points to unlock some life skills. Cooking was one of them.
Later, after reaching the third stage of transcendence and no longer needing to eat, he'd shelved it. Alongside that, he'd also grabbed other random life skills: piano at level 8, ink wash painting at level 9… the guy had a buffet of talents.
In the Nightmare Space, life skills were ranked from level 1 to 10. Above that was the mythical realm of "entering the Dao through art." For context, a five-star chef in the Space would be around level 5.
So that evening, in the Sakura Dorm's kitchen, everyone found themselves hypnotized by the aroma of mouthwatering Sichuan dishes that filled the air.
"This is Sichuan-style boiled pork, cold spicy noodles, spicy fish stew, scallion ribs… oh, and saliva chicken," Sorata announced, placing the last plate down with a satisfied nod. "If you can't handle spicy, maybe just sniff the ribs and go from there."
He wiped his hands and sat beside Shiina.
Misaki, naturally, was the first to pounce. Her chopsticks darted for the crimson fish slices like a missile. The others weren't far behind.
The moment the food hit her tongue, Misaki froze. Her eyes sparkled like stars. "W-Wow… It's so good! Since when did you know how to cook like this, junior?!"
"Mm. These cold noodles are legit," Jin said, giving Sorata a rare thumbs-up.
"This pork is better than the Sichuan chef at that fancy hotel," Chihiro muttered mid-bite, washing it down with a gulp of beer before going back in for more.
Ding!
[Lord Ryuunosuke says: "Save one serving of each dish and wrap it properly. I'll eat when I'm done working." , Yours truly, the ever-dutiful maid.]
Sorata glanced at his phone, amused.
Personally, he thought the dishes were just "meh", probably five-star chef level at best. Not bad, considering how rusty he was. It had been ages since he cooked, and cooking wasn't just about ingredients; it was about knife work, heat control, instinct, and seasoning magic.
Still, he figured he was working at about 60% of his original skill.
Just don't expect him to whip up heaven-defying meals with a pinch of salt and a potato, he hadn't reached that "Dao of Cooking" tier yet.
But for a dorm full of people used to omelet rice, instant curry, and sushi, this was basically gourmet heaven.
Then there was Shiina. Quietly sitting beside him, she was fully immersed in devouring the scallion ribs and salt-baked shrimp. An impressive little mountain of bones had already formed in front of her.
Sorata blinked.
"…Why are all the shrimp shells in my bowl?"
Shiina, without a word, peeled another shrimp, popped the meat into her mouth, and dumped the shell into Sorata's bowl like it was the most natural thing in the world.
He stared at her. She ignored him.
And then, as expected,
"Hold up, Kanda." Chihiro-sensei slouched back, completely satisfied. "You never cooked like this before. And since when can you cook Chinese food?"
"Yeah!" Misaki chimed in. "Were you hiding this talent to impress Mashiro? That's cheating!"
"Wuwu… how many good meals have I missed out on?" Misaki looked genuinely betrayed. "You owe me, junior!"
"Hmph. I'm curious too," Jin added, adjusting his glasses. "This feels out of character."
Sorata rolled his eyes and casually pulled out a thick book from under his butt.
"This," he said, slapping it down on the table, "is the 'Complete Collection of Sichuan Cuisine.' I bought it today and cooked based on the recipes."
"Seriously?"
"Yup. I guess I'm a cooking genius or something."
"No way…"
"Way."
"Junior, that's so cool! I wanna try it tomorrow too!"
"Yeah, yeah, let's clean up first." Sorata stood up and started collecting the plates. "We've got a dorm meeting to hold."
The Sakura Dormitory meeting was their regular way of assigning house chores, cooking, cleaning, shopping, and the occasional toilet emergency.
After explaining how completely clueless Shiina was about everyday life, Sorata placed both hands on the table and looked around seriously.
"Shiina's situation is no joke. We all need to help out, okay?"
He started assigning roles like a general:
"Misaki-senpai, you're in charge of clothes and hair-drying. Chihiro-sensei, please teach her basic life skills."
"As for Jin-senpai and me, since we're guys, we'll escort her to and from school."
He turned to Chihiro with a look. "And you knew about this, didn't you, Sensei? Why didn't you warn me earlier? I ran around like a maniac this morning."
Sure, he'd agreed to take care of Shiina. But that didn't mean he wanted to burn himself out doing everything. If he could spread the work, that meant more time to laze around and daydream. Which, honestly, sounded way better.
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