The cooking room was quite spacious, with four separate cooking stations available.

I was alone, preparing dinner by myself.

It seemed no one else had decided to participate in the cooking club on the very first day of the school year.

Being alone in such a large room did feel a little lonely.

On the other hand, having so much space certainly made cooking easier.

Clack.

The door to the cooking room opened, and a girl stepped inside.

“Hello.”

“Is this the Cooking Club?”

“Yes, it is.”

“I’m the only one here today, though.”

“I’m Saeki Hina, a first-year.”

“I’m thinking about joining the Cooking Club, so I was wondering if I could sit in and observe.”

“Of course.”

“It’s just me here today, but I’ll give you a quick explanation.”

Saeki was a very cute girl.

She was a little on the short side and wore her hair in twin tails.

She had the kind of innocent, younger-sister-like charm that made you want to protect her.

From what I remembered from my previous life, she loved talking.

She was the type who was constantly chatting with everyone in the club.

I gave her a brief explanation of the club’s activities and how things were run.

“Thank you for explaining everything.”

“By the way, could you tell me your name?”

“And what year you’re in?”

“I’m Mogami Natsuki, a second-year.”

“Nice to meet you.”

“So, Mogami-senpai, you’re already participating in club activities on the very first day.”

“I have to make dinner, after all.”

“Really?”

“Do you live alone?”

“No.”

“My parents travel a lot for work.”

“What are you making today?”

“Nikujaga.”

“It’s one of the classic home-cooked dishes.”

“Oh.”

“How do you make it?”

“Well…”

I explained the entire process of making nikujaga to Saeki.

To be honest, as long as you didn’t mess up the seasoning, it was basically just a matter of adding the ingredients and letting everything simmer.

It wasn’t exactly a difficult dish to teach.

Saeki was undeniably adorable, but she talked so much that the other club members had gradually started avoiding her.

From a guy’s perspective, her little-sister-like charm was appealing.

But since the cooking club was made up mostly of girls, she wasn’t especially popular with the rest of them.

If I remembered correctly, she eventually stopped coming to the club altogether.

Back then, I had also kept my distance from her, just like everyone else.

This time, however, I decided I’d listen to her for as long as she wanted to talk.

In the other world, one of the most important aspects of negotiation had been patiently listening to the other person, no matter how long they spoke.

Compared to that, listening to a first-year high school girl chat was easy.

Once the nikujaga was finished, we decided to taste it together.

“I guess the flavor still hasn’t fully soaked into everything yet.”

“But it’s really delicious.”

“The potatoes have barely fallen apart too.”

I packed the leftovers into a food container to take home.

“Thanks for staying with me until I finished cooking.”

“By the way, do you commute by train, Saeki?”

“Yes.”

“I get off at the fifth station on the inbound line.”

It sounded like she traveled in the opposite direction from me, but I could at least walk her to the ticket gates.

“Then I’ll walk you to the gates.”

“I’m taking the outbound line.”

“I see.”

“Then I’ll gladly take you up on that.”

True to her talkative nature, she chatted the entire way back.

I made sure to listen attentively to everything she said.

I’d feel terrible if my attitude ended up discouraging her from joining the club.