The apology gift box from Iwashita Shima contained floral tea that looked quite exquisite. Asakura didn’t particularly care for it, but Shiina Mahiru seemed to like it quite a bit.

She had always enjoyed tea. Originally, even if her family life wasn’t exactly harmonious, she could at least receive a certain amount of living expenses from both parents. Setting other matters aside, there was no problem with having some tea after ensuring she was well-fed and clothed.

But after the accident, everything took a turn for the worse. Although the insurance company seemingly covered all the hospital expenses for her parents, after losing her source of income, Shiina Mahiru had to move. Aside from attending school, she had to find part-time work. In a situation where even food and clothing were concerns, she naturally didn’t have the luxury of buying tea leaves. She hadn’t had tea for quite a long time, and with this tea box, she would be set for a while.

"Here, you take my box too." Seeing how much she liked it, Asakura simply gave his own apology gift to the girl as well.

"N-no need," the girl hurriedly refused.

"It’s useless to me," Asakura said, shaking his head. "I work part-time at a dessert shop; I’m not lacking for tea or anything. If you don’t take it, I’ll just end up stacking it in a corner until it expires and I have to throw it away."

After much persuasion, Shiina Mahiru finally accepted his tea box. However, the girl still said, "Since I’ve accepted Asakura’s tea, then if Asakura-kun is free, would you like to come over to my place for some tea?"

"For tea, huh..." Asakura rubbed his empty stomach, looking a bit conflicted.

Shiina Mahiru glanced at Asakura’s expression and immediately realized something, letting out a faint smile. "We can have some breakfast before the tea. I just happened to make extra, though it’s only some..."

Before the girl could finish the words "simple fare," Asakura was already saying, "Aiya, how could I be so bold~" while quickly walking into her home. It was clear he was truly hungry.

Just as the girl said, her breakfast was very plain. Aside from rice, there was only tamagoyaki and cold-dressed spinach, along with the standard miso soup. But sometimes, the more simple and plain a dish is, the more it can reflect a person’s culinary skill.

At the very least, Asakura could confirm that Shiina Mahiru’s cooking level was quite high—far beyond the reach of those "Home Economics class" (and terrorist) level people in the Magic Club. Even with someone like Yukino, who had the best cooking skills, her dishes gave off a feeling of just following the book, lacking soul entirely.

PS: The two middle schoolers, Ruri and Kaju, are exceptions.

"Delicious. This is the first time I’ve ever felt that cold-dressed spinach was this good." Asakura’s eyes were full of amazement.

Spinach was something Asakura had eaten steaming hot since he was a child. After crossing over to this side, he couldn’t get used to the so-called cold-dressed spinach, finding it rather lackluster. But Shiina Mahiru’s version was unexpectedly delicious. It was refreshing and completely lacked any astringency, and the sauce used for the dressing had been carefully adjusted to perfectly suit Asakura’s tastes.

The same went for the miso soup. Although the ingredients were the basic seaweed and tofu, the girl probably didn’t use instant dashi powder, but a properly prepared dashi broth. The miso wasn’t just ready-made white or red miso either; it was likely a blend of several different types. In short, the flavor was quite mellow and consistent—a rich taste Asakura had never experienced in a minimalist dish like miso soup.

Only with the tamagoyaki did Asakura freeze up after taking a bite.

"Why is it sweet?" 𝕗𝗿𝕖𝐞𝐰𝗲𝕓𝐧𝕠𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝐨𝚖

"Does Asakura-kun not like sweet tamagoyaki?" The girl looked at him curiously.

Although in the girl’s mind she had only met Asakura twice, she already had a bit of a "mature and reliable" persona filter over him. Finding out that this mature and reliable person also had a picky side made her feel like laughing, while also making her feel a bit closer to him.

"It’s not that, I can eat anything." Anything inedible could always be turned into a snake and grilled to make it palatable. Asakura said, "But sweet tamagoyaki always gives me the feeling of eating some kind of dessert. If it’s not eaten after the meal... it’s a bit weird."

"Some people do feel that way. What kind of tamagoyaki does Asakura-kun prefer? Just plain salted? Or with dashi? I’ve heard some places even add yakisoba sauce," Shiina Mahiru said.

"Eggs are delicious however they’re made, but for me, I probably prefer dashimaki tamago (dashi egg rolls)." Asakura thought for a moment and answered. (By the way, excluding desserts, his favorite egg dish was tomato and scrambled eggs.)

"Dashi, huh... I understand." The girl nodded solemnly.

This time it was Asakura’s turn to daze out with his chopsticks. What does she mean by that? Is she going to make tamagoyaki for me in the future?

"Living alone, it’s always hard to manage the portions for cooking; I often make too much. If Asakura-kun doesn’t mind, would you like to have dinner with me in the future?" the girl asked, plucking up her courage.

"I can, but I’m going to be traveling soon. If we’re really going to do that, it might have to wait until after summer break." Asakura, who originally wanted to refuse, thought about it for a bit and felt there wasn’t much of a problem, so he nodded and said, "Of course, I’ll pay for the ingredients properly."

Hearing Asakura say this, the girl was somewhat disappointed, but she still nodded to him. "That would be a huge help."

Having no source of income and facing life difficulties, the girl was in no position to refuse Asakura’s kindness. She simply waited until Asakura was full and then skillfully brewed him a cup of floral tea.

In all fairness, the quality of the floral tea Iwashita Shima bought in bulk couldn’t be that great, but Shiina Mahiru’s superb tea ceremony skills (non-pejorative) made up for the tea’s deficiencies. As the tea soup slid down his throat, it was slightly bitter at first, but then a gentle sweetness surged onto the tip of his tongue, followed by the unique fragrance of floral tea—neither restless nor flashy. Once the cool, sweet aftertaste gradually faded, only a lingering, clean hint of sweetness remained between his teeth.

In short, it was good—extremely good. Asakura took another sip of tea, and a thought suddenly popped into his head...