"Waaah~~ It's so bitter and gross! o(╥﹏╥)o"
Yuigahama, refusing to believe it, also tried a piece and subsequently followed in the footsteps of the three beside her. She nibbled on the cookie, little pearls of tears rolling down her cheeks, occasionally getting choked up and letting out a few coughs.
Yukinoshita handed her a cup of freshly brewed black tea. This tea had been urgently prepared after the cookies went into the oven. After all, judging by Yuigahama's performance during the preparation stage, the resulting cookies were highly unlikely to be ideal. Therefore, a cup of good tea to counteract them was extremely necessary.
Mori Shinra and Hikigaya gave this a thumbs up. Especially Hikigaya; a man who was used to drinking super-sweet coffee actually found the slightly bitter, slightly sweet black tea to be incredibly delicious.
Thanks to Hikigaya taking one for the team earlier, and Yuigahama tasting the fruits of her own labor, there weren't many cookies left on the plate. Shinra took it upon himself to dump the remaining crumbs into the trash.
Looking at the black fragments in the trash can, everyone simultaneously let out a long sigh of relief.
"Well then, let's think about how to fix the problem," Yukinoshita said, not having given up on Yuigahama yet.
"Yuigahama should never cook again."
Hikigaya felt that giving up was also a valid choice.
"Are you completely dismissing me?" Yuigahama said, puffing her cheeks at Hikigaya.
"I'm full."
Shinra applied a "full" buff to himself first to avoid any potential taste-testing sessions that might follow. Even if he couldn't avoid it, he could at least eat a couple fewer bites. After all, as he had just said, he was full.
"Don't be so hasty, Hikigaya-san. That's the final solution," Yukinoshita said, feeling that they could still try to salvage the situation.
"So you were actually considering it?" Yuigahama was first stunned, then a little dejected, powerlessly lowering her head to look at her own delicate hands.
"I really am not suited for cooking... Is it a matter of talent? But I don't have any talent."
Shinra felt that Yuigahama was overthinking it. Making cookies hadn't reached the point of testing one's talent yet. If anything, her talent might be better than she imagined—in the field of poisoning.
"How about making rice balls? Nori and rice, sprinkle a little salt. I see you have a particular fondness for salt," Hikigaya offered his suggestion.
"That sounds nice, hey! Wait, what do you mean I have a particular fondness for salt?"
"Otherwise, why do you always mistake salt for sugar?"
"Are you trying to pick a fight?"
Yuigahama felt that Hikigaya was being very rude.
"If we're making rice balls, there's one thing we have to consider first," Shinra said, raising a finger and attracting everyone's attention.
Under the gazes of the others, Shinra walked over to the ingredients area of the home economics classroom and stood before an empty basket with a 'Rice' label on it.
"Even the most skilled housewife can't cook without rice."
"Huh? Why is there no rice?" Yuigahama was surprised. She was sure it was full during her last home economics class.
"Probably because the price of rice went up, so the school locked it all away," Shinra, who lived alone, seemed to have some insight on this.
People like Yuigahama and Hikigaya, who have family to cook for them every day, would never understand!
"No matter how much it rises, they wouldn't go so far as to lock up the rice, would they?" Yukinoshita was puzzled.
Alright, it seemed that even Yukinoshita, who also lived alone, didn't know much about the recent market situation.
"Whoa, it looks like it's true! The price of rice has gone up so much," Yuigahama said, taking out her phone to search. She found that the price of rice had been rising continuously for several weeks, and search volume for related keywords had also soared.
Even if she lacked common sense, she knew that being able to buy only 5 kilograms of rice for 4000 yen was an extremely abnormal situation.
"But it seems the government is already preparing to release its reserves. The price should come down soon, right?" Yukinoshita said, seeing the news released by the official Japanese media.
Hikigaya discovered a blind spot. "But it seems to be old rice."
"It's a-a-a-ancient rice," Shinra corrected. Rice stored for one year is old rice. Rice stored for four years is a-a-a-ancient rice.
According to previous government regulations in Japan, rice older than 5 years had to be treated as animal feed. Four-year-old rice was just barely on the edge.
"Is that still edible?" Yuigahama shivered.
Shinra pulled up a variety show that Japan was using to divert the public's attention. The general content was a taste-test comparison between new rice and old rice.
Feeling poetic, he recited a senryu:
"Can't afford new rice,
Old rice is bad for your health,
Ancient rice, delicious!"
Unfortunately, no one present understood his humor. Only Yuigahama, perhaps fearing the atmosphere would become too awkward, offered a polite, "Awesome."
"If there's no rice, then the rice ball option is a pass," Yukinoshita made a calm judgment, and then followed it up with a not-so-calm one.
"Considering the ingredients we have, how about we make cookies one more time? We've already done it once. If we can learn from our mistakes the second time, it should be a success... right?"
Why are you starting to sound unconfident yourself, Yukinoshita-san?
The thought of potentially being poisoned again made Shinra disregard all sense of decorum. He turned to Yukinoshita. "I didn't ask in detail before. Could you tell me what Yuigahama-san's wish is?"
Seeing the regret and thirst for survival in Shinra's eyes, Yukinoshita couldn't help but find it a little funny.
"Yuigahama-san, may I tell him?"
Yuigahama was nervous, but she couldn't find a good reason to refuse. Plus, she hadn't told Yukinoshita the whole story...
"How about I say it myself?" Yuigahama felt it would be better if she said it.
Yukinoshita gave her a surprised look but didn't say anything, simply gesturing for her to 'go ahead'.
Yuigahama took a deep breath and looked up at Mori Shinra. The moment her gaze met his, the courage she had just mustered vanished completely. She quickly looked away towards Hikigaya with a pitiful expression.
Hikigaya felt her gaze and his scalp tingled, but he couldn't just ignore it. After all, this matter also concerned him. It wouldn't do to keep avoiding it.
Thinking of this, Hikigaya cleared his throat.
"Ahem..."
"Um... Gomen!"
A zero-frame startup, crisp and clean 90-degree bow pressed the mute button on the home economics classroom.
Yuigahama, reacting a moment later, quickly followed his example with a deep bow of her own. The bow was so deep that the pink bun on her head looked like it was about to come undone.
Yukinoshita smoothed her hair, feeling a little uncomfortable.
Shinra hadn't expected Hikigaya to suddenly pull a move like this on him. Looking at the emotions being transmitted by his ability, he was silent for a moment before smiling and helping Hikigaya up.
"What are you two doing, all of a sudden..."
However, Hikigaya did not stand up, but continued, "Really, I am very sorry!"
Shinra sighed and said with a serious expression:
"I forgive you. Please, raise your heads."