“Yeah. I have time, so I’ll make something else.” I open the refrigerator. All that’s left are some cucumber and potatoes.
“…Hmmm. I could cut and salt the cucumber, or cut the potatoes and serve them vinegar…” But those are both things I could do in a couple of minutes, and they’re better fresh. It’ll be half an hour until Pinkie Pie and Sweetie arrive, so I should make a dish right before they get here.
“…Hmph.” In that case, this is free time I can’t make much use of. Is there anything I can do in thirty minutes…?
“There’s some extra tofu, so…” I could cook some bite-sized tofu rolls with vegetables or something like that. I cut the tofu and tenderize it. At a glance, the tofu tenderizer is really evil. It’s like a hammer, but it’s flat on four sides and has lots of spikes coming out of it. If it were bigger, it would make a great instrument of torture. I flatten the meat with the scary object, put some carrots and kidney beans on it, roll it up, cook it in the pan, and steam it with wine.
“…Huh!? Hold on, what am I doing…!?” At that point, I regain my sanity. I was trying to make a side dish, as the saury was already the main dish. So what am I doing, making another main dish…!?
“…Honestly. I must have let my guard down, cooking just to pass the time.”
“Eh? You were cooking just to pass the time, Storm?”
“Yeah. The thing is, I was trying to make a side dish. But before I realized it, I was using the knife. Well, I guess habit is a scary thing… of course, that’s just an excuse.”
“But isn’t that alright? It’s a bit big for breakfast, but since you made it, I don’t think there’ll be any leftovers.”
“You think so? No, that’s not the problem. There’s no need for two suns in the sky. I’ll have to ask one of them to leave.”
“What!? You’re not going to eat it, Storm?”
“I will. I wasn’t planning to, but I’ll pack lunch today. That way, it won’t be a waste.”
“Wow… Storm, you’re going to make lunch right?”
“It’ll be close, but I think I can at least get my…” And then. I finally realize somepony’s behind me.
“Good morning, Storm. I’m here again today.” Sweetie greets me with a smile. It’s not unusual for Sweetie to come into the kitchen at this time. She always rings the bell as she comes in, but sometimes I don’t notice, like this morning.
“G-Good morning, Sweetie. Breakfast’s ready, so you can relax in the living room. There’s some tea there.” I answer her, staring at the frying pan. On the table is a pot of hot water, a teapot, and some snacks.
“Oh, yes. You’re perfect again today, Storm.” Sweetie voice is lively, as if she’s happy about something. …And Sweetie comes into the kitchen instead of going to the table. “Storm? You’re making lunch, right?”
“Hm? Yeah, it turned out that way. It’s a good dish for lunch, so I thought I’d make some side dishes.”
“Um, then can I help? I’ll make my own, so…”
“Oh, wait. If you don’t mind having the same thing, I can give you some of mine.”
“…Yes. I was watching and I wanted to have some of yours.”
“All right. Can you cook the rice, then? We don’t have enough for two. There should be a fast rice cooker over there.”
“Yes, I’ll take care of it. I’ll go and start that, then.” I hear the sound of her hoofsteps, and of her tying her apron.
“Storm? We’re okay with two cups of rice, right?”
“Hmm, I think that’ll be enough.” With quick movements, Sweetie comes to help in the kitchen.
“Morning! Well done, it smells great!” A little past six-thirty. Thirty minutes after Sweetie, Pinkie Pie arrives as usual.
“Good morning, Pinkie. Please wait a little longer for breakfast.”
“Yep, I’ll wait. …Oh, Sweetie, are you making breakfast with Storm?”
“No, Storm made breakfast on his own. We’re making lunch right now.” Sweetie’s voice is really lively. We’re not doing anything particularly fun, so I don’t know what she’s so happy about.
“I see, so of course you’re in a good mood. Cooking and Storm, so much fun stuff. Okay, we don’t have much time, but take it easy.” Laughing, Pinkie sits at the table and pours some tea.
“…Geez, she must still be off dreaming. What’s so fun about cooking for school?” I put the pan back onto the rack. The food’s made, so all that’s left is to pack the lunchboxes.
“Sorry, Sweetie. I made you do extra work before club activities. I wanted you to relax since you did a lot yesterday.”
“Huh? Don’t worry about that at all. Like Pinkie said, I find cooking fun.” She smiles. Well, I know she likes cooking… but still, it must be hard for getting up at five o’clock to make lunch. Besides, Sweetie comes and makes dinner often. So if I’m getting her to cook in the mornings too, she might have no free time at all.
“…Phew. I’m grateful for the help, but you should relax, Sweetie. You should sleep in during the mornings, and after school is for playing around. You don’t have to come and help around my house.”
“Well, I am relaxing. You made breakfast today, and I got some food from you for lunch too.” She smiles. …Sigh. It’s been a year and a half since Sweetie started to help out. Now, she keeps coming back like this no matter what I say.
“That’s different. You have your own life too, so you can’t just take care of me and Pinkie. If you’re taking care of us, you won’t be able to do all the things you want to.”
“Ahaha, that’s fine. My only hobbies are archery and cooking. In fact, my goal is to beat you at cooking, and I think I’m almost there.” Sweetie puffs her chest out boastfully. …Gah. I want to argue back, but it’s true as she is about to beat me. “So please don’t worry about it. I like cooking here, and improving is fun. I’m helping you to pay you back for showing me this great pleasure, and for my own benefit.”
“…Hm. Does that mean you’re stealing some of my skill every day, Sweetie?”
“Yes. I improve quickly just by helping you. So please be ready. I’ll make you admit defeat someday.” Whoa. I can’t believe she said it so bluntly!
“…Man. If I’d known this was coming, I would never have taught you to cook. You never even heard of oil before coming here, but now you’re after me like an enemy. Really, why are you chasing me like this? Can’t you just be happy making food?”
“Of course I’m after you. You can’t be better than me.”
“…?” I’m not sure what’s so bad about that, but we should start setting the table for breakfast. “Alrighty.” I check the main dish. Placing my utensil on the well-cooked tofu, I check how cooked it is. “I guess that’s done. Here, Sweetie, can you take this to the table?”
“Yes, thank you Storm.” I hand the plate of tofu to Sweetie. Then, as if remembering something important, Sweetie stops dead.
“Sweetie? What’s wrong, did you leave something at home?” Sweetie may seem shrewd, but she actually forgets things a lot. It’s not unusual for her to remember something and stop like this. But… it seems like that’s not the case this morning. “…Sweetie.”
“……” There’s no answer. She just blankly stares at my hoof like she’s in a daze, then… “Storm… what’s that bruise on your hand?” She asks me a strange question.
“Huh?” I look down at the hoof she’s talking about. “Huh…? You’re right, there is a bruise. That’s weird, I don’t remember hitting it anywhere.” For some reason, there’s a big bruise on the back of my left forehoof. It’s quite an impressive welt, and it looks like it came from some sort of a cut. Even on my own hoof, it looks bad. Perhaps Sweetie’s not feeling well as she’s very quiet.
“Sorry, can you handle the rest? I’ll go put something on it.” I let Sweetie take care of the kitchen and head for the gym. I don’t know if I did this during my sleep, but I’ll have to treat it. “……” But for some reason, I’m worried about Sweetie, who looked awkward and downcast.
“I’ll go on ahead, then.”
“Sweetie, are you sure you’re all right? You can skip your club if you’re not feeling well.”
“No, I’m fine. It’s just a light headache, so you shouldn’t worry about it. I only look bad because you imagine it. I’m doing really well today.” She says so with a smile. …But anypony can tell she’s just bluffing.
“…Really well, huh? Even though you couldn’t eat any breakfast?”
“Oh…” She looks away awkwardly. Without looking up, she replies… “…Please excuse me. You’re the one who should be resting, Storm.” With those words, she leaves. The table is cleared. But on the plate in the kitchen, Sweetie’s meal remains untouched.
“Honestly, what’s wrong with her?” She had been in such a good mood, but after seeing my bruise, Sweetie suddenly became quiet and started to make lots of mistakes. She overfilled the tea, drenched the omelets with soy sauce, and sat down at the table with her apron on. And on top of that, she ate nothing and went to school looking pale.
“Maybe she caught a cold or something.” I mutter to myself while cleaning up. It’s the first time I’ve seen Sweetie like this. I got to know here during the summer four years ago, and she started coming here to help a year and a half ago. In that time, I’ve never seen her look this ill.
“……” …Pinkie will be at the archery, so I don’t think there’ll be a problem there. But I should go and check on her after school or sometime…
Congratulations You earned a Sweetie Route point and also a bruise.