Chapter 24: The Ice Lady and A Serious Proposal

I was about to wash the dishes when Fuyuka came up to me, as I had expected.

I know that once she says something, she was not gonna back down that easily, however, I said I would do it anyway and Fuyuka silently offered me a familiar lunch box.

When I received it in silence, and a “Thank you” reached my ears.

She also added, “It was very delicious,” but since they had the same exchange in the cafeteria, Asahi could only nod.

“…Did you wash this, Himuro?”

“Of course. I promised to return it to you shiny and new.”

I opened the lid of the lunch box, which was a little large for a girl and made of stainless steel with an insulating function, and looked inside, it was as shiny as new.

Asahi couldn’t believe his eyes for a while, as the finish was so shiny, a perfect description for it.

“Just out of curiosity, did you use bleach or something?”

“No, I just washed it normally though…”

“Normal, huh?’

It was impossible to wash this clean in just a little bit.

In addition, the way she washed dishes before was not something of this level.

Therefore, I suspected the use of bleach as a cheat, but apparently I was wrong.

If the words “washed normally” were correct, it was reasonable to assume that Fuyuka’s washing skills had improved rapidly.

I guess that was what Fuyuka meant when she silently offered me the lunch box she had finished washing.

It seemed like she wanted to say, “I can wash this well, so please leave it to me.”

“Alright, I’ll leave it to you, Himuro.”

“It’s something you don’t have to ask for, it’s natural to do since I was treated to a meal.”

Sighing lightly, Asahi followed Fuyuka’s back as she headed for the kitchen, wishing he could say the same to Chiaki.

The purpose, of course, was to check on Fuyuka’s washing skills, which seemed to have improved rapidly.

At first, Fuyuka gave me a sullen look, but I guess she gave up when she thought of the precedent.

This time, she put on the rubber gloves correctly, and immediately faced the sink to start washing the dishes.

As it turned out, Fuyuka’s washing skills had not improved much to say the least.

Thanks to the cooking and washing classes I had been doing for the past week, she seemed to have mastered the basics of washing dishes, but there were still a lot of things that needed to be improved.

Still, the dishes lined up in the draining basket were as dazzlingly shiny as the lunch box.

It was a strange scene that seemed contradictory at first glance, but the answer was surprisingly simple and straightforward, which made me laugh.

However, that sent me out to the living room, but I could see why Fuyuka was able to make her lunchbox as clean as new.

All you had to do was, wash it until it shines.

It took almost twenty minutes for the sound of water to stop, but I didn’t interfere as I didn’t want to upset her.

“…I’m done washing the dishes.”

“Mhm, good work. My bad, I made you do all of that.”

“As I said, that’s…”

“It’s natural? It’s all good. You helped me, so let me at least thank you.”

But she didn’t say anything back, and looked down silently – or perhaps it would be more accurate to say that she turned her gaze in another direction.

Her large brown eyes reflected the textbooks and notebooks that Asahi had spread out on the dining room table.

“…Studying, huh?”

“Yeah… Since after the ball game it’s the end of term exams, so I thought that I should study early.”

“That’s very admirable. However, question three and seven are wrong.”

“Are you serious? I was so sure… It’s true… it’s totally wrong…”

“This is due to a mistake in the equation, but this one has a different solution. First of all, it’s not a quadratic equation.”

Normally, when she finished washing the dishes, Fuyuka would return to her room after saying a few short words, but for some reason, today a study session started out of nowhere.

Instead of heading straight for the door, Fuyuka sat down at an empty seat at the dining table, just as she would during a meal.

I was surprised and wondered what was going on all of a sudden, but since she was going out of her way to teach me, there was no need to refuse her kind offer.

As I turned to my desk and focused on my studies, I heard Fuyuka’s clear voice in my ears.

Even though the explanations were given verbally, without text or diagrams, the path to the correct answer appeared clearly within my mind.

“As expected of the number one in our grade, your explanations are so much easier to understand than teachers.”

“There you go again, it’s impossible for me, a student, to be better than teachers who specialize in the teaching profession.”

“In reality, I can understand it more with your teaching, since I’ve been struggling with English lately. Rather, I loved to hire you as my tutor, or something along those lines…”

I wanted to tell Fuyuka, who continued to be humble with a dignified expression, that I was not flattering her or exaggerating, and that I sincerely thought she was amazing, but my words slipped out of my mouth.

“Tutor…?”

“Well, it’s more of a metaphor than anything…”

 

When I hurriedly tried to cover it up, Fuyuka tilted her head slightly and looked at me puzzled.

Perhaps my poor excuse backfired, but it looked like I won’t be able to escape the pursuit.

However, Asahi was not in any way guilty of anything and it was best to be honest here, so he quickly put his appearance in order.

“You know, you’ve taught me how to study before, right? Thanks to that, my midterm grades went up a lot.”

“Isn’t that the result of your efforts, Kagami-san? I’m sure my help was not needed…”

“Hmm, I don’t know how to put it. There is a limit to how much one person can do alone. Anyway, Himuro’s teaching style suits me. That’s why I said you’re perfect to teach me how to study. Eh, What am I saying…?”

“Please forget it.” he added, and turned his head away from Fuyuka, who was sitting directly in front of him.

I had thought of the same thing once before, but I didn’t say it out loud because I was sure that I would be rejected that time.

But this time, I put it into words and actually told her.

However, I did not believe that Fuyuka would accept my request for tutoring.

The fact that we were having dinner together today was a time that should not have existed, and the fact that we were still seeing each other across the small table after the meal was something unexpected.

In fact, this strange relationship was supposed to end when Fuyuka came to return the lunch box.

And yet, this strange relationship still mysteriously continued.

Thinking about it, the short and thin thread that connected me to Fuyuka for more than a month, from the time I took care of her when she collapsed with a high fever until today, could have been broken at any time.

There were times when we were actually disconnected, but through a strange coincidence, we were still connected in this way.

So, I’m sure I’ve said things I shouldn’t have.

Like clinging to a thin, short thread that would be cut off in a few minutes.

I told her to forget it, but I couldn’t help but wonder how Fuyuka would react.

When I awkwardly moved my head and turned around to face the front again, Fuyuka put her hand over her mouth, and her long, thin eyelashes were slightly downcast.

This gesture was a kind of habit when she was thinking long and hard about something. She may not be aware of it, but at least Asahi was aware of it.

There was room for a thought, it seems.

‘Perhaps…’ Such a faint hope rose in Asahi’s heart.

“…If you’re okay with me, It’s heavy to be called a tutor… but I can at least help you with your studies.”

“Are you serious?”

“Yes, I’m serious.”

Before he had time to admire the fact that she replied like that, Asahi opened his eyes wide.

He couldn’t believe each of those words and repeated them over and over in his head.

To sum it up, Fuyuka was going to teach me how to study.

The “Ice Lady,” who had closed her heart and rejected others, was willing to teach him – in other words, she accepted the fact that her relationship with Asahi would continue.

As for Asahi, he was more surprised by this fact than by the fact that she had accepted the tutoring.

“…However, there are conditions for it.”

“Conditions? I’d totally pay you hourly wages.”

“That’s not what I’m talking about.”

Wondering what she was talking about, Asahi tilted his head. Fuyuka’s gaze wandered for a bit, and then she eventually took a slow, deep breath before opening her mouth.

“I will teach you to study. In return, I want you to teach me how to cook.”