Hearing Utaha compare the cookies she had made to charcoal, Yui immediately got angry.
"How do they look like charcoal?!"
She picked one up and examined it carefully, but the longer she stared at it, the less confidence she had. As the person who had made it herself, Yui was no longer merely wondering whether it resembled charcoal—she was starting to suspect the cookie itself might actually be poisonous.
"It really does look like charcoal."
Faced with this undeniable reality, Yui lowered her head.
Yukino also stared at the cookie suspiciously and muttered, "Would someone die if they ate this?"
Still, Yukino wasn't discouraged. She shook her head, clapped her hands, and said, "All right. Now let's think about how we can improve it."
"Ugh~ I really don't have any talent for this. Maybe I should just..."
Yui trailed off as she looked at the sample she had made, already beginning to think about giving up. Her original reason for making cookies was to give them to a few classmates. She wanted to get along better with the popular group in her class, fit in with everyone, and avoid being excluded.
But judging from the results in front of her, if she actually handed out cookies like these, she would probably end up sitting alone in a corner the very next day.
Hearing her say that, Yukino immediately frowned.
"Effort is the only solution, Yuigahama-san. Please stop thinking in terms of whether or not you have talent. Someone unwilling to put in even the most basic effort has no right to envy those who are talented."
"I'll translate what she means for you," Takumi added from the side. "Making cookies is nowhere near difficult enough for talent to matter."
Feeling somewhat ashamed, Yui instinctively tried to defend herself. "Come to think of it, people don't really make things by hand anymore these days. Wouldn't doing this make me stand out too much?"
Hearing what Yui was actually worried about, Yukino stopped what she was doing and looked at her seriously.
"Could you stop constantly trying to conform to everyone around you? I find that habit extremely unpleasant. And blaming other people for your own clumsiness, embarrassment, and foolishness—aren't you ashamed of yourself?"
Under the full force of Yukino's sharp tongue, Yui lowered her head.
Utaha, standing nearby, looked as though she wanted to say something, but after opening her mouth, she ultimately remained silent. For one thing, she was currently an outsider. For another, Yukino actually had a point. Utaha wasn't particularly fond of people who deliberately bent themselves to fit in with everyone around them either.
After a moment of silence, however, Yui suddenly looked up with admiration.
"S-so cool!"
"Huh?"
Her response completely baffled Yukino. She had expected her words to leave Yui feeling embarrassed or hurt, yet instead, Yui looked at her with sparkling eyes.
"Yukinoshita-san, you don't beat around the bush at all. How should I put it... I think that's really cool!"
Yukino immediately retreated behind Takumi in alarm.
What kind of masochistic personality is this?!
"W-were you even listening to me?! Even I thought what I said was pretty harsh!"
"It was pretty harsh," Yui admitted, "but I feel like you meant every word. I really am always trying to conform to other people... I'm sorry. I'll work harder from now on!!"
For some inexplicable reason, Yui suddenly became completely fired up.
Takumi casually added, "They're just cookies. As long as you follow the steps, they basically can't go wrong. By the way, Yui, if you want to make more friends, I can introduce you to some people. I think the atmosphere in my group is probably better than the one you're trying to join."
"Eh!? Really? Takumi-kun, you actually have friends at this school!?"
Yui blurted it out without thinking.
Dark lines immediately covered Takumi's forehead.
"Did I seem that unlikeable to you before?!"
"N-no, no!"
Yui hurriedly shook her head, then whispered with a red face, "I just heard rumors that you're dating several girls at once and fooling around with girls in your class. I also heard Hiratsuka-sensei warned you about it."
"Is that really a rumor?"
Yukino looked at Takumi while barely suppressing a smile.
That "rumor" was clearly nothing but the truth.
Takumi fell silent for the first time in a while, unable to figure out where he could even begin arguing. Every single word seemed to be true.
Utaha also looked surprised after hearing all that.
"Kouhai-kun, are you really that much of a pervert? No wonder you could describe so many romantic details and come up with all those ideas for love-triangle situations. They were all based on personal experience, weren't they?"
A teasing smile appeared on her lips.
"What a Pervert-kun~~"
"Why does that nickname keep coming up? Do all you sharp-tongued girls with long black hair think exactly the same way?"
Takumi couldn't help complaining, which immediately caught Utaha's attention.
"Oh? So someone already called you that before? As expected of Pervert-kun."
Although she teased him verbally, a trace of jealousy flickered through Utaha's eyes. She hated the fact that someone else had beaten her to it.
"Enough with these pointless rumors, Utaha. I actually have a job you can use for practice. Interested?"
Takumi abruptly changed the subject and got straight to the point.
Utaha immediately became curious. When she learned that Takumi wanted her to write the script and story for a galgame, genuine shock appeared on her face.
"M-me? I've only just started writing seriously. What makes you think I'm qualified to take on something like that?"
"Relax. Development on the galgame isn't moving particularly fast. In the meantime, you can serialize The Metronome in Love. It'll give you a good opportunity to polish your writing too."
"Ehh~~ Pervert-kouhai, you're really good at exploiting people. I can't help feeling like I'm being tricked."
Utaha muttered suspiciously, but even so, she still held out her hand.
No matter how she looked at it, she was taking the job.
"In that case, this is perfect. I'll introduce you to your future colleagues too!"
Takumi grasped Utaha's slender hand and laughed brightly before glancing toward Yukino and Yui, who had already finished another batch of cookies.
Yukino, who had originally been brimming with confidence, was now sprawled over the table in defeat.
"How am I supposed to teach her so she actually learns?!"
At this point, Yukino wanted to take back everything she had said earlier.
With Yui's level of cooking talent, apparently effort really wasn't enough.
Looking at the charred-black cookies, even Takumi was stunned.
"So this is the legendary terrible cook... How did you even manage this? Cookies aren't supposed to taste bad as long as you follow the steps."
"Uuugh~~ I don't know either!"
Yui genuinely felt like crying. She really had tried, and it still hadn't worked.
Takumi picked up one of the cookies and took a bite, but the bitter, burnt flavor immediately made him stop before swallowing.
"The temperature was wrong, and I think the ratios of flour, sugar, and egg were off too. Honestly, Yui, I think your original idea was better. Just buy some cookies and give those to people instead."
Seeing Takumi shake his head, Yui let out a helpless cry.
"Am I seriously beyond saving?!"
When she had wanted to give up earlier, Takumi and Yukino had encouraged her to keep trying. Now that she had actually put in the effort, the two of them were telling her to give up.
Yui genuinely couldn't take it anymore!
...
For every 50 Power Stones → +1 extra chapter.
Read 50+ chapters ahead on Patreon! [patreon.com/METARLN]