Chapter 364: Pavlov's Dog
Yotsuba's private tutoring session didn't end until evening.
Even during Golden Week break, being forced to study privately obviously didn't put Yotsuba in a good mood—but she was the one who suggested it in the first place, so there was no point complaining now.
No matter how frustrated Nakano Yotsuba felt, she could only endure in silence. Even if she was suffering, she had no one to tell.
If only she had called Itsuki to study together back then—it would've at least split some of Sakurai Saki's "firepower."
Throughout the whole lesson, Yotsuba kept track of how many times Sakurai scolded her—a total of 31 times. His words weren't harsh, but every time they hit straight at her weak spot, because Sakurai Saki only ever said one thing: "Idiot."
Aside from "idiot," he said nothing else.
But just that alone was enough to break Yotsuba's defenses.
Sakurai Saki was like a Saitama who knew only one move—a punch. He didn't have many techniques, but the damage was devastating.
And so, Yotsuba walked home under her umbrella in the pouring afternoon rain—the downpour had lasted all day, showing no sign of stopping.
Entering the elevator, Yotsuba pressed the button.
"So tired…"
Her head was now filled with everything Sakurai Saki had "crammed" into it today.
Yotsuba was doing her best to keep that knowledge from escaping.
It had taken so much effort to get it from Sakurai Saki, letting even a drop slip away would be a waste… uh, talking about knowledge here—don't get the wrong idea.
Ding-dong~
The elevator arrived.
Dragging her tired body, Yotsuba opened the door, changed her shoes, and walked into the living room.
"Smells so good… who's—" As soon as Yotsuba caught a whiff of the delicious aroma, she felt instantly healed.
But when she saw who was cooking in the kitchen, the little rabbit inside her froze on the spot.
Tonight's dinner… probably wouldn't be edible.
"Yotsuba? You're home?" Miku, wearing her signature headphones, turned to greet her.
"U-umu." Yotsuba carefully stepped closer to the kitchen and asked, "Where's Nino? Isn't she usually the one who cooks?"
"Nino said to let me try this time," Miku replied softly.
Her words sounded gentle, but to Yotsuba's ears, they didn't sound pleasant at all.
For the first time, Yotsuba understood what "synesthesia" felt like—it turned out taste and hearing really could be connected.
Sakurai-san once mentioned something called "Pavlov's Dog"—every time a bell rang, people would feed the dog; after a while, even without food, just hearing the bell would make the dog salivate. That was Pavlov's experiment.
'Just seeing Miku in the kitchen makes my stomach hurt…'
Was this the Pavlov effect too?
A conditioned reflex—that's what it was called, right?
Yotsuba thought knowledge was really useful; after all that studying, she could finally apply it in real life!
"Yotsuba, are you hungry?"
"Miku… I'm not really hungry…" Yotsuba tactfully declined.
Even a "little angel" like her thought Miku's cooking smelled like… a hospital.
Knowing full well there's a tiger on the mountain but climbing it anyway—only heroes or idiots would do that!
After all, not everyone is Wu Song, who could still slay a tiger after drinking wine.
If she went in, she'd only be giving that tiger a full meal!
"Don't be afraid." Miku smiled. "I've been practicing cooking diligently this whole year—even Saki-kun praised me."
Miku knew her cooking skills used to be terrible—but that was a year ago. Now she had completely "transformed," and her cooking had improved a lot.
Miku: ( • ̀ω•́ )✧
Yotsuba: (·•᷄_•᷅ )
How come I didn't know about this?!
Sakurai-san didn't just say that to avoid making Miku sad, right!?
No way! Sakurai-san! Don't use your kindness for weird things like this!
'What should I do? Should I eat it or not? If I eat, I might end up in the hospital, but if I don't, Miku will be sad!'
For the first time in months, Yotsuba felt this conflicted.
Even when, on the first day of Golden Week break, both the girls' track club and basketball club fought over her, she hadn't suffered this much!
"I…" Yotsuba spoke as if she were walking to the gallows, "I'll eat!"
Miku nodded slightly. "Go call Itsuki and everyone else down."
"Eh?" Yotsuba froze.
No way! It's enough if only I get hurt!
"What's wrong?" Miku asked when she saw Yotsuba standing still, her hands paused midair. She was frying tempura, and there was also a stew cooking.
"N-no, nothing."
Nakano Yotsuba, filled with unease, went upstairs.
By the time she called the other three down, Miku had already finished setting the table.
"Ichika, why aren't you changing your clothes?"
"We're at home, it's not like anyone's coming."
"What if Sakurai-san drops by?"
"Then he can see~" Ichika replied casually.
It wasn't like he hadn't seen before anyway.
After a noisy round of bickering, all five sisters sat down at the table.
"Miku cooked today, huh…" Ichika looked at the busy Miku, and then suddenly froze—her half-awake brain seemed to have just connected to a supercomputer.
A giant word appeared in her mind — "DANGER."
Of course Ichika knew Miku's cooking level.
If it didn't kill anyone, that would already be a success.
'What's the emergency number again?' Ichika secretly began planning how to handle the situation.
At this rate, it looked like tonight's dinner… they'd have to eat whether they wanted to or not.
After all…
Ichika glanced at Miku's expectant face, and all words of refusal stuck in her throat.
'Food made by my little sister… as the eldest, I can't refuse it!'
If she refused, Miku would be sad.
At this moment, everyone's feelings were pretty much the same—except for Nino.
She knew that Miku's cooking had improved over the past year—well, at least enough that eating it wouldn't kill you.
"Who's eating first?" Nino asked, her face full of curiosity as she gleefully added fuel to the tension.
"..."
After a long silence.
"I'll do it." Nakano Ichika stood up.
With the expression of someone walking to her execution, she picked up a piece of tempura shrimp in front of her and slowly put it in her mouth.
She took a bite, chewed carefully, and then Ichika's eyes suddenly lit up.
"Delicious!"
Not exactly amazing, but because it was made by Miku, it tasted good! Far better than expected!
Hearing Ichika say that, the others started picking up their chopsticks too.
Seeing Yotsuba and Itsuki eating and swallowing hungrily, Miku's nervous heart finally relaxed.
'If that's the case… maybe I can make a bento for Saki-kun…'
...
After eating, Itsuki went to wash the dishes, while the other sisters stayed in the living room to digest.
Ichika glanced around at her sisters, then decided to make an announcement.
"Everyone, I have something to say…"
"What is it?" Nino replied absentmindedly.
At the moment, all her attention was focused on the TV.
On the screen, a handsome male lead was chasing after the angry female lead who had stormed off, running with that classic Japanese drama style.
"I'm going to take a leave of absence from school."
As soon as she said that, the air went completely still.
Only the sound from the TV drama could be heard—
[Emillia! Don't leave me!!]
[No! Subaru-kun!!! Get out of the way, you'll get hit by a car if you run in the street!!]
A loud "BANG" sounded—the male lead got hit and flew several meters, before the scene cut to the female lead holding him, blood trickling from his lips.
[You're such an idiot, such… an idiot.]
[Emillia, I love you~ (spits blood)]
[End of episode.]
...
Note: I forgot to set the update time :v