Even though it was my own request to stay here from the beginning, in order to learn the new cooking methods as quickly as possible, that's why I made this choice, but the final result feels a bit unexpected.
It's not that different from when I was at Shiomi's lab. After all, I started staying up late and helping Professor Shiomi with various research projects back then to study curry, and it's the same now.
If I started learning from scratch, the time needed might not be enough at all. But if I had a familiar teacher to help me grasp it, I could understand the so-called theory from a human perspective as quickly as possible, and then achieve the desired effect through my own improvements.
And Alice seems to be very good at playing this role. If I spend a night studying and understanding, I can start practicing the next day very quickly. Although I'm still not sure if I can achieve the same perfect accuracy as a machine, it's meaningless if I don't try.
But...
Hachiman: "Don't you really need to rest for a bit?"
Hachiman, who is already used to staying up late, isn't affected at all. And Alice, to some extent, can be called a scientist. She has stayed up countless nights. After all, to surpass Erina, she has never given herself time to slack off. On the other hand, Erina, because she has so many things to do every day, it's very important for her to get enough rest.
Seeing her looking like she's about to collapse on the ground and fall asleep, Hachiman asked her out of concern.
As the sky grew darker and darker, and the darkness completely covered the sky, the manor also entered its quietest moment.
Erina: "I... I'm not sleepy!"
Alice: "There should be a limit to lying. Your dark circles are about to speak for you, Erina."
Erina put on a nonchalant look: "Hmph, since I can rest well these next few days, I might as well go all out and stay up all night."
Hachiman and Alice looked at each other and could only smile helplessly.
Even though Alice was teasing Erina just now, the two of them were really just talking about the machine's operating system and theory. Erina didn't understand and even felt bored. Rather than letting her wear herself out like this, it would be easier to let her fall asleep.
However, there's no point in forcing it like this, and...
Hachiman looked at Erina's state and had a rough idea in his mind. Although she's still holding on now, she can't stop the physical discomfort, so she will definitely fall asleep unconsciously soon.
I never thought I would be talking about science in the kitchen late at night. At some point, Hachiman realized that Erina, who was just beside him, had reached her limit. After a brief struggle, she just collapsed weakly on his shoulder.
Alice seemed completely absorbed in it at the moment and didn't notice Erina at all. She just lowered her head and continued, "After the traditional running and mixing, we get the α and β algorithms..."
Hachiman reached out and interrupted her.
"Is there a blanket here, or should we take her back to her room first?"
Alice: "Dummy, have you forgotten? This is a manor. It takes half an hour to get from this kitchen to the bed she sleeps in."
Hachiman: "Looks like having too big a house isn't a good thing either. But it's good that the facilities here are relatively complete, so we can just put her on the sofa."
Alice: "I'll have the butler bring a blanket over first."
Although Hachiman didn't think it was a good idea to call the butler who was resting at this time, and it was even a bit of a hassle, he knew he was thinking too much the moment Alice made the call. After all, the butlers in this manor work in shifts 24 hours a day, and there are countless of them.
Alice: "Let's stay in this position until the butler brings the blanket over."
Hachiman looked at Erina, who had completely fallen asleep, losing her usual noisy appearance, and nodded.
I have to say, if this girl wasn't so noisy, she would be quite pretty, even making Hachiman turn his head away shyly, feeling embarrassed to continue looking.
After all, any random action now might wake her up, so Hachiman's movements became very careful. But for Alice, who was watching the show, it was a different story. She took out her phone and said with a mischievous smile:
"I wonder what expression Erina will have when she sees this photo tomorrow, hahahahaha..."
Before Hachiman could refuse, a flash of white light suddenly flickered. When he came back to his senses, Alice was already savoring the rather ambiguous photo.
Erina was completely limp, resting her head on Hachiman's shoulder. The two of them looked like a young couple in love.
Hachiman: "Hey, hey, delete the photo quickly, or I'll die when she wakes up tomorrow."
Alice giggled, but her expression became indifferent: "Hikigaya-kun, how do you see Erina?"
Hachiman didn't react to the point of this strange question at all, and just answered calmly:
"How else can I see her? No matter how amazing she is, what responsibilities she has, or whether she's a genius chef in the future culinary world, she's just an ordinary girl."
Alice: "Is that so? You may not know, but this child has you..."
Alice's voice became smaller and smaller, even in this quiet space, it completely lost its echo.
Hachiman: "What?"
Alice's playful expression had disappeared, and she just became extremely calm:
"It's nothing."
...
The arrival of the butler also announced that the two of them would continue to study the theory of this machine. Hachiman gently picked Erina up in a princess carry and then slowly walked to the sofa.
Alice, who witnessed this scene behind him, couldn't help but take out her phone and take a picture of their backs, then whispered:
"Sure enough, wanting to delete the photos is impossible, right? After all, this is a good memory!"
On the other side, Hachiman's arm seemed to feel a very slight tremor, but because it only existed for a moment, he simply thought it was his muscles twitching because he was too nervous.
After placing her on the sofa and gently covering her with the blanket, he only saw Alice still smiling mischievously.
Hachiman: "I really need you to delete the photo. If Erina sees it..."
Without thinking about it carefully, Hachiman felt a chill in his heart. After all, her reaction before had already made him feel a little helpless. In his interactions with Erina, he had definitely judged this girl to be a troublesome woman.
Alice: "You really don't understand that girl at all. Maybe Erina would be happy."
Hachiman: "If that's a joke, then it must be from another world."
Alice: "Hikigaya-kun, you're too pessimistic. Okay, let's continue. After all, there's not much time left."
Hachiman nodded: "In any case, thank you for your trouble. After all, you have to stay up late with me, and I'm really being cunning."
Alice naturally understood the meaning of his words. After all, according to common sense, she should be helping Kuromiba, but now, she's helping him, an outsider, and an unrelated outsider.
"Well, I've stayed up too many nights to count. And... Hikigaya-kun, you really did help me, so no matter what, I don't want to owe anyone a favor."
"What a troublesome woman."
"I'm not Erina!"
"Of course, you're just Alice."
...
The night passed quickly. At some point, both of them had completely collapsed on the ground, and the notebook on the ground was still emitting flashes of light. But as the light shone, the entire kitchen was once again filled with sunlight.
Erina only felt a little dizzy. She rubbed her eyes and stood up from the sofa.
But...
Just for a moment, her blushing eyes and face became the same color.
Although her memory was a bit hazy, she definitely felt something at that time. The memory engraved in her mind was so embarrassing, yet so reluctant to forget.
And...
When she was half asleep, she seemed to have unconsciously heard a sentence:
"Erina, is just an ordinary person."
The touch in her heart seemed impossible to put into words. She couldn't specifically recall what happened yesterday, but this ambiguous distance and words made her awake for a moment.
"I...I...I...I...I... What's wrong with me..."
"When did I fall asleep..."
"Isn't this just like an old man drinking on the side of the road..."
"Ahhhhhhhhh..."
She couldn't continue to recall what happened yesterday and could only move forward step by step with her remaining consciousness. But... Compared to just now, something even more shocking happened to her.
Hachiman had completely lost consciousness and collapsed on the ground, while Alice looked like a little girl, hugging Hikigaya with her whole body. The two of them kept no distance at all, and they could even feel each other's breath.
The scene completely sent Erina to hell.
At this moment, she couldn't bear the emotions brought about by her physiology and uncontrollably reached out to pull the two of them apart.
"Wake up, Alice!"
"And Hikigaya, you wake up too!"
Hachiman didn't seem to know when he fell asleep, but when he opened his eyes again, he vaguely saw something wrapped around his lower body. Erina looked shy and anxious, constantly trying to pull that thing out.
When he looked closely again...
"..."
Although he wanted to get out of this terrifying situation quickly, Alice was like a child, holding on to Hachiman tightly. He didn't know if she was awake at this time, or if she was still teasing Erina like a prank.
But no matter which angle you looked at it from, she was too successful. After all, Erina already looked like she was about to cry.
Erina: "Stupid Hikigaya, you put in some effort too!"
"Kick her away, with your foot!"
Hachiman: "Saying to use my foot is too cruel..."
Alice was still mumbling: "Hikigaya is so comfortable, cuddle, cuddle..."
"Let me sleep a bit more, just a bit..."
'This girl is definitely doing it on purpose!'
Hachiman had never seen anyone, even his own father Joichiro, be able to be half-asleep to this extent. But Erina couldn't care about that much now. She just came behind Hikigaya, grabbed his hands with both of hers, and wanted to pull Hikigaya out of it with incredible brute force.
Who knew... Alice seemed to wake up instantly at this moment and unleased all the strength in her body, allowing Hikigaya to be dragged away.
Even if Erina was strong, she was just a girl. With the disappearance of the force, her body fell backward suddenly. If Hikigaya hadn't reacted quickly and grabbed her tightly as she fell, her head would have hit the ground directly.
"Click."
Even though they had just gone through a dangerous moment, Alice started taking pictures on the side. After all, it was a scene of Hikigaya pinning Erina down...
Alice: "If this gets out, it'll definitely be a huge scandal!"
Erina wanted to say something, but when Hikigaya pinned her down, she found that she couldn't say a word. She just turned her head away shyly.
Fortunately, Hachiman had seen some big scenes before. Looking at Erina's blushing face, he subconsciously stood up, only slowly reaching out his hand to her.
"Are you okay?"
"Mm..."
After being pulled up by Hikigaya, Erina finally seemed to return to her usual state. Now, her patience with Alice had reached its limit.
"Alice! What do you want!"
"Why were you lying on him, and why were you pretending to be not awake just now! And give me your phone!"
Alice put her finger against her chin and showed an innocent expression: "Eh? I just woke up? I don't know anything. But since you want the phone..."
Hachiman felt a chill down his spine, as if there was a bad omen.
Sure enough, the moment Erina took the phone, he felt a call from ancient times on his body.
'This girl didn't delete the photos after all.'
Just like Hachiman guessed, Alice deliberately moved the phone's photos to the one taken yesterday. At that time, Erina was quietly leaning on Hikigaya's shoulder, and with the help of Alice's photographer skills, the two of them looked like a couple.
As long as this photo went out, it was estimated it would cause a huge sensation at Totsuki.
Hachiman: "Um, let me explain..."
Erina's blushing expression showed no sign of fading. She just stared blankly at the phone, starting to flip to the next photo.
And the next one was naturally a photo of Hachiman carrying Erina in a princess carry. At that time, she was no different from an ordinary girl, just simply enjoying the warmth brought by others.
Alice's eyes seemed to have a trace of abnormality, but when Erina was stunned, she took the phone back and deliberately said:
"Oops, I put it in the wrong place. Erina is really something, deliberately looking at other people's photos like this. But since I took the photo secretly, I'm also at fault, so I'll just delete it now."
With that said, Alice's hands quickly started operating, as if without the slightest hesitation. But at this moment, Erina seemed to have something stuck in her throat and couldn't say anything at all.
"Don't..."
"Okay, deleted."
Passing over the thoroughly deleted photo album again, Erina's gaze lost its gleam at this moment, completely darkening.
"Okay, that's good. I'm going to the bathroom."
As soon as she finished speaking, Erina fled the scene like she was running away, leaving only Alice, who had completely won the rhythm, raising her hands high.
"Yay!"
Hachiman: "You're really too bad. Although Erina made you suffer in cooking, you're completely treating her as a toy in other aspects."
Alice's smile disappeared: "Hikigaya-kun, what are you talking about? Aren't you the one who doesn't understand even now."
"No matter what, I'm her younger sister."
Alice gently opened her phone. Although the three photos just now had long been completely deleted from the album...
On Instagram, they had already been sent to her older sister Erina.
...
Because she left her phone in the kitchen just now, Erina, who ran out, had no idea what was happening inside.
She actually knew that she was completely caught in a weak spot in front of her younger sister Alice. Never had there been such a moment that made her so passive, and it was only because of Hikigaya's appearance that her mood became anxious.
And...
When she saw those three photos, she was the only one who knew best that she had the purest wish at that time, which was to save those photos to her phone, just like burying them deep in her heart.
However...
Because of her own reasons, she couldn't save anything.
It was the first time she was treated like an ordinary person, but she fell to this result.
At some point, she was just constantly knocking on the wall, angrily scolding something:
"Alice, you idiot! Hikigaya, you idiot!"
"And...I'm the idiot!"
"..."
When she raised her head again, the person in the mirror had long been completely soaked in tears, only the red and swollen eyes looked so real at this moment.
What exactly is this anxiety in my heart?
The more I tried to figure it out, the more I couldn't understand it.
But...
The only thing certain... she was definitely happy today.
If she could always maintain this kind of mood, she, Erina, was willing to give up anything.
What genius, what 'God Tongue,' all of them could be thrown away.
Let go of the invisible pressure she had shouldered since birth, and also let go of the dignity she had to maintain in front of people, just to be an ordinary person.
Is cooking really everything to a person?
...
Alice: "So now all the content that I can explain to you has been explained to you. To be honest, no matter what I think, it's still a mess. All knowledge needs to be accumulated and applied to be able to use it, and I'm just simply repeating the theory again..."
Hachiman: "This is enough..."
Alice: "No matter what, I can only help you this much now. The rest is up to you, so let's begin..."
"Saury patties, handmade edition!"
To tell the truth, Hachiman didn't even think about surpassing the machine in one go. He just wanted to imitate it as much as possible, and then improve it with the accumulation of times.
The words in his mind floated by one by one. Whether it was the accuracy, speed, strength, temperature, or even humidity, all derived from the formulas, he started to replicate them one by one.
And more importantly, the so-called process needs to start emerging in the process of handwork.
If everything can be controlled, then what needs to be done next...
Is endless practice and improvement.
Time passed bit by bit, and Erina finally calmed down and walked out of the washroom.
Alice: "I thought you were going to hide in there and not come out."
Handing over Erina's cell phone, Erina's heart suddenly jumped when she saw the three photographs.
Alice: "Well, I am your sister, and I know your mouth and your intentions better than you do."
Hearing her sister respond with these words, Erina subconsciously blushed again.
Erina: "Did...did it start yet?"
Alice: "That was an extremely poor attempt to change the subject. But it's alright for this time. It's started! Now we must see what he can do."
The two girls looked at Hachiman, who was completely focused, and stopped speaking for a moment.
Erina: "What an idiot."
Alice: "Ah, yes, what an idiot."
Erina wiped away the tears from the corner of her eyes and, at that moment, appeared to have regained her usual state of mind when she said, very arrogantly:
"Hmph, he should be more than satisfied knowing that I, with my 'God Tongue,' will be there to help him test his new works. As for what happened yesterday, Alice, you forget about it too."
Alice: "I am sorry, Erina, as I, too, have precious memories, so I cannot forget about that."
Erina: " You...you...you..."
Alice: "Nya, nya, nya!"
'What noise. These two guys...'
'But this is fine.'
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