Nogizaka Haruka no Himitsu:Volume2 Chapter8

Chapter 8

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—I never thought that things would end up like this.

I’m alone in the kitchen, sighing away heavily.

I have red carrots and white radishes I bought on my way home. They were freshly harvested in the morning, so there is still some dirt on them. I scrap off the skin stained with dirt and cut them into half-moon shapes, but my heart is somewhere else.

“Fuu…”

Now what do I do?

I can’t understand my current situation now. No, I should say that even though my mind understands, my feelings can’t accept this imbalance in situation.

I randomly slice the chicken that was sold at a discounted price of 80 yen and threw the pieces into the pot.

Right now, this is all I can only do. I can only maintain this current situation and not improve it for now, but it’s better than doing now.

And also, I will be able to prevent myself from thinking too much now that I’m doing something.

I toss the shredded onion shreds into the pot, close the lid and turned on the gas.

Phoosh, the blue flames enter my sights.

It flickers as it dances like a grass skirt.

I stare at the flames as my mind recalls what happened before.

“Onee-chan, onee-chan’s in trouble!!”

Mika made a call here.

And this was the first line I heard.

“Onee-chan, onee-chan…”

Her voice was showing a frantic mood she had never shown before.

—I never thought that Haruka would actually do such a thing.

This was the outcome after the incident I had with Haruka.

I should have known that this sort of thing of happened, I should have personally escorted Haruka home. No, even so, I guess the outcome will still be the same. Even if I’m around, I’m powerless to help, so the me right now can only stay still and watch how the developments change.

“Haa…”

I sigh again. I really can’t help out at all.

However, it’s pointless to sigh here.

If I regret this, I won’t be able to do anything at all. I’ll just dwell on what happened in the past, and I won’t focus on how the present changes. I suppose this is what it means by ‘regretting first before doing anything’.

Anyway, what I should do now is to focus on cooking the food in this pot.

I change my thinking, and prepare to take out some stock, soy sauce and vinegar.

“Oi Yuuto, is it still not done yet?”

Ruko’s voice came from the living room.

“We’re already impatient here! Hurry up, everyone’s waiting for you! What kind of dish requires so much time here?”

I feel weary after hearing her voice that reeks of alcohol. She’s already drinking…

“For something like a hotpot, just slice all the ingredients and cook them together. Hurry up. Don’t keep the guests waiting for too long.”

“Something like a hotpot…”

I really don’t want to be told off by a person like her who can’t even prepare ‘something like a hotpot’.

“I’m hungry now! Yuu-kun, faster, faster!”

And now even a certain music teacher (I suppose she’s starting to reek of alcohol as well) is starting to grumble as well. Haa…

“…Didn’t I say to wait beforehand? The soup’s not boiled yet.”

“Eh! Yuu-kun, you’re really useless~”

“You’re to make the soup boil within 3 minutes. I don’t want to hear any other reasons. If you have the heart, the soup will boil, understand!”

“…” …These two are so drunk that they’re starting to spew nonsense again.

I grumble heavily in my heart (If I really say it, I’ll definitely get stomped on by them) as I use the ladle to stir the contents of the pot.

“…If possible, may I help out here?”

A voice came from behind me.

Unknowingly, that quiet head maid was already standing at the kitchen entrance.

“Hazuki-san—ah, no, I’m fine here.”

I really have no difficulty here, which is why I’m saying this. Also, Hazuki-san is now a guest, so there’s no reason for me to make her work in the kitchen.

“Please sit and wait, Hazuki-san.”

“—This may be your house, Yuuto-sama, but as a maid, if I don’t do something…”

Hazuki-san, who has nothing to do, looks really fidgety at this moment. I suppose it’s a profession illness if she’s restless because she’s unable to do anything?

“Anything will do, anything will do…”

Hazuki-san’s expression really looks extremely earnest.

Um, since she says so, it’ll be my fault if I refuse her again.

“Ah, then, can you please help me bring this over there?”

“Okay, please leave it to me.”

I let Hazuki-san serve the side dish, a plate of spinach with sesame, and once she heard my request, she immediately takes action, looking rather happy too. This person is really a natural maid at heart.

“Oi, 3 minutes passed already. I don’t want any side dish, hurry up and serve the hotpot!”

“I’m hungry~!”

A prompting came from the living room again. You’re too noisy, damn it! I might as well just serve a hotpot full of uncooked ingredients in that case! It doesn’t involve me, right? I won’t die then.

I grab the insulation gloves left beside the gas stove and raise the pot that only looked like it was boiled.

I walk into the living room, and I see a banner hanging down from the ceiling.

The words in big size are “Congratulations on our first stakeout♪” (it’s most likely Yukari-san’s work)

“…”

Right under the banner is the one and only Ruko who’s lying face up on the sofa, Yukari-san who’s starting to strip herself, Hazuki-san who served the plate onto the table quietly and…

“Ah, Yuuto-san. It’s been tough on you.”

The one who said this was a thoroughly apologetic looking Haruka, giving a bitter smile (she’s still hot from the shower)

…No.

Seriously, how did things end up like this?