Inside the home economics room.
Yukino Yukinoshita had once again busied herself teaching Yui Yuigahama the steps to making cookies.
Meanwhile, Hachiman Hikigaya’s resentful gaze kept drifting after that snow-white figure. He still couldn’t quite believe what he was seeing. He had never expected a beautiful foreign girl with hair that pure, snowy white—it didn’t even look dyed. And by force of habit, he found himself starting to evaluate her in his head.
…Tch. Hair with that kind of sheen is basically CGI. She looks like some snow spirit that wandered into the real world—or maybe an ice fairy that fell into the mortal realm… no, that kind of delusion is dangerous in itself. This is absolutely the result of the modern game industry over-glorifying white-haired characters and warping people’s standards of beauty.
Her very existence seemed to mock the definition of the word ordinary. Just standing there, she carried an invisible keep-away barrier around her. But none of that had anything to do with a gloomy creep like him. After all, there was a thick, tragic wall between two-dimensional fantasy and reality…
Wait, why was she looking this way?!
“?”
Apparently noticing the faintly appraising look from the room’s one solitary loner boy, Tadayana spoke.
“Have we met before?”
“No, not at all. Don’t mind me. Just keep doing whatever you were doing.”
Hachiman Hikigaya gave a small shrug and a self-mocking smile.
Everyone here besides him had something to do. From the moment she came in, the white-haired girl had started rummaging through the ingredients with practiced ease. He couldn’t exactly interrupt.
And in his own mind, he had already sorted everything out.
Hiratsuka-sensei’s iron-fisted lecture had been about what he expected. That girl’s essay had probably only been the fuse. At its core, the real issue was still the way he existed as a person.
He was already used to being treated as a negative example.
So be it.
When Tadayana saw that boy suddenly wearing the relieved look of someone who had made peace with himself for no apparent reason, she silently judged him.
What a strange person…
How had he suddenly reconciled with the version of himself that had been angry for who knew what reason just moments ago? Was this guy some kind of ultimate self-reconciliation specialist, codename: King of Enduring Pressure?
By the time that thought ran its course, she had already taken out part of the ingredients stocked in the room and started looking them over.
Eggs, milk…
Other than making some sort of dessert, the options seemed pretty limited.
After a quick look, she made up her mind. She decided to swap out the sugar for salt and make butter biscuits instead.
Before long, a rich aroma filled the room.
On the other side, Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita—who had still been making futile attempts to repeat the cookie-making process—both stopped and looked over.
“Tadayana-san, are you making something? It smells so good~”
“Mm.”
“Uh…”
That crisp reply shut down the rest of what Yui Yuigahama had wanted to say. She couldn’t even find a common topic to keep the conversation going. In this room, it felt like she was the only one who couldn’t cook.
Wait… no, Hikki probably counted too.
Helpless, she looked toward Hachiman Hikigaya, only for the dead-fish-eyed boy to read her thoughts instantly and return a look of open disdain.
“That’s a very practiced style. You cook for yourself often, don’t you? Do you live alone? Or does your family run some kind of related business?”
This time, it was Yukino Yukinoshita who spoke after watching for a while. She had seen through Tadayana’s efficient technique at a glance. That definitely wasn’t something a beginner—or even someone merely inexperienced—could pull off.
“Yes. I’m making it for myself. Do you want some too? But only one each.”
“What’s with that weirdly defensive attitude about food…”
Hachiman Hikigaya muttered.
Still, the white-haired girl’s words had revealed quite a bit. At least to him, there was a strong chance her family situation was complicated, because there weren’t many people who would use dessert ingredients to make staple food.
Just now, she had looked exactly like a pet guarding its food.
A white hamster, maybe.
“No, thank you. It looks like it would trouble you.”
Yukino Yukinoshita answered at once, in an entirely serious tone.
That left Hachiman Hikigaya and Yui Yuigahama at something of a loss for words. It really did seem Yukino Yukinoshita was the stiff, conservative type.
“Please let me try some.”
Yui Yuigahama raised her hand, then hurriedly set down what she had been working on and trotted over.
“I’d also… ahem… never mind.”
Hachiman Hikigaya had originally wanted to say he wanted a piece too, but the moment he opened his mouth, three pairs of eyes turned toward him, and he immediately chose silence.
Right. This was outside the club, and these three were all female classmates he barely knew.
The only reason he had been able to sample Yui Yuigahama and Yukino Yukinoshita’s cookies before was because they were members of the same club, and he could hide behind the excuse of “club activities.” But now, facing Tadayana, who wasn’t part of the Service Club, he didn’t think he had any right to share in the spoils.
Even if he wanted some, all he could do was keep it to himself.
“Mm, wow, this is really good. Yukinon, you should try a bite too. Aaah~”
Yui Yuigahama had already grabbed one and taken a bite. Her eyes lit up as though she had discovered a whole new continent, and she immediately brought the rest over to feed Yukino Yukinoshita.
“N-no… that’s not necessary…”
Though both her words and her body language showed some resistance to this sort of thing, Yukino Yukinoshita did not actually refuse. Blushing, she still let Yui Yuigahama half-coax, half-force her into taking a bite.
Then, after chewing carefully, she gave her approval.
“It really is quite good.”
“Right? Right? Tadayana, that’s amazing~”
Seemingly noticing that one other person was looking on with undisguised longing, Yui Yuigahama ran back to Tadayana, grabbed a piece, and tossed it to Hachiman Hikigaya.
“Hiss… it’s hot…”
“Stop complaining so much. Hikki didn’t do anything anyway, so he should be grateful he gets to eat at all.”
“…”
Hearing that, Hachiman Hikigaya silently swallowed the mouthful.
True enough. Getting any was already good enough.
He could just consider it food bought at the price of his dignity.
Not that his dignity was worth much to begin with.
“Then you can go on using the room. I’ll be leaving first.”
After packing away the remaining few pieces—making sure she had enough emergency food for the next two or three days—Tadayana rose to leave.
But Yui Yuigahama immediately reached out and caught her by the hand.
“Wait… Tadayana. There’s something I want to ask you. If you don’t have time, then forget it.”
“No, I still have a little.”
“Then… I wanted to ask—what do you think it takes to make delicious cookies?”
“If that’s the question, then personally, I think this matters more than perfect appearance or flavor: making the person who eats them smile, or moving them.”
“I see~ I’ve learned something. Thanks a lot.”
“It’s nothing. Just consider it repayment for letting me mooch off your ingredients.”
—
This is a fan translation of 转生白毛的我开局被雪之下拒绝告白 by 暗影之中 Rights to the original work belong to the creator. Please support them by exploring their original work or sharing it with others if you can. Thank you for reading and supporting my efforts to bring this story to a wider audience!
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