The Classmate Who Is Adored by Everyone Smiles Teasingly Only at Me-Chapter 3Volume .1 - Distressed Pudding

Distressed Pudding

As soon as the bell signaling the end of the fourth period rang, Sōma was ready to dash out of the classroom.

“Ichinose, do you have a moment?”

However, his escape was thwarted by Wakui, who stood in front of the doorway.

“What is it? I was about to go grab some food.”

Sōma, who had planned to “escape” and have lunch off-school as usual, frowned and shuffled his feet impatiently, but Wakui continued without concern.

“Hey, about the hot plates for baking baby castella, I’ve secured one from my place and one from Otsuka’s house. Will these two be enough?”

As soon as he realized the conversation was about baby castella, Sōma’s feet came to a halt.

“How many can each hot plate bake at a time?”

“Let’s see, mine can bake twenty-four, four by six. I’m not sure about Otsuka’s.”

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While gazing at Wakui’s pudding-like hair, Sōma hummed thoughtfully.

“Assuming Otsuka’s is the same, that’s forty-eight in total. We plan to sell eight for a hundred yen, right? So that means we can only serve six people at a time. Isn’t that a bit too few?”

“We could just make some in advance.”

“We’re not doing that.”

Sōma immediately rejected Wakui’s suggestion.

“Stuff like this is best freshly made and freshly baked. I don’t want to serve our customers something that’s been sitting around. For example, how would you feel if you went to a burger shop and they served you soggy fries?”

“That would totally suck.”

Recalling such an experience, she showed a disappointed face.

“Right? We can’t afford the best ingredients due to our budget. So at the very least, I want to offer them freshly baked goods. That way, the customers will smile.”

He wanted to see people smile from eating the sweets he made.

It was a naive goal indeed.

But Sōma was convinced that this goal was the foundation of his aspiration to become a pâtissier.

“Hmm…”

Wakui looked at him intently, her voice a mix of surprise and admiration.

“Just so you know, I’m not forcing this rule on you, Wakui, or anyone else. It’s something I’ve decided on my own, so I’ll make sure to stick by the hot plates and bake as much as possible.”

“But then you won’t get to enjoy the cultural festival, Ichinose.”

Wakui looked genuinely sad for him, but Sōma just shrugged it off as if it were nothing.

“Running a booth is one way to enjoy the cultural festival.”

Of course, he was interested in the other classes’ exhibits and booths, and he would like to visit them if he could.

But when it came to compromising his principles to do so, it wasn’t worth it to him.

When he told her “It’s not something for you to worry about”, Wakui smiled happily for some reason.

“It’s really cool how straightforward you are.”

“I-is that so?”

“No, maybe ‘cool’ is overstating it. You’re just a sweets idiot.”

“Hey, if you’re going to compliment me, stick with it to the end!”

He was quickly brought down after being lifted up.

He showed an exaggerated look of dejection, and Wakui laughed cheerfully, patting him on the back.

“Kidding-kidding. I’m just joking. I really think you’re amazing, Ichinose. So please stay the way you are.”

“I was planning to, without you saying so.”

As long as his dream of becoming a pâtissier didn’t disappear, Sōma was confident he would continue to be himself.

“Anyway, back to the topic, I don’t think you need to be glued to the hot plate all day, Ichinose. Everyone volunteered to be on the baking team because they wanted to bake. Also, if two hot plates aren’t enough, I’ll try to find someone else who can bring one more.”

“You’re going to look for another hot plate, Wakui?”

“In exchange, I’ll leave the baby castella batter making entirely to you, Ichinose.”

“Got it. Leave that to me.”

They nodded and then confirmed a few things about the cultural festival’s booths.

“Alright, I guess that’s it for now. If anything comes up or if you have any questions, just let me know, okay?”

“Wakui, you’re more motivated than I thought.”

She looked pleased as she quickly typed notes into her smartphone.

“Is that so?”

“I thought you weren’t interested in school events. Like the orientation at the beginning of the first term.”

“Don’t lump that with the cultural festival. Well, that orientation has its own memorable moments for me.”

“That event?”

As far as Sōma remembered, it was just a boring event where they wandered around the school.

Wakui blushed for some reason as he looked puzzled.

“The orientation doesn’t matter right now! Anyway, Ichinose, do your best at the cultural festival!”

“Got it, got it. See you.”

Remembering his hunger, he quickly headed for the back gate.

***

“Sōma-san, you’re late!”

Chika, who had already climbed over the blue colored iron gate, puffed her cheeks and placed her hands on her hips.

“Sorry, sorry. Wakui caught me on the way out.”

He apologized while climbing over the back gate.

“Wakui-san? Come to think of it, she has been talking a lot with you lately.”

“Well, maybe so.”

They chatted as they headed towards the shopping district.

Today, at Chika’s request, they planned to eat at a local Chinese restaurant.

She wanted to try a small, family-owned Chinese place but was intimidated by the idea of walking into a shop that seemed to cater only to regulars.

So, she asked him to come along.

They aimed for a slightly dingy and old-fashioned Chinese restaurant they had visited a few times before,

“I became responsible for baking baby castella with Wakui, so we’ve had more to talk about.”

“Wakui-san was the one who came up with the baby castella idea. Will the two of you be baking them together on the day of the festival?”

“Not just the two of us, but yeah, we’ll probably be at the center of it.”

“I also wanted to try baking baby castella.”

Chika looked a little disappointed.

“You’re the star of the customer service team.”

When “Angel of Peace” was assigned to customer service, the class was thrilled, saying it would guarantee a full house!

Regardless of her own wishes, Chika was appointed to the customer service team.