My Youth Romantic Comedy Is Wrong, As I Expected

"Sorry. I'll try harder next time."

After apologizing, she looked Yukino straight in the eyes.

Faced with that unexpected gaze, Yukino could not think of a response.

"..."

For Yukino, this was probably a first as well. Few people sincerely apologized after being scolded. Most would turn red and fly into an embarrassed rage.

Yukino looked away and played with her hair. She seemed to be searching her mind for the right words, but could not find them. This girl really did not know how to adapt.

"...Yukino, just teach her the proper way. Yuihama, you listen carefully too."

I broke the silence between them. Yukino sighed softly, then nodded.

"I'll demonstrate once, then you can follow along."

She stood up and swiftly began preparing everything. She rolled up her sleeves, cracked and beat the eggs, measured out the flour, and mixed it until there were no lumps. Then she added sugar, butter, vanilla extract, and the other ingredients.

Her movements were astonishingly practiced, worlds apart from Yuihama's earlier attempt.

Yukino soon finished the dough, then used molds to cut out hearts, stars, circles, and other shapes.

The baking tray had already been lined with foil. Yukino carefully placed the dough on it, then put it into the preheated oven. Before long, an indescribable fragrance drifted out.

With everything prepared so thoroughly beforehand, the outcome was obvious.

The cookies that came out of the oven looked delicious.

Yukino placed the cookies on a plate and handed it to us.

They were a golden brown, as delicate as the ones Shiori sold. They truly deserved to be called cookies.

Gratefully, I picked one up.

The moment it entered my mouth, my expression melted.

"These are so good! What kind of patissiere are you?"

Speaking honestly, I could not help taking another cookie. It was just as delicious. Thinking that I might never again get the chance to eat cookies made by a girl, I took a third one. Yuihama's baking did not count as cookies, so it was excluded from consideration.

"They're really delicious... Yukino, you're amazing!"

"Thank you."

Yukino smiled, with not a trace of malice in it.

"However, I merely followed the recipe, so you should be able to do it too. It would be strange if you couldn't."

"Why not just give these to someone?"

"Then it would lose its meaning. Come on, Yuihama-san. Do your best."

"O-okay... Can I really make cookies as delicious as Yukino's?"

"Yes. As long as you follow the recipe, there should be no problem."

Yukino did not forget to remind her.

So Yuihama took on the challenge once more.

She became a copy of Yukino from earlier, repeating exactly the same movements. Since we were making cookies, calling her a "copy" was especially fitting. What an excellent metaphor.

The cookies that came out later would surely be delicious too. What a great way to put it.

However...

"Yuihama-san, not like that. When sprinkling flour, try to make a circle. Do you know what a circle is? You should have learned that in elementary school."

"When mixing, hold down the bowl. If you do it like that, the whole bowl turns, and you aren't mixing properly at all. Also, don't make circular motions. You need to break up the egg yolk."

"No, no! You don't need to add seasoning, and save the peaches for next time. Also, if you add that much water, the dough is finished!"

Yukino had somehow fallen into chaos, and she looked utterly exhausted.

By the time they finally put the dough into the oven, she was panting repeatedly. Sweat had appeared on her normally poker-faced expression. When they opened the oven, a familiar fragrance drifted out. But...

"It seems kind of different..."

Yuihama sank into dejection.

After tasting them, I found that they did indeed taste noticeably different from Yukino's.

Still, they had at least reached the level where they could be called cookies. They were a huge improvement over the charcoal from the first batch. Besides, if treated as ordinary food, there was not much to complain about.

But neither Yuihama nor Yukino seemed particularly satisfied.

"...How am I supposed to teach you so that you'll understand?"

Yukino lowered her head and muttered, wracking her brain.

Watching her, I suddenly realized that she probably did not know how to teach others.

Because Yukino was a genius, she could not understand the feelings of people who could not do something. She simply could not grasp why others made mistakes in those places.

"Just follow the recipe" was like saying, "Just plug the formula into the equation."

But for someone bad at math, they first did not understand why formulas existed or why plugging them in produced an answer.

To Yukino, it was incomprehensible that Yuihama could not understand.

Saying it that way made it sound as though Yukino was at fault.

But that was not true. Yukino was actually trying very hard.

The problem was Yuihama.

"Why can't I bake them properly? I did everything you told me to..."

Yuihama picked up another cookie, genuinely bewildered.

The saying that truly smart people should be able to teach even the dumbest person was definitely a lie. A cow was still a cow even if you dragged it to Beijing. No matter how much you taught someone who could not understand, they still would not understand.

That gap could not be bridged, no matter how hard one tried.

"Ugh... They just don't taste the same as Yukino's."

Yuihama was deeply depressed, while Yukino had a headache.

I watched the two of them while eating another cookie.

"Say... I've been wondering this the whole time. Why are you so determined to bake delicious cookies?"

"What?"

Yuihama looked at me like, What is this guy talking about? Is he a virgin? She was plainly treating me like an idiot, which annoyed me a little.

"Are you an idiot? How can a slut not understand?"

"Don't call me a slut!"

"Looks like you don't understand men's hearts at all."

"W-what can I do?! I've never had a boyfriend! I-I mean, I have lots of friends dating boys... I-I only became like this to fit in with them..."

Yuihama's voice grew quieter and quieter until it was nearly inaudible. Speak up. Were you me when the teacher called on me in class?

"What Yuihama-san does with her lower body is not the point. Hikigaya-kun, what exactly are you trying to say?"

Lower body... You hardly even saw that phrase in train-handle advertisements these days. How old was she?

Having built up enough suspense, I smiled as though showing off my victory.

"Hmph... It seems neither of you has ever eaten a real homemade cookie. Please come back here in ten minutes. I'll let you taste a 'real homemade cookie.'"

"What? That's a lot of confidence. Let's see what you've got!"

Provoked by the dismissal of her cookies, Yuihama pulled Yukino out of the classroom and disappeared down the hallway.

Now it was my turn! This was a showdown between the Ultimate Problem Solver and the Strongest Problem Solver.

Ten minutes later, the Home Economics Classroom was filled with tension.

"This is a 'real homemade cookie'? The shapes are awful, they're crooked and misshapen, and some parts are burned while others aren't... What even is this..."

Yukino stared at the things on the table in astonishment, while Yuihama looked over from beside her.

"Ahahaha! You were talking so big earlier, but it's nothing special at all. This is hilarious! You don't even need to taste something like this!"

Yuihama suddenly started mocking me... no, that was practically a full-on laugh. Remember this!

"Wait, don't say that yet. Here, try one."

I forced down the twitch in my lips and smiled graciously. With that smile, I intended to tell them that I had already prepared for everything and would turn this around. I was certain of victory.

"If you insist..."

Yuihama nervously put a cookie into her mouth, while Yukino silently picked one up as well.

The cookies made a crisp sound as they were bitten into, followed by silence.

The calm before the storm.

"Th-this is!"

Yuihama's eyes opened wide. Once the flavor reached her brain, she began searching for an appropriate description.

"There's nothing special about it at all! It's all grainy when you bite it! Honestly, it doesn't taste very good!"

Yuihama shifted from surprise to anger. Perhaps because the change was too drastic, she even started glaring at me.

Yukino said nothing. She merely gave me a surprised look. It seemed she had noticed.

Under both of their gazes, I lowered my eyes and spoke.

"Is that so? It doesn't taste good... I worked really hard on it."

"Ah... Sorry."

When I lowered my head, Yuihama awkwardly looked at the floor too.

"Sorry. I'll throw them away."

With that, I snatched up the plate and turned around.

"W-wait."

"...What now?"

Yuihama grabbed my hand. Rather than answer me, she grabbed one of the misshapen cookies and stuffed it into her mouth, crunching it to pieces.

"I-it's not bad enough to throw away... And it doesn't taste that awful."

"...Is that so? Are you satisfied with it, then?"

I asked with a smile. Yuihama nodded, then immediately turned her head away. The setting sun shone through the window, tinting her cheeks red.

"Actually, these are the cookies you baked earlier."

"...Huh?"

I casually told her the truth.

After all, I had never said from the beginning that I baked them myself, so it did not count as lying.

Yuihama froze. Her mouth hung wide open, and her eyes shrank to tiny dots.

"Huh? What?"

She looked back and forth between Yukino and me, blinking rapidly, apparently still unable to understand what had happened.

"Hikigaya-kun, I don't understand what you're doing. Is there any meaning to this farce?"

Yukino asked, looking displeased.

"As the saying goes: 'As long as there is love, Love is OK!'"

I gave a thumbs-up and flashed a brilliant smile.

"Outdated."

Yuihama muttered a retort. It could not be helped. That was a show that aired when I was in elementary school. Yukino seemed not to understand it, tilting her head in confusion.

"Your standards are too high."

I could not hide the smile at the corner of my mouth. What was this sense of superiority? It felt wonderful to be the only one who knew the answer, and it seemed to have opened the floodgates of my speech.