As soon as the rice entered his mouth, the slight sweetness and the aroma of sesame unfolded, making it not particularly bad at first.
Immediately following that, the flavors of bitterness, sourness, mild spiciness, and saltiness alternated on his taste buds.
Hoshimi took another bite of the rice, trying to analyze what Yukinoshita had added to it.
The bitterness seemed to come from bitter gourd.
The sourness... likely from pickled vegetables, although there were no visible pickles in the rice. It must have been from the sour water used to pickle them.
The mild spiciness, no doubt, came from wasabi.
The saltiness was just from an extra pinch of salt, still edible and not overwhelmingly salty.
This sesame meat rice, with its unique blend of all five tastes—sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty—was challenging to eat but not inedible. At least the ingredients were normal.
Such difficulties were nothing new to him. In his previous life, just after graduating, his salary barely covered rent and utilities. To save money, he had to get creative with his meals.
He got used to plain buns with water, boiled cabbage, and white rice with pickles. This level of difficulty was nothing; at least it had some flavor and the ingredients were normal.
After a few bites of the rice, Hoshimi tried the other side dishes.
Small apple chunks, salty with a hint of sweetness.
Oh, my dear Yukinoshita, you are truly a genius. These apples must have been soaked in saltwater.
The sausage, both sour and sweet, with a touch of spiciness.
Yukinoshita, you really went all out, stuffing sausage with ketchup and sweet chili sauce must have taken quite some effort.
The sturgeon tempura, with its sweet batter, spicy fish, and bitter sauce.
The fried egg had a layer of caramelized sugar on top! What an ingenious idea!
Hey, this actually tastes quite good.
The purple sweet potato ball, oh my, it had three layers: the outer layer of sweet potato, the middle of sweet red bean paste, and the innermost layer of wasabi.
Sampling Yukinoshita's culinary "creations," Hoshimi felt the deep sentiment behind them.
This bento box must have taken five to six times longer to prepare than a normal one. Yukinoshita's "love" was indeed profound.
No wonder she entered the dream world so late last night; she must have been busy preparing this "love-filled" bento for him.
It was truly touching.
"Thank you for the meal."
After a while, Hoshimi, filled with inner complaints and emotions, had finished the entire bento cleanly.
He clasped his hands together, sincerely thanking Yukinoshita.
It was genuine sincerity since no one had ever prepared a meal for him with such "care," not even his mother in his previous life.
Hoshimi kept telling himself this...
"..."
Seeing Hoshimi's sincere expression, a trace of doubt flashed in Yukinoshita's eyes.
What was going on? Did she get the wrong bento? Did she give him her normal one by mistake?
She checked the bento box, confirming it was indeed the dark cuisine she spent three hours making for Hoshimi last night.
But why? Why was Hoshimi reacting this way?
It didn't make sense! She had tasted it; it was so awful it was almost despair-inducing, on par with Yui Yuigahama's cooking.
But Hoshimi's reaction suggested the bento wasn't that bad.
Something was off! What exactly was wrong?
Could Hoshimi have a dull sense of taste? But that didn't seem right either, judging by his reaction to the wasabi cookies earlier; his sense of taste seemed normal.
So why didn't the bento have any effect?
Faced with Hoshimi's sincere thanks, Yukinoshita fell into deep thought.
"After eating, I feel like drinking something. I'll go buy some drinks. What would you like, Yukino?"
Hoshimi stretched lazily, getting up to buy some drinks to cleanse his palate, which was struggling with the intense flavors.
"Anything..."
Still lost in thought, Yukinoshita barely noticed Hoshimi leaving and responded absentmindedly.
"Alright, I'll be back soon." Hoshimi lazily left the classroom, heading towards the nearest vending machine.
"This doesn't add up…"
In the classroom, Yukinoshita muttered to herself, still deep in thought.
She looked at the bento box Hoshimi had finished and frowned, picking up a few remaining grains of rice with her chopsticks and putting them in her mouth.
Just a small bite of the remaining mixed rice was enough to fill her taste buds with the five flavors of life: sweet, sour, bitter, spicy, and salty.
Yukinoshita's frown deepened.
It was undeniably awful. How did Hoshimi manage to eat it all? Was his willpower that strong?
Yukinoshita gripped her chopsticks tightly, silently deciding to use even more extreme ingredients tonight. She wanted to see how long Hoshimi could endure.
"Huh?"
Suddenly, she noticed her classmates' discussions, frequently mentioning her name.
"Look at what Yukinoshita-san is doing! She's eating the rice Hoshimi-kun left behind using his chopsticks."
"Could it be… Yukinoshita-san is secretly savoring Hoshimi-kun's taste?"
"Wow! She may look like an ice queen on the outside, but inside she's a cute girl who's deeply attached to her boyfriend. Yukinoshita-san is amazing! A classic tsundere!"
"Stop it, Yukinoshita-san is looking this way."
The girls' chatter stopped abruptly.
Yukinoshita looked at the chopsticks in her hand, then at the bento box Hoshimi had finished.
She then looked stiffly at the girls in her class, for the first time feeling the need to explain herself.
"Don't get the wrong idea. I just don't want to waste food."
"Sure, we understand."
"Yeah, yeah, we get it. Yukinoshita-san just doesn't want to waste food."
"Exactly, we believe you."
A group of girls nodded repeatedly, but their "we get it" looks clearly showed they didn't believe her.
In the center of their ambiguous stares, Yukinoshita gripped her chopsticks tightly, her fingertips turning white, her delicate face alternating between red and white.
"I'm back, Yukino. Here's your drink."
Just then, Hoshimi returned to the classroom. He sat back down and placed a carton of milk in front of Yukinoshita.
"Huh?"
Noticing Yukinoshita's somber expression, Hoshimi quickly sensed that something must have happened while he was away.
His eyes darted around, quickly assessing the situation.
Yukinoshita held the chopsticks he had used, the classmates' increasingly ambiguous looks and occasional giggles, and the fact that the remaining rice in his bento box had disappeared.
In an instant, Hoshimi figured out what had happened.
He smiled warmly, gently taking the chopsticks from Yukinoshita's hand, and then placed the milk in front of her.
"Yukino, have some milk. It's good for you."
"..." Yukinoshita glanced at the milk, then at her flat chest.
Her expression turned even colder. She looked up at Hoshimi, icily asking, "Why milk?"
"Oh, sorry, Yukino, I forgot. You mentioned yesterday you didn't want to drink milk recently."
Hoshimi acted as if he suddenly remembered something, hurriedly placing the milk in his drawer, and then handed his own drink to Yukinoshita.
"Yukino, have my soda instead."
"Hmph!" Yukinoshita snorted coldly, expressionless, as she accepted the soda Hoshimi offered.
She took a sip of the soda, only to hear the surrounding girls' discussions growing louder.
Frowning, she glanced around the classroom, noticing that for some reason, the girls looked increasingly bashful and were giving her and Hoshimi even more ambiguous looks.
"Huh???"
Yukinoshita looked at the soda in her hand, not understanding what the girls were thinking.
What was so ambiguous about soda?
Did these girls have problems with their heads?!
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