'Tori, wake up!

'Hmm? It's not Lettie, it's Ira. What the hell is wrong with you?

A jolt shakes me awake.

When I open my eyes, I see not Letty, but Ira, my childhood friend.

I don't mind seeing a family member, but I was a little nervous to see a childhood friend coming into my bedroom.

I looked at the window and saw that it was still dim outside.

I have experienced this pattern somewhere before.

What's wrong?

'That's why you're coming too early to wake me up.

'Yeah? Why? You always get up around this time when you set up your stall.

Ira tilts his head and looks at me with a puzzled look on his face.

'No, no, you said the preparation time was shortened because of the meat chopper, didn't you?

'Meat chopper? What's that?

Ira and I both look at each other with a dubious look on our faces.

Something doesn't seem to be mesh.

What is it? Didn't I tell Ira about the meat chopper?

'I didn't ask.'

Here I finally realized. We were not communicating with each other.

'...... sorry. I thought I told you.

'Maybe you're right. Anyway, can you tell me what's going on?

I apologize and Ira sits down on my bed.

Two people of the same age, a man and a woman, in a dimly lit bedroom. But Ira doesn't seem to mind at all.

I guess she doesn't recognize me as a man in her mind. Well, if Ira doesn't mind, I don't care.

After I get myself up, I explain to her about the meat chopper.

What? That's amazing! I mean, you can make putty easily with that tool, right?''

'Yes, it has shortened my preparation time. Next time I can come a little later.

''Okay, I understand.''

'So I'm going to go to bed for a while longer.

After the explanation, I slump down on top of him and wrap myself up in the covers again.

Thanks to the meat chopper, I can still sleep. There is no need to get up so early.

Wait a minute! What will I do when Tori goes to bed!

'...... Why don't you go home and sleep twice?'

'I came here fully prepared, I can't sleep now.

'What? Why don't you just go to sleep normally?'

There's still time. Ira can go home and sleep. If you want, you can sleep in and not open the store today.

Not everyone can sleep as quickly as Tori. Besides, I'm wearing a little makeup, I can't go back to sleep now.

'What? Ira, are you wearing makeup or something?

'Oh, just a little bit.

It was dimly-lit and natural and unnoticeable, but when I looked closer, I could see that she was wearing just a little bit of it.

A woman would not be able to go to bed after putting on makeup.

Sleeping with makeup on is not good for the skin, and putting it back on after removing it is a hassle.

I understand Ira's point about not being able to sleep anymore.

'I can't help it.

'Yes, so--'

'Why don't you go for a walk or something?

'............'

'Or you can just hang out at my place, if you like. I have a few books, and I'll even light a candle for you.

'Tori's going to get up too! Understood?

When I suggested that I could spend some quality time alone, Ira grabbed me by the shoulders and said, "I'm sorry, but I don't know how to do this.

'Ah, yes.

I couldn't help but nod at her beautiful yet strangely awesome smile.

Then Ira looked satisfied.

Well, it was my fault for the miscommunication. I'm very sorry, but I have to get up.



I'll get up.



After getting ready, Ira and I went downstairs to the kitchen.

Dad is not here yet today, but he will be down soon for the morning preparations.

'Well, let's get started,' he said.

'So this is what you call a meat chopper, huh? How does it work?

'Now I'm going to show you.

I cut the meat of Aigfang and Black Buffalo on the cutting board. I place them in the meat chopper.

'All you have to do is turn the handle, and you can mince them like this.

'Wow! The meat is coming out in a myuuuut!

Ira shouts in excitement as he sees the minced meat being pushed out of the machine.

'...... Ira, I understand your surprise, but it's still early in the morning, so be quiet, okay?

'Oh, Mr. Abel. Excuse me.

Dad came into the kitchen just in time.

It seems that Ira's voice had been heard quite far.

It was still too early for the average customer to be up. It's not good for the employees to be noisy in the morning.

'Hey, Tori. Can I do this?

'Yes, please. If you run out, just cut the meat and put it in.



'Okay.'

Ira replies in a slightly subdued voice.

However, her expression shows that she is excited to handle her new cooking tools.

There is something exciting about using new cooking tools, isn't there?

I cook to a certain extent myself, so I understand Ira's feelings very well.

Well, I'm going to prepare something else...' he said.

You've been forced to get up early, so you have time. I should prepare the French fries that I served to Yuna and Elina before.

While Ira is making the mince, I wash and peel the potatoes and chop the onions for the patties.

'Oh, Tori. And this one, too, please.

'Yes, sir.'

As I was working, my father asked me to prepare potatoes and onions.

Well, it's okay if it's just an incidental thing. Last time I used the onions my father prepared for me. It's a win-win situation.

Tori, don't your eyes sting from cutting onions so much?

As I was chopping the onions, Ira asked me curiously.

'It won't hurt.

'Yeah? Why? When I help out at home, I get very tearful. ......'

'I put it in the fridge to cool it down a bit, so it doesn't vaporize the stinging elements in your eyes.'

'What? Vaporization?''

'Anyway, it means it's less likely to stain your eyes.

This is another piece of previous life knowledge. I don't have any flashy knowledge cheat, but even an ordinary person like me knows this kind of life wisdom.

I see. Thank you for telling me. I'll try it next time I do it at home.

Apparently, Ira had a hard time with onions, too.

When you know that an onion is a foodstuff that you know will stain your eyes, it makes you hesitant to prepare it. My motto is to work comfortably when I can do it comfortably.

Fry the chopped onion in a frying pan until it turns into a candy-like color. When they are thoroughly cooked, transfer them to a bowl and remove from heat.

Now all that's left is to mix the onions with the seasonings and knead them to make the patties.

Ira, how's it going over there? I mean, how much mince do you make?

'What? Oh, sorry! I had so much fun making mincemeat that I made too much!''

I looked over at Ira and saw a large amount of minced meat rising in a bowl.

Apparently, she had been spinning the handle like crazy until I called out to her.

I can understand why he was so excited, since it was fun to watch the meat being pushed out of the bowl just by turning the handle. But it was clearly overcooked.

It is possible to use up all the meat at the stall, but if the stall stays open too long, it will affect the work at the inn.

'Then can I have half of it? I'm going to put them as meatballs in the vegetable soup.'

'That would be great.

While I was wondering what to do, my father came up with a very welcome suggestion.

'I'm sorry, Mr. Abel.

It doesn't mean we wasted the ingredients. You made my life easier.

Dad responds to Ira's apologetic look with a quick smile.

This sarcastic follow-up is probably the secret to his popularity.

Maybe I should do something thoughtful in my follow-up.

Ira's arm strength is amazing to be able to keep turning the steering wheel like this.

I tried to follow up, but Ira was not happy and froze with a beautiful smile on his face.

My father, who was standing beside me, let out a sigh and put his right hand on his face.

What was that? Did I do a bad job of following up?

'If you want to ........., I'll show you how great my arm strength is.'

'What?

As I was puzzled, Ira reached out his hand and applied a vise-like force to my head.

Like Mom and Ira, the women in my life are too strong for me.