What, Failure to Transition!? Volume 6 Chapter 3 (Patreon)

Chapter 3 – Meanwhile, At Home

“Fuaaahh…”

When Yoichi woke up, he found out Karin was not beside him.

“Ah, Yoichi, good morning.”

Then he heard her voice in the distance, which sounded a little more cheerful than yesterday.

Yoichi stood up.

But as he did so, something fell to the floor, and when he looked at it, it was a bath towel.

Karin must have covered me when I was asleep, Yoichi thought.

The sofa, which must have been stained with her bodily fluids, was clean now, but if you sniffed, you could still detect the faintest hint of an obscene smell.

“Morning, Karin. By the way, are you all right now? No problems getting up?”

“Um. I’m still a bit stiff, but it’s much better than yesterday.”

After that, there were some clinking sounds from the kitchen.

“I’ll make you a cup of coffee. Why not take a shower first?”

Karin said to Yoichi as she filled the kettle with water.

Judging by the wetness of her hair, she must have taken a shower while he was asleep.

“No, no, no, you don’t have to. I’ll do it.”

“I’ve been asleep all night so I need to move my body. At least let me have this.”

“Sigh. Fine then.”

Yoichi stood up.

Facing the sofa, he stored the furniture in [Infinite Storage+] and used the function to separate the dirt before putting it back in the same position.

Then he picked up the towel that had fallen down, wrapped it around his waist, and walked into the bathroom.

○●○●

“Here. Drink up.”

After Yoichi had finished showering and sat down on the sofa, Karin sat down next to him with two cups and handed one to him.

“So what are we doing today?”

Karin asked after taking a sip of coffee from her own cup.

Perhaps because she had soiled her tracksuit yesterday, Karin was only wearing the blouse and shorts she usually wore to work.

But because the fabric of the office clothes is thinner than that of the tracksuit, not to mention smaller to emphasize the figure, Yoichi was able to see not only Karin’s sexy curves but also the shape of her breasts.

Karin was not wearing a bra.

Yoichi knows this because he can clearly see the beautiful protrusions on her breasts, not to mention their color, as the fabric is slightly transparent.

And because her buttons were undone at the top, he could also see the cleavage.

“I think I’ll do some dagger training there first.”

“Oh, yes, I remember. Don’t you have to go over there then?”

“I don’t think that will be necessary. There’s still some time before the next training session.”

“But should we at least contact the guildmaster and Alana?”

“Yes. But you see…”

Yoichi turns his head. Then he stops in the direction of the bedroom door.

Karin answers when she sees this, realizing the meaning of this gaze.

“She’ll be fine. I’ll take good care of her.”

“But…”

Karin knows how much Yoichi cares about Misato’s well-being. That’s why she tells him again.

“As I said, I’ll take care of Misato. I can’t say it’ll be perfect, but it’s not the first time I’ve done this, is it? Or rather, it was you who was unreliable back then. The time with Alana”.

“Ahahaha. You’re right. I was unreliable back then.”

Yoichi remembered the first time Alana came into this world. She was in a worse state than the two of them, drugged with a powerful aphrodisiac in her body and with the effects of a scroll impairing her abilities.

And then there is the fact that Karin and Misato are much better now than they were yesterday. Her voice is much clearer, and there’s no sign that she’s overdoing it.

“On the other hand, it would be nice if you came back at least once a day.”

“I see. I’ll do just that. I think I’ll train there during the day and come back here at night to sleep.”

Having decided on his immediate policy, Yoichi drank his coffee.

Then after deciding to have breakfast in the guild’s dining hall, he prepared himself and [returned] to the other world.

○●○●

Karin’s health was improving day by day, and Misato, thanks to her nursing, was slowly regaining her health without any discomfort.

“Fufu, shopping together, just the two of us. Isn’t that fun, Karin?”

“Misato marveled happily as she looked at the shopping bags on the dining room table.

By that day, Karin had almost fully recovered, and Misato had also recovered enough to go out.

But when she realized that she was not getting an urgent reply, Karin’s expression suddenly clouded over, and she looked at Karin in apology.

“Ah. Maybe I was bothering you too much?”

“Nu-uh. I had a lot of fun too. Why do you ask?”

“You see, I didn’t have many friends, so maybe I was too excited, and… maybe it annoyed you a bit.”

Seeing Misato slump down, Karin sighed.

Then she approached her and began to stroke her head a little roughly.

“Wawa… K-Karin?”

“Nufufu! I think of you as a sister, you know?”

After Karin had had her fill and had ruffled her a little, she pulled Misato into her arms. Then she started to run her hand through her ear to comb up the mess.

“You don’t have to be so modest. Because we are more than happy to spoil you, and that goes for all of us.”

“…Un. Thank you.”

The slightly shorter Misato nuzzled her face into Karin’s chest and held on for a while.

○●○●

Well then. Shall we start?”

“Y-yes, teacher!”

Misato straightens her back and salutes Karin in a slightly deliberate manner.

Seeing this, Karin got a bit flustered.

“Oh, you, stop it! It’s not like I’m pro at this either.”

“Ufufu. Sorry.”

At the moment, Misato and Karin are in the kitchen, preparing the ingredients for their meal.

They were arranging the eggs, oil, and salt on the prep table, but as soon as they looked for a pan, they stopped.

“…Huh? You mean… we have no cooking utensils?”

“Yes. All the shelves are empty.”

No matter how hard they searched the kitchen, there were no pans, knives, or other cooking utensils to be found.

“Come to think of it, that man always brings out packed lunches or eats out. He’s always too tired to cook.”

Although she is no different, or even worse, as she has always had a beer with her meals, Karin is correct in this regard. And even though he has cooking utensils, Yoichi usually stores everything in his [Infinite Storage+] for convenience, leaving his kitchen as bare as a newly built house.

“This is bad. I should have checked before we went shopping.”

“Un… but where do we buy pans and stuff like that? The hardware store?”

“What?”

Misato, who had been under house arrest for a long time, lacked common sense in some areas.

Of course, Karin, who knew her situation, did not make fun of it.

“Well, most of the small things are in the supermarkets, which I regret a bit, because I would have bought them together with our groceries if I had only known. But if you want something nicer, you can go to a home improvement store or something.”

“So you want to go to the supermarket again?”

“Hmm, the supermarket is a bit far. Let’s go to this place.”

At Karin’s suggestion, they went to a local discount store.

○●○●

“Ah, Misato. You’re on TV.”

“Wawa… how…?”

Karin called out to Misato in the household appliances section, who was surprised to see her face on the screen.

“Look. See that video camera over there?”

When Karin put her palm close to the lens of the camera, her palm appeared as well, blocking Misato’s figure on the TV monitor.

“That’s how they get people interested in video cameras and televisions.”

“Ehehe…”

And so the two women enjoyed shopping together, having such exchanges from time to time as they wandered through the discount store.

“Hm. I think we should get a set of pots and pans with detachable handles.”

“What kind of knife should we get?”

“A Santoku should do… oh, they have a Damascus! Let’s get the one that comes with the set.”

“I wonder what else we need.”

“Well, for now, a set of ladles, long chopsticks for serving, and this colander and bowl would be useful. As for the kitchen timer, we could use a smartphone, but… let’s buy one anyway. We also need a measuring spoon, a scale, and…”

Karin puts quite a few things in the shopping trolley as she talks.

“We’re going to buy a lot of things, aren’t we?”

“Well, I can’t deny that. But even if we only need a knife, the long chopsticks for cooking, and the frying pan, it’s better to be prepared, just in case.”

“But I can also see chopsticks for dining and plates. we already have those, don’t we?”

“Yes. But we only have the bare minimum, so I grabbed a few more.”

The thing is, they don’t really need the eating utensils, just the kitchen stuff, but since Karin thought it can’t hurt to have extras, she decided to get some as well.

After putting the necessary utensils and kitchenware on the shopping trolley, they headed for the checkout.

“I’ll pay for this.”

“Ah, please let me. I won quite a bit in the casino the other day, so…”

Misato whispered this into Karin’s ear on their way out, to which she responded with a smile.

“Okay, but I’ll use my credit card anyway. You can pay me half later.”

“Un!”

○●○●

After leaving the discount store, Karin walked for a while and was almost at the ‘Grand Court’ when she suddenly stopped.

“What is it?”

“Hm… something doesn’t feel right.”

She looked around, but only a few passers-by came and went, and when she tried to look again, she found nothing of particular interest.

“Sorry about that. I think I’m imagining things.”

Then they started walking again, entered the flat and went straight back to their unit, where they headed immediately for the kitchen and started preparing dinner.

○●○●

“Um, can you really cook this without consulting the recipe website?”

“Uh-huh? Besides, it’s not like there’s a recipe for fried eggs or something…”

After setting up the ingredients again, this time with newly bought utensils, Karin and Misato returned to the kitchen once again.

“No, you can’t! Cooking is alchemy, isn’t it? Please, at least look it up on your phone!”

But when Karin tried to do something without a recipe in hand, Misato suddenly got worried.

“Ahahaha. That’s the first time someone said that to me over a fried egg. Besides, the one associated with alchemy is ‘baking’, isn’t it?”

Karin laughed.

“But if you really insist, then…”

But seeing her “sister” getting all serious, Karin cut off her words and went into the bedroom, returning with a 10-inch Tablet PC that she had put in a bag she had left behind just to please the girl.

“Tadaa~. It’s much easier to see with this. Here. How about looking for one yourself?”

“Thanks, Karin!”

After getting the tablet PC, Misato started looking at the recipe websites, smiling and happy.

But soon, her expression clouded over and she tilted her head as if she was worried.

“What’s wrong?”

“Yeah, about that… um, which one should I open?”

The screen that Misato showed had a variety of recipes for fried eggs on it, and there she noticed that she seemed to be having trouble deciding which one to choose.

“Well, Yoichi likes them half-cooked and sticky, so that should be fine?” so Karin chose the one that looked the simplest from the thumbnails and titles in the recipe list and tapped it on the screen.

On the page that opened, there were not only words but also pictures explaining the procedure.

“Oh. Looks like this is a hit?”

“Let me see. Hmm… first, half a teaspoon of oil… Which one should we use? It just says oil…”

What the two had bought on their shopping trip were two types of oil; salad oil in 900g packets and olive oil in small bottles. The reason for choosing the small bottles rather than a large one was that it was easier to pour out small amounts and also to keep the product fresh.

“Hmm, either one should do. In fact, you could use mayonnaise and it would still taste pretty good.”

“M-Mayonnaise? How?”

Because mayonnaise, made from a combination of vinegar, oil, and egg yolk, is not only limited as a condiment or salad dressing. Its ingredients also make it a good frying oil, and when used in this way, it adds a unique flavor to the dish on its own. But either way, it was an idea that Misato, who does not cook, would never have thought of.

At this shocking revelation, Misato couldn’t help but stare at Karin in astonishment.

Karin, seeing her “sister” tilt her head cutely in such a unique expression, was momentarily flustered, despite being of the same gender. She then waved her hand in front of her face to dispel the feeling.

“Sorry. Please forget what I said. For now, it would be best to stick to the basics. And as for the oil, if it’s only for a small amount, I think olive oil would be better.”

“Ahh, I see. Um, then, ‘heat the pan and put the oil in’. But when should I put the oil in? I mean, how long should I heat the pan?”

“About that…”

Cutting off in the middle of her words, Karin drew water from the tap. After wetting her hands with it, she dripped a few drops onto the pan.

“Wow…!”

The water droplets made a sizzling sound, then moved around the surface of the pan as if dancing due to the Leidenfrost effect and evaporated shortly afterward.

“As long as it’s warm enough for the water droplets to slide and evaporate like that, it should be fine.”

“I see… er, here’s the oil then.”

“Ah, wait a minute.”

After stopping Misato from reaching for a teaspoon and a bottle of olive oil, Karin turned off the induction cooker for a moment.

“Misato, can you crack an egg properly?”

“Ah… Um, no… I don’t know how…”

Misato slumped down with a furrowed brow.

Smiling slightly, Karin took a small bowl the size of a teacup, which she had bought and washed today, and placed it on the counter.

“If you’re not sure, shall we practice first?”

“Un. Okay.”

Misato, now holding a raw egg at Karin’s urging, looked nervously at the counter.

“This one, I just have to hit it on the edge of the table, right?”

“Hmmm, I think it’s better if you use a flat surface.”

“Like this?”

“Yes. Like that.”

When cracking a raw egg, it is common to hit it on the corner of the table or the edge of the bowl, but if you use the wrong amount of force, the crack can go too deep and ruin the shape of the yolk, so it is much safer to hit it on a hard, flat surface, such as the surface of the countertop.

“Ah, there’s a crack!”

“OK. Now break it over the bowl and drop the contents in.”

“Y-yes, ma-am!”

Misato, who for some reason had become respectful, perhaps due to nervousness, anxiously moved the hand holding the egg over the bowl and cracked it open with both hands.

“Oh, it was a success. You did it, Misato.”

“Thank goodness…!”

The contents of the egg fell into the bowl without collapsing.

“Oh, but there’s a shell…”

But while the egg seemed to have cracked without a problem, a small piece of the shell had fallen with it.

“Pick it up with the toothpick.”

“Ah, yes!”

Misato picked up one of the toothpicks as instructed and tried to pass it to Karin, but when Karin saw this, she shook her head slightly with a smile on her lips.

“It’s not that difficult. Why not try it yourself?”

“Huh? Yeah.”

“Well, just be careful not to poke through the membrane so you don’t damage the yolk… that’s it, now move it slowly… yeah, that’s good, now keep lifting it to the edge of the bowl… okay, that’s it. That’s all there is to it. You can drop the toothpick now.”

“Phew…!”

Misato followed Karin’s instructions, and just like that, she managed to remove the shells that had fallen in with the egg. She wiped the sweat from her forehead with the back of her hand.

“Easy, isn’t it? Now you don’t have to panic if a shell gets in.”

“Un. Thank you.”

“Well then, let’s get back to work, shall we? It’s your turn this time.”

“Yes!”

After answering with a smile, Misato first turned on the induction stove and set it to medium heat, then waited a while and let a drop of water fall onto the pan.

After a few good drops of water had slid down and evaporated, she drizzled half a teaspoon of olive oil into the pan.

“Drop the egg into the middle of the olive oil.”

“‘Okay. But should we set a timer?”

“Ah, yes. It’s a good idea to set the timer first.”

Misato drops the egg into a bowl in the middle of the olive oil that has collected in the middle of the frying pan.

Then she quickly starts the kitchen timer, set for one minute.

“How much salt is ‘a little bit’ here?”

“Because you can add the flavor later, I like to use less in these situations. So just a dab will do.”

“O-okay.”

Misato opens the lid of the prepared table salt and sprinkles it over the eggs that are just starting to cook.

A few particles of salt adhere to the surface of the eggs.

“I-is this okay?”

“Yep, that’s good. Even if it’s not enough, you can always add more later.”

The timer goes off just as Karin finishes.

“Oh, and um, a teaspoon of water.”

“I’ve prepared it in the bowl over there, so you can just scoop it in.”

Immediately after Karin pointed this out, Misato scooped up a teaspoonful of water, which had been collected in a separate bowl from the one she had dropped the eggs in, and drizzled it into the pan.

“Kyaaa!?”

Misato yelled involuntarily at the drops of water that burst from the oil.

“Here. Now put the lid on.”

“Y-yes!”

Wincing, Misato picks up a glass lid and covers the pan with it, making a sizzling sound as the water evaporates.

“Let’s see, all we have to do now is turn the heat down to low for a few minutes… Oh! I forgot to set the timer for this!”

“Just turn the heat down first.”

“Ah, yes!”

Misato was upset that she had not set the timer beforehand, but when Karin pointed it out, she immediately set the induction stove back to low heat.

“Don’t be so afraid and just let the timer run for now. Since the timer is only set for one minute, we’ll just start it again when it’s finished.”

“U-understood!”

Misato stares at the kitchen timer and exhales heavily in relief.

“Hmmm… it would be a minute and more if I put the lid on. Combined with the delay in turning down the heat, I think it should be about a minute and a half.”

“I see. But isn’t it amazing? That you can calculate all that.”

“Ahahaha, not really. I just got used to it.”

Meanwhile, the timer went off, and Misato opened the lid. Karin also took a glance at the egg.

“Hmmm, I think we need to let it cook a bit more.”

“Then do you want to turn on the heat again?”

“The residual heat will be enough, so just leave the lid on. And while you’re waiting, let’s get the plates.”

“Yes, ma’am!”

“Fufufu. And what’s with the “Ma’am”? You’ve suddenly changed the way you address me. What was that?”

“Ah. S-sorry. I wasn’t aware of it.”

“Well, it’s okay. After all, you do look so cute when you’re all nervous.”

“Mou, don’t tease me too much.”

As this was happening, the plates had finished being prepared, and the lid was taken off the frying pan.

“Oooh, isn’t that nice? Now put it on a plate.”

Following Karin’s instructions, Misato tilted the pan in her hand and placed the fried egg on it.

“Wow…”

Perhaps in the realization that the dish was finally ready when she placed it on the plate, Misato let out a short gasp with a happy smile on her face.

“Fufufu. Good job. Now let’s have a proper meal.”

“Yes, ma’am… ah.”

“Fufufu.”

Misato, who seemed to have finally become aware of her own respectful language, colored her cheeks and pouted slightly. Karin made a small chuckle.

“How about you do the honors? Try it first yourself.”

Finding it too much trouble to walk all the way to the table, they kept the plate on the countertop and dipped their chopsticks into the yolk of the fried egg.

“Wow…”

A voice leaks out involuntarily at the yolk that has come out thickly.

Then Misato used her chopsticks to cut off the piece of white meat covering the crumbled yolk, picked it up and put it in her mouth with a bite.

“Mmm, delicious!”

“Mm. Not bad at all.”

“But the flavor… might be a little thin.”

“The rest is up to you to adjust the taste to your liking. What do you usually put on yours, Misato? Soy sauce? Worcestershire? Ketchup?”

“Anything goes, but I guess my favorite is salt and pepper?”

“In that case… here.”

Karin picked up a bottle of salt and pepper from the condiments she had laid out on the counter after buying it, quickly removed the seal, and placed it in front of Misato.

Taking it, Misato opened the lid and was about to sprinkle it on when she stopped and looked back at Karin.

“How much of this do you think I should put on?”

“Ahaha, just go. The cooking phase is already over, so it’s up to you now. You can put it on as you would normally eat it.”

“Oh, I see…”

Nodding in agreement, Misato tapped the salt and pepper bottle and sprinkled it on the fried eggs.

“Then let’s try again…”

“I’ll have some of that too.”

Together with Karin, who had prepared her own chopsticks, Misato again dipped her chopsticks into a piece of fried egg and brought it to her mouth.

“Mmm, so good!”

“Mm, it’s good. I usually use soy sauce, but salt and pepper aren’t bad either.”

With that, Misato’s first dish, “Fried Egg”, was a success.

After that, Misato continued to cook simple dishes such as stir-fried vegetables according to the recipe websites with Karin’s advice and then ate them by themselves to see how well they turned out.

“How is it?”

“This is better. After all, it’s important to follow the recipe exactly.”

“Thank goodness… I still don’t understand it myself.”

“Really? Even though you are eating it with great relish?”

“That’s… I don’t really know what a ‘good’ result is, so I tried to be biased. Sorry if I sounded a bit self-patronizing.”

“Ahahaha. No, really, it’s all right. You wouldn’t act like that if the food was bad, even if you made it yourself. Now then…”

Having cleared the plate of stir-fried vegetables, Karin starts to use her Tablet PC.

After opening the recipe she was looking for, she showed it to Misato.

“Well, it’s a bit old-fashioned, but I think this is good.”

“Do you think we can make something like this?”

While Misato’s anxious eyes darted back and forth between the monitor of the Tablet PC and Karin, Karin smiled at her.

“It’s okay. It might take a bit of time, but if you do it right, it will taste good.”

“Un. I’ll do my best too!”

And so, after waiting for Misato to finish eating, they washed the dishes and utensils once and started the next dish.

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