Reika-sama – 186

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After I cleaned up the rest of the seven-herb congee it was finally time to make the sweets.

I put on the apron I brought from home.

“Hmmmm, the utensils are here and the flavourings are over here. As for the recipes it’s right here in this book,” said Wakaba-chan as she showed me her notebook.

“Did you come up with these yourself, Takamichi-san?”

“Dad taught me some of them, and some caught my eye in recipe books. A number I heard from other people too.”

“I see.”

My cooking was usually wherever my inspiration led me in the moment so I didn’t have much regarding recipes.

Not that any of my creations were worth recreating with a recipe.

“Let’s break out the ingredients then. First we need cream cheese, chocolate, and eggs.”

“Eh?”

I found a familiar jar in her fridge.

“This is…”

“Hmm? Ohh, that. I got it as a souvenir from someone else. It’s actually amazingly good! Do you wanna try some, Kisshouin-san?”

There was no mistaking it.

It was the very same maple syrup that I got from Enjou and Kaburagi.

“Could it be that you received this from Kaburagi-sama?”

“Eh-, how’d you know!?”

“I received some as well. To be honest my preferences lean towards honey, but this was so good it beat out everything in my honey collection.”

“So that’s why! It was so delicious that I couldn’t bear to make stuff with it so I’ve just been eating it a bit at a time but everyone finds it so delicious that there isn’t much left. And it’s sooo good on vanilla ice cream.”

“That does sound good!”

Putting it on ice cream, huh.

It was a bit cold for ice cream, but maybe I could try it after my next bath.

“But man, it sounds amazing going to Canada for a skiing vacation. I’ve never been overseas before.”

“You have the shop after all.”

With so many family members and the cake shop too it couldn’t have been easy to organise an overseas holiday.

…Hm?

Aahh! I’d almost forgotten!

“Passport!”

“Huh?”

“Takamichi-san! Do you have a passport!?”

“A passport? No?”

At Zui’ran our high school trip was obviously overseas.

And at Zui’ran it was almost a matter of course that everyone had a passport.

It was actually a plot point in the manga that she didn’t have one.

In the end she just managed to get one in time, but everyone mocked her for not having one to begin with.

“You know that we will be going to Europe for the field trip, no? Almost everybody at Zui’ran has a passport already so nobody mentions passports until it is almost time to go.”

“I see.”

“I think it would be best if you applied for one soon. It takes time to gather the documents and the photos, and it takes another 10 days after that to receive it.”

“Oh okay. I hadn’t thought of that at all! Thanks for letting me know, Kisshouin-san! I’ll go get one soon!”

Ahh, thank goodness I remembered.

She had been pretty ashamed in the manga.

It had been over 15 years since I last read it so it was hard remembering all the little episodes.

You did well reminding me, Kaburagi’s maple syrup!

Although I wonder when he even gave it to her.

“All right then! Shall we begin?”

“Okay~”

Under Wakaba-chan’s instruction I began making the chocolate cheesecake.

I mixed ingredients as I followed the recipe.

Wakaba-chan was really particular about it.

“You really need to follow the amounts that the recipe says.”

“Yes.”

“Ah… Just now you put in the cream cheese without measuring, didn’t you.”

“I thought it would be nice with a little more…”

“It’s going to clump up.”

“A few lumps gives it character, no?”

“No. Mix it in properly.”

“Okaay.”

You’re pretty strict, Wakaba-chaan.

“I’m home!” called an energetic voice.

Her oldest younger brother had just come back.

“Welcome back.”

“Welcome home,” I said as well.

“Ah! It’s the cornet girl!” he said, pointing right at me.

“Kanta!” chided Wakaba-chan, “Her name isn’t cornet girl, it’s Kisshouin-san! And don’t point at people!”

“Yeah, yeah.”

“Answer me properly!”

“Alright, alright,” he waved her off as he headed off to wash his hands.

“Sorry about him,” she apologised.

“No worries. It must be rough being an older sister.”

“He’s been so full of himself since entering middle school. He doesn’t listen to anything I say. Geez,” she muttered as she began mixing up the bowl again.

“Hey, Cornet,” called Kanta-kun while I was looking at the notebook.

“Yes?”

“Look at this! Neechan got it from some guy!”

Kanta-kun was holding a teddybear.

“Kanta! You went into my room again, didn’t you!” fumed Wakaba-chan.

From his face, Kanta-kun didn’t seem too bothered.

“He sent it to her on Christmas!” he revealed.

“Could it have been from…”

“Ah, well,” she said awkwardly.

Kaburagi, huh.

“Isn’t it kind of childish to send her a doll though?”

“Kanta!”

“This teddybear is a limited edition Christmas product from Germany,” I noted.

“Really?”

“So it’s not just some bear?” Kanta-kun asked.

“Well, it certainly is a teddybear,” I conceded, “but I would feel bad for it if you lumped it together with the others. It comes with a serial number too. A very respectable teddybear.”

Buying her this, huh.

Despite making fun of me for liking limited-edition products he went and bought one himself.

“I accepted it because it was just a stuffed toy, but don’t tell me this is expensive…?”

Wakaba-chan seemed almost afraid to ask.

“Just a few tens of thousand yen, I recall.”

“Tens of thousands!?” she cried.

“That’s freaking expensive!” baulked her brother.

Both siblings seemed horrified at it.

“You’re freaking expensive for a doll, aren’t you!”

“What do I do? It was a doll so I was just like ‘yeah, thanks’!”

While the two of them kicked up a fuss, I didn’t really see the big deal.

“Why not just accept it? You know, this is actually rather cheap for a present from Kaburagi-sama.”

“Holy shit.”

“A doll that costs tens of thousands of yen…”

While the two of them were reeling from shock, I took the chance to continue making the cheesecake.

Oh, maybe I could add some liqueur for extra flavour.

Here we go.

“Ah!? Kisshouin-san! What are you doing!?”

“Hm? Adding some liqueur.”

“Why are you adding it to begin with? The recipe doesn’t list it, right?”

“Well, I thought it might taste better.”

Both Wakaba-chan and Kanta-kun stared at me speechless for a while. He was still holding the bear.

“…I’ve been thinking this for a while now, but could it be that you’ve always been cooking like this? Adding things however you want, I mean.”

“Well, perhaps not however I want. But sometimes inspiration just strikes me. Every meal should be a unique experience, and all that.”

“My god…” she muttered.

Off to the side, Kanta-kun took a spoon of the mixture to taste.

“Urgh!” he grimaced. “What the hell is this supposed to be!? It’s sour! And bitter!”

“So you added enough liqueur to make it bitter, Kisshouin-san…”

“You’re exaggerating, Kanta-kun! I only put in a little!”

“Even the aftertaste is bitter! As the son of a baker I can’t accept this! If you’re baking a cake then always follow the recipe!”

“That cannot be…”

“I think Kanta’s right…” said Wakaba-chan. “When it comes to making sweets you need to be exacting with the amounts. This might be why your cooking hasn’t been as good as what you’ve bought…”

After that, Wakaba-chan adjusted the batter while Kanta-kun guarded me from doing anything unnecessary.

Eventually we somehow managed to make the cheesecake.

“Yummy!”

It was probably one of the best two things I’d ever made!

This was huge!

“This isn’t good at all…”

“Yeah…”

The verdict of the siblings was harsher though.

They went back into another lecture on how important it was to follow the recipe.

Then her dad showed up and repeated it again to me. How important it was to measure the ingredients properly.

I felt enlightened.

So unlike regular cooking, the knack to making desserts was following the recipe.

I vowed to improve.

*

*

When it was time to leave, Wakaba-chan came with me to the station.

Since we had the time, I asked her about Christmas again.

“Ummm… Well, when we were about to close up the store, Kaburagi-kun appeared and said that it was a Christmas present.”

“I see.”

“He was wearing this jet black coat and seemed more mature than usual. And the streetlights seemed to make him shine so I was like, whoa, this is a real Emperor!”

“Hmmmm~”

So that damned Kaburagi slipped out from his family’s party to hand this to her?

Apparently quite a few things were happening without my knowledge.

I decided to ask him next time.

“Well then, goodbye for now.”

“Yeah. Stay safe!”

I passed through the ticket barriers as she waved goodbye.


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88 thoughts on “Reika-sama – 186”

  1. Goddammit, Reika. Does your cooking sensei know what sorts of bad habits you have? I think her and Wakaba-san should get together, both to share their pain and stage an intervention. Preferably before The Incident (where Reika’s cooking kills everyone at that party) occurs.

    Liked by 42 people

    1. It’s not just habit, but another plane of existence. Reika’s cooking comes from the bearded Spock mirror universe and features 9 parts inspiration to 1 perspiration.

      Liked by 10 people

    2. I actually do as I please when cooking :/

      So that’s why when I baked a bread, it’s hard like rock. And when I made congee, it tastes like the sea.

      I had always thought that girls with no cooking talent to the point of turning their dishes into rocks were just myth. To think that I’m one of those girls…. Well-

      Liked by 3 people

      1. She also half assed some steps like mixing. Chocolate cheesecake actually is pretty beginner friendly (a friend and I made in on the first try in college). However, imagine eating one and biting into a portion that’s pure cream cheese. If she doesn’t cool the melted chocolate before adding it to the batter, then bits of egg will cook embedding scrambled egg into the batter. So on and so forth.

        I leave it to your imagination how wrong it can get.

        Liked by 20 people

    1. Naah, regular cooking is fine not totally going with the recipe as long as you keep tasting and everything. Baking, on the other hand, is a science and definitely needs to be exacting.

      Liked by 3 people

      1. I my house the rule is “As long as YOU eat everything you screw up then you can cook however you want”. Of course, is a rule to make sure you don’t want to screw up, like that one time when I put too much powdered chili in the seafood soup.T_T

        Liked by 2 people

        1. House rule here is if you want to eat something different you have to make it yourself. We tend to not lol (we’re a bit lazy).

          Also we do easy things that are very hard to mess up on.

          Like

    2. Actually, no. I’ve been cooking for decades, and although I always have a recipe written down, I almost always make adjustments. (I also make notes on how I adjusted it, just in case the change made a big improvement. Then I rewrite the recipe.)
      I’m considered the ‘chef’ of the house, and we have a lot of surprise visitors on holidays looking to score some free dinner.

      That’s COOKING, though. The saying in restaurant kitchens is, “Cooking is art, but baking is science.”

      For cooking you can often wing it like that, as long as you know about the specific things you can’t do (Like, a roux should be at least half fat, a vinaigrette must be at least three parts oil to one part vinegar, you have to substitute more than an equal part butter for oil, because butter has milk solids and water in it, etc. etc.) You can do all sorts of crazy changes and still get something great as long as you have some general idea how the change will affect taste, texture, etc.

      The ingredients in baking, however, depends upon exact ratios. A small change in ratios will lead to a dramatic change in results. The same is true about procedures. Underkneading or overkneading flour will lead to wildly different results whether you are making breads, cakes, pastas. Not adding ingredients in the correct order or giving enough time for dry ingredients to rehydrate (or grain proteins to rest) can completely kill a dough. And don’t even get me started on the hundred different ways one can easily ruin chocolate beyond repair.

      Liked by 3 people

  2. “This teddybear is a limited edition Christmas product from Germany,” I noted.

    “Really?”

    “So it’s not just some bear?” Kanta-kun asked.

    “Well, it certainly is a teddybear,” I conceded, “but I would feel bad for it if you lumped it together with the others. It comes with a serial number too. A very respectable teddybear.”

    ===

    I love this bit here. It’s a small touch, but it shows how Reika’s new life is subtly affecting her outlook on life, despite having been a “peasant” in the last one.

    Liked by 23 people

    1. Although in context, even this peasant doesn’t think tens of thousands of yen for a teddy bear is *too* bad, no when you consider that Kaburagi’s family are billionaires or trillionaires by U.S. currency standards.

      That’s about what a decent computer would cost to build (or the price of a new console) as well as some of the equipment I have around the house. It’s probably the amount of money I’d spend if I were an enthusiast about a particular hobby. A sizable outlay for somebody at my income level, but practically nothing for their families.

      Liked by 8 people

  3. One small fix for Reika’s cooking habits. Too bad the whole thing hasn’t been fixed as a whole. XD Hopefully Akimi-san can make the same correction.
    Thanks for the new chapter!

    Liked by 7 people

  4. Awww (* ॑꒳ ॑* )♡ so cute, wakaba’s papa, mama and lil bro easily accepts reika as their own (lecturing her and showing embarrassing things), must be because of her commoner pespective from her past life which they can easily relate. if reika ever genderbends, shipping him with wakaba, the emperor learn might undergo another journey cuz of jealousy…Thanks for the chapter!

    Liked by 7 people

  5. Thx for the chapter o/
    so first chapter of the year hum?~~
    i was so happy reading this, i thought finally Reika-sama learned how to cook properly but then:
    “So unlike regular cooking, the knack to making desserts was following the recipe.”
    and i was like:
    “NOOOO Reika, listen to what people are saying PLZ”
    poor Yukino-kun, i hope he survives the experience

    Liked by 13 people

  6. Reika has met the family!! And they lectured her!! Like a daughter-in-law!! But I can tell, they really like Reika-chan! LOL
    Many thanks~

    Liked by 9 people

  7. First off, Reika-sama just destroyed on of the flags Bakaragi could’ve claimed for a successful shipping. Second, why is Wakaba explaining to Reika-sama how she got the teddy bear at the end? Was she thinking that Reika-sama would have anything to do with that Bakaragi? Or is it so that Reika-sama wouldn’t be jealous and think that she (Wakaba) is cheating on her because deep in Wakaba’s heart, it has always been Wakaba x Reika or Reika x Wakaba. XD

    Liked by 5 people

    1. First off, Reika-sama just destroyed one* of the flags Bakaragi could’ve claimed for a successful shipping. The one where he could’ve saved Wakaba from the humiliation by fixing her passport for her or somehow defending her or something.

      Liked by 5 people

  8. Thank you for this chapter onii-chan. I’ll consider this chapter as a wonderful gift today as it is my birthday.

    I wonder if Reika-sama gives birthday cake.

    Liked by 3 people

  9. Thank you for the chapter!
    Finally someone talked to Reika-sama about following the recipe to cook, it’s a shame that she misinterpreted as only for desserts.

    Liked by 5 people

  10. Gee Reika, you just started and you think improvising is a good idea?
    Wow the emperor is advancing off screen on Wakaba-chan.

    How to sign up as redrawer for Tashinami scan anyway? Did I just leave message or something?

    Liked by 4 people

  11. Thanks 4 the chapter!

    Reika. Always follow the recipe unless you know what you’re doing! After you can cook following the recipe, you can TRY to experiment with flavors by changing the amount of the ingredients or adding new ingredients, BUT only a little at a time!

    Liked by 5 people

  12. I thought I’m gonna die from “Cornet girl” but —“…A very respectable teddybear.” This part really killed me. Pffft. Srsly, Bakaburagi and his bears pfffft😂

    Este-sama Otsukaresama!! Thanks for all the hard work for the past year~ (ノ´ヮ´)ノ*:・゚✧
    Akemashiteomedetō ヾ(゚∀゚○)ツ三ヾ(●゚∀゚)ノ

    Liked by 5 people

  13. — Thanks for the chapter~ ^^.

    Well, I’m thinking Kaburagi like bears, lol.
    Hmmm….. Hopefully Reika-sama’s cooking can improve!! XD!

    Liked by 1 person

  14. Finally!!!! Reika gets lectured by the Wakaba family!! She really needs to follow the recipe!

    For desserts its okay to improvise once in a while, but the change in ingredients and amount you add in has to be sensible(adjusted accordingly and not just randomly selecting and pouring in)!!

    As someone who makes sweets, this is the part of Reika I found unacceptable! Hahaha, Reika, gotta follow the recipe man. XD

    Cornet girl… sighs. Well, I hope Reika does learn from this and maybe the Great Onii-sama would be pleasantly surprised this time!

    Liked by 7 people

  15. Thanks for the chapter!

    It really baffles me when people just add things in their cooking without asking what the effect might be or if it will really be good as they thought. Reika seems to be an xNxP…Ne is definitely in there…hmmm

    Liked by 4 people

  16. I think Reika-san makes all her cooking teachers incredibly sad. XD XD XD

    Kaburagi! You got some game then!

    I worry about the stomachs of those who regularly consume Reika-san’s “creations”… Well, Yukino-chan probably deserves it.

    THANK YOU VERY MUCH FOR BEING AWESOME! ! ! HAPPY NEW YEAR! ! !

    Liked by 3 people

  17. Reika…how in the world did you think adding random ingredients into food is fine? People who add things outside of the recipe generally know how the ingredients affect the flavour… or have common sense.

    I can’t believe it took 15years and 186 chapters for you to realize…

    Liked by 6 people

  18. Thanks for the chapter. Reika-sama can make a simple cheesecake to a chaotic sludge slime. She got a future in Alchemy not for Cooking.

    Liked by 4 people

  19. Reika confuses using common sense with strict teaching. I worry for her. Wakaba and Akimi must have a tough time with her.

    “Wherever my inspiration led me”?! Σ(゚Å゚)
    “Unlike regular cooking”?! (ʘ言ʘ╬)
    No wonder her food is so horrible!!! Forget mastering basics- Wakaba family! Educate this girl properly on the central foundations of cooking!

    Looks like Bakaburagi’s been making his moves on the sly, but here’s the source giving all the dirt up to Reika so easily. But it’s funny seeing how accustomed to spending so much money Reika has gotten XDD

    Thank you for all these releases!

    Liked by 10 people

  20. Lol, Wakaba explaining so hard how she got that Teady bear from Kaburagi so that Reika-sama doesn’t misunderstand, its like explaining how she’s not cheating on Reika-sama.

    Liked by 4 people

  21. I swear that you have to follow the recipes in every cooking-related actions, Reika-sama. Not only in making sweets, but also in home cooking! Please knock it into her, Akimi-sama!
    Poor Oniisama and the tanuki, they’ve been eating Reika’s random ingredients adding food…

    Liked by 2 people

  22. *ultimate skill: hissatsu Poison Cooking has split into unique skills: poison cooking and poison baking*
    *Unique skill: poison baking has evo….. devolved into EX skill: ameature baking*

    Liked by 1 person

  23. I don’t follow the recipe completely when I cooked but I guess I have enough common sense to not add random stuff or pour a whole bottle of seasoning into my food. On another note, if Reika ask kaburagi about those stuff then won’t he know she’s close to Wakaba? You can’ Reika-sama, Reikaba ship must sail under the radar and appear only when it’s ambush Emperor ship down into the sea of NTR victims.

    Liked by 1 person

  24. “He was wearing this jet black coat and seemed more mature than usual. And the streetlights seemed to make him shine so I was like, whoa, this is a real Emperor!”
    that is not how you supposed to feel … KabuWaba cruiser sank after bombarded by heavy artilleries from ReikaWaba battleship

    Liked by 3 people

  25. Thank goodness someone put the breaks on this runaway rococo queen! (Hopefully 3 lectures sank in a little..) Maybe now she’ll be able to make something edible.. maybe..

    I like how Kanta had to guard her from putting in extra stuff 😆

    Expensive teddy bear for days 😮 I wonder if Wakaba things his attention is weird in any way, or if she just doesn’t see herself as someone he could ever be interested in.

    Liked by 2 people

  26. Does she ever taste her own food? Did someone strictly tell her that is the reason why her food tastes like crap? -.-

    Most if her problems comes from her carefree and go with the flow personality. The fact that people around likes to downplay things doesnt help her either and the fact Reika keeps flowering a certain idiots actions doesnt help either… Just it as it is! Sometimes I just wished she could keep her “dark mode” on.

    Liked by 1 person

  27. gahh, i dont like how naïve reika is in any situation. i honestly thoguht she would eventually learn, but great novel anyways. thanks for translating this.

    Like

  28. Finally, Reika-sama’s gonna be able to bake decently enough, Otou-sama and Onii-sama rejoice! And it only took like, a decade and a family of passionate bakers for it to happen. It’s their fault anyways, being too soft on Reika-sama.

    But really though, Reika-sama’s finally on the road of becoming a good baker. That’s definitely good for her family and Imari-sama but I do hope she’ll also apply it to cooking since there’s still Yukino-kun’s party.

    And the contrast of Reika and Wakaba and Kanta-kun’s money sense is killing me. For just how long she’s been a daughter of an affluent family for, she really pays no mind no longer huh.

    I really do feel like she’s inadvertently crushing Kaburagi’s flags to Wakaba-chan, poor baka…

    Liked by 1 person

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