[Sakuya’s Time – Today’s Guest is Izumi Senpai! #SuzumichiSakuya#KainohIzumi#StarsFlow]
“Shall we start soon, Izumi Senpai?”
“Ah… yes.”
Before I knew it, Sakuya Suzumichi had finished preparing the broadcast and cooking ingredients and smiled softly.
Looking at the ingredients, there were plenty of basic cooking essentials like eggs, cheese, potatoes, sausages, and meat. I wondered if we could use all of these today.
“Hmm…”
Sakuya took a deep breath, then switched the broadcast screen and unmuted the microphone.
“Kon-saku! I’m Sakuya Suzumichi from Stars Flow, your all-purpose maid from Atlas! Welcome, everyone!”
– Kon-saku!
– Yoro-saku today too!
“And today’s guest on Sakuya’s Time is…!”
“Kon-zumi…! Th-the enchanting woman, Izumi…! O-oh, I came because I heard that Sakuya would be making a delicious meal today…”
“E, you’re still under punishment from the trial?”
“…Until this Friday.”
“I see. Anyway, welcome, Izumi Senpai!”
Sakuya clapped her hands to draw attention to my self-introduction.
– Is Saku-chan in the guardian position today?
– Let’s eat a lot, Mei-chan!
– Comparing the two, Saku-chan gives off a stronger senpai vibe.
– I hope Izumi gets to eat lots of food she likes.
– Be a mom to Izumi!
However, for some reason, the chatroom was already filled with Izutomo scheming against me.
“Ah, no matter how you look at it, I’m the senpai here…?!”
Of course, Sakuya’s avatar was dressed in a maid outfit, giving off a slightly mature vibe, but the fact that I was a senpai remained an unchanging truth. I wouldn’t let the slander in the chat room change that.
“Right, S-Sakuya?”
I passed the conversation flow to Sakuya, hoping for her support, but…
“U-uh, yes! That’s right…!”
For some reason, her response was evasive and clumsy.
– Slow reaction, lol.
– You sound like you don’t agree at all.
“Uh…”
Out of the three third-year students I’ve met, Tsurusaki, Kaguya, and today’s Sakuya, only Kaguya treated me like a proper senpai.
Being a senpai should feel like a sky-high existence, so why am I in this position…? I felt like my heart would break from this unbelievable fact.
But a true adult does not wallow in failure just because they were bent once. After quietly calming my heart, I smoothly shifted the subject.
“By the way… Sakuya’s Time is normally subject to applications, right?”
“Yeah, that’s right. In fact, the reservations are already full until August.”
– Saku-chan’s shop is totally exploding in popularity.
– I want to make a reservation too…
“But, I was personally invited by Sakuya this time… Aren’t you envious?”
“Hehe…”
– Ah.
– Is this the first invited guest?
– I’m jealous.
– This is an Izusaku premonition.
– Izusaku, tee hee.
“How does it feel to be called the first invited guest, Izumi Senpai?”
“I-I really look forward to the cooking…!”
“I hope my cooking meets your expectations, Izumi Senpai!”
I couldn’t help but feel excited since both Koga and Natsune praised the dish. Plus, seeing Sakuya prepare the ingredients earlier had escalated my anticipation.
– If being invited like this means they talk a lot normally…
“Uh… this was, like, our first proper conversation, though…”
“Yeah. This is the first time I’ve personally had a chat with you.”
– Being invited to someone’s home for homemade cooking from the first conversation?!
– Saku-chan… Did she fall in love at first sight with Mei-chan…?
“That’s not it?!… Actually, the original guest for today was Hinatchi.”
…Wait? I’ve never heard that before!
“But Hinatchi had something come up today. So at first, I thought of canceling the schedule… But since this happened, I thought, why not invite someone else and decided to call Izumi Senpai.”
“Hmm… Why me, of all people?”
“Since I’m inviting someone directly, I wanted to choose a member I was curious about.”
So that person turned out to be me.
Thinking about Sakuya’s personality, she probably gets along well with most members. Being a senpai wouldn’t feel awkward for her talking with others; she must be the one to initiate the conversations too.
If she had never spoken with a member till now, it must be just me…
That suddenly made me feel a bit sad.
…Anyway, it seems she’s good at both starting conversations and listening.
Is Sakuya the complete mom character…?
– So how was Mei-chan’s first impression?
“First impression of Izumi Senpai? Hmm. I’d say it felt like looking at a small animal?”
“…Huh?”
Isn’t that kind of strange treatment?
And I felt like I had heard that somewhere before…
It must have been during the first group collaboration with second-year students.
That time, someone said it felt like looking at a pet… It was definitely Koga!
Do I have a problem being recognized as a pet by a mom character…?
…No. I needed to stand up for myself.
Back then, I wasn’t used to being on air, so I let it pass, but now I’ve been a pro VTuber for over a year.
It was unacceptable for a senpai to hear something like that from a junior.
“Please uphold my dignity as a human being, Sakuya…”
“W-Wait, that’s not what I meant! I just thought you looked cute and wanted to keep watching!”
Seeing Sakuya apologizing to me after my heartfelt protest made me think…
“Okay. Ah, got it… Hehe.”
I decided to forgive her this time with the broad-mindedness of a senpai.
★
Sakuya’s Time was essentially a communication broadcast, where the guest usually took center stage.
Since Sakuya had to focus on cooking, it was natural for the guest member to engage in conversation with her and read the chatroom… In short, the guest needed to keep the viewers entertained with fun stories.
If it were the me from the past, I would’ve known this and probably declined the invitation, but the current me is the grown-up Kainoh Izumi.
In other words, I’d say I’m the ‘Hyper Ultra Sensation Kainoh Izumi Mark 2’ now.
“Wow… Ah, it smells really good…”
Sakuya was already busily cooking behind me.
While the viewers might not hear it, the sound of her hands moving quickly combined with the wonderful aromas sparked various imaginations.
“I really think a delicious dish is about to come out…”
– Your vocabulary has dropped to elementary school level.
– Is this Mei-chan’s limit?
“Hey. I’m still a current high school girl, you know?”
– What thoughts do you have while watching Saku-chan cook?
“W-would I say it’s cool? Yeah. I’d want to see it every day…”
“Even if you say that, I-I won’t fall for it!”
“Eh? W-what do you mean…?”
“…I mean, nothing at all…”
I still think a girl who can cook well is incredibly impressive.
So I suppose seeing her like that would be fascinating even if I saw it every day.
“By the way, I heard that Sakuya sometimes cooks for Izumi Senpai.”
“Ah, yeah. Usually when Mama Izumi isn’t home…”
– Koga Mama…
Sometimes she brings food from home, and sometimes Koga comes over to cook for me.
In the beginning, I felt bad and said it wasn’t necessary, but she scolded me saying it was obvious I’d be eating cup noodles if I didn’t, and to take care of my health.
Since I often eat cup noodles when my mom’s not around, I couldn’t argue with that…
“I also sometimes go over to make food for the manager.”
“Ah…”
Hearing Sakuya, I recalled something Kaguya once said on air.
[If my maid doesn’t prepare a meal for me, I end up buying rice balls from the convenience store.]
That wasn’t just a concept; it meant that Sakuya really makes meals.
“Speaking of which? I talked to Sakuya about this. I thought it’d be fun to do a collaborative offline stream with the four of us, and have a ‘Who is the best cook in Stars Flow!’ event.”
“Hehe… That does sound fun…”
– I really want to see it.
– Are Mei-chan and the manager the ones who will be eating…?
“Right? So today, this is like me getting a head start on winning points from Izumi Senpai by treating her to my cooking.”
“Th-thank you…”
I felt a bit treated like a child, but I didn’t feel bad at all.
In the first place, why would I feel bad for getting a free delicious meal?
“So? So far, who do you think cooks better between me and Sakuya?”
“U-uh, up until now?”
– Are you already in the competition?
– The Stars Flow girls’ cooking contest…
– It wouldn’t be strange regardless of who wins.
I entirely agreed with the comments in the chatroom that said it wouldn’t be strange no matter who won.
Of course, I hadn’t tasted Sakuya’s cooking yet, but just watching her cook told me everything.
Well, if I had to point out a tiny difference, I might say…
Koga is gentle and systematic when she cooks, while Sakuya’s movements are incredibly flashy.
It seemed too different to even compare…
In other words, their skills are way above my level for me to evaluate.
“I think they’re both… amazing, so… it’s hard to… well….”
“Puuh… Since this is the first time I’m showing my cooking, I’m happy to hear that assessment! …Ah, wait, Izumi Senpai, could you come over here?”
“Ah, okay…”
At Sakuya’s invitation, I immediately got up from my seat and went to the kitchen behind her, where she aimed a spoon with sauce at me.
“Ah…”
I waved my hands to refuse, but Sakuya was silent.
In fact, the smile on her face seemed… determinate.
“Uh, d-doing it myself is just fine…”
“Ah…!”
“Ah… um…”
“How is it? Is it good?”
“Yeah. It tastes… good…”
“I’m glad.”
I wasn’t sure what type of sauce it was, but its moderate sweetness and refreshing flavor were nice.
– Izusaku, tee hee.
– It’s definitely right for Mei-chan to run Atlas.
Anyway, when I returned to the living room and sat down, those kinds of chats flooded in.
“D-did you hear all that?”
– It was delicious.
– A noble scene…
Though I didn’t get a clear answer, the chat messages alone were enough.
After all, I had amplified the microphone to make Sakuya’s voice in the kitchen audible…
…It’s kind of embarrassing.
★
Sakuya’s completed dish was really extravagant.
From the steaming menchi katsu to the intensely cheesy sausage gratin.
But most notably…
“Here you go, Izumi Senpai?”
“Yep…!”
It was omurice.
Not just the ordinary omurice where fried rice is wrapped in an egg.
This was the Tanpopo Omurice, which involved layering a half-cooked omelet on top of fried rice and cutting it to let the rice wrap inside.
As Sakuya swiftly sliced through, the omelet split open, blooming like a golden flower.
“Wow…!”
– I want to see it.
– I’m curious about the scene.
“I’m sorry, everyone. I can’t show you this right now, but I’ll post it separately on Naiter later, so please wait a bit.”
It was a scene that didn’t need any words as it drew out spontaneous admiration.
“Now, let’s take a photo…”
“Wait a moment, Sakuya…!”
As Sakuya was about to take photos of the completed dishes to display on the broadcast screen, I immediately grabbed her arm.
“Is there a problem, Izumi Senpai?”
“Ah, there’s still one thing left…”
“Hmm…?”
Sakuya is a maid.
So what a maid should do in this situation is obvious.
“Earlier… I mentioned that I wanted to ask for something later…?”
“Ah, that’s true.”
I gestured for Sakuya to bow her head, then whispered quietly into her ear.
“…Please.”
“…Eh? That, that? For real?!”
“Yep…”
And Sakuya’s expression after hearing my request was the first frozen face of the day.
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