"Onii-chan, whose fried rice tastes better?"
"Son, I know you never lie."
Almost everyone's attention turned to him. Komachi's eager face and their father's calm look formed a sharp contrast.
To make sure the result wouldn't be biased, Hikigaya decided to take another bite of both bowls of golden, fragrant fried rice. Just by looking, there really wasn't any difference. The color, the moisture, the separate grains, and the aroma rushing into the nose were practically the same.
But cooking is called cooking because of what happens after you actually taste it. If dishes could be judged only by appearance, that would clearly be irresponsible.
Facing his little sister Komachi's expectant eyes, Hikigaya picked up a spoon and sent a spoonful of golden grains into his mouth.
Right away, the rich fragrance of the rice filled Hachiman's senses. The perfect hint of char mixed with the fresh taste of green onions. Even though it was the simplest of dishes, each version still carried a completely different style.
Seeing her brother hesitate, Komachi looked rather smug, as if victory was already hers.
In cooking battles, the first dish always takes the upper hand. That's because if the second dish doesn't bring a stronger impact, it can't erase the impression left by the first one. This is even more true when two top-level dishes go head-to-head, since the differences are so small. Whoever strikes first often has a much higher chance of winning.
At the same time, the customers who had been watching closely also started talking among themselves:
"Komachi really is amazing! Could it be that this time she's finally going to beat Joichiro?"
"I've been waiting for this day. For the Hikigaya family, Komachi is truly a genius in cooking. Looks like she's more than ready to take over this restaurant in the future."
"Which means we're the lucky ones! Hahaha..."
"But compared to Komachi, Hachiman from the same Hikigaya family is just..."
"Hey, enough, stop that. How do you know Hachiman's cooking is bad? If you ask me, anyone who can be the judge of food has to know cooking pretty well too."
The chatter outside was noisy, but Hachiman didn't let their words distract him. After finishing Komachi's fried rice, he moved his spoon to Joichiro's fried rice.
Just one bite...
'As much as I want Komachi to win, but...'
Hachiman slowly stood up and faced the two of them.
"The result is clear. The winner this time is still Dad."
Hearing this answer, both surprising and expected, everyone was a little shocked, but soon they quietly accepted it. Joichiro stretched lazily and said with a hint of satisfaction:
"Hachiman, I knew you wouldn't lie. Komachi, you'll have to keep working harder. If I'm not mistaken, you've lost almost five hundred times already!"
Hikigaya: "It's 490 times."
When Komachi heard the result, she slumped down like a deflated balloon. Seeing her like that pained Hikigaya, but the moment she heard Joichiro's words, she suddenly lit up again and said:
"Uuuuu, Onii-chan, I lost again... but..."
"I can feel it! Komachi is about to surpass Dad, and it won't be long!"
"Such a never-give-up Komachi gets the highest score in my heart!"
Hachiman saw every single time she was defeated. Komachi was definitely a troublesome sister—after every loss she would come seeking comfort. Of course, Hachiman always gave her the biggest encouragement. As her brother, he truly believed Komachi could one day defeat their dad.
Komachi always managed to get back on her feet quickly, and that was what comforted Hachiman the most as her older brother. If only he could lie to himself, he would have wanted to help Komachi win just once.
Here's a joke: Hikigaya Hachiman is not a siscon.
So, let's start again with an introduction...
This dead-fish-eyed guy is called Hikigaya Hachiman. He has an unreliable dad, Joichiro, and a very reliable little sister, Komachi. After graduating from middle school at Sobu, he was looking forward to a nice holiday, but on the very first day of vacation he got into an accident and broke his bones. Just his luck—it was already his second car accident. He ended up bedridden for half a year, missing the best time to move on to the next stage of school.
Since then, he basically spent his days helping out at the restaurant. He had been doing that kind of work since he was little, so it felt natural to him.
Of course, "helping out" usually meant chores, like serving food to customers or washing dishes after closing.
According to him, the steel scrubber's flower language was "wealth and endurance," and Hikigaya firmly believed in it.
As for Hachiman's cooking skills, even he didn't know. After all, it was always Komachi and their dad who handled the meals, so he never had the chance—and was honestly glad for that. That way, even if he made something as bad as a rock, it would be perfectly normal.
But since their family ran a restaurant, people sometimes couldn't understand why he didn't cook. Of course, they had no way of knowing about Hachiman's grand dream deep down.
"I'm going to be a househusband one day, so..."
"Hachiman, come clean up this food!"
"Oh, okay..."
The self-introduction was cut short, but the customers nearby were still chatting:
"Is this guy really their kid? He looks more like a hired waiter."
"But Joichiro's rice bowls are truly unmatched!"
"If you ask me, even those WGO one-star chefs outside might not be able to beat Joichiro."
"Exactly, exactly!"
"Joichiro, one daily set meal for me!"
"I'll have the meat-and-tofu set!"
As the rush hour hit, customers flooded into the restaurant like a tide, packing it full in no time. Hikigaya went back to the kitchen, starting his daily routine with the steel scrubber.
Busy times always went by fast. After the rush, Komachi returned to her room to continue studying. After all, entrance exams were extremely important for a ninth grader.
In the restaurant hall, only Hachiman and Joichiro were left, calmly cleaning up the dishes from the customers.
And then... a blonde girl, as if she had been waiting for this moment, strutted into the restaurant.