It was the next morning, and I was tired. In the end, I had barely gotten any sleep. I have an annoying habit of waking up extremely early, and I’m never able to fall back asleep. Now I’m really hungry, and I know there’s a kitchen downstairs, but I’m kinda nervous to go down there.

  As I was fretting over what to do, I heard someone knocking on my door. Since it was so early, I was very startled. I was about to open the door when I realized I was naked! I have an incurable habit of stripping in my sleep. Trust me, I’ve tried everything. I even used some of my mom’s gadgets she used for tying up people that were in her closet for some reason, but I’d always wake up free of them and completely nude.

  “H-hold on!” I called as I frantically looked for my clothes. Another thing was that I could never find my clothes after waking up. They’d always be in a pce you’d least expect. I once had to tear apart my room to find a shirt I’d won at an arcade! It was hidden in a frickin’ false wall!

  Since there’s pretty much no way I’ll find them, I instead ran to the closet. Unsurprisingly, there were a whole bunch of outfits in there. I quickly grabbed the closest one and put it on.

  “C-coming!” I said to whoever was at the door. I opened the door to find no one there. All there was, was a piece of paper with the words “Come down to the kitchen.” Turns out all my panicking was for naught.

  Now that I had stopped panicking, I looked down and realized I was wearing a cat onesie.

  “What the hell?!”

  I went over to the closet and opened it again. Inside was a whole bunch of cospy clothes, only a couple of normal shirts, and a whole bunch of school uniforms... I put on the uniform and headed to the kitchen.

  ???

  “Uh, h-hello, Hiranishi-san,” Hazumi said to me, bowing her head slightly. I wasn’t in the kitchen yet—I was instead in the dining room or whatever-you-call-the-room-you-eat-in room. She was standing by a rge table that had cutlery and the like set out on it.

  “Oh hey, Hazumi. Were you the one who left the note by my room?” I asked her.

  “Y-yes, that was me! I’m sorry if it bothered you……” she said weakly.

  “Oh no, it’s fine! But what’d you call me down here for?” Well, considering it’s the set-up table and her demeanor, I could pretty much guess what it was. Haha… how cute.

  “Well… I was wondering if you’d like to eat breakfast—”

  “You want to have a cook-off, right?!” I finished for her.

  “…………….huh?”

  “Don’t worry! I understand! This must be one of the tests set up in this dorm! Hehehe, too bad for you though—my best skill is cooking!”

  With that said, I rushed to the kitchen, ughing haughtily along the way!

  ???

  Hazumi, left behind, was in shock. Huh? Why? Cook-off? What???

  As she stood there in shock, Najami came into the room. When she saw Hazumi, her expression stiffened.

  “Uhhh, Hazumi? You okay?”

  Hazumi, still in shock, looked at Najami and said, “Cook-off?” as if she was asking her to confirm what just happened.

  I swear! He’s so much trouble!!! Najami yelled internally.

  “Sighhhhhhh. Let me guess—you invited Tako to come eat breakfast with you, and h—SHE—completely misinterpreted it as you challenging her to a cook-off, right?”

  Surprised Najami got it completely right, Hazumi nodded.

  “Hahhhhh… well, when she’s like this, there’s no stopping her. You just have to resign yourself,” Najami said, a dead look in her eyes.

  ???

  Once I got in the kitchen I got to work immediately! First, I checked all the tools and what ingredients they had. As expected of such a prestigious school, they had everything I needed. In fact, they were so well prepped they had enough for me to make the Hiranishi special, Glowing Eggward! My best recipe! But before I could begin making it, I had to steel myself. This recipe can be……dangerous. It requires extreme focus and precision, and creating it the first time almost cost me my life. Taking a deep breath, I slowly blew out and focused my eyes. Next, I did some short stretches to work myself up. Then I took another long breath. I’m ready!!!!

  Phew! Two hours ter, and a couple of near-death experiences, it’s done!!!!!! I reverently set a portion of the legendary dish onto a pte, and headed back to the eating—room?

  “Ha-hahahaha! Here it is, Hazumi! The Hiranishi special, Glowing Eggward!!!!” I yelled triumphantly. Only, my steps faltered as I saw that Hazumi was sleeping, face down on the table, and Najami along with the other girls from the dorm were sitting next to her talking. Najami turned and glowered at me. “Took you long enough! I had to put up a warning sign to stop anyone from entering the kitchen!!!” she said grumpily.

  “Hmph, well, sorry that perfection takes time!” I said back, equally annoyed.

  “Well, anyways, you guys can be the judges in our cook-off!” I said to the other girls. They looked at each other, a bit confused, but then nodded and turned back to me.

  “Sure! Let’s see what you made,” they said excitedly. I grinned and set the pte down in front of them. Then, after a dramatic flourish, I revealed the legendary Glowing Eggward! Unfortunately, I was a bit too zealous in opening it, as I forgot that exposing it to room temperature air could have disastrous consequences… And, uh, that might be an understatement… Glowing Eggward ended up blowing up and we all died in the explosion. On the bright side, I never got found out, right?

  The End?