On the first day of school, Jhin acted as a porter, helping Eriri and the others carry their bags, large and small, along with snacks, back to the dormitory.
They all claimed they were buying daily necessities and just picking up some snacks on the side, but as it turned out, aside from Megumi Kato who genuinely only bought a little food, the amounts Kasumigaoka Utaha and Eriri bought were enough to keep them shut inside their rooms for half a month.
Are they planning to hoard food like hamsters?
Today, Shuka High School held a joint cooking practice class for two classes. It just so happened that Jhin and Hitori Gotoh were assigned to the same group as Gabriel, Vignette, and Satania. Since the teacher didn't specify exactly what dish to make, Jhin brought a large slab of pork belly and other ingredients, planning to make Braised Pork Belly for them.
"It's a good thing you're here, Jhin. Otherwise, I dare not imagine what this would turn into."
Vignette, wearing a red apron, washed her hands at the sink. Behind her stood Satania, dressed as a head chef with a mysteriously confident smile, and a completely unmotivated Gabriel.
"They're all hopeless cases..."
"That's really harsh of you to say... Vine."
"Are you actually going to help cook then, Gab?"
"Nope..."
"Leave it to me, Vine." Jhin took out the pork belly and slammed it onto the cutting board with a thud, rolling up his sleeves to start cooking.
Vignette sighed, "Say, could you please not copy Gab's nickname for me?"
She felt that the only reason Gabriel called her that was because she was too lazy to say one extra syllable. Vignette retaliated by using the same method on Gabriel, but she didn't wish for others to call her that too. Although it made them seem closer, it could easily make others think her name was just "Vine", so it was a no-go.
"I think the way you address each other is quite interesting," Jhin shrugged, deftly cutting the pork belly into chunks with a kitchen knife.
"If you don't like it, I'll continue calling you Vignette then."
"Please do call me Vignette. By the way, what are you planning to make?"
"Braised Pork Belly. Hmm... I'll add some potatoes to cut the grease. You three slackers over there, please peel the potatoes!"
"Damn it, I thought I could eat Jhin's cooking without doing any work." Gabriel reluctantly picked up a peeler and a potato.
Satania remained unmoved. She closed her eyes, standing in place with a confident smile.
"A true master chef only adds a mint leaf after the food is complete; they would never do menial tasks like peeling potatoes."
Gabriel couldn't stand seeing herself working hard while this idiot demon was openly slacking off.
She grabbed Satania by the collar and shoved her half-peeled potato and the peeler into her hands.
"Help me out, quickly! Do you think you can get something for nothing?"
"Guh, that's something only a Super S-Class Demon can do. I'm still far from reaching that level."
"Then just peel the potatoes honestly!"
"I got it, geez." Satania grumbled and started peeling the potato, but she was holding the peeler backwards. She didn't even finish half a potato after a long while, making Gabriel fume with rage.
"You're holding the peeler backwards!"
"Huh? Oh, I was wondering why it was so hard to peel."
"You guy..." Gabriel ground her silver teeth.
"Don't tell me you've never even cooked before?"
At this rate, her plan to use Satania to peel potatoes while she slacked off was going to go down the drain.
Hitori Gotoh walked up to Jhin carrying the washed potatoes. "J-Jhin, I've finished peeling the potatoes."
"Thank you, Bocchi-chan." Jhin affectionately placed a light kiss on the corner of Hitori Gotoh's mouth.
"Great job, take a little break."
"Hehe, o-okay." After enjoying Jhin's praise, Hitori Gotoh slipped away and hid in the space under the sink.
If Jhin weren't here, participating in this kind of group activity would be no different than being in hell for her.
It was a good thing she learned some cooking skills from her mom beforehand; being able to help Jhin was wonderful.
The space under the sink was very clean; otherwise, Jhin would have had to stop what he was doing to drag Hitori Gotoh out of there.
Seeing their intimate interaction, the fire of rage in Gabriel's chest caused by her inability to slack off was fueled even more, burning hotter.
"Look, others have already finished, and you have only just started the third one! Hurry up!"
"Aren't you only on your fourth one?"
"Would I be this slow if I wasn't trying to instruct you?"
"Then let's have a contest to see who finishes peeling their potatoes first. Whoever wins gets the loser's share of the Braised Pork Belly Jhin makes!"
"You're on. Who's afraid of whom?"
Gabriel felt that Satania was digging her own grave. She was only inefficient because she wanted to slack off, not because she didn't know how to peel like her.
Gabriel, who usually lacked interest in anything besides games, was now taking this seriously against Satania.
Vignette looked at Jhin, who was focused on cooking, with a complicated expression. She recalled Gabriel's unusual behavior on the day of the Kessoku Band performance.
Gabriel, you wouldn't happen to... towards Jhin... No, it's too early to jump to conclusions.
Besides, Gabriel was the top graduate of her class at the Angel School; she couldn't possibly be unaware of the strict angelic commandments.
More importantly... Angels' lifespans are far, far longer than humans'.
Romance between angels and humans hasn't been nonexistent in the long river of time, but most end in regret, because not everyone can ascend to Heaven after death.
Compared to angels, demons are much more lax, without those troublesome commandments.
Worried about your lover's lifespan? Just turn them into a dependent directly.
Like too many people? Just start a harem.
The way demons handle things is just that simple, direct, and crude.
"Vignette, making just Braised Pork Belly doesn't seem like enough, right?" Jhin interrupted Vignette's contemplation.
"Did you guys prepare any other dishes?"
"Ah, yes. Satania, did you bring the fish I asked you to?"
Satania and Gabriel's potato peeling contest was at a critical moment. Gabriel never expected Satania to get the hang of it so quickly, matching her own efficiency. But Vignette's question interrupted Satania's movement, causing her to lose the contest.
"Damn it, Vignette, don't talk to me at a critical moment!"
"Sorry. So, where is the fish I asked for? You didn't forget, did you?"
Satania took out a fish that looked like a Mackerel Whale, entirely purple with an abnormally protruding jaw and a mouth full of sharp teeth, holding it in her arms. "Of course I didn't forget, look!"
"Whaaa!!" Vignette saw the fish twitch twice and didn't dare get too close.
"It's actually still alive! Where did you get this fish?"
"Heheh," Satania proudly introduced it to her. "I caught this in the Demon World lake this morning!"
You went back to Hell just for a fish...?
"Why are you so serious about this kind of thing?"
Satania covered her cheek slightly with her left hand, her red eyes gazing into the distance, feigning a look of lonely superiority at the top. "A first-class chef is very picky about the freshness of the ingredients."
"You're not a chef at all. And don't forget, you have to give me your Braised Pork Belly later."
Satania's defense instantly crumbled. "The contest just now doesn't count, I was distracted by Vignette!"
Jhin let them argue happily. He had already blanched the sliced pork belly and set it aside to drain, preparing to caramelize the sugar.
He poured cooking oil into the wok and turned on medium heat.
When the oil was about fifty or sixty percent hot, he added white sugar and stirred gently with a spatula.
The fine white sugar quickly melted, and the oil surface began to bubble with large white bubbles. Jhin continued stirring.
As the large bubbles gradually turned into dense small bubbles, and then as the small bubbles began to dissipate, the color of the sugar syrup in the wok gradually changed from pale yellow to jujube red. Jhin immediately poured the drained pork belly into the wok, creating a dense sizzle sound.
Jhin skillfully stir-fried the meat to coat every piece of pork belly evenly with the caramelized sugar. Once the meat released its aroma, he immediately added star anise, cinnamon, garlic, and other spices, then added boiling water to cover the ingredients, pouring it all into a stew pot to simmer.
When chopsticks could easily pierce through the meat, he would add the cut potatoes into it. This way, the potatoes would be soft and flavorful when done, rather than turning into a mush that fell apart when picked up.
After dealing with the Braised Pork Belly, Jhin turned his head to check on the situation with Vignette. They were supposed to be making fish soup, right?
However, Jhin found that Vignette was holding a knife but hesitated to cut that bizarre-looking Demon World fish.
Her hand trembled slightly, seemingly in an internal struggle.
In the end, she chose to put down the knife.
"I can't do it. I can't bring myself to hurt Satania."
"I told you that's not me!"
Jhin felt that if he didn't go over to help, they would probably end up only having Braised Pork Belly to eat.
Satania, who prepared to take the knife and replace Vignette, was knocked unconscious by a beautiful tail fin slap to the cheek from the fish. Jhin picked up this "Mackerel Whale" and gave it a quick and clean end.
A trace of purple blood splashed onto Jhin's face. Combined with his unhesitating movement when killing the fish, it made Gabriel's heart pound.
If I really make Jhin angry, would he cook me into a dish?
Although this fish was a product of Hell, aside from its blood being purple, it wasn't much different from ordinary fish. Jhin scaled and boned it in minutes.
"Vignette, the fish is cut. I'll leave the rest to you guys."
"Um... Jhin." Vignette wore an expression that looked like she wanted to cry but had no tears, pointing tremblingly at the ingredients Gabriel was responsible for bringing.
"I think we might still have to rely on you."
Jhin looked over. Gabriel was supposed to buy tofu and kelp, but somehow, what was on the table now were onions, potatoes, and carrots.
Jhin hadn't put down the knife in his hand, nor had he wiped off the fish blood.
Wearing a smile that made others feel warm but sent chills down Gabriel's spine, he asked word by word: "Defendant Gabriel, do you have anything else to say?"
"Gulp." Gabriel swallowed nervously.
She put her hands in front of her to signal Jhin to calm down, while slowly edging towards the back door.
"I think..."
"Soldier Satania, apprehend that criminal!"
"Yes! Commander Jhin!"
Opportunities to make Gabriel suffer were rare. Satania swiftly darted behind Gabriel and pinned her firmly in place.
"J-Jhin, Jhin! Don't come over here!!!"
___
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