Humhum♪

(Oh, Ms. Mochizuki's humming while stirring something in the pot...)

(Ena did say how her job shadowing went incredibly well, and how she seems to have resolved her issue.)

Oh, Ms. Yoisaki, hello!

I've made tomato stew with meatballs and plenty of vegetables for tonight's dinner.

That looks delicious. Does it happen to be ready?

Yes, please sit! I'll have some for you in a minute.

Okay.

You seem much happier than usual, Ms. Mochizuki.

Huh?! I... I do?

Hm? You were humming just now.

I was convinced that something good had happened to you recently.

W-Was I?!

Oh no. At someone else's house no less...

I'm sorry. I think I just made myself at home and...

That's okay.

I'm happy to hear that you feel so at ease.

Th-Thank you...

Here you are.

It's very hot, so please be careful.

Thank you.

I will.

Mmm... Delicious.

I've always imagined tomatoes as being sour, but this is so good.

It's true that its sourness can overpower a dish, so I tried pouring in some honey to round out the flavor.

I see. I couldn't tell that you mixed in some honey.

Um, about what happened just a second ago...

Hm? You mean when you were humming?

Hehe. Yes. The thing is, Ms. Yoisaki, you guessed correctly. Something wonderful did happen.

Remember how you introduced me to Ena after speaking to you about the job shadowing that I'd be going on...?

Yes, I heard from Ena that it went very well...

It did. Thanks to her, my shadowing was a resounding success.

I see. I'm really glad.

And it went as well as it did because you introduced me to her, Ms. Yoisaki. If you hadn't, I'm not sure how it would've gone...

So, thank you very much for what you did.

No, all I did was introduce you to Ena.

If anything, she deserves more credit.

Yes, and I made sure to thank her as much as I could during the shadowing! We even decided to meet up again, so I'm going to thank her again then.

Hehe. You sound like old friends already. Are you going to practice drawing again?

We'll be doing sketches like an art class.

Oh, that sounds a bit more serious...

Does this mean you've overcome your issues surrounding drawing and got really good or something?

Oh...

I remember you saying how people saw the poster you made for the Cleanup Committee as an octopus holding rice cakes covered in red bean paste...

Um...

So, some things happened and I ended up drawing the way I normally do with the kindergartners.

Oh, I didn't know that.

Yes, and I feel somewhat bad for Ena after she went out of her way to teach me how to draw...

But she also said that she wanted to see me draw the way I normally do.

That helped me quite a bit.

As a result, I went from disliking my art to embracing it.

I see...

(Wait, Ena mentioned that as well...)

...

(All I did was introduce them to each other...)

(But I'm really glad to hear that them meeting produced such wonderful results.)

I'll put the leftovers in the refrigerator and freezer, Ms. Yoisaki. Please start with what's in the refrigerator first.

I'll make sure to stick post notes on as usual that say how long you have to eat them.

Okay.

Hm? These notes have drawings on them...

Croquettes and...?

Um... Three sticks in a cup...?

I-It's the tomato veggie stew and meatballs...

I'm sorry. The three sticks are supposed to be the steam coming off it...

Oh...

R-Right, there aren't any croquettes in this. I'm sorry. I should've recognized it since I just had it...

N-No, that's okay!

I'm sorry for making it so hard to tell!

Hehe...

So this is what meatballs look like when you draw them, Ms. Mochizuki?

Yes...

I'd like it if you could draw more illustrations for me. I really want to see more of your art.

Are you sure? Then, I'll try drawing some more next time.