Shizumi Konoha Story 1: "Shizumi Konoha's Weakness"

"Shizumi Konoha's Weakness"
*I, Shizumi Konoha, grew up in the Azalea House.*
*Together with Yusa Hazuki and Mikuri Ayame, we became magical girls.*
Hazuki: "Nothing can stand up to you, Konoha."
Ayame: "As expected! Konoha can do anything!"
*I am the oldest of the three of us.*
*I manage our finances.*
*I've made the decisions about fighting and how to live.*
*It's one thing saying so myself, but I think I'm pretty good at everything.*
*I will devote my entire self so for the sake of the three of us.*
*That's how much resolve I have.*
*But...*
*Even with that much resolve and hard work, there is something I was unable to reach...*
*This is a wall that I, Shizumi Konoha, must overcome.*
*A story of conquering myself...*
[the phone rings]
Konoha: "Hello, who is it?"
Hazuki: "Ah, Konoha?"
"Sorry, but you should eat dinner before I get back."
"The class representative meeting is going long and I can't duck out of it."
Konoha: "Is that so? I should have dinner with Ayame then?"
Hazuki: "Yep, go order some takeout or something!"
Konoha: "But that'll cost more money..."
Hazuki: "Take it out of my share for the day! It's my fault, after all."
"I'm sure Ayame will enjoy it."
Konoha: "Alright. Take care coming home."
Hazuki: "Yep! Well then, see you later."
Ayame: "Was that Hazuki on the phone?"
Konoha: "Yes, today Hazuki will be coming home late."
Ayame: "Ehh? Then what'll we do for dinner?"
Konoha: "..."
"...I will make it."
Ayame: "You will make dinner?"
Konoha: "Yeah, you haven't tried my home cooking, have you?"
Ayame: "That's right, I haven't tried it before..."
"But have you ever cooked before?"
"Hazuki told me 'Don't let her cook'..."
Konoha: "Uhh..."
Ayame: "But now I'm curious about your cooking."
"Let's eat Konoha's homemade food!"
Konoha: "Thank you! I'll try to make it as delicious as possible!"
Part 2
starts off with Ayame whimpering
Hazuki shows up: "I'm home! Wait, Ayame!?"
Ayame weakly says "welcome... home..."
Hazuki: "Wait, did she really..."
Konoha: "Well, she... said it tasted good."
"She ate it all! But after she ate it she started feeling sick..."
Hazuki: "All of it!??! She ate everything you made!?"
Ayame: I... ate it...
Hazuki thinking to herself: "No way she'd tell Konoha that it tasted bad..."
Hazuki: "That's why I told you to get take-out!"
Konoha: "That's why you recommended it!?"
Hazuki: "Uh, yeah..."
Konoha: "Ayame! Was it really not good?"
Ayame: "I'm sorry, Konoha... W-water..."
Hazuki: "Konoha, why did you try again at something you knew you weren't good at?"
Konoha: "I thought this was a great opportunity, though..."
"I thought that maybe for once it would turn out well..."
Hazuki: "We knew this already and this is why I'm in charge of food, though."
"Leave the cooking to me, you don't have to try so hard at it, okay?"
(There will be casualties otherwise!)
"I'll handle dealing with the food, you can feel free to give up on it!"
Konoha: (Give up, she says!?)
"No, I won't give it up."
Hazuki: "Huh?"
Konoha: "I will go any lengths so we can keep living together, I will never give up!"
"I will definitely make food that you two will find delicious!"
Hazuki & Ayame: What!?!?
Hazuki: "You're making us into your test subjects!?"
"Even though my cooking is just fine?"
Konoha: "It costs 1.84 times more to order out in comparison to home cooking."
"That's the problem! What happens if you are unable to make food for us?"
"That's why I must also be able to cook!"
"Hazuki, Ayame! Sit tight and wait for some delicious food!" [this line has a typo; it originally says Hazuki, Konoha]
Ayame thinking: (We might die before you get to making good food)
Part 3
*Since then, I have put all my effort into cooking research.*
Hazuki: "Huh? Why do we have so much cookware? What happened?"
"It might be silly to ask you since you manage our funds, but are we alright on money?"
Konoha: "Don't worry, they were incredibly cheap so in total I kept it to below 3% of our monthly budget."
"If we skimp for one day, we should be able to cover this."
"There are three cooking knives, and we have six sizes of measuring spoons."
"We have 6 bowls and a colander. A peeler, a cutter, a grater..."
"We should have enough stuff for cooking when combined with the stuff we had before."
"And then I've been studying the theory of food from some books..."
Hazuki: "I never needed to learn that!"
Konoha: "'The interplay of flavors using contrast, control, and enhancement'"
"'Tongue-satisfying mouthfeel, otherwise known as Texture Choices'"
"'The effect of color'... The appetizing caramel color"
"If I use all of these, I should definitely be able to make delicious food."
Hazuki: "Is that really what cooking's all about?"
Konoha: "You probably just are a prodigy at it."
"Even without studying the theory, it comes naturally to you."
"Unfortunately, I'm not such a genius."
Hazuki: "My genius, as you call it, aside..."
"It's pretty cut and dry that you are not one."
Konoha: "..."
Hazuki: "Ah, I'm sorry!"
Konoha: "It's alright, Hazuki. I understand that perfectly well."
"But now that I'm taking this opportunity, I have to give it my best shot!"
Hazuki thinking: (Man, she's got my hopes up now!)
Hazuki: "Today, I'll try the food you make, Konoha!"
Konoha: "Really?"
"Thank you, Hazuki! I'll do my best!"
"Well then."
"Let's go for contrast first, so let's add in salt and sugar..."
[fade to black]
"Here it is, it's done! Sweet bonito omelettes!"
"I added purple yam powder to turn it blue, and red ketchup to turn it brown."
"On top I have white cauliflower pickled in sugar."
"The eggs were cooked to be a mix of crispy and fluffy so as to have many textures."
"As a finishing touch, I drew an arc with a splash of French cooking inspired Worcestershire Sauce around it."
"...Beautiful. It's perfect."
"I've incorporated each theory of cooking."
Hazuki: "..."
thinking to herself: (This is bad. I wanna run away...)
Konoha: "This was the first cooking I've ever done with such complete research and preparation."
"Hazuki, have you never put this much thought into your cooking before?"
Hazuki: "Um, well..."
"Did you try how it tasted while you were cooking?"
Konoha: "Yes, I tried each individual ingredient."
Hazuki thinking: (You didn't try the dish itself!)
Konoha: "Now then, let's eat up!"
Hazuki: "Okay..."
Konoha: "Say goodbye to the Konoha who couldn't cook!"
there's a flash, and then Hazuki collapses
Konoha: "Hazuki! Was it really that bad?"
"...ugh!"
"My eyes are watering..."
"D-disgusting... Why!?"
"I can't even comprehend how I made this flavor..."
Ayame: "I'm home!"
"Konoha! Check this out!"
Konoha: "What's this flier? 'Cooking classroom'? A teacher will show you how to cook?"
Ayame: "Yeah, that's what it looks like. So Konoha, you could... Wait, Hazuki collapsed!"
Ayame: "Aw man, I was just a bit too late..."
Konoha: "..."
---
Konoha: "'Cooking Class Notice'... A store is holding a class..."
"'Youshoku Walnuts'... Walnuts, it says?" (note that Walnuts is Kurumi Manaka's restaurant)
"That's a famous restaurant in Kamihama."
Hazuki: "I had some of their food at the girls' meeting before, and it was so good I had tears rolling down my face..."
Konoha: "You're awake, Hazuki!"
"But Hazuki, Ayame, what do you think?"
"Would someone like me, who couldn't improve even after poring through this book..."
"Could I really get better from taking a class?"
Ayame: "Finally you seem to be timid for once, Konoha!"
Konoha: "Huh?"
"Of course I can be timid."
"With that much studying and all my effort, I couldn't make my cooking even the slightest bit better."
"I had hoped that at least people wouldn't faint anymore..."
Hazuki: "The Walnuts person who will be teaching you is amazing!"
"You don't get a chance like this every day."
"You get to see how they cook with your own eyes, get instruction..."
"And if you mess up when cooking, a pro will teach you how to fix it right there!"
"If you really, really want to learn how to cook..."
"Then you have to try everything you can! Isn't that for the best?"
Hazuki thinking: (At least at a cooking class, it won't be us doing the taste-testing!)
Konoha: "I see... I wanted to learn how to cook."
"No matter the method, no matter how long it'd take."
"I must learn to cook delicious food."
"We have to consider our finances too..."
"This is part of our promise."
Ayame: "Umm... We promised something?"
"I think it's a good idea, though, a cooking class!"
Ayame thinking: (After all, I won't be the one eating it!)
Konoha: "Thanks, you two..."
"I'm going to take this cooking class!"
Konoha (voiced): "The basic flavors of cooking? Uh... No comment."