[Short Short] Hot Pot Ingredient Test

"What do you like in a hot pot? My mother told me to ask you."

Ayane was at a loss for words. He was a boyfriend she had started dating six months ago after a friend introduced them.
The day they met, she had an intuition that they would get along well.
As they bonded further over their shared hobby of bouldering, she felt they were building a comfortable relationship.

It was just last week that he invited her to dinner to introduce her to his parents.
It would be dinner at his place. He said it was getting cold, so they were planning to have hot pot.

Since he was talking about introducing her to his parents, he must be thinking seriously about their relationship. That made her happy, but meeting parents was nerve-wracking.

Both of Ayane's parents were picky eaters, and she grew up watching at least one of them always eating with a bitter expression on their face.
She had made it a point to eat everything to lighten the mood, and while it was good that she no longer had any dislikes, she had also learned that when you share meals with people, you end up seeing both their good and bad sides.

Hot pot ingredients, she thought, as vegetables and seafood floated through her mind and then vanished.
It's surprisingly difficult to convey your food preferences.
It also feels a bit strange to emphasize just one ingredient.

"...Sorry. Was that such a difficult question?"

She must have had a troubled look on her face. He was looking at her with an anxious expression.

"It's not difficult, but the bar gets raised when you have to choose. In my head, the leafy greens, mushrooms, and marony noodles just started a race. Give me a second."

He looked stunned.
Oh no. Was that weird after all?
The moment she thought that, he burst out laughing.

"My question was bad. I should have asked, 'Is there any hot pot ingredient you dislike?'"

"No, no. I eat everything. Actually, I like everything."

"My mother told me to ask what you dislike or can't eat, but I just thought if there was something you liked, I wanted to have plenty of it ready."

"Oh. Is that so? That's totally fine. I don't have any dislikes to begin with."

Realizing she had emphasized that more strongly than she intended, Ayane blushed.

"Got it. I'll tell her that. My mother likes girls who eat a lot without being picky. She'll definitely be happy."

Ayane blushed even more at his voice, which was filled with laughter.

"Hey. I want to bring something for dessert, what does your mother like?"

Hmm, he said, tilting his head.
She likes pretty much all sweets in general. Japanese sweets and Western sweets are both fine. He looked troubled.

"It's okay! Don't worry about it. I'll choose something I think is delicious and bring it!"

His expression brightened.

"I'll leave the hot pot ingredients to you, so leave the dessert to me!"

The moment Ayane said that, she felt her heart grow light and airy.

<End>

Character count: 1090 characters

Thank you for reading until the end.

This is a submission for the Shirokuma Literature Club project.

The prompt was "Hot pot ingredients".

Shirokuma Literature Club, thank you as always for the fun projects!

#ShirokumaLiteratureClub