This Villainess Shall Vow to Live Humbly and Frugally this Time Around

Twelve: The Basics Once More

(A/N: The picture above shows Makihara Karin and the teenage Shinozuka Shun.)

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The eighteen-year-old, Hoshino Rukako, died before she could even make use of the hard-earned college scholarship she won through blood and tears.

It was a waste. An absolute waste.

I had acquired a premium ticket to the future I dreamt of and to think all it took to lose it all was Truck-kun. I lost my future. I lost my life. In exchange, those two children were safe and I got to live as Kouzuki Akina again.

Was it a fair trade?

On one hand, I got a second chance to fix my regrets.

On the other, I lost a life I cherished and worked for.

I wasn't ready to die as Rukako nor was I ready to die as Akina the first time. And how peculiar... I died both times at the same age: eighteen. Eighteen was a far cry from the definition of a fulfilled life.

I won the college scholarship through a cooking competition. It was definitely an ordeal winning it. Unlike the other competitors, I didn't have the patient and professional instruction from actual chefs. I only had grandma and mom's teachings to guide me through.

To win the competition, I snuck glances and mimicked techniques from the chefs of the restaurant I worked at as a part-time dishwasher. Free online instructions and tips helped too. The teacher who took pity on me and let me use the economics classroom after class helped very, very much too. The cost of the ingredients I used for practice was no joke but I somehow managed to stay afloat through my part-time jobs. And the exhaustion and fatigue... well, I was definitely stubborn since I somehow managed to overcome that through willpower and desperation alone.

But in the end, every single drop of effort I put into my preparation was worth it.

When the date of the competition came, I was ready. I won it. Just barely. Other than the scholarship, there was hefty prize money too but I had to use it to pay off mom and grandma's hospital bills as well as the leftover debts so the prize money didn't really change my life. The scholarship was supposed to but I died before it could.

I died before even reaching the start line.

But now, I have the second chance to make Rukako's dreams come true as Akina. Unlike Rukako, Akina had every bit of resources that were needed to make that dream come true and even more. I plan to take advantage of that to the fullest.

The cooking class elective I was enrolled in was for total beginners. Same with the baking class elective. It would probably be boring for a while but unless I want my family unnecessarily suspicious of me, then I would have to endure it. Besides, I might even learn something new if I start from the basics of the basics. And it's Ryuusei Gakuen. Ryuusei Gakuen, being the school for the wealthy and elite, should boast facilities fitting to its name as well as excellent, knowledgeable, professional teachers that won't put the school's reputation through the mud. Hence, despite it being a beginner course, I'm still looking forward to it.