I was Thrown into an Unfamiliar Manga

"Wait a sec, the Vice President and Minami were ninjas?"
It was such a naturally dropped topic that I almost let it slide.

The one who had misspoken—President Saionji—looked at me with a guilty expression, but perhaps knowing full well that spoken words can’t be taken back, she ended up obediently admitting the charge.
"That's right. Both of them are ninjas who serve our family. It's been that way for quite some time."
I hadn’t imagined someone connected to the underworld would be so close.

Or maybe… this is actually normal?
It would be far stranger for the heiress of the Saionji conglomerate—Japan’s most powerful zaibatsu—to wander around with no protection whatsoever.
When you think of ninjas, they definitely carry the image of being elite bodyguards.

Anyway, after revealing the Akagi siblings’ identities, Fuma-senpai brought us instant coffee and asked:
"So? Have you started to reconsider, Kim Yu-seong? If you don’t help, the martial art passed down for hundreds of years will die out. Isn’t that a shame? Don’t you want to grow stronger? Right now, you could inherit the martial arts of Black Yasha—one of the legendary Seven Fist Saints—alongside a beautiful bride."
"Please don’t bundle your clan’s secrets like it’s some home shopping special…"

Honestly, at this point, I was starting to feel kind of bad for her.
What could have made her so desperate?
In any case, with what she told me last time and again today, I’d heard enough.

"I do want to learn that martial art, . But I’d like to refuse the part where I marry you."
At that, Fuma-senpai’s expression darkened with a thud.
"Am I really that unattractive?"

"It’s not about being attractive or not. Like I said before, I believe marriage should be between people who love each other. If you treat something so important as a mere tool, then the rest of that marriage is bound to be unhappy. That’s what I’m worried about."
"I'm prepared to live my whole life with just one husband. Even if we're not in love, I don’t think it’s so bad to take time and get to know each other."
In the end, the conversation between me and Fuma-senpai was going nowhere—just running in parallel.

Eventually, maybe feeling something from the back-and-forth we just had, she gave up on recklessly pushing for marriage.
"Haa… Fine. I’ll ask if it's possible to teach the martial art without getting married, just like you said, Kim Yu-seong."
"I’d really appreciate that."
"The elders of the village will probably be furious. After all, it’s a proposal to pass on a direct-line secret to an outsider for no compensation. I can’t promise success."

"Then I guess it just wasn’t meant to be."
Once the conversation reached some kind of resting point, Fuma-senpai let out a relieved sigh and brushed her hand over her chest.
She must’ve thought I’d reject her outright again.

With a noticeably lighter face than before, she asked:
"So, what are you planning to do about dinner? If you want, I can cook something. Thanks to Miss Saionji's check, I'm financially well off right now."
She said it in a way that clearly hinted she hoped I’d stay and eat.

She must be really confident in her cooking.
Looks like she hasn’t given up on the live-in son-in-law angle just yet.
I /N_o_v_e_l_i_g_h_t/ glanced at President Saionji, sitting beside me.

She hesitated, lips pursed like she couldn’t decide, then looked at me and asked:
"If I were to go home, you'd still stay and eat, right, Yu-seong-kun?"
"Uh… I guess I would?"

"Then I’ll stay too."
"Settled, then. I’ll serve you the ultimate home-cooked meal—refined over three years of living alone."
With that, Fuma-senpai gave us a confident smile.

***
"You're going to eat here?"
"Are you sure about that?"

As if they’d decided there was no need to hide anymore, the Akagi siblings—who had been completely out of sight until just moments ago—suddenly revealed themselves.
So they really had been lurking nearby, like proper ninjas.
Still, it’d be way too awkward to point that out now just to show off what I’d figured out, so I kept my mouth shut.

"You fledglings over there, eat with us too. It's on me today."
"‘Fledglings’? That’s kind of rude, don’t you think?"
"Especially since you’re barely older than us."

Fuma-senpai let out a sly “Hmph” laugh and gave them a reality check.
"I am the acting head of the Fuma-shu and a senior ninja. At fourteen, I had already mastered all our techniques. A rising star of the clan. And what do you two have to show?"
Her straightforward approach seemed to catch them off guard. The Vice President and Minami both shut their mouths with frustrated looks.

I guess there’s a gap in rank or bloodline after all.
While the two of them simmered in that awkward silence, we decided to go grocery shopping at the nearby market under Fuma-senpai’s lead.
"Wow, this is my first time in a market like this."

"Haven’t you been to convenience stores a few times?"
"A convenience store and a market are totally different. This is a rare chance to experience the life of commoners again."
President Saionji said this flatly, then cheerfully grabbed a shopping basket.

Fuma-senpai, who’d come with us, grabbed a basket too.
Personally, I was getting pretty excited to see what kind of cooking she was going to show off tonight.
And that’s when we stepped into the store’s produce section—

[Ah, ah, for just the next 10 minutes, bean sprouts are on sale for 100 yen! Bean sprouts, 100 yen sale!]
The moment the announcement of a standard promotion rang out, Fuma-senpai vanished from my field of vision.
Hey! Don’t use ninja skills for this kind of thing!!

***
"Fortune smiles upon us."
That’s what Fuma-senpai declared proudly when she returned, looking like a triumphant war hero.

Her basket was loaded with limited-time 100-yen bean sprouts.
"This decides today’s main dish. Tonight will be a bean sprout feast."
"Wooow…"

The sheer volume of bean sprouts made everyone uneasy about dinner.
But Fuma-senpai just smiled like she owned the world and told us to hurry.
As we moved toward the meat section, she began praising bean sprouts with all her heart.

"Bean sprouts are cheap, tasty, and plentiful. Truly the perfect vegetable for someone living alone. That crisp texture works great in namul, soup, or stir-fry. Personally, my favorite way is to blanch them lightly in salted water, season them with soy sauce, and eat them over steaming white rice—"
"Oh my, this meat is on sale!"
But President Saionji’s delighted voice drowned out Fuma-senpai’s ode to bean sprouts.

"Yu-seong-kun, what kind of meat do you like best? Personally, I love A++ grade wagyu the most. Steak is nice, but dipping paper-thin slices of beef into clear broth for shabu-shabu? Divine."
Unlike Fuma-senpai, who had clearly developed frugal habits, President Saionji’s basket was filled to the brim with luxury ingredients that ignored any idea of “value for money.”
She even bought a shabu-shabu hot pot and katsuobushi, insisting she’d make it herself.

This was supposed to be Fuma-senpai’s dinner party, but somehow, I had no idea how it turned into this.
Fuma-senpai stared silently at President Saionji’s back, then let out a sharp little laugh.
"In the end, it’s the cook’s skill that determines flavor. If you just drown everything in high-grade ingredients, even a child could make it taste good."

President Saionji responded as if she'd just heard something she couldn’t let go. She raised her fan to her lips and smiled.
"Ohohoho, what a curious thing to say. The best way to make the best food is to use the best ingredients. Why deny reality? I think you need to be a bit more generous with your spending, Miss Fuma."
"Kghhh!"

As if determined to return the earlier favor, President Saionji launched a relentless flurry of verbal blows. Fuma-senpai bit her lip in frustration.
"Fine! Then I’ll prove it! I’ll show you that with cheap ingredients, you can still make food that rivals the finest cuts!"
Having reached the meat section, the first thing Fuma-senpai grabbed was pork shoulder.

Compared to standard pork belly, neck cuts, or beef, it felt like a step down, but still—its quality looked solid.
As this culinary standoff naturally developed between the two of them, President Saionji, while trying not to look tense, feigned composure.
"It’s still just pork. There’s no way it can match the flavor of beef."

"We’ll see about that. I’ll show you the true power of ingredient pairing."
I had the thought, “What if lamb suddenly appeared as a third contender?”—but quickly decided that’d be overkill.
Apparently, I wasn’t the only one thinking that. The Vice President, tailing President Saionji like a shadow, twitched her lips.

We made brief eye contact and then awkwardly looked away.
Maybe… the person I’m closest to in the student council is the Vice President?