"Do you know why I like pancakes...?

"Dig in!" I said, and proudly set the pancakes I’d managed to make without burning them for the first time in a while on the table.

"You've gotten better than you used to be. Thanks for the meal."

That might be true. Back when I was in middle school, I often made pancakes—the only thing I could make—for the Mie brothers, who used to come over to hang out, as a snack, but I probably burned them a lot.

"You've liked pancakes since way back, right?" ...I laughed as I reminisced about the past, and he suddenly turned toward me.

"You know why I like pancakes...?"

He was staring at me intently, with a somewhat restless expression.

Why?? I’d always seen the way he ate them looking so delicious, so I figured he must like them... or so I thought.