As she spoke, Chelsea took the lollipop from her mouth and casually offered it to Blayn, showing no embarrassnt at all.
It was as if even if Blayn actually chose the lollipop she had already eaten, Chelsea wouldn't mind in the slightest.
"That's unnecessary..."
Blayn knew full well that Chelsea was teasing him, so he naturally wouldn't let her have her way. Instead, he reached for the other lollipop in her hand—the one still wrapped—and took it calmly. "Thanks."
"Chelsea, you and Blayn sure are close," Leone remarked, watching the exchange.
"Of course! He's taken care of plenty of tis before," Chelsea said, referring to the ti when she had transford into a black kitten and Blayn had looked after her in the Assassination Unit.
Hearing this, Najenda thought it was a good thing for Night Raid to have soone on good terms with Blayn.
...
Not long after, Aka and Sheele returned from hunting Danger Beasts. As Teigu users, they had no trouble taking down even Special-Class Danger Beasts.
Each of them dragged back an ingredient several tis their own size.
With the food gathered, Aka imdiately headed inside the hut to cook.
Sheele, however, didn’t follow to help—because when it ca to daily tasks, she was hopelessly clumsy. If she tried cooking, there was a real chance she'd blow up the kitchen.
In fact, before Aka took over Night Raid’s als, Sheele had been in charge, and the results were... well, let’s just say they weren’t great.
Never underestimate how absentminded she can be.
Sheele was well aware of her own shortcomings, which was why she hesitated to take on certain tasks—afraid she might end up causing more trouble than helping.
"Kuro loves good food—she’s a total foodie. And since Aka, as her older sister, happens to be great at cooking, they get along really well," Blayn mused.
Two sisters who get along so well should never have to fight to the death.
Fortunately, he was fairly certain he had already prevented that tragedy. Judging by Aka’s reaction earlier, she no longer seed intent on fighting Kuro to the bitter end.
"Actually, Aka's a foodie too," Leone corrected. "She volunteered to be in charge of cooking just so she’d have a legitimate excuse to sneak extra bites."
"Is that so?" Blayn wasn’t surprised. "Well, considering they're sisters, that does make sense."
…
At that mont, Aka brought out large plates of at dishes one after another. The als were predominantly at, with only a small amount of vegetables mixed in.
It was obvious—Aka really loved eating at.
As they started eating, Blayn remained polite, only picking at a few dishes as a gesture.
But just then, Chelsea picked up a piece of at, lightly blew on it to cool it down, and then held it up to Blayn’s mouth. “Ah~”
“This...”
Blayn was montarily taken aback by the sudden gesture.
“Don’t be shy. You took care of like this before, so of course I have to repay the favor,” Chelsea said with a smile.
Blayn suddenly recalled that he had indeed fed Chelsea—back when she was in her black kitten form—with a spoon. But that had only happened once or twice.
After taking the bite, Blayn said, “Alright, I can do it myself from here.”
“No way! Just one bite isn’t enough.”
Chelsea, however, wasn’t planning to stop and continued having fun feeding Blayn.
Blayn had no intention of letting himself be played with so easily, but before he could say anything, Mine, who was sitting next to Chelsea, seed to have had enough.
“When you’re showing off your affection, at least consider the feelings of others.”
“Oh? My bad, I didn’t notice a little shrimp sitting here,” Chelsea said in an apologetic tone—but her words only made Mine furious.
“Who are you calling a shrimp?!” Mine snapped, her anger flaring.
“Isn’t it true? But don’t be mad, small things can be cute too~” Chelsea teased, looking completely amused.
“Damn it...”
Mine’s face turned red with rage, but she was completely outmatched by Chelsea’s relentless teasing.
At that mont, Blayn was once again reminded of just how devious Chelsea could be.
“Damn it, I wish I had two cute girls arguing over too!”
Lubbock sighed dramatically as he ate, practically grinding his molars in envy.
“Lubbock, if you co train with later, you won’t have to worry about things like this,” Bulat said, his tone sounding way too suggestive.
“No, no, I’ll pass on that.”
Lubbock imdiately broke into a cold sweat, looking like he wanted to escape at all costs.
“Aka’s cooking is as amazing as ever.”
“Yeah, no matter how many tis you eat it, you never get tired of it.”
Leone and Sheele jumped in to change the topic, seemingly trying to defuse the tension between Mine and Chelsea.
After their little squabble, Chelsea finally stopped her antics.
...
“By the way, Aka, I want to confirm sothing,” Blayn said, turning to her.
“Do you still feel the sa way about Kuro as before?”
If Aka still had any intent to kill Kuro, he needed to seriously reconsider whether to bring up her request.
“No,” Aka replied. “She’s no longer serving the Honest regi—she’s finally free. That’s all I ever wanted.”
“That’s good,” Blayn said. “But she might still hold so resentnt toward you. You should understand why.”
Aka quickly realized what he ant and gave a slight nod. “I understand...”
Even now, Kuro likely still harbored hatred toward her.
In Kuro’s mind, betraying the Empire was unforgivable. While Blayn had managed to shift the Empire’s ideology from within, sidestepping that issue entirely, it didn’t change the fact that Kuro still saw Aka as a traitor.
“Well, that’s not a big deal,” Blayn said. “Besides, your cooking is great—Kuro would definitely love to have it again.”
If the sisters could reconcile, it would be the best possible outco.
Kuro had never denied that, deep down, her sister was still the person she loved most.
“Mm. Thanks for the complint.”
A rare, faint smile appeared on Aka’s face.
If there really was a chance, of course, she wanted to take it.
...
Lunch ended.
It was about ti for Blayn to head back.
“I’ll be going now,” he said before leaving.
“Be careful on the way,” Najenda said.
“Co visit more often when you have ti, ow,” Chelsea added, waving at him.
“Yeah,” Blayn nodded before turning and walking away.
As his figure disappeared into the forest, he shifted into Kamui Space.
Inside, he unwrapped the lollipop Chelsea had given him.
“Not bad... it actually tastes pretty good.”
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