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Yoshino was still in the living room as I gently pinched her plush cheeks. A soft, heart-lting sound escaped her lips, her delicate face filled with a sweet expression.
"Yoshino," I whispered conspiratorially, "if you promise not to tell anyone, I'll sneak you out to the amusent park later."
"Really?"
Her ice-blue eyes lit up, but a mont later, she hesitated. "But… wasn't that big sister one of the bad people who tried to capture before?"
"Mhm, so you do rember her," I said gently. "She was our enemy back then. But now, she's just a lost girl who's completely clueless about the world."
Ellen might have been a whirlwind of deadly efficiency in her CR-Unit, but outside of it, she was a different person entirely. She was just as much of an airhead as Tohka—a little soft, a little weak, and honestly, incredibly easy to tease… I an, easy to get along with. Assuming, of course, you could earn her trust.
I held out my pinky. A smile crinkled the corners of Yoshino's eyes as she hooked her own tiny pinky around mine.
"Then it's a promise."
"Mhm!"
———
A short while later, Tohka, Kurumi, and the others returned from their shopping trip, laughing and chatting as they entered the villa. The mont Kurumi saw Ellen, her expression shifted, and she shot a questioning glance.
I cleared my throat, set down the dish I was preparing, and smiled. "Everyone, go wash up. I made all your favorites for dinner."
At the ntion of food, Tohka's eyes lit up, and she was the first to bolt for the bathroom.
Kurumi walked over to Ellen.
"Ellen-san..." she said in a level tone. "Whatever grudges we had in the past, now that you're living here, I'm asking you not to cause any trouble."
Ellen turned to her. "You have my word. DEM is gone, and my mission is aningless. I have no intention of harming anyone here."
Kurumi studied her for a long mont before finally nodding. "I believe you."
Then, she shot a sultry glare over her shoulder, let out a soft 'hmph,' and hurried after Tohka. She knew that if she were even a second late, Tohka and the others would devour everything. As a Spirit herself, Kurumi had never seen an appetite as monstrous as Tohka's.
———
Ellen stared at the empty platter in front of her, chopsticks frozen mid-air, her mind a complete blank.
'What just happened? Wait a second… did I only get one serving??'
The best dish was already gone.
She turned to , her eyes welling with tears, looking like she was about to cry. I could only sigh and slide a piece of sweet and sour pork from my bowl to hers. Then, I gave a piece to every other girl at the table until my own bowl was empty.
'Yep,' I thought. 'Next ti, I'm just bringing the whole pot to the table…'
At that mont, I was completely convinced of Ellen's legendary clumsiness. It was one thing to lose a food battle to Tohka, but she couldn't even keep up with Yoshino, who was eating with one hand. Honestly, if we didn't know she was the world's strongest Wizard, no one would ever believe it.
Beside , Tohka blinked, then picked up a atball with her chopsticks and held it to my lips.
"Ahhh,"
I leaned forward and took the offered bite. As I chewed, a warmth spread through my chest.
'Tohka has really grown up, She even knows how to spoil her boyfriend now' I thought with satisfaction.
Suddenly, I felt the atmosphere at the table shift. Before I could react, another atball was hovering in front of my face.
"Kyoya," Origami said, her voice flat. "Let feed you. Open up."
My cheeks were already full. I held up my bowl, signaling for her to just place it inside. The next mont, the other girls exchanged a look and, as if on cue, all reached out to place a atball in my rapidly filling bowl. Even Ellen took one from her portion and added it to the pile.
Soon, I was staring at a mountain of atballs, the corner of my mouth twitching. I was touched, but also completely at a loss for words.
Tohka pouted, glaring at the other girls. 'Damn it, I was first…'
But she wasn't the only one frustrated.
Miku, seeing my bowl was now overflowing with no room to spare, puffed out her cheeks in annoyance. She had been a step too slow.
Then, her eyes landed on the chicken soup. A brilliant idea sparked.
As everyone watched, confused, Miku took a large gulp of the hot soup and imdiately clutched her mouth, feigning a burn.
"Oww," she whined. "Darling, I burned my lips. I don't think they'll get better… unless you kiss it better."
Before I could even process what she'd said, she leaned in and pressed her soft, red lips against mine.
The rest of the girls froze, their mouths hanging open in stunned silence.
When we finally pulled apart, Tohka was the first to snap out of it.
SLAM!
She slamd her hands on the table and shot to her feet, her eyes blazing with fury. "What are you talking about, Miku? How can a kiss heal a burn??"
Her outburst broke the spell. The other girls all turned to glare at Miku, silently cursing her for using such a shaless, underhanded tactic.
But the truly clever ones had already sprung into action.
Yuzuru imdiately raised her hand. "Agony, Kyoya, Yuzuru's lips have also been burned. Requesting treatnt"
"What?? Yuzuru, you cheat!" Kaguya shrieked. She quickly took a sip of soup herself and stuck out her tongue dramatically. "Oww, oww, Kyoya... I burned myself,"
"Kyoya-kun, Please treat as well."
"Ara, Kyoya-chan, I seem to have burned myself too. I need a kiss to make it better,"
"Kyoya, I require…"
———
As the requests piled up, Tohka gritted her teeth, chugged a large bowl of soup, and looked at with pitiful, teary eyes.
"Oww… Kyoya, I accidentally burned my lips too."
A cold shiver ran down my spine as I looked at the sea of expectant faces.
"Onii-chan, I got burned too,"
Suddenly, a voice so sweet it could lt bones cut through the noise. I slowly turned my head.
There, wearing her signature white ribbons and having slipped seamlessly into her little sister mode, was Kotori. She clutched her mouth, her face flushed, her eyes watery as she looked at .
"..."
'Damn, Kotori, you can switch modes terrifyingly fast.'
In the end, I sacrificed myself for the greater good, and the soup crisis was finally brought to an end.
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