"Croissant, you aren't holding a grudge about Shirou using a croissant for your dinner last night and planning to make a breakfast packed with chili paste, are you?"
Sora thought about it briefly. Croissant's sudden bizarre behavior, coupled with what Shirou did last night, meant Croissant was definitely about to prank Shirou.
For instance, making an exquisite breakfast loaded with heavy amounts of special chili paste.
"How... how could that be? Sora, you have to believe me!"
Croissant's conspiracy was instantly exposed, and even her speech became unconfident.
"If you're going to do something bad, don't drag us down with you! What're we going to do if we're left eating instant noodles for every meal later!"
As the very first person disciplined by Shirou, Exusiai naturally knew what Mama Emiya was like when she got harsh.
She didn't want to have to hide while eating apple pies anytime soon! Besides, her wallet finally managed to gain weight successfully after Shirou started helping cook all three meals. After all, how could those flashy hussies outside compare to Mama Emiya's cooking?
"Agreed..."
Texas expressed her opinion, then continued closing her eyes to rest her mind.
"Besides, Shirou was just teasing you a bit. Didn't you stuff yourself full afterward anyway?"
Sora delivered the final blow, completely crushing Croissant's plan to prank Shirou.
"Sigh... fine. But since we're already up, we might as well make breakfast for Shirou."
Croissant had actually just woken up halfway through the night thinking about it more and more angrily, and got up early to come up with this scheme.
Yet since her companions all feared Shirou's evil methods, she had no choice but to give up.
"That part's fine, but do we have ingredients? Shirou basically only buys enough for each day now, and the fridge mostly just has drinks and stuff."
Exusiai thought about it. If she went back to sleep now, she probably wouldn't be able to fall asleep anyway. She might as well agree to Croissant's plan and flatter Shirou to see if he'd make more desserts.
That pulled-sugar sweet potato last time was pretty good.
"I remember there are eggs, cheese, and toast. Should we be able to make a cheese and egg gratin?"
Croissant recalled a few ingredients she had seen yesterday when she rifled through the fridge for a drink.
"You mean putting cheese on a piece of bread, cracking an egg on top, and sending it straight into the oven?"
Exusiai looked at Croissant with disdain. Wasn't that the sort of level where you just needed hands to do it?
"I think there's beast meat. Could we make sandwiches?"
Sora remembered Shirou seeming to mention yesterday that breakfast today would be sandwiches.
Shirou's breakfast was relatively easy to judge. It was basically centered around things that were convenient to hold, such as sandwiches, hamburgers, or rice balls. This also caused them to always sleep later and later; anyway, they could just grab breakfast and leave to eat it directly in the car, and occasionally there would even be bento boxes or snacks they could take on the go.
"He makes sandwiches for us, and we make sandwiches back for him?"
Croissant complained about this form of nesting behavior.
"What else can we do? You're the one who suggested it."
Exusiai spread both hands and gave up on thinking.
"How about making a hot-pressed sandwich? Didn't you bring back a hot press a while back, Croissant?"
Sora thought for a long time before remembering that Croissant had brought back a strange machine a long time ago.
The bottom of that machine could be heated, and then it could close like a book. Clamping a sandwich in it would make the toast crispy while sealing the edges at the same time.
The drawback was that cleaning it was extremely troublesome. After a few uses, the few of them had sealed it away in storage. After all, buying breakfast outside was faster and more convenient.
"I think there is one. Let me see if it's still around."
Hearing Sora's words, Croissant immediately jogged into the kitchen of their dorm. Because some of their things had been moved downstairs for Shirou to use, Croissant quickly found that machine in the somewhat empty kitchen.
"Oh ho, is this it? I remember taking apple pie filling and pressing it in toast could turn out pretty tasty too."
Exusiai looked at it and remembered this thing as well. Back then they pressed all sorts of things to eat, which was great; the only problem was that it was hard to clean.
"Then let's use this."
After dozing for another half hour or so, Texas finally perked up slightly and directly selected the plan.
"Then the question is, who knows how to make it?"
Croissant looked at the people present. Speaking of ordinary cooking skills, she and Texas here were at the level where the food they made was edible but not particularly tasty.
Not to mention Exusiai, that weirdo who had all her skill points in apple pies. Sora basically couldn't cook at all.
Moreover, what she used to press back then was just some jam and the like. She had never tried stuffing things like meat, eggs, or cheese into it, and now that she suddenly had to make it, she couldn't pull it off.
"Cook the eggs and beast meat with seasonings first, then put them in, sprinkle cheese, and press it closed?"
Texas briefly considered the whole cooking principle and the preparation method for the ingredients. The meat definitely had to be cooked. If you clamped it raw, you could only choose between burnt toast and raw meat. Additionally, there was a chance the eggs wouldn't cook through either, so cooking both of these first was the safest bet.
As for the cheese, it only needed to be heated slightly, so it could be put in right before pressing at the end.
"Mmh, Texas's idea feels very reliable."
Sora agreed with Texas's approach. Stuff made that way could at least be confirmed as cooked and edible.
She had previously watched a cooking show where the head chef said something that left a deep impression on her after seeing raw meat served up.
"Columbian vulgarity This lactate beast meat is so raw it's still eating the salad inside!"
She was a bit worried that if Shirou ate raw food, he'd smack the food apart and say something like that.
Huh? Why did that feel kind of atmospheric?
Sora's thoughts gradually drifted away.
"Then let's do that. Keep it quiet, though. Shirou should wake up a little past six."
Having decided what to make and roughly knowing how to do it, the Penguin Logistics Breakfast Shop opened for business!
The few of them first sneaked downstairs, and Texas took out the key to unlock the front door.
* "Nobody's around. The target should still be sleeping. Over."
Croissant peeked inside, making sure the lights were all turned off.
* "Received. When entering, please tread lightly and do not speak."
Exusiai also poked her head in, using the halo above her head to illuminate the living room. The group entered the kitchen making use of the halo on Exusiai's head.
* "Target location reached. Over."
Sora struck a pose to wrap up this successful stealth operation.
"Go turn on the light first, then find the seasonings."
Texas walked at the very back, closed the door, and directed everyone's actions.
"Received, I'll go get the seasonings!"
Exusiai, who used the kitchen to make apple pies, pulled out a drawer filled with seasonings of all sizes. Exusiai took out salt, pepper, and sugar, and placed them on the table.
"Big Sis Exu, what are you taking sugar out for?"
Croissant asked when she saw Exusiai pull out a large jar of sugar.
"I should be asking you what the chili paste you're holding is for!"
Sora crossed her arms over her chest, staring at the chili paste in Croissant's hand.
* "Ahem, it's for me to eat."
"Then take it out when you make your portion later. I'm taking this away first."
Sora put the jar of chili paste from Croissant's hand back into the fridge.
"Dammit..."
Croissant clenched both fists with a regretful look.
It was so close, just that close, and she could have executed her great plan.
"Texas, keep a slight eye on Croissant later. Don't let her succeed."
Sora whispered to Texas, since Texas and Croissant would be the ones handling the ingredients later.
"Mmh, don't worry. I don't want to eat instant noodles."
With that, Texas's gaze grew noticeably sharper, sending a chill down the spine of Croissant who wanted to stir up trouble nearby.
"All right, the machine still works."
Exusiai, who was testing the machine nearby, remained completely oblivious to the fact that her team was already falling apart over chili paste.
Texas wagged her tail, looked at the ingredients before her, and decided to start with the meat.
"Sora, help me beat the eggs and add a little lactate milk, then mix well."
Texas handed the task of beating eggs over to Sora while she began processing the beast meat.
Because of the machine, things inside usually shouldn't be stuffed too full to avoid causing a situation where it couldn't press down or squirted out.
So Texas cut it smaller than the machine required. As for the thickness, it was roughly half the thickness of a toast slice.
She sprinkled on salt and a bit of pepper, and pan-fried it directly.
Then she took it out and set it aside, poured the eggs into the frying pan, and stirred them constantly. They could be taken out as soon as the outer shape solidified, and because she added a little lactate milk, there would be a faint milky aroma.
"Oh ho, Texas, you're quite practiced at this."
Exusiai, who hadn't helped at all in the back, praised her good friend's craftsmanship.
"Only at the level where it's edible. Croissant, are you done over there?"
Texas picked up two plates and asked Croissant.
"Just waiting on the meat and eggs."
Croissant pointed to the toast and cheese that had already been buttered nearby.
Sora had been staring at Croissant the whole time, so Croissant hadn't done anything else—she had just honestly prepared the things.
Toast smeared with butter wouldn't absorb the moisture from the meat as easily, which prevented the toast from becoming un-crispy while also enhancing the flavor.
"Sora, you and Exusiai go together."
Texas relinquished control and handed the final steps over to the two of them.
Sora and Exusiai stepped forward and assembled them in the order of toast, cheese, meat, eggs, cheese, and toast.
This step wasn't difficult, provided you weren't too greedy and stuffed too much filling.
"Go wake up our protagonist!"
Exusiai reminded her teammate to invite the protagonist out while they prepared to stack the second one.
After all, the time to toast this wouldn't be very long, and it would be done in a flash.
"Croissant and I will go."
Texas washed her hands, grabbed Croissant who was trying to open the fridge, and walked out.
"Let me add just a little bit, just a little bit!"
Croissant let out a wailing cry, then was dragged away by Texas.
"Jeez."
Watching Texas drag Croissant away, Sora finally breathed a sigh of relief. She had been staring at Croissant's actions the whole time and had finally thwarted the chili paste conspiracy.
"Heh heh, let's sprinkle some sugar. Sweetness is truly the king of flavors."
* "...Stop right there!"
It seemed she still had to fend off the sugar conspiracy.
On the other side, Texas dragged Croissant to the door of Shirou's room before letting go.
"Ow, Big Sis Texas, be careful. You're gonna knock my horns off in a minute."
Croissant, suddenly released, almost fell flat on her face. Fortunately, her athletic reflexes were good, and she avoided the fate of a tumble with a strange posture.
"If they break, I'll take them to the boss to use as microphone stands."
Texas said coldly. After all, Croissant was the culprit who caused her to be sleep-deprived, and for an extremely absurd reason at that. If the proposal hadn't passed later, Texas would definitely have let a certain bovine know what a wolf was like when she went wild.
"Forget it, the boss is still more suited to the heavy metal style."
Croissant stood up and patted her hands.
Before you continue