--Everything was perfectly reasonable.
Of course, Nagasaki Sose had thought about how to keep Riki in the band. For example... making him indebted to her and giving him a guilty conscience.
That was what she had planned, but something had gone wrong.
Nagasaki Sose fidgeted awkwardly and said, "Actually, I have a half-kilogram Crucian Carp here..."
Who asked you?
Wait, why were you fishing?
Riki stared at Nagasaki Sose in confusion as her fair face grew redder and redder.
"I originally wanted to make fish soup for you since you have a cold, and send some to Sakiko as well, so I bought a Crucian Carp." Nagasaki Sose buried her face in her chest. "But it was hard to control while killing the fish, and its tail slapped me in the face... Anyway, it still hasn't been cooked. Could you help me?"
That was the problem. She wanted Riki to feel indebted to her, but her... cooking skills seemed to be lacking a little.
Riki stared at Nagasaki Sose speechlessly. You wanted to make me something warm to drink because I have a cold, so you prepared to make me cook it myself?
Damn it, I was still looking forward to the villagers sharing their nuclear knowledge with me.
Riki sighed and stood up. "Let me see the fish you bought."
His cooking was nothing special either, but he was good at making soup. His mother's soup was far too awful, so he had no choice but to do it himself. That was how he had honed his soup-making skills.
Super Beasts had no sense of pain, and Riki figured fish were the same. He swiftly dispatched the fish.
"Don't you need to make a few cuts in the fish? I remember cooking videos saying that." Nagasaki Sose asked from the side.
"Crucian Carp have a lot of tiny bones, and they can easily fall apart when boiled. Accidentally eating a bone would be troublesome," Riki said. "Still, the Crucian Carp you chose was a very good choice for soup. Its scales are rich in protein, fat, various vitamins, iron, zinc, calcium, and other trace elements essential to the human body, as well as collagen. They also contain various unsaturated fatty acids, which can reduce cholesterol buildup on blood vessel walls and help prevent arteriosclerosis, high blood pressure, and heart disease. After the soup is ready, you can give some to your mother too."
"I-I of course knew that basic knowledge!" Nagasaki Sose insisted, puffing out her cheeks as she glared at Riki unhappily.
This guy was always showing off his knowledge in front of me.
Once she was another year or two older and reached Riki's age, she would definitely become even more capable and wiser than him.
"Wash the Crucian Carp clean and dry it with paper towels. Then you can heat oil in the pot. Be careful not to add zombies first—I mean, shredded ginger... Keep the heat low and fry it while controlling the oil temperature. Stop when you hear it sizzling."
"And then?"
At some point, Nagasaki Sose had begun standing beside Riki and watching him make the soup. Every so often, she muttered unhappily, and every so often, she leaned over curiously to ask questions.
Nagasaki Sose watched Riki seriously preparing the soup and felt that his profile looked particularly focused. The feeling made her... feel very safe.
This guy was actually quite likable when he wasn't being annoying.
Nagasaki Sose's eyes softened unconsciously.
She suddenly came to her senses and shook her head.
No. He's only a tool for reuniting Crychic.
Nagasaki Sose returned to herself and suddenly noticed Riki staring straight at her. His eyes seemed to conceal emotions she couldn't understand. Her heart suddenly began racing, and she asked, "Is something wrong?"
"You're blocking the water. I'm about to start boiling the fish," Riki said.
Nagasaki Sose's expression immediately darkened, and she glared fiercely at Riki.
I thought he was about to...
After filling the pot with water, Riki began boiling the fish soup. Before long, the soup turned white and began bubbling vigorously, sending out a fresh, savory aroma.
Riki tasted some with a small bowl and found it decent. He handed it to Nagasaki Sose. "Try it."
Nagasaki Sose took a sip as well, her eyes widening slightly. The fish soup was incredibly fresh, far more delicious than anything she had made before. Was he really this good at making soup?
After a pause, Nagasaki Sose looked at the rim of the bowl, and her expression suddenly froze.
Riki had just drunk from this bowl too. Didn't that mean... an indirect kiss?!
Nagasaki Sose looked toward Riki, only to find that he seemed completely unaware of it. She couldn't help frowning fiercely.
Am I the only one who cares about this? Wouldn't that make me look like an idiot?
"It's ready. Sit down and have some together," Riki said, ladling two bowls of soup onto the dining table.
Nagasaki Sose froze. They were going to eat at the dining table?
In her memory, it had been a long time since she had eaten with anyone besides her mother. Even the members of Crychic had only eaten snacks and drunk coffee at the Cafe and Ring. They had never eaten together at home, like... a family.
A family?
Nagasaki Sose stared blankly at Riki, sitting across from her at the table.
Even Crychic, which had felt like a family, had never done this. Yet she had done it together with Riki.
"What are you thinking about? Hurry up and drink," Riki said. "When I was little, my parents often weren't home either. My old man went to Africa for work and didn't come back for years, while Mom was busy with work too, leaving early and returning late every day. She had no time for me at all, so I often made soup for her to drink when she came home from work."
"Th-That..."
Isn't that the same as me?
Nagasaki Sose couldn't help thinking.
"So I rarely had time to eat with anyone. Thank you," Riki said with a smile as he looked at Nagasaki Sose.
"You don't need to thank me for anything." Nagasaki Sose turned her head away and said coldly.
But the corner of her mouth gradually softened as she turned away. She hummed and looked at Riki. "Since you're so pitiful, I'll temporarily act as your family this time. Just this time. So eat properly."
I'll treat Riki as family too, for now...
Tonight only.
The high-rise apartment, which usually only shone with lonely lights, now held the figures of two people.
Nagasaki Sose twirled a strand of brown hair around her fair finger as she looked at Riki across from her. An unmistakable smile appeared on her face, and she repeated it once more in her heart.
...Tonight only. Nagasaki Sose said it inwardly, the corners of her mouth curling up involuntarily as she watched Riki say something strange again, wearing a relaxed and happy smile.
"Haha..." In the apartment that had once been lonely but now seemed somewhat warm, Nagasaki Sose's laughter rang out as light as silver bells.
Sose's Diary
"Click."
The apartment door opened. Nagasaki's Mom pushed it open and discovered that the lights were still on even though it was already late at night. Her daughter, Sose, was sitting on the sofa waiting for her to return. How strange. Didn't this child avoid staying up late?
"Mom, today Riki helped... I mean, I made some fish soup for you. I thought I'd wait for you to come home so we could drink it together." Nagasaki Sose smiled.
"Your cooking is quite good, but weren't you bad at making soup?" Nagasaki's Mom sat down and took a sip of the still-warm soup. Finding it especially delicious, she glanced into the kitchen and saw two unwashed bowls. She couldn't help giving her dignified daughter a teasing smile.
"That handsome boy came over just now, didn't he?"
"Huh? How did you know... No, I made it all myself. He only helped from the side!"
"It's fine to let him come in, but what worries me is that you're still so young. What if you get pregnant? Mom was deceived by a scumbag before too, so I'm really worried about you."
"Mom!" Nagasaki Sose said in embarrassment and anger. "Riki and I aren't that kind of relationship!"
"I never said it was Riki-kun."
"...Hmph!" Nagasaki Sose's face flushed hotly as she angrily returned to her room. Then she suddenly heard her mother speak behind her.
"And Sose, thank you for making the soup. Mom is very happy." Nagasaki's Mom sat at the dining table and smiled at Nagasaki Sose.
Nagasaki Sose froze for a moment, then pulled up her collar to hide the happy smile on her face and nodded lightly. "Mm."
Thankfully, I did what he told me and waited for Mom to come home so I could give her the soup.
Nagasaki Sose sat down at her desk, picked up her diary, and began writing. Thinking of Riki, whom she absolutely had to mention today, she pursed her lips and started writing reluctantly. Then she suddenly blinked and smiled.
[March 20. Today, I planned to make fish soup for the idiot Riki, who had a cold, so I called him over to my home. He tried to show off by killing the Crucian Carp, only to get slapped in the face by its tail. At that moment, the beautiful and wise Miss Sose cleanly cut up the fish, but the foolish Riki refused to acknowledge Miss Sose's perfection.]
["Don't you need to make a few cuts in the fish? I remember cooking videos saying that," the idiot Riki foolishly said from the side. The skilled, kind, and capable Miss Sose calmly explained, "Crucian Carp have a lot of tiny bones, and they can easily fall apart when boiled." Yet the idiot Riki stubbornly said, "I-I of course knew that basic knowledge!" This guy was truly stupid and awkward. Fortunately, Miss Sose was gentle and patient.]
[Next, I fried the fish... Ahem, anyway, we eventually finished cooking it. During the process, the idiot Riki kept asking in a panic, "And then?" I suspect he didn't listen to Miss Sose's instructions at all and had completely forgotten them.]
[The fish soup was delicious. I don't know why, but being with him gave me the feeling of being with family. Perhaps it was... No, it must have been an illusion caused by the warmth of the lights in my home.]
[Also, after listening to his advice and waiting for Mom to come home so she could drink the soup, Mom was very happy. I haven't felt this happy in a long time either. Perhaps I could tell him... thank you?]
Nagasaki Sose paused and muttered, "I'll tell him later. There will be plenty of chances in the future anyway."
Honestly, it was such a bother that she had ended up crossing over into his home.
Who wanted to live together with him?
Nagasaki Sose stared absently at her diary. The dim desk lamp illuminated her gentle face, and she covered her mouth and giggled softly, as if she had thought of something.
Toyokawa Sakiko waited from evening until ten o'clock, but Riki still hadn't returned. She had received a message from him on her phone, at least.
"Kitty, when do you think Riki will come back?" Toyokawa Sakiko crouched downstairs, feeding a white stray cat as she asked.
"Of course, he has the freedom to go wherever he wants, but it's so late that I can't help worrying about him. You think Riki should come back earlier too, right?"
Toyokawa Sakiko propped up her face and smiled at the stray cat.
The stray cat had been fed by Toyokawa Sakiko often over the past few months and was very close to her, but for some reason, it felt that Toyokawa Sakiko was a little frightening today.
"Well, I'm not his girlfriend, so it wouldn't be appropriate for me to say anything. But, Kitty, do you think Riki has a girlfriend? He shouldn't, right? After all, he's never mentioned one." Toyokawa Sakiko muttered.
"But Riki is very popular at university. He's good at music, and he's handsome too. There must be lots of girls who like him, right?"
"I wonder what kind of girls he likes."
Riki felt that Earth's gravity was a little heavier today. Had he also become a soul bound by gravity?
After leaving Nagasaki Sose's home, Riki headed toward his rented apartment. Before long, he saw Toyokawa Sakiko feeding a cat downstairs.
Toyokawa Sakiko's expression brightened when she looked up and saw him, but she quickly composed herself and merely nodded.
"?" Riki.
Why does she seem angry?
"You're back. Why did you come back so late?"
"Sorry, sorry."
Riki took out a thermos. "I made some fish soup. It's still hot, so I thought I'd bring it back for you to drink."
Toyokawa Sakiko blinked and turned her head away as she muttered, "Don't do things like that. You still have a cold, don't you?"
Is she angry because I have a cold?
Tsundere Sakiko is so adorable.
Toyokawa Sakiko took the thermos, then suddenly found it familiar. It was the thermos Nagasaki Sose had once brought when Crychic was still together.
Nagasaki Sose... Toyokawa Sakiko thought.
"Hurry back to the room. You didn't forget to take your medicine, did you? Honestly." Toyokawa Sakiko grabbed Riki's hand and said angrily, "I'll get you some water. Take it quickly."
"Okay, okay. You should try the fish soup too."
Toyokawa Sakiko walked to the stove and narrowed her eyes at the thermos. She poured the fish soup into her own cup before drinking it, while barely touching Nagasaki Sose's thermos.
"So warm." Toyokawa Sakiko smiled softly.
Toyokawa Sakiko handed Riki his medicine and some warm water, and only smiled after watching him swallow it.
Sakiko-bao, the way you're watching me is putting a lot of pressure on me.
You didn't give me goji berries, did you?
Actually, my sword still isn't that desperately hungry.
"By the way, Riki, this may be a little sudden, but could you help me with something?" Toyokawa Sakiko suddenly said seriously to Riki. "Could you become my family?"
******
One-click triple support... Ah, no, I don't need to say anything about votes, do I?
Chapter 34: Sakiko's Resolve
Before you continue