A Joyful Day

Fuyuki, Miyama Town, the shopping district.

It had rained all night yesterday, and a fine drizzle was still falling in the morning. But a glance at the deep blue sky made it clear that today would be sunny.

Some people's moods were just like that, too.

"Good morning, Sasuke~"

At the sound of her voice, Sasuke, who was crouched inside the shop inspecting the equipment, couldn't even be bothered to turn his head. No one else could be there but Illya.

The cool morning breeze brushed Illya's cheeks, making her silver hair flutter gently.

She was dressed just as she had been the day before, and her smile was as bright as ever.

As Sasuke carefully cleaned the inside of the fish tank, he said calmly:

"I thought you and Kaoru had agreed to meet at noon?"

With a smile, Illya slowly walked into the shop. She leaned over beside a fish tank to admire the lively fish, then lightly tapped the glass with her slender, fair fingers.

Startled, the fish darted away, making Illya giggle.

With her hands behind her back, Illya walked lightly over to Sasuke.

"I was so bored this morning that I wanted to go for a walk. Before I knew it, I'd ended up here."

Sasuke fell silent at Illya's excuse, then called toward the stairs:

"Kaoru, Illya's here."

Kaoru Sakura had been upstairs getting breakfast ingredients ready. Hearing her older brother, she came thundering down the stairs at once.

Kaoru rushed over and threw herself at Illya!

"Illya!"

Although Kaoru had only met Illya yesterday, they seemed more like friends who had known each other for years.

Kaoru was always quick to befriend other girls, and Illya was no exception.

Illya's petite frame was instantly wrapped in Kaoru's arms.

Sasuke might not know what to do with Illya, but Kaoru was definitely Illya's natural enemy.

Illya couldn't break free, but she couldn't bring herself to struggle either. All she could do was bury herself in Kaoru's embrace.

Seeing Illya at a loss, Sasuke couldn't help but snort.

As expected, a little devil like her needed an innocent girl like Kaoru to keep her in line.

Kaoru seemed to think Illya was a kitten. She couldn't get enough of cuddling her and only let go after quite a while.

Finally free of Kaoru, Illya took big gulps of fresh air. She'd nearly suffocated just now.

Seeing that, Kaoru sheepishly rubbed the back of her head and gave a slightly playful smile.

"Sorry, sorry!"

"I just can't resist cute things!"

After being "tormented" by Kaoru, Illya sighed and shook her head, teasing her:

"Kaoru, you're really dangerous..."

At that, Kaoru instantly put on a pitiful expression and even made her voice sound like she was about to cry.

"I can't help it, Illya. I'm so bored."

"There's nothing wrong with me, but my brother and Grandpa won't let me go to school."

"There's a stubborn old man at home and a taciturn older brother. Honestly..."

"Illya, do you know? I could count the number of words those two say in a whole day on one hand!"

"If I didn't have you, I think I'd eventually go crazy from all the silence..."

Kaoru launched into a stream of complaints about Sasuke and Sakura Masayoshi.

Sometimes, Kaoru even wondered if Sasuke was her long-lost older brother, finally returned from somewhere.

Sasuke's personality was practically a carbon copy of Sakura Masayoshi's. It was hard not to think they were father and son.

Listening to Kaoru complain, Illya gained a new understanding of Sasuke.

"Illya, you came over so early. You haven't had breakfast yet, have you?"

"Today, I'm going to make my absolute best dish!"

"Or is there something you'd like to eat?"

Kaoru's face was full of enthusiasm. Illya smiled and shook her head.

"Anything's fine."

"Can I help you in the kitchen?"

Of course, Kaoru was delighted. She took Illya by the hand and led her straight upstairs.

The smile on Illya's face made it clear how happy she was.

Illya now lived in a castle on the outskirts of Fuyuki, deep in the middle of a vast forest. It took an hour to get there by car from the city, and you couldn't reach the center without walking a kilometer through the woods.

The Einzbern Family had placed a barrier throughout the forest, monitoring everyone who entered or left. There was no designated route in, and the stronger a person's magical power, the more fiercely the barrier resisted them.

Besides Berserker, Illya lived with two homunculus maids.

Their names were Leysritt and Sella.

When Illya woke up that morning, she didn't want to stay in the empty castle.

The enormous castle was far too quiet, and she couldn't stand it.

Even though Sella, the head maid, wanted Illya to remain in the castle, Illya didn't want to. She would much rather come into the city.

So today, Illya had come to Fish Fresh House.

Illya was indeed curious about Sasuke, but her main reason for coming today was to spend time with Kaoru, as they'd planned.

It wasn't for any other reason.

Perhaps Kaoru's carefree nature had rubbed off on her.

Illya simply felt that when she was with Kaoru, she could put her many worries out of her mind for a while.

Grandpa Sakura Masayoshi wasn't home today. He'd planned to go for his usual morning exercise around the shopping district, but then Hirata, the supplier for Fish Fresh House and an old friend of his, showed up. The old man had dragged him off fishing.

Sasuke wasn't worried, though. He'd sent a Shadow Clone to keep watch in secret.

So breakfast at the Sakura household was just like yesterday: there were three of them.

Thanks to Illya, breakfast was as sumptuous as ever.

Illya didn't try to strike up a conversation with Sasuke again. After breakfast, she followed Kaoru to her room to play.

Sasuke went downstairs, put on his fishmonger's work clothes, hung up the sign, and opened for business.

Sasuke preferred this peaceful, ordinary life to fighting.

When life was pleasant, time always seemed to fly by.

By lunchtime, it was just as Kaoru and Illya had planned.

The spread on the table made Illya's eyes sparkle. Of course, the reason she was so happy was that she'd helped prepare the meal!

Seeing how happy Illya was made Kaoru feel fulfilled, too.

There were even taiyaki for dessert.

Still, Sasuke had a feeling something was wrong with the taiyaki he'd been given.

Kaoru and Illya chatted as if nothing were amiss, seemingly paying no attention to Sasuke. But both of them were watching him.

Sasuke immediately realized that they'd put something in his taiyaki.

He could have put it back on the plate without changing his expression.

But...

"Forget it... I'll let them have their fun."

With that thought, Sasuke took a bite of the taiyaki in his hand.

The moment it hit his tongue, his expression changed. His calm demeanor crumbled, and even the corners of his eyes twitched!

Wasabi!

A huge amount of extremely potent wasabi!

"Thump, thump, thump!"

"Ahahahahahaha!!!"

Seeing that, Kaoru instantly lost control of her expression and burst out laughing, pounding the table!

She was laughing so hard she could barely catch her breath!

"Il... Illya!"

"Ahahahahahahaha!"

"I told you my brother would fall for it!"

Having helped Kaoru turn the tables, Illya looked at Sasuke smugly. Her smile had completely abandoned all pretense of decorum.

But happy times were always short-lived.