A Loving Lunch

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"Taking care of flowers can sometimes keep me busy all day, and it's too far from home... so... so..."

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"So what?"

Ino buried her head directly in Josuke's chest.

In a voice as tiny as a mosquito's buzz, she said,

"Then I'll sleep in Josuke's bed..."

Although Josuke had long expected this outcome, hearing the little girl say it like that still made his old face flush. He also remembered the fragrance he'd smelled in the room earlier.

Wasn't that Ino's scent?

Josuke flirted with Ino for a while longer, and then his stomach started growling again.

All right, it was probably time to eat.

Otherwise, his stomach was really going to shrivel up from hunger. Even though Ino was the one cooking, Josuke eagerly went over to help.

Come to think of it, Josuke's cooking wasn't bad at all. Within a few years after the night of the clan massacre, he had learned how to cook. He had no choice.

The money the Third Hokage had privately given them had been enough when they were little, but by the time they were ten and their appetites had grown, their finances had become rather tight.

So Josuke began cooking at home himself.

The results had been quite unsatisfactory at first, but practice made perfect. Before long, he could make all kinds of delicious food.

The refrigerator was packed full with things Ino had stuffed inside.

It seemed Ino truly regarded this place as her own home.

"What does Josuke want to eat?"

Ino rummaged through the fridge.

There were vegetables, fruits, beef, pork—everything one could need. But that made things difficult for Ino. She didn't know what to make for Josuke.

"How about steak?"

Josuke suggested.

Steak? Ino searched through the refrigerator and found some tenderloin. She really could make steak.

She got to work immediately.

There were seasonings at home too, so there was no need to buy any outside.

Ino took out the beef tenderloin to thaw.

She set a pot of water to boil, then took out broccoli and carrots from the fridge as well.

She looked so domestic and virtuous. Josuke watched Ino with satisfaction. It looked like his future happy married life was secure. Pah.

Good thing he had transmigrated. Otherwise, Sai would have gotten this lucky. Did that brat deserve her? He actually dared compete with him for Ino. Honestly, when Josuke had first met Sai not long ago,

he'd wanted to beat that brat up.

But he had held himself back.

Thinking about it now, he'd really lost out!

He should have beaten him senseless right then and there.

But still~

Josuke's grin was wider than an AK's muzzle, curling upward toward the sky without him even noticing.

No, no, there was still danger. He absolutely couldn't let Sai steal his home.

At that moment, Ino called from the kitchen.

"Josuke, can you get the pasta from the refrigerator for me?"

Josuke walked into the kitchen, opened the fridge, and searched until he found a bag of pasta.

"Found it. Should I just put it in the water?"

The water in the pot had already come to a boil, bubbles crackling and popping on the surface.

"Mm. I'm going to start frying the steaks too. How well done do you want yours?"

"Medium-well."

Before medium, most of a steak was still raw inside, and Josuke wasn't used to eating that.

A medium-well steak was mostly light grayish-brown in cross-section, with only a small bit of raw meat in the center. There was little blood in the meat, the juices were pale white, and it had a firmer, springier texture.

It really was delicious.

"Same as mine."

The moisture on the steaks was blotted dry with kitchen paper.

Ino put butter into the pan. It quickly melted in the hot pan, releasing a rich milky fragrance.

Seeing that, Ino took out one large and one small steak and put them in the pan.

Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle.

The butter and steaks met intimately, and the aroma of meat filled the air.

Once they were nearly ready, Ino flipped the steaks over and sprinkled them with coarse black pepper and salt.

The pasta on Josuke's side was almost done. He sliced the carrots and cut the broccoli in half.

Then he put them into the pot to boil.

"Ino, are you done? The pasta over here is almost cooked."

Ino had also begun the final touches.

The steaks looked even more tempting after being drizzled with black pepper sauce. Just like Ino herself, they left one wanting more.

Finally, she plated everything and took it out.

She added broccoli, carrots, and pasta. Oh right, she had nearly forgotten the eggs.

While the frying pan was still hot, Ino added oil and took out the two eggs she had set aside two and a half minutes earlier.

Steak eggs didn't need to be fully cooked. Runny yolks were the best part.

They were ready in no time. With Ino's delicate plating, the meal really did look quite good.

"Josuke, eat while it's hot~"

Ino brought Josuke's steak to the table. This starving ghost had been waiting for ages.

After Ino sat down as well, Josuke picked up his knife and fork, cut off a small piece of steak, and tasted it.

Hmmmm.

All of a sudden, Josuke made an awful expression.

Ino jumped in fright.

"What's wrong? Does it taste bad? Did I put in too much salt?"

Then Josuke returned to normal and said with a grin,

"No, it's really delicious."

"Huh?"

Only then did Ino realize Josuke had tricked her. He was seriously awful. Ino kicked Josuke under the table.

Her lips pouted, and she looked exactly like a little bundle of sulkiness.

"Haha, all right, Ino. Don't be grumpy. Here, have a bite."

Josuke coaxed Ino, cut off a piece of his steak, dipped it in black pepper sauce, and speared it with his fork.

He held it out to Ino.

"Come on~ Take a bite."

Hmph, who wanted to eat something he was feeding her?

Ino turned her face away.

Yet her mouth opened on its own. I'm only eating the steak I made myself. Who would eat something he fed me? ╭(╯^╰)╮

She said no, but inside, she was already overjoyed.

Delicious ლ(´ڡ`ლ)

This little tsundere was really adorable.

The steak Ino made truly was delicious, with perfect color, aroma, and flavor.

Though medium-well steak wasn't fully cooked, it removed most of the large intestine—pah, most of the steak's gamey taste—while preserving a little of the steak's original flavor.

It brought the steak's taste to its fullest.

"By the way, Ino, how is Asuma-sensei doing now?"

He had left in such a hurry last time that he hadn't gotten to ask Ino about Asuma. Now he finally remembered it. Talk about karma coming back around.

Asuma-sensei?

Ino thought for a moment before replying,

"After using the medicine Josuke gave him, Asuma-sensei really did recover. It's just that he lost all his chakra. Thankfully, he can cultivate it again. He's already a genin now, and in a few months he'll be taking the genin exam."

"Pfft."

That old man was taking the genin exam.

"The genin exam? That's killing me."

Josuke nearly spat out his drink.

But it also proved that Orochimaru's medicine worked. The side effect was that all chakra disappeared. He just didn't know whether it would work the same on tailed beast chakra or senjutsu chakra.

Ino was similarly caught between laughter and tears. She had originally been very worried about Asuma-sensei, but when Kurenai-sensei told her that Asuma was taking the genin exam, she had nearly laughed herself unconscious too.

"By the way..."

(Writing is really exhausting, QAQ. Honkai: Star Rail updates tomorrow, and I'll finally get to see Feixiao soon ⁄(⁄ ⁄•⁄ω⁄•⁄ ⁄)⁄)