This was the first time one of Junpei Yoshino's friends had come over, so his mother was unusually excited.
"Oh my, why didn't Junpei tell me sooner? Honestly, that boy~"
"Are you Yoshino's older sister? I'm Yuji Itadori."
"What a sweet-talking kid. I'm his mother, his mother~"
"His mother is a real beauty."
Yuji Itadori wasn't deliberately trying to flatter her. He was simply an honest, straightforward person, and Junpei Yoshino's mother really did look young and beautiful.
Miwa Chisei lifted the bag in her hand.
"Nice to meet you. I brought grilled eel, tempura, and beer."
"How did you know I liked beer? Come in, come in~"
Nagi Yoshino was absolutely overjoyed, while Junpei Yoshino pointed shakily at the people in the entryway, his face red.
"You... you... you..."
He kept repeating "you" without getting anything else out. Miwa Chisei patted Yuji Itadori beside her and said,
"Yoshino, let me introduce you. This is Yuji Itadori from our High School."
Junpei Yoshino immediately understood. His face grew even redder, and his social anxiety was about to kick in.
Yuji Itadori finished changing into slippers, then looked up with a sunny smile.
"Hi, Yoshino. I'm Yuji Itadori. Nice to meet you."
Yuji Itadori's smile was so gentle and harmless that Junpei Yoshino, who rarely received such kindness from people his own age, didn't know what to say for a moment.
Showing up at someone's house unannounced was really weird... but Mom seemed happy.
They probably weren't bad people, right?
Junpei Yoshino had never dreamed that the four of them would end up eating together. He felt a little uneasy, but Miwa Chisei sat before him, perfectly at ease.
"Oh, aren't you two Junpei's classmates?"
"We met Yoshino while passing by his school, and he invited us over."
Miwa Chisei took