"Fried pork cutlets! Extra-thick double layers, too! Kanae, you're a living bodhisattva delivering us from suffering!" Rokuya's eyes lit up instantly. Forgetting all table manners, he grabbed a golden, crispy cutlet with his bare hand and stuffed it into his mouth, mumbling indistinctly, "The cooks at the Butterfly Mansion keep making everything blander, and that little brat Shinobu even cuts my meat allowance. You're still the best to me."
Watching Rokuya wolf down his food so crudely, Kanae found him not rude, but especially genuine and reassuring. She lightly touched her chin with a finger and smiled gently. "Your body is still recovering, Rokuya. Shinobu is worried that too much greasy food will burden your stomach. But you've kept saying you're hungry these past few days, so I slipped into the kitchen this morning and made a little myself... Slow down. Nobody is going to steal it."
"Obviously. How am I supposed to have the strength to kill demons if I don't eat enough?" Rokuya swallowed the cutlet in a few bites and casually wiped the grease from his mouth with the back of his hand. Suddenly, he stepped forward, closing the distance between them to less than half a meter.
Kanae's breath caught. She instinctively tried to retreat, only to find the courtyard wall behind her. Nervously clutching the hem of her haori, she stammered, "Rokuya... The Hashira Meeting is about to start. Everyone is watching..."
"So let them watch. What law am I breaking by eating food my wife made for me?" Rokuya raised an eyebrow, sounding so thoroughly justified that there was no arguing with him.
"Who... who's your wife?!" Kanae flushed to the tips of her ears and scolded him in embarrassment, but she was not truly angry. Instead, beneath Rokuya's burning gaze, she lowered her