"Onii-chan! It's morning!"
The pressure on his stomach pulled Shido out of his sleep. When he opened his eyes, what he saw was Kotori jumping up and down on top of him, completely ignoring the fact that her red and white panties were in full view.
By the way, since she had white ribbons tied in her hair right now, Kotori was in her spoiled little-sister mode.
"What ti is it?"
Shido struggled to sit up and checked the clock. In the next instant, his sleepy eyes opened wide.
"We're totally late, aren't we?!"
"Huh? But there's still enough ti to eat breakfast slowly before school."
"That only works if there's breakfast to eat!"
After saying that, Shido shot out of the room like the wind.
There was still a little ti, true. But if he included cooking breakfast and preparing lunch bentos, then there was not nearly enough.
"Ah... no choice. Breakfast will have to be toast and jam. Lunch... I guess we'll have to buy bread from the school store."
After washing up, Shido scratched his head in frustration.
At the very least, he had to prepare breakfast. Otherwise, Tohka's mood might... no, it would definitely crash straight down.
And if her Spirit power flowed backward because of that...
[I absolutely will not let Tengu City end just because Tohka couldn't eat breakfast!]
Shido suddenly felt the weight of a great mission.
"Huh?"
On the way downstairs, he slled miso soup.
He also heard the clear, steady rhythm of a kitchen knife.
Tohka could not cook. As for Kotori, she was like him and leaned more toward Western style breakfast. Fried eggs and bacon suited her much more than miso soup.
[Who is it?]
With that question in mind, Shido went downstairs.
When he looked toward the kitchen, the scene that entered his eyes was one he had never imagined.
Morning sunlight poured into the house through the window.
The rice cooker was giving off steam. Grilled fish, cooked to a golden color, lay quietly on a tray, its glossy surface shining in a way that stirred up hunger. A pot giving off steam released the rich sll of miso.
Mikoto was wearing an apron and using a kitchen knife to cut green onions into thin pieces.
"Yakumo... senpai..."
It was a familiar figure. And yet, seeing her in an apron felt so fresh that Shido froze without aning to.
"Ah, Shido. Good morning."
"Yeah, good morning, Yakumo-senpai."
"Go sit with Tohka first. Breakfast will be ready soon."
Mikoto skillfully added the chopped green onions into the miso soup and smiled as she spoke.
"Oh, okay... Wait, no. Why is Yakumo-senpai here making breakfast?!"
Ignoring Tohka, who kept saying, "Co here, Shido!" Shido focused on the matter that needed to be confird first.
"Mm... how should I say it... repaynt? And I also wanted to see Shido."
For Mikoto, Shido was the person who had saved her from her life as a Spirit.
When she thought back on the days she had spent with Tsukuyomi, even at the very end, the only thing she had been able to do for her was sing one song.
Mikoto had always regretted it.
If only she had gotten along with Tsukuyomi more before then. If only she had done more for her.
She no longer wanted to repeat the sa mistake.
So, at the very least, she wanted to do sothing for Shido.
That was what Mikoto thought.
"Even if you say that... I still feel like..."
Shido scratched his cheek.
The shrine where Mikoto lived was closer to the school. In other words, if she ca to the Itsuka house to make breakfast, she had to take a much longer detour.
"I... can't?"
"Anyway... you can leave breakfast to ..."
Kotori, who had co downstairs, looked at Shido and Mikoto. Then she gave a helpless sigh and changed her white ribbons to black ones.
"Shido. Co here for a second."
"Huh? Wa-wait..."
Without giving him any choice, she dragged Shido upstairs.
"What are you thinking, Kotori? There's no need to trouble Yakumo-senpai with sothing like breakfast, right?"
Shido asked.
"Listen to yourself. Is your brain worse than a termite's? Listen carefully, Shido. To avoid making things too awkward for you, Mikoto has been pretending not to know you at school. On top of that, she lives at the shrine. If things keep going like this, won't the two of you end up not seeing each other for twenty-four hours a day? Or did Shido awaken a new interest in neglect play after finishing a Spirit's capture?"
"No way!"
Shido shouted.
But Kotori was right.
Because Tohka often stuck close to him, Shido had long since beco the target of the boys in his class, who looked at him with eyes that said, "Die, riajuu!"
And a few days ago, Mikoto's transfer had also caused a great stir around the school.
"The beautiful and gentle third-year senpai."
"Tengu City's Yamato Nadeshiko."
Even Shido, who was in his second year, often heard topics like those.
If Mikoto started going to school together with Shido every day, or eating lunch with him, nas like "Riajuu King" or "Itsuka Harem" would probably explode across the whole school in an instant.
Even though Shido had never asked Mikoto to do that, the thoughtful girl still kindly pretended not to know him at school.
Only when they happened to et in places with few people would she show him a happy smile and obediently wave her hand.
[Honestly, that really did save .]
When Shido thought about what would happen if a title like Harem King beca real, he even felt like transferring schools.
"So, do you understand now? Even if she doesn't have mood swings as easily as Tohka, a girl's heart is delicate. If you keep leaving her alone, both her affection and mood will slide down fast. Speaking of which, if Shido were willing to talk more with Mikoto at school, none of this would be so troubleso."
"Don't joke around! If I did that, things would get terrible in all kinds of ways!"
"Hah... Even though opening a harem should be every normal boy's dream. Shido, are you an extinct species even more hopeless than an herbivore?"
Kotori sighed.
Although she had a lot of complaints about pretending not to know each other at school, it was a decision made by the Spirit herself, so she had no choice but to accept it.
So when Mikoto asked if she could co to the house to make breakfast, Kotori had imdiately provided support and handed over the key to the Itsuka house.
"In short, since you're pretending not to know each other at school, you have two choices. First, let Mikoto handle the als at ho. Second, have her move in here like Tohka!"
"I understand."
With Kotori pointing a Chupa Chups at him, Shido sighed.
After confirming that he had no more right to choose, Shido had no choice but to accept the truth and go downstairs for breakfast.
He had also wanted to try pointing out flaws in the food so Mikoto would give up on her own.
But the mont he took the first bite, he understood that would be impossible.
"I'm heading out."
In order to stagger their school tis, Shido decided to leave first. Mikoto and Tohka would go to school afterward.
"Wait, Shido."
"Hm?"
"Here. Your bento. And be careful on the way."
"Oh... yeah..."
The warm bento was wrapped in cloth, but he felt as if he could still sll its tempting scent.
While thinking about the overly luxurious problem of having more and more girls in his house, Shido's heart filled with a soft warmth and happiness.
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