October 25th, Wednesday.
"Shido! What's for dinner? I'm hungry!"
"Darling—! Darling—!"
"Um...Shido-san..."
"Everyone, calm down. Ah! Kaguya, that's my lollipop!"
"Hmph, fussing over such trivial matters only shows how narrow-minded you are, you know?"
"Affirmation. It's just one piece, it doesn't matter."
"You too, Yuzuru! Give it back!"
"Kuku—! Anything that enters my domain cannot be surrendered so easily."
"Fleeing. If you can catch Yuzuru, Yuzuru will give it back to you."
"Ugh..."
"Darling—! Darling—!"
"Rice! Shido, I want to eat rice!"
Hearing the chaotic noise constantly echoing in his ears, Shido silently clutched his head, sweat forming on his forehead.
Right now, the living room of the Itsuka house was occupied by seven little girls. Shido was very familiar with their faces. Tohka, Yutsuki, Yoshino, Kotori, Kaguya, Yuzuru, and Miku. Without a doubt, they all had the exact sa physical features as his friends and sister.
To an unknowing observer, they might look like relatives or miraculously identical strangers. But Shido knew very well that it was really them.
After Shido solved Natsumi's puzzle, Natsumi's true form was exposed in front of everyone. Out of humiliation and anger, she turned all the Spirits present into children, turning the Itsuka house into a daycare center.
Perhaps because their bodies shrank, Tohka and the others' personalities subconsciously shifted closer to children as well. They started yelling, crying, tugging at Shido's clothes, and constantly chasing after him like actual kids. In just one day, Shido had deeply realized just how amazing his parents were for raising him and Kotori at this age.
"Hey, Yutsuki. That is my trophy. Give it back right now."
"Dissatisfaction. Striking during the chaos is too cunning."
Suddenly, the Yamai sisters, who were running wild in the living room, stopped and glared dissatisfiedly at the little girl with short brown hair who had snatched their candy.
Holding the candy, Yutsuki sighed, shook her head, and said:
"Yuzuru, Kaguya. If you don't like having your candy snatched by , then you should understand that secretly snatching Kotori-chan's candy just now was wrong, right?"
"Guh—speechless."
"Reflection. I know I was wrong."
Hearing Yutsuki's words, the two of them lowered their heads in sha.
"That's good. I'll share my candy with you later. Let's go apologize to Kotori-chan together."
Yutsuki smiled lightly and led the two by the hand over to Kotori. After the two apologized, Kotori also muttered an apology, admitting she was also sowhat at fault, and gave the lollipop Yutsuki had returned to her to Kaguya and Yuzuru.
Relieved that the issue here was solved, Yutsuki trotted over to Shido.
"Alright... next. Over here... Tohka, Shido is going to prepare dinner soon. Have this cookie and be patient for a bit... Yoshino, Shido isn't mad about the plate you broke yesterday, so don't worry... Miku... uh, you want a hug to feel better? Fine... co here."
After talking to the three of them properly like this, the originally noisy trio nodded in understanding and quieted down.
Even though she was also turned into a child, Shido was surprised that Yutsuki didn't seem too affected. Maybe it was because she was just a very mature type of kid at this age. He had to admit, having soone who could help share the burden of taking care of these little monsters was a huge help.
"Shido, I'll keep an eye on things here for now. Hurry up and go make dinner."
Yutsuki let Miku cling to her like a koala, gave a bitter smile, and sighed to Shido.
"Yeah. Thanks, you're a lifesaver, Yutsuki."
Shido nodded gratefully. Now that everyone was much quieter, Shido could finally breathe a sigh of relief and go prepare dinner.
Since the weather had unknowingly started to turn cold, and considering children's bodies easily catch colds during this season, Shido bought so mushrooms and fish based on the suggestions of the uncles and aunts in the shopping district. He planned to make a hot pot to warm everyone up.
Just as Shido was about to start working, a small tuft of brown cowlick hair popping up at the kitchen entrance caught his attention.
Then, a little girl with short brown hair peeked her head through the doorway.
"Yo, Misaka has arrived! Misaka Misaka greets you with lots of energy."
"What kind of weird way to refer to yourself is that, Yutsuki."
Shido stared with black lines on his forehead. Ever since Yutsuki turned into a child, she occasionally used this weird way of speaking with him. Rather than her behavior becoming childish because her body shrank, it was more like she was doing it on purpose because she turned into a kid.
"Is there sothing wrong with Misaka speaking like this? Misaka Misaka looks at Shido with a confused gaze."
"No, your first or last na isn't Misaka. Please stop playing around, I'm getting a subtle chill down my spine."
The corners of Shido's mouth twitched. Yutsuki's child form was definitely cute. But that petite girl with short brown hair speaking in that specific way made Shido worry that a certain white-haired villain might suddenly pop out and tear him to shreds.
"Well, I know."
After teasing Shido a bit, Yutsuki chuckled and asked in her normal tone:
"How are the preparations going, Shido?"
"Yeah, I'm just about to prepare the broth. Dinner might take a little while longer. How are Tohka and the others?"
"They're watching a Kan Rider show on TV, all super focused. You don't have to worry about them acting up for now. But I've already seen this version of the show before, so I got bored and ca to help."
"No, no, I can handle it alone. It's dangerous for you to hold a kitchen knife looking like that, Yutsuki."
Shido hurriedly waved his hands. Normally, Shido would be thrilled if Yutsuki offered to help. But looking at Yutsuki now as a little girl under ten, imagining her holding a kitchen knife made Shido worried.
"Don't worry, I know my own situation best. I won't do anything dangerous."
Saying that, Yutsuki put on a children's apron with little bunnies on it and habitually tied her hair into a braid with her clover ribbon. Unlike her usual hoy vibe, Yutsuki right now felt much more playful and cute.
Stepping onto a stool, Yutsuki took out so children's kitchenware from the cabinet. Although it felt a bit like a toy and wasn't as sharp as a real knife—making it a bit awkward to use—it was relatively much safer.
Yutsuki put her hands on her hips, looking up at Shido with a proud face.
"How about it? I asked Reine to prepare this for this morning. There's no problem with this, right?"
"I can't win against you. Just don't push yourself."
Seeing that Yutsuki went this far just to help cook, Shido could only agree, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Mhm, you're making a hot pot, right?"
Seeing the ingredients and tools on the cutting board, Yutsuki imdiately recognized the dish Shido was preparing.
"I'll wash the mushrooms and vegetables. And I'll chop the green onions and cabbage."
Because the children's knife wasn't sharp enough, handling the at was left to Shido.
"Make sure you handle the fishy sll properly, Shido."
"Yes, yes—don't worry, I know."
He couldn't help but respond out of habit. Realizing this, Shido rubbed his nose.
Cutting the cod into equal portions and sprinkling so salt on it, while waiting for the moisture to dry, Shido took out the pickled kelp and put it into the pot with kombu to prepare the broth.
During this ti, Shido peeked over at Yutsuki. Although she looked a bit clumsy using the children's knife at first, she quickly got used to it and was soon skillfully cutting the mushrooms and cabbage into the right shapes.
Reliable as always.
Confirming there was no problem, Shido smiled in relief.
With Yutsuki's help, the prep work that would have taken so effort was finished quickly. After putting the prepared ingredients into the pot one by one, they could finally take a breather.
"Phew... everything definitely takes more effort after shrinking."
Yutsuki massaged her shoulders and sighed.
"Really? I feel like you've been handling everything with ease, Yutsuki."
Shido said, a bit surprised. After the Spirits were turned into children, the others' actions were more or less tainted with childishness. But besides occasionally acting cute on purpose, Yutsuki didn't seem to have changed much to Shido.
"Well, even I've been affected a little. Like when I wake up now, I get groggy for a bit because of low blood pressure before I fully wake up. Even though before, my biological clock would wake up cleanly before the alarm even went off."
"What a cute, harmless side effect."
Shido said with a light chuckle. But honestly, Shido kind of wanted to see Yutsuki looking groggy right after waking up.
"Actually, compared to reincarnating as a Spirit and accept being turned into a girl a year ago, turning into a kid feels like nothing..."
Saying that, Yutsuki looked up, her gaze seemingly piercing through the ceiling into so unknown distance, and let out a long sigh.
"Well..."
Looking at Yutsuki's eyes that had seen too much of the world, Shido laughed dryly, not knowing how to reply.
While they were chatting, the pot had started to boil. Shido quickly turned the heat down, scooped a small spoonful of broth, and tasted it.
"Mhm... just needs a bit more salt."
"Shido, I want to taste it too."
Yutsuki tugged at Shido's apron and asked.
"Okay, wait a second."
Shido scooped a small bowl and handed it to Yutsuki. However, because it held freshly boiled hot pot broth, the outside of the bowl was a bit hot. As soon as Yutsuki touched it, she yanked her hand back as if she'd been electrocuted.
"Is it hot?"
"Yeah. After turning into a kid, I seem to be more sensitive to temperature."
Yutsuki blew on her fingers and nodded.
"So you beco sensitive to heat after shrinking."
Shido said, a bit surprised.
"Well, my physical age did get younger, after all."
Yutsuki thought for a mont, suddenly had an idea, and a playful smile appeared on her face.
"Shido, blow on the soup, 'fuuu—fuuu—', to cool it down, and then feed it to ."
"Are you a kid?"
Shido retort out of habit, not knowing whether to laugh or cry.
"Am I not a kid right now?"
Yutsuki asked back with a smile.
"Uh..."
Surprisingly unable to argue back, and looking at Yutsuki's expectant expression, Shido finally sighed in defeat. He scooped up a bite sized amount with a spoon, gently blew on it a few tis to cool down the boiling hot soup, and brought it to Yutsuki's mouth.
"Ah—"
Yutsuki opened her mouth wide, took the stew in one bite, huffed out a few puffs of hot air, and finally swallowed it. Her young, tender face bead with a happy smile. It made Shido's heart feel warm.
"How does it taste?"
"Delicious!"
[She's so cute...]
Although he really wanted to get everyone back to normal quickly, he had to admit, kid-Yutsuki was pretty cute too.
"Oh, right, Shido. Just wanted to tell you one thing."
"What?"
Following Yutsuki's finger, Shido realized that at so point, six familiar little heads had appeared at the kitchen entrance.
"Good luck during dinner."
"Right..."
When it was ti for dinner, Murasa Reine ca to the Itsuka house.
"Yo... Shin... things look like they are okay..."
Reine scanned the situation at the dining table. Tohka and the group of Spirits turned into children were sitting at the table, taking turns acting spoiled and asking Shido to blow on their food and feed them. How to put it... it made one think of a mother bird feeding her chicks. At the sa ti, it made you want to pick up the phone and dial 911 for a split second.
However, confirming that no actual trouble was happening, Reine felt a bit relieved.
"Sorry, Shin... leaving the burden of taking care of all of them to you..."
"It's fine. I know you guys are busy tracking Natsumi's signals for . Did you find her?"
To Shido's question, Reine slowly shook her head.
"Not yet... maybe she's hiding her spirit waves... or maybe she vanished into the neighboring world..."
"I see..."
Shido glanced at everyone, now in their child forms, happily eating at the table. If they couldn't find Natsumi, this situation would continue forever.
"Natsumi... why is she doing this?"
"...True. Maybe it was just an ergency asure to escape. Or maybe it was a warning by weakening the Spirits' fighting power. Or... maybe she just purely wants to torture you."
"Uh..."
Even without any proof, Shido couldn't help but feel the last one was the correct answer.
He asked Reine if she wanted to join them for a quick al. But Reine said she already ate before coming. After just drinking a cup of coffee filled with sugar cubes, she prepared to leave.
"Ah... right. Yutsuki... there's sothing I need to tell you."
"What?"
As she was getting up to leave, Reine seed to suddenly rember sothing and turned around. Yutsuki looked up and asked.
"Maria and the others just sent a ssage... 'that' has finished repairs... and your request has been approved."
"Ooh! That is great news. I've been waiting for a long ti."
Hearing Reine's words, an excited smile appeared on Yutsuki's face.
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