"You okay?"
Kurano Daiha looked at his daughter. "Kiriha, if you could just bring home a son-in-law, I think that Saiki Kusuo from earlier would be great. If you could..."
Kurano Daiha kept trying to persuade her.
"Sorry, that's the one thing I can't do."
Kurano Kiriha interrupted him. "That's the only part that won't work..."
"Is it because of the person you met ten years ago?"
Kurano Kiriha: "Mm..."
"Then forget it."
Seeing her reaction, Kurano Daiha didn't force his daughter any further. He just muttered quietly under his breath, "That person, isn't he just..."
"What's wrong, Father?"
"Ahem, ahem."
Kurano Daiha coughed twice and turned to leave. "Nothing. I'm heading back."
"Mm."
...
After returning to the surface, Saiki headed straight home. Although he had dealt with quite a few troubles, what seemed like a long time had actually taken less than an hour. It wasn't even noon yet!
[Better head back and finish those manga chapters I hadn't read yet.]
Saiki stopped at his front door.
[Why is Kubo-san here?!]
He opened the door and walked in.
[I'm home.]
After changing his shoes, Saiki stepped into the living room and saw two beautiful girls sitting on the sofa. One was Shiina Mahiru, and the other was Kubo Nagisa, whom he hadn't seen in a while.
"You're back."
"Sorry for intruding, Saiki-kun."
Hearing the noise, Kubo Nagisa and Shiina Mahiru both turned around.
Shiina Mahiru and Kubo Nagisa's picture →
[Kubo-san, hello. I didn't expect to see you again so soon when summer break has barely started.]
"Really? But I feel like it's been forever since we last met. At least ten days or so!"
[It's just your imagination.]
Kubo Nagisa stood up, walked over to Saiki, placed her hand near his ear, and asked softly, "When exactly did you start living together with Shiina-san?"
❓
Saiki glanced at Kubo Nagisa, who was asking him this question with a perfectly maintained smile.
[Are you okay? We're not living together.]
"I know, neighbors, right! You occasionally visit each other, and then you end up taking care of one another. I get it.
You never told me about it, Saiki-kun, of course you wouldn't want to tell me. You're afraid I'd spread it around or something. Sigh, Saiki-kun really... If you don't trust me, there's nothing I can do, after all..."
[Stop, stop, stop.]
Saiki looked at Kubo Nagisa, who was speaking in riddles with a smile on her face, feeling a bit exasperated. Why have people been so up-to-date with the times lately?
Shiina Mahiru: "Saiki-kun, I already explained everything to Kubo-san just now."
(Of course I know, but even if this woman knows, she's pretending not to on purpose just to see me get flustered.)
"Yes! Shiina-san already told me."
Kubo Nagisa couldn't see Saiki nervously explaining himself and felt a little disappointed, but she didn't say anything more.
[So, did you come looking for me because you needed something?]
"What, you don't remember? Saiki-kun really..."
Kubo Nagisa let out a surprised gasp, covering her mouth with her hand. "You said before that you'd teach me how to cook, but you never came to find me. You must have been too busy and didn't have time, right!"
"But it's fine. I specially chose summer break to come, and I even sent you a message, though it looks like Saiki-kun didn't see it? You just got back too, right? Sigh, you're just too busy after all."
[Okay, okay, I get it.]
(I don't want to see Kubo-san like this anymore.)
[So do you want to start now?]
Saiki steered the conversation back to the main topic.
"Oh, of course! I've been ready for a long time."
Kubo Nagisa waved her hand enthusiastically.
"I've waited for this day for so long."
(It's not that long, is it? When was the last time I agreed to teach her cooking again? Let me think... It's been too long, I can't remember. Whatever, not thinking about it.)
"Kubo-san, you brought a watermelon!"
Shiina Mahiru lifted a large watermelon with both hands.
"Oh, I almost forgot! This is a gift I brought so you'd teach me cooking. How about we split the watermelon in half first and put it in the fridge!"
Kubo Nagisa walked over, took the watermelon from Shiina Mahiru, and headed to the kitchen.
"Kubo-san, are you sure you're okay?"
"No problem, no problem at all."
Shiina Mahiru: "That's good then!"
Hearing Kubo Nagisa's confident reply, Shiina Mahiru relaxed. After all, Kubo Nagisa was an all-rounder at school. Even if she couldn't cook at home, surely cutting a watermelon wouldn't be an issue.
(Feels like there's definitely a problem.)
Kubo Nagisa placed the watermelon on the counter and started looking for a knife.
"Found it! Saiki-kun, can I borrow your kitchen knife?"
Kubo Nagisa picked up a large knife and held it in front of herself. The blade was so shiny it could reflect light like a mirror.
"Yosh!"
[Hold on.]
Saiki came into the kitchen, still uneasy.
[Forget it, let me do it.]
Kubo Nagisa [Is Saiki-kun worried about me? Hehe.]
(Yeah, exactly, I am worried.)
"Saiki-kun, it's fine. Don't you trust me?"
[Yeah, exactly, I don't trust you.]
Kubo Nagisa patted her chest confidently. "It's just cutting a watermelon. Nothing's going to happen."
Shiina Mahiru quietly slipped over to the side. Since even Saiki was worried, she could now be certain of one thing: the person in front of her probably rarely entered the kitchen.
"Okay, okay, let me see."
Kubo Nagisa didn't take it seriously. She stuck out her tongue, licked her lips, picked up the knife, and positioned it over the watermelon, searching for the right spot.
Then she steadied the watermelon with one hand, gripped the kitchen knife in the other, and thrust it forward like a fatal stab meant to kill in one strike.
"Hiyaa!!"
Pshht!
The kitchen knife plunged heavily into the watermelon. Red juice slowly seeped out from the wound, just like fresh blood gushing from a stabbed heart. The brutal method made both Saiki and Kubo Nagisa's hearts jump in fright.
(What kind of watermelon-cutting technique is this?)
"Ah! No, no, let me do it."
Shiina Mahiru, seeing Kubo Nagisa's unique way of cutting watermelon, stepped forward, took the knife away, and said, "Kubo-san, let me handle it. You... the way you cut the watermelon is too scary. You should just rest on the side!"
"Huh? But..."
Kubo Nagisa wanted to say something more.
Shiina Mahiru explained, "It's fine. You're the guest. How could we let a guest do the work?"
Kubo Nagisa felt the words sounded a little strange, but she obediently sat back down on the sofa.
Still, she turned her head from the sofa to watch Shiina Mahiru. From the top, Shiina slowly split the watermelon in half, then split the other half again, cut it into even slices, placed them on a plate, and finally wrapped the remaining watermelon tightly in plastic wrap before putting it in the fridge.
"What's wrong? It's pretty much the same way I was cutting it! Right, Saiki-kun?"
Saiki nodded with an "yes yes yes" expression.
[Mm, yeah, pretty much... probably... sort of...]
Shiina Mahiru took off her apron, hung it up, and placed the plate of watermelon slices on the table.
Shiina Mahiru: "Watermelon's here!"