Yuto made another taiyaki for Hestia.
Standing nearby, Tohru stared at the pastry, visibly conflicted.
She looked exactly like a child standing in front of an arcade machine, desperate to play but terrified of being scolded by their parent.
Caught in this tangled emotion, the dragon girl's tail drooped listlessly against the floor, no longer swaying.
Yuto let out a soft sigh.
'Truly, this is exactly what having a pet is like,' he thought.
He didn't give her another one.
He had already indulged her once, and he couldn't keep doing it.
Otherwise, where would his authority as the owner go?
"Ah—"
Hestia took a massive bite of the fresh taiyaki. Her cheeks puffed out as she chewed, making her look like a small hamster hoarding snacks.
She swallowed the bite with a heavy gulp and let out a long sigh of satisfaction.
It was the exact sound a stressed corporate worker makes after downing a cold beer.
For Hestia, today had carried a similar weight.
After a long, lonely period without a Familia, the young goddess had finally gained a precious member.
Yuto chuckled softly watching her eat. Then, his expression grew a bit more serious.
"Hestia, you need to learn to properly understand Sakura's heart."
His tone, carrying a mix of gentle admonishment and helplessness, made Hestia blink.
"What's wrong? I don't understand," the young goddess asked, still muddled.
"Just now, Sakura was actually..." Yuto proceeded to explain his observations to her.
He pointed out that Sakura was a child who would force herself to endure physical discomfort just to please others.
Even though she clearly didn't want Hestia rubbing against her so aggressively, the little girl still smiled and claimed it was fine.
Recalling the scene made Yuto sigh inwardly.
Hestia's blue eyes widened.
Her relaxed expression quickly twisted into panic and anxiety.
"Really? Did I really make Sakura uncomfortable?" she asked, looking at him in a flustered panic.
Although she was a deity who had lived for countless millennia, she had always lived a carefree thick-skinned life.
When it came to reading subtle emotional cues, she was not skilled in the slightest.
Yuto nodded.
Confirming her fears made Hestia even more agitated. Much like a clumsy new mother who didn't know how to care for a child, she became tense and entirely at a loss.
Her hands fidgeted nervously in her lap, her eyes filling with worry and regret.
She had just gained her own Familia, and in her heart, she already viewed Sakura as her child.
Naturally, she didn't want her actions to cause harm.
But she was clumsy and straightforward; she had assumed her overwhelming affection was right without ever considering how Sakura actually felt.
"What should I do? What should I do? Will Sakura be angry? Will she be sad? Will she think I am an unreasonable goddess... Waaah..." As the panic spiraled, the goddess began to cry.
"That's right! Kamisaka, can you send me to Sakura's world? I need to apologize to her!" Hestia blurted out through her tears, suddenly struck by the idea.
Yuto looked at her reddened eyes and sighed.
"I can do that."
"Then hurry up and send me over! I have to go find her!"
"Hestia! Calm down," Yuto instructed.
Seeing her grow increasingly anxious, he kept his voice soft but firm.
Hestia finally settled down a fraction, though her gaze still held a heavy hint of urgency.
"There is no need to be so nervous," Yuto explained. "If you barge in and apologize to Sakura right now, it will only make her feel more uncomfortable. Besides, Sakura would never hate you over something like this. She is very obedient, but she is also highly sensitive. If you apologize so bluntly, it will only create distance between you two."
As Yuto reasoned with her, the frantic panic in Hestia's eyes gradually faded.
A glimmer of anticipation replaced it.
The young goddess looked at him, desperately hoping he would tell her exactly what to do next.
"Sakura will come again tomorrow. When she does, you can prepare a small gift for her. It doesn't need to be expensive—just a simple little gift will do," Yuto instructed patiently.
The goddess nodded earnestly, absorbing his words.
"The most important thing is that from now on, you need to be more attentive. Observe Sakura's feelings more carefully so what just happened doesn't occur again."
His guidance brought a sense of clarity to the goddess.
She took a deep breath, having understood a great deal.
She looked up at him with deep emotion.
"Kamisaka... waah, it is all thanks to you! You are so kind!"
The goddess-brand 'good guy card' was successfully issued!
"Well, who told the goddess to be a dummy?" Yuto teased with a light laugh.
Hestia's cheeks instantly puffed up in offense.
"Mm—you cannot blaspheme against a god!" she scolded in an adorably huffy tone, looking exactly like a pufferfish filled with air.
Yuto couldn't resist reaching over and flicking her forehead.
Blasphemy? To him, it just felt like teasing a cute, normal girl.
"Hmph! If anyone else dared to commit blasphemy in front of a god like this, they would have been struck by lightning ages ago! I was even thinking of giving you a blessing, Kamisaka, but now you can forget it!"
After huffing her final complaint, Hestia stood up to leave.
She had just turned around and taken a single step toward the door when Yuto called out.
"Goddess-sama, two taiyaki comes to 1,400 yen, please."
Hestia froze in her tracks.
She slowly turned her stiff body back to look at him, her lips curving into an incredibly forced, awkward smile.
"Do I really have to pay...?"
"Could it be that our grand Goddess-sama is a god who eats without paying her tab?" Yuto asked smoothly.
"Well, I didn't pay last time either..." Hestia mumbled.
"Goddess-sama, please don't be greedy."
"Waaah! But I have so little money! Just this tiny bit! I work so hard every day at my part-time jobs, it's exhausting!" she whined, trying to plead her case.
"No way," Yuto replied flatly.