Miku had previously mentioned that her older sister was also a singer.
Yuto had imagined what her sister might look like, but seeing her in person, he felt that his imagination had not done her justice.
Her pink hair resembled cherry blossoms—a color that should have made a person seem gentle at first glance—yet she possessed a cool and beautiful face.
Her dignified gaze carried a noble bearing, almost like someone who naturally stood above others.
Her skin was nearly as white as snow, and her clear eyes were like sapphires touched with cold air.
She was looking around the little restaurant, her gaze moving from Yuto to everyone from Gensokyo, then to the restaurant's interior.
Having been dragged here by her younger sister, she was clearly feeling a few ripples in her heart as well.
"Welcome. Please, have a seat," Yuto spoke warmly to the Hatsune sisters.
Miku gave a cheerful little giggle.
Her eyes narrowed happily, and her good mood was obvious. She pulled her older sister with her and sat down at the counter.
Ainz and Rimuru's departure had freed up seats, so the two of them happened to sit at the side of the front counter.
The moment she sat down, Miku looked at Yuto with delight and anticipation.
"Boss, Boss, let me introduce her. This is my older sister, Luka. Luka-nee, this is the Boss I told you about."
As the person between them, Miku introduced Yuto and Luka to each other.
Yuto looked at Luka with friendly eyes and nodded.
When meeting someone for the first time, a simple nod as a greeting was enough.
Although Luka's appearance seemed somewhat cool, she returned Yuto's nod in a friendly manner.
"Miku, tonight we have a special seafood dish. Would you like to try it?" Yuto smiled as he spoke.
Miku tilted her head cutely, and her blue twin-tails swayed lightly in the air.
"Definitely!" she responded with a bright smile.
Yuto looked toward Luka. "Would Luka-san like to try tonight's seafood dish as well?"
"Then I'll trouble you, Boss." Her voice did not quite match her cool and elegant appearance.
Unexpectedly, it was serene, very much like the voice of a reliable older sister. But it was also extremely pleasing to the ear.
If Miku's voice was like nature beginning to sprout in early spring, then her older sister's voice was like snow gradually melting beneath warm sunlight.
One was crisp and innocent; the other was steady and gentle.
Yuto couldn't help sighing inwardly. No wonder they could become singers. Their voices really were beautiful.
"Then please wait a moment. The special seafood will be ready soon." Yuto smiled faintly, then turned and entered the kitchen.
...
In the dining area, the two sisters began talking.
"Well, Luka-nee? Isn't this place amazing?"
"It is indeed a place that makes one feel calm."
"Right? Right?! Outside, we're always surrounded by crowds of people staring at us. It's really exhausting! But here, there's no need to worry about that at all!"
"You can just treat those fans watching you as air."
"Eh... I can't do that. I can't ignore them the way you do, Luka-nee."
A trace of distress appeared on Miku's face.
Luka remained calm.
Being surrounded and blocked by fans was something one had to accept after becoming famous.
Even if she usually pretended to be calm, it was exhausting in truth.
"Are you celebrities?" Reimu, who was propping up her head beside Miku, looked at Miku and Luka with a somewhat meaningful gaze.
"We're only a little famous," Miku answered Reimu with slight embarrassment.
The moment Reimu heard that, her eyes lit up. "Then you must be rich, right?"
Reimu's sudden excitement left both Miku and Luka stunned.
"Well... we only have a little pocket money." Most people would feel embarrassed if someone suddenly called them rich.
A faint blush appeared on Miku's face.
Luka showed a hint of scrutiny and wariness.
She was much older than Miku, and since this was her first time at the restaurant, she was still somewhat cautious deep down.
Money had always been a sensitive topic, so it was no wonder Luka became wary.
"In that case, would you mind donating a little money to a certain run-down shrine?! It doesn't matter whether it's a lot or a little. The gods will bless your careers and lives!" Reimu suddenly changed the subject, catching both Miku and Luka completely off guard.
No one knew where she had taken out a donation box from, and she was now looking at the two girls with extreme anticipation.
Miku and Luka were both at loss.
How had this suddenly turned into a request for donations?
Wasn't this development a little too sudden?
Bonk!
A flick landed on the back of Reimu's head.
The shrine maiden immediately turned around like an enraged animal.
"Yukari!" she shouted angrily, but Yukari did not respond.
Instead, Yukari smiled as she looked toward Miku and Luka.
"My apologies. This child has suffered from poverty since childhood, so her mind is a little abnormal. Please forgive her."
Although Miku and Luka did not quite understand the connection between poverty and an abnormal mind, they still nodded in a daze.
"Hey! Yukari! What nonsense are you saying?!"
Faced with Reimu's shouting, Yukari did not speak.
She only smiled.
Reimu instantly felt an even deeper sense of mockery. Just as she was about to flare up, an ordinary-looking banknote was held out to her.
The moment she smelled money, Reimu's attitude made a complete one-eighty.
She turned her head and looked at Miku. "Ah! If I am not mistaken, this ten-thousand-yen note must be your sincere offering to the gods, young lady. In that case, as a pure and innocent shrine maiden, I shall accept this devout offering on behalf of the gods. Please rest assured. In the future, you will surely be blessed by the gods."
Without giving Miku a chance to say anything, Reimu snatched away the ten-thousand-yen note.
Then, with godlike speed, she placed it into her donation box.
That left Miku a little stunned.
She had only seen that the atmosphere was about to turn into an argument, so she had offered a banknote in order to smooth things over.
She had even thought of an excuse: 'I've always wanted to ask the gods for protection, so please accept this.'
That was what she had planned to say to ease the atmosphere, but before she could even speak, Reimu had already taken the money!
A pure and innocent shrine maiden... seemed unexpectedly greedy for money?
Miku was confused.
"Oh... Mm. Mm-hmm. Thank you." Her reaction was still a little dazed.
"Hehehe, I have money, I have money~" Reimu hugged the donation box with delight.
Her argument with Yukari could be considered over as well.
Yukari silently sighed, then glanced at Miku with a trace of apology.
Miku didn't really mind.
Losing a single ten-thousand-yen note was not something she cared about. After all, one of her concerts could bring in more than a billion yen in revenue.
Yuto came out carrying the sashimi. "Please enjoy."
After placing the plates down, he looked toward Reimu, who was still excited. This was not the first or second time Reimu had asked others for donations like this.
"Reimu, I remember Ainz gave you money last time." Yuto was rather curious.
Reimu had clearly received quite a number of "offerings."
So why was the shrine still so poor every time? As for the idea that she used the money to make offerings to the gods, Yuto didn't quite believe it.
The impression Reimu gave others really made it difficult to believe she would do something like that.
"Mm. I specifically used the money from last time to upgrade the shrine!" Reimu said proudly.
Yuto was rather impressed.
"Look. Doesn't this donation box look different from before?" Reimu proudly lifted the donation box and showed it to Yuto.
The patterns on it were exquisite, and the material also seemed far from ordinary.
"This must have been expensive, right?"
"Of course! I used all the money to upgrade the donation box!"
Yuto was stunned. "All of it?"
"Yep!"
For a moment, Yuto's mind went blank. "Why would you only upgrade the donation box?"
"If the donation box is good enough, then the number of people willing to put money into it should also increase, right?" Reimu said this with a very serious expression.
Yuto was speechless.
What kind of logic was that?
"Reimu, who told you that?"
"Yukari."
Yuto's gaze shifted once more toward Yukari, who was sitting off to the side with a calm smile.
There was absolutely no guilt or apology in her expression.
Even when Yuto looked at her strangely, she merely smiled back at him in silence!
Was it really all right to trick the child like this? Yuto felt a little helpless.
He looked at Reimu again.
Only this time, his gaze was full of pity. 'Reimu, please grow a little wiser.'
"Mm! It's so good!"
Beside them, Miku had already tasted her first slice of sashimi, and her face was filled with surprise and delight, like a child who had just eaten candy.
Even Luka, who had been maintaining a cool and elegant attitude, now showed the kind of surprise an ordinary girl might reveal.
"It truly is extremely delicious." Luka's words were steady and composed.
After her initial surprise, she quickly returned to calmness.
As a professional idol, emotional control was something she had to master.
Right now, she was very much like Miku when Miku had first come to the restaurant. Back then, when Miku had eaten something delicious, she had also tried her best to suppress the joy in her heart.
But the first meeting made one strangers, the second made one familiar, and by the third or fourth time, they were friends.
The current Miku no longer suppressed herself in the restaurant.
"Luka-nee, I was right, wasn't I?!"
No one knew what Miku had said to Luka beforehand, but right now, she looked so proud that her nose might as well have been pointing toward the sky.
The girl was very proud.
She wanted praise!
"Mm. I was wrong." Luka nodded quietly.
Previously, when she had heard Miku say that the owner of this restaurant made exceptionally delicious food, she had believed it to some extent.
However, after learning that Yuto was not even twenty years old, she had begun to doubt it.
She did not believe that someone still underage could possibly create food of truly exceptional quality.
But now that she had actually tasted it, Luka finally understood how completely mistaken that assumption had been.
This cooking skill... it truly stood above the rest!
"I'm glad you like it." Yuto smiled calmly.
By now, he had grown somewhat used to people praising his cooking.
Even so, the joy that rose in his heart whenever someone complimented his food had never changed.
That was the innocent sincerity that belonged to him. As long as that joy remained, he would never truly change.
"You're too modest, Boss. The flavor and knife work of this sashimi are the best I have ever seen, and the ingredient itself is beyond what I imagined. I assume it must be some rare delicacy." Luka spoke with a faint trace of admiration as she held a slice of bluefin tuna between her chopsticks.
Needless to say, both its thickness and color were perfect, but even its shape had been cut with astonishing precision.
If one only lifted a single piece, there was already something entrancing about it; yet when the entire plate of sashimi was viewed from above, it carried a different sort of charm altogether.
The slices of fish rested upon the ice, layered unevenly yet beautifully.
The translucent white evoked the image of snow, while the red fibers of the meat called to mind something full and auspicious.
With just a few slices of sashimi arranged together, one's imagination would naturally begin to wander.
It was as if a lively, glowing school of fish were swimming beneath some distant sea, their sizes and species all different, yet gathered together in a harmony that was difficult to describe.
Just as carving had spirit and calligraphy had rhythm, every craft possessed its own "way."
Having lived two lives and experienced the rebirth of his soul, Yuto had unknowingly stepped into that realm without realizing it.
And yet, he still guarded his original heart without straying from it.