After saying goodbye to Chiko, Yuto returned to the restaurant.
Tohru was sitting downstairs, while Kanna had already gone up to watch television.
Since she had skipped school today, there was no homework waiting for her either, which meant she could spend the rest of the afternoon completely carefree.
Yuto called out to Tohru, and the two began cleaning the restaurant together.
They had already spent plenty of time having fun today.
Now it was time to get some actual work done.
By a little after six, the restaurant still had not officially opened, but someone had already arrived.
"Kasumigaoka-san, weren't you supposed to have exams around this time?"
Yuto smiled at Utaha, who was sitting in front of him.
She was dressed much as she usually was, though the headband holding back her long black hair was black today.
The moment she heard his question, her expression immediately collapsed.
"My exam... was today."
Yuto could not help laughing.
"Oh? Then how did it go?"
It was the kind of question nearly every student dreaded hearing after an exam, and Utaha was apparently no exception.
Her expression became even gloomier.
"I feel like I did terribly. I'll probably drop way down the rankings this time."
She covered her face with both hands and spoke as though she had suffered some terrible tragedy.
Yuto pursed his lips.
He knew perfectly well that the girl sitting in front of him normally ranked first in her entire school.
Statements like that coming from a top student could rarely be trusted.
"No. I'm depressed now. I need comfort from Kamisaka-kun."
"What kind of comfort?"
"Something like this..."
Utaha stood up and wrapped her arms around him.
The gloomy expression she had worn only moments earlier disappeared almost instantly, replaced by a happy smile and a faint, adorable blush across her cheeks.
Yuto laughed softly and returned the embrace.
Interestingly enough, although they had officially confirmed their relationship the last time they spoke, this was actually the first time they had held each other like this since then.
Neither of them had changed the way they addressed the other either.
Yuto still called her Kasumigaoka-san.
Utaha still called him Kamisaka-kun.
"I wish I could stay like this forever."
Utaha's muffled voice came from against his chest.
Yuto smiled.
"That definitely isn't happening. Twenty minutes at most."
"Eh?! Why?!"
"Because the restaurant opens in twenty minutes."
"Oh..."
Her disappointment this time was completely genuine.
Yuto chuckled.
"But we can hug like this more often from now on."
Utaha lifted her head slightly.
"Oh? Then when the time comes... does Kamisaka-kun plan on doing other things too?"
Yuto raised an eyebrow.
"Kasumigaoka-san is surprisingly bold today."
"Only with you..."
The vaguely suggestive conversation left Tohru sitting nearby with a completely puzzled expression.
She did not understand this kind of human coded language at all.
For a moment, she considered asking what they meant, but some instinct told her that interrupting now would be a bad idea.
So Tohru made the surprisingly wise decision to stay silent.
...
By seven o'clock, Yuto and Utaha had already separated.
She was now sitting quietly at the counter in her usual seat, one hand propping up her head while the other idly played with her phone.
Her long black hair spilled down along her wrist like a dark waterfall.
Yuto had already gone into the kitchen to prepare her food.
Outside, the sign had been flipped over, and the small lamp above the entrance was glowing softly.
The restaurant was officially open for another night.
...
The sky outside had already begun to darken, though summer daylight lingered much longer than usual, so true night would not settle in until sometime after eight.
Even so, the restaurant had already filled with plenty of customers.
The usual Gensokyo group had arrived and were chatting and laughing noisily among themselves, while Reiko had brought several of her yōkai friends along today as well.
Those yōkai could not hide their surprise when they saw the Gensokyo group.
In Reiko's world, after all, it was rare to encounter yōkai who looked this beautiful.
Utaha occasionally joined their conversations, while Yuto sat leisurely behind the counter and chatted with everyone.
All the food that needed to be prepared had already been served.
For the moment, there was nothing left to do except enjoy the lively atmosphere.
While everyone was relaxing together, the restaurant door slid open.
Several people glanced toward the entrance.
Suika's eyes immediately lit up.
There was only one reason.
Kanao had returned.
When Kanao hurried away two nights earlier, Suika had secretly been disappointed because she never got the chance to ask for more details about the "demons" the girl had mentioned.
Now Kanao was back.
This time, Suika absolutely intended to ask her about them properly.
Even better, Kanao had brought two people with her.
They appeared to be sisters, and both looked considerably more mature than Kanao, which probably meant they knew even more about the demons she had been talking about.
Suika happily downed an entire cup of sake in anticipation.
"Boss, these are my two older sisters."
Kanao remained near the entrance instead of stepping fully inside. She first gave Yuto a small, polite bow before seriously introducing the two women beside her.
The shorter-haired woman dressed conservatively and carried herself with a somewhat stern, serious air.
This was Shinobu Kocho.
At the moment, Shinobu was looking around the restaurant with obvious curiosity and surprise.
However, she seemed unwilling to let anyone notice just how interested she actually was, so she deliberately kept her expression composed.
The result made her look rather like a teenage girl trying very hard to appear mature.
At least, that seemed to be what Shinobu was going for.
In Yuto's eyes, the act was not particularly convincing.
The other woman wore her long hair loose, with green butterfly ornaments edged in pink decorating both sides.
This was Kanae Kocho, Shinobu's older sister.
Kanae's expression was gentle and peaceful, and the warm smile on her face seemed completely natural. One glance was enough to tell that she was a genuinely kindhearted person.
Although the two sisters did not seem particularly similar in temperament, they did share one obvious trait.
Both of them were beautiful.
"Hello, Boss. Thank you for looking after Kanao the other day. We came today specifically to thank you."
Kanae greeted him with a graceful smile.
There was such maturity in the way she carried herself that it would have been easy to mistake her for someone much older.
In reality, however, she was around the same age as Yuto.
He could not help wondering what kind of experiences someone had to go through to become this composed at such a young age.
"No, no, Kocho-san, you're giving me far too much credit. I only treated Kanao the same way I treat any other customer. I wouldn't really call that taking care of her."
Yuto responded politely with a smile before gesturing toward the empty seats nearby.
"If you don't mind, please have a seat. Since you're already here, you might as well order something too. I'm fairly confident my cooking won't disappoint you."
"Then we'll gladly accept."
Kanae smiled and walked toward the seats he indicated, with Shinobu and Kanao following behind her.
All three girls carried swords at their waists, and as they moved, the sheaths occasionally knocked lightly together with crisp little taps.
Once they were seated, Yuto smiled at them from behind the counter.
"So, what would you like to eat?"
Kanao ordered tamagoyaki again, the same dish she had eaten during her previous visit.
Kanae wanted something with rice, so Yuto recommended ochazuke. It was simple, light, and especially pleasant when made with good tea.
Shinobu thought for a moment before deciding to order the same thing as her sister.
With all three orders settled, Yuto nodded and headed into the kitchen to begin preparing their food.