In the end, Shirou still let Exusiai come in.
The moment she entered, Exusiai headed straight for the kitchen to see if there was anything extra but unfortunately, there was not what she hoped for.
However, she did notice something unexpected: the kitchen no longer looked empty like yesterday. Now, it felt like a proper home kitchen.
"You came for the omurice, did not you?"
Based on her behavior and the way she stared at the dish earlier, Shirou figured she had followed the smell.
"But there's only one portion, right? It would not be right to take yours."
Originally, Exusiai had come hoping to snag leftovers. She had not planned on taking food from someone who was basically still recovering.
"It's fine. I was just testing it out. If you do not mind it being a trial version—and that I already took a bite."
Shirou did not mind. He had bought extra ingredients in case something went wrong, and besides, Exusiai and Texas had helped him a lot that morning.
"Really? Then I will not hold back!"
Hearing that, Exusiai immediately rushed to the table and examined the omurice.
She looked at it from every angle.
"It's different from what they sell outside. Usually it's just a fully cooked egg covering the rice."
She scooped a bite with a spoon and ate it.
"I brought you a new spoon—"
At that moment, Shirou walked out holding a clean spoon, just in time to see her using the one he had already used.
The two red-haired individuals stared at each other's spoons—one in hand, one in mouth.
After about five seconds, Exusiai slowly pulled the spoon out of her mouth, walked over, swapped their spoons, and then casually returned to eating as if nothing had happened.
"…."
Shirou silently washed the spoon and decided not to go back to the living room.
After thinking for a moment, he chose to make another portion for Texas.
As for Sora and Croissant, he was not sure if they were around. He would ask after giving Texas her share.
Meanwhile, sitting in the living room, Exusiai felt slightly awkward at least until her second bite.
Awkward? What's that?
It's just using someone else's spoon, no big deal!
How could that compare to this delicious omurice?
After a few more bites, she heard chopping sounds coming from the kitchen.
Curious, she quietly crouched by the doorway and peeked in.
Shirou was fully focused on preparing ingredients. Even though she did not fully understand what he was doing, she could tell his cooking skills were good.
After finishing with one ingredient, Shirou turned to grab the next and noticed a glowing halo at the doorway.
"You want something to drink?"
He washed his hands, took a bottle of tea from the fridge, and handed it to her.
"You're making another omurice?"
Exusiai took the tea and pointed at the ingredients he was preparing.
"Yeah. This one's for Texas. You two helped me a lot this morning."
While working, Shirou suddenly thought of something and asked:
"Are Sora and Croissant around? If they are, I'll make extra portions."
Exusiai's eyes darted, then she gave a thumbs-up.
"They're both here!"
Shirou felt something was off, but could not quite place it, so he focused back on cooking.
"Then I'll finish Texas's portion first, then make theirs."
Exusiai, for some reason, looked extremely pleased as she returned to the table with her cold tea.
By the time she finished eating, Shirou brought out another plate and placed it in front of her.
"Could you help call them down? Or you can take it up if that's easier."
"No need, no need, I'll take it up!"
Exusiai grabbed the plate and dashed out the door.
Shirou watched her leave the door wide open and smiled helplessly before returning to the kitchen to prepare portions for Croissant and Sora.
Upstairs, Exusiai knocked on Texas's door.
"What is it?"
Texas opened the door slightly.
"Shirou made omurice. Want some? He said it's to thank you for helping him this morning."
Exusiai held up the plate.
Texas glanced at it, then opened the door and stepped out, taking the plate.
She was wearing only a tank top and shorts after all, she was at home.
"So that smell earlier was him cooking? It tastes pretty good."
Texas took a bite and gave her evaluation.
"Right? Right? Sora and Croissant are not here anyway, he was going to make two extra portions. Let's split them!"
Exusiai grinned mischievously, clearly trying to steal extra food.
"…He probably asked you first before deciding to make more, did he not?"
Texas quickly pieced things together. Shirou had likely been tricked.
"Ehehe, you figured it out."
Exusiai tapped her head playfully.
"I'll pass. This is enough for me. You deal with the rest."
Texas had no intention of joining her antics, the portion she had was already generous.
Just as she was about to return to her room, Exusiai suddenly hugged her waist.
"Come on! I can not finish it all! See, I even thought of you, what a great teammate i am, right?"
"Do not drag me into this."
Texas pushed her head away with one hand, while steadying the plate with the other.
In the end, with no better option, Texas reluctantly agreed. She threw on a coat and followed Exusiai downstairs.
"Oh, Texas, you came too? I just finished cooking. Where are Sora and Croissant?"
When they entered, Shirou had just placed two plates on the table. Seeing Texas behind Exusiai, he greeted her.
Texas set her plate down and immediately grabbed Exusiai.
"Sora and Croissant are not here. This useless angel lied to get more food."
She bluntly explained everything.
"Texas, you betrayed me!"
Exusiai struggled, but could not break free.
"…I kind of figured. Just did not expect it to actually be the case."
Shirou had already guessed based on her earlier behavior. Back when he helped out in student council, he had seen people do similar things using "friends" as an excuse to get extra food.
He usually did not expose them.
As someone once told him, people like that were often just shy, or did not want others to know how much they could eat. Still, he had been warned not to blindly trust others.
"S-Sorry for lying."
Exusiai clasped her hands together and apologized. She knew it was not right but as a girl, asking for multiple servings directly was… a bit embarrassing.
"It's fine. If you want to eat, just eat. Taking care of you all is my job anyway."
Shirou pushed the plate toward her.
Texas, sitting nearby, watched quietly. She could not help but think Shirou was genuinely kind, he did not even get angry after being tricked.
And it did not seem fake either.
As for Exusiai—
Seeing how lightly Shirou brushed it off and still gave her the food, she could not help but blurt out:
"Emiya mom!"
???