After finishing his meal, Shirou gave up on washing dishes and cleaning up under Texas and the others' insistence and picked up the headphones, heading to his room.
Placing them on a small table, he carefully cut open the damaged section of the cable.
"Carefully pull out the inner wires… then trim off the damaged part."
He worked cautiously, any mistake at this stage would mean cutting off even more of the wire.
Outside the door, the others set aside what they were doing and crowded at the entrance, peeking inside.
"He's actually fixing them?"
Croissant had originally thought Shirou was just interested in this sort of thing and wanted to practice on Texas's headphones.
But seeing how skilled he looked, she realized he genuinely knew what he was doing.
"Should we not be focusing on something else? Like that row of identical knives on the big table? Who buys that many of the same knife?"
Exusiai pointed out that Croissant was focusing on the wrong thing.
"Those look like the latest survival knives from that shop in the Taikoo Commercial District. They're pretty expensive."
Texas recognized the design, checked her phone, and confirmed they were indeed pricey.
"Where did he get that much money?!"
Croissant's expression changed drastically when she saw the price.
One knife cost about several days' worth of her food budget and Shirou had a whole bunch of them on the table?!
"That's not the issue! Who even buys that many identical knives? It's not like they are specialized arts unit or something."
Exusiai once again corrected Croissant's priorities.
"Should we not be focusing on how Shirou is fixing the headphones?"
Sora looked confused. They were originally curious about the repair how did the topic suddenly drift to the table?
Though… she was admittedly a bit interested in the cups on that table too.
After finishing one stage of the repair, Shirou finally noticed the group at the door.
"What are you all doing?"
He asked while slipping heat-shrink tubing over the exposed wire.
"Huh? Oh nothing, just curious how you are fixing them."
Exusiai, shoved forward by three pairs of hands, stammered for a moment before remembering their original purpose.
"You might be too late, I have basically finished."
Shirou raised the not-so-pretty cable slightly. He had already checked it with magecraft, the headphones were functioning normally again.
"Really?"
Texas dashed over to his side to look at her headphones.
The cable did not look great, but it was acceptable.
"Yeah, give them a try."
Shirou did not seal the heat-shrink tubing just yet, letting her test them first.
Texas carefully plugged the jack into her phone and put the headphones on. After so long, music finally flowed through them again.
"We don't often see Texas this happy."
Exusiai watched as Texas's tail wagged nonstop, almost making her dizzy.
"Yeah, really."
Sora agreed.
"Well?"
Shirou asked as Texas listened intently.
"They're perfect just like before."
Satisfied, Texas took off the headphones and handed them back for the final touches.
"That's good. By the way, what color do you like?"
Taking them, Shirou used a heat gun to shrink the tubing, which quickly tightened around the repaired section.
"Red?"
Texas thought for a moment before answering.
"Why does that sound like a question? Anyway, red…"
Shirou briefly recalled a certain red figure not the one he disliked, but a black-haired girl.
"Why are you asking about colors? Shirou, are you giving Texas a gift?"
Exusiai leaned on Texas's shoulder, peeking over from the other side.
"Shirou is giving Texas a gift?!"
Sora let out a strange squeal from behind.
"A gift? What is it?"
Croissant eagerly leaned in.
"It's not a gift. I'm just wrapping thread around the cable like this."
Shirou rummaged through a drawer and pulled out an earlier prototype.
A pair of disposable chopsticks wrapped neatly in white thread, with no visible knots.
"You're wrapping thread around the headphone cable?"
Texas examined it, it seemed to be wound in a special way and fixed with heat.
She just did not quite understand the purpose.
"Besides looking better, it also helps prevent pulling damage. This cord is pretty sturdy."
Shirou tugged on the thread to demonstrate its strength.
"It's not too much trouble, is it?"
Texas did not really care about appearances, but if it could look nicer, she did not mind so long as it was not too much hassle.
"About half an hour."
With her approval, Shirou took out the red thread and began wrapping it around the cable.
"You are really skilled… what exactly did you do before?"
Watching him work so smoothly, Exusiai suddenly remembered, Shirou supposedly had amnesia.
Even without his memories, he was perfect at cleaning, cooking, repairing electronics and now even this threading looked highly practiced.
"Hm? Probably… a student?"
Shirou replied while continuing his work.
"A student, huh? Pretty young then."
Croissant plopped down onto Shirou's bed.
"Ah, youth…"
Sora also found a spot to sit.
"I graduated quite a while ago."
Exusiai joined them.
"Did you even get a diploma?"
Texas stabbed her with that remark.
"As long as I think I graduated, then I graduated!"
Exusiai fired back, dragging Texas down to sit beside her.
"No, that's called dropping out…"
Hearing that, Shirou could not help but pause his hands and turn around to comment.
Then he saw all four of them sitting on his bed.
He froze for a moment… before silently turning back and continuing to wrap the thread.
That scene had been a bit too stimulating for him.
"Oh? Shirou, you are pretty innocent, huh! Never had a girlfriend?"
Seeing his reaction, Exusiai immediately teased him.
"Cough… that's none of your business."
Shirou choked on her words.
"Do not be shy—tell big sis all about it."
Grinning mischievously, Exusiai kept pushing.
Shirou focused on his work, choosing to ignore her.
At the same time, he made a decision in his heart about Exusiai's meals for the next few days—
Red bean pies… no, savory meat pies!
Apple pie? Not happening!
No desserts at all!