"Anna?"
Hearing the noise, Sora emerged from the kitchen and looked up to see the blue-haired girl standing at the door with a nervous expression.
"Sora..."
Anna stepped into the entryway, looking over nervously.
"The door suddenly opened by itself just now, it's so scary."
"Servant, hurry up and thank me."
Elf put her hands on her hips, smugly lifting her chin. Her small face was covered in an expression taking credit and demanding 'hurry up and praise me'.
Sora unobtrusively averted his gaze. Naturally, he wouldn't talk to 'thin air', or he would scare Anna.
"The door probably wasn't closed properly and was blown open by the wind."
Anna hugged her arms across her chest, muttering to herself.
"But I didn't feel any wind just now..."
Sora silently changed the subject. "It's already dark, why did Anna suddenly come over?"
"Ah... because I discovered a super delicious dessert shop." Anna quickly tossed aside the earlier weirdness. A bright smile, like the midday sun, appeared on her pretty face. She held the packaging box in her hand high, her voice full of energy. "This shop's strawberry daifuku is super delicious, so I wanted to let Sora try it."
That was a lie.
The strawberry daifuku was just a cover; her true purpose was to scout the enemy.
As for taking out a photo and interrogating Sora about why he was secretly going on dates with other girls... that's definitely out of the question, right?
If we were officially dating, of course I could demand an explanation. But right now, we're just childhood friends. If Sora wants to hang out with other girls, I have no right to stop him...
But there's another possibility. Perhaps it's just a misunderstanding?
Like, maybe it's a distant cousin?
So I must find out clearly. A smart childhood friend doesn't just immediately get jealous!
"Thank you, Anna." Sora didn't suspect anything; Anna had done similar things many times. "I'll eat the strawberry daifuku later, I'm going to prepare dinner first."
"But if you don't eat it now, the daifuku won't be as delicious later..." Anna took off her shoes, walked up to Sora, and opened the box. "So let me feed Sora, okay?"
While speaking, Anna slightly tilted up her pretty face. Her sky-blue eyes shimmered with ripples. The girl's smile was so radiant and bright that if he refused, he felt he would bear an enormous sense of guilt.
However...
"I'll pass." Sora hardened his heart, shook his head, and refused. "I'll go wash my hands and then eat it myself."
With an invisible girl standing right beside them full of curiosity, he was naturally too embarrassed to let someone else feed him.
"Alright then..."
Anna didn't press the issue, her smile sweet.
"Then I'll go wait for Sora on the sofa."
"Okay."
"..."
Sora washed his hands clean, walked out of the kitchen, and sat down beside Anna.
"Sora, hurry up and taste how it is."
Anna opened the box, revealing the four strawberry daifuku inside. She looked like a newlywed wife who had just prepared a meal, eagerly awaiting her husband's praise.
Sora picked up a strawberry daifuku, popped it into his mouth, and quickly gave his evaluation.
"It is indeed very delicious."
"Is it really that delicious?" Elf sat beside him, her small face full of curiosity. "Servant, don't eat them all, let me try one later."
Sora kept his expression unchanged, pretending not to hear Elf's words, and continued chatting with Anna.
"Has Anna eaten dinner yet?"
"Umm..."
Anna subconsciously covered her stomach. The ramen she ate earlier was still in her stomach, feeling warm and very comfortable.
"I haven't eaten yet!"
Anna simply denied it. Holding her hands in front of her chest, she looked at him pitifully with moist eyes like a deer begging for food.
"My stomach is about to cave in from hunger. If I don't eat, I won't even have the energy to go home."
Sora said casually.
"Then let's eat dinner together, you can go home after dinner."
"Ehehe~"
Having easily achieved her goal, a bright, radiant smile immediately appeared on Anna's pretty face. Her sweetness was clearly as dazzling as the midday sun.
At the same time.
In a room on the second floor.
Sagiri set down the sketchbook in her arms, pricking up her ears to carefully listen to the noises downstairs.
"Nii-san seems to be chatting with someone... Did a guest arrive?"
If it were in the past, knowing a guest had arrived, Sagiri would definitely have chosen to hide in her room and refuse to come out.
But things were different now. Having returned for a second playthrough, Sagiri was clearly much braver.
"Don't be nervous, I'll just sneak out and see who it is..."
Sagiri clenched her small pink fists to cheer herself on. Then she quietly opened her door, hid behind the corner on the second floor, and began secretly observing.
In the living room.
"Eating one daifuku is enough, I still have to eat dinner later." Sora closed the dessert box and prepared to stand up. "Anna, watch TV for a while, I'm going to the kitchen to prepare the meal."
"Wait a minute—"
Anna hurriedly reached out to stop him.
"What is it?"
"Sora, you have a teeny bit of cream on your mouth..."
As she spoke, Anna naturally pulled out a tissue, then leaned forward, moving close to help wipe the cream from Sora's mouth.
As the distance between them shortened, the girl's sweet, pleasant scent quietly drifted over. The sweet aroma of cream and the fresh scent of shampoo blended into a subtle sweet fragrance unique to the girl. In short, it smelled incredibly good.
Sora subconsciously leaned his body back.
"I can do it myself..."
"Sora, don't move around, it'll be done in a second."
Anna, of course, refused to give up the opportunity and continued to help wipe it.
"Eh, where's the cream?" Elf's small face was full of confusion. "Why didn't I see any cream?"
At the same time.
Hiding behind the corner on the second floor, the silver-haired loli widened her eyes and angrily puffed her pink cheeks.
"It appeared, it's the gluttonous sea otter!"
"..."
"Ehehe, all clean."
Anna quickly sat up straight, a bright smile blossoming on her pretty face.
Sora was slightly dazed, then softly thanked her.
"Thank you, Anna."
"You're welcome." Anna raised her right hand, her fingertips gently twirling a strand of blue hair by her ear. "When we were in elementary school, Sora often helped me wipe my hands and mouth. That was just returning the favor."
To think you remember something from that far back so clearly!
"Preparing a meal alone is hard work. Shall I help?"
Anna said as she stood up, energetically rolling up her sleeves.
As his childhood friend, she naturally couldn't just reap the rewards without working. Making the meal together in the kitchen was the correct conquest route.
Sora was about to speak when he suddenly glimpsed the blonde girl sneaking over to grab a strawberry daifuku. Seeing that the two were about to collide, he instinctively called out a warning.
"Anna, look out!"
"Meow?"
Anna tilted her head in confusion.
The next second.
Around Elf, who was secretly grabbing a strawberry daifuku, the light suddenly rippled and distorted, like flickering static on an old-fashioned TV, and finally, a living person materialized out of thin air.
"Ehh?!" Anna's beautiful eyes widened in disbelief. "G-G-G-Ghost!"