I feel the white sunlight upon me. There must be a draft. I feel a cold wind and slowly wake up.
"Huh.....it's my living room"
I pick my body up and start to shake my sleepy head.
"How do I get here?"
The memories of last night come to mind.
"I see, Sraosha bring me after I fainted"
I look at the clock on the wall to see what time it is. It is 6:00AM. I slept too much.
"I have to get ready and cook breakfast before they come"
I went outside of the living room. The bathroom is in front of the living room. Yes, my house is cheap to build. It belongs to the universal pervert after all.
I open the door and put paste on my toothbrush and brush my teeth. I wash my face with freezing water and pull myself together.
"Now, I am wide awake. I should cook breakfast"
I go to the kitchen.
"Where did I put rice?"
After searching for the box which had rice. I wash rice 3 to 5 times until the water is mostly clear. I let them soak.
"It will take 30 minutes before I cook it. Time to prepare miso soup until rice is ready"
I take out dashi broth from the fridge. I warm the dashi broth warmly. Then I add tofu and wakame seaweed. Time to dissolve miso soup slowly with a spoon.
"Never boil miso directly. It loses flavor. Soup should be mild and smoothing, not intense"
I go back to the rice. I put rice in the rice cooker for cooking. I was grilling salmon.
"It looks tasty"
"It is. What?!"
I looked behind me. There is a girl. I know her very well. Not very well to say but every school knows her. Foreign beauty of our school. She is my junior. Also, the candidate in this war.
"What are you doing here, Beatrice? How are you able to get here?"
She gave me an annoying stare.
"This is how you will thank a person who helped you yesterday?"
"Help me?"
"When you pass out from exhaustion. I helped you and your divine sword to carry you here"
"You were there?"
She nodded her head with a sad expression.
"But I arrived too late. Fight was over"
Thinking about it. Did she not tell me that we are enemies from that day after I rejected her offer of alliance?
"Aren't we enemies? You said that when we will meet next time, we will be enemies"
Her mouth hung up. She is staring at me with shock. I can see her face getting red.
"T-this is n-n-not what you think! I am helping a mediocre amateur like you. You should feel blessed that a talented individual like me is protecting you, Kazuya!!"
"I am not Kazuya"
"Huh?! Did you get a big beat down in your life? You lost your memory?"
"I am your senpai. I am your senior, Beatrice"
I think I understood why Yusuke calls foreign women, mostly western side, rebellious and without brains. She does not have a manner in how she should speak to people who are older than you.
Just as Beatrice disappears from the kitchen. I hear the bell informing me of a visitor. I think senpai is there on the door.
I walk through the hall. Shit! Beatrice opened the door rather than me. It would confuse senpai so much. I reached the entrance but I was too late.
"Huh?"
There comes a sound of confusion from the senpai. This is a very normal reaction.
"Good morning, senior. Are you surprised to see me here?"
She calls her senior but not to me. Pure insult.
"Beatrice——why?"
The atmosphere is that of intense tension. Both of them are ignoring me and staring at each other.
Then senpai looked at me with fear like asking for an explanation on this.
"Kazuya.....what is this.....?"
"Yeah. Well, it is a long story——"
"It is not a long story. I am staying here from today onwards, senior"
She cut off my sentences.
"WHAT?!?!"
Both me and senpai yelled in surprise. Why?! Seriously, why?! She is a candidate and I am too. Why is she taking a big risk by asking.....no, more likely declaring that she is staring here.
"Why are you surprised, Kazuya?"
"Because he did not know about it. It was the decision of mister Nakajima Yusuke. Sorry.....my mind slipped off that very important information"
Yusuke? My brother allowed her. Is she making up the story or is it true? Did she have a night with him? A night with my brother is equal to getting a treasure. He will give anything after having fun with a girl. One time, he gave a random prostitute twenty million yen after one night.
"This is what me and the head of the house decided, senior. For some circumstances, I have to stay here as long as those circumstances do not get cleared up. I hope, you understood, anziana, right?"
Senpai looks down and falls silent. After a brief moment of silence.....suddenly——
"I did not understand"
She states in a clear and brave voice.
My brother always says to never underestimate the power of a woman who has.....feelings for so deep.
"Uh——Huh?"
".....I said, I have no idea what Beatrice is saying. This is a house. It is a private property. No one can get here at any time. I am not talking your words on face! Right now, you are a guest here, not a member! I will prefer to hear this from Yusuke-san over you"
Beatrice is standing astonished by the tone of senpai. Well, I am surprised too. I had never seen senpai acting like this before.
"Excuse me. Kazuya, you already cooked breakfast from what I assume. So, I am going to set up the table for breakfast"
Senpai enters the house with a bow and takes her shoes off. She straight up went to the living room, ignoring Beatrice.
"Wha——! Is she that bossy here?! She is totally different from when she is at school. That innocent and shy athletic senior was just an image!"
"Well, no. I am somewhat surprised too. This is the first time senpai has been this rude. Something sure changed her mood"
Maybe it is my fault. Was it a good decision to introduce Sraosha to her? I think the meeting impacted her so much. This is why she is being rude to Beatrice. She is a very nice girl to everyone. She never had any enemies but today, I can see disappointment in the eyes of Beatrice.
"Hmm.....I never knew that she was a crazy woman. I should have Yusuke explain to her. What a pervert woman"
"What did you say to her? I mean.....what you said before I come here"
"Oh. This place has turned into a full out war. You experienced the trailer yesterday. I warned her to never come back here"
"What?!"
"She might die without any cause if she keeps coming here. Night is no longer safe. Who knows when daylight will be shallow by the darkness of war"
I sigh at her response.
I looked at her with pure distrust. How can she? It is a pure insult to senpai. She insulted her by telling her that she is no longer needed in this house. I know that she wants her to be safe and fine but her words are arrows which strike at the heart. This is why senpai got rude.
After that, we went to the living room for breakfast. The table was well prepared for us. Rice, miso soup, grilled salmon, and tamagoyaki were also on the plate. I do not remember making tamagoyaki for breakfast.
I look towards senpai.
"Senpai, did you make this?"
"Yes, Kazuya. I want to make something for you too. Most of the time, you cook for us. Both breakfast and dinner. I thought I should surprise you with my cooking"
Three of us both sit silently on the floor. The tension between them had not disappeared. You can see tension on the surface.
"Beatrice, I thought that you would come here after having breakfast. You are Italian. Our food is Japanese. I am not sure if you would like it"
"I love eating every cultural and foreign food. It is a polite manner to eat a breakfast if it is offered"
"Well.....good for you, I guess. Itadakimasu!"
I gave a silent prayer to nature and took a bowl of rice in my hand.
I take a bite of rice. Sip miso soup from the spoon. I take a tiny bite from the fish. It is crispy and salty. When you are eating salmon for breakfast, do not use sauce. Just sprinkle salt over it as much as you want and eat it. Taste of fish.
Now it's time for tamagoyaki. Umm.....it looks a little bit messy in shape. It happens when you are trying to cook it for the first time. Nevertheless, senpai cooked it with her heart. I take a small bite to taste it.
"Kazuya? Um, does it taste good? I hope it did not get sweet. I only put small pinch of sugar in it"
"Yes. It taste amazing, senpai"
There was tsukemono(pickle) on the plate. I refresh the plate. Tsukemono with rice is the best combo and necessary thing. You cannot put it in the optional menu.
Beatrice having trouble eating with chopsticks. She is trying hard to pick tamagoyaki but it looks like she does not even have an idea how to use chopsticks.
"Beatrice, you can use a spoon, knife and fork for eating. Senpai had already put them on the table for you. There is no need for you to eat like Japanese"
Her face got red. My words made her embarrassed. She picked up the knife and cut a small chunk of tamagoyaki and pierce it with a fork and ate it.
Breakfast went smoothly without any disturbance. We ate our food in silence. Breakfast should be slow, not rushed. It is about letting your morning start calm, not chaotic.
"Yo brats! Eating without me, huh?!"
Silence is broken. The problem that I wanted to postpone by forgetting about it. The problem is my brother.
He sits down like us.
"Good morning"
"Good morning, Yusuke-san"
Both the girls greeted him. The reason is simple. One wants approval and the other wants the truth. Beatrice wanted Yusuke to tell us that she is staying and she had gained his permission whereas senpai wants to know if she is telling the truth or not and if so what is the story behind it.
"Yusuke-san, I want to ask something"
"Say"
Beatrice cut her off.
"Tell them that I am staying"
He was drinking hojicha(roasted tea).
"Yes. She is staying in our house"
"But why?!"
I can see that she felt betrayed. You can see it on her face.
"Huh, why? Sakura, this is my house"
"B-but! Why didn't you inform Kazuya?!"
"Why? Why should I inform him about any matter? You said that Kazuya is not the head of the house but me when he let that blondie staying"
Both of them are staring at each other with Beatrice showing her full white teeth.
I had to speak before I saw the girl fight.
"What is the reason behind it? Why is Beatrice staying here?"
He finished his drink.
"The reason is simple. Her house is in renovation. She came to me asking for a place to stay and my heart is very big for girls. I am letting her"
Senpai looked at him.
"You did not discuss and when did she come here?"
"I gave her the spare key to this house. I was the one who unlocked the door for her"
"But the rule was that only students living far away can board at someone's house"
"My house is undergoing complete remodeling right now. It is an old building, so it's getting a bit unsteady. When I explain the situation to the mister Yusuke as he happened to pass by, he said that I can use his house"
Beatrice explained it.
The intensity in the room is so big. I guess it is decided now.....I think Beatrice officially has citizenship in my house now. This house is built differently. Three candidates under the same roof.