Takagi Saya was the textbook definition of a tsundere.
The term tsundere is composed of two parts: tsun and dere.
Tsun refers to being stubborn, sharp-tongued, and haughty.
This is actually quite easy to understand.
In anime, these female characters usually direct their prickly side toward the male lead.
The issue is that most anime protagonists belong to the 'kind' type—useless losers who have nothing going for them except being gentle.
Meanwhile, tsundere characters are almost always geniuses.
In the gaming community, there is a clear hierarchy: Dota players look down on League players, and League players turn around and look down on Honor of Kings players.
Even putting personality aside, from a genius's perspective, isn't it perfectly normal for a genius character to look down on a useless protagonist?
After all, sometimes even viewers watching from an omniscient perspective can get frustrated by a protagonist's actions, let alone a genius character living in that world.
The charm of such characters lies in whether you can peel away that prickly outer layer and taste the sweet 'dere' hidden underneath.
Dere refers to being duplicitous—showing one's true, vulnerable side only at specific moments.
If you pay close attention to what a tsundere says and filter out the noise to find the key information, you will discover something very interesting.
Perhaps because tsundere characters rarely have many friends, they are often terrible at expressing their emotions.
Therefore, in daily conversation, a keen observer can actually gauge the progress of their 'route'.
Not only that, but tsundere characters are also prone to falling into a strange state of 'self-conquering'.
It feels very much like playing a galgame.
Take Takagi Saya's current behavior, for example.
It was a standard case of saying one thing but meaning another.
When Su Yan reached out to pat the pink-haired girl's head, she didn't show any sign of resistance.
Her mouth was saying no, but her body was being far too honest.
As for why Takagi Saya didn't show her prickly side to Su Yan like in a typical anime plot?
Why was she showing her sweet side instead?
The answer was simple.
Su Yan wasn't one of those useless, 'kind' protagonists.
He had top grades, was handsome, and excelled at sports.
Even if he had been a bit of a loner who disliked socializing back at Fujimi Academy, he was still the ultimate normie.
Furthermore, after the zombie outbreak, he demonstrated incredible supernatural powers (Nen) and fought alongside Busujima Saeko right in front of her...
Most importantly, even her mot—
Her sister, Takagi Yuriko, didn't act haughty in front of Su Yan.
Under these circumstances, Takagi Saya instinctively felt subordinate to Su Yan, so how could she possibly act superior?
Su Yan pulled his hand back from her head and turned to suggest to the woman at his side, "Saeko-senpai, you've been fighting all morning, so you must feel quite uncomfortable, right?"
"Why don't you take a shower and change? I'll start on lunch. It should be ready by the time you're done."
"Alright."
Busujima Saeko hadn't thought much of it, but being reminded by Su Yan made her realize how grimy she felt.
Thinking about the break they would have after lunch, she didn't refuse his offer.
Since Su Yan had Miyamoto Rei and Takagi Saya to help him, she also dismissed her earlier thought of helping out in the kitchen.
Once Saeko left, Su Yan rolled up his sleeves and walked toward the kitchen. "Alright, let's see how you two did with the prep work."
He took a look at the ingredients the two girls had prepared.
His evaluation: not bad.
It was at a normal level.
After all, Su Yan didn't expect them to carve vegetables into intricate shapes like professional chefs.
This was already quite good.
Vegetables like carrots and potatoes were cut quite evenly.
The meat had also been sliced correctly across the grain to break down the fibers.
One had to admit that the home economics classes taught in Japan since middle school actually served a purpose.
If they could get a little better and handle the prep work before he started cooking every time...
Then he wouldn't mind being the one to cook all the meals.
After all, the most annoying parts of cooking were the prep work and the cleanup.
They had a dishwasher for the plates, so if he didn't have to do the prep and just handled the actual cooking, it would actually be an enjoyable experience for Su Yan.
"You did a good job."
Su Yan wasn't stingy with his praise for the two girls.
"I'm just glad we could help you, Su-kun."
Miyamoto Rei smiled and made a timely suggestion. "Then how about leaving the prep work to Saya and me from now on?"
"You just need to write down what you need and stick it on the fridge. We'll have everything ready before you get back."
"Then I'll be counting on you two," Su Yan agreed without a second thought.
"It's no trouble. We're just trying our best to contribute where we can."
Having said that, Miyamoto Rei nudged the still-distracted Takagi Saya. "Right, Saya?"
"Huh?"
Takagi Saya, who was still reminiscing about the sensation of Su Yan's touch, was suddenly snapped back to reality.
Feeling the eyes of Miyamoto Rei and Su Yan on her, she stammered for a while, unable to find her words.
"Alright, leave the kitchen to me now."
Su Yan didn't press her, simply setting down the two Snowball Beasts from his shoulders.
He then shooed the two girls out of the kitchen.
Without proper coordination, an extra set of hands in the kitchen didn't necessarily help; it was more likely to get in the way.
Miyamoto Rei sensibly pulled Takagi Saya to the side, though they didn't leave, choosing instead to watch quietly from nearby.
Since it was a semi-open kitchen, they weren't really in his way, so Su Yan didn't mind.
Su Yan suddenly remembered Takagi Yuriko, who had eaten breakfast with them. While working, he looked at Takagi Saya and asked, "By the way, where is Takagi Yuriko? Why haven't I seen her?"
Takagi Saya blinked and answered, "Mo—er, sister said she didn't sleep at all last night and went back to her room to catch up on some rest."
Even though she knew Takagi Yuriko's true identity, it was still difficult to change the way she addressed her on short notice.
"Is that so?"
Su Yan said without turning around, "Then remember to call her down for lunch later."
He planned to conduct the Water Divination test for Takagi Yuriko after lunch.
Honestly, Su Yan hadn't wanted to test her Nen so early.
After all, she had only just learned to control her aura last night. With her current capacity, maintaining 'Ten' for a few minutes would already be a feat.
Not everyone was a freak like Busujima Saeko, who could develop and manifest a weapon like Soul-Slaying Slash after only half a day of exposure to Nen, without even understanding the six categories.
Knowing about the Nen categories too early could lead to distractions and hinder basic training.
However, judging by her personality, Su Yan guessed she might be a Transmuter.
Even without a contract, having a Transmuter on the team might be useful for his research on the zombie virus.
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