Chapter 28: Momo: Hello there, Brother-in-Law~
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"Mmm~~~ Oh!!! This dish is so incredibly delicious!" Lala squinted her eyes happily, her pink cowlick spinning rapidly like a propeller. "Sanae, can we eat this again tomorrow?"
Sanae replied with a bright smile, "Thank you for the compliment. However, Kihara was the one who taught me this recipe. If he were the one cooking it, it would probably taste even better."
Hearing this, Lala immediately turned her large, watery eyes toward him, pouting her lips as she acted spoiled. "Kihara~ Will you make this... seafood clam soup tomorrow? Pretty please!"
"No problem."
"Yay! I love you the most!!"
Anna Yanami completely shut her ears to the chatter, keeping her head down to furiously stuff her face with food. Today, she didn't have the punishment of a halved dinner portion, so she had to make up for the food she missed out on yesterday.
Aside from her official title as his fiancé, Lala's danger level in Anna's heart was practically on par with a gentle rabbit. She was far less of a threat than Sanae, who looked gentle and domestic no matter how you sliced it.
It was precisely because she sensed this crisis that Anna insisted on coming over to scavenge for food every single day, completely ignoring the risk of gaining weight, all so she could keep them under surveillance.
She could prevent Sanae from making a stealthy romantic move while simultaneously satisfying her own massive appetite. It was killing two birds with one stone.
While the four of them were happily enjoying their dinner, they had absolutely no idea that right next to the nearby couch, two starving girls were currently crouching in misery.
Growl~~
"Curse it... Why do we have to just sit here and watch them eat? Momo, this is all your fault!"
"I admit that failing to prepare food was my mistake, but Nana, can't you just endure it a little?"
Nana narrowed her eyes, pointing her finger straight at the dining table nearby. The rich, savory aroma drifting from the food was the sole culprit behind their torture. "If it didn't smell good, I wouldn't care. But this fragrance is basically on par with something made by a royal palace chef, isn't it?"
"True..." Momo nodded in agreement. Her stomach felt as though it had been twisted into a dry rag by hunger, continuously screaming protests to her brain. Out of options, she tugged on Nana's sleeve. "The kitchen is right over there. Let's slip inside and see if there's anything to eat in the fridge."
"Okay!"
The two girls immediately tiptoed into the kitchen. Momo poked half her head out to keep watch on the living room, waving her right hand frantically at Nana. "I'll watch your back. Hurry up and grab some food. Remember to get a portion for me too!"
Nana covered the distance to the refrigerator in a few quick strides and swung it open. Inside, apart from fresh fruits and vegetables, there were quite a few strange packages with labels she couldn't read at all.
Fortunately, Earth's cakes didn't look much different from alien ones. She quickly spotted two individually wrapped slices of strawberry mousse cake. Without a second thought, she snatched them out and devoured them together with Momo.
A single slice of cake was nowhere near enough to fill their stomachs, but they had no other choice. If they opened the foods they couldn't understand and left them uneaten, it would easily arouse suspicion. Getting a stomach ache from eating the wrong thing would also completely ruin their plans.
So, having barely satisfied their immediate hunger, they wiped their mouths and crept back into the living room. By this time, Kihara and the others had just finished their dinner. The mouth-watering aroma had faded quite a bit with the evening breeze, allowing the two sisters to catch their breath.
But before they could find a spot to crouch down and resume their observations, Sanae's voice echoed from the kitchen, instantly sending their hearts leaping right into their throats.
"Strange... Who ate my two slices of strawberry mousse?"
Momo and Nana locked eyes in pure terror. They never expected that a momentary lapse in self-control due to greed would bring about consequences that could potentially ruin their entire mission.
"Ahahaha... It might have been me. When I was staying up late working on my new invention, I wanted something sweet and accidentally ate them."
Lala offered a strained chuckle, taking the blame for a crime she didn't commit. Truthfully, she couldn't remember whether she had eaten cake or some other dessert; she only remembered consuming something very sweet.
Momo clasped her hands together toward her sister, apologizing silently in her heart.
'I'm so sorry, Big Sister. We'll have to let you take the fall for us for now. Once we officially reveal ourselves, Nana and I will buy several more slices of strawberry mousse to apologize to you and Miss Sanae.'
To the two sisters' surprise, the moment Kihara heard Lala's explanation, he immediately set down the plate in his hand. Walking right up to her side, he caught her soft cheeks in his hands and began kneading them like a lump of dough.
"Didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to stay up late doing research? Even if you're an alien, staying up late is terrible for your health!"
"B-But... it's a very important invention! I have to finish it as soon as possible!"
"No matter how important it is, can it possibly be more important than your health? I specifically asked Mikado-sensei. Even aliens will suffer a drop in immunity from staying up late, making them easy targets for sickness."
"Waaah... I was wrong..."
"This guy... how dare he treat Big Sister like that!"
Hearing Lala willingly admit her mistake—and in a voice that sounded incredibly aggrieved—Nana didn't care what his reasons were. She absolutely refused to allow a boy to bully her sister like this. She immediately began rolling up her sleeves, preparing to storm over and teach him a lesson.
Fortunately, Momo caught her just in time, preventing them from being exposed by her reckless behavior.
"Why are you stopping me?! Didn't you see that guy bullying Big Sister like that?!"
"I say... is it possible that you genuinely can't tell whether Big Sister is happy or miserable right now?"
Momo didn't bother trying to convince Nana with words alone. She dragged her to the side of the couple, pointing at Lala, whose eyes were crinkling with a tender smile.
"Look closer. Big Sister is actually incredibly happy to be cared for by Mr. Kihara like this!"
"She's getting her face pinched and bullied, yet she's still this happy... I really don't understand this romance stuff. Don't tell me Big Sister actually fell in love with this human?"
Nana stared intently at the interacting duo, desperately trying to make sense of what she was seeing.
"Well... I'm not entirely sure either. In any case, our evaluation cannot rely solely on our own personal feelings; we have to take Big Sister's thoughts into account too.
Judging by her current performance...
[+50 points]?"
"I have no objections."
Having finished kneading Lala's wonderfully soft cheeks, Kihara released his grip and turned back toward the kitchen. "I'll go make some fresh strawberry mousse for Sanae. Next time you get hungry in the middle of the night, remember to just wake me up directly. I'll get up and cook something delicious for you. There's no need to rummage through the fridge for sweets."
Lala was deeply touched by the offer. After a brief hesitation, she asked, "But won't that wake you up?"
"You've already woken me up plenty of times during your sleepwalking episodes, haven't you?"
"Oh, right... Hehehe. Who told you that your futon is way more comfortable? I just subconsciously..."
"WHAT!! You actually slept in the same bed with the blockhead?!"
"WHAT!! Big Sister, you actually slept with him??"
Anna Yanami slammed her hands on the table and stood up in sheer shock. Then, she froze right on the spot, because a second voice that clearly did not belong to her had just rung out into the empty room.
Meanwhile, Kihara, who had been walking toward the kitchen, vanished in a flash. He materialized right in front of the empty corner of the room, his hands firmly clamping down on an unseen form. His dark eyes narrowed slightly. "Our two uninvited guests—are you going to reveal yourselves voluntarily, or should I beat you back into your true forms?"
Momo cast a wordless, exasperated glare at Nana, who was entirely responsible for exposing them. She then reached into her pocket, removed the Camouflage Grass, and materialized right before everyone's eyes.
"It has been a long time, Big Sister. And... it is a pleasure to meet you for the first time, Brother-in-Law."
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Thank you for reading.