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"Go ahead and watch TV. I'll start cooking."
Blake turned and headed for the kitchen.
"Blake, want me to help?"
Anna Yanami got up and followed after him.
"Not today." Blake glanced back, his eyes drifting—completely involuntarily—toward her chest. A bathrobe was still just a bathrobe; it couldn't cover everything perfectly. Her delicate collarbones peeked out, soft and faintly visible. "Just wait and eat."
"O-okay…"
Noticing where he was looking, Anna's cheeks flushed. She lifted an arm to cover herself, but instead of leaving, she leaned in closer and whispered into his ear:
"Blake… witches and stuff—are they dangerous? You'll be okay, right?"
Her breath was warm against his ear, ticklish.
Though… why did it smell faintly like ramen?
"Don't worry," Blake replied quietly. "Take the fairy for example—aside from turning invisible, she doesn't have any other abilities. One punch and she'd probably cry for an hour."
Smack.
Anna raised her hand and lightly swatted his arm.
"Don't bully kids."
Blake had already started heating oil in the pan.
"Anna, head out. I'm starting to cook."
"Okaay…"
She pursed her soft lips slightly, but in the end, didn't ask about the black-haired girl.
A smart childhood friend doesn't just get jealous over everything!
An hour later.
Blake untied his apron and walked out of the kitchen.
"Wash your hands. Dinner's ready."
"Coming, coming!" Anna jumped up from the sofa and raised her hand eagerly. "I'll help carry the dishes!"
"Where's Sagiri?"
Blake scanned the room but didn't see his sister.
"She already went back to her room," Yamada Elf said, her golden hair shining under the lights. "Want me to call her?"
"No need." Blake shook his head. "I'll go."
Sagiri had been acting strange lately, but the chances of her coming downstairs to eat were still pretty low. And she wasn't familiar with Elf yet—if Elf knocked, she'd probably be too scared to even respond.
Blake headed upstairs and soon reached Sagiri's door.
After knocking, he heard quick footsteps from inside. The door cracked open, and half of a cute face peeked out.
"Big bro? What's up?"
"Dinner's ready. Want to come downstairs and eat with us?"
He was already prepared to be rejected.
But the next second—
"Okay, Blake. Give me a moment."
"…Wait, did you hear me right?" Blake stared at her in shock. "I said come downstairs and eat with us."
"I heard you." Sagiri tilted her head, puzzled. "I'll change clothes and come down."
Blake: "..."
The girl who usually hid in her room and wouldn't even open the door… was actually agreeing to come downstairs?
Yeah, something's definitely off.
"Don't look at me like that." Sagiri averted her eyes guiltily, then slammed the door shut with a bang. "Just today. I'm not coming down tomorrow!"
Having gone through a "second round," Sagiri was already familiar with both Yanami and Yamada Elf, so her usual fear of strangers didn't trigger.
Besides, she was super curious about Elf suddenly becoming a witch. Of course she wanted to keep observing.
"…I'll wait in the living room."
By the time Blake went back downstairs, Anna had already set all the dishes on the table. She held a bowl in one hand and a rice scoop in the other, naturally slipping into the role of hostess.
"Blake, is your little sister coming down?"
"She is."
"Great, I'll get her a bowl of rice first then."
"…"
As Blake walked toward the table and reached for a chair, a hand shot out faster than him.
"Heave-ho~"
Anna quickly pulled the chair out for him, then looked up with a bright smile—like the midday sun—her blue eyes sparkling.
"You worked hard cooking, Blake. Please, have a seat."
Clearly, with food in front of her, Anna had completely forgotten her earlier embarrassment.
As for that bowl of ramen she had in the evening… long digested. Absolutely no impact on her ability to go all out again now.
"Thanks."
Blake sat down.
"You've gotten amazing, Blake." Anna rested her chin on her hands, her face full of admiration. "Back in middle school cooking class, you couldn't even make omelet rice properly. And now you can cook all this? You must be one of those legendary natural-born cooking prodigies!"
Blake gave her a flat look.
"Maybe don't praise me so hard before you've even tasted it?"
Anna's eyes sparkled. "Just from the color and smell, I can already give it full marks."
Blake: "..."
No wonder you've got so many friends at school—you max out emotional support like it's nothing.
By then, Yamada Elf came out of the bathroom, and Sagiri padded downstairs in her slippers. The two girls took their seats.
"…Let's eat."
As Blake picked up his chopsticks, dinner officially began.
The dishes included braised beef, salt-and-pepper shrimp, tomato scrambled eggs, spicy-sour shredded potatoes, and tofu seaweed miso soup. Only the braised beef took time, but with a pressure cooker, an hour was enough.
Lately, Blake had been cooking breakfast every morning and dinner every evening. Even without grinding levels on purpose, his cooking skill kept steadily improving.
"Mmm~!"
Anna shot a thumbs-up, her face glowing with happiness.
"It's sooo good!"
"The taste is indeed quite nice," Yamada Elf commented while eating. "I guess you could barely qualify to be a chef at my house."
The little ahoge on Sagiri's head swayed gently. "Blake's cooking keeps getting better."
"…"
Blake quietly ate his meal. He had just gotten halfway through his first bowl when suddenly—
A bowl was thrust in front of him.
"Blake, another one!"
Anna looked at him with shining eyes, a grain of rice stuck at the corner of her mouth.
Blake: "..."
You finished a bowl of rice in three minutes?
Are you actually the legendary Sea Otter King?
Dinner ended with everyone completely satisfied. Thanks to Anna, every dish was wiped clean—nothing left.
In the end, Blake ate two bowls, Anna ate two and a half, and both Yamada Elf and Sagiri had one bowl each…
The "half" existed because there was only half a bowl left in the rice cooker.
That was the rice cooker's limit.
But it was far from Anna's limit…
"....."