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"Time to eat~"
A bright, cheerful voice rang out from the side. "Looks like I showed up at just the right moment."
Blake turned his head and saw a blonde girl in a frilly princess dress.
"Fairy, when did you get here?"
"Just now. Mahiru let me in," Yamada Elf said, hands on her hips, completely unbothered about freeloading. "I came by with some cookies, she accepted them, and then invited me to stay for lunch."
"Blake, go wash your hands," the Angel's gentle voice floated over. "You bought plenty of ingredients, so there's more than enough food. No need to worry."
Wait, why does it feel like you're the head of this household?!
"…."
Well, she was already here. It'd be awkward to kick her out now.
Blake closed his laptop and got up to wash up.
A short while later—
Everyone gathered around the table.
"Let's eat!"
"Mmm, this is amazing."
"Not just delicious, it looks beautiful too."
"Mahiru, your cooking is seriously incredible. You're basically perfect, aren't you?"
"…"
As soon as they started eating, the girls showered the food with praise.
Blake picked up a chicken wing and took a bite. It really was ridiculously good.
If the Angel had a stats panel, her cooking skill would definitely be higher than his.
"I-it's actually this good…?"
Anna Yanami had planned to nitpick the dishes, but the moment the mapo tofu hit her mouth, her chopsticks wouldn't stop moving.
Ahhh! Stop already!
Right hand, behave yourself—don't just move on your own!
In just three minutes, she polished off her first bowl of rice. Then she looked up, teary-eyed—half bliss from the delicious food, half crushed by the realization.
"…Another bowl!"
At this level, there was no way she'd ever catch up in cooking.
This is bad, bad, bad… If the Angel becomes my rival, even my childhood friend advantage won't guarantee a win!
While they chatted, something on TV caught their attention.
"To boost the birth rate, the government has officially introduced a childbearing subsidy…"
"The subsidy's nice, but it probably won't do much," Yamada Elf said, glancing at the TV. "A couple days ago I saw the news—apparently in Korea, a lawmaker proposed making all students watch adult movies together during the last class every Friday, and even write a 500-word report. It almost passed."
Watching adult movies as a group?
That's straight out of some absurd adult manga setting!
"T-that's definitely not okay, right?" Anna Yanami's gaze drifted, landing briefly on Blake. Whatever she imagined made her cheeks flush instantly. "Watching that kind of movie with the whole class… that's way too embarrassing!"
Only the Angel remained calm, completely unfazed, quietly eating her food.
"Come to think of it, I've never watched an adult movie before…" Yamada Elf said, sounding oddly regretful.
Hey, hey—what are you regretting? You're a girl, don't be curious about weird stuff like that!
"Hey, hey~" Yamada suddenly leaned forward, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Blake. "They say 99% of boys have watched those kinds of movies. Have you?"
Blake: "…"
Who just asks something like that? Doesn't that feel a bit too intrusive?!
"Staaare—"
Sagiri, Yanami, and even the Angel all looked up at him.
After two seconds of silence, Blake answered flatly:
"I have."
Any normal guy watches movies. If someone says they haven't, it's not because they're not curious—it's because they don't know where to find them.
Sagiri's face turned bright red. "Big bro… that's so dirty!"
The Angel's gaze flickered slightly, a trace of curiosity appearing on her face.
(Blake is really honest… Most boys would deny it out of embarrassment, wouldn't they?)
Meanwhile, Yamada leaned even closer, eyes full of excitement.
"Blake, I want to watch too!"
"…"
Expressionless, Blake reached out and firmly shut her down.
"Not happening. Eat your food."
"Ahem… well, it's normal for boys to be interested in that kind of thing," Anna Yanami coughed lightly, blushing as she forced her thoughts back on track. "Anyway, there's a really popular web drama lately. Has anyone seen it?"
"What's it called?"
"It's called 'The President Fell in Love with Me, a White House Cleaner'. I heard it's super entertaining. Want to check it out?"
Sagiri: "…"
Blake: "…"
Mahiru Shiina: "…"
The title was full of things to complain about, but somehow, it did make you curious.
"Let's give it a shot."
Blake decisively picked up his phone and cast it to the TV.
For a while, they watched the hilariously ridiculous show while eating. It turned out to be surprisingly enjoyable.
Lunch ended quickly.
With the glutton Yanami around, it was, as usual, a perfectly clean finish.
"Mahiru, you're amazing," Yamada Elf said, leaning back with a satisfied sigh, hand on her stomach. "Your cooking is incredible. Honestly, even better than my family's chef."
Mahiru smiled gently.
"I've just liked cooking since I was little."
"Hey, I have an idea." Yamada suddenly straightened up, eyes shining. "Why don't we all eat together from now on?"
"What do you mean?" Blake asked, puzzled.
"I mean eating together every day," Yamada explained, hands on her hips, clearly proud of her idea. "When you live alone, even if you cook a little, you can't finish it all. Throwing leftovers away is such a waste. If we eat together, we can save food and make more dishes too."
Blake couldn't help but point out:
"You could just order takeout."
"No way." Yamada shook her head immediately. "It's too slow, and I saw a news report about delivery drivers secretly spitting in food… just thinking about it is disgusting."
Blake sighed. "That's extremely rare."
"Still can't accept it. Every time I think about ordering, that image pops into my head," Yamada said, then turned to Mahiru with an expectant look. "What do you think, Mahiru?"
What do you think?
Obviously, she should refuse!
You're clearly just trying to freeload off her cooking!
"Sure," Mahiru replied unexpectedly, agreeing right away. Her voice was soft and warm. "I happen to enjoy cooking. Turning ingredients into meals with my own hands is a happy thing in itself… Of course, that's assuming everyone is willing to share the living expenses."
"....."