Yuu laughed a few times, making Chii sigh helplessly.
"Yuu is always like this."
Ignoring her companion, Yuu focused entirely on devouring the grilled fish.
After finishing, she rubbed her belly and let out a long sigh like a middle-aged man who had just finished a drink.
"Thank you, Boss." Compared to Yuu, Chii was much more polite.
Her voice was soft, hiding a faint sense of satisfaction. Her earlier weakness had faded, leaving her looking much better.
"You're welcome," Yuto replied, waving a hand. "Speaking of which, are the two of you dressed like this because you just came back from a battlefield?"
Both girls shook their heads.
"No," Chii answered.
"Since everyone's already gone, how could there still be a battlefield?" Yuu added.
Her casual words sent a ripple of shock through everyone in the restaurant.
"Everyone's gone?" Yuto asked.
Yuu gave a calm nod.
"Mm. The people have all disappeared. Everywhere is nothing but ruins now." She spoke plainly, a helpless curve touching the corner of her mouth as though she were discussing something completely ordinary.
Yuto's heart trembled as he looked at the two girls, a sigh escaping his lips.
"But I didn't expect there to be this many people here! How unusual!" Yuu became pleasantly surprised again.
She smiled and patted her companion's shoulder, prompting Chii to nod in agreement.
"Maybe there are people living on the uppermost level of the city," Chii said softly.
"Who knows? But maybe we really will find people." Yuu put both hands behind her head.
Her optimistic expression made her look as though she didn't have a care in the world.
"Have you two been searching for other survivors all this time?" Yuto asked.
"Mm." The two girls nodded in unison. In a world of ruins, this goal was the only belief keeping them going.
"Can you tell me about your world?" Yuto took out two cups and poured water for them.
Normally, he wasn't this curious about other worlds, but for some reason, he wanted to hear their story.
"Eh? Our world? So this really is another world!" Yuu gasped.
"Idiot Yuu, you only just realized that now?" Chii shot back.
"Ah~ The grilled fish was so delicious that I forgot to think about anything else."
Chii looked helplessly at the laughing Yuu.
Nodding to Yuto, she ignored her companion and began to explain.
The girls' world had stopped turning a long time ago.
For reasons unknown, human civilization had come to an end. Humans began disappearing on a massive scale, and the cities that had lost their people became labyrinth-like ruins.
Chito and Yuuri continued searching through this world for traces of other humans, though it would be more accurate to say they were simply wandering.
Chii's explanation was brief—not because she wanted to gloss over the details, but because her world was just that absurdly simple.
Listening to her account left everyone in the room deep in thought.
Yuto sighed.
He didn't think the girls were lying; their behavior since entering the restaurant had already revealed the truth, making the story easier to accept.
He had interacted with many people from other worlds, but this was the first time he had encountered such despair.
It was different from a world under oppression or a world of endless war. The girls' world was a true apocalypse—a world at its end.
He could roughly picture it in his mind. Not only had humanity basically gone extinct, but all living creatures were heading toward the same fate.
There were no longer any animal sounds or blooming flowers on the earth. The steel high-rises built by humanity had become empty, uninhabited labyrinths.
It was a terrifying, silent world, far more frightening than one plagued by conflict.
When everything returned to nothing, everything lost its meaning.
"What if you reach the uppermost level and still don't find any humans?" Yuto asked.
Chii looked somewhat lost. "I don't know."
In a world at its end, all answers were reduced to a numb lack of knowing.
Yuto folded his arms, leaned back, and sighed.
"We'll think about it when the time comes. Who knows, maybe~" Yuu's reaction was completely different.
While Chii thought carefully about everything, Yuu was an optimist who didn't dwell on the bleakness.
The two of them were perhaps a perfect match.
"Mm! Yuu does occasionally say things that make one's eyes light up." The corner of Chii's mouth curved into a smile, a little more fighting spirit and hope appearing in her eyes.
Seeing the girl like this, Yuto couldn't help smiling.
"Then do your best!"
Their persistence deserved encouragement.
Even if their hope seemed faint and uncertain, it was extremely precious.
In a ruined world, that belief was enough to support a person in continuing to live.
Chii nodded.
She hopped down from the stool, pulled Yuu along, and bowed. "Thank you very much for your hospitality, Boss."
Yuto waved his hand, indicating it was nothing. "Are you leaving now?"
"Mm!" Yuu, who was being dragged along by Chii, looked dejected. She clearly wanted to eat a little more.
As the two reached the entrance, Yuto called out to them. "Chii, Yuu, when you get tired sometimes, you can come here and rest."
The girls left.
Yuto didn't mention payment, knowing there was no need, his basic sense of compassion wouldn't allow him to charge them.
He cleared their plates, washed them, and sat back behind the counter.
Perhaps because of Chii's story, the atmosphere in the restaurant had become heavy.
Even Tohru, who hated humans, looked affected.
Yuto sighed, his own heart feeling weighed down.
"Those two little girls are quite amazing," Lucoa observed, her eyes open and her expression unusually serious.
"Mm. Humans like that... I can't bring myself to hate them," Tohru admitted with a hint of helplessness.
Yuto smiled, walking over to gently pat Tohru's head. "That's why you shouldn't always look down on humans."
"Ugh... I know," the dragon maid mumbled, her timid voice making her resemble a scolded puppy.
...
Rumble, rumble—
Chii drove the tracked vehicle forward through the dark ruins while Yuu lay in the cargo bed at the back.
"Hey, Chii."
"What is it?"
Yuu stretched her hand toward the sky, a smile touching her lips and eyes. "I still think that place just now was heaven."
"Idiot Yuu, I already told you. That was a restaurant."
"But I really do think that place was heaven!"
"Fine, then. Think whatever you want."
"That's right~ That place was heaven~ La la la~ There was delicious grilled fish~ And bright lights too~ La la la~ Heaven~ Heaven~"
In the silent darkness, Yuu's singing echoed all around.
Although no one responded, the girl sang happily.
Up ahead, Chii curved her lips into a helpless smile, deciding to just let Yuu do as she pleased.
...
Back in the restaurant, Shouko was picked up by Yaeko to eat dinner with her family, having successfully finished her homework.
Just after she left, the group from Gensokyo arrived.
However, a few familiar faces were missing, replaced by a couple of unfamiliar ones.
"You came a little later today," Yuto noted, his tone relaxed due to his familiarity with the group.
"Oh my~ Today just happened to be the day to reinforce the barrier. We were busy the entire day," Yukari Yakumo sighed gracefully.
Her alluring voice could easily make a person's heart tremble, but Yuto's emotions remained calm as he offered a slight smile.
Gensokyo had a Great Barrier dividing the boundary between the human world and their realm.
Yukari had previously explained this to him, proudly claiming she maintained its everyday stabilization through her own hard work.
Yuto had praised her back then, but Reimu later revealed the truth: although Yukari nominally maintained the Great Barrier, she actually just ordered Ran around.
Since Ran was her shikigami, the fox girl could use Yukari's power of gaps to reinforce the barrier.
Therefore, the truly diligent maintainer of Gensokyo's Great Barrier was a hardworking fox girl, not some old woman.
When Reimu had used the words "old woman," Yukari's expression had turned incredibly ugly.
While Yuto wasn't clear on what happened afterward, he had heard Marisa jokingly mention Reimu being hung up.
Although Yukari flatly denied it, Yuto didn't believe her.
"Hmph! Clearly, the one running around all day today was your shikigami. What does that have to do with you?!" Yuuka Kazami snorted disdainfully, directly stating the truth.
She was the only person who could openly confront Yukari like this.
Yuto glanced at the fox girl following behind Yukari.
Ran had her head lowered with a powerless expression, her usually energetic ears and tail drooping.
Seeing the scene, Yuto smiled knowingly. 'I understand.'
"Ran is my shikigami. So naturally, what Ran does is equivalent to what I do. Ran, isn't that right?" Yukari turned her head, looking at the fox girl with a smiling expression.
Ran forced the corners of her mouth into a faint smile. "Lady Yukari is right."
Watching the exchange, Yuto felt a pang of sympathy.
'Yukari, your shikigami is about to cry!'
After receiving the answer, Yukari looked proudly at Yuuka, who didn't argue further and only gave a cold snort.
Yuuka walked straight to her usual seat, decisively handed Yuto a sunflower, and sat quietly.
By now, she and Yuto had a mutual understanding, as she was one of the restaurant's earliest customers.
Everyone from Gensokyo sat down one after another.
Since Yuyuko was absent today, Yukari took a seat at the counter with Yuuka and her shikigami.
Farther down were Reimu, Aya Shameimaru, and two guests Yuto didn't recognize.
Yuto looked over the group. Usually, their numbers kept increasing, but today there were two fewer people than yesterday.
Yuyuko hadn't come, meaning Youmu wouldn't either.
Suika was absent, and even Marisa, who was usually the noisiest, hadn't arrived.
Instead, there were two new arrivals.
One was a petite girl with a pair of wings on her back.
A glance was enough to tell she wasn't human.
Judging by her luxurious clothing and the composed maid following at her side, Yuto guessed she was a noble young lady.
The maid gave an impression of sharp elegance, prompting Yuto to compare her to Hayasaka, despite their different races, both shared the aura of a cool, highly capable professional.