"Eating, eating~"
A girl's crisp and pleasant voice sounded from the side. "I came at the perfect time."
Izumi Sora turned his head and saw a blonde girl in a princess dress come into view.
"Yamada-san, when did you get here?"
"Just now, Mahiru was the one who opened the door for me." Yamada Elf put her hands on her hips, showing absolutely no shame about mooching a meal. "I came over to visit with some cookies just now. After Mahiru accepted them, she invited me to stay for lunch."
"Sora-kun, hurry up and wash your hands." Angel-sama's voice floated over gently. "You bought a lot of ingredients, and the portions are plentiful, so there is no need to worry."
Wait, why does it feel like you are the lady of the house!
"..."
Since she was already here, he couldn't exactly chase her away.
Sora closed his laptop and got up to wash his hands.
A moment later.
Sora and the girls sat around the table.
"Thank you for the meal!"
"Mmm, super delicious."
"Not only is it delicious, but it also looks beautiful."
"To think Mahiru-san's cooking skills are this amazing, isn't she way too omnipotent?"
"..."
After picking up their chopsticks, the girls immediately gave incredibly high praise.
Sora picked up a piece of chicken wing and put it into his mouth; the taste was indeed exceptionally good.
If Angel-sama also had an ability panel, her cooking skill level would definitely be higher than his.
"I-It's actually this delicious..."
Yanami Anna had originally wanted to find flaws in the cooking, but as the mapo tofu entered her mouth, her chopsticks simply could not stop.
Ahhh! Hurry up and stop!
Right hand, please listen to me, don't just move on your own!
In just three minutes, Anna rapidly finished her first bowl of rice. Then, she raised her head with teary eyes. Her pretty face was half filled with the happiness of tasting delicious food, and the other half was filled with the discouragement of suffering a major blow.
"...Another bowl, please!"
A cooking skill of this level was something she would never catch up to in her entire life, right?
Bad, bad, bad... if Angel-sama becomes a rival, even with the trump card of being a childhood friend in hand, there is no way to secure a guaranteed victory!
During their casual chat, a news report on the TV caught the girls' attention.
"In order to boost the birth rate, the government is now officially launching a maternity allowance system..."
"Although the maternity allowance is nice, it feels like it won't be very effective." Elf turned to look at the TV, her voice crisp. "I saw the news a couple of days ago saying that in order to boost the birth rate in South Korea, a lawmaker proposed that during the last class every Friday, all students should watch an 18+ movie together, and they would also be required to write a five-hundred-word reflection essay. It was said that the bill almost passed."
Watching 18+ movies collectively, huh?
That is clearly a Nukige Academy that only appears in adult manga!
"T-That definitely wouldn't work, right?" Anna's gaze wandered, secretly landing on Sora. Not knowing what she imagined, her pretty face quickly flushed red. "The whole class watching that kind of movie together, no matter how you think about it, is way too embarrassing!"
Only Angel-sama's expression remained as usual, not even blinking if Mount Tai were to collapse before her, quietly eating her food.
"Speaking of which, I still haven't seen an 18+ movie yet..."
Elf's tone was full of regret.
Hey, hey, what are you regretting? As a girl, you shouldn't be curious about terrible things!
"Hey, hey~" Elf suddenly turned her head, her eyes sparkling as she looked at Sora. "It is said that ninety-nine point nine percent of boys have seen that kind of movie. Have you seen one, Sora?"
Sora: "..."
To actually ask someone such a question, don't you think that is a bit too presumptuous!
Stare—
Izumi Sagiri, Anna, and Angel-sama all raised their eyes and looked toward Sora.
Sora was silent for two seconds, then said expressionlessly.
"I have."
As long as one is a normal male, there is a desire to watch those movies. If someone says they haven't seen one, it is definitely not because they aren't curious, but simply because they don't know where to watch them.
Sagiri's small face quickly flushed red. "Nii-san actually... so lewd!"
Angel-sama's gaze shifted slightly, a hint of curiosity flashing across her pretty face as she muttered to herself in her heart.
Sora-kun is very honest... if it were any other boy, they would definitely deny it flat out right now, too ashamed to admit it, right?
Elf, on the other hand, leaned her body forward, looking over curiously.
"Sora, I want to watch one too!"
"..."
Sora remained expressionless, reliably reaching out to suppress the completely shameless Elf.
"Don't even think about it, just eat your food properly."
"Ahem, Sora is a boy after all, it is normal to be interested in that kind of thing." Anna coughed lightly twice, blushing as she broke free from the little theater in her mind, helping to change the subject. "...Speaking of which, there is a very popular web drama recently, has everyone seen it?"
"What web drama?"
"It is called 'Tramp Falls in Love with Me, the White House Cleaner'. I heard it is super interesting, do you guys want to watch it?"
Sagiri: "..."
Sora: "..."
Shiina Mahiru: "..."
Although the name was full of things to complain about, it had to be said that it indeed gave people the desire to taste how salty or bland it was.
"Let's watch it and see."
Sora decisively picked up his phone and cast it to the TV screen.
For the rest of the time, Sora and the girls watched the appetizingly absurd drama while eating, and it actually didn't feel boring at all.
Lunch soon ended.
With the gluttonous girl Anna present, today was once again a meal where all plates were licked clean.
"Mahiru is so amazing." Elf comfortably patted her stomach, her face full of happiness. "The food you cook is super delicious, even better than the chef at my house."
Mahiru responded with a smile, her voice gentle.
"I have just been interested in cooking since I was little."
"Hey, hey, I have a proposal." Elf's eyes suddenly lit up. She sat up straight and made a suggestion. "Let's all eat together from now on, okay?"
"What do you mean?"
Sora looked over in confusion.
"I mean eating together every day." Elf put her hands on her hips. Her voice was crisp, her expression radiant, seemingly very happy about her own brilliance. "Living alone, if you make even a little bit of food you can't finish it, and throwing away the leftovers is such a waste. Eating together saves food, and the meals can be much more sumptuous."
Sora could not help but point out.
"Actually, you could just order takeout."
"No way." Elf quickly shook her head. "Takeout is too slow, and I saw on the news that some delivery drivers secretly spit in the food... just thinking about it is super disgusting."
Sora was speechless. "Those are just extreme minority incidents."
"Anyway, I just can't accept it. Every time I want to order takeout, the news of delivery drivers spitting pops into my head." Elf turned her head, looking at Angel-sama with expectation.
"What does Mahiru say?"
What does she say?
Of course she is going to refuse!
You clearly just want to freeload off a personal chef!
"That is fine." Unexpectedly, Mahiru agreed without hesitation, her voice gentle. "I happen to really like cooking anyway. Using my hands to turn ingredients into dishes little by little is a very happy thing in itself... Of course, the premise is that everyone is willing to share the living expenses."