"Phew, today’s pretty easy."
When I woke up this morning, it was surprisingly comfortable.
No one was lying next to me, and no one was stomping on my stomach.
I stretched and got out of bed.
"Was today a day off?"
I went over yesterday’s memories.
I skipped over the part where I bawled my eyes out after seeing my parents thanks to the fragments of my memory.
"Mm. Yeah, it’s a day off."
Today really was a day off.
Between checking my memories and, more importantly, the fact that I’d woken up later than usual, it was obvious enough.
That alone was proof.
"Are the others still asleep?"
Since they often woke up later than me, they were probably still sleeping.
I decided to make breakfast for the people who were still asleep.
"Good morning, Hii."
When I came down to the living room on the first floor, Maria greeted me.
I waved back lightly.
"Good morning. By the way, what’s that smell?"
The living room smelled delicious.
Like someone had already set out breakfast.
"...Wait, there’s actually food on the table!?"
Looking over, I saw that breakfast really had been prepared.
Toast, omelets, mashed potatoes, and nicely browned sausages.
There was even a salad, so it was clear she’d put a lot of effort into it.
"Hii, you’re late. Come on, hurry up."
And everyone except me was already eating.
"Mm~ This is good!"
"Agreed. Excellent flavor."
"Mmm! Delicious! The combination of sausage and potatoes has such incredible flavor! Who even came up with this?"
"Probably a German."
"Hm? You were here too, Itsuka?"
Not only the spirit mansion residents, but Itsuka-kun’s group was here too, which naturally made me curious.
"Ah, Arus called us over. She said she made a ton, so we should come eat."
"I see."
Itsuka-kun’s explanation cleared up why they were here.
I sat down and picked up my chopsticks.
"Then, Maria. Thanks for the meal."
"Yes. Please eat as much as you like."
When I bit into the nicely browned sausage, it gave a crisp little crunch as my teeth sank into the springy surface.
Once the casing broke, a flood of juices hit my tongue.
I then ate some mashed potatoes to balance out the sausage’s salty flavor.
The soft texture and rich taste mellowed out the saltiness and blended together nicely.
"...Wow, this is really good."
After eating those two dishes, I couldn’t help but marvel.
Just like with bavarois last time, Maria clearly had a talent for cooking.
"Honored guest, try the toast too."
"Ah, right."
At the Fire Keeper’s words, I bit into the toast.
It had gotten a little soggy from sitting out for a while, but it was still incredibly tasty.
The omelet was the same.
And when I thought about how I wasn’t the only one eating this, but everyone else was too, I could tell just how hard Maria had worked.
"Arus, she really does seem a little different, doesn’t she?"
"I think so too. She even made breakfast for everyone."
Like Mayuri said, Maria was gradually changing.
And in a good direction, too.
Seeing Maria’s positive change made me smile.
"Please eat, Yatogami Tohka. Here’s another serving."
"...Mm! What is this!? There’s cheese in it! Amazing!"
"I think it’s called cheese toast. Some people say it’s just pizza toast without the toppings, but apparently cheese toast has its own distinct qualities."
At Tohka’s praise, Maria smiled.
It was the kind of reaction that made it seem like she really had gained emotions.
Maria’s expressions were becoming more varied, more human, and it was nice to see.
Compared to that, Black Arus had plenty of expressions but didn’t seem very human at all... well, let’s not think about that.
That wasn’t important right now.
"Still, making all this by yourself is impressive. Great job, Maria."
I looked around and watched everyone eating the food Maria had made.
Everyone was enjoying it, and Tohka had already finished everything she’d just been given.
Making food for this many people was genuinely impressive.
"No. It only took longer than when Hii makes it. I accounted for Yatogami Tohka eating in large quantities, but then I got confused about how to divide everything. I still lack experience."
Maria admitted her mistake in response to my praise.
Honestly, if you thought about how much Tohka could eat, it made sense that the portions got weird.
She didn’t just eat a lot. She ate like an elephant, so this was bound to happen.
I wasn’t sure if I should use that kind of comparison for a girl, but Tohka might genuinely have a stomach the size of an elephant’s.
Watching her eat like that, it might actually be true.
"Even so, Maria really did work hard, didn’t she? Making this much by herself is impressive no matter what."
At the very least, it was true that Maria had made all this on her own.
And since the taste didn’t seem to vary at all, maybe she was even better at cooking than I was.
"I only reproduced the recipe. Being praised like this makes me... feel a little embarrassed."
"Being able to follow a recipe is a skill in itself. It deserves praise."
Think about Mana, Miku, and the Fire Keeper.
Compared to them, this was practically a miracle.
"Thank you for working so hard this early in the morning."
Before I knew it, I’d reflexively placed a hand on Maria’s head and patted her.
"Ah..."
"S-sorry! I got used to praising Yoshino that way, so I just...!"
The moment I realized I’d patted Maria on the head, I pulled my hand away.
Since I was so used to patting people on the head when praising them, especially Yoshino, I’d done it to Maria without thinking.
"...You patted me."
"I-I’m really sorry if that was unpleasant."
"I’m fi—"
"Ah! Darling~! So you’re only patting Arus? Pat me too~!"
Just as Maria was about to say something, Miku barged in and cut her off.
And starting with Miku, the others began crowding in too, asking me to pat their heads as well.
"H-Hii... Me too...!"
"Honored guest. Just once for me too..."
"Hii. You should pat me too, right?"
"Hii! I hereby allow you to pat the head of this princess of the storm winds!"
"Yoshino wants it too. Please pat Yoshino."
Suddenly, everyone was crowding around me, and the space got cramped fast.
What is wrong with these people!?
"E-everyone! Stop! Finish eating first, then talk! It’s way too cramped!"
I pushed back the suddenly overexcited crowd and tried to calm them down.
That seemed to work, and they each returned to their seats.
"Haa..."
What a pain, and first thing in the morning too.
"...Is being patted on the head, love?"
At Maria’s question, after she’d watched everything that had just happened, I thought about it for a moment.
Is this love?
Well, it’s something lovers can do, but calling it love still felt a little off.
"Hmm, I’d say no."
So I just answered no.
It wasn’t love.
I wasn’t lying.
But for some reason, Maria was making a sulky face.
That was a first.
"...I feel like I lost out somehow."
"Huh? Lost out?"
"I’m the one who got patted. And yet it ended up being neither this nor that."
Maria voiced her dissatisfaction.
I had no idea what she was so unhappy about.
Neither this nor that... I couldn’t understand what she meant.
"S-sorry...?"
Still, since I must have done something wrong to get that reaction, I apologized to Maria.
"Hii... idiot."
"Huh?"
"...It’s nothing."
What was that? It sounded like Maria had just called me an idiot.
She said it was nothing, but I still felt a strange sense of unease.
I must’ve misheard it, right?
I brushed it off as just my imagination and ignored the lingering discomfort.
After breakfast, we started tossing around ideas for what to do on this golden holiday.
"How about a date!"
"Rejected."
Tohka’s suggestion was shut down immediately.
Of course. If Itsuka-kun had to go on dates with every single one of these people in one day, maybe he could survive it, but I’d be dead.
There just wasn’t enough time in the world.
"Then how about this?"
"Oh, Kotori. Got some good idea?"
"Everyone goes to karaoke."
"Karaoke?"
"I think if we go with this many people, everyone should be able to participate."
"Not bad."
The commander’s suggestion was better than expected.
No, not just better than expected. It was honestly a really good idea.
There weren’t many places that could accommodate this many people.
"...I want to go to karaoke."
"Oh! Yoshino’s interested too?"
"My, that does sound fun."
"If it’s singing, then it’s my stage~"
"Hmph. Interesting. We princesses of the storm winds are masters of song as well."
"Agreed. Singing is nice."
"Well, if everyone’s this enthusiastic, then nobody’s sitting this one out, right?"
At the commander’s words, everyone nodded.
"Good. Let’s head out right away."
And so today’s schedule became karaoke.
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