"Is that so?"
When Maki heard this, she immediately began thinking in her heart.
'From the sound of it, this should be one of the bonus points for Aiden's image of the perfect woman, right?'
But Chizuru just looked at him coldly, "I don't need your praise."
"I'm only telling the truth." Aiden picked up a piece with his chopsticks and put it into his mouth, nodding, "It's really very delicious, like this piece of tofu, for example, it's so smooth and tender."
"You… hmph!" Chizuru seemed to hear what Aiden was hinting at, but after snorting once, she didn't say anything more, puffed up her cheeks, and went back to her seat.
On the dining table, the hotpot was still bubbling away, and in the restaurant, besides that sound, there was only the sound of chewing and the sound of the TV program playing.
And the loudest chewing sound was coming from Chizuru. She stuffed her mouth full, staring at Aiden's face while chewing forcefully, as if she wasn't eating food, but biting into a person.
Maki, who had already snapped out of her thoughts, gently tapped her with chopsticks, correcting her sister's impolite behavior.
Chizuru immediately looked wronged. Ever since Aiden moved in, her position as the little sister had plummeted.
Before, her big sister obviously doted on her the most, not only not hitting her, she couldn't even bear to scold her, but now it was different, constantly lecturing her, even raising her hand. Even though it didn't hurt, it still made her feel awful, okay?
'If this keeps up, you're going to lose your cutest little sister.' Chizuru silently shouted in her heart as she looked at her sister, 'Why don't you just marry him already and let me be the shrine maiden.'
But she could only think that inside. Curling her lips, she continued to shovel rice from her bowl, and from time to time even got up to pour wine for Aiden and her sister.
Just like that, this dinner soon came to an end.
When she saw Aiden put down his bowl and chopsticks, Maki glanced at Chizuru beside him, who was now eating several times more than she used to, and who, as the tsundere second daughter of the Kagura family, was still eating.
Swallowing back the words that were about to order her sister to pour tea for Aiden, Maki stood up and went to the other side of the dining table. There, on a small stove, was a kettle that had long since boiled. She lifted it and brewed Aiden a cup of clear tea.
Holding the teacup, she walked to Aiden's side and knelt down. After handing him the tea, Maki didn't get up and leave, because at that moment, the TV was broadcasting about the Tanabata Festival that would be held in a few days.
After listening to the festival schedule and holiday notice being broadcast on TV, Maki's eyes flickered with light full of expectation.
"Aiden, do you have time for the Tanabata Festival in a few days?"
Hearing this, Aiden, who had been about to answer "yes," froze for a moment. Before he came back, he had already promised Mai Shiranui to spend Tanabata with her. Now that Maki was asking, he suddenly didn't know how to answer.
At this moment, Chizuru, who already felt very full, also lifted her head and looked at Aiden, waiting for his answer.
"Could it be that Aiden has already promised someone else? Is it the master of the dojo who taught Aiden martial arts?"
Looking at the frozen Aiden, Maki asked softly, her voice faint, and the look of expectation in her eyes also faded away.
On the other side, Chizuru even gave a cold snort and muttered under her breath, "Flirting everywhere, a man like this should be tied up in a dark room and given a good beating."
Chizuru's words made Aiden involuntarily cough lightly, "Cough cough, actually…"
But before Aiden could finish, Maki shook her head, "Enough, Aiden, I understand. I was just asking casually. Actually, I don't have time on Tanabata either."
"The shrine will be open to everyone that day, and as the shrine's maiden, I have to pray for all the visitors who come to the shrine. At that time, Chizuru has to help me too."
When she said this, Maki smiled, but her tone carried a trace of bitterness, "That day, if Aiden wants to receive a blessing, you can come back to the shrine. No matter how late it is, I'll be there."
"Uh…"
What could Aiden say now? He could only remain silent.
Maki, anyone can hear the grievance in your words.
'So what should I do when the time comes?'
'Abandon Mai Shiranui to accompany the Kagura sisters?'
That definitely won't work, since he had promised Mai Shiranui first.
Or maybe drag them all to spend the festival together? That also seems bad, they'd probably end up fighting, right? Though the chance is pretty low.
Looking at Maki pursing her lips and gazing at him, Aiden felt a headache, frowning as he thought hard. Suddenly, a flash of inspiration struck him.
"Now that I think about it, Maki, Chizuru, you two haven't tried my cooking yet, have you? If you're busy until late that day, how about I make you supper?"
This was the only remedy he could think of. That way, he could spend more time with them under the pretense of cooking supper. At worst, he'd just pull an all-nighter. A few sleepless nights didn't mean much to him anyway.
It's just that… his original plan of being a master of time management was no longer possible. After all, his original thought was, if all else failed, just set up a group outing and then switch into the fastest profession, juggling between a few women.
Perhaps because of her traditional upbringing, Maki was a woman who was easily satisfied and content. Hearing Aiden's words, the dim light in her eyes lit up again.
"Then at that time, I'll have to properly savor Aiden's cooking."
But as soon as her words fell, Chizuru disdainfully said, "Hmph, hmph, maybe he's already said that to other women too."
"This will be the very first meal I've cooked since coming to R-country." Aiden shot her a glance, his tone full of unquestionable firmness.
"Uh…" Chizuru instantly shut her mouth, then buried her head into her chest, hiding the expectation and joy that had leaked out from her eyes.
The tsundere second daughter of the Kagura family was actually the easiest one to appease.
———
After finishing dinner, it was already around eight o'clock. Aiden didn't let either of the sisters see him off, and left alone. After all, he knew who he would run into on his way back.
And as soon as the sliding door closed, Chizuru immediately flopped down on the floor without a care for her image, gently rubbing her slightly bloated belly from eating too much.
With no outsiders around, or rather, with Aiden not there, Maki couldn't even be bothered to scold her sister, and instead copied her, lying down as well.
The sisters lay in a "八" shape, their heads touching, just like when they were little.
"Chizuru, these next couple of days, work hard and find out all the dojos built in the suburbs of Tokyo."
"You want to see which vixen bewitched that guy, right?"
Pa!
Chizuru held her head, looking wronged at her sister, "Big Sister, what was that for? Wasn't I right?"
"Of course you weren't right. You should have immediately said 'okay.'" Maki reached out and rubbed the spot on Chizuru's head where she had hit her, "Why don't you have any sense of crisis at all?"
"Hmph, it's not like I like that guy!" Chizuru snorted, but as she felt the gentle rubbing on her head, she narrowed her eyes in comfort.
"Tsundere."
"Big Sister, you're the tsundere."
This time Maki didn't argue back, rather, she couldn't argue back.
After a moment of silence, Maki sat up and gently tugged Chizuru's sleeve.
"Chizuru, get up, let's go take a bath."
"No." Chizuru had originally wanted to nod, but thinking of the abnormal changes in her body earlier, she immediately shook her head in refusal.
"Today, I am absolutely, absolutely not bathing together with Big Sister." Chizuru definitely didn't want her sister to notice anything.
But Maki didn't care about that. As the Kagura family's orthodox shrine maiden, she trained the family's ancient martial arts the most diligently, for longer than her sister too. Not allowing any resistance, she simply hauled her up.
"Don't think I don't know. Hmph, hmph, I've already smelled that scent on you… what exactly were you two doing under the table just now… speak…"
"Big Sister… stop saying that." Chizuru covered her face and screamed, "We didn't do anything!"
———
[Meanwhile, in the Shrine Courtyard]
As expected, walking past the torii and the little path, Aiden saw that "female evil spirit" sitting on the wall behind the house, the one who might have been planning to suck his essence.
At this moment, the "evil spirit" was sitting sideways on the wall, her hands supporting herself on top, her two bare, smooth, long legs dangling freely, her equally bare feet glowing like jade under the moonlight, gently swinging back and forth with her movements.
Tonight's moonlight was quite good, and under its illumination, Aiden could clearly see that under the luxurious kimono skirt she kicked aside… there was still another layer of a white short skirt.
'How despicable! Even an "evil spirit" protected her absolute territory so well? How could you possibly suck my essence like this?'
Thinking angrily in his heart, Aiden, for the first time, stopped in front of the "female evil spirit." Leaning against the cherry blossom tree that had already bloomed, he crossed his arms and looked up at her.
"Yo, so early today, huh? Have you eaten?"
"No, are you going to treat me?" The mature voice with a deep tone carried a hint of teasing.
Even though they had met so many times, this was the first time they actually spoke. It was also the first time Aiden had heard her voice. Just as he had guessed, the "female evil spirit's" voice was indeed very pleasant.
"Then I'm really sorry, it's already past mealtime." Aiden shrugged.
"But I still have some snacks in my room, if you don't mind…"
"Sure, I don't mind."
Before Aiden could even finish, the "female evil spirit" gracefully floated down from the wall, walked to his bedroom door, pushed it open, and went inside.
'I was only being polite!'
Aiden twitched the corner of his mouth, but still went in quickly, only to see the "female evil spirit" already sitting happily on the sofa with a plate full of snacks in her arms, eating away… The room he now lived in had been rearranged, with a lot of modern furniture added.
But this sight didn't surprise Aiden. Although he always called her "evil spirit" in his mind, from the very first time he saw her, he knew she wasn't a ghost, she was human.
'Ghosts don't have shadows!'
That's true in every culture, past and present.
"You sure are shameless!" After entering, Aiden closed the door behind him and leaned against it, casually sizing her up.
This woman peeked at him every day, so looking at her like this was nothing at all.