âIâŠamâŠbackâŠâ
Shiori pushed open the door to her own house like the doors weighed a ton. She made her way to the living room while stumbling around, she looked like a tired ghost who canât tell east from westâŠ
âWelcome back!â
Wu Yan, Kotori, Kurumi, Tohka, and Yoshino welcomed Shiori back with radiant smiles. Itâs hard to tell that they just got back themselves after staking out a certain personâs date.
Shiori would notice something off if sheâs not so tired. Shiori raised her hand slowly as if that act is sapping all the energy she had. She floated over to a nearby sofa in the living room and she collapsed with a thud.
Wu Yan, Kotori, Kurumi, Tohka, and Yoshino blinked their eyes in befuddlement. They exchanged looks and they chuckled.
âErm, ShioriâŠâ
Wu Yan approached her with a smile.
âYou look like me when I came home yesterday, what got you so down, champ?â
Shiori started tearing up. She ran with ungodly speed and she quickly apologized to Wu Yan. Even Wu Yan is surprised by her sudden change of attitude.
âShido, I was wrong, I shouldnât tease you like that yesterday.â
âHah?â
Wu Yan uttered that because heâs still at a loss of words.
âI finally understand just how anguishing it was for you to sit through classes while everyoneâs attention is on you.â
Shiori wiped away her snot.
âI didnât understand, oh, I am such a foolâŠâ
âErm, ShioriâŠâ
Wu Yan isnât used to this sycophantic side of Shiori. He pushed her away while laughing in an awkward manner.
âI am happy you think that way but can you please return to normal, or just a bit normal if thatâs not too much to askâŠâ
She let go of Wu Yan and she collapsed back on the sofa again. Raising an arm in a lethargic manner, she told them to give her some time to rest.
âI need 5 minutes, no, 10 minutes by myself!â
Then, Shiori shut down her mental faculties to reboot herself.
They stepped back and huddled together.
âWhy do I feel like itâs our fault that Shioriâs like thatâŠâ
Wu Yan scratched his cheek.
âItâs not âourâ fault, itâs completely your fault!â
Kotori pushed the wolf back into the mud he tried to crawl out from.
âYou knew Origami swung that way but you purposely chose to omit that detail from Onee-chan, if you told her she wouldnât have gone to the date.â
Wu Yan choked. Itâs as Kotori said, he omitted that detail so he can enjoy the show. Not satisfied with how Kotori talked back to him, he shot back.
âKotori, youâre the one who started the fire. While I might have drained her stamina, youâre the one who made her so mentally exhausted.â
Kotori choked this time. Kotori also somewhat regrets started the fire. The experience might have been too taxing on her since sheâs a normal human who canât start or put out fires at will.
It would have been totally stressful to be put in a situation where the roof is on fire and the exits are all blocked by people.
Kotori admits that she might have gone a bit overboard for tiring her sister out like this.
âAlright, thatâs enough finger-pointingâŠâ
Kurumi beamed at both of them.
âWe need to think about how to cheer Shiori upâŠâ
âYouâve got a point thereâŠâ
Kotori gave her idea first.
âShido, go make some nice food for Onee-chan, she likes your cooking so I am sure it would cheer her up.â
Tohkaâs eyes lit up, she concurred by frantically nodding her head.
âI like that idea, Shido always knew how to cheer me up with good food!â
Wu Yanâs lip twitched.
âI am sure any food would have did the trick for youâŠâ
âMuâŠâ
Tohka pouted.
âItâs still a good ideaâŠâ
âNow, I am sure Kotori is onto something here. I like girls who can eat. However, I think youâre making it very hard for others to get close to you without being a chefâŠâ
Wu Yanâs retort failed to make an impression in Tohka and Yoshinoâs mind. But, Kurumi and Kotori got the message.
Tohka tried to tempt Shiori by whispering something into Shioriâs ears.
âShiori, Shiori, Shidoâs cooking up a storm in the kitchen just for you, you know?â
âReally?â
That got her attention. Anyone who had Wu Yanâs food fell prey to his prodigious skill, Shiori is also hooked on his grub.
âReallyâŠâ
Yoshino blinked while egging her on.
âShido Onii-san said it himselfâŠâ
âI see, I am looking forward to itâŠâ
Shiori glanced at Wu Yanâs direction. What do you know? That did cheer her up.
âYes, I am looking forward to it as wellâŠâ
Tohka narrowed her eyes while imagining the good food, she can already taste it in her mouth. Wu Yan started thinking that Tohka had vested interests.
Wu Yan, Kotori, and Kurumi chuckled at Shiori who seemed a lot better now that someone promised good food.
Kotori said something that Wu Yan couldnât believe.
âI am handing over Fraxinus to you.â
Wu Yan almost choked on his saliva. He turned towards Kotori with a gasp.
âWhat? What was that?â
âI said!â
Kotori glared at him.
âFraxinus is in your hands.â
âYouâre giving me permission to take it into my inventory?â
Wu Yan pointed at his own nose in disbelief.
âI thought you were against it?â
Kotori flinched and she raised her voice as if typical of a tsundere.
âI am saying that itâs okay now, is that unacceptable to you?â
Wu Yan recalled that she said she had to do something.
âSo this is what you meant when you said thereâs something you have to do?â
âI donât suppose you want to send the Fraxinus into your Gate of Babylon with everyone watching?â
Kotori turned around and she said her piece.
âI gave everyone a day off, what you do in this span of time is up to you.â
Wu Yan is touched, he resisted the urge to glomp her. He mumbled his thanks.
âThank you, KotoriâŠâ
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