After returning home on the third floor, Suto cooked some rice and, while waiting, quickly made a simple seaweed egg-drop soup.
Only after placing the rice and soup on the table did he take out the portion of fried fish he had prepared for dinner from his inventory.
The golden, crispy fried fish gave off steaming heat, just like it had only just been fried.
Looking at the dinner in front of him, Suto took out his phone, snapped a photo, and opened LINE.
There were only two friends on his LINE, and both had been added today.
He first sent the photo to Eriri.
After waiting a few seconds, once he saw “Read” appear beside the photo, he long-pressed it and unsent the image.
Then he saw the words “The other person is typing…” appear.
Suto closed that chat window and sent the dinner photo to Kotonoha instead.
Kotonoha seemed to be busy right now.
Even after a minute, the photo still hadn’t shown as “Read.”
Suto didn’t mind and opened Eriri’s chat again.
[Eriri: ?]
[Eriri: Why did you suddenly send me a photo like that?]
[Suto: Sorry, sent it to the wrong person.]
[Eriri: How do you even send something like that to the wrong person?!
You’re such an idiot!]
[Suto: Yes, yes.
I’m an idiot.]
[Eriri: Did you make that yourself?]
[Suto: Yeah.
Anyway, I’m going to eat now, so I’ll stop chatting.]
Eriri looked at the messages on the screen and curled her lips.
What the heck!
He would rather eat than chat with a beautiful girl like me?
She scrolled through the message history, thinking about the dinner photo that had just been unsent.
Fried fish, egg soup, and rice.
It was simple, but it actually looked decent.
She hadn’t expected him to have made it himself.
Then again, as a transfer student living alone abroad, he could only cook for himself.
Thinking about it that way, it was kind of pitiful.
The corners of Eriri’s mouth lifted slightly, as if she had found a small sense of superiority from that.
But speaking of which, since he said he sent the photo to the wrong person, who was he originally planning to send that dinner photo to?
His parents overseas?
Or some friend?
Could it be the author of that light novel he wanted her to help promote?
She wondered whether the other person was male or female…
Eriri couldn’t help thinking too much.
Then her mother’s voice came from outside the door.
“Okay!”
Eriri went to the dining room and saw that today’s dinner was already laid out on the table.
It was much more sumptuous than the fried fish and egg soup in Suto’s photo.
Looking at the other empty chair, she asked, “Dad isn’t coming back?”
Sawamura Sayuri said, “He has to work overtime.
We’ll eat first.”
Eriri muttered unhappily, “Overtime again.
Why does he work overtime every day…”
Hearing that, Sayuri showed a helpless expression.
Mother and daughter sat together for dinner.
Sayuri casually asked, “How have things been at school lately?”
Thinking about what had happened today, Eriri hesitated for a moment before saying, “Fine…”
Sayuri looked at her with some suspicion and asked, “Nothing happened, right?”
Eriri shook her head.
“Nothing.
It’s just that the art club has a lot of activities, so I’ve been busy.”
Sayuri smiled and said, “I see.
Well, that can’t be helped.
After all, you’re the art club’s ace.
Oh, right, I remember you also have other nicknames, like the school’s number one fair-skinned girl and Toyogasaki’s golden legend…”
Eriri’s face turned red, and she said in embarrassment, “You don’t have to say those weird nicknames out loud!”
It was fine when other girls at school said it, but when her mother said it to her face at home, it felt like a public execution.
However, the mother and daughter’s relationship was not ordinary either.
Sayuri often teased her daughter like this.
She herself was a heavy otaku.
Otherwise, she would not support Eriri drawing doujinshi, and she definitely would not go to conventions to help her sell them.
“Mom.”
“Mm?”
“I want fried fish tomorrow.”
“All right.
Mom will buy some fish tomorrow.”
Katsura Kotonoha was making dinner in the kitchen.
Her mother, Katsura Manami, was a strong career woman who worked in food marketing management.
She had a charming appearance, but her personality was extremely firm.
Not only was she strict with her subordinates at work, but she was also very strict with her two daughters at home.
Manami worked overtime almost every day, so there was no way to count on her coming home to cook.
As for Kotonoha’s father, because his personality clashed with Manami’s, the two had divorced long ago.
So, ever since she was very young, Kotonoha had been the one cooking at home, taking care of both herself and her younger sister, Katsura Kokoro.
Compared to her introverted older sister, Kokoro was much more lively.
She often teased Kotonoha, but at the same time, she also paid attention to and worried about her sister’s condition.
As she wrote, Kokoro suddenly heard her sister’s phone ring.
It seemed to be a LINE notification.
Curiosity immediately surged in Kokoro’s heart.
Someone actually sent her sister a LINE message!
Her sister barely had any friends before!
Could it be that she had made a new friend at her new school?
Was it an older brother or an older sister?
Kokoro first sneaked to the doorway and checked the situation in the kitchen.
After confirming that her sister was still busy cooking, she returned to the desk and picked up Kotonoha’s phone.
She saw the message preview in the notification bar.
It was a photo.
Hm?
Suo Suto?
What a rare surname.
After thinking for a moment, Kokoro unlocked her sister’s phone.
As a younger sister, it was perfectly normal to know her older sister’s phone password, right?
She pressed and held the photo in the notification with her finger, enlarging it to preview.
Doing this allowed her to see the message without marking it as “Read.”
After enlarging it, Kokoro saw that it was a photo of dinner.
There was fried fish, seaweed egg-drop soup, and a bowl of rice.
“Although there isn’t any other information, sending this kind of dinner photo feels suspicious somehow…”
Kokoro furrowed her small brows.
After all, her sister was so innocent.
It would be far too easy for her to be tricked by a boy with bad intentions.
“I shouldn’t rush to a conclusion yet.
I’ll observe Onee-chan’s reaction later.”
Kokoro placed her sister’s phone back where it had been and continued doing her homework.
Before long, Kotonoha walked in, her voice gentle.
“Kokoro, are you done with your homework?
Dinner is ready.”
“Okay, Onee-chan.
I still have a little left, so I’ll finish it after dinner.”
“Mm.
Go wash your hands.”
Kokoro obediently went to wash her hands.
When she reached the doorway, she turned back and glanced behind her.
She saw her sister pick up the phone on the desk, and then a look of surprise appeared on her face.
After that, Kotonoha unlocked the screen and quickly began typing a reply, as if afraid the other person would misunderstand because she had taken too long to respond.
Kokoro couldn’t help narrowing her eyes.
Onee-chan really does have something going on!