“I see. Lilia-chan certainly has a knack for drawing trouble to herself... or rather, I suppose you went and did it again, Kaito-kun.”
“She gave me quite the lecture. She told me that from now on, I need to verify whether anyone I meet for the first time is one of the Six Kings' Executives.”
Following Kuro's lead, I let out a wry smile of my own as I recounted the events of the other day. While nodding along to my story, Kuro produced something resembling a shichirin and lit the fire.
I was currently at the riverbank where I’d once held a barbecue with Kuro. She had invited me out for a night of moon-viewing. It didn't seem to be the phase where the light trees glowed, but since the moon was our main attraction, it didn't really matter.
“Hmm... I don't think checking would really change the outcome, and it would still be a shock for Lilia-chan either way. I'm sure she knows you didn't mean any harm, though. That’s probably why her complaints were focused on the logistics of checking in and keeping her informed.”
“Seriously, the frequency at which I run into these people is almost uncanny.”
“It really is. Normally, you don't just stumble upon them like that. Even I haven't seen some of the Six Kings' Executives in ages.”
Kuro set a small pot atop the shichirin. She poured in a liquid that smelled faintly of flowers and spirits—likely cooking sake—and as it began to warm, she produced the next ingredient.
“Kuro, is that... cheese?”
“Yep! Chris gave it to me when I saw her recently. It’s a high-end cheese they’re planning to market as a specialty of the Arclesia Empire.”
“Heh, if you’re cutting it up and putting it in the pot... are we having cheese fondue?”
“That's right! I thought I'd try dipping baby castella into it.”
“That actually sounds pretty good.”
It was likely the same principle as dipping bread into cheese fondue, so I was sure it would be delicious. While Kuro had a reputation for her eccentric baby castella experiments, her success rate wasn't actually that bad. Most of the time, they were great. Of course, every three to five batches, she’d still produce some bizarre monstrosity that felt like a prank... but the good far outweighed the bad.
That said, since this was a moon-viewing, she had stacked the baby castellas like traditional dango. I made a mental note to stay sharp, though—Kuro’s whims were unpredictable, and she might try to sneak in some strange seasoning at any moment.
“Kuro, do you have another shichirin?”
“Hmm? Sure do. Here you go.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you going to grill something?”
“Since we’ve got the cheese fondue, I figured I’d cook up some other things to go with it.”
Answering her, I began pulling ingredients from my magic box and placing them onto the shichirin she had provided.
“Oh, nice! Shrimp sounds great!”
“Fruit might be good too, but maybe as a palate cleanser after we’ve eaten a bit...”
“Ah, I know! Kaito-kun, let's grill this too.”
“Hm? Is that... a scallop?”
Kuro pulled out some shellfish that looked exactly like scallops and set them on the wire mesh.
“I’ve got butter too, so use this...”
“That is a guaranteed winner.”
“Isn't it?”
“If we're doing butter-grilled scallops, I’ll have to add soy sauce. I think I still have some that Noin-san gave me.”
We chatted about nothing in particular as we prepared our meal. It was hard to put into words, but I really loved this atmosphere. Even though we weren't doing anything out of the ordinary, I felt incredibly fulfilled.
“You know... I really like this,” Kuro murmured.
“Eh?”
I instinctively asked her to repeat herself. After all, what Kuro had just whispered was the exact thought I’d been having.
“I mean, it’s not like we’re at a festival or the beach—there’s no big event. We just came out because the moon was pretty, and we’re just talking and doing whatever we want. But for some reason, everything feels like it’s clicking into place. We aren't doing anything special, but I'm having so much fun.”
“Yeah, I know what you mean. I was actually just thinking the same thing. I feel so satisfied, even though we're just sitting here.”
“I see. Ehehe, then we’re on the same page.”
Hearing my response, Kuro gave a happy laugh and leaned against me affectionately. Feeling the warmth of her adorable gesture, I turned my gaze toward the massive moon hanging in the sky.
“If I had to label it, I think the word 'happiness' fits best. Being able to laugh together over trivial things and just enjoy each other's company... it’s a truly wonderful thing.”
“Yeah... I was thinking the exact same thing just now.”
“Then we really are on the same page.”
“Mm-hmm!”
Looking at Kuro’s radiant smile, I felt certain that I was wearing the same expression.
While feeling the weight of our certain, irreplaceable bond, our shadows merged beneath the moonlight, drawn together as if by fate.
Serious-senpai: “AIEEEE?! Main heroine? Why the main heroine?! Why a sudden date episode?!”
???: “Apparently, the author just felt like eating something sweet.”
Serious-senpai: “Then go eat it yourself! That's not what I meant! Does that mean if they want something with a serious flavor, they'll write a serious story?!”
???: “I mean... what does a 'serious flavor' even taste like?”
Serious-senpai: “...I don't know?”