"How did it suddenly become Kiana-nee's turn to keep staring at me?"
Kiana had been watching her this whole time, so Miko said it with the air of a joke.
Not that it actually helped. She had to admit — she was more worried now than before. Kiana looked serious. And with every passing second, she looked even more so.
Ugh...
Why did I even say any of that just now...
I handed myself a headache for absolutely no reason...
While waiting for Kiana to answer, Miko couldn't help but brood quietly on these thoughts. She was genuinely regretting her words.
But what was done was done. There was no taking any of it back now.
After all — if she didn't back out, there was at least a chance Kiana's cooking might turn out decent. But if she did back out, Kiana would almost certainly deal with her on the spot. Weighing those two options, the right choice was pretty obvious.
"Well, obviously I'm keeping my eye on you. What if you slip away the moment I look somewhere else?"
Kiana had caught the faintest trace of panic in Miko's expression, and so she answered with the utmost gravity.
Miko: "..."
After hearing that, Miko was about ninety-nine percent certain that Kiana's cooking was going to be absolutely terrible.
Why else would she say something like that? It was a textbook display of rock-bottom self-confidence.
This is a disaster...
Quietly thinking this to herself, Miko put on her brightest smile and said aloud, "Oh, never mind all that, Kiana-nee — let's just head back already! I really am looking forward to it, you know."
As soon as she finished speaking, she stepped to one side and made a gracious 'after you' gesture.
"Then let's go."
With a glance at Miko, Kiana said the words and walked on ahead.
Truthfully, she'd only meant to tease Miko a little just now. But somehow, whether it was Miko or herself — both of them had ended up treating the joke as though it were completely real.
Well, she couldn't help it. Miko had looked so clearly rattled that Kiana naturally couldn't pass up the chance to give her a proper scare.
Mei-nee, you absolutely have to rescue me when the time comes!
With that fleeting thought, Miko quickly hurried to catch up.
---
The Shrine.
"I'll just go check on Ei and the others real quick, Kiana-nee, you can go on ahea—"
"Don't even think about running." Seeing that Miko was clearly about to bolt, Kiana reached out and grabbed her hand. "You're helping me cut the meat. What kind of younger sister abandons her older sister to cook all alone? Am I right?"
"I was only curious about how Ei and the others are doing — don't read too much into it, Kiana-nee." Having more or less predicted this outcome, Miko turned back toward her with a smile. "But whether I go check or not, the result's the same either way. I'll just find out a little later. So — I'll go cut the meat."
The words were barely out of her mouth before Miko reached out, took the pork from Kiana's hand, and headed straight for the kitchen.
That's more like it...
Watching Miko's retreating figure, Kiana felt quite satisfied.
Truthfully, she'd just wanted a helping hand. Cooking entirely alone was genuinely tiring — she needed a second pair of hands for this.
---
Kitchen.
Ssss—
How did the chili pepper end up in my eyes...
Unable to stop herself, Kiana rubbed her eyes with the back of her hand. She hadn't expected that simply chopping a chili pepper would end up burning her eyes — apparently this particular batch was especially juicy.
And as she rubbed her eyes, Miko — standing right beside her, halfway through cutting the meat — had seen every bit of it.
Kiana has absolutely, definitely, one hundred percent never cooked before...
Watching Kiana rub her eyes in silence, Miko felt this conviction settle into her bones with absolute certainty.
Funnily enough, though, she wasn't fretting anymore about what she'd do when the finished dish inevitably tasted terrible. Instead, she found herself genuinely curious — why had Kiana suddenly decided she wanted to cook, when it was painfully obvious she had no idea what she was doing?
Maybe...
She could just ask?
Without even realizing it, she had stopped cutting. The question had risen all the way to the tip of her tongue, and she genuinely wanted to let it out.
But then again — there was a good chance Kiana wouldn't tell her anyway. Asking might just be a waste of breath.
"Finished cutting the meat?" Noticing the sudden silence, Kiana glanced over.
"Not yet." Miko shook her head first, then, after a brief deliberation, finally asked: "So, Kiana-nee — why did you suddenly get the urge to cook today? I'm genuinely curious."
Since she figured a direct question probably wouldn't get her anywhere, Miko had decided to come at it from an angle instead.
Either way, her meaning was plain enough. It was all down to how Kiana chose to answer.
"Haven't done it in a while, so I figured I'd give it a try."
Seeing the earnest look on Miko's face, Kiana understood exactly what she was curious about — wondering why someone who clearly had no idea how to cook had suddenly decided to do it. So that was the answer she gave.
She had no intention of revealing her real reason — but some explanation was in order, so she'd come up with a plausible one.
"When you say 'a while'... somehow I get the feeling it's been a very, very long while. Are we talking hundreds of years here?"
Hearing Kiana say "a while," Miko found herself curious just how long that "while" actually was.
After all, for someone to end up looking like they'd never set foot in a kitchen in their life, it must have been an exceptionally long time indeed.
"I've forgotten. It's just been a long time."
Since she genuinely didn't know how long it had been, Kiana simply admitted she'd forgotten.
Of course, that answer carried another layer — the "long time" had been so long that she'd lost all track of it. Which, in its own way, said everything that needed to be said.
"Well... I hadn't expected Kiana-nee to be even older than I imagined." From that answer, Miko concluded that Kiana's age was considerably more ancient than she'd assumed.
"Come to think of it... the last time I stopped cooking — it was because of Wendy, actually."
Ignoring the remark about her age entirely, Kiana assumed the air of someone dredging up a distant memory and let the comment fall with practiced casualness.
"Oh?" Miko's interest snapped to attention immediately. "What did that little brat do?"
She had a deep weakness for old stories like this. She desperately wanted to hear it.
"She just said my cooking was terrible."
Seeing that Miko had taken the bait, Kiana said it with a theatrical air of wounded dignity.
"Hahahaha—!" The words were barely out of Kiana's mouth before Miko burst out laughing.
She couldn't help it. This was just too funny — there was absolutely no containing herself.
"Is it really that funny?"
Watching Miko completely lose it, Kiana put on her best impression of mild offense.
"No, no, I just — I couldn't help it..." As she spoke, Miko already looked like she was right on the verge of dissolving into laughter all over again.
____
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