After picking up some ingredients, Shirase and Kana returned home—since he'd promised earlier to bake her some sweets.
Perfectly timed, the system had substantially improved his cooking skills, giving him an ideal opportunity to test them out with cookies.
As Shirase came out carrying the freshly baked cookies, Kojima Kana, leaning comfortably on the sofa and nibbling at a piece of cake, immediately looked over. Her eyes blinked eagerly, shimmering with anticipation. "Weren't you planning to deliver cakes to the Nakano family yesterday? Why don't you send the cookies instead? I rather like these little cakes."
"What's up with you, Kana-nee? It's not like I'll never make them again." Shirase set down the cookies. Seeing Kana's adorable expression, he deliberately teased her, "Sending the cookies would be fine too—but I'm worried once you taste these cookies, you won't bear to part with them anymore."
"How could that be? Your big sister here prefers cake over cookies," Kojima Kana said lightly, walking over and picking up a cookie, casually biting into it.
But at precisely that bite, she froze on the spot.
Standing next to her, Shirase watched silently, smiling.
Kojima Kana stared blankly at the half-eaten cookie in her hand, then turned to glance at the bag of cakes on the sofa, falling into silence.
"How's the taste?" Shirase asked.
Face flushed, Kojima Kana quickly shoved the cookie into her mouth. "I only took a tiny bite just now; I didn't taste it clearly. Let me try again."
Shirase raised a hand, gesturing an exaggerated "please."
Kojima Kana's face reddened further.
With her cheeks still flushed, she grabbed two more cookies, nibbling at them like a squirrel munching pine nuts, delicate white teeth softly crunching through the cookie with tiny "krrk-krrk" sounds.
"Kana-nee, who wants to change her mind but can't admit it, is soo cuuute~" Shirase's tone was deliberately teasing.
Kojima Kana's face burned even hotter. Gathering all her courage, she met his gaze defiantly. "I—I just remembered, cookies are actually way cuter than cakes. Why don't we send some of both? Then I can leave a few at home to enjoy."
"Soo cuuute~"
"Ahhh, Shirase, shut up!"
Flustered and embarrassed, the beautiful older sister immediately rushed over, smacking Shirase repeatedly in annoyance.
How was I supposed to know your cookies would be this delicious…?
She thought, mortified.
After dinner, Kojima Kana deliberately changed outfits before leaving the house. In her own words: "Visiting others calls for politeness."
She still chose a simple dress, though a more fitted one this time. With her slender waist and full curves, she looked stunning no matter what she wore. In this elegant black dress, her mature charm was heightened, making her seem even more captivating rather than inappropriate.
"Why didn't you change clothes? Also, aren't you pretty close with the Nakano sisters? Shouldn't you pick up some small gifts beforehand?"
Kojima Kana glanced at Shirase, who was still wearing his tracksuit, while holding the cakes and cookies.
With utmost seriousness, Shirase replied, "Arrive empty-handed, return empty-handed. That's my way of karate-do."
It took Kojima Kana a few seconds to realize he was cracking a Chinese joke, causing her to roll her eyes and give him a gentle kick. "Honestly, nothing but nonsense all day."
As they stepped outside, Kojima Kana specifically asked him, "Apart from Miku, you seem pretty close with the other sisters, right?"
"Yeah, fairly close," Shirase nodded.
"That's good then. They're girls—five sisters at that—and maintaining a good friendship with you already isn't easy. You know their family situation: after experiencing all those things, they're still willing to open up to someone of the opposite sex. That means they have very strong hearts. It's really admirable."
"True enough," Shirase agreed.
"So, when it comes to maintaining friendships, you need to be mindful of the depth. Don't just stand safely outside the line all the time, and don't always try to push forward either. Finding the right balance between deep and shallow—that's the real secret to strengthening friendship. Your big sister here spent years figuring this out. Now I'm generously sharing it with you."
Please let this be about friendship…
Her phrasing sounded way too suggestive.
Though Shirase understood Kana-nee's intent: she was teaching him to cherish his friendships properly.
Unfortunately, his friendship with Nakano Nino had already gone way beyond friendship.
It had hardened, too.
...
The two soon reached the upscale apartment complex where the Nakanos lived, and this time it was Nakano Itsuki who opened the door.
She seemed a little surprised by their visit. After greeting them, her gaze instinctively drifted to the bags Kana was holding.
Because the bag wasn't tightly sealed, the delicious scent of cookies wafted out.
As someone who "absolutely cannot waste food," Itsuki instantly recognized a troubling fact through her keen sense of taste: the cookies Kana-nee held smelled even better than the ones Nino made!
After Shirase and Kana settled down in the living room, everyone—except Nakano Ichika, who was out—came over, including Nakano Miku, who rarely left her bedroom.
"Sorry, Kana-nee. Ichika went out after dinner, saying something about shopping with a friend…" Yotsuba explained, patting her forehead in mild frustration. "Honestly, I'm a bit curious myself. She's been going out more and more lately."
"And sometimes coming back very late," Miku added quietly.
Nino stared meaningfully at Shirase, her lips curving slightly. "Maybe she secretly got a boyfriend? She does like to advertise herself as the mature big sister of the family."
"Eh? That can't be, right? With Ichika's personality, she'd definitely tell us if she had a boyfriend," Itsuki interjected distractedly, eyes secretly glued to the cookies.
Noticing her gaze, Kojima Kana opened the bag with a smile. "Everyone try some. Shirase made these specially. I wanted him to bring them to you himself, but he mentioned he'd recently had a misunderstanding with Ichika. I asked him about it, but he refused to elaborate, so I decided to come along to help."
Both Nino and Yotsuba's expressions changed subtly—they'd both followed Shirase secretly that day, after all.
Shirase finally realized what was going on. Kana-nee specifically came along today to help smooth things over between Ichika and me?
He hadn't clarified things fully that day, so Kana likely assumed there was a misunderstanding and came to lend him support.
Besides, visiting a house full of girls alone at night would have been inappropriate for a boy—but with an older sister present, it looked entirely natural.
Kana-nee truly lived up to her claim of being an adult who always looked out for her little brother.
"It's a shame Ichika isn't here," Itsuki said cheerfully, grabbing a cookie. The moment she took a bite, her expression mirrored exactly the stunned look Kana had earlier.
A second later, she shoved the entire cookie into her mouth, exclaiming joyfully, "Delicious! Even tastier than Nino's!"
"Itsuki, aren't you exaggerating a bit?" Yotsuba asked doubtfully.
"You can't doubt the evaluation of someone who loves food!"
"But your expression's way too dramatic—oh, I get it. It's because you didn't eat enough at dinner… Mmph!"
Before Yotsuba could finish, Itsuki, thoroughly embarrassed, executed a perfect chokehold on her.
Miku calmly reached for a cookie. "Actually, Itsuki's appetite is huge—she can eat more than most guys…ugh?"
Now she, too, fell victim to Itsuki's chokehold.
The entire living room descended into chaos.
"Itsuki, what are you doing?"
"If you can't talk nicely, don't talk at all!"
"But I think Miku's just telling the truth—oh, right, Kana-nee! Yotsuba has a fun fact for you: Itsuki's appetite really is—"
"You, the girl still wearing childish underwear, shut up!"
"Ahh! Itsuki, what are you saying?" Yotsuba instantly turned red, mortified beyond belief.
This was her most embarrassing secret. After seeing Ichika's elegant black lace underwear that day, realizing she herself still wore child-like panties had nearly shattered her.
Ignoring the chaotic three-way battle on the other side, Nino calmly took a bite of a cookie, her eyes widening. "Did you really make these?"
Shirase nodded proudly. "Impressive, huh?"
"Very impressive… At least, I can't make cookies at this level yet." Nino looked slightly gloomy—she had planned on making cookies for Shirase too, but now she felt embarrassed to even try.