"And in the end Yuuka had to haul you home. Hahaha!" Suika took another swig and burst out laughing, plainly unbothered by whatever fallout her words might bring.
That made Yuto sneak a glance at Yuuka.
Since coming in she'd greeted him exactly once before settling back into her usual silence, and he'd found himself unconsciously avoiding her eyes.
He still felt awkward about waking up in her arms after that drunken night — he'd been out cold for the whole of it, with no idea whether he do something inappropiate.
He had a pretty strong hunch the answer was yes.
Now that Suika had dragged it back up, he stole another look at Yuuka, then made a show of staying composed and smiled.
"Mm, I really am grateful to Yuuka." He didn't dare look straight at her as he said it, lifting his chin instead as though everything were perfectly ordinary.
"Oh? Just words of thanks?" Yuuka said nothing, but Yukari — who never could resist a chance to tease them — fixed him with a bright smile, her amethyst eyes brimming with quiet mischief.
"Of course not."
"Then how does Boss intend to thank Yuuka?"
The follow-up left Yuto squarely on the spot.
Could he really admit he hadn't thought that far at all?
"No one's going to mistake you for mute if you stay quiet, old hag," Yuuka said evenly.
Her voice carried no feeling at all, like wind scraping down off an icy peak — cold, and nothing more.
The single line struck Yukari right where it stung.
The instant old hag landed, her face stiffened, and the corners of her mouth, so prettily curved a moment ago, began to twitch, as if she'd come down with some peculiar illness!
"Oh? Yuuka, what was that you just said? My hearing hasn't been the best lately," Yukari said, smiling her most gentle smile.
Yuuka ignored a certain youkai sage entirely.
She tapped a sunflower into being with one fingertip, handed it to Yuto, then closed her eyes to rest.
He accepted the flower and could only smile helplessly at the whole exchange.
"Yukari, let's settle on what you'd like to eat first." Between making Shouko's squid rolls and chatting away, he'd forgotten to take their orders.
"Mm, I'll have the squid rolls Shouko-chan eating too," Yukari said, her sweet voice pitched a touch deliberately cute — clearly still irritated from that old hag comment.
He turned to Ran and the rest.
Ran and Chen ordered their usual; Reimu, faithful to her impoverished-shrine-maiden ways, asked for rice with sugar again; Marisa went for another bowl of mushroom soup, the witch determined to crack the riddle of that soup once and for all!
She could not keep poisoning herself.
Suika simply wanted some fried food, anything that paired well with drink.
Once he'd jotted it all down, Yuto headed into the kitchen.
Even with him cooking, Yukari kept needling away at Yuuka. "Yuuka, what exactly did you say earlier? I really don't think I can just let that slide."
"Playing dumb and young now? Or have you really gotten so old your ears have packed it in?" Yuuka, finally worn out by the badgering, lobbed the line back without raising her voice.
A certain youkai sage froze on the spot — and then came the sound of grinding teeth.
Yuto caught it clearly from the kitchen.
The corner of his mouth lifted, and his hands picked up speed without his meaning them to.
...
Halfway through cooking, his phone rang.
Erina.
She and Hisako had hauled the freezer as far as the entrance to Ichinose Street.
He arranged for Tohru to go lend a hand, with a quiet reminder to keep things from drawing attention.
The dragon answered with full confidence and walked out.
Less than half a minute later she touched down in the alley with the two girls and one large freezer.
That's right — Tohru had carried them through the air, the fastest and easiest way by far.
And because she'd worked magic over it, no one had seen a thing.
"Boss, I'm back!" she called toward the kitchen as she came in.
Behind her trailed Erina and Hisako, both still wearing the stunned look of people who hadn't recovered from being flown across the sky!
"Leave it outside for now. I'll have a look once I'm done cooking," Yuto called back without turning, busy at the stove.
Tohru gave a quick reply and said no more, and Erina and Hisako filed in after her.
He glanced over his shoulder at the two girls and smiled. "Thanks for the trouble."
"It was nothing. No need to be so formal." Erina waved him off, Hisako following behind with a respectful air.
"Want a hand?" Erina offered, seeing how busy he was.
A month ago there was no chance she'd have volunteered like that.
Only this restaurant could make her this agreeable.
"They're all simple dishes, so it's fine," he said lightly, lifting the squid rolls from the pan and pouring a spoonful of thick sauce over them.
A plate of hot, fragrant squid rolls, done. "Carry this out to Yukari for me, would you?"
Erina looked a touch put-upon but stepped up and took the plate anyway.
"Erina-sama, please, let me," Hisako said respectfully, moving forward.
"It's fine. I'm only carrying a dish." Erina shook her head and bore the squid rolls out of the kitchen herself.
Behind her, Hisako stared at her young lady's back for a beat — and then a small smile crept to the corner of her mouth.
The irritated Yukari, finally handed an outlet, pulled her glare off Yuuka and turned to the squid rolls.
In the kitchen, Yuto worked through everyone else's orders one by one — all except Yuuka's flower cake, which still needed half an hour in the steamer.
"All right, let me go take a look at this freezer." He washed his hands and stepped outside, Erina and Hisako on his heels.
Out front stood the large unit Erina had brought — a standard hotel-grade freezer, though at this size small cold room was nearer the mark.
The door was about the size of an ordinary house door; open it and you could walk straight in.
Yuto stepped inside, looked it over, and came away thoroughly satisfied.
"This is exactly what I had in mind. Perfect." He gave the door a pat and smiled.
"So what now? How are you going to manage it? There's nowhere in the restaurant this thing would even fit…" Erina asked.
"Don't worry about that. Someone will sort out the space problem in a bit," he said with a smile, and seeing him so unconcerned, she let it drop.
Back inside, he called Tohru over, for now they'd put the freezer in the backyard.
There wasn't room indoors, but the yard had space to spare.
Tohru hoisted the whole unit one-handed and flew it around back.
Yuto caught the faint longing on Erina's and Hisako's faces beside him and had to smile — no human can fully resist the pull of flying free in the sky.
"Maybe one of these days I'll have Tohru take us somewhere to relax. We'll fly there," he said offhandedly, and both girls brightened at once.
"We can come too?"
"Of course. You're members of the restaurant, aren't you?"
At that, their faces turned happier.
Yuto went back in, returned to his place behind the counter, and chatted a while with everyone.
Then the door swung open again, and the King of Hero made a rare early appearance, Enkidu and Siduri at his side.
Judging by the easy smile on Gilgamesh's lips, he was in fine spirits today!
"Done with affairs of state this early?" Yuto knew the man usually worked deep into every night, so seeing him here at this hour naturally piqued his curiosity.
"Hmhmhm — hahaha! Indeed! This king finally has some rare leisure today. The Demonic Beasts' assault was beaten back as well. Truly, it was no small feat!" Gilgamesh looked enormously pleased with himself, laughing freely as though he'd just laid hands on some priceless treasure.
Beside him, Enkidu and Siduri wore faintly embarrassed expressions — plainly their composure wasn't quite as unshakable as their king's.
"Oh? That couldn't have been easy," Yuto said, playing along with a sympathetic sigh.
"Just so, just so. Today this king intends to indulge his appetite properly. It has been far too long since I ate without restraint — today calls for a real celebration! Kamisaka, bring this king wine and meat, and be quick about it!"
Gilgamesh steered Enkidu and Siduri to one side of the counter and sat, one seat down from Utaha, already rapping the table for food the moment he settled.
Yuto smiled his agreement and looked to the other two.
Enkidu shook his head; Siduri wanted a noodle dish from this world rather than the clear-broth noodles she usually ordered.
He noted it down and went to cook — handing the noodles off to Erina while he headed to the backyard to start the stove fire.
He was going to grill meat.
For Gilgamesh he made sliced grilled meat, not the great whole slabs he prepared for the likes of Fafnir.
It cooked fast and tasted superb.
The trick was to grill it slow over the stove fire, scoring the surface in several places so the heat could work its way in, then dusting it with cumin and other seasonings.
A single slice was enough to flood the mouth with fragrance, the fat threading through the muscle to land the most direct kind of satisfaction on the tongue — very few people can hold out against a slice of meat like that.
By the time he brought it out, Siduri had only just started on her noodles.
"Where's the wine? Bring it, quickly!" Gilgamesh caught the aroma and couldn't wait a moment longer.
He owned the finest wine in the world himself, yet right now it was the restaurant's that he wanted.
Yuto poured him a cup.
The King of Hero laughed, openly delighted. "Wine from another world, paired with this king — it just barely passes muster."
With that he drained half the cup in a single pull and followed it with the grilled meat, his expression sliding into deep, easy contentment, like a man fresh from a bath and a full-body massage.
Then his proud golden eyes flashed, as if some amusing thought had just surfaced, and a mischievous smile spread across his face.
"Kamisaka. That woman — the general from last night — she hasn't arrived yet?"
Yuto knew exactly who he meant.
The only one Gilgamesh would bring up like that was Esdeath.
"No," he said calmly, shaking his head.
"Hahaha. I'll give it to you, she is a woman this king genuinely held in high regard."
Yuto only glanced at him, he didn't think the remark was idle.
"But above all else, what this king esteems most is her attitude toward you! Hahaha — just picturing it is enough to put me in good mood!"
"Oh."
"This king dearly wants to know whether she can conquer you, Kamisaka! If she manages it, the spectacle is sure to be wildly entertaining! Hahahaha!"
He'd known it.
This man never had anything good bottled up in there.
But before Yuto could get a word out, someone beside them spoke first.
"Ara — did something happen last night? It sounds delightful. Won't you tell me about it?" Yakumo Yukari turned her smile on Gilgamesh and Yuto, her purple eyes glimmering with mischief.
"Since you ask it of this king, this king sees no reason not to oblige—"
"Cough." Yuto gave a light cough, and Gilgamesh's words stalled.
Yukari's gaze slid between them, and the smile at the corner of her mouth deepened.
"Boss, what exactly happened?"
"Nothing."
"Oh? Is that so? I don't believe you for a second."
She looked back to Gilgamesh — but this time he had no intention of saying more.
The little cough had done its work nicely.
"Sigh. Now I'm truly curious. What on earth happened last night?" Yukari put on a mournful pout.
She was already beautiful and the act only made her more so.
Yuto chose to ignore it outright, which set her laughing to herself.
Out of the corner of her eye, she glanced at Yuuka beside her.
Yuuka stayed perfectly calm.
But her gaze had gone a shade colder.
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