Chapter 400: New Year's Eve, The Reunion Dinner, and a Sudden White-Haired L*li?
....
Inside the living room.
The Takanashi family, the Doma family, and the Nishimiya family had all arrived. Under the warm welcome of the girls, they comfortably settled down on the sofas.
Taihei Doma, being one of the few older guys here, naturally went over and sat down next to Sora.
Meanwhile, Yaeko Nishimiya noticed Seito and the two girls working busily in the kitchen. She stood up from the couch and walked over. Stepping into the kitchen, she asked warmly, "Seito, is there anything you need me to help with?"
"Auntie, please help me finish up the cooking," Seito replied with a smile. He didn't decline her offer or give any polite, distant excuses. It wouldn't be very appropriate to do so.
The reason was simple: Yaeko's age parameters were quite different from the young girls waiting outside. The only people out there who could easily find common topics to chat with her were Taihei Doma, Tohka Takanashi, and Haruno Yukinoshita, since they all had plenty of experience working in society.
Yaeko didn't waste any time with words either. She immediately rolled up her sleeves and began helping Seito prep the ingredients.
Out in the living room, everyone was sharing a relaxed, casual chat.
"I am the wielder of the Wicked Eye... Ouch!"
Before Rikka Takanashi could even finish her signature middle-school chuunibyou line, a swift karate chop landed straight on her head. Standing right behind her, Tohka Takanashi said in a cold voice, "Behave yourself. I'm heading in to help with the food."
With that short command, Tohka turned and walked straight toward the kitchen.
"Hmph!" Rikka snorted softly, rubbing her head. "One day! You will definitively taste absolute defeat at the feet of the Wielder of the Wicked Eye!"
Shine!
Tohka cast a freezing glare back over her shoulder. This made Rikka shudder instantly, and she quickly sat back down next to Kanade Tachibana, looking completely innocent and well-behaved.
Seeing her sister behave, Tohka stepped into the kitchen.
"Hehe~" Chika Fujiwara looked over at Rikka with a wide grin. "Rikka, you should say it like this instead."
Cough, cough... She cleared her throat, perfectly copying a certain person's cool tone: "Anyone who cannot bring you down will eventually be crushed beneath your feet!"
Hearing this cool quote made Rikka's eyes light up with a brilliant flash. "Where exactly did you learn a phrase like that?!"
"Seito told me that a long time ago," Chika replied smoothly.
Seito had actually told Chika that line back when he was feeling bored. It was a classic quote from an anime in his past life, Star Voyage. At the time, Seito only said it because he wanted to look incredibly cool.
"This is so nice," Ai Hayasaka murmured with a gentle smile, looking at the warm, lively chatter all around her.
An ordinary family gathering like this held so much more of that traditional holiday feel. Remembering how the New Year looked back at the Shinomiya estate made her feel completely speechless. During the holidays, Kaguya's older brothers would constantly find reasons to mock and insult each other. If you added up the schemes of those three brothers, they easily had eight hundred hidden agendas running at once. Facing a toxic scene like that naturally made Hayasaka feel incredibly uncomfortable.
And she wasn't the only one; Kaguya felt exactly the same way.
Beside them, Yuzuru Nishimiya turned her head to look at her older sister. "Sister, just how many women does this guy Seito actually have?"
Yuzuru simply couldn't keep her composure anymore. Seito was a total playboy! He was completely different from the dependable older brother Seito she remembered from the past! How frustrating!
"Yuzuru, don't worry, everyone is actually very easy to get along with," Shoko Nishimiya replied with a sweet smile, assuming her little sister was just standing up for her.
"Tsk." Yuzuru felt a bit annoyed, but she didn't say anything further.
However... scanning her eyes across the room full of beautiful girls, Yuzuru suddenly felt that she could probably become one of Seito's wives too. Thinking about this made her cheeks turn slightly pink.
Time flew by quickly. While everyone was chatting and laughing, the steaming dishes were brought out one after another.
Aside from a few traditional Japanese appetizers, the rest of the spread consisted entirely of spicy Chinese Sichuan cuisine. Of course, to accommodate those guests who couldn't handle spicy food, Seito had also cooked several non-spicy dishes, like braised pork belly with preserved greens and savory stewed pork trotters. It was a good thing they had marinated and prepared a huge batch of meat yesterday.
As the dishes filled up the table, everyone gathered around and took their seats.
Finally... Seito carried out a massive, simmering hot pot and placed it right in the center, alongside several plates of fresh, raw Wagyu beef slices.
Sitting at the head of the table, he looked over at the crowd gathered around the feast and smiled warmly. "Don't wait on me, everyone. Just dig right in!"
"Don't you have a grand speech to make?" Haruno Yukinoshita teased with a knowing smile.
"Not at all," Seito chuckled back. "Let's just eat! But to keep things a bit traditional, let's all raise a glass together and say Happy New Year."
With that, he raised his glass high. However, all the glasses on the table were strictly filled with sweet fruit juice. For a cozy family reunion dinner like this, it was better to skip the alcohol entirely.
Hearing Seito's words, everyone raised their glasses in unison.
Following that...
"Happy New Year!" xN
A chorus of cheerful voices rang out, and the grand feast officially began in a wonderfully loud and lively atmosphere. Seito glanced at the layout of the dishes and shifted the plate of Mapo Tofu to a new spot. Since everyone here was close friends, no one minded these tiny adjustments. The main reason he pulled the Mapo Tofu closer was because Kanade and Kirukiru Amou were sitting right next to him.
Seeing Seito place her favorite Mapo Tofu right in front of her, Kanade's face lit up with a soft, happy smile.
"Mmh~! Sichuan food really is the absolute best!" Hestia cheered loudly, happily stuffing her mouth with a large spoonful of rice and meat.
Over the past few days, she and Lili had tasted an incredible amount of delicious food in Eastern Country! It was safe to say that the two of them possessed absolutely zero resistance against good food. More importantly, the variety of dishes in Eastern Country was staggeringly massive! She truly wondered how many months it would take to eat through every single delicacy this country had to offer.
"If it tastes good, eat as much as you like," Seito said with a warm smile, using his chopsticks to drop a piece of twice-cooked pork onto her plate.
"You bet I will!" Hestia hummed happily, holding up her bowl of white rice.
This rice had just been freshly steamed in the kitchen. After all, here in Sakura Province, a bowl of white rice was an absolute staple. Even if there were countless spectacular dishes on New Year's Eve, they still preferred to pair them with rice to make the holiday dinner taste perfectly complete!
Zip~~!
Right as everyone was enjoying their food in pure harmony, a sudden beam of divine light flared up right in the middle of the dining room. The unexpected movement left everyone completely stunned.
"What's happening?" Yukino Yukinoshita's beautiful brows knit into a frown.
"I'm not sure," Asuna Yuuki shook her head, keeping her eyes locked onto the light.
Under everyone's watchful eyes, the bright light quickly faded away, revealing a small figure. Standing there was a white-haired L*li, complete with two fluffy tiger ears twitching on top of her head and a soft tiger tail swishing playfully behind her back.
The moment the white-haired L*li materialized, she immediately ran straight toward Seito with open arms.
"Big Brother~!"
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Thank you for reading.