Chapter 61: The Master of Train Bento Tasting.
....
Anna Yanami waited downstairs for a long time without seeing Kihara come down. Standing up to urge him and Lala, she suddenly recalled the scene she had witnessed with her own eyes that day.
Feeling a sharp pang of sorrow, she slumped back down onto the sofa.
Two hours later, Kihara leaned against the living room doorframe with a lingering hint of a red flush on his face, calling out to her, "Anna, I need your help with something."
"You look a bit off. What's wrong?"
Before she could even get angry or question him, she jumped up out of concern and ran to his side, catching the faint scent of alcohol surrounding him.
"Did you drink?"
"No... Suika was brewing liquor in her room..."
Kihara briefly summarized the cause and sequence of events, then shook his still slightly dizzy head. "Explain things to Momo and the others, and keep an eye on Lala. If anything happens, call my phone. I need to go to the park to get things sorted out with Suika."
"Mmhmm, go on ahead."
Learning that the two hadn't been doing what she had imagined upstairs, the dark storm in Anna's heart instantly cleared into sunshine. Watching him leave, she immediately went up to the second floor, explained the situation to Nana—who had just stepped out of her room—and stayed in the attic with her to keep watch over Lala.
...
Although Ibuki Suika hadn't specified which park she was at, Kihara managed to track her down using a video call on his phone.
"Hmm... ten minutes earlier than expected. Your physical endurance is pretty great, Kihara-bro."
She sat on a park bench and greeted him with a smile, several empty beer cans clustered beside her legs. Looks like she hadn't stopped drinking while waiting for him to arrive.
There was no one else in the secluded park. Stepping forward, Kihara deadpanned, "If Gensokyo ever forms a new band, you should go be the bass player."
"Hahaha, that's a funny idea! But I'm not really interested in instruments, and my hands are pretty clumsy. Being an audience member suits me much better."
Gulping down another can of beer, Suika patted the spot beside her, urging him impatiently, "What're you standing there for? Come sit down!"
"I'm worried I'll get knocked out by the fumes again and get picked up by you like a stray."
"Heehee..." Although she didn't fully understand the specific phrasing, she still grasped the underlying meaning. Scratching her hair with a sheepish laugh, she said, "Who asked you to collapse right onto my tummy, Kihara-bro? What yokai could possibly hold back against that?"
"Aren't our roles completely reversed here?"
"Don't worry about the details."
Taking advantage of Kihara just sitting down, Suika squeezed into his arms like a cat. Remarkably, she didn't carry her usual heavy reek of alcohol.
"Huh?"
As if knowing what he was surprised by, she tilted her head up as if claiming credit. "I went out of my way to disperse the alcohol vapors, you know!"
Kihara didn't hold back his praise, reaching out to gently stroke the top of her head.
"Impressionable. Is this some special physical trait of the Oni race?"
"If I had to describe it, it's more like a skill developed through long-term practice. After all, you can't be drunk when fighting sometimes."
"Mmhmm... We'll discuss the topic of alcohol later. Tell me what's going on with Lala first."
"It's simple. Just like you, she got knocked out cold by the high-concentration liquor aroma in the room."
"Huh?"
His mind paused for a second or two before Kihara finally processed what Suika was saying. Asking back in complete disbelief, he said, "Are you telling me Lala turned into that state purely because she got drunk?"
"Of course! I watched her turn into that icy, cold-faced state with my own eyes.
Though... before leaving the room, she asked me a question."
"What question?"
Suika didn't reply directly, nimbly turning her body to pucker her rosy lips at him, raising her eyebrows twice in a row—the meaning could not be more obvious.
Kihara had no choice but to satisfy this little foodie first; otherwise, he wouldn't get the information he wanted.
Dense green leaves rustled violently in the cool breeze. The two kissed for a long while under the sun-dappled shade of the trees, until Suika proactively pulled away, her eyes glistening.
"Phew~~ As expected of a Gensokyo stud with over ten girlfriends, your kissing skills are refined enough to make even me lose track of time."
The pink, romantic atmosphere was instantly shattered to pieces. Kihara asked with a darkened face, "Where on earth did you hear that slanderous title full of malice?"
"Aya Shameimaru, of course!" She dumped the blame straight onto Aya, who frequently leaked gossip to her.
"What a paparazzi. I'm going to cause trouble for her boss when I get back."
Getting revenge on the paparazzi herself was pointless; blocking her boss's office offered far better value for money. Throwing in a few Pelican Town specialties on the side would easily prompt the editor-in-chief to make her life miserable.
"Since we know what's up with Lala, let's head back."
"Wait, isn't your condition uncomfortable?"
"It's no big deal. The swelling will go down in a bit."
"Actually, I have a much better method..." Suika whispered a few words into Kihara's ear. "What do you think?"
He replied with utmost seriousness, "As you know, I've always loved carrying a girl off her feet like a train bento—especially savoring the flavor step by step while walking. I've done it more than a dozen times by now, and no matter the flavor, I can't get enough of it."
"Heehee~ Then I won't be polite either."
...
After the two returned home, Suika held the hem of her skirt, leaning against the wall with pigeon-toed steps as she fumbled her way to the bathroom. Kihara headed upstairs to explain Lala's situation to Anna Yanami and the others.
The moment he stepped into the attic, he heard a desperate shout:
"Brother-in-law, run!!!"
"Huh??"
A black shadow streaked toward Kihara at a speed beyond what the naked eye could track. Without thinking, he curled his fingers into a claw, clamping the "flying weapon" securely in his palm. Looking down, he realized it was a compact robot consisting of only a basic frame.
Meanwhile, Anna Yanami and Momo were respectively holding onto Lala's hands, feet, and waist, keeping her from taking a single step toward Kihara.
"What's going on with you guys?"
"Brother-in-law, take that weird robot and run far away! Big sister's condition is super abnormal!"
Momo called out with effort, only to quickly realize that her sister—whom she had needed to exert all her strength to hold back just a moment ago—seemed to calm down the instant she caught sight of Kihara. The force felt in her hands was gradually diminishing.
"Suika said she's just drunk. Do you have anything that can instantly sober someone up?"
"I happen to have sobering grass in my garden!"
Kihara walked over to Lala's side carrying the robot. She leaned over with an emotionless face, pulling him down to sit beside her. Seeing that she made no further moves, Momo immediately ran back to her room to grab the item.
"Thank goodness you came back! Lala came out holding this robot earlier, and when she didn't see you, she tried to head right out the door. No matter how much Momo, Nana, and I tried to persuade her, she wouldn't listen."
Anna Yanami patted her chest with lingering fear. It was her first time experiencing Lala's astonishing strength as an alien so clearly; she felt as though Lala could pick her up like a little chick at any moment.
"A gift... Do you like it?" The long-silent Lala finally opened her mouth to speak.
"You mean... this is a gift for me?"
"Mmhmm."
Kihara was left thoroughly bewildered. It wasn't his birthday, so why was she giving him a gift?
....
Thank you for reading.