Chapter 56: The Taste of the Ocean, I Know It.
....
Anna Yanami searched around online, ultimately discovering that dishes made with chicken breast were low in calories and healthy, so she told Lala she wanted a meal made from chicken breast.
As a result, the food produced by the food machine turned out to be two massive platters packed to the brim with crispy, golden fried chicken cutlets and fried chicken nuggets.
"Lala... didn't I say I wanted low calories...?" Clutching Lala's shoulders, she shook her violently with tears in her eyes. "No matter how you look at this, the calories have completely exploded, right?!"
Kihara chuckled as he pinched her delightful, plump cheek from behind: "Anna, did you forget her invention is called a food machine? If you want something to taste delicious, it can never escape high calorie count."
"To put it another way, a dish that is both delicious and mouthwatering can never coexist with low calories."
"AHHHH!!!" Anna covered her ears and let out a bizarre cry: "Don't tell me such a cruel reality! I can't hear you, I have absolute zero idea what you're talking about!"
"I said... are you going to eat this or not? If you're not eating, I'll devour it."
"I'm eating! This is a snack Lala made specifically for me, why wouldn't I eat it?!"
Anna angrily devoured the chicken cutlets and fried chicken nuggets with tears in her eyes, immersing herself hopelessly in the Maillard reaction and the rich aroma of deep-fried goodness.
Having eaten and drunk her fill, she completely forgot her original purpose of coming over to discuss things with Kihara, happily heading home to sleep with a zero-sugar cola made by the food machine.
The instant her head touched the soft pillow, Anna's eyes snapped wide open, and she let out a cry of shock: "Wait, something's wrong!!!"
...
Night fell.
Lala fumbled her way out of the attic in the dark. Guided by the faint moonlight streaming from the end of the hallway, she tiptoed carefully toward Kihara's room. Passing by a guest room, the pungent smell of alcohol wafting from inside made her fail to hold back a sneeze.
"Achoo!"
A sound that wasn't particularly loud under normal circumstances felt extraordinarily booming in the quiet night, scaring Lala into holding her breath and pressing herself flush against the wall. If any sound came from inside the room, she would immediately sprint back to the attic.
In truth, given her usual personality, walking openly and directly into Kihara's room would be what she would normally do.
However, after learning of her plan, Momo had strictly emphasized that she must go over quietly without alarming or being noticed by anyone else.
Lala had no choice but to execute a thoroughly awkward infiltration.
Fortunately, the sneeze didn't wake anyone, allowing her to safely continue toward her destination.
Tiptoeing to Kihara's bedroom door, she looked down at the gap underneath. No light shone through from inside, indicating that he had already turned off the lights and gone to sleep.
Grasping the door handle, she turned it gently, pushing open a crack just wide enough for her to slip through. Lala darted inside, quickly turning back to pull the door shut.
"Great, step one complete!"
She raised her hand to wipe the fine beads of sweat from her forehead—not out of nervousness, but because doing something so contrary to her usual habits felt incredibly awkward, like forcing a sprinter to compete in high heels.
Rubbing her small hands together in anticipation, Lala walked over to the bed with her hands clasped behind her back, gently lifting a corner of the blanket to slip into the bed like an eel.
The unique scent belonging entirely to Kihara enveloped her in an instant, bringing an unexplainable sense of comfort and safety that left her mind briefly blank.
'It's been so long since I slept together with him; I really miss this feeling.'
Feeling a marshmallow-soft, fragrant pillow suddenly materialize in his arms, even though Kihara was still fast asleep, his body instinctively turned over to wrap his arms around Lala.
She was startled: "Eek? You're not asleep?"
"..."
His steady, long breaths brushed against Lala's face, making her feel ticklish. Catching sight of his slightly twitching lips, a wave of playfulness surged within her. She extended a delicate index finger, tapping his lips up and down to produce faint clicking sounds.
"Heehee."
Lala let out a muffled giggle, finding the action immensely entertaining. She then resumed the task she hadn't finished during the day—counting exactly how many eyebrow hairs he had.
Perhaps annoyed by her mischievous finger, Kihara suddenly opened his mouth, lightly trapping her index finger between his teeth to stop her from causing further trouble.
"Mmh..."
Lala felt as though an electric shock had zapped her fingertip, sending a numbing sensation straight along her finger to the very tip of her heart.
'Here it comes again... this strange feeling. Momo said liking a person is completely different from enjoying a food; is what I'm feeling right now what it means to like Kihara?'
She didn't find an answer to the question in her heart. Pulling her index finger back from between his teeth, she slowly pressed the pad of her finger against her own soft, pink lips.
This time, however, no numbing electric current traveled from her fingertip to her lips. It was merely a simple, ordinary touch.
Failing to get the expected result, Lala shifted her gaze back onto Kihara's lips. For some reason, her mouth suddenly felt dry, and her body temperature began to rise slowly.
She gradually brought her face closer, stopping right at the microsecond before their lips could meet. Her body's natural impulse urged her forward, but her rationality firmly held her back.
"I can't do something like this while he's asleep."
After whispering softly, Lala slowly buried her head into his warm chest, her limbs intertwining tightly with his like vines wrapping around a giant tree.
Her tail, having nowhere else to rest, finally found a handrail. Wrapping around it a few times, it placed the heart-shaped tip right between their bellies.
Having finished all this, she closed her eyes and drifted into a deep sleep.
...
Kihara dreamed he was playing on the beach with swimsuit-clad Akane Shinjo and the girls. During the fun, Yume Minami secretly called him behind a massive boulder to help her apply sunscreen, only for the two of them to get swept into the ocean by a wave coming out of nowhere.
His arms and legs were tangled by tough seaweed, and just as they were about to become a pair of drowned ghost lovers, Yume Minami suddenly remarked that since they were going to die anyway, they might as well have some fun before kicking the bucket.
And then he woke up. Opening his eyes, the reflection of a perfect peach cross-section filled the bottom of his pupils.
The sticky, damp feeling between his lips and collar proved that he had indeed been submerged by sea water last night, leaving him completely bewildered.
Fortunately, even though Lala's sleeping posture was terrible, she wasn't so wild as to muddle-headedly devour him on the spot.
Kihara moved her arms—which were wrapped tight around his legs—aside, then picked up her pajamas from the floor to help her put them back on. During the process, she woke up once in a daze, flashed a silly smile, and closed her eyes to go right back to sleep.
[What a troublesome little vixens, my master. Art thou still able to hold thyself back?]
[If I can't hold back, I'll just make things official. What is there to hesitate about?]
[Splendidly straightforward! I hope thou keepest this exact same attitude when making me donuts next time.]
[That won't do. I still have plenty of outfits I want you to wear. If I don't use donuts as a bargaining chip, who's going to fill the missing cosplay void for me?]
[Tch~ Thou pervert.]
What Kihara didn't know was that before he woke up, a pair of ocean-blue eyes had been peering through the crack of the door, taking in everything inside the bedroom with absolute clarity.
And the moment he woke up, the owner of those blue eyes fled from the doorway in complete panic.
...
Thank you for reading.