"Haah… It's like my wish for a peaceful life is a distant dream now…"
Kei was sitting on the sofa of his living room lamenting the things that had befallen him. It was 7 p.m. at night. He had just finished his training an hour ago and walked back home alone since he told Mai to not wait for him for the next few days since his training wouldn't have a fixed finish time. Just when he was about to take a nap on the sofa, his intercom rang.
"Ohaiyo, Kei-kun~"
When he opened the door, Mai stood there in her hoodie and shorts giving him a big smile. Even if she didn't walk home with him these past few days, she still made an effort to come to his house as much as she could. Ever since their trip to Kujukuri beach, Kei had become softer towards Mai.
"Have you eaten yet?"
"Umm… do you wanna go out and eat? I'm too tired to cook today…"
When he said that, Mai's face lit up and she gave him another big smile.
"Yosh! The opportunity has finally come up for me!"
On another note, ever since she brought him to Kujukuri beach, Mai had become less shy and awkward around Kei and talked more frequently when she was at his house.
"?"
"You just sit there! I shall cook today!"
"Wait a minute… you can cook?"
"Heheh~"
When Mai first found out that Kei could cook, she was disappointed that she couldn't show him her cooking prowess. And since she loved the feeling of being able to taste the food that Kei cooked for her, she backed down from her own desires of wanting to cook for him.
"May I use your kitchen?"
"Umm… go ahead I guess…"
20 Minutes later, Mai was done cooking. Kei was quite amazed when he saw the food that was laid out in front of him. Mai had managed to whip up a western styled meal consisting of grilled salmon seasoned with herbs, mashed potato, salad, and a few sauces for Kei to choose. In Kei's fridge, he had a wide range of available ingredients since he was living alone and cooked for himself. Mai used that opportunity to cook something she had never seen him cook before.
"Well? How is it?"
"…Mmm… It's been a while…"
"Is it… no good?" Mai suddenly felt guilty when Kei gave that kind of response.
"Ah… no it's delicious. It's just that… I haven't eaten food this good for such a long time."
For Kei, he had stuck to a limited number of dishes that he usually cooked. It wasn't that he had no knowledge of cooking other dishes, it was that he didn't want to.
"Thank you… for letting me taste such a delicious meal…"
Kei, for the first time in a very long time, gently smiled at Mai who was noticeably shocked looking at his expression. She then gave a big smile of her own in response.
"Besides… your food… is delicious too…" Mai said with a blush on her face.
As usual, the two of them sat on Kei's sofa in the living room after they were done with their meal. This time however, Mai was pouting at Kei who was confused as to why she was doing so.
"Et tu… Mai-san? I can't help but feel like you're…mad at me…?"
"What was the promise we made?"
"…"
"Hmmmmmmmmmm…hmph." Mai looked away as she started pouting.
When they went to Kujukuri beach, Kei had made a promise to Mai that he would tell her when he had any problems or when he was in trouble. Clearly, he looked trouble throughout the whole day, even after Mai had come over and when they were eating dinner together. When Kei watched her pout, he felt kind of bad over it. He did make that promise after all.
"Haah… It's not that I didn't want to tell you… It's just that I didn't think it was big enough of a deal to tell you."
"I think that this 'small problem' of yours counts as ANY problems. So, tell me."
Mai suddenly had a sadistic look masked behind a kind-looking smile on her face. It was as if it was saying 'If you won't tell me, you're not sleeping tonight'.
"All right, all right. Well, the captain of the girl's team had requested to train together with the boys since I would be coaching the boys anyway."
"And because the boy's team members are like dogs on heat, you're worried it might affect both teams. Is that it?"
"Mmm… On one hand, I sort of want to help them since Chihaya is on the girl's team. But on the other hand, there's that problem. Not to mention it's such a bother to train two teams…"
"Hmmm~, why not make a punishment system? Lose focus and you get punished. Since it's you, I'm sure they will obey."
What Mai had said actually makes sense. Since they had a big risk of losing concentration and also affecting their training form, having the constant fear of being punished by Kei's harsh methods would overpower their libido. Suddenly, Kei leaned in close to her, causing a confused Mai to blush extremely hard. Her cheeks were flushed with red now.
"That…Might actually work! Why didn't I think of it?!"
"Y-yes! Heheh…That's why…please tell me everything from now on, okay? No matter…how trivial they may be…" Mai said whilst looking away as she was too embarrassed to look Kei in the eye.
"Ah…mmm…I promise…"
"A-also…there's also…another way to help…"