Entering the kitchen, I took off all my armor pieces and stored them in my space pouch, leaving me with my slime body suit, before hesitantly grabbing my apron and wearing it, which caused me to both sigh and smile. Shaking my head as I tried to clear my mind, I opened all the kitchen cabinets, trying to locate where everything was, though most of the cabinets were empty: no spices, nor herbs, no sauces, nothing. Other than a few plates and utensils, there was nothing I could use to enhance the flavor of my dish; sighing, I closed the cabinets and went to the pantry, which was filled with food; actually, it was just rice.
'Rice, rice, rice, oh, and some more rice.' Thought Alexander blankly as he looked through the pantry, hoping to find something other than rice, though to no avail.
Opening the fridge, similar to the pantry, there was only one type of food present, and that was meat; from the looks of things, there were different types of meat, but that was about it.
'Well, at least it's not more rice.' Thought Alexander with a sigh as he rubbed his head in frustration before grabbing a few pounds of various meat.
Knowing Yuki eats quite a lot of food, I made sure not to skimp out, grabbing four pounds of food while also getting about eight cups of rice from the pantry. Finding the cooking tools, I grabbed a pan and a pot; filling the pot with water at the sink, I placed it on the stove and poured the eight cups of rice into it before turning on the fire.
While the rice was cooking, I opened the packages of meat, which were poorly packed, by the way, and since there was no chopping board or knife, I just used the counter and summoned Trina, reducing her size with [Shrink], causing her to look like merely a big knife.
'Why? Why is it always me, Master?' Asked Trina in defeat as she lay sprawled on the ocean while looking at the sky.
'Sorry, I'll make sure to switch between you and Zartha, Trina.' Replied Alexander with an apologetic smile as he looked at Trina, who he was using to chop up chicken.
'I'm a Mythical sword forged by a Godsmith; even if it's you, Master, I refuse to be treated with such disrespect and used as an everyday knife.' Remarked Zartha coldly with a frown as she looked up at the clear sunny sky while sitting down in a chair made of water.
'Eh, well, I've already done it plenty of times with Trina; it's only right if I interchange you two every now and then. I apologize beforehand, Zartha.' Replied Alexander with a wry smile, his response causing Zartha to squint her eyes as she continued to justify herself, though Alexander had long since stopped listening.
While Zartha continued to plead her case, I used her beautiful voice as a radio as I chopped the meat; once done chopping the meat into small bite-sized chunks, I placed the pan on the stove beside the pot and poured the meat chunks onto it; before suddenly hitting myself in the face.
"Nearly forgot to add cooking oil; how does Yuki not have any cooking oil? After this, I'm spending the remainder of the day at the market; I need to get a lot of things if I want to cook properly." Muttered Alexander as he reached inside his space pouch, grabbing a small bottle of cooking oil before pouring it into the pan, which was filled with meat chunks.
'Good thing I always keep a little bit on me, though just this won't be enough to spice up the food; this is probably going to be the blandest dish ever.' Thought Alexander with a sigh as he shook his head before using Trina as a spatula, stirring the pan.
Since I had absolutely no ingredients at my disposal, there wasn't much I needed to do, and other than occasionally stirring the pan to ensure every chunk of meat got thoroughly cooked, I was pretty much just standing there doing nothing while waiting.
After a few minutes had passed, I heard several loud thumps above me, which was just Yuki walking through the house, something I just realized probably wasn't that comfortable given the size of the interior. I was nowhere near Yuki's massive size, but even I felt a little claustrophobic at times; same with Master's tree house, though this place was a little bit better.
With Yuki out of the shower and my food almost done cooking, I waited another minute or so before checking on the rice and seeing it nicely cooked, I turned both the stoves off. Setting three plates down, I grabbed the pan, and while Trina grumbled in annoyance, I poured a little bit, about an eighth of the meat, onto one plate before dumping the rest onto another.
'Thank you for your service, Trina.' Said Alexander with a smile as he burned off all the juices on Trina with his fire mana before absorbing her back inside him.
Grabbing a spoon, I bought the pot over and poured some onto my plate before dumping the rest, or simply how much the plate could hold onto the third one. Putting the pot, which still had some rice left, back onto the stove, I carried the three plates, hovering the last one with my wind mana, and walked toward the table before placing them down.
"Well, I'm far from proud of it, but it seems to be slightly better than what Yuki eats, at least whenever she's at home." Said Alexander with a nod as he grabbed a few utensils before placing them beside the plates.
Well, since the only thing left was to wait for Yuki, I headed back upstairs and walked toward her room, knocking on her closed door. I heard all the noise coming from behind her door and paused for a second as Yuki's voice rang out.
"Y-Yes?" Asked Yuki, and without her helmet, her voice sounded incredibly soft and gentle, slightly surprising Alexander.
"I-I just wanted to inform you I had cooked lunch; we need to have a serious discussion about your empty kitchen." Replied Alexander as he quickly regained his composure before frowning while practically staring at Yuki through the door.
"Eh? O-Oh, okay." Said Yuki in her soft and gentle voice that anyone would mistake belonged to a petite and delicate maiden, not a massive, battle-hardened, muscular, four-armed Oni.
"Um, Alexander, could you stay there, please?" Asked Yuki lightly, her words prompting Alexander, who was already halfway down the stairs, to turn around and approach her door.
"Hmm? Yeah, sure, I don't mind." Said Alexander as he tilted his head in slight confusion before shrugging his arms and waiting for Yuki.
I didn't know why Yuki wanted me to wait for her, but I didn't care too much; I was finished cooking and preparing the table, so I had nothing stopping me from doing so. After a few minutes of humming one of Master's favorite songs to myself, I heard the handle twist as the door slightly cracked open, allowing me to see Yuki's yellow eyes, blue skin, and part of her white hair.
This weird stare between us continued for a little while, which I honestly found to be a little funny, though I could actually tell she was a little scared to open the door fully.
"Heh, stopping stalling, Yuki, the food is getting cold; no one likes cold food unless the food is supposed to be cold." Remarked Alexander as he pushed off the wall he was leaning on and stood before the door while folding his arms.
"O-Okay, j-just don't freak out." Said Yuki in her soft voice as she fully opened the door after hesitating and emerged from her room, standing right beside Alexander.
Despite having already seen her appearance, it was the first I'd ever seen her without her armor and wearing regular clothes, and while I wasn't looking for a relationship, I couldn't help but whistle in awe; although Yuki was a nine and a half foot tall Oni weighing nearly seven hundred pounds of pure muscle, she looked just as feminine as any woman I've come across.
'Though I won't lie, Yuki's incredible curves are helping her immensely.' Thought Alexander with a raised eyebrow as he glanced at Yuki's thick thighs, large butt, toned abdomen, and massive, firm breasts.
"You look much different without all that heavy armor on you, Yuki; you actually look and sound like a woman." Remarked Alexander with a smirk as he lightly hit Yuki's exposed abdomen; her shirt was too small to cover anything more than her massive breasts.
'Felt like I just hit stone; I'm slightly jealous of her.' Mused Alexander as he glared at Yuki's six-pack of abs in envy.
"Um, I-I don't look ugly or anything?" Asked Yuki, feeling slightly embarrassed with herself as she kept fidgeting.
"Hmm, no, why would you think that?" Asked Alexander as he tilted his head in confusion while looking up at Yuki.
"I thought men don't like tall women with muscles; don't they only like small, petite women?" Replied Yuki; this time, it was her turn to give Alexander a look of pure confusion.
"I can't really say much about that; my lover was also a small, petite woman, though I think you're referring to marriage and whatnot, Yuki." Said Alexander, causing Yuki's eyes to widen as she nodded in understanding.
"Oh, that makes much more sense now that you mention that, Alexander." Muttered Yuki while nodding, her embarrassment from before completely vanishing.
"Yes, now come on you, Oni, I've made us lunch." Remarked Alexander as he shook his head and walked downstairs, followed by Yuki, whose stomach grumbled at his words.