The Upper Levels of the God Realm, the Temple of Fate. It is erected on the second most prestigious place in the God Realm, only below the Sanctuary, where only the Supreme Gods and their direct subordinates are allowed to enter.
Fate, the God of Fate, the master of this temple... for some reason, was cooking, wearing a pink apron.
[Fufufuuuun~~♪]
Smiling while happily humming a tune, Fate was in a very good mood. The table was lined with beautifully browned cookies, and picking up one of the finished products, Fate brought it to her mouth.
[Unnn! Delish! As expected of me, I guess. Even if I don't usually do something, doesn't mean I can't!]
The finished cookies seemed to be satisfactory, and Fate happily put the finished cookies into a cute wrapping bag.
[I wonder if Kai-chan would be happy with these~~? I was busy with dealing with the stuff at the Six Kings Festival related to Shallow Vernal-sama, and other than that time I played analyst at his birthday party, I didn't get to play with Kai-chan that much~~]
After talking to herself with a happy smile on her face, Fate grabbed the wrapped cookies and jumped on her favorite cushion.
And then, heading towards where Kaito is...
[...Arehh?]
She stopped moving, tilting her head.
[...What am I doing? Eh? Why am I willingly doing something as tedious as cooking?]
Apparently, she had been in such a good mood that she hadn't noticed it before, but she seemed to have finally realized her strange actions.
Dumbfounded, Fate stares at the package of cookies in her hand and mutters with a serious expression on her face.
[...This is strange, isn't it? After all, I'm supposed to be approaching Kai-chan so that he could feed me while I spend my days lying around doing nothing, right? So, why am I spending so much time and effort to cook... N- No, this is that! It's because it's easier to win Kai-chan's heart with a home-cooked meal... N- No, but, wouldn't it have been easier if I just bring the "sweets made by Fertility God"?]
As if something seemed to be bothering her, she kept mumbling to herself in that place with no other person in sight.
[...That kinda looks like "I wanted Kai-chan to eat my home-cooked meal"... N- No, that's wrong! After all, the reason I'm approaching Kai-chan is so that I can become a full-fledged NEET. Kai-chan is a softied after all, so I'm just using him... U- Unnn, that's not it. That's definitely not it.]
Looking as if she was quite upset, Fate shook her head several times and continued speaking with a flustered expression on her face.
[That's definitely not it! After all, I'm a God, right? One of the Supreme Gods... There's no way that I... am "in love" with a mere mortal! W- Well, Kai-chan certainly is an interesting child, and I evaluate him quite highly. I'm only bringing these because he's useful to me, not because I'm in love with him or anything like that!]
As she spoke of such things, Fate suddenly realized that the cushion she was currently riding on….. "her favorite cushion, the present she received from Kaito", and fell silent.
[...N- No... That's not it! This is just my favorite because it's a nice cushion... It has nothing to do with this being Kai-chan's present or anything like that. Even the fact that I was happy when he gave it to me was just an act... It's an act to get Kai-chan to feed me.]
After muttering this as if she was explaining this to herself, Fate looked pensive for a moment before a small smile appeared on her lips.
[...The date with Kai-chan was quite f———– Hahh!? N- No, that's not it!!!]
And immediately after, she vigorously shook her head.
[No, after all, that's impossible... That would be putting the cart before the horse. That's not the case, right? There's no way that I really fell in love with Kai-chan while trying different means of approaching him...]
Strange as it may seem, one's own heart is something difficult for a person to understand. And apparently, that was also the same case for a Supreme God.
She hadn't noticed until now the love she had for Kaito that had begun to grow within her heart. She didn't realize until now that the approaches she made so that he could take her in... before she noticed it, became her main goal.
While Fate's face was slowly turning red, her eyes chaotically moved about.
[....T- That's right... "I need to go back to work".]
Just like that, Fate finally reached the peak of her confusion and began to act in a way that was the furthest thing from her normal self. Without messing around, she went to her desk, which she had only used a handful of times since the construction of her temple, and began to work frantically, as if she was trying to forget something.
After a few minutes while Fate was working, the huge door of her room was opened with great force.
[God of Fate! Today for sure, I'm going to make you work on those increasing stacks of reports...]
[Shut up, God of Time and Space! I'm working right now, so don't interfere! The reports are over there!]
[You are just always, every single day, sla———— Unnn? Wait a minute, what did you just say?]
[I said, the d*mned reports are over there! Stop interfering and get the heck out of here!]
[...Eh?]
Hearing Fate's words that were filled with irritation, Chronois looked at her with a puzzled expression on her face. Chronois currently had a dumbfounded look on her face that was unimaginable from the usual her... which is something that couldn't be helped.
With her eyes wide open, Chronois alternatively looked between Fate and the stacks of reports several times. Then, after gently holding one of the reports and checking it... she spoke, looking somewhat pale.
[...U- Ummm, G- God of Fate? A- Are you alright? Y- You don't seem to be doing well?]
[No! I'm just as usual!]
[I- I see... Y- You see... Y- You don't have to be that caught up in it, okay? I- It's not like you have to rush in doing it. I- I think you should take some breaks...]
Perhaps because she saw Fate so differently from her normal self, Chronois worriedly told her this. The fact that she even says "I think you should stop working...", the exact opposite of what she usually says shows how shaken she is.
[Like I said! You're a freaking hindrance! GET LOOOOOOST!!!]
[S- Sorry! I'll be leaving then!!!]
Pushed back by Fate's pressure, Chronois hurriedly ran out of Fate's temple... It would be some time before the confusion in her mind was cleared up.
Meanwhile, Fate, who was the cause of the confusion within her mind, kept on single-mindedly work... and continuously whispered to herself.
[...T- That's not it... It's not like... I fell in love with Kai-chan... or anything...]
She mumbled words of denial over and over again, but no matter how much she kept on looking away... That which had sprouted within her heart will not disappear.
No, rather than disappearing... Her feelings that had awakened after she became aware of it, seemed to grow with each of her denial...