[I see~~ Lilia-san attracting trouble as usual... Or rather, today's matter was completely Kaito-kun's fault.]
[She gave me a stern lecture, telling me that from now on, when I meet someone for the first time, I should make sure if they're an executive of one of the Six Kings first...]
After talking about the incident a few days ago, I found myself chuckling with Kuro while conversing with each other. While Kuro was talking to me, she took out something that looked like a shichirin and lit it.
Currently, after being invited by her, Kuro and I are watching the moon on the riverbank where we had barbecue back then. Unfortunately, it wasn't the season for the light trees to illuminate, but that doesn't matter much because our purpose is to watch the moon.
[Hmmm... I think doing that won't change the outcome, and Lilia-chan will still be surprised when that happens... Well, I think Lilia-chan herself knows that Kaito-kun has no ill intention. That's why, when she wants to complain, she's telling you to confirm and communicate first.]
[Seriously, it was a strange encounter rate.]
[That's right~~ It usually isn't that easy to meet one of them. When it comes to executives, even I haven't seen some of them for a long time.]
Thereupon, Kuro placed a small pot on top of the shichirin, and filled it with a liquid that smelled faintly of flowers and sake, cooking sake, I guess (?), to warm it up while she took out the next ingredient.
[...Kuro, is that cheese?]
[Unnn, Chris gave it to me when I met her the other day. She said it's a high-grade cheese that they're trying to sell as a specialty of the Archlesia Empire.]
[Heehhh... Then, you chopping it into pieces and putting it into the pot... Are you making cheese fondue?]
[Yes, yes! I'm thinking of dipping baby castellas in it before eating.]
[That sounds delicious.]
That would be just like bread dipped in cheese fondue, so it would definitely be delicious. The outrageous baby castellas that Kuro made held quite the impression, but in fact, the frequency of those nasty baby castellas... those so-called failures aren't that high.
Well, even so, once every 3-5 times, there will be something so bizarre that you'll wonder if they're pranking you... but well, looking at the percentage, there were more delicious baby castellas.
Though I say that, since we're having baby castellas in our moon-viewing, there would be piles of baby castellas stacked up like tsukimi dangos prepared... so depending on what Kuro came up with, there may be a baby castella with a strange flavor mixed among them, so I have to be careful.
(T/N: Tsukimi dango is what is usually eaten in the Mid-autumn festival, where you do moon viewing (tsukimi) in Japan.)
[...Kuro, do you have any more of that shichirin?]
[Unnn? Yes, here.]
[Thanks.]
[What are you going to cook?]
[Since we're having cheese fondue, I thought we should also eat other foods too.]
While answering Kuro's question, I put the ingredients I took out from my magic box on the prepared shichirin.
[Ahh, that's a great idea! Shrimps would be tasty!]
[I think fruits would be good too, but I think that would only taste good after eating a certain amount of them...]
[Ah, that's right! Kaito-kun, let's cook this too.]
[Unnn? That is... a shellfish?]
Kuro takes out a scallop-looking shellfish, which she placed on the mesh grate.
[I've got some butter too, so use it...]
[Adding it would definitely make it tasty.]
[Right~~]
[Since it's buttered, I'd like to put some soy sauce on it too... If I remember correctly, Neun-san gave me some.]
While exchanging idle words, we prepared this and that. Hmmm, how should I say this... Being like this... It's hard to describe, but this feels kinda nice.
It's not like we're doing anything special, but being like this feels fulfilling...
[...You know, this feels kinda nice, doesn't it?]
[Eh?]
Hearing what Kuro said, I couldn't help but ask back. After all, it was the exact same thing I had been thinking about...
[No, even though it isn't really that big of an event like festivals or beach swimming, it's just us coming out here because the moon looks beautiful, talking about random things and doing whatever we want, but strangely enough, things seem to mesh together... How should I explain it? Even though we're not doing anything special, I'm having a lot of fun.]
[...Unnn, alright. I mean, I was just thinking the same thing. It's not like I'm doing anything special, but I feel so fulfilled.]
[I see, ehehe. We're thinking the same thing then.]
Hearing my words, Kuro smiled happily and as if she was acting spoiled, she leaned her body on me. The gesture was adorable, and I felt warmth in my heart as I looked at the large moon in the sky.
[...If I had to describe it, I think the word "happiness" fits to the tee. Being able to laugh about trivial things and enjoy various things together feels really nice.]
[Unnn... I was just thinking the same thing.]
[We're thinking the same thing then.]
[Unnn!]
As I looked at Kuro's smile, I felt that I must have the same look on my face right now.
Feeling the irreplaceable and definite bond between us... As if our bodies were being guided, beneath the moonlight, Kuro's shadow and mine overlapped.
[Afterword]
Serious-senpai : [Aiiiiieeeee!? Main heroine!? Main heroine, why!? What's with the sudden date!?]
? ? ? : [It kinda feels like they wanted to eat something sweet.]
Serious-senpai : [Then, just eat on your own! Rather, that's not what I meant!!! Then, if someone wanted to eat something with a serious flavor, why don't you write a serious chapter!!!?]
? ? ? : [...No, in the first place, what the heck is a serious flavor...]
Serious-senpai : [...I dunno?]