Chapter 135: 135

I used the wooden salad tongs to serve the salad onto the plate.

“Mikuma, is this okay?”

“Yes. Thank you, Kunpei-kun.”

“You’re welcome. Do you want some salad, Hina-chan?”

“Ah, um, um! Just a bit!”

You don’t have to be that flustered.

The girl with the black hair and hime cut, Kusaka Hina-chan’s face turned bright red as she held out a paper plate to me.

“I made the salad and fried chicken today! I’m so proud of the work that even Shouhei-san praised me!”

“Hmm. She was making a fuss over the splashing oil. It was fun to watch.”

Aoi was holding Nana in her arms and beaming, when Rouge, standing next to her, said something unnecessary.

Don’t do that, she’s really smug about it.

“Ru-anesama! You don’t have to say that!”

“But you’ve gotten really good at cooking, haven’t you, Aoi-neechan? At first, it was really just baking and boiling.”

Shouhei, who was preparing drinks at the kitchen counter, followed Aoi.

You really did your best, didn’t you, Aoi?

I was honestly surprised that someone who didn’t even know how to use a knife could learn to make fried chicken at home in just a few months.

It’s partly because Shouhei is an excellent teacher, but it’s also because of Aoi’s tireless efforts.

“Makio wants some salad, right?”

I asked Makio, who was sitting on the sofa in the dining room, playing with Jaja on his lap.

“Yes, thanks.”

“Dah!”

Jaja is not afraid of the unfamiliar Makio and laughed happily as he tickled her.

Jaja is really friendly.

Nana can still only be held by family members or Yuri-san, while her twin sister is adorable and spoiled by many people.

I put the salad on a paper plate for Makio and put it at the end of the table.

I put the salad tongs together and headed for the living room window.

“Dad, Koji. We’d better get started.”

Through the window, I called out to my father who was working in the garden and Koji who was watching him with interest.

“Oh. I’m ready to go, too. It’s been a while since I’ve touched a barbecue set, so it took me a while.”

“Nyaa.”

The barbecue set that my father had worked so hard to set up since this morning was the one I washed last night after taking it out of the closet. It hadn’t been used for a long time, so it was rusty and covered with dust.

I think the last time we used it was when my mom was here.

The charcoal that Rouge had lit for us was red hot under the grill.

“Hey, most of the people here are girls, can we really have a barbecue?”

It wasn’t my intention, but the percentage of girls in this house was over 70%.

The only guys in the house are me, Shouhei, my dad, Koji and Makio.

“Don’t be stingy at the welcome party, it’s unseemly. Don’t worry about it. Rouge-chan will eat it anyway.”

“Well, I’m sure Rouge will be fine with it.”

It’s not that I’m stingy.

That taciturn dragon. Even though she has such a slender body, she’s a big eater.

I wonder where the hell it all goes.

“Ni.”

Saeki’s younger brother, Koji tugged at the hem of my clothes and pointed at the table.

“Hmm? Ah, the cake? That’s for after the meal.”

In front of his finger was the whole shortcake that he had just bought with Koji, Shouhei and Hina.

I thought the little ones would enjoy it the most, so I let them choose.

Hina-chan, who knows a lot about sweet treats as a girl, recommended this place, and after spending a lot of time agonizing over it, we ended up settling on a strawberry-filled shortcake that was sure to be delicious.

Rouge, the star of the day, and surprisingly, Aoi, also said they’ve never had cake before.

So it would be best to introduce them to something more orthodox.

Shortcake is the king of cakes, right?

“Kou-chan, it’s too early for cake, no matter how you look at it.”

“Nyeeh!”

Koji’s tail and ears drooped and his shoulders slumped as Shouhei scolded him over the counter kitchen.

“Nihehe, you made him angry idiot Koji.”

“Don’t just lie around Ichika-chan, come and get your own plate.”

Mikuma called out from the table to Saeki, who was lying down in the twins’ playground in the dining room.

“You’re making her angry too, aren’t you?”

“Nishishi!”

Koji laughed at my tsukkomi.

“Don’t laugh, Koji!”

“Nyaa!”

Saeki stood up and lightly smacked Koji in the head.

Don’t be so quick to make a move just because you’re embarrassed.

These siblings violence is really no good.

“Kunpei-san, I’m ready over here.”

“I’m okay too.”

Shouhei, our head chef, and Aoi, our sous chef, gave us the go-ahead.

Okay, let’s get started.

“Makio, I’ll take care of Jaja.”

“Dah!”

“Wow, what a reaction. Papa is the best after all, isn’t he?”

When I extended my hand to Jaja, who was sitting on Makio’s lap, she smiled and opened her arms to me.

I put my hands under her arms and picked her up, and she flapped her wings to express her joy.

The tip of her short tail moved to wrap around my arm, but it’s not long enough to reach me.

“Aren’t you glad big brother Makio played with you?”

“Au, fuah!”

Ah, I see, you had such a good time. She’s so cute.

“I’m used to babysitting Hina, you know. It’s worthwhile to play with Jaja because she’s always happy no matter what I do. Hina was crying all the time.”

“Ah, onii-chan! How long ago are you talking about? Don’t say anything embarrassing!”

Hina shouted accusingly at Makio from the other side of the table.

That’s nice.

It’s starting to feel like a party, isn’t it?

Well, here we are, today is Saturday.

It was the day of Rouge’s welcome party, organized by my father.

The living room and dining room of our house were crowded with many guests, unlike usual.

Mikuma, the Saeki siblings, Hina-chan, and Makio.

Even Yuri-san and Officer Doggy were there, ready for a toast.

My father was in the garden preparing the barbecue.

Shouhei and I were the hosts of the party, preparing the food and drinks.

“Kazamachi-san, is it really okay for us to join in?”

“Yes. It seems like the age group is quite young. Don’t you think Mom and I look out of place?”

Yuri-san and Officer Doggy, who were sitting around a low table, were smiling bitterly with troubled faces.

“What are you talking about? Of course it’s okay. Yuri-san and Doggy-san are almost like family members. Please don’t hesitate to make yourself at home.”

My father replied with a big smile on his face.

Well, I took it for granted that Yuri-san and Doggy-san would be partying with us.

Yuri-san is like a grandmother to Jaja and Nana, and Officer Doggy is one of the few people they have known him they were born.

The little ones’ unreservedness towards Yuri-san is almost like that of a family member.

“Dah!”

“Nana, this is our cup, you can’t have it.”

“Yes, yes, Nana, it’s the usual apple juice.”

Shouhei’s tray was lined with cups containing enough cola for everyone.

Perhaps intuiting that the mysterious black liquid that appeared on the table was something delicious, Nana reached hard from Aoi’s chest and tried to grab a cup.

“Nii-chan sorry. The miniature baby bottles in the kitchen are Jaja and Nana’s apple juice, okay?”

“Oh, Dad’s okay with a beer, right? What about Yuri-san and Officer Doggy?”

I walked to the kitchen with Jaja in my arms and took a can of beer out of the refrigerator while I was at it.

“Ah, can I have a beer, too?”

“Don’t drink too much. Kunpei-kun, I’ll just have a cola.”

“All right. Here, Dad.”

I took another beer from the fridge and pushed the door closed with my hips.

“Oh.”

After happily accepting the two bottles of beer, my dad went to deliver them to Officer Doggy.

“Yuri-san, here’s your cola.”

“Thank you, Shouhei-kun.”

After receiving the cup from Shouhei, Yuri-san turned her body to the dining table as she sat down.

“Aoi, for Nana.”

“Here you go, Nana. Say thank you to papa?”

I handed Aoi the miniature baby bottles that were lined up in the kitchen.

Aoi took the bottle with the plastic handle and placed it in Nana’s small hand.

“Unaa”

What’s with the thank you? It’s super cute though.

Nana happily grasped the miniature baby bottle with both hands, said a few words, and started drinking the apple juice with a great speed.

“Here, this is Jaja’s.”

“Baa!”

I gave Jaja the miniature baby bottle in the same way.

Oh, oh.

It’s easy to see she’s so happy.

“Now everyone has a glass, right? Okay, then.”

He popped the pull tab on the beer can and stood up imposingly.

“Thank you all very much for coming here today! If it’s too long, it’ll get annoying, so I’ll keep it short.”

Everyone looked at my father.

Jaja and Nana were looking at him with a sideways glance with the miniature baby bottles in their mouths.

“Welcome, Rouge! Cheers!”

“Cheers!”

We all shouted a toast in unison, and each of us raised our glasses above our heads.

I looked at Rouge, the star of today’s event, and she was looking at everyone with an unusually troubled expression.

“Ru-anesama, what’s wrong?”

“NguNgu.”

Aoi examined Rouge’s expression along with Nana, who was drinking the juice wholeheartedly.

Rouge turned her head slightly away from Aoi and squeezed the glass in her hand.

“I’ve never done anything like this before, and I’m happy and, well, a little embarrassed.”

Rouge replied in a fidgety whisper.

When we saw that, we couldn’t stop grinning.

“Here you go, Rouge. Eat up.”

“Ru-neechan. There’s plenty to go around, okay?”

“All right! Now, I’ll grill the meat!”

“Nii!”

“Koji! You can watch uncle, but don’t get in my way!”

“Rouge-san, please sit over here.”

Rouge’s face turned bright red as she was spoken to all at once.

“U-un. Thanks…”

She sat down in the chair Mikuma had pulled out and said thank you while keeping her face down.

“Do you want some salad, Rouge-oneechan?”

“Yes. Thank you, Hina.”

She took the plate from Hina and faintly smiled.

Huh?

It’s the first time I’ve seen her smile, isn’t it?

She has a dangerous expression when it comes to Jaja and Nana, but other than that, her face had always been expressionless.

“Kunpei-san.”

“Hmm?”

Aoi whispered to me.

“Ru-anesama has never been able to talk or play with anyone much. Since she came to this house, she really seems to be enjoying herself every day.”

Rouge sat at the table, and Mikuma, Saeki, Shouhei, Hina-chan, and Makio surround her.

Aoi looked at such a scene with compassion.

“I was the same way. Maybe that’s the only way dragons can live. But…”

Leaning her head against mine, Aoi closed her eyes.

“Kunpei-san changed me. He changed me and Ru-anesama. Jaja and Nana too. …Kunpei-san is a really kind and wonderful person.”

Her voice, so quiet that it was almost drowned out by the voices around her, was filled with so many emotions as it echoed gently in my ears.

“Well, I didn’t really do anything though.”

All I did today was buy groceries and clean.

“Fufu, you really don’t get it, do you?”

“Get what?”

What else did I do?

“No. If you don’t understand, it’s okay not to understand. Maybe that’s just the way you are, Kunpei-san.”

“What’s with that?”

I looked at the garden and saw my father drinking beer while grilling meat.

Koji was watching next to him, while Yuri-san and Officer Doggy were sitting by the window talking about something.

At the dining table, Rouge and the others were enjoying their food, while Jaja and Nana were still engrossed in their juice.

“Aoi.”

“Yes?”

Aoi raised her head and looked at me.

“No, I just wanted to call your name.”

“What’s with that?”

Really, I just wanted to call out to you for some reason.

Aoi laughed and went to the dining table.

That’s right, I just wanted to try calling out to you.

I’m sure she’ll answer.

The person next to me responds to me. I’m too embarrassed to say that I’m very happy about such a natural thing, so please just leave it at that.

“…That stupid prince needs to be made to understand.”

I mumbled something to myself that no one else could hear.

Tomorrow, I’ll go toe-to-toe with the prince.

It’s amazing how much a person can be saved just by having someone by their side to support them.

He doesn’t realize that.

That’s why he’s trying to keep Kayone away from him.

I’m sure that Kayone is the person who understands him the best.

Jaja and Nana.

Shouhei and father.

Aoi, Mikuma and Rouge.

Saeki and Koji, Makio and Hina-chan.

Yuri-san and Officer Doggy.

I’m finally able to stand here with the support of so many people.

The happiness I’ve found and what he’s trying to give up may be the same thing.

Let’s find out tomorrow.