“What’s wrong? You seem surprised to see me.”
Rie tilted her head, a hint of confusion in her gaze.
“No, no, no, Igarashi-senpai, why are you at my house?!”
Shion’s face was a mask of utter shock.
Rie pulled out her phone, opening her chat history with Shion.
“Hoshimori-chan mentioned yesterday, when we were chatting, that she wasn’t feeling well today and planned to rest early, so I asked if I should come visit you.”
“Huh? What did I say then?”
Shion recalled, a faint memory stirring.
She had indeed chatted with Rie for a while before going to bed yesterday, but by eight o’clock, she had been so utterly exhausted that her replies had become a jumbled mess, her eyelids barely able to stay open.
“You sent an ‘ok’ sticker back, and it was quite cute,” Rie replied.
“Huh?!”
Shion quickly checked her chat history with Rie.
She had indeed replied, but she’d assumed the message was meant for Shigure, and that particular cute sticker was one Shigure especially loved to use.
Rie picked up the freshly cooked porridge she’d made and presented it to Shion.
“Have a sip first; you still seem unwell today.”
Shion nodded.
“Thank you, Igarashi-senpai.”
She took the spoon, scooped up some porridge, and took a tentative sip.
‘Damn it! This tastes even worse than Ayane’s cooking.’
A wave of intense saltiness washed over Shion’s mouth.
She forced herself to swallow the mouthful of porridge, fighting the strong urge to gag, before carefully setting the bowl down.
‘This, this, this… it’s just a simple bowl of plain porridge! How could it have so much salt?!’
“How is it? Are you not hungry?”
Rie’s eyes brimmed with anticipation as she looked at Shion.
After a long internal struggle, Shion decided to be honest, yet gentle.
“Igarashi-senpai, your porridge…”
Then her gaze met Rie’s sincere eyes, light-red pupils filled with hopeful expectation.
“I don’t really have an appetite right now,” Shion said, adopting a very tactful approach to decline another spoonful of the porridge.
“My sister also left me a bento, and I’ve already had a little bit of it. I’ll drink the porridge later.”
“What’s wrong? Is it not tasty?”
Rie seemed to detect a hint of something amiss.
“Um… Igarashi-senpai, I don’t think I ever told you my house was here. How did you find it?”
Shion abruptly changed the subject, her tone somewhat stiff.
Rie propped her chin in her hand.
“I’ve been to the shrine before to watch you perform the Kagura dance. We talked about it when we first met, didn’t we?”
“Oh, r-right, hehe…”
Shion scratched her head.
“Is this porridge really that bad? I just made it and haven’t even tasted it myself yet, I should try it…” Rie said, picking up the bowl and bringing it to her lips.
“Wait! Um, Igarashi-senpai! How did you get in?!”
Shion tried to forcefully divert Rie, desperately grasping for anything to stop her from touching that porridge!
Rie paused, then explained, “When I arrived today, the shrine’s main gate wasn’t closed.”
‘Yes, I know that,’ Shion thought.
‘To allow worshippers easy access, the shrine gate is never closed during the day, only at night.’
“And then, the living room door wasn’t closed either.”
“Ayane, you idiot!”
Shion couldn’t help but blurt out.
No wonder Rie had managed to get in; it turned out Ayane hadn’t closed the door when she left that morning!
“I didn’t see your sister, though. I called out for a long time at the entrance, and when no one answered, I just let myself in,” Rie continued.
“Then I saw you in your bedroom, still running a fever, so I took the liberty of going to the kitchen to make you a bowl of porridge.”
“So, how is this porridge, really?”
Rie still held the bowl.
“Igarashi-senpai, no!”
Shion made one last desperate attempt, but she couldn’t stop Rie from taking a sip of the porridge.
What followed was the sight of the usually poised and elegant girl clamping her hand over her mouth, her face contorted in an expression of intense discomfort.
Despite her obvious distress, she managed to force the mouthful of plain porridge down, swallowing it with great difficulty rather than spitting it out.
Rie coughed, waving her hand dismissively.
“I truly… *cough, cough*, have absolutely no talent for cooking. Oh my goodness, why did I put so much salt in it…?”
“Cooking isn’t something you can rush; I only gradually learned how to cook myself,” Shion offered, trying to be comforting.
This was a lie.
In order to feed her sister, Shion had practically mastered a whole repertoire of Ayane’s favorite dishes—miso soup, hamburger steaks, tonkatsu, and more—all within the past few days.
“Eventually, when I leave this town and go to Tokyo, I’ll have to cook for myself,” Rie sighed.
“I’ll have to learn sometime.”
As she spoke, Rie’s gaze settled on Shion.
“Hoshimori-chan, how about this: after you graduate, we go to Tokyo together? We can attend university side-by-side. What do you say to cooking for me?”
At this, Rie let out a laugh, as if amused by her own suggestion.
‘Fast forward to being kept by a rich lady, then getting beaten to death by my sister.’
“If I’m not here, Hoshimori Shrine will be left unattended,” Shion said, waving her hand dismissively.
“Nobody wants to be a priest or shrine maiden these days anyway.”
“If I weren’t the shrine maiden, I might actually agree to Igarashi-senpai’s offer.”
Hearing Shion’s reply, Rie smiled.
“Hoshimori-chan’s answer is certainly diplomatic. But if you weren’t the shrine maiden, would you really be willing to accompany me?”
“Yes, I would definitely accompany Igarashi-senpai,” Shion stated earnestly.
Rie paused, a flicker of surprise in her eyes, before a look of relief spread across her face.
“Alright then, I’ll believe that too. If Hoshimori-chan ever gets to set aside her duties as the shrine maiden, you must come with me to Tokyo.”
Shion made an ‘okay’ gesture.
Rie stood up and stretched.
“Hoshimori-chan, you should rest. I’ll have my butler send some food over.”
Then, her gaze fell upon the bowl of porridge, salty as if pure salt had reincarnated within it.
“I… I’ll go pour it out, and then clean up the kitchen.”
‘Clean up the kitchen?’…
As the phrase registered in Shion’s mind, a sense of unease began to creep in.
“I, I’ll go take a look in the kitchen.”
Shion stood up, her body still feeling a little heavy.
“Wait, I’ll clean it up! Hoshimori-chan, please rest a bit more!”
The usually composed and elegant Rie now wore a flustered expression, one she hadn’t even shown when Shion first saw her surrounded by delinquents.
Though it was already a little too late, Shion left her bedroom and walked into the kitchen.
Utter chaos awaited her.
There was an entire pot of porridge still in the pan, with large splatters of it spilled onto the table beside it.
Not only had she failed to control the taste, but she hadn’t managed the quantity either.
There were also water stains on the floor, chopsticks and bowls haphazardly scattered, and even some uncooked rice strewn about.
It was just making a single bowl of porridge; how could it have caused such a mess?!
“This…”
Shion’s face was etched with pure astonishment.
While she’d suspected Rie wasn’t adept at housework, she’d never imagined it could be worse than Ayane’s efforts.
“Hoshimori-chan, I’m so sorry!”
Rie quickly clasped her hands together and bowed in apology.