Chapter 376: Springy and Brittle (1/2)

Taiyou was surprised not only at Sakura being there, but at how her apparel had changed. It wasn’t strange, lewd, or eccentric by any means. It was actually pretty normal: an apron. Sakura had been wearing that apron when she greeted him in the entrance hall.

“Umm…why are you here?”

Taiyou was so dazed that it took a tremendous amount of effort to ask that.

“I’m just here to visit a relative.”

“Relative?”

“The house of my younger sister and her mother-in-law.”

Sakura said calmly but with a hint of mischief.

She was referring to her half sister Youran and her half sister Pochi’s mother-in-law, Kohaku.

So sure, you could say that this was the house of her relatives. It was a reasonable explanation. Not that Taiyou was the kind of person to accept it head-on. This was Sakura they were talking about. She always enjoyed wordplay and scheming things beneath what she said. Clearly, there was a whole other reason for her coming.

“So what’s the actual reason?”

As if she saw Taiyou’s flabbergasted face, Youran asked in his place.

“I made a promise.”

“To come over?”

“No.”

Sakura giggled.

“Something about wanting to make someone gasp in surprise.”

“Well then you succeeded.”

Youran said as she looked up at Taiyou with blank eyes. As a matter of fact, he did feel that way right now. Who would have expected Sakura to be here, and this quickly? He had not anticipated in the slightest that this would occur. But now that he understood her intentions, he had calmed down a considerable amount.

“I was legitimately surprised.”

Taiyou said honestly.

“Yes, as I intended.”

“Did you come over here right away after that?”

“Yes, after contacting Azumaya-san.”

“Oh, Kohaku-san. Yeah, she would play a prank like that.”

“So yeah, here you go.”

Sakura said, giving Taiyou slippers. This action was reminiscent of how a resident of this home might treat a guest, but Taiyou paid it no heed, putting the slippers on.

“Hey, what about mine?”

Youran objected, having not been offered any herself.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure that you will be just fine, Shingetsu-sama.”

“What? How so?”

“Now then, please make your way in.”

Ignoring Youran, Sakura invited Taiyou inside. The moment the door was opened, he could smell a lovely aroma. Breakfast was on top of the table: brown toast, sunny-side up fried eggs, and bacon.

“I received some helpful advice in the making of this food. I made sure that the toast was of the puffy variety, with low heat. The fried egg yolk is soft-boiled.”

“Did Kohaku-san teach you that?”

“No, the Hayakawa sisters did.”

“Yeah, they’re more knowledgeable in that regard.”

That made sense to Taiyou. When it came to household affairs and anything related to Taiyou, they understood that the most. Heck, they understood that better than Taiyou himself. He didn’t even realize until now that he preferred springy toast to crumbly toast.