They arrived at the Shirogane residence around 6:00PM.
It took them about an hour to make the curry, and before they knew it, dinner was ready. Everyone stood and marveled at the steaming dishes of curry. Even Gizzard, whom Sakuya was holding, let out a meow of approval.
“This looks amazing,” Sakuya murmured.
“Jeez, Sakuya, you could’ve helped us a little bit. Me and Sasahara ended up doing everything ourselves. Those who didn’t pitch in don’t deserve to eat,” Koyuki complained with a pout while she set the table.
“I just didn’t want to intrude on your private time, that’s all.”
“You just wanted to laze around! And you’re always getting away with it just ‘cause you’re the youngest!” Koyuki protested, adding some half-hearted grumbles under her breath.
Sakuya didn’t reply; instead, she waited for Naoya to come out of the kitchen, turned to him, and asked, “Naoya, could you translate what she just said, please?”
“‘Good job, Sakuya! He taught me to use a knife, and it was just the two of us alone together! I’ll definitely be giving you a cat biscuit later!’ Or something like that, I guess,” Naoya explained in a mock falsetto.
“Hey! No translation at the table!” Koyuki protested.
The banter continued until the table was set.
Koyuki looked dubiously at the large slices of carrots floating in the roux and said in a disappointed tone, “I guess we did cut them too big, after all.”
“It’s fine. I like them this way,” Naoya quickly added to cover for her. He had peeled the vegetables, but had then handed them over to her to cut up. She’d managed to make it through the prep without cutting herself, which he was grateful for. Even chopping the vegetables without incident was plenty of work for a new cook, and so he’d handled the rest.
His praise seemed to have been effective, because she proudly exclaimed, “Hah! I guess I don’t even have to try to be perfect!”
Naoya stopped them as they were about to sit at the table. “I actually have something for you, Shirogane.”
“Really?”
“Yep. Consider it thanks for helping me out. Here,” Naoya said. He placed some cheese he had cut out on Koyuki’s plate.
“Whoa! It’s a cat-shaped cheese topping!” she cried happily.
“What do I have to do to get one of those?” Sakuya asked.
“Make one yourself,” Naoya replied.
“Yeah, Sakuya—only the helper gets theirs made for them. Hehe.”
“Lame...” Sakuya grumbled.
The scene was a happy one, filled with warmth and friendly bickering. Finally, they all sat down.
“Shall we get started?”
“Let’s do it.”
“Let’s gooo.”
And with that, they all dug in.
Koyuki’s eyes went wide upon taking her first bite. “This... This really is curry...” she murmured approvingly.
“What did you think we were making back there?” Naoya asked with a hint of sarcasm.
“No, no. That’s not what I meant. It’s just that I’ve never cooked before, so it’s kind of amazing to actually have something I made on a plate in front of me. I guess I’m not as airheaded as you think, huh?”
“But, Koyuki—if we were alone, we would’ve just bought a ready-made meal from the store,” Sakuya added.
“There’s nothing wrong with that... but cooking something for yourself is pretty nice too, right?” Naoya added to placate the sisters. It had been a long time since he’d had a meal at such a lively table. Sometimes he ate with Kirihiko at work, but most nights, he ate alone. Sharing a meal with someone else had become something of a novelty to him. The taste of curry he had grown so accustomed to suddenly took on a completely new flavor. The fact that it’s with the girl I like is just the cherry on top.
“We made a lot, so help yourself to seconds if you want more. If there are leftovers, you can use it to make curry udon, or dry curry, or something,” he mentioned.
“Would we even be able to do that?” Koyuki asked skeptically.
“I’ll write up a recipe for you. I’ll make it simple enough that you and Sakuya can work through it,” he replied.
“Okay then, sounds good. You’ll help me tomorrow, right, Sakuya? ... Sakuya?”
“Hmm...” Sakuya murmured. She was staring ahead with a troubled expression. Did she not like the curry? She was still digging into her dinner despite her absentmindedness, so that likely wasn’t the case. Finally, she turned to Naoya and asked, “You call me ‘Sakuya,’ don’t you?”
“Yeah? What about it?” Naoya asked.
“So you call me by my first name, but you still refer to Koyuki as ‘Shirogane.’ I just thought that was weird is all,” she answered.
“Y-Yeah, I guess I do,'' he admitted. If he were to be honest, this wasn’t his first time considering the same thing. He had started by calling her “Shirogane,” but figured the chance to change it had passed—they had accidentally grown closer before referring to each other by their first names.
He looked in Koyuki’s direction and said, “Is it all right if I call you by your first name, like I do with Sakuya?”
“Um, I don’t really care about that! Do whatever you want!” Koyuki blurted out. She took a quick sip of her water to hide her embarrassment, her hand trembling the entire time.
Naoya examined her. What she had really meant to say was, “If you call me by my first name, I might just die of happiness and embarrassment!” It struck him as a good opportunity. He repeated the name in his head—the two syllables he’d been dying to say out loud—a few times over. Then he turned to her and slowly declared, “Koyuki.”
“Pfffttt!” Koyuki coughed, spraying a large mouthful of water all over the table.
Naoya rushed over and patted her on the back. “Sorry! It’s definitely way too early for this. We’ll take it slow. Don't worry.”
“Nuh!” she choked out.
“Nuh?” he echoed.
“No w—!” Koyuki struggled to speak through her coughs. Naoya tried to decipher her words and quickly braced himself for what was to come. “No way! I can’t handle it when it’s you!”
“Yeah, I figured as such,” he replied simply. He had been too hasty. While it was true that she’d become a lot more honest and comfortable with herself lately, he had rushed things in this respect.
“N-No, I just mean... Uh, that’s not what I wanted to say,” Koyuki faltered.
“It’s fine, really. Hey, we worked hard on this curry, so let’s just dig in,” he said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.
I should wait a bit before I start calling her by her name. Same goes for the confession, too, he reminded himself mentally. Their relationship still had a long way to go.
Sakuya stared across the table at Naoya’s deflated figure, and Gizzard rubbed against his leg and meowed like he was trying to console him. “Thank you for blessing me with this great ship content today,” Sakuya stated. “I’d love nothing more than to watch you two all day, but I suppose it’s time I head back to my room. Wouldn’t you agree?”
“Nah, don’t worry about it. You want seconds?” Naoya asked.
“I’ll have some. I’ll eat it here, so perhaps you two could head to Koyuki’s room?”
“We’re not going to do anything of the sort, Sakuya!” Koyuki shouted across the table. In between her words, she took quick, awkward bites of her curry. She seemed to be back to her usual self.
Naoya sighed. He went to return to his seat when Koyuki spoke up. “Oh,” she muttered, mostly to herself, as she stared blankly at the roof of the living room. “I forgot...”
Naoya was intrigued.