When scowling, he looked downright vicious. If he tried to mug someone wearing that look, anyone would willingly throw their wallet at him. Resolutely balling her hand into a fist under the table, Mia shot Ren a question. “Um, what do you think are some evil deeds anyone can do? If your answer is drinking and smoking, I don’t need it, because I’ve already heard about those.”
“…Hey, you aren’t possibly thinking something like, ‘oh, I’m the Supreme Ruler of Evil, so I should try my hand at evil deeds’, are you?”
Eep! Mia’s spine went rigid.
Hearing her innermost thoughts leaving Ren’s lips just like that sent Mia into a full-blown panic. “Er, ah, it, it is not that, it, er, it’s j-just curiosity, or, eh…”
“Yeah right, I think I’ve heard this somewhere before. Jeez. D’ya really think petty crimes like that will lead you to world domination? With your smarts, or lack thereof, you shouldn’t try to think too hard and just concentrate on playing stupid pranks on us, ya know.”
“Lack thereof?!”
Was it just her, or had she been ridiculed just now?! Ren stretched his lips in his trademark smirk at Mia’s indignation. She turned away from him in a huff, choosing to grumpily stare at the TV screen instead.
“…So,” Ren broke the tense silence between them, “why ask me something like that? Do I look like someone who can effortlessly crank out ideas for ‘evil deeds’ to you, or what?”
“So you do possess some modicum of self-awareness. It’s exactly as you say.”
“…And what makes you think I have evil thoughts?” he asked somewhat darkly.
Mia continued running her mouth unapologetically. “Well, you have that malicious look in your eyes, and your face is menacing. I expected with a countenance that villainous, evil deeds would be your forte.”
“Oh-ho.” Ren narrowed his eyes.
Realizing with a start that she was in trouble, Mia tried to get away from the table, but she was too late. Ren nimbly caught Mia’s hand and pulled her into his arms, squeezing her mercilessly against his chest.
“A-Agh—It hurts! Ow-ow-ow-ow!”
“Heh heh, can’t move, now can ya? Pointing out stuff I’m self-conscious about like that… You’re just itching to be punished, ain’cha? How about I seal that nasty little mouth of yours, hm?”
“A-Ah! Stop! You asked what made me think you were evil, so I was only answering your ques—mmph!” Mia’s frantic babbling was cut off by a deep, unforgiving kiss. “…!”
Mia tightly screwed her eyes shut. A shudder ran through her body, her blood rushed to her cheeks while her head grew dazed. The kiss felt violent in the beginning, but when she moved her mouth to meet his, he gently soothed the place where he nipped her lips with his tongue, and then broke it off slowly.
“Jeez, and now you show me your flustered, girly side.”
“…H-Huh?” As Mia was staring at Ren with unfocused, glazed-over eyes, he smirked down at her, triumphantly licking his lips. Humiliation and fury flashed across her face in quick succession. “Y-You shameless buffoon, how could you—”
“…I’m sorry to intrude upon you two lovebirds getting along so well, but dinner is ready,” rang out Subaru’s monotone voice from behind Mia, who was working herself into a frenzy.
When she whirled around to look behind her, there he stood, holding plates loaded with side dishes in both hands. Belatedly, Mia realized that he must’ve witnessed everything, and her flush climbed up to her ears.
Why? Ren had hugged and kissed her on numerous occasions now, it was nothing new. How come she felt this mortified now? Was it because it was past her official Supreme Ruler of Evil ‘office hours’? She didn’t really know, but she was apprehensive about her own unexpected change of heart.
With a carefully neutral expression on his face, Subaru put the side dishes on the table and then strode back to the kitchen, returning to serve rice. However, his façade cracked when he was setting the final small bowl on the table, containing Kyoto-style pickled eggplant and cucumber salad.
He whispered ruefully, “…I wonder, is this how a father feels when his daughter brings home her boyfriend for the first time?”
“A-A father?!” Mia lurched.
Apparently, Subaru’s feelings towards Mia evolved from seeing her as a little sister to seeing her as his daughter at some point. Ren cracked up at that, grabbing the chopsticks from the table.
Dinner consisted of the same steaming white rice, but also miso soup with mushrooms and okra, cold cuts salad made with plenty of vegetables, and garlicky octopus and potato stir-fry.
People sitting together at the table, enjoying the invariably delicious food while filling the air with trivial chitchat, was the very picture of a family mealtime. When Mia and her father shared meals, they had talked of nothing else but spells and taking over the world.
When done eating, they continued with magic lessons until it was time to sleep. Mia had never experienced this kind of dinner table before—carefree, relaxed, with people getting excited and talking over each other about something silly, but she found that part of her enjoyed this kind of gathering. Every time she caught herself thinking she was having fun, she lowered her eyes to stare at her plate and go on eating in silence, occupying her mouth with chewing food.
When it had only been her and Subaru, it was still bearable, because he wasn’t very talkative by nature. However, ever since Ren joined them, the dinner table had become much livelier. Subaru making quips about something Ren had said, Ren getting exasperated at Subaru’s attempts at humor, and when Mia would join their dialogue, they would team up against her, coming up with the most ridiculous rejoinders. Every time, they brought Mia to the verge of laughing out loud.
However, for some reason that only served to frustrate Mia; she couldn’t bear the thought of them noticing she was having fun, and each time it came close to that, she ducked her head, hiding her face from their eyes.
Lately, no, ever since becoming the Supreme Ruler of Evil, she had been feeling nothing but distraught. The food was good, and the conversation pleasant. So why was it that she could barely hold back her tears?