Chapter 9: Dinner!
Inside Luke's home, white lights brightened the whole room.
On the dining table, covered with a white tablecloth, all sorts of food were laid out.
Luke and Mikasa Ackerman sat at the table, comfortably eating their late-night dinner.
But even with so much food already on the table, the cookware on the stove was still working hard – a steamer letting off white steam, and a pot simmering with various ingredients.
Chef Annie Leonhart stood off to the side, skillfully wielding the kitchen knife in her hand, simply cutting the tofu on the cutting board into chunks before tossing them all into the boiling pot, letting the bubbling water and seasonings simmer the tofu soup.
"Phew!"
Luke placed a soft-boiled egg into his rice bowl and gently mixed it.
The white egg white blended with the equally white rice grains, then gradually became completely coated by the golden yolk.
He picked up his chopsticks, lightly lifted some rice, and devoured it along with the stir-fried dishes in just a few bites.
His rumbling stomach finally welcomed satisfaction again.
It had been a long time since he'd eaten this late.
This was the downside of joining a club.
It was already ten, approaching eleven o'clock, and they were only just starting dinner.
Otherwise, he'd already be comfortably curled up on the sofa watching TV, or playing games with the two of them.
It felt really strange.
Balancing school and work was ultimately difficult.
In the past, he had always given up club activities, focusing all his energy on exorcising spirits for others to earn living expenses.
After all, considering Mikasa Ackerman's appetite and his own, without a stable source of income, it probably wouldn't take many days before they could write a gourmet guide titled One Hundred Delicious Ways to Prepare Dirt.
But now that he had some extra money, and with Hiratsuka Shizuka's request, it was time for him to replan his work schedule, so he wouldn't have to push himself so hard.
"Soup's ready."
Annie Leonhart ladled out the soup, using a cloth to place the entire pot of tofu soup onto the table.
There was easily enough food on the table for seven or eight people.
Even though Luke and Mikasa had controlled their pace of devouring, they still managed to wipe out a small half before the soup even arrived.
The three had lived together for a long time, so Annie didn't mind.
She sat down in her chair, taking small bites of rice.
Luke served soup for the three of them.
He picked up one bowl of the hot soup, slowly sipped it, and immediately felt incredibly comfortable.
He sincerely praised the blonde girl. "Annie's cooking skills have improved. The tofu soup is delicious."
He vaguely remembered when the three of them first started cooking.
You couldn't exactly call it frantic, maybe just a complete mess.
In a chef's eyes, the three of them were just ruining food; in an onmyoji's eyes, they were performing some kind of mysterious summoning ritual.
But to save their meager living expenses, the three of them still managed to force down the concoctions that could barely be called food.
That day, he almost saw hell.
Thinking back, it was truly a terrible memory.
But later, as they cooked more, Annie and Mikasa's cooking skills gradually improved.
They were no longer at the beginner level of 'too much water, add more flour; too much flour, add more water'.
Among them, Annie especially had a unique talent for cooking.
Her skill level increased day by day, and now she was basically responsible for all the meals at home.
Only when her schoolwork was demanding would Mikasa temporarily take over the cooking duties.
As for him...
He had long been raised into a useless bum.
Where would cooking skills even come into play?
"You do it more, and naturally, you get better at it," Annie said calmly, slowly and elegantly opening her red lips, bringing the edge of the soup bowl gently to her mouth, blowing lightly to cool down the piping hot tofu soup.
"Why did you come back so late today?"
Mikasa took the opportunity to ask her question.
Today, she and Annie had waited in the park for nearly three hours.
"Oh. It's not just today; I'll be coming back late for the next few days too."
Luke explained the current situation to them:
"The teacher in charge of guiding student life... she asked me to join a club activity, so I'll be coming home later than usual."
Mikasa took his soup bowl, refilled it for him, and asked with a hint of worry in her voice, "Then, will you be okay? Can't you find an excuse to quit the club?"
Luke shook his head calmly.
"It doesn't matter. Anyway, we're not that short on money now, and I've wanted to reduce my workload for a while. Once I clear the backlog of requests this weekend, I'll have some free time, which is perfect for experiencing club life."
Of course, he didn't hold much anticipation for the Service Club, which sounded like trouble.
But since he had promised Hiratsuka-sensei, he would participate in the Service Club activities a few times first.
If worst came to worst, he could just find an excuse to quit later.
"Mm." Seeing he had made up his mind, Mikasa didn't say anything more and continued eating.
Luke watched Mikasa's movements. Unlike Annie's elegant and slow eating style, Mikasa ate quickly but without wolfing down her food.
Her movements seemed very concise and powerful, silent and neat, just like the strictness you'd imagine from a soldier.
He asked back, "What about you two? Didn't any teachers ask you to join club activities?"
Mikasa said calmly, "They did, but I refused."
Luke's eyes lit up. He leaned forward and quickly pressed, "What reason did you use to refuse?"
He wanted to use Mikasa's answer as a reference; maybe he could use it on Hiratsuka-sensei.
"Told the truth. I told the teacher I'm your maid and need to go home early to do housework and prepare dinner."
Luke slumped back powerlessly. Well, he couldn't use that excuse.
"Sigh... So the teacher just agreed like that? No other reaction?"
Beside them, Annie gently wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin and added, "Besides her eyes widening and her speech becoming a bit incoherent, she didn't trouble us further."
Mikasa followed up, "The teacher called both of us over together, so she easily confirmed the credibility of our words."
Luke nodded.
"Alright then... By the way, you two don't need to spend all your time at home either. If there's a club you want to join, just go ahead and join. I'll be coming back late anyway, so you don't need to rush back."
"There's nothing I want to join," Annie said faintly.
Mikasa didn't speak, but her meaning was about the same as Annie's.
"Okay then. Have you run into any trouble at your school?"
"No trouble," Mikasa Ackerman said softly.
Annie rested her cheek on one hand.
"What trouble could she have? She's such a good fighter; no one would mess with her. The biggest trouble is probably just too many love letters and confessions, but her heart is completely set on you. Whether it's love letters or confessions, she just rejected them all directly, leaving no room for anyone else. You hardly see anyone confessing to her now."
Luke nodded with satisfaction.
"That's good. Just reject love letters and confessions directly."
He wouldn't allow anyone to try and steal what was his, and he believed Mikasa Ackerman's and Annie Leonhart's feelings for him wouldn't allow anyone else to interfere either.
"The number of love letters and confessions Annie gets is way more than mine," Mikasa added from the side.
"How did you handle them?" He turned his head to look at Annie Leonhart.
"Heh heh." A beautiful smile unconsciously appeared on Annie's lips as she spoke softly.
"Hmm?" Luke looked at her, puzzled, not having heard what she said.
Annie stretched lazily, stood up, and started gathering the empty plates.
"If you didn't hear, just forget it. Go take a bath quickly; it's already very late."
...
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