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Chapter 12 - Chapter 12: Jashin-chan Kills People in Her Sleep!

Chapter 12: Jashin-chan Kills People in Her Sleep!

After a morning spent running all over town, they had finally gathered all the necessary ingredients and kitchen supplies. Ryohei had also bought special paper and bags for wrapping the onigiri.

At this point, of the 50,000 yen Yurine had lent him, less than 3,000 remained.

Fortunately, there was nothing else they needed to buy. From here on out, it was all about raking in the cash.

"Jashin-chan."

After lunch, Ryohei looked across the low table at Jashin-chan, who was patting her full stomach with a satisfied expression.

"What?" she asked, lazily glancing up at him. She had barely slept last night thanks to her "punishment," and she'd spent the entire morning doing heavy lifting—Ryohei had made her carry all the bags of rice and other heavy ingredients back to the apartment. She was getting sleepy and just wanted a nap.

"I need you to clear the table, then go downstairs and scrub the food cart clean. Also, wash the new rice cooker and pots we bought today," Ryohei ordered, not bothering to be polite.

"Huh?! What right do you have to order me around? And are you not going to do any work yourself?" Jashin-chan was instantly indignant, her tail slapping against the tatami mat in protest. She was the one who summoned him, yet he was treating her like a beast of burden. It was outrageous!

"Who said I'm not working? I have to wash the rice, cook it perfectly, prepare all the fillings, and then shape the onigiri. My job isn't any easier than yours," Ryohei replied, counting the tasks on his fingers.

"Like I care!" Jashin-chan shouted. "That's your business! Anyway, I'm tired! I'm going to sleep!"

Ryohei considered it. She probably didn't get much sleep last night. While a demon could likely go a day or two without rest just fine, he was a pretty conscientious guy. Out of humanitarian concern, he waved his hand. "Fine, go take a nap. I'll wake you up later."

"Be warned," Jashin-chan said with a dead-serious expression. "I have a habit of killing people in my sleep."

"What are you, Caligula?" Ryohei couldn't help but retort.

"Who's Caligula?" Jashin-chan blinked, tilting her head in confusion. She'd never heard that name before.

Sometimes she's actually kind of cute, Ryohei thought. Of course, most of the time she's just hateful and extremely punchable.

"A famously paranoid emperor from ancient history… Never mind. Go get some sleep," he said, waving his hand again.

"Okay." Jashin-chan didn't care either way. She pushed herself up from the table to leave.

"Wait. Clear the table first," Ryohei said, pointing at the dirty dishes.

"Huh?"

"I made lunch. It's only fair that you do the dishes, right?"

"You're trying to reason with a demon? That's hilarious!" Jashin-chan put her hands on her hips and let out a mocking laugh. "I refuse. What are you gonna do about it?" Being a scumbag was etched into her very bones.

Ryohei felt the urge to punch her for the umpteenth time. He shot her a sidelong glance. "I can't do anything. I'll just have to complain to Yurine about it."

He had summoned his ultimate magic weapon: Yurine! Now how will you respond?

Jashin-chan's eye twitched, and her arrogant demeanor vanished instantly. She was now honest, but very unwilling. She clenched her fists. "Would it kill you not to tattle on me?! You're a grown man, have you no shame?!"

"It's a formal complaint, not tattling," Ryohei corrected her. He then stood up. "By the way…" he said, his face expressionless, "if you keep this up, you can forget about eating my food ever again… Correction, you can forget about eating anything I make!"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa… okay, okay, I was wrong! I'll clean up, alright?!" The scumbag snake glanced at Ryohei's face, immediately threw her hands up in surrender, and started clearing the table with practiced speed.

Ryohei just snorted, feeling mentally exhausted. He was starting to understand Yurine on a profound level. Of course, Yurine herself could be a bit… well, a lot… over the top. No matter how you looked at it, she was a total yandere.

After a moment of idle thought, Ryohei went into the kitchen and poured half a bag of short-grain rice into a large bowl. For perfect onigiri, you needed high-quality Japanese short-grain rice. It had the right starch content to be fluffy yet sticky enough to hold its shape. He washed the rice carefully until the water ran clear, then set it aside to soak. He also took out the shiitake mushrooms he'd bought that morning and set them to rehydrate.

Even though he planned to open his stall in the evening, some prep work had to be done now, or he'd never be ready in time. The food service industry was tough—long, irregular hours, intense labor, and fierce competition. But for him, this was just temporary. Once he was settled and had his own shop, he planned to enjoy life. You can never earn all the money in the world. Enough is enough. There was no need to kill himself working.

After his sudden isekai experience, Ryohei believed this more than ever. If it happened again, who knew who would get his savings next time. Such a waste.

Jashin-chan finished the dishes, scrubbed the pots, washed her hands, and then returned to the bedroom, yawning. She usually slept in the closet in Yurine's room. Too bad it wasn't a magical pocket, and she was far too much of a scumbag to be compared to a certain helpful robot cat from the future.

Time flew by. At a little after three o'clock, Ryohei went into Yurine's room and woke Jashin-chan. He gave the still-groggy demon her previously assigned tasks and then sent her on her way.

Jashin-chan, now in the courtyard with a bucket and a rag, began scrubbing the ramen cart with grunts of effort. Suddenly, she threw the rag on the ground.

"Baka—!" she yelled in frustration. She had summoned a master, not the other way around! Her heart was filled with resentment.

In the western sky, the clouds began to turn red, the color slowly bleeding outwards, painting a magnificent picture across the heavens. The sky became a dreamlike gradient of orange to blue, a masterpiece from nature's own brush.

"Yurine's back."

Jashin-chan, who had been roped into helping Ryohei shape onigiri in the kitchen, twitched her ears and looked toward the entryway. Honestly, she had never been so happy to see Yurine come home. She was a firm believer in sharing, and that included work!

"Is she?" Ryohei looked over just in time to hear the faint scratching of a key in the lock, followed by the click of the tumbler.

"I'm home," Yurine's voice called out.

"Welcome back!" Ryohei said, walking out of the kitchen while still holding a half-formed onigiri. Though it had only been a day, he could already do this naturally.

"Hey! You're so late!" Jashin-chan poked her head out of the kitchen and complained to Yurine. "Hurry up and help us make onigiri!"

"There's no need. We're almost done, Jashin-chan and I can finish up," Ryohei said, vetoing her demand.

"Isn't this a little biased?" Jashin-chan's eye twitched as she squinted at Ryohei.

"There's really no need," Ryohei said, returning to the kitchen and glancing at the remaining fillings. "We only have this much left. It'll take us two minutes to finish. No reason for her to help, there isn't even room for her to stand."

Jashin-chan looked down and saw that he was right, but she still felt unwilling. She felt like Yurine was getting off too easy. She wanted Yurine to experience the same suffering she had. A scumbag snake is a scumbag snake.

"How many did you make? Have you eaten dinner yet?" Yurine asked, putting her bag down and walking into the kitchen. She looked at the remaining fillings and then at the mountains of finished onigiri.

"Hmm, I didn't count exactly. More of the classic fillings, maybe around 150. And about 100 of the beef ones… We can have onigiri for dinner tonight." Ryohei replied, turning to Yurine.

"W-Wait a second!" Yurine held up a hand, a look of "did I hear that right?" on her face. She looked at Ryohei, her tone trying to confirm what she thought she heard. "One hundred… beef ones?"

"Yep." Ryohei's lips curved into a smile. Yurine's expression was priceless—it reminded him of how his old roommate from northern China reacted when he learned that southern-style dumplings could have sweet fillings. It was very amusing.

"..." Yurine was completely and utterly shocked.

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