Nakano Itsuki always handled things with seriousness and care, often playing the role of a mother to soothe tensions whenever the sisters argued.
But in the end, she was still just a high school girl.
One second, her precious meat buns were cruelly stolen by an acquaintance right before her eyes, breaking her heart; the next second, that same person claimed it was just a prank and sincerely offered compensation.
This series of punches completely knocked her out of her senses.
A young girl who had yet to experience the storms of life could only stare blankly at Shirase, eyes wide and bewildered.
Shirase glanced at Nakano Ichika, whose smile appeared carefree and casual, causing his heart to skip a beat.
Among the four girls present, this one was by far the hardest to handle.
Luckily, Ichika remained silent for now, allowing Shirase to continue spinning his nonsense:
"That's right, it was just a prank. There's a saying in Chinese: 'a prime minister's belly can pole a boat,' meaning someone has a very big heart. And in my eyes, Itsuki, you're exactly that kind of generous girl."
Itsuki's eyes grew even wider.
Although she somewhat doubted the truthfulness of Shirase's words, getting complimented was still something worth being happy about.
What made her even happier was that her original number of meat buns had doubled.
Just then, Nakano Ichika, who'd stayed quiet all this while, suddenly stood up. Grinning playfully, she reached around Itsuki's waist, drawing a startled yelp from the younger girl. Ichika giggled mischievously, "I'm not sure if Itsuki's heart is big, but she definitely has a big belly."
"I do not!" Itsuki's face flushed scarlet. For any girl, a comment about having a "big belly" was practically the ultimate disrespect.
Ichika teasingly pinched her waist, giggling softly, "Soft and squishy—it feels so nice! Makes me wanna hug Itsuki and sleep together~"
"Ichika, let go! Let go already!"
Itsuki's embarrassed shrieks echoed as the two girls tangled together like candied hawthorns on a skewer, rolling around wildly on the sofa.
Finally able to breathe easily, Shirase sighed inwardly with relief.
Since Ichika hadn't continued to tease or make things difficult for him, it meant everyone tacitly agreed to drop the matter.
Shirase rolled up his sleeves, turning toward the eager-looking Nakano Yotsuba: "Do you still have ingredients at home?"
"Yep, yep! I'll help you!" Yotsuba immediately abandoned any thoughts of joining the playful war between Ichika and Itsuki.
As the two walked into the kitchen, Nakano Miku quietly watched the two sisters still wrestling playfully, whispering softly, "I still think Shirase wasn't telling the truth."
Ichika immediately stopped rolling around. She sat up straight, not bothering to fix her messy clothes. Due to the rather vigorous struggle moments before, her loose off-shoulder top had shifted noticeably, revealing large patches of smooth, pale skin beneath her collarbone—even glimpses of her pure-white underwear showed.
But Ichika didn't care about that at all. Instead, she leaned in with a gentle smile, reaching out her hand just in time to cover Miku's mouth, silencing whatever she had intended to say.
"There, there. Since Shirase-kun came over specially to apologize, and now he's even making dinner for us, let's just pretend what he said was true."
"Mmph mmph..." With her mouth covered, Miku could only glare at Ichika with narrowed eyes, clearly saying:
You're totally deceiving yourself.
Ichika smiled sweetly. "Anyway, look—Itsuki's happy now."
Miku glanced sideways, and sure enough, as Ichika had said, Itsuki was calmly sitting upright, clothes neatly fixed, happily nibbling away at her meat bun, eyes contentedly squinted shut.
Seeing this, Miku decided not to say anything more. She gently removed Ichika's hand, asking instead, "Is Shirase's cooking really good?"
"It should be decent?" Ichika finally showed hesitation on her face. "Honestly, I haven't tried it either. But he did mention that Kana-nee praised his cooking, so it must be pretty good."
Miku lowered her eyes toward the tea table, quietly saying, "Kana-nee also mentioned that Shirase's specialty is Chinese cuisine. Have you tried it before?"
"No, but now I'm really curious... Hmm, I'll just go ask him."
Ichika appeared genuinely interested and stood up without finishing her sentence.
"Wait," Miku quickly called out to her. When Ichika curiously looked back, Miku pointed directly at her clothes. "Are you planning to go see him dressed like that?"
Ichika glanced downward. Her loose-fitting top had grown even looser after the earlier roughhousing, causing the thin white fabric to noticeably cling to her chest, while the rest hung loosely—especially accentuating the slender curve of her waist. Right now, she looked especially delicate, like a fragile willow trembling gently in the breeze.
"Thanks for the reminder~" Ichika smiled nonchalantly, casually adjusting her neckline as she spoke. "Besides Nino, that guy probably won't pay attention to any other girls anyway."
Miku softly gave an "mm," clearly agreeing with her sister's assessment.
Although, deep down, Miku couldn't understand it—what exactly was so special about Nino that she'd completely captured Shirase's attention in less than a month?
After all, they were quintuplets. Whether it was their figures or faces, all five were virtually identical.
Although their relationship was good, sometimes the subtle rivalry between girls was unavoidable.
As Ichika entered the kitchen, an enticing aroma immediately hit her senses.
She saw Yotsuba holding a plate nearby, repeatedly swallowing her saliva—obviously craving whatever was cooking.
Shirase naturally heard Ichika approach but didn't bother turning around, deeply immersed in the surprising joy of cooking.
And indeed, it was a genuine surprise. Ever since the damned system took control and activated the Triple-Experience Card, Shirase found his skills had improved dramatically, whether it was his knife technique or sensitivity to taste.
Logically speaking, this shouldn't have happened. He'd used Triple-Experience Cards before, but their effects had never been this dramatic.
After pondering it repeatedly, Shirase guessed the reason might be akin to leveling up in a game: his cooking skill had already been nearing its next level, and with the damned system's extraordinary knife skills and cooking prowess infinitely surpassing his own, it essentially pushed his cooking skill to "+lv1."
"What are you making?" Ichika asked, hunger stirred by the aroma.
"Tonkatsu," Shirase replied without turning around. "Yotsuba helped me check the fridge earlier, and fortunately there are plenty of ingredients. So, besides tonkatsu, I'm also making shrimp tempura, sukiyaki, and sushi."
"What about miso soup?" Ichika asked, noticing the seasoning laid out on the table.
"Of course, we're making that too!" Yotsuba swallowed heavily, explaining, "Shirase-kun said earlier, after a meal, a bowl of soup is a must—it makes the stomach feel comfortable."
Ichika stared thoughtfully at Shirase's handsome profile for several seconds before suddenly speaking:
"Yotsuba, you can go out first. I'll stay here and help."