"Wait, where the hell did you even learn that line?"
Shuya's mouth twitched as he spoke. "And how many times do I have to tell you? Stop calling me 'little Shuya.'"
Shizuka Marikawa planted her hands on her hips, looking completely justified. "Well, whose fault is it that you came home so late?"
"I told you this morning I had something to do after school and would be back late, didn't I?" Shuya explained patiently.
"Did you?"
Shizuka tilted her head, pretending to think hard.
"I specifically mentioned it had to do with Saeko-senpai. I'm pretty sure I told you," Shuya reminded her again.
Signing the contract with Saeko hadn't been a spur-of-the-moment decision, so of course he had mentioned it to Shizuka beforehand.
But with how airheaded Shizuka usually was, she had probably either not paid attention or completely forgotten.
"Really~?"
After Shuya's reminder, Shizuka finally seemed to recall something. But on the surface, she still acted like she had no idea what he was talking about.
Her shifty eyes and the way she avoided his gaze completely gave her away.
Shuya reached out with both hands and started pinching her soft, squishy cheeks. "You. Know. Exactly. What. I'm. Talking. About~"
"Wuuu~ I was wrong~"
Shizuka tried to swat his hands away, but failed miserably. She let out an adorable whimper.
When resistance proved useless, she gave up entirely and made a face that basically said "fine, bully me all you want."
Seeing her like that took all the fun out of it for Shuya, so he finally let go.
Shizuka rubbed her stomach and whined, "I'm hungry~"
Shuya sighed. "I really can't do anything with you. Did you at least buy groceries on your way home?"
"I did! I did! I bought tons of meat today. The fridge is completely stuffed!" Shizuka nodded eagerly.
"Alright then."
Shuya rolled up his sleeves and headed toward the kitchen, but paused and glanced back at her. "By the way, have you taken a bath yet?"
Shizuka shook her head. "Not yet."
"Then go shower first. By the time you're done, dinner should be ready."
"Oh, and after you're finished, can you run a bath for me? I feel like soaking in the tub tonight."
"Little Shuya, let's bathe together~"
Shizuka latched onto his arm like a spoiled child and started acting cute.
Shuya wasn't falling for it. He pushed her head away gently and said, "Stop messing around. If we both shower, who's going to cook? Plus, cooking after bathing just means you'll end up smelling like oil and smoke. Wouldn't that defeat the purpose?"
"Then let the Snowball Beasts cook," Shizuka said with a completely straight face.
"Meep?"
The two fluffy creatures in the corner perked up their big ears when they heard their names. They turned around, their tiny eyes filled with pure confusion.
Even someone who didn't understand their language could clearly hear the emotion in their little cry.
Snowball Beast: Wait… us?
"Shizuka-nee, I'm begging you… please act like a normal human being for once."
Shuya raised an eyebrow. Asking two creatures that were smaller than her head and didn't even have hands to cook dinner was honestly impressive in its own ridiculous way.
At least wait until they evolved into full Angewomon… or at the very least into the cat-like Digimon form first.
"Ehehe~"
Realizing from both Shuya's and the Snowball Beasts' stares just how absurd she had sounded, Shizuka immediately played dumb and quietly slipped into the bathroom.
Shuya shook his head with a helpless smile.
Even though Shizuka was almost thirty—older than he had been before he transmigrated—she acted like a big kid most of the time.
Sometimes it really felt like he was raising a giant child.
Once she disappeared into the bathroom, Shuya didn't say anything else and headed into the kitchen.
Like most Japanese homes, the kitchen here was open-concept, connected directly to the living room instead of being a separate closed-off space.
When he opened the fridge, he half-expected it to be empty since he usually handled all the shopping and cooking.
To his surprise, it was completely packed. She really had stuffed it full.
Shuya picked out a few ingredients and placed them in the sink, then grabbed the rice cooker pot and started washing rice.
After working for over half an hour, he finally had everything prepped.
Right on cue, the rice cooker dinged as the rice finished cooking.
Next came stir-frying.
He had already set out the plates he would need. Since it was just some simple home-cooked dishes, it was easy work for someone who grew up in a household like Shuya. He finished quickly.
"Smells so good~"
Just then, Shizuka emerged from the bathroom, wrapped in nothing but a white bath towel that did very little to hide her incredible figure.
The moment she caught the aroma of the food, she didn't hold back her praise, happily feeding his ego as the cook.
Shuya had long since gotten used to her casually walking around the house like this.
Since it was just the two of them in the house anyway, he didn't comment on it.
"So delicious~"
Shizuka hurried over to the dining table like a hungry kitten, sneaking a piece of meat with her fingers and popping it into her mouth.
Her face immediately melted into pure bliss, giving Shuya's chef pride a massive boost.
Japanese girls really were world-class at giving emotional validation.
Otherwise, how could someone like Shuya—who used to order takeout 365 days a year before he transmigrated—have willingly cooked for Shizuka for an entire year?
Any man would get hooked.
"Alright, sit down and eat properly," Shuya said with a smile.
"Yes sir!"
Shizuka gave him a playful salute before obediently sitting down, waiting for him to serve her.
As he scooped rice into bowls, Shuya asked, "By the way, Shizuka-nee, didn't you mention before that your best friend Rika lives here with you? When is she coming back?"
"Are you planning to make a contract with Rika? Don't worry! Once she gets back, I'll talk to her for you!" Shizuka declared confidently while puffing out her chest.
"That's not what I asked," Shuya said, rolling his eyes. "I told you the zombie outbreak is coming soon. If you can contact her, tell her to come back as fast as possible. I don't want anything to happen to her."
He wasn't too worried about Rika's safety. In the original Highschool of the Dead, Shizuka's best friend Nakaoka Rika was a total badass. She was part of a special forces unit and had the house stocked with all kinds of modern weapons.
Still, in the year since he'd been living here, Shuya had never once seen this mysterious best friend in person.
If he hadn't remembered her from the anime and actually found the hidden cache of firearms in the house, he would've started thinking Rika was just an imaginary friend Shizuka made up.
"Oh, right. Got it," Shizuka nodded.
Looking at how focused she was on devouring her food, Shuya wasn't entirely sure whether she had actually listened or not.