Chapter 614: Supper II

Aria raised one small hand to her mouth and let out a soft "Ehehe," eyes already glittering.

"Saying ’snooping around’ like that made it sound like you were doing something perverted in the girls’ closet," she said.

"Don’t worry about that," I replied. "You guys have been ridiculously good to me, some random stranger who just showed up, opening your doors and treating me like I actually belong here. I would never repay that by sneaking around your used panties when no one is looking. I’m not that kind of trash."

Aria’s eyebrows climbed, and Maria let out a short snort into her cup and had to wipe her mouth.

Yuki had flinched the second the words left my mouth.

Her shoulders jumped like someone had flicked cold water at the back of her neck.

She shot me a sharp, narrow-eyed glare across the table and then deliberately walked all the way around to the opposite side of the curved section, putting as much solid wood and empty chairs between us as the furniture would allow.

Was she still that wary of me?

It had been days already. I thought we were past the "possible threat" stage.

Aria then let out a soft, bright laugh and glanced my way. Her short deep-red hair bounced with the small movement of her head.

"Ahaha! I was simply teasing you, there is no need for sentimentality." She waved one small hand in a loose, dismissive gesture. "Besides, what would a girl need from another girl’s panties? The logistics alone are confusing."

"Ahaha! Funny of you to say that," I laughed back, leaning my elbows on the table and resting my chin on one hand. "When I am in fact a man."

"Yes, yes, we know." Aria shook her head like she was dealing with a stubborn child and waved me off again. "You are a man. We have heard this speech before."

No, I don’t think you know!

One of these days I was actually going to have to show them the differences—what I have that they don’t have.

Shameless as it might be, it would definitely end this constant, low-level misconception for good.

I knew perfectly well that I had an extremely pretty face—I may or may not have spent more than a few quiet minutes staring at my own reflection in whatever polished surface was available—but the fact remained that I looked equally female as I did male depending on the angle or, I don’t know, how my hair fell that day.

It felt like straight-up gender inequality that these people could take one look at me and default to "woman" without even a second thought.

At this point it was starting to feel personal.

The smell of actual food suddenly got a lot stronger and cut through the conversation.

Erica and Heka walked in from the kitchen with trays loaded with different kinds of dishes.

There were bright piles of cooked vegetables, several cuts of meat that looked juicy, and a couple of wide bowls of soup-like stuff that were gently steaming.

They both moved with the coordination.

Maria looked up from her seat, brows pulling together in mild concern. "Goodness, you could have asked us to help you out? We were just sitting here doing nothing."

"No, I and Heka were trying out experiments," Erica explained, carefully setting the tray down in the middle of the table and adjusting a plate that had slid a little during the walk.

Heka placed her own trays beside it without comment, though the corner of her mouth twitched like she was fighting a smile.

"E-Experiments?! With our food?" Sophia’s voice jumped at least an octave.

She let go of the fork she had already picked up in anticipation and it clattered loudly against her empty plate.

Sapphire, sitting next to her, winced at the volume but looked equally alarmed.

"Calm yourself." Erica drooped her eyes at Sophia in a particular tired-but-fond way, still holding the edge of the tray for balance. "It was a culinary experiment. Nothing exploded, and nothing is poisonous... And where is Katana?"

"Koko..." Katana’s quiet voice came from the stairways a second before she actually stepped into view.

I almost did a full double-take.

She was wearing the most adorable and completely unexpected outfit I would ever have guessed for her.

Classic pajamas—soft-looking fabric, loose and comfortable—but with some weird medieval twist in the cut of the sleeves and the way the cloth gathered at the wrists and ankles.

What really grabbed my attention, though, was the hood. It was a soft pink, clearly bunny-themed, and complete with a pair of floppy bunny ears stitched onto the top that bobbed a little when she moved.

She looked dejected... for some reason. Shoulders slightly slumped, eyes not quite meeting anyone’s, the whole posture screaming "I would rather be somewhere else right now."

The pink bunny hood reminded me hard of a certain mischievous rabbit beastkin I hadn’t heard from in a while.

I missed her a lot. I should probably try giving her a telepathic call one of these days. Though, the distance between us would make establishing a stable, mental connection a real pain in the ass.

Nevertheless, I had fully expected Sophia and Sapphire to be the ones showing up in something that cute and childish.

They were the younger-looking pair, after all.

Instead they were the ones dressed somewhat more maturely tonight.

Sapphire had on a deep-red hooded tunic and matching breeches that looked kinda formal, like he was attending a minor ceremony.

His sister wore a deep-red gown made from the exact same fabric pattern, simple but elegant, the kind of thing that made her look older than usual.

Erica tilted her head, studying Katana’s face with that soft, attentive look she slipped into sometimes without noticing.

"Hm? Katana, is something the matter? Are you feeling sick? You look a little sullen."

I had been thinking it for a while now... Erica might be surprisingly motherly and kind. It didn’t match the rest of her usual charismatic, slightly uneasy party leader demeanor, but it showed up at odd moments like this.

"Nothing of the sort, Eric." Katana’s answer was quiet and flat.

She glanced at me for the briefest possible second, long enough for our eyes to meet, then immediately started moving toward the far end of the table.

She deliberately chose the seat furthest away, and every time our eyes accidentally met again while she was still deciding, she skipped another chair further along the curve like I was carrying a contagious disease.

I watched her settle as far from me as the table allowed and let out a small internal sigh.

I see...

She’s still mad at me.

The joke earlier—the whole bloodlust-and-gust-of-wind thing in the weapon shop—had cost way more goodwill than I had budgeted for.

I had already promised her an empire and a whole planet if she would just forgive me and stop looking at me like I had kicked her favorite popstar.

Apparently even that wasn’t enough yet. It looked like I was simply going to have to wait this one out first.