บท 266: Ch 266. Hoshimi: I Can't Eat~
Before long, the seafood porridge was ready. Yukino scooped a small spoonful, blew on it to cool it down, and then offered it to Hoshimi, "Try it, how's the taste? Is it too salty?"
"Mmm~" Hoshimi tasted the seafood porridge and, after savoring it for a moment, said, "The flavor is good, but it's a little bland."
"Bland?" Yukino scooped a bit for herself to taste.
It was smooth, flavorful, with a long-lasting aftertaste. By her standards, the saltiness was just right.
Hoshimi probably found it bland because he preferred stronger flavors. After all, he was fond of heavy Chinese cuisine, with lots of oil and salt. For someone like him to suddenly eat a light porridge, it was only natural for him to find it lacking in flavor.
Though Hoshimi had a heavy preference for oily and salty food, he oddly couldn't handle drinks that were too sweet. All in all, his taste preferences were both peculiar and picky.
"Hoshimi, do you want some?" Yukino slightly tilted her head and asked.
"Just half a bowl. I can't eat too much." Although his stomach was empty, Hoshimi looked at the delicious porridge and had to restrain his appetite.
After all, he had just told Yukino on the phone that he had already eaten at his aunt's house. To maintain that lie without giving himself away, this was the price he had to pay...
As for why he didn't say he hadn't eaten earlier? Spending a whole day at his aunt's house without eating anything would surely raise more suspicion.
Tch~ It's all that seductive vixen Utaha's fault. He had spent the entire day with her, and while she had eaten her fill, he hadn't eaten anything except for a couple of apples while watching TV.
"Half a bowl?" Yukino broke free from Hoshimi's embrace and retrieved a small porcelain bowl from the cupboard, the one she usually used. "Will this bowl work?"
Seeing that the bowl was smaller than his fist, Hoshimi helplessly nodded, "This will do."
No wonder Yukino wasn't growing much; she was always eating from such a small bowl...
"..." Yukino noticed the odd look in Hoshimi's eyes but couldn't figure out what he was thinking.
Without delving into it, she grabbed two sets of utensils and returned to the stove to serve both of them some porridge.
Then, she took out a jar of chilli sauce from the cupboard and asked, "Hoshimi, do you want some spice?"
"Just a little, not too much." Seeing the bright red chilli sauce immediately sparked Hoshimi's appetite, and the emptiness in his stomach became all the more apparent.
"A little? Forget it. You add it yourself. If I put too much, you'll blame me." Yukino handed the chilli sauce to Hoshimi.
She had prepared the chilli sauce especially for Hoshimi to accommodate their differing tastes.
Hoshimi took the chilli sauce, opened it, and scooped a full spoonful into his bowl, stirring it into the porridge.
In an instant, the clean white porridge transformed into a bright red, spicy seafood porridge.
Hoshimi licked his lips and glanced at Yukino, "Yukino, do you want to add some?"
"No, I don't." Yukino, with her usual calm demeanor, looked away from Hoshimi's wrist.
Just now, when he had opened the chilli sauce, she had noticed the dark bracelet on Hoshimi's right wrist.
That wasn't there before...
Yukino didn't ask about the bracelet's origin. She held her bowl of porridge and left the kitchen without a word, her expression as cold as ever.
Before leaving, she left one last comment.
"The salt's over there. If you find it too bland, add some yourself. If you need more porridge, serve yourself."
Hoshimi's eyes flickered as an idea suddenly popped into his mind.
He walked over to the seasoning box, purposely adding a little too much salt. After tasting it, he found it indeed too salty.
To balance the saltiness, he added more porridge. It became bland again, so he needed more salt.
Repeating this process several times, his half bowl of porridge turned into a full bowl.
Satisfied, he added two more spoonfuls of chilli sauce, stirred it, and finally left the kitchen with his bowl of porridge, heading to the living room.
In the living room, Yukino, who was seated on the sofa eating her meal, casually glanced at the overflowing red seafood porridge in Hoshimi's bowl and asked indifferently, "Why did it take you so long?"
Hoshimi sat down beside Yukino and placed the bowl on the coffee table. With a sigh, he said, "I couldn't get the amount of salt right. I kept adding too much, so I had to keep adding porridge to dilute it. It turned out like this..."
"..." Yukino was speechless.
Well, Hoshimi was capable of many things, but cooking wasn't one of them.
"Don't waste any food. No leftovers," Yukino commanded coldly.
"..." Hoshimi, feeling troubled, wrapped an arm around Yukino's waist and spoke in a soft voice, "Yukino~~ Help me eat some~ I really can't finish it."
Yukino shot him a sideways glance, "Eat it yourself. You added so much chilli sauce, I can't handle it."
Because of a previous prank by Hoshimi, Yukino now stayed far away from overly spicy food.
"Yukino~~ It's really not that spicy~ Why don't you try a little~~" Hoshimi made one last attempt to convince her.
"No, you eat it yourself." Yukino, showing disdain, pushed Hoshimi's head away. She had no intention of later regretting her decision in the bathroom due to his persuasion.
"Ugh~~~ Fine." Seeing that Yukino was firm in her stance, Hoshimi had no choice but to give up.
He loosened his collar, pulled off his tie, and threw it to the side as if preparing for a final battle.
Soon after, the meal was over. Hoshimi 'painfully' finished the full bowl of seafood porridge, leaving just a thin layer at the bottom, as he 'really couldn't eat any more.'
Seeing that Hoshimi had left so little, Yukino didn't push him further. She gathered the bowls and headed to the kitchen to clean up.
Splish-splash—!
Listening to the sound of running water from the kitchen, Hoshimi, slumped on the sofa, suddenly felt drowsy. His body slid sideways as he rested his head on the armrest, gazing out at the city nightscape through the floor-to-ceiling windows.
It's already nighttime...
With the two buffs of exhaustion and a full belly, sleepiness surged over him like a tide.
Hoshimi's eyelids grew heavier, and everything in his view became increasingly blurred. The bright lights from inside the room mixed with the dark night outside, causing his thoughts to drift into haziness...
Tap, tap, tap—!
Sometime later, the sound of familiar footsteps echoed near his ear.
His eyelids fluttered open slightly, and what remained of his conscious mind instinctively began analyzing who was approaching.
"Hoshimi? Are you sleepy?"
A calm voice, tinged with a bit of warmth, rang out, and Hoshimi's lingering consciousness instantly recognized who it was.
It's Yukino...
With that answer, his remaining awareness hastily urged his muddled thoughts to wake up.
"Mmm~~" Hoshimi shook his head and instinctively pushed himself up to sit.
He leaned back on the sofa, tilting his head slightly, and looked at Yukino, who stood behind him with half-closed eyes.
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