As Ryosuke had been decided to cut the vegetables, Mirai did most of the work with the help of Ryosuke’s men. He would, a few times, witness her glance back and forth from cooking and from looking at the tables and knew she was trying to restrain herself from missing her family. Her expression showed it all.

Ninomiya-san, one of the subordinates, entered the kitchen. “Boss, your—”

“Yo!” exclaimed Yuto, who joyfully peeped his head into the kitchen without being introduced, shocking Ryosuke. He nodded to tell Ninomiya-san to go back and do his job. “Why didn’t you tell us you were going to be here, helping Mi-chan?!”

“Mi-chan?” Ryosuke and Mirai asked at the same time.

Ryosuke glimpsed at her, knowing that Mi-chan was the nickname her friends used to call her. Wanting to change the atmosphere that Yuto had changed with no ill intent, Ryosuke washed his hands and pulled Yuto to the eating area. “What are you doing here?” he asked.

“I should ask you,” said Yuto. “It’s weird enough knowing that you’re here when I was told of it.”

Ryosuke raised a brow. “Told?”

“Well, I overheard it, actually.” He looked at the table beside him and sat down, making sure to not dirty and mess up the work of the subordinates. “I was coming back to the palace when I saw this place being opened, so I thought someone had barged in on here without Mirai-san knowing. Then people started asking me if I’m involved too.” He clapped once. “That’s when I found out that you were doing something that you didn’t tell anyone.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

“I just did.” Yuto pointed to Ryosuke. “You didn’t answer mine.”

Ryosuke looked around the room. He wasn’t trying to find anyone or see if anyone was in the same room, but he usually scanned the area whenever he wanted to keep things low. “I’m just making sure she’s going to eat.”

“Eat?” Yuto let out a laugh, showing his disbelief. “Why do you care if she eats or not? Since when you started caring about her health? Is it because…”

Ryosuke perked up and waited for him to continue, curious about his next question.

“Her situation’s similar to Umika’s?”

“Umika’s?”

“Yeah. You have a sensitive side—helping people you pity.”

“I do not. I don’t pity people.”

“Yeah, huh.” Yuto asserted. “You and Umika always pity people. That’s why you guys got into trouble the most during our training days.” He tapped his chest twice. “We were raised to not be moved by emotions or be affected by it, but somehow, you two survived.” He chuckled as he thought back to the old days.

A knock at the door surprised Yuto and Ryosuke. They knew there was a sign outside that said that the place would be open late in the evening, so no one should be knocking.

Curious, and being the person who started this all, Ryosuke opened the door. To his shock, it was Yuri and Umika.

“Can we enter?” they asked.

“Sure,” said Ryosuke, moving to the side and letting them in before closing the door. “What are you two doing here?”

Umika analyzed the room. “We were looking for you and found out that you were here.”

“Who told you?” Yuto asked.

“We heard Lady Hana talking to herself about it.”

Ryosuke went to them in panic. “What-what did you hear?”

Umika blinked, taking a step away because he was too close to her. She loved it, but it made her heart thump fast. It was a feeling she hated and loved at the same time. It scared her and it thrilled her. “Well, we couldn’t hear it that well, but we figured you’d be in the village center. Just not…here.” She ended the sentence with disappointment.

Yuri took a step into the conversation. “Did you receive permission to be in here from the owner?”

“The owner?” asked Ryosuke.

Yuri nodded. “Yeah, Mirai-san.”

“Actually, she—” Yuto was about to answer when everyone heard laughter from the kitchen.

The quadruple walked to the kitchen and saw a giggling Mirai pointing at a red-eye, crying Ninomiya. He was cutting the onions and it being his first time, he wasn’t dealing with the onions well.

Everyone heard Yuto whisper to himself, “She’s cute when she’s like that.”

Ryosuke immediately stared at him, and Yuto caught Ryosuke’s stare and didn’t know why.

Yuto mouthed, “What?”

“Boss!” Ninomiya-san shouted when he saw the Demon Slayers, which stopped Mirai from laughing. He pointed to the onions. “You didn’t want to cut them, so you left me to do it, didn’t you?” He brushed off the tears from his sides. “Even Mirai-san didn’t want to do them.”

Umika took a step forward. Bowing to greet Mirai, she said, “Konnichiwa. Sorry to intrude, but…uh, we came—”

“Sure, you guys can take him,” said Mirai. She didn’t want to hear the reason why they came because she knew they liked to be together, and she couldn’t be bothered with all four at once. One was enough to make the situation weird as it was.

Ryosuke looked back and forth between his friends and Mirai. He wanted to stay with Mirai, and he wouldn’t let her be responsible for something he planned. He knew that she would feel weird and uncomfortable with the new situation, but as he was about to speak, Yuri did it for him.

“Mirai-san,” said Yuri, “if you don’t mind, we heard about dinner tonight. We’d like to help too.”

“Ah! Ah!!” The painful screams from Ninomiya-san, who had continued cutting the onions, stopped the conversation and made everyone laugh because he was running around, trying to find water to put out the firing pain in his eyes. “It burns! It burns!”

Mirai quickly soaked a cloth and gave it to him, calming him down. With her back turned to the Royal Demon Slayers, she said, rudely, “Do what you want.”

*

Thanks to the added volunteers, many preparations had been finished sooner than expected. All that was needed was the addition of making more of the menu.

Ryosuke touched his sweaty forehead as he lifted his head. He had been standing at the corner of the kitchen, cutting away vegetables. He had mastered cutting many vegetables, well, except for the onions.

His friends also found themselves with certain responsibilities.

Umika washed the dishes, prepared the ingredients, and helped with minor tasks. Yuri and Yuto dealt with the meat and frying, and the subordinates of Ryosuke had the job of keeping the foods warm, putting them in a safe place, and ensuring that each would be prepared carefully.

As for Mirai, she hadn’t been with them since the friends had arrived and had left them minutes after they took over.

No one said a thing. They all had their assumptions on why she was avoiding them. One, as assumed by Yuri, Yuto, Umika, and the subordinates, was that she was back to her normal rude self. Two, as assumed by Ryosuke, who knew her much better than the rest, was that she didn’t want to be stressed out by the strangers invading her house, something he started and felt guilty for.

He didn’t like how this had ended up. He just wanted to spend a day with her, making her happy and having her forget about everything that had happened as of late. He just wanted to be her ‘Momoka’. But now that everyone was here, especially his friends, he couldn’t be ‘Momoka’.

“Ryosuke,” said Umika.

He turned around and saw her hold on to a wet cloth. She was about to wipe something off him when he slid to the side.

“Uh, thank you, but I’m fine,” he said. An idea popped into his mind, and he took this chance. Purposely speaking out loud, he said, “I just remembered something.” He left Umika hanging as he exited the kitchen. Now, I can try to find her.

Yuri came to Umika after Ryosuke left and took the wet cloth off her hands and gently patted it over her face. “Your face is pink from all the exhaust air in here.” He gently cupped a hand on her left cheek.

Umika began to feel uncomfortable, so she backed away, taking her cloth back. “Arigatou. I’m fine.” She walked back to her place. “Uh, actually, I’m going to take a break.” She left the room abruptly.

Everyone knew she was going after Ryosuke.

Sighing, Yuto looked up from frying. “Yuri, you’re tired. Go rest.”

Yuri caught onto the older man’s instructions. “Hai.” He exited the kitchen slowly, tailing after Umika, who had just closed the door to go outside.

*

As Umika followed Ryosuke, she noticed that he would sometimes hide behind something, laugh to himself, frown at himself, or even converse with the vendors from faraway. As she was about to go up and ask him about what he was doing, she got the answer.

Yuri stopped when he saw Umika stop and look down. Even though he saw her side profile, he knew she was saddened. And it could only be because of Ryosuke. But what Ryosuke did to her was what he wanted to know. He searched for Ryosuke with his eyes and saw a smile he had never seen before on Ryosuke’s face.

And Yuri realized something.

He was trailing Umika, who was trailing Ryosuke…who was trailing Mirai.

*

Mirai just couldn’t stay inside the house. It was a no-no situation for her. Working with the Royal Demon Slayers would remind herself of what Haruma had threatened her, the memories of her recent loss, and when she used to have a family. Even if she didn’t work with them, she would find herself staring off in the house, remembering how loud it used to be thanks to the commotion coming from the kitchen. That was why she took a stroll outside. To get the fresh air she needed.

She continued walking, strolling by herself, not knowing that there was a line of people following her.

Well, at least, one person was intently following her.

When she came across a jewelry vendor, the beautiful clips on display caught her eyes. Most of the time, her hair was always up. She hated having it down because it would get in the way. But she loved hair clips. They were the only hair decorations she collected. She didn’t know why. She just did.

She bent down and looked at them, one by one, carefully. They’re so pretty. Her eyes sparkled, and the shop owner caught the sparkling eyes of hers.

“Miss,” he said, “a pretty woman like you—for free.”

She looked up with doubt. She pointed to herself after looking around and seeing that no one was there but her. “Me?”

He gave her a comfortable and assuring smile. “Yes, you. Pick anything, and you can keep it. A present on the house.”

“Present?” She straightened. “What for?” My birthday passed, and today’s not a special day. She saw him glance somewhere into the distance and then back at her, so she looked back too, hoping to see anything interesting behind her, but there was nothing, so she faced the man again. “It’s okay, I don’t like wearing them.” She bade him goodbye and walked away. The Sakura flower clip was beautiful though. It had a nice pink shade to it with a pretty lavender color in the middle. She smiled to herself. Maybe next time.

She continued walking, window shopping, and admiring the streets she never really had taken the time to do so. At the corner of her eye, she found someone familiar trying to buy something. It was Mariko whom she hadn’t seen in a while. Although Mariko reminded her of Haruma and his betrayal, she didn’t hesitate to go to her. “Mariko-nee?”

Mariko turned around. With an unsure tone, she asked, “You-you know me?”

“You were there on my birthday.”

Mariko stuttered, looking lost. “But I don’t know you.”

“I’m Mirai.”

Mariko suddenly sniffed. “You...” She hissed in a whisper and backed away fearfully. “You’re! You’re one of them!” Without saying goodbye, she ran away, leaving Mirai speechless.

Mirai blinked a couple of times. “Who am I one of?” She sighed and continued her walk. “She looked horrified to see me.”

*

Mirai arrived at the doorstep of her house again.

Now, it was late at night. A few stars were visible, and the shop was closed.

The door swung open, scaring Mirai, and she took a step back with fright. Too late to balance herself, she figured she’d fall, but someone caught her in time. She glanced up, and it was Ryosuke, holding her with such great care.

“Mi-chan!” Yuto gasped, feeling apologetic since he had opened the door without warning. When he saw Ryosuke, he frowned and shouted, “Ryosuke! Where were you?! We looked all over for you to come back to do your job!”

Before Ryosuke could explain, he helped Mirai balance herself first. “Sorry, I lost track of time.” He looked around the house. “Everything went okay?”

Yuto raised a brow. “What do you think? We only had five people working, and four of them had never cooked before.” Right when Ryosuke was about to apologize, Yuto smirked. “It went better than expected!” Just then, he got pushed out of the blue by two of Ryosuke’s subordinates, who rushed over. “What’s wrong?”

Ninomiya-san answered, shouting, “Yuto-san! Everything’s been cleaned and put away!”

The other started laughing. “It was more fun than we thought.” Apparently, by the looks of his clothes, he and Ninomiya-san weren’t just washing the dishes. They had taken their time playing with water. Just like little kids.

Yuto laughed as he looked back at Mirai and Ryosuke and pointed to the other two. “See, told you so.”

“Ah, gomen!” Umika’s voice was heard from behind Mirai and Ryosuke. She had just arrived, and behind her followed Yuri, to her surprise. She asked him, “You went out too?”

Yuri responded with a nod.

Umika said to Yuto, “How did things go? Sorry, we weren’t there to help.” She looked at Mirai, trying to start a friendly conversation. “Uh, did they help a lot today?”

“I don’t know,” answered Mirai, halfheartedly as she was tired.

Yuto looked back at the place. “Well, I guess it’s time to lock it up.” He looked at Ryosuke. “You’ve got the keys, right?”

Ryosuke shook his head. “I don’t. Why would I?”

“I do,” said Mirai. She went to the door. “I’ll lock up.” She hoped they would understand and leave her alone like how it should be, but when it didn’t happen, she turned around. “You can leave.”

Everyone was about to leave, obeying Mirai, until Ryosuke blurted out, “We’re going back together.”

Everyone, even Mirai, looked at him.

Finding himself in a weird situation, he tried to reason. “I mean…we’re all going the same way…so…”

“I’m staying here,” Mirai blankly said. “I’m not returning.”

He forced himself to not look bothered, and Umika glanced at him and knew his expression showed disappointment, loss, and confusion.

Before he could mouth another word, Mirai closed the door on them, leaving everyone speechless.

Behind the door that separated the group, Mirai whispered in an exhale, “Arigatou, everyone. For today.”

*

The gang headed back to the palace with silence. Well, silence from the Royal Demon Slayers and commotion from the subordinates. The subordinates had found today to be a very exciting day and were looking forward to more days like this, but their hope was destroyed when Ryosuke immediately rejected the idea.