Evening, 5:40 PM.
At the Secret Management Division's base near Hōrin Park.
At that moment, on the third floor, the desk that Miss Yukino had polished to a dazzling shine served as the temporary dining table.
Seated on brand-new, freshly unwrapped office chairs, Luo Shu stared at the spread in front of him—raw marinated mantis shrimp, deep-fried king crab legs, braised beef noodles, Shanxi knife-cut noodles, and a slew of other Chinese dishes filling the table—and his face was beginning to twitch.
"…This is incredible."
Chisato Nishikigi gawked, looking at the dishes in disbelief, then turned to the blissful-looking Kisara with shock: "That's a level of cooking I could never reach in a lifetime."
Takina Inoue looked at the spread with a bit of anxiety, counting—there were about twenty-two bento boxes: "No matter how you look at it, this is way too much for five people… Actually, I suddenly feel full just looking at it."
"Will you all be able to eat it all?" Sitting on Luo Shu's left, Kisara smiled cheerily as she placed a pair of chopsticks in Luo Shu's hand, then pulled out a napkin and tied it around his neck.
With Kisara looking at him like that, Luo Shu let his gaze drift over the group.
Being swept by Luo Shu's gaze, Yukinoshita Yukino showed no change of expression and just studied the dishes curiously before looking at Kisara: "Um, are you sure it's okay for me to eat these?"
"You are…" Kisara turned to look at Yukino, tilted her head thoughtfully, and then suddenly recalled, "Oh, you're the one from the sukiyaki place last time, right?"
"Yukinoshita. Yukinoshita Yukino." Yukino introduced herself, though she hesitated a little when looking at Kisara. Does this lady have a bad memory?
Yukino thought carefully and suddenly recalled: during the sukiyaki meal, Kisara's eyes had been glued to Luo Shu the entire time.
Ah, well… while that explained why Kisara didn't recognize her, it did feel a bit odd.
"Yukinoshita Yukino? Oh, right. Now I sort of remember," Kisara tilted her head again, then brought her hands together and smiled. "You can eat anything on the table, but you can only have one bento."
Just one bento? I doubt I could even finish one, thought Yukino as she looked at the dazzling spread and, after a moment's hesitation, picked the beef noodles. She pressed her palms together and said, "Let's eat!"
Right then, Chisato, propped up on the table, said excitedly: "Hey, Kisara, can I share one with Takina?"
"Sure thing."
With permission granted, Chisato immediately snatched the knife-cut noodles that Luo Shu had been eyeing, grinned mischievously, and pulled Takina along: "This one looks amazing, Takina—let's try it together!"
No, you just saw Luo Shu look at that bowl a few extra times so now you think it's the best, Takina grumbled internally, giving Luo Shu a helpless look.
Luo Shu sighed, looking at the mountain of dishes, and muttered, "Kisara."
"I'm here!"
Luo Shu hesitated, stopping short of criticizing Kisara for going overboard or wasting food. With so many dishes, she must have worked for hours—probably since the moment he'd left the house that morning. In a moment like this, with Yukino and Chisato both present, he knew he shouldn't kill the mood. So, after the shortest of pauses, he said:
"Will you eat with us?"
He picked up a piece of fried king crab leg, holding it up with his hand to shield the table from any falling crumbs, and offered it to Kisara: "Ah~"
Kisara blinked, gave the other three women a cautious, ambiguous glance, and, seeing that everyone but the chili-shocked Yukino was watching her, opened her mouth wide: "Aah~"
After Kisara took a blissful bite of the crab leg, Luo Shu took a bite himself, then spoke: "Oh, and back in my hometown, important matters are usually discussed at the dinner table."
With that, Luo Shu looked up, his gaze shifting over Yukino, Chisato, and Takina.
Chisato slurped a large mouthful of noodles before saying, "I'm fine with that. Yukino, how about you?"
"I don't mind," Yukino quickly said, swishing some water around her mouth to wash away the numbing spice, then added, "But it seems there are still people not here yet?"
Yukino recalled that at the get-together several days ago, there'd been a Black man named Mika, a bespectacled lady called Mizuki, and a silent little kid named Kurumi who'd kept sneaking bites.
Luo Shu replied casually: "The others are all from the Operations Division. In fact, Takina and Chisato are technically still with the Operations Division."
"Hm?" Yukino immediately sensed the gap, glancing from Luo Shu to Kisara.
"You've got it—right now, the entire Secret Management Division is just you and me."
Yukino, still confused, turned to Kisara: "So, Miss Kisara…?"
Kisara clapped her hands, stuck out her tongue, and said, "Oh, me? I'm actually the one being managed here."
Being managed? Yukino was momentarily speechless.
At that moment, Luo Shu said calmly: "You got the basic occult knowledge packet sent to your home over the weekend, so you should be familiar with the Abyss and Abyss Artifacts, right?"
"I am." Yukino nodded.
SDS had sent a thorough file to her family, and after reading it, they'd all been shocked—especially after realizing they'd nearly been caught in a deadly "mystical" incident just before. Better late than never for fear.
"If you've got the basics, then this will be easier," Luo Shu said as he spooned some mapo tofu into his mouth, chewed, and explained: "The whole reason the Secret Management Division was founded is to contain highly dangerous and potentially escape-capable Abyss Artifacts, and living threats intelligent enough to cause mass-casualty incidents."
"Wait, Chief, so you mean…" Yukino's gaze shot to Kisara in shock.
Kisara wrapped herself around Luo Shu's arm and smiled sweetly: "That's right. I'm the dangerous living being he's sheltering~"
"A real, bona fide demon~"
Yukino caught sight of the red glow in Kisara's eyes and, for a moment, a bold idea filled her mind.
Could it be… is Miss Kisara actually a succubus?
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