Chapter 332: A Rice Grain With Your Flavor
Chapter 332: A Rice Grain With Your Flavor
“Akiko, time for dinner.”
Compared to the recent troubles Nanami and Mashiro had been causing him, giving him headaches and worry, Akiko had surprisingly been well-behaved during this period.
Although she was mysteriously holed up in her room all day, doing who-knows-what, overall, these past few days, Akiko had acted like a well-behaved and reliable little sister.
It truly was a big help.
Feeling inadequate under the combined pressure of Nanami and Mashiro, Himekoji at least avoided the extra trouble of having to soothe his Imouto too.
“Coming, comin\~g\~!”
Akiko’s voice floated happily and cheerfully from her bedroom.
…
“Almost done now.”
As Akiko sat down, she stretched out lazily and let slip this casual remark.
“Done with what?”
Himekoji looked confused.
What had his Imouto been so busy with lately?
To be honest, he was very curious.
“Nothing, nothing…”
Snapping back to reality and realizing she might have said too much, Akiko promptly pressed her lips together and waved her hands in denial.
“Wow, fried shrimp tonight?!”
Whether intentional or not, Akiko immediately changed the subject to the dinner dishes.
Fried shrimp was a dish Akiko had loved since childhood, and even grown-up, her preference remained unchanged.
Himekoji was used to it. He shook his head with a fond smile, then went ahead and moved all the fried shrimp from his own portion into Akiko’s bowl.
“For you.”
The action was skilled and natural, something Himekoji had long become accustomed to doing.
As soon as his chopsticks touched down, however, Himekoji immediately felt two piercing gazes directed straight at him.
Feeling awkward under the intense stares from Nanami and Mashiro, he could only give a weak chuckle, lower his head, and focus on shoveling rice into his mouth.
“For you.”
Then, while eating, Mashiro’s voice suddenly sounded beside him. He looked down and discovered a pile of shrimp shells had somehow ended up on top of his rice…
He felt speechless again.
“I say, Shiina,” he complained, “when people give others food during a meal, it’s usually something the other person likes to eat, right? Not just the things you don’t want, like this…”
“I like the shrimp meat.”
Facing Himekoji’s complaint, Mashiro just announced her preference very seriously.
“You still didn’t have to throw all the shells onto my rice!”
“Give to Akito to eat.”
“Who wants to eat that?!”
Besides, where was the planned indifference?
With Mashiro’s terrible follow-through, even the best strategist advising her would be useless.
The two went back and forth, trading silly nonsense across the dinner table.
Meanwhile, Mashiro’s hands hadn’t stopped moving. Before long, Himekoji’s rice bowl not only had shrimp shells but was also piled high with the leftover breading from her fried pork cutlet.
Himekoji was mostly used to this too. Mashiro’s picky eating habits hadn’t changed since she moved in.
In comparison, although Nanami also picked at her food, it was simply for dieting reasons.
Even though the girl was obviously already quite slender.
Nanami would also transfer things she didn’t eat into Himekoji’s bowl, though mostly it was greasy, high-fat meats.
Thanks to this, Himekoji had actually gained quite a bit of weight recently, finally putting a little extra flesh on his frame.
…
Himekoji decided to stop the pointless, silly conversation with Mashiro and turned back to focus on finishing his food.
“Huh, Onii-chan, wait. You’ve got a rice grain on your face.”
But he’d barely started again when his Imouto called out to him.
Akiko pointed towards Himekoji’s cheek.
“Huh? A rice grain?”
He hadn’t noticed it himself. Himekoji reached up and rubbed his right cheek but didn’t feel a rice grain.
“Nope, wrong side, Onii-chan.”
With an energy that seemed ready to climb right onto the table, Akiko leaned across suddenly, stretching out her small hand.
“I’ll get that rice grain for you! That’s how married couples show their affection in everyday life!”
“That last part was unnecessary and extra…”
He offered a light complaint like that, but Himekoji’s body followed honestly. He tilted his face slightly to let Akiko, sitting opposite him, do her thing.
Gently, Akiko plucked the tiny rice grain from her older brother’s cheek. Then, without the slightest hesitation, she popped it right into her own mouth.
“It tastes like Onii-chan!”
Akiko commented on the rice grain as if it held deep meaning.
Swoosh!
Immediately, two slightly stinging gazes shot his way once more.
It was Mashiro and Nanami again. From the corner of his eye, Himekoji could see them glaring at him, looking quite displeased.
“Akito.”
Mashiro fired the first shot this time.
Who knows what passed through her mind, but this silly girl started her imitation act once again.
“Hm? What?”
Himekoji asked cautiously.
“Face has mouth.”
Face has mouth?
What the?
Was this a copy of the ‘face has rice grain’ thing?
But that was really missing the mark completely!
“If my face didn’t have a mouth, it would be terrible!”
“I remove it for you.”
Sure enough…
It truly was an imitation show only Mashiro could pull off…
“I’m afraid my mouth can’t be detached,”
Himekoji refused.
“Is that a no?”
Mashiro looked disappointed. Tilting her head, she shifted her gaze to his nose.
“My nose is off-limits too! I need it to breathe. Without it, I’d die!”
Guessing her intention, Himekoji shouted defensively.
“Couldn’t you breathe with your mouth?”
“Is that seriously the problem here?!”
“Then your eyes.”
“No! No! Nothing! Just let me be, please!”
Why was he even playing along with Mashiro’s nonsense?
Himekoji felt a headache coming on.
“Emnmnm…”
Rejected so many times, Mashiro rested her chin on her hand, thinking hard.
“Got it.”
Himekoji felt anything but happy at her words.
“It’s over…”
He murmured gloomily.
“Eyebrows. Eyebrows can be plucked out.”
Of course, it came to this…
Himekoji sighed.
“That might be technically correct this time, but I really don’t want you plucking my eyebrows!”
“Akiko did it for you.”
As if treated unfairly, Mashiro puffed her cheeks unhappily.
“Akiko just removed a grain of rice!”
Himekoji tried hard to explain.
“Fine. Then I’ll just take a grain of rice too.”
Mashiro blinked pitifully at him, looking like she was making a huge sacrifice.
“The rice grain is already gone! There isn’t one!”
“Then make it happen again.”
“No matter what?”
“No matter what.”
The determination in Mashiro’s eyes was no joke.
Himekoji got the feeling she wouldn’t give up until she got her way.
He finally gave in.
“Just once, okay?”
“Mhm.”
Mashiro stood up excitedly, leaning toward him, clearly eager.
Totally helpless, Himekoji played along, sticking a grain of rice onto his cheek.
“Closer. I can’t reach,” Mashiro said.
Himekoji leaned slightly toward her.
“Closer.”
“Okay.”
“Closer still.”
“Is that close enough?”
“Even closer.”
“We’re already really close… Eek!”
His words cut short as his voice hitched, replaced by a strange sound.
His mind went blank!
Something soft and slightly wet pressed against his cheek. Like a wet, gentle, tender little thing softly sweeping across his skin, smooth and sliding…
It was—
The rice grain. Mashiro had licked it off with her tongue.
At that instant, it felt like he was struck by lightning.
Himekoji froze.
His whole body.