From Now On

I'm pretty sure I just wanted to see how Mother and Father were doing.

"So....Are Issei and Suzu good friends with you at school?"

"Yes, of course, they are very good friends."

"Is that so? That's good to hear..."

Mother's expression was very relieved.

Well, it's only natural for them to get better because they are no longer who they were.

Changing the storyline is a goal that I have to do as much as possible, but I also have to make Issei at the same time.

It's not an easy thing to do, because the attacks of the antagonists are becoming more and more vicious.

I'll never forget how Kokabiel brought more troops, and of course with Loki, who will take advantage of the three factions meeting this time to kidnap my parents.

I have to do something about it.

"Hajime-chan?"

"Oh!? What's wrong Miki-san?"

"It's okay, it's just that you look like you're thinking about something"

"...."

I'm too worried about your safety

"Miki-san.... actually..."

"?"

"um...."

I have to think of a good reason for these two to disappear from this house for a while....

"Actually...my parents want to meet you, but due to the long trip, they will arrive the next day"

"Really!? Well, I can't wait to meet them!"

"Yes, I'm sure you two will have a lot in common"

"Really?"

"Yeah, I got this flower from my Mother, too"

"Oh my...I'd love to ask her where she got those flowers"

"My mother is a collector of flowers like this .... If you want, I can give you the seeds"

"Eh?! You have them?"

"Yes, of course!"

Seeing my mother so excited like that...for some reason I want to keep that smile...I feel....my lost feelings are starting to grow back...

As I said, I gave the ajisai flower seeds to my mother. She refused vehemently at first, but I insisted on giving them to her. Until we came to an agreement

"Alright, how about this, Miki-san?"

"?"

"I'll give you this ajisai seed in exchange for eating your cooking."

"Really?"

"Sure."

This is just a bit of selfishness, I may disappear from Kuoh again, but at least one more time, I want to eat your cooking. 

And in the end, we talked until the sun was about to set.

"Oh dear, I was too busy talking to lose track of time"

"Me too..."

"But it's strange, usually Issei and the others are already home, but this time no one came home first"

"...."

I remember, if I'm not mistaken, Akeno and Issei were at the shrine to meet with Michael.

Issei will receive the sacred sword of Ascalon and strengthen his relationship with Akeno, Rias and the others will meet with Sirzech to discuss the three-faction conference. But now the problem is ....

I can't leave my mother until Issei and the others arrive.

"I'm going home~"

"Ah, Otou-san? Welcome"

"I'm home, Okaa-san"

You two have become so close that you call each other Otou-san and Okaa-san like that. 

I think that way I can make sure that they are both safe.

"Hajime-chan, I'm going to make dinner now, if you're ready, would you like to eat here?"

"What? There's Hajime here."

"Hello, Gorou-san, I'm here to return the food container I received a few days ago.

I bowed in respect and also asked for permission to be in his house.

"It's okay, just raise your head, and it's also good that you're here, let's have dinner together!"

"...."

You guys are always nice....

"Well...thanks for the invitation"

I guess having dinner here won't be too bad.

.

.

.

.

With that decision, Kamiya was finally going to have dinner at the Hyoudou Residence, and of course, that meant that he would meet all the Peerage Rias.

"Gosh...I'm a little late for today's menu..."

"...oh? What do you want to cook today?"

"Actually...I want to cook curry for everyone...and some additional dishes like tonkatsu, tsukemono, and also fukujinzuke"

"hm....I guess if you get extra hands, it should be faster"

"Eh?! Hajime-chan, can you cook?"

"Yes, of course, I also make curry and tonkatsu for dinner sometimes, so this should be a normal thing for me"

"Wow~ I'm so helpful!"

"It's nothing, I should also apologize for not noticing that the time went by so fast when we were talking"

The two of them got ready very quickly because they didn't want to keep the others waiting too long for dinner.

Miki used an apron just in case, and Kamiya just rolled up his sleeves. Miki, who saw this, smiled slightly and said

"Hajime-chan, wait a moment"

"Yes?"

Miki looked for another apron in the kitchen drawer and luckily found Akeno's apron.

"Mhm, use this just in case your clothes don't get dirty."

"Understood, Miki-san..."

Kamiya took the apron and put it on. Either out of nostalgia or familiarity, Miki looked at Kamiya and her expression looked sad.

"Seeing you like this...somehow it feels like my eldest son is back..."

*ba-dump

"...."

Suddenly, Kamiya's heartbeat increased and made him pause for a moment.

"Eldest son?"

Kamiya realized this immediately and tried to hide his shocked expression with a confused look. 

"That's right, he's Issei's older brother and also a very good boy..."

Miki lowered her head for a moment and raised it again.

"Maybe when he comes back here, his face will look just like yours..."

*BA-DUMP

Kamiya's heartbeat quickened. Although he tried to hide it well, his maternal instincts should not be underestimated.

"...no, I think your son will be more handsome than me."

"Really?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

The two of them laughed and cooked together until they unconsciously finished making the curry.

.

.

.

.

I didn't know Mother had such sharp intuition.

Just by my habit of rolling up my sleeves, she's already made a very close guess.

Are all mothers of children like that?

It was scary and amazing at the same time.

"But I didn't expect you to be so good at cooking, Hajime-chan"

"I've been used to cooking since I was a child.

I can't say that I learned all this from you, ma'am. 

And it seems like it's getting a little late... But do Issei and Akeno usually take this long? Well, I guess their bond seems a bit strong?

Oh - I forgot that Issei is training Gasper's sacred equipment. I hope they're okay, it's very difficult to control sacred gear as powerful as Gasper's.

If I'm not mistaken, Gasper's sacred gear is the Forbidden Balor View. .... It's a troublesome holy gear if it falls on the right person.

And I think the current Gasper can at least control his Sacred Gear.

But just in case....I'll talk to Issei...

"We're home."

Mother, who heard the voice, immediately went to the door and greeted Asia and Koneko.

"Welcome~ Koneko-chan, and Asia-chan too? Where are the others?"

"They'll be here soon, Okaa-sama"

....Okaa-sama? 

"Really? Thank goodness then, come on, do you want to go straight to dinner or take a bath first?"

"We'll take a bath first"

Wait a second, did you just call my mother Okaa-sama?

But don't I remember that Asia called my mother Okaa-sama because she was adopted by my parents as a child? But Asia still has Aurion as her brother....but she called my mother Okaa-sama....

I don't understand.

"But Okaa-sama, is dinner ready? If not, I'll help you prepare it!"

"That's very kind of Asia-chan~ But don't worry, I already got help from our kind neighbor"

"Neighbor?"

"Yeah yeah, never mind, let's hurry up, you must be hungry? We made curry for you"

Asia and Koneko looked happy, then they hurried to their room to change clothes.

Aurion and Kiba soon followed, they also went straight to their rooms and took a quick shower when they heard that today's dinner was curry.

Fortunately, their bathrooms were separated for men and women. 

"We're home!"

And our protagonists appeared

with Gasper, Suzu, Issei, Akeno and Rias.

They come together and of course, Mother welcomes them and is very happy to see them.

What a quiet day for the Hyoudou residence.

And I'm here, arranging the dishes and the side dishes.

Let's count who will be eating today.

Issei, Suzu, Mother, Father, Rias, Akeno, Asia, Aurion, Kiba, Koneko, and Gasper....Eleven people, huh?

Okay, that means eleven plates and eleven glasses.

Tonkatsu, tsukemono, and even fukujinzuke...all complete. The curry...still hot, and finally the rice....it's perfect.

Damn...I'm so hungry...even though I made curry for Nox-san yesterday...I'm still hungry...

"Alright...the meal is ready~ Curry with extra tonkatsu, and tsukemono and fukujinzuke!"

I'm an excellent food stylist

"It's time for me to clean up all the cutting boards and pans that need washing."

Everything looks messy....let's just wash it....

"EH!!??"

"!!??"

Suzu? Why are you yelling?

"H-Hajime-kun...?"

"Yes?"

"W-Why are you here?"

"Why?...ah, I'm here to help Miki-san make dinner"

"Helping...?"

I nodded

"Suzu? Why are you still at the door? Hurry up!?"

"Ah...good night, Issei..."

"Hajime? What are you doing here?"

"Huh? Helping Miki-san make dinner?"

Well... It must be strange to see your classmates in your house without telling you anything.

"Issei-chan, Suzu-chan, come sit down, Hajime-chan and I have cooked for you and everyone"

"Yes ma'am..."

"ahaha...." 

I'm sorry, it must be because of me, it's a bit awkward.

Shortly after that, everyone started to arrive one by one, and their reactions when they saw me were different. Some were surprised, curious, or even suspicious.

Various reactions began to be directed at me, and the atmosphere was a bit...

"All right, everyone, please eat heartily! Mom cooked all this with the help of Hajime-chan, so if you want more it's okay, we cooked a lot of rice and curry today too!" 

Thanks, mother, you've at least reduced our awkwardness a bit

""....""

Oh dear, they are getting more and more embarrassed and don't want to eat at all.

What should I do to get rid of this uncomfortable atmosphere...even now I still don't have the courage to speak up.

I hope there's something that can help me get out of this situation....

What are you doing here?

 '...this voice...Rias?.

.

.

.

Like the wind that comes quickly and unpredictably, Kamiya was like that in Rias' eyes.

Sometimes coming to bring news, sometimes to help, and sometimes just to exchange greetings.

But it was always only around Issei and Suzu.

Except for them, Rias never saw him interact with anyone else. Rias had always been suspicious of Kamiya since the first time they met, of course, it was all because of Kamiya who suddenly appeared and made an offer to make Issei his peer.

That was the beginning of Rias' wariness of Kamiya.

Then, at the next meeting, Kamiya didn't show any signs of movement, and this became a puzzling thing for Rias.

How could someone related to the Sitri family not have big ambitions? Sona had ambition, and that made her the current student council president, then Serafall had ambition too, and that could be said to be a little strange, even so, Serafall's ambition was very visible.

But Kamiya is completely different, he has no ambition and looks relaxed, Rias always sees him walking in the corridors, gets information from Suzu who is quite close to Kamiya, and even asks Sona directly.

But Sona's answer was "You'll know who he is when the time comes".

This gets more and more confusing.

A vague mystery, it's like looking at someone's shadow through the reflection of water, the figure is clear, but it doesn't feel right.

"I ask again, what are you doing here?

Didn't I tell you that I'm helping Miki-san cook for you?

'I don't think so'

'....'

The two stared at each other and talked in their minds before Suzu finally spoke up and started to smile.

"That's it, it's time for us to eat the curry that Mom and Hajime-kun made!"

Suzu immediately tried to eat it and was surprised.

"It's delicious!! Did you make this curry?"

 "...."

"...."

Rias and Kamiya still stared at each other. 

"Mom only cooked the side dishes, Hajime-chan cooked the curry for you".

"Eh?? really??"

Suzu was shocked like someone who lost a cooking competition.

 ".... this is good..." Issei was impressed by the curry he tasted.

"Good..." Aurion was impressed and continued eating without stopping.

"Mmm..delicious.." Koneko also enjoyed it.

Seeing all her peerage eating, Rias seemed to have to lower her guard a bit.

If Kamiya put something in their food, Koneko should be able to smell something and Akeno should be able to detect something, but they didn't find anything strange in the food at all.

' I'll let this go for now, but next time I'll demand a real explanation. '

'.....'

Kamiya remained silent. 

He kept wondering if it would be a good idea to talk about Loki's impending attack. But Kamiya thought he had to think about it, until he got a call from Sayuri.

*RING RING

"!?"

Kamiya was slightly startled and immediately stood up.

"Miki-san, I'll take this call first"

"Of course, take your time."

Slowly, Kamiya looked at his phone and saw the name "Grandma" on the screen, a little confused, but Kamiya decided to pick up the phone right away and greet Sayuri.

"Hello Grandma"

"Hello~~ How are you Kamiya-chan?"

"I'm fine, how was your vacation with Grandpa at Sitri's mansion?"

"Everything was the same as usual, nothing too special. Except for Sona and Serafall! They're really cute, I even learned a little bit about Magical Girls! and and....."

Sayuri went on telling Kamiya about her vacation at the Sitri Mansion, with information about Serafall and Sona thrown in, of course.

And when Sayuri was done talking, she finally started talking about the meeting of the three factions that would take place tomorrow at noon.

While walking in front of the Hyoudou Residence's courtyard, Kamiya was able to look directly into the dining room where everyone was happily gathered.

Kamiya could see how everyone was eating heartily, and of course with jokes and laughter.

"Kamiya-chan? Are you listening to me?"

"....ah...yes...."

".... did you experience anything at school?"

"...not really..."

Kamiya was still hesitant to speak up. But when he saw his mother and father smiling together and saw that Suzu and Issei also had a lot of friends they could rely on, Kamiya had finally decided. 

"Grandmother...I'm going to say something now..."

"What is it? Grandma will listen carefully"

"...I...."

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Can we just going straight to the main event in the next chapter? But that means volume 3 is gonna end too fast...oh my God,,,, what should we do next? 

Don't forget to add my book to your collection and also give me some reviews cuz its like a gift to me

o(〃＾▽＾〃)o

P.S : Good Night