My Life is Over...

The sound of broth simmering in the hot pot broke the silence between the two.

"Alright, let's eat first. Eat a lot so your body develops better."

Shinnosuke opened the lid of the hot pot, and the fragrant aroma of beef and vegetables spread, mixed with the appetizing scent of sukiyaki soy sauce.

Yukino's attention was also drawn to the boiling hot pot. Being able to eat warm sukiyaki after a summer thunderstorm was indeed a rare pleasure.

'This guy is annoying, but judging from the ingredients he prepared, he seems to be quite good at cooking. That's quite rare for a man.'

"Ittadakimasu!"

Shinnosuke eagerly grabbed a piece of beef.

"Thanks to Yukinon, I can eat such expensive beef, it's so delicious!"

He dipped the beef he took into a small bowl of raw egg, then placed it on top of the rice, and ate it together. Then he picked up the soda next to him and took a swig, then burped contentedly.

Seeing him like that, Yukino also felt a little hungry, although her movements when picking up vegetables remained polite and graceful.

It really tasted very good, even more delicious than the sukiyaki she had eaten in fancy restaurants. How strange.

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

After dropping off the drunk Hiratsuka at her home, Haruno hailed a taxi and hurried towards Yukino's apartment.

"I don't know how Yukinon lives alone. I drank a little today, maybe I can stay at Yukinon's place?"

"It would be even better if I could find a chance to hug Yukinon and sleep together."

Hopefully, Haruno arrived at the apartment and knocked on the door.

"Hmm? No answer? Hasn't Yukinon come home yet?"

After hesitating for a moment, she took out a spare key from her wallet. After learning that Yukino was renting an apartment here, she secretly made a spare key just in case. She didn't expect it to be useful so soon.

She quietly opened the door but found the room completely silent. Yukino was really not home.

As she was in the taxi, heavy rain started falling outside again, and it was already dark. If Yukino wasn't home, where was she?

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

Earlier that afternoon, Shinnosuke had eaten four bentos. Although the beef today was very expensive, he didn't eat much. Almost all the sukiyaki went into Yukino's stomach.

Although she looked thin, her appetite was much bigger than he imagined.

Suddenly, Yukino's phone rang.

She picked it up and saw a call from her sister, Haruno. Yukino immediately panicked.

There was a guilty feeling like being caught cheating.

"Nohara-kun, my sister is calling, can you be quiet for a moment?"

Seeing Shinnosuke nod, Yukino finally answered her phone.

"Hello, Yukinon, what are you doing?"

"At home, reading a book."

Hearing Yukino's answer, Haruno's heart pounded.

'When did Yukino start lying? Could it be that she's already learned bad things after only living alone for a few days?'

"I just had a little drink with Shizuka-chan, and it's still raining outside. Can I crash at your place?"

Haruno's tone was assertive, not like asking for Yukino's opinion, more like telling her.

Her sister's tone reminded her of her mother. Yukino was silent for a moment, then agreed.

"Okay, Nee-san, come over."

Anyway, it was just next door, it would be better to go home now and wait for Haruno to come.

"Okay, Yukinon, wait for me~"

After hanging up, Haruno felt relieved.

"Maybe Yukinon went to the convenience store to buy something?"

"That's right, how could Yukinon learn bad things? I was really scared just now, I thought Yukinon really did something bad, not coming home this late, could it be she was deceived by some bad guy out there."

"This is a good opportunity to give Yukinon a surprise."

◆━⊰✧⊱━◆

"I'm sorry, Nohara-kun, my sister is coming to look for me, I'm asking for your help to clean this up. I have to go home immediately."

After hanging up the phone, Yukino looked at Shinnosuke with great regret. Suddenly going home like this was really impolite.

"It's okay, it's okay. Thank you very much for Yukinon's generous treat today, the beef was delicious."

Without even correcting Shinnosuke's strange words, Yukino stood up and bowed slightly apologetically, then turned towards the door and opened it.

Yukino, who opened her apartment door, saw her own apartment door wide open. Her sister, Haruno, stood in front of the door, looking at her with a surprised face.

'My life is over...' Yukino felt all her strength leave her. She didn't expect to be caught having dinner with a man by her sister.

Haruno, who had just felt relieved, absolutely didn't expect her younger sister to come out of the neighbor's apartment across the hall.

As Yukino opened the door, the aroma of sukiyaki wafted out, along with a faint scent of rice.

From behind Yukino, a man could be vaguely seen sitting at the dining table, seemingly eating.

In other words, her beloved younger sister had just eaten at the neighbor's house.

Her earlier suspicion had become reality. Haruno was currently on the verge of going dark.

She shouldn't have allowed Yukino to live alone! It's only been a few days?

"Yukinon, won't you introduce me?"

Haruno immediately stepped out of the room and approached Yukino, then looked into Shinnosuke's room. After confirming there was only one man inside, her smile became sinister.

"Hello, I'm Yukinon's older sister, Yukinoshita Haruno."

She immediately cut in from Yukino's side and entered the room, then introduced herself to Shinnosuke, who was still holding chopsticks with beef.

Yukino stiffly turned her head. Just receiving a call from her sister earlier had made her feel guilty, now what kind of situation was this?

Having dinner alone with a male friend at his house at night, no matter how you looked at it, this was not something a respectable woman would do.

After hesitating for a moment, Yukino realized, this was a rare opportunity, a good chance to tease her sister.

She had only eaten sukiyaki with Shinnosuke, there was nothing between them, why should she feel guilty?

On the contrary, her sister's panicked expression made Yukino, who was often teased by Haruno, feel secretly pleased.

"You're Yukinon's older sister? I'm Nohara Shinnosuke, Yukinon's classmate. Want to join us for sukiyaki? The beef is really delicious today."

Putting aside Haruno's personality, her body and appearance were very much to his liking, so Shinnosuke was very enthusiastic.

And he also realized that to make Yukino purr willingly in front of him, Haruno would definitely play an important role.

'Yukinon...'

'Isn't that my special nickname?'

But Yukino's next action was the final blow for Haruno.

Yukino, who had already understood, calmly approached the dining table, sat down directly, and didn't object to Shinnosuke calling her Yukinon.

"Nee-san, you haven't eaten yet, have you? It's very cold outside, let's eat sukiyaki."