The clatter of dishes and the hum of light chatter filled the dining room as Raika and her friends settled in, plates piled with the dinner Raito had prepared earlier—pasta with grilled vegetables, garlic butter rolls, and a simple salad on the side. Everyone had assumed Raito wouldn't show. After all, he'd made his escape pretty clear.
So when he suddenly stepped out of his room, fully dressed in a loose dark shirt and slacks, a collective hush rippled across the table. All heads turned.
"…You came?" Raika blinked, halfway through pouring a drink.
"I felt hungry all of a sudden," Raito said, his voice calm and unreadable as he made his way to the empty seat at the head of the table. Then, without missing a beat, he glanced at Raika and added, "Do you have a problem with it? I can eat later if it's a bother."
Before Raika could even inhale to answer, two of her friends—Nanami and Hikari—immediately burst in.
"No, no! Please stay!" Hikari said, her face lighting up.
"Yes! We'd love to have you join us!" Riko chimed in.
Raito offered a polite nod before taking his seat and starting to serve himself. Akemi, sitting directly across from him, was smiling faintly—too faintly. Raika noticed it right away.
The way Akemi watched Raito, her chin resting lazily in her palm, her eyes focused—not on the food or the room or even the conversation—but on him.
What's with that look? Raika thought, squinting subtly.
As if to confirm her suspicion, Akemi casually nudged her fork in Raito's direction and asked, "So, Raito, what about that?"
Raito looked up with a single raised brow. "What about what?"
Before Raika could snap back with a confused question of her own, Akemi answered in his place.
"Oh, just the time when you were my bodyguard."
Raika nearly dropped her fork.
Raito, meanwhile, simply chewed his food and gave a calm, very Raito-esque nod. He didn't argue—because technically, she wasn't lying. He had saved her during the incident at Kawai Kitty Con. She was twisting the truth, but not enough that he could object.
"…Bodyguard?" Raika said flatly, eyes bouncing between them.
"Yup," Akemi replied, smiling sweetly as she stabbed a piece of grilled zucchini. "Strong, silent, brooding type. You know the kind. Saved me like a knight in shining armor. I was honestly a little swoony, not gonna lie."
Riko gasped. "That's so cool!"
Nanami's eyes sparkled. "Raika, you never told us your brother used to be a bodyguard! That's so hot."
"I—He's not—He wasn't—" Raika stammered, her face turning several shades of red.
Raito kept eating, his expression the same as always, though his mind was entirely elsewhere. Kurai's sister… dormant or sealed in the mountains… how long has she been there? And what happens if she wakes up?
He barely noticed Raika suddenly scooting her chair a little closer to his side.
"Hey, Raito," she said, a little too brightly, "Pass me the parmesan, would you?"
He blinked out of his thoughts. "It's right in front of you."
"I know, but I like it when you hand it to me," she said, reaching toward him and brushing her hand against his just a second too long.
Akemi raised an eyebrow and sipped her water.
"Oh, you want him to feed you too?" she asked, tilting her head. "That's so sweet. You two must be really close."
"He's my brother," Raika said quickly, glaring.
"Uh-huh," Akemi said, not breaking eye contact.
Nanami and Hikari watched the silent exchange with interest, whispering to each other.
Raito, on the other hand, handed Raika the cheese without reacting. He had already drifted back into his own head.
Kurai didn't even want to talk about her sister. Which means she's either scared of her or hiding something… he thought, absentmindedly twirling spaghetti onto his fork. And if she's dormant, someone must've put her there. Which begs the question—was it humans, demons, or someone like me?
As Raika poured him a drink with extra ice and Akemi leaned in to wipe a bit of sauce off the corner of his mouth with a napkin—uninvited—the tension between the two girls simmered hotter than the marinara sauce on the table.
And still, Raito didn't notice.
In his mind, the silent war between Akemi and Raika was just background noise—like the faint hum of the fridge or the gentle theme song of Kawai Kitty Emi had left playing upstairs.
But for everyone else at the table?
A war had begun.