By seven o'clock, the restaurant had already been cleaned from top to bottom.
Business was officially over for the night, and the restaurant was entering its resting hours.
Erina and Hisako said goodbye to Yuto and left as well, leaving only him and Tohru behind.
While Tohru carried out the final cleaning routine they performed at the end of every business day, Yuto walked toward the entrance and gently switched off the small lamp glowing above the restaurant door.
Outside, the sky was already completely bright.
Against the morning daylight, the little lamp's glow had become faint and insignificant, while the branches and leaves of the luminous tree had also returned to their ordinary daytime appearance.
Their mysterious nighttime radiance had faded, but beneath the sunlight, the lush green leaves still reflected a rich brilliance that made them look almost like countless tiny emeralds hanging above the entrance.
"Whew~"
Yuto stepped outside and released a relaxed breath.
The fresh scent of morning drifted through the air, instantly clearing away the lingering heaviness left by a long night of work.
"Tohru, I'll go buy the ingredients by myself today. When Kanna wakes up, make sure you help her wash up."
He turned around with a smile.
Tohru looked confused. "Eh? I'm not going with you today?"
She clearly did not understand why she would not be accompanying him on their usual grocery run.
"I suddenly feel like taking a walk by myself today. We can go together again tomorrow."
Tohru thought about it for a moment before reluctantly nodding.
"Then I'm counting on you."
Yuto walked over and gently patted her head.
After Tohru confidently promised that everything would be fine, he pushed his bicycle out of the restaurant, left the alley, and stepped onto the morning street.
Bright sunlight spilled across him as he drew in a deep breath and slowly released it.
Good weather always had a way of improving a person's mood, and right now, Yuto genuinely felt happier simply because the morning was so pleasant.
He pushed his bicycle leisurely along the street, greeting the neighboring shop owners one by one as he passed.
Once he reached the intersection, he climbed onto the seat and began riding toward the supermarket.
There were noticeably more young men and women strolling around than usual.
Today was Sunday, which meant plenty of the young faces around him belonged to students enjoying one of their few chances to properly relax.
The examination system in this country was no easier than the one in Yuto's homeland, and middle-school students here also had to endure years of exhausting study, assignments, and academic competition.
For many of them, Sunday was one of the rare opportunities to simply breathe.
Yuto continued toward the supermarket, weaving through the morning streets beneath the shifting shadows cast by the trees overhead.
He attracted quite a few glances along the way, but as usual, he paid them no attention.
Click!
After reaching the supermarket, he got off his bicycle, locked it securely, and headed inside.
He wandered through the aisles for a while before eventually arriving at Grandma Katou's stall.
As he picked out vegetables, he patiently answered her questions, most of which naturally revolved around how yesterday's outing with Megumi had gone.
Yuto responded with a smile, and by the time he finished, Grandma Katou looked absolutely delighted.
The grin never left her face, making her appear even warmer and kinder than usual.
Yuto continued smiling on the surface, though inwardly he felt slightly awkward.
Everything he had told her was technically true; it had merely been... slightly edited.
There was no way he could tell Grandma Katou that his movie outing with Megumi had somehow ended up including three other girls as well.
If he actually admitted that, he suspected the elderly woman might be so shocked that she would not even know how to respond!
"Remember to invite Megumi out more often. She really enjoys spending time with you too, Yuto."
Grandma Katou smiled without the slightest hesitation.
Megumi had never actually told her that she particularly enjoyed going out with Yuto, but that certainly was not going to stop Grandma Katou from confidently filling in the blanks herself.
Yuto smiled and nodded. "Mm. If I get the chance, I will."
After humoring her through a little more small talk, he quickly escaped from the stall.
He was genuinely beginning to worry that if he stayed much longer, he might never manage to leave.
...
By the time he returned to Ichinose Street, all the nightlife establishments lining the road had already closed for the day.
Yuto rode to the entrance of the alley, got off his bicycle, and pushed it the rest of the way back to the restaurant.
The moment he stepped inside, he saw Kanna sitting at one of the tables off to the side, hunched over her mathematics workbook.
The little girl had already washed up, and judging from the atmosphere around her, she had apparently been glaring at the workbook like a mortal enemy while stubbornly forcing herself through one problem after another.
The instant Yuto entered, however, that same hostility shifted directly toward him.
He gave her an awkward, helpless smile.
Kanna clearly was not buying it.
She let out an angry little huff before lowering her head and immediately returning to her mathematics problems.
Standing nearby, Tohru gave Yuto an equally awkward dry laugh.
She had not expected the first thing Kanna would do after washing up to be continuing her math homework either.
Perhaps this was some strange way of expressing her displeasure with Yuto, though Tohru genuinely could not tell.
After putting away the groceries and his bicycle, Yuto walked over to Kanna.
Even when he stopped directly beside her, the little girl refused to look up, behaving as though the mathematics problems spread across the page were the only things remaining in her entire world.
"Kanna's working really hard. You woke up and went straight back to math."
His praise received no proper response.
All he heard was a low little grumble from somewhere in the girl's throat, remarkably similar to the noise a displeased cat or puppy might make without even opening its mouth.
Yuto smiled helplessly.
"Did Kanna eat breakfast?"
The little girl still refused to answer, so Yuto turned toward Tohru instead.
When the dragon girl shook her head, he drew in a small breath and nodded.
"Then how about I make Kanna something to eat?"
The instant those words left his mouth, the pencil in Kanna's hand visibly wavered, and the little hand that had been writing almost nonstop suddenly paused.
The corners of Yuto's lips curved slightly.
"Wait here."
He gently patted Kanna on the head before heading toward the kitchen.
The little girl kept her head lowered, her cheeks still puffed out. "I'm not hungry..."
Judging from how weakly she muttered the protest, however, it was not especially convincing.
Not long after Yuto entered the kitchen, Tohru followed him in with a nervous, conflicted look on her face.
"What is it, Tohru?"
"Um... well... Boss..." The dragon girl looked at him pitifully, her words coming out in hesitant little bursts while her eyes repeatedly darted away.
"Could you maybe make something for me too...?"
Ever since Yuto punished her the previous night by taking away a day's worth of his cooking, Tohru had not eaten anything.
As a proud and mighty dragon, going several days without food would not actually cause her any physical harm, but when it came to Yuto's cooking, even a dragon had limits.
The moment she realized he was preparing breakfast for Kanna, hope had immediately ignited inside her.
Maybe if she begged a little, she could convince Boss to make something for her too.
Once that thought appeared, Tohru had decisively followed him into the kitchen to plead her case.
Looking at the pitiful dragon girl standing in front of him, Yuto could not help laughing.
"Fine. I'll make something for you too."
Tohru's punishment had been intended for the previous night, and by now it had more or less run its course.
Yuto figured that missing one proper meal had probably taught her enough of a lesson, so there was no real reason to continue denying her food.
The instant Tohru heard his answer, her entire face lit up.
Her tail began wagging so quickly behind her that it almost seemed to leave afterimages, making Yuto laugh again.
...
Preparing breakfast for Kanna and Tohru took only around ten minutes.
Yuto made pan-fried fish, tamagoyaki, ramen, and tempura—four relatively simple dishes that were more than enough for the two dragons.
Once he finished cooking, he did not even need to call anyone.
Tohru immediately came into the kitchen on her own and carried everything outside, placing her portion on the counter before carefully setting Kanna's meal in front of the little girl.
After that, the starving dragon turned around and began devouring her own food without paying the slightest attention to Kanna's reaction.
Kanna, meanwhile, found herself facing an enemy far more dangerous than mathematics.
The irresistible aroma rising from the meal tempted her relentlessly.
No matter how many times she stubbornly told herself that she was not hungry, her body had absolutely no intention of cooperating.
The quiet growling of her stomach and the way she kept swallowing gave away exactly how badly she wanted the food sitting in front of her.
Yuto stood beside the table and watched her internal struggle with obvious amusement.
"Go ahead and eat. It won't taste as good once it gets cold."
Kanna's body twitched slightly.
She had already realized that Yuto had seen straight through her, but she still desperately tried to restrain herself.
She could not surrender this quickly after spending the entire morning being angry with him.
Yuto naturally understood what she was doing.
"If you're really not going to eat it, I guess I'll give it to Tohru." He deliberately raised his voice toward the dragon girl eating at the counter.
"Tohru, you can handle another serving, right?"
Tohru was far too absorbed in the bliss of finally eating good food again to notice that Yuto was deliberately setting a trap.
All she heard were the words another serving, and that alone was enough to make her immediately straighten up.
"I can! Boss!"
The clueless dragon had barely finished speaking before Kanna's eyes locked directly onto her.
Tohru froze, completely confused.
Had she said something wrong?
Why was Kanna suddenly staring at her like that?
She really could eat another serving.
"Even Tohru-sama isn't allowed to eat my food!"
In the end, Kanna's stubbornness lost completely to the threat of having her breakfast taken away.
After angrily warning Tohru, she immediately picked up her chopsticks and began eating.
She had also gone the entire night without food, and the moment that first bite entered her mouth, the little girl's entire expression transformed.
The miserable, resentful look she had worn only moments earlier disappeared, replaced by a blissful and deeply satisfied smile.
Yuto could not help smiling at the sight.
As expected, delicious food remained one of the most persuasive arguments in existence.
"Is it good?"
Yuto sat down beside her with a smile.
The question almost made Kanna choke.
Her cheeks reddened slightly, and her eyes immediately shifted away from him.
Only a few minutes earlier, she had been glaring at him with all the resentment she could muster, so admitting now that his cooking was delicious would feel far too much like surrender.
Seeing that she had no intention of answering, Yuto did not push her.
"How about we go to an amusement park in a few days?"
The effect was immediate.
Kanna's eyes lit up.
After spending the past several days living in human society, she had already learned what an amusement park was.
She might be a dragon, but she was still a child, and the thought of spending an entire day surrounded by rides, games, and food was naturally irresistible.
"Really?"
Kanna finally spoke to him.
"Mm. Really. We can bring Sakura and Shouko with us too. It'll be lively."
Yuto smiled sincerely, and Kanna's imagination immediately began running ahead of her.
She could already picture herself going out with Sakura and Shouko, riding attractions together, eating snacks, and spending the entire day playing.
Just imagining it was enough to make her incredibly happy.
"Then Kamisaka isn't allowed to lie!"
Kanna quickly restrained her excitement and stared at him with an extremely serious expression.
The solemn determination on that adorable little face was almost comical, like a kitten trying with all its might to look intimidating.
"Mm. Of course."
Yuto answered with an equally serious expression, and Kanna immediately brightened.
By this point, all the resentment she had felt over being forced to do mathematics had almost completely disappeared, replaced by anticipation for the amusement park.
"However, there's one condition before we go."
Kanna blinked. "What?"
Yuto did not answer immediately. Instead, he glanced meaningfully toward the mathematics workbook lying on the table.
The little girl froze.
"You have to finish it today. If you don't, then I guess I'll just have to take Sakura and Shouko without you."
Kanna's expression immediately became grave.
She slapped both hands against the table and declared with absolute determination, "Okay! I'll definitely finish it today!"
With that, she threw herself straight back into her mathematics problems with completely renewed motivation.
Yuto stood beside her and breathed out softly as he watched the little girl work with more enthusiasm than she had shown all morning.
Sure enough, this was how you motivated children.
Feeling extremely satisfied with his own cleverness, Yuto once again awarded himself full marks.
o(￣▽￣)ｄ