The moment Yukari looked away, Rin quietly released the breath she had been holding.
Unfortunately, before she could fully relax, Yuto's voice suddenly came from beside her and startled her all over again.
"Nervous?"
Rin turned toward him.
Yuto was standing there with several dishes in his hands for the Gensokyo group, smiling at her with an unmistakable hint of teasing in his expression.
Normally, if someone dared look at Rin Tohsaka with that sort of smile after catching her losing her composure, she would have immediately snapped back.
But in front of Yuto...
She chose to endure it.
Just this once!
"A little," she admitted reluctantly, clearly unwilling to acknowledge her earlier nervousness any more openly than necessary.
"You don't need to be that tense. Yukari may be a youkai, but she doesn't eat people."
Yuto spoke casually as he distributed the dishes around the Gensokyo table, occasionally glancing back toward Rin with an amused smile.
Rin froze.
Before she could decide how to respond, Yukari gave a delicate cough.
"Ahem. Yuto-kun, saying something like that about a young lady is rather rude, you know."
She looked at him with mild accusation, wearing the aggrieved expression of someone whose reputation had just been unfairly damaged.
Yuto had not even opened his mouth to answer when Reimu immediately seized the opportunity.
"Here we go again. Yukari's calling herself a young lady even though she's clearly an old—mmph! Mmph!"
Reimu had barely begun pointing at Yukari and laughing when a wad of cloth suddenly appeared inside her mouth and completely cut off the rest of the sentence.
Yuto glanced over.
Oh.
It was one of the restaurant's cleaning rags.
Reimu's eyes widened in outrage.
She spat the rag out with a loud ptah! before immediately turning toward Yukari with a furious glare.
"You old hag, Yukari! What the hell was that?!"
The words had barely left her mouth when a pale fist emerged from a gap above her head and smacked her.
Yukari then casually waved one hand as though absolutely nothing unusual had happened.
"Reimu, you really shouldn't say things carelessly. Lying can bring punishment, you know."
She smiled sweetly.
That only made Reimu even angrier, and the two immediately launched into another argument.
Yuto sighed helplessly before looking back toward Rin and giving her a small shrug.
"This is how they usually get along. You don't need to worry or be surprised."
Rin nodded somewhat dazedly, though her attention had already become caught on something else.
"Youkai... So that means they aren't human?"
She still looked confused.
The concept itself was not impossible for her to accept.
She had grown up in a distinguished family of magi and had spent her entire life knowing that the ordinary world concealed countless things most people would never believe.
Even so, creatures like youkai had always belonged more to folklore and old stories than anything she had personally encountered.
"Reimu and Marisa are still human," Yuto explained, gesturing toward Reimu, who was currently arguing with Yukari, and Marisa, who was happily watching the spectacle from the side.
Rin nodded thoughtfully.
At that exact moment, however, Marisa suddenly stood up in protest.
"No! I'm a witch! You should call me Witch Marisa, DA☆ZE!"
She planted both hands on her hips and declared it with tremendous pride.
Rin froze all over again.
"Yes, yes. Please sit down, Miss Witch Marisa."
Yuto helplessly pressed one hand downward, trying to persuade her back into her seat.
Reimu was already fighting with Yukari.
He really did not need Marisa deciding that this was the perfect moment to make the restaurant even louder.
"Hahahaha! Yeah! Go, Reimu! Don't lose to Yukari!!!"
Suika, who seemed to exist in a permanent state somewhere between cheerful and drunk, enthusiastically poured even more fuel onto the fire.
Yuto silently sighed.
Every night, the Gensokyo group somehow managed to become the loudest collection of customers in the restaurant.
At least Yuuka was still nice and quiet.
Thinking that, Yuto glanced toward Yuuka, who was sitting peacefully nearby and had not joined the chaos at all.
She met his gaze calmly.
Yuto smiled at her.
Yuuka immediately looked away.
"Try to get along with them."
Leaving Rin with that piece of advice, Yuto returned to the kitchen.
He still had several dishes left to finish, and whatever argument was currently happening outside was clearly something the Gensokyo group could resolve among themselves.
The noise continued for a while before gradually dying down.
When things finally became quiet again, Yukari was calmly sitting in her seat and drinking tea as though absolutely nothing had happened.
Reimu, meanwhile...
Had somehow ended up tied up and suspended in midair again.
The red-and-white shrine maiden wriggled furiously inside her restraints like an enraged silkworm cocoon, clearly desperate to yell something at Yukari.
Unfortunately, her mouth had been completely sealed.
Whenever she tried to make any noise, Yukari simply muted her through the gaps.
The result was that everyone could see Reimu's mouth moving furiously without hearing a single sound.
It looked almost like a very angry mime performance.
Reimu was undeniably powerful within Gensokyo, but outside the boundary that favored her, she simply could not compete with Yukari on equal terms.
Marisa, meanwhile, had found the entire situation endlessly entertaining.
She stood nearby and repeatedly poked the suspended Reimu with the end of her broom.
Since Reimu had no foothold while hanging in midair, every push sent her swinging in the same direction.
Back and forth she went like a pendulum.
Marisa was having the time of her life.
Reimu was genuinely furious.
Rin watched the scene in complete silence, no longer knowing what she was supposed to say about any of these people.
Illya, on the other hand, looked delighted.
The little girl had already begun thinking that she should try doing something similar to an enemy one day.
It looked fun.
The restaurant door slid open.
"Welcome."
Yuto poked his head out from the kitchen and looked toward the entrance.
Saitama had arrived!
The moment he stepped inside, his eyes immediately landed on Reimu hanging from the ceiling.
He stared at her for a few seconds before tilting his head.
"Is this some new performance the restaurant started?"
His expression remained so flat and vacant that it was genuinely difficult to tell whether he was making a joke.
Or rather...
Knowing Saitama, there was a very real possibility that he was asking sincerely.
His question made the suspended Reimu even angrier.
If she had been free, she probably would have jumped down immediately and punched that shiny bald head twice just to make herself feel better.
Unfortunately, she could do absolutely nothing.
"No, it isn't. Don't worry about it. Just sit down."
Yuto's voice drifted lazily from the kitchen.
Saitama obediently walked over and sat near the side of the counter.
This time, Genos had come with him.
The cyborg looked slightly different from before, clearly having replaced another set of mechanical components.
His arms were somewhat thicker now, and there was a sharper quality to his eyes that made him appear even more intense than usual.
As Genos walked past the suspended Reimu, he gave her an openly disgusted look, almost as though he were staring at some unidentified hazardous object.
Reimu's anger immediately rose another level.
"What do you want to eat?"
Yuto called directly from the kitchen.
Around Saitama, he had long since stopped bothering with excessive politeness.
"Ah, udon again is fine. Just put more meat in it this time."
Saitama cheerfully called back.
He had a little more money lately.
That meant he could finally afford extra meat.
"Boss, please give me the same meal as Sensei."
Genos abruptly stood, braced both hands against the counter, and leaned toward the kitchen with an expression so serious that Yuto instinctively paused when he turned and met his gaze.
"Uh... sure."
He agreed somewhat blankly.
Genos nodded firmly and sat back down.
Saitama watched the entire exchange with increasing helplessness.
"You really don't have to eat exactly the same thing I do."
He spread his hands weakly, and combined with his polished bald head and exhausted expression, the sight looked especially ridiculous.
"No. In order to reach Sensei's level, I've decided that I must begin properly imitating you in every aspect of daily life. Please permit me, Sensei!"
Genos looked at him with complete seriousness, his tone as firm and solemn as a soldier making a vow before marching into battle.
Saitama looked even more exhausted.
"This isn't about whether I permit it or not! It's just weird! Why do you have to eat exactly the same food as me?!"
He clutched his forehead in frustration.
"Because I intend to reach Sensei's level of strength!"
Faced with Genos's unwavering conviction, Saitama looked as though his soul had simply left his body.
Inside the kitchen, Yuto listened to the master and disciple arguing and shook his head helplessly.
Were those two really going to be okay?
Even while wondering that, his hands never stopped moving.
Yuuka's flower cakes were already steaming and would need another twenty minutes or so before they were ready.
For now, he had something else to prepare.
It was time to start on Saitama and Genos's udon.