Everyone was stunned. What exactly was Damian planning to do? No one knew for sure, but there was a lingering sense in the air that something unbelievable was about to happen.
Isshiki sighed, crossing his arms with an enigmatic smile.
"So you've made up your mind? Damian, you really are full of surprises…"
Damian paused for a moment and then, with a slight smile, replied:
"Compared to what I'm thinking, tomorrow's evaluation seems… a bit too simple. Honestly? I'm even a little disappointed."
Nene adjusted her glasses with elegance, her sharp gaze settling on him.
"Damian-kun, you're not planning to use multiple dishes at once to quickly reach the minimum score… are you?"
Damian winked at her, casually leaning to the side.
"Nene knows me too well. I'm impressed."
"I-it's not like that…" Nene muttered, averting her gaze as she discreetly touched her glasses, trying to hide the faint blush on her face.
On the other side, Kuga scratched his head and shrugged.
"Since it's a free choice, I don't have to think too hard. I already know what I'm going to do. Something surprising and, of course, powerful."
Damian tilted his head slightly, his eyes gleaming mischievously.
"Mapo tofu?"
"Tsk… I'm heading back to my room! See you guys tomorrow morning!" Kuga grumbled before storming off, prompting some restrained laughter from the group.
With a soft smile, Nene commented:
"So it is Mapo tofu… Damian-kun, how did you know?"
"Oh, just a guess…" Damian replied in a mysterious tone.
"She's a specialist in that kind of dish."
"Huh?" Nene blinked in confusion.
"Huh?" Isshiki echoed, equally surprised.
Damian chuckled, nodding slightly.
"Well, time to rest. Isshiki, you…"
"I'll take a walk, think about dishes… maybe something with milk for breakfast. So many possibilities."
"Great." Damian nodded before turning to Nene.
"And you, Nene? Want to head back with me? Or are you going to stay up thinking about recipes until you lose sleep?"
She hesitated for a moment and then replied with a soft smile.
"I… I think I'd better go back. Tomorrow will be intense."
"Alright. Isshiki, see you tomorrow. Try not to get lost in your culinary daydreams."
"Likewise, you two. Good night."
As they walked down the quiet hallway of the resort, side by side, Nene kept her head slightly lowered. The atmosphere between them was calm, almost intimate.
After a while in silence, Nene spoke softly:
"Damian-kun… did you really see two pretty girls today?"
Damian glanced sideways at her, a small grin on his lips.
"No."
Nene stopped for a second, surprised.
"R-really? You're not lying to me?"
He chuckled gently and then added:
"Actually… it wasn't two. It was three."
"T-three?!" Nene's eyes widened, her face quickly turning red.
"I-I thought that… you…"
"The third one is right here next to me," Damian said softly, turning his gaze to her.
"Nene, you should be more confident. You're beautiful."
Her face turned red all the way to her ears. She coughed and looked away.
"Damian-kun… stop it, you're always teasing…"
"It's not teasing," he replied calmly. "It's just the truth."
"You… you're going to leave me speechless at this rate," she said, laughing nervously.
"A-and who are the other two, then? Huh? Tell me already!"
Damian raised his hands in mock surrender, laughing.
"Nene, are you jealous?"
"I'm not!" she quickly replied, though her face said otherwise.
"I just… just remembered what Chef Dojima said earlier. I got worried that some alumni tried to mess with you."
(Especially that Inui Hinako…)
Damian smiled gently.
"Don't worry. If anyone tries anything, I'll just remember the look of my third pretty girl and stay strong."
"Damian-kun!!" Nene protested, covering her face with her hands, unable to hide her embarrassed smile.
And so the two of them continued walking under the dim resort lights, in comfortable silence…
"Anyway, it wasn't any of them…" Damian said casually. "They were two students."
Nene returned to her usual demeanor and narrowed her eyes, arms crossed.
"Students?" Her voice came out lower but carried something hard to define.
"Who?"
Damian gave a teasing smirk, clearly amused by her reaction.
"Hmm… I don't quite remember their names."
"Hmph!" Nene turned her face away, pouting, though the blush on her cheeks gave her away.
(Wait… why am I making that face?!) she thought, biting her lip.
(Is this… jealousy? No, it's not! It's just that… he was being vague, that's all! Of course it's not jealousy. Right?)
While she was lost in her own thoughts, Nene only realized too late that her steps were leading her straight toward a wall. Before she could react, she felt something warm and firm touch her forehead.
Damian's palm.
"D-Damian-kun?!" Her eyes widened, her voice high and startled.
He smiled gently, pulling his hand back carefully.
"Nene… you can think about a thousand things, but you need to pay attention to where you're going. Especially with glasses. It's dangerous, you know?"
She swallowed hard, realizing that yes, she would've walked straight into the wall if he hadn't been there.
"W-well… I just…" she began, but stopped when she saw that annoyingly charming smile of his—the one that made her want to hide her face with her hands.
"Nene…" Damian called softly, his tone a bit more playful.
"Your forehead was warm. Are you okay?"
"I-idiot! Damian-kun, you… you big idiot!" she yelled, turning toward him, her face completely red.
Damian let out a soft laugh and nodded.
"Yeah, Nene really is cute when she's not making that usual serious face."
"C-cute?!" she shouted, not knowing where to hide her face.
"You're impossible, idiot! Big idiot!"
Overwhelmed with embarrassment, Nene turned on her heel and ran down the hallway. Damian simply leaned against the wall with an amused smile, watching her disappear for a moment.
But less than a minute later…
"Pfft…" he chuckled.
"Look who's back."
Nene appeared again, walking slowly with her face even redder than before.
"I…" she murmured, trying to explain.
"I ran the wrong way, okay? It happens…"
"Ah, I see. A confusion caused by excessive cuteness. It happens," Damian said warmly.
She turned so red she looked like she might evaporate on the spot.
"You're going to kill me with embarrassment one day…"
"Come. Let's head back," he said kindly, guiding the way to the dorms.
On the way, Nene kept her head down, hands clenched in front of her. She looked like a scolded child, but it was pure embarrassment. When they reached her door, Damian stopped and said with a calm smile:
"Rest well, Nene. Tomorrow's going to be intense, and you'll need energy to beat me, right?"
"H-hmm…" she replied, still blushing.
"Damian-kun… you too… go to bed early, okay?"
He nodded.
"Will do. Oh, and Nene…"
She looked up, curious.
"What?"
"You still match my type."
"IDIOT!" she screamed, opening the door quickly and storming inside like a hurricane.
Damian chuckled softly, leaning back against the wall and murmuring to himself:
"Good night, Nene…"
Back in her room, Nene took off her glasses with a loud sigh and threw herself onto the bed, burying her face in the pillow.
"So embarrassing! Damn it! Why does he say those things?!" she mumbled as she rolled around, completely flustered.
Just then, her phone buzzed.
Still grumbling, she picked it up… until she read the message:
Damian: "You know that moment when you came running back after realizing you went the wrong way? That was the best part of the night."
"W-what?!" she screamed alone, grabbing her pillow and punching it hard.
"He saw everything! So embarrassing!"
She kept squirming around until she stopped, staring at the wall… which coincidentally was the same wall that connected to Damian's room.
"Damian-kun… big idiot!"
Another beep.
She looked at her phone, and there it was:
Damian: "Oh, and I heard you say that too."
She froze. Her hand instinctively went to her mouth.
"H-he can hear me?!" she whispered, horrified.
But then another message arrived seconds later:
Damian: "Just kidding. The walls are well soundproofed. I just imagined your reaction. I bet it was adorable."
"Ugh! Stupid!!"
She buried herself under the blankets, covering her whole face like it could protect her from the embarrassment. If this were an anime, a cloud of steam would be puffing out of her head with cartoonish explosion sounds.
"Damian-kun… you big idiot…"
But even as she said that, a small smile was hidden on her face.
(End of chapter)
Give me some power stones there you go~😉
The reason I didn't update yesterday is quite simple.
I needed to travel to another city for a relative's birthday, and with my infinite wisdom, I forgot to transfer the files to my cell phone, much less to Google Drive.
It was only after I got there and opened the phone to do the updates that I noticed this problem.
A small observation is that none of them were complete yet, especially MLS and MMS, I intended to finish there but because of my fit of stupidity I couldn't do anything.
Anyway, when I got home it was already past 2 in the morning, so I just lay down and slept like a log.