Chapter 947

Well, it seems... she doesn't need this kind of "nourishment."

But he couldn't just make one portion.

Therefore, Natsume Chikage prepared a portion for her as well.

Because the current kitchen was much more spacious than the three-mat shack kitchen from before, the three of them gathered inside without appearing crowded at all; instead, there was a sense of warm liveliness.

Natsume Ruri put on an apron and directed Reina to process the ingredients with great seriousness, while she herself compared the recipe and tried a simple Japanese-style steamed egg custard.

Kaga Reina washed the ingredients seriously; although her movements were still a bit unfamiliar, she was exceptionally careful.

Natsume Chikage stood by the microwave and the stove, controlling the heat and time, preparing his papaya milk.

【Papaya milk successfully made, flavor +40%!】

The prompt message appeared quietly.

Soon.

The steaming hot steamed egg custard made by Natsume Ruri and Kaga Reina in cooperation was finished and carefully placed on the table.

Beside it were two cups of papaya milk boiled by Natsume Chikage, emitting a rich milky fragrance and the sweet scent of papaya.

The two girls took off their aprons and looked at Natsume Chikage with anticipation, their eyes shining brightly, like little animals waiting for praise.

"Brother, hurry and taste this steamed egg custard! It's slightly improved according to the recipe!"

"Chikage-brother... you, you try the taste... I don't know if it suits your taste..."

Natsume Chikage picked up a small spoon, scooped up a spoonful of steamed egg custard as tender as pudding, and sent it into his mouth.

The egg custard was incredibly tender and smooth, the umami of the stock was perfectly integrated into it, and the shrimp and shiitake mushrooms inside were cooked just right.

After swallowing, he gave a thumbs up to the two girls, revealing an appreciative smile.

"Um, the heat was controlled very well, the taste is very delicious, really not bad!"

Hearing this, the two girls immediately looked at each other, and could see the relief and surging joy in each other's eyes.

"Great!"

"Um!"

However, when the two of them also started to enjoy the late-night snack and felt a bit thirsty, they picked up the papaya milk made by Natsume Chikage and took a sip.

Natsume Ruri's eyes widened instantly, her face full of disbelief.

"Mm—! So delicious!"

She couldn't help but take another big sip, feeling the taste that was more mellow and smooth than usual, with just the right sweetness, and the papaya fragrance and milk perfectly fused together, and she narrowed her eyes happily.

"Brother, how did you boil it today? It feels even better than what's sold outside!"

Kaga Reina also gently covered her little mouth and looked at Natsume Chikage in great surprise.

"Chikage-brother, the papaya milk you made today... did you add anything special? How could it be... so fragrant and delicious?"

She felt that every sip was incredibly silky, the warm liquid flowed into her stomach, bringing a warm and comfortable feeling, and the layers of flavor were intoxicating.

Natsume Chikage naturally couldn't explain the surreal reason of 【Flavor +40%】, so he could only smile vaguely and found a reasonable excuse.

"Didn't add anything special, maybe it's just that the papaya I bought today was particularly ripe and sweet, and the milk was fresh too."

"Besides, I paid attention to the ratio of ingredients and sugar when boiling, and just adjusted the heating time and temperature slightly."

Hearing this, although the two girls felt that his craftsmanship seemed to have improved again, they didn't think deeply about it.

After all, with delicious food in front of them, enjoying it was the most important thing.

They both happily drank the milk in small sips, enjoying this simple yet delicious late-night snack.

After eating and drinking their fill, they cleaned up the bowls and chopsticks.

Natsume Ruri seemed to have remembered something; she sat cross-legged on the blanket and said happily to Natsume Chikage.

"Brother, today after school, we went out to play with Tsukishima-sister!"

Natsume Chikage turned his head in some surprise.

"She... went out to play with you guys?"

"Where did you go?"

Kaga Reina added in a shy but light tone.

"Tsukishima-sister took us to Shibuya to go shopping and saw many interesting little shops."

"She also bought us crepes and milk tea; she is really... very good, very gentle."

Natsume Ruri happily took out a few printed sticker photos from her little backpack and handed them to Natsume Chikage as if presenting a treasure.

"Look! Tsukishima-sister also took us to take sticker photos! It was so fun!"

Natsume Chikage took the brightly colored photos with flashy backgrounds and lowered his head to look.

In the photo, three girls were squeezed in front of the lens.

Tsukishima Rin stood in the middle, her expression still carrying her characteristic intellectual smile.

Natsume Ruri was on her left, hugging her arm, smiling as brightly as a flower, making a cute peace sign.

Kaga Reina was on the right, a little nervous, but her face also couldn't hide her smile, her head tilted slightly.

All three looked very happy, and their relationship seemed harmonious.

However, Natsume Chikage's gaze lingered for a few extra seconds when it swept over Tsukishima Rin's photo.

That impeccable, exquisite face, even in such a silly sticker photo, still possessed a unique, clear beauty.

Natsume Ruri noticed this subtle lingering of her brother's gaze; her small nose wrinkled slightly, as if she had smelled something, and she pouted her little mouth, stretched out her hand, and "swished" the group photo of the three away from her brother's hand.

Then, she quickly pulled out two other photos from underneath and stuffed them into her brother's hand.

"Brother, this one is the group photo of the three of us, I'll keep it myself!"

She pointed to the photo Natsume Chikage was holding now, her face wearing a smile again.

"Here, this one is the photo of me and Reina-chan, this one is for you!"

Natsume Chikage was amused by her childish behavior, but he followed her lead and looked carefully at the two duo photos in his hand.

One was Natsume Ruri and Kaga Reina leaning their heads together, making faces at the camera, lively and cute.

The other was a more normal photo of the two, with sweet smiles.

The younger sister in the photo had her eyes curved into crescents, still the cutest in the world as always.

And Kaga Reina on the side, although still in that shy and weak-spirited appearance, shrinking her shoulders slightly, seemed to have relaxed a lot beside Ruri.

In one of the photos, she was being affectionately hugged by the arm by Natsume Ruri, causing the overly "surging" contours of her chest to be squeezed even more obviously, forming a breathtaking arc...

Natsume Chikage's gaze was involuntarily attracted by the "quality" for a moment, and then he was slightly silent for several seconds, really unable to understand what one had to eat to be like this...

Although Kaga Reina didn't know exactly which part of the photo Chikage-brother's gaze was falling on, seeing him looking so "focused" at the photo of her and Ruri, she still couldn't help but blush, her ears stained pink.

She lowered her head, her hands unconsciously pinching the corners of her clothes, like a bubble tea pot about to boil, emitting hot air.

Late at night.

Outside the window, the moonlight was hazy, and everything was silent.

Natsume Ruri was already lying on the bed, hugging a soft quilt, her breathing even and long, her little face appearing exceptionally peaceful in sleep, already sound asleep.

Natsume Chikage didn't say much and directly turned off the room's lights.

Subsequently, he also lay on the bed, the soft mattress sinking slightly.

He picked up his phone.

He intended to look at the messages accumulated today before sleeping.

He lit up the screen and unlocked it.

The notification bar showed a few unread messages.

He noticed that there weren't many people who sent messages today, only Akita Sana, Yukimura Suzune... and Konoe Hitomi?

Why did Konoe Hitomi send a message?

Natsume Chikage's expression was confused, and he frowned slightly.

But he still clicked on Akita Sana's avatar first and opened the chat interface.

【Akita Sana: (*? ▽｀)ノノ Natsume-kun, good evening.】

【Natsume Chikage: Good evening, Akita-san.】

The message was almost replied to in seconds.

【Akita Sana: ヾ(? °? °?)?? Natsume-kun, I really didn't expect you to be so good at baseball! You can do both pitching and batting, you're simply all-around! But I heard from the people in the baseball club that you don't seem to want to join the baseball club, is this true?】

【Natsume Chikage: It's true.】

【Akita Sana: ｜дo?)!! Why? You clearly have so much talent.】

【Natsume Chikage: Because I don't have any special passion for baseball itself, I just know how to play. And compared to investing a lot of time in the daily training of baseball, I have many other things to do, such as working, studying, and taking care of my younger sister.】