"Do you know the speed at which cherry blossoms fall?"
Faced with that question out of nowhere, Megumin blinked, then frowned. "Are you quoting one of those so-called classic lines again?"
"As expected of you. Got it in one."
"Heh heh. You may now address me as the Mentalist!"
Jhin flicked the tip of her proudly upturned nose and pressed an empty basket into her hands. "Then get moving, Mentalist. Go collect more petals, or there won't be any flower cakes for you today."
"I have labored for the guild! I have bled for the guild! By what right am I denied flower cakes?"
"Funny, I seem to remember a certain someone ignoring every warning and inhaling hot pot yesterday, then promising to skip the flower cakes today to make up for it. Something about a diet plan?"
"W-was there such an incident? Who could that person possibly be?" Megumin whistled guiltily, her eyes drifting left and right.
Jhin set three more empty baskets on the ground and gave her a smile that, from where she was standing, belonged on a demon. "Fill every one of these, or you don't get to touch a single flower cake today."
"Curse youuu!" Megumin clutched her head with both hands and howled at the sky. "Aren't I your girlfriend?! Why are you so strict with me?!"
"It's precisely because I like you that I'm making you follow the diet plan properly."
"Ugh… f-fine, I get it."
With that adorable little whimper, she picked up the empty baskets and trudged off toward the cherry trees, dragging her feet the whole way.
This guy really is the natural enemy of me, the Jet-Black Explosion Mage!
Komekko trotted over to Jhin's side, her eyes full of admiration. "Brother-in-law, you're incredible! You actually got Big Sis to go do work without complaining!"
"Was she really that lazy at home?"
He distinctly remembered Megumin being decent at both housework and cooking. She shouldn't have been a slacker under her own roof.
"Big Sis used to say she didn't want to work, she only wanted to study Explosion magic all day. So getting Big Sis to go work on her own means Brother-in-law is incredible!"
Praised like that by his adorable little sister-in-law, Jhin gave up on holding back his grin. "Naturally. I've got a hundred ways to keep Megumin in line."
"Oooh, a hundred! Amazing!"
"Komekko, here's a bag of candy. Go on and eat it."
"Thank you, Brother-in-law!" After thanking him sweetly, Komekko tore the bag open and held out the very first piece to Jhin. "This one's for Brother-in-law!"
"Mm. Thanks."
Jhin peeled off the wrapper and tossed the red hard candy into his mouth. Komekko ran off toward the others with the bag, clearly planning to share.
Komekko really is adorable. No wonder Megumin turned into a sister-complex case.
Right then, a wadded-up ball of cherry petals bounced off his head. He followed its trajectory and found Megumin perched on a branch, glaring down at him. "Lolicon!"
"By any measure at all, you're the one who fits the concept of a loli, aren't you?"
"Are you saying my figure is lacking?"
"I said you resemble a loli. I offered no commentary on your figure. And what's wrong with lolis? Clear voices, soft bodies, easy to push down. Don't you think lolis are wonderful?"
"You've got some nerve, shouting 'loli, loli' at me over and over!"
Jhin laughed brightly, flashing white teeth. "I'm doing it on purpose!"
Megumin's expression went dark, and she balled up her small fists. "I knew it. Take this — Crow Rides the Airplane!"
"Well met! Behold — Tornado Demolishes the Parking Lot!"
Kyaru's whole face said she'd given up. "Those two are at it again."
"Big Sis Kyaru, are Brother-in-law and Big Sis fighting?"
"It's fine, Komekko. That's just how they interact, so don't worry about it. Let's keep working on the petals instead — Pecorine's very good at making food, you know."
"Mm!"
Pecorine rose onto her toes and plucked a blossom that had opened to exactly the right degree, then glanced at the pair trading blows in the distance. "They do this every single day and never get tired of it…"
"If you'd like to, you could always join them."
At Kokkoro's suggestion she shook her head and went back to picking flowers. "I… think I'll pass."
Back when the relationships in the group hadn't changed yet, Pecorine would have charged over grinning and thrown herself into the roughhousing. But these days there was a thread of couple-like intimacy running through it, and given where she stood now, she couldn't go running over without a second thought anymore.
Once they'd gathered enough blossoms, Jhin and Megumin came back to the others with baskets in hand, clothes rumpled and petals clinging to their hair. Everyone except Komekko noticed the faint red marks along Megumin's snow-white neck.
Back at the house, Jhin and Pecorine went straight into the kitchen and started on the flower cakes.
The cherry blossom jam that served as the filling needed at least two or three days to ferment, so the jam was all they could make today.
Stripping the petals and removing the stamens was dull, fiddly work, but both of them had quick hands, and with everyone else pitching in, the entire haul was finished in a little over an hour.
"Aah, done at last. I'm going to go rest for a bit." Megumin stretched and wandered out of the kitchen. The rest of the job had nothing to do with her — professional matters should be left to the professionals.
"Thanks for the help. Everyone go take a break. Pecorine and I will handle the rest of the work."
The remaining steps weren't complicated: wash the petals, dry them with wind element, add white sugar and knead without stopping until the petals turned sticky, then pour everything into jars, drizzle a layer of honey over the top, and seal them.
Pecorine's fair fingertips had been stained pale pink by the blossoms. Without thinking she brought them up to her nose and sniffed. The gentle, delicate scent of cherry blossoms, piled up in this quantity, had turned rich and heady. She flicked out the tip of her tongue and licked her fingertips, and the floral fragrance rode the sweetness up her tongue and rushed into her nose.
She held out her hand with a smile. "Look, my fingers have turned pink! And the scent is so strong — I can already imagine how delicious the flower cakes are going to be!"
With those fingers dusted in undissolved sugar and carrying that floral scent thrust right in front of him, Jhin's mind stalled for a beat; he assumed she wanted him to taste it. So he caught Pecorine by the wrist, opened his mouth, and took her fingers in.
"Eh?"
Pecorine's face reacted faster than her brain did. Red climbed up from her neck and swallowed her whole face in seconds. Her heart came next, pounding loud enough to deafen her. Her nearly short-circuited brain finished last, managing only to work her mouth into a few meaningless syllables.
"Sorry. I thought you wanted me to check whether it was sweet enough."
He explained right away, but none of it was reaching her now. Like a robot on the verge of breaking down, she opened and closed her mouth, letting out strange little noises, the ahoge on top of her head spinning so fast it twisted itself into a knot. Then her eyes rolled back and she passed out cold from sheer embarrassment.
Caught somewhere between laughing and sighing, Jhin gathered Pecorine into his arms.
Don't tell me this is going to knock the two of us right back into that awkward avoiding-each-other phase?
____
⚡ BONUS CHAPTER MILESTONES
✍️ 5 REVIEWS = +1 Bonus Chapter 💎 100 POWER STONES = +1 Bonus Chapter 🔥 P@TREON (Walnut-chan): Read +40 chapters ahead & unlock 60+ exclusive stories!
🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: The Retired Void Hunter — posted on The_Mikudayo