"Yuiyui, are we really going through with this?" Hyoizaburoo swallowed nervously.
"Of course. Or would you rather our daughter and our son-in-law kept dragging their feet forever?"
"That's not what I meant... but isn't doing it like this a bit..."
"Sleep Magic." Yuiyui had no intention of continuing such a nutritionally worthless discussion with her husband. As a mother, so long as it was for her daughter's happiness (and for keeping a rich catch of a son-in-law under her roof), she would gladly turn herself into a demon.
If that silly girl would just take a little initiative, would I have to go to all this trouble?
She let out a long sigh over her daughter's hopelessness, then smoothed her expression and stirred the sleeping powder she'd wheedled out of her husband into the tea. At first she'd assumed it would be one of those magic items you simply waved at a person to make it work — she'd never expected him to turn it into a powder.
That's Hyoizaburoo for you. Still coming up with methods nobody would ever see coming.
Once she'd confirmed that the tea looked and smelled perfectly ordinary, Yuiyui carried the tray out. In the living room, Jhin was awkwardly explaining why Pecorine had fainted in the kitchen.
"You've all been out for so long, you must be parched. Have some tea first."
Everyone thanked her one after another. Once Yuiyui had watched them all drink the tea laced with sleeping powder, she remarked, out of nowhere, "That tea had a sleep-aid powder mixed into it. Starting now, I'll count to three, and then you'll all drop off."
"Mom, what are you doing!?"
"Mother-in-law, there's really no need for this..."
"There's a powder that does that? How amazing."
"Who drugs their own guests?"
"Three, two, one!"
Thud. Thud. Thud. A string of muffled impacts. Jhin looked around the room — every single one of them was out cold except him. His mother-in-law stood there beaming at him, and he answered with a resigned smile. "Don't tell me mine was the only cup with nothing in it?"
"Correct. You really are clever."
Yuiyui certainly hadn't explained to any of them how this sleeping powder actually worked, and that was exactly what she'd taken advantage of. By deliberately warning them that something had been mixed into their drinks, she'd made them subconsciously believe they'd swallowed a knockout drug — and the moment the countdown ended, that stubborn will not to fall asleep was precisely what set the powder off.
If even one of them had been half a beat slower, or had genuinely wanted a nap to begin with, her plan would never have gone so smoothly. And to make sure Pecorine didn't come to in the middle of it, Yuiyui laid a single Sleep Magic on her for good measure.
Jhin scooped Megumin up without needing to be asked. "I know the routine. Her room's next, right?"
"My, obedient children really are the most endearing. I'm growing more satisfied with you as a son-in-law by the day."
Stepping into Megumin's bedroom, Jhin discovered that the one window he might have escaped through had been sealed over with solid ice. The air inside was nothing like the stifling heat a summer day ought to bring — it carried an actual chill.
"There was only a pinch of the powder in her cup, so I'd guess another two or three minutes and she'll be awake. After that, it's up to you to perform." His mother-in-law delivered the line with a sunny little smile, then swiftly pulled the door shut and cast Door-Locking Magic on it.
A single thin set of bedding lay in the middle of the room. With the temperature dropping steadily, one quilt was clearly not going to be enough to stay warm. The corner of Jhin's mouth twitched.
Don't tell me Mother-in-law wants the two of us to generate heat through friction?
He accepted this gift of maternal thoughtfulness (entrapment), so lovingly (schemingly) prepared for them (railroaded onto them), on Megumin's behalf. Lunch had been eaten long ago while they were out picking cherry blossoms, and dinner was still a good while off — he might as well treat it as an afternoon nap.
That had been Jhin's plan, at least. But seeing Megumin sleeping so peacefully, his mischievous streak seized the high ground of his mind all over again. A life in which you didn't tease your girlfriend was a life without meaning.
He settled Megumin into the bedding, but instead of holding her while she slept the way he usually did, he lay on his side beside her, propped his head on one hand, and waited in silence for her to wake.
Between the cold and the powder wearing off, Megumin came around soon enough. She shivered, sneezed several times in a row, then hugged her arms and rubbed them hard. "Why is it so freezing in here??"
"Yo. You're up, Sleeping Beauty."
She turned her head, saw Jhin lying on his side, and something clicked into place — along with the true meaning of that phrase he'd once used, 'a real pain in the balls.' "My mom again?"
"Yep. This time she even sealed the window on you."
"Achoo!" Megumin squirmed closer into Jhin's chest, certain her nose was about to start running from the cold. "Skip the rest of the nonsense and just hold me, would you?"
Jhin gave a wicked grin. "And what's the price for that, Megumin?"
"You're asking for payment on top of it? Fine, then I don't want you holding me." She seized the quilt and wound it around herself more tightly, shaking like a leaf all the while.
Seeing how stubborn she was being, Jhin leaned in beside her neck and blew a light breath. The cold air slid through the gap at her collar and down inside her clothes. All Megumin could do was hunch her shoulders — she had no other defense, and had to endure him shifting angles to blow cold air down her collar again and again.
"Aren't you worried I'll settle this score later?"
"You're the one hogging the entire quilt. I was afraid you'd overheat, so what's wrong with sending a little cool air your way?"
Megumin choked down her fury and squeezed out a smile. "No need to be so thoughtful. I'll gladly bear all that heat by myself on your behalf."
"I'm your boyfriend. Suffering is obviously my job!" Jhin grabbed a corner of the quilt and hauled it toward himself, an act that met with fierce resistance.
The quilt went back and forth in their tug of war until it finally tore clean in two — which left neither of them with anything to cover up with.
Megumin gave Jhin a resentful kick, gestured for him to get his hand out of the way, then plopped herself down into his lap. "The quilt's wrecked. Satisfied now?"
"How was I supposed to know it'd rip that easily? Still, just holding each other like this won't hold out for long, will it?"
"Don't tell me you have some better idea?"
Jhin bent his head and whispered something beside her ear, and was immediately pummeled by a pair of soft little fists, her face scarlet.
"I knew it — you just want an excuse to take advantage of me!"
"Nothing of the sort. It's not as if you've never done it before. Or have you forgotten how much you sweated that time?"
"..."
Her silence told Jhin she'd agreed by default. He turned her around at once and gathered her against him face to face, left a soft kiss on her slightly dry lips, and set about rolling out dumpling wrappers.
First you work the water into the flour by hand. Once the mixture comes together and feels sticky without clinging to your fingers, you can take out the rolling pin and proceed to the next step. Before that, though, he had to deal with the little bumps on the smooth, bare dough, or the rolling would be difficult later.
Everything ready, he pressed the rolling pin onto the surface of the portioned wrapper, working it up and down first, and once one side was smooth, side to side. That part required Megumin's cooperation — there was no way for him to manage it alone.
Seeing that she was soon exhausted, forehead damp with sweat and her body temperature nicely raised, Jhin stopped work. Under her bewildered gaze, he blew open the ice-sealed window with fire element and made his exit. "Potato chips are half price next door. I'm off!"
____
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