Chapter 161: Cookies
The long-haired girl named Machiko had always carried herself with a serene grace — calm eyes, soft steps, the sort of quiet composure that made her the image of a perfect student. Her grades were excellent, her manners impeccable, and her relationships with classmates smooth. Yet beneath that gentle surface hid a mind that never stopped running — a sharp, sarcastic girl who loved to mentally roast every absurd thing she saw in life.
Yesterday after school, Machiko's world had been flipped upside down.
On her way home, she stumbled upon a scene straight out of a scandalous drama — her best friend's boyfriend was secretly meeting up with one of their own girlfriends. The air of secrecy, the nervous glances, the guilty laughter — all too obvious.
'What do I even do?' she thought at the time. 'Tell my friend and break her heart? Pretend I saw nothing and live with the guilt?'
In the end, her curiosity — and sense of justice — won. She decided to tail them discreetly, to uncover the truth with her own eyes.
Now, a day later, her mind was no longer focused on that love triangle mess.
Because she had a much more immediate problem.
'Help!'
'I'm about to be dragged into a dark room by a delinquent girl and forced to do all sorts of unspeakable things! What should I do?'
'Please respond! It's urgent! Online!'
'SOS!!'
...
"Tch, hentai." Gabriel muttered, her dull golden eyes fixed lazily on Kouya. She looked utterly unimpressed, her tone dripping with disdain. "I can't believe you did something like that to another girl. That's so gross."
'What, so it's only okay if I do it to you?' Kouya thought, deadpan.
Takanashi Rikka's ahoge swayed dramatically. "I don't believe it! The Hero isn't that kind of person."
"Eh?"
"Because in the previous battle against the dark elves, the Hero had already lost his— ow ow ow! Don't touch there! That's a girl's most sacred area! Stop— you'll break it— uwaa~~"
"It's your cheek! I just pinched your cheek!" Kouya groaned, face twitching. "Why do you sound like I'm torturing you? And seriously, don't bring that topic up again!"
Still, he admitted to himself, a girl calling her face her 'most important area' wasn't entirely wrong.
"Kouya's bullying me~" Rikka whined dramatically, squatting with her hands over her head, eyes glossy with fake tears. "I'm gonna tell Raphiel on you…"
"But Raphiel's in class right now, isn't she?"
Woosh!
A soft white blur floated across the room. A sweet yet smug voice followed: "Nope, I'm here~."
"Raphiel?!" Vigne nearly jumped out of her skin. "Weren't you supposed to be in class? How did you even get here?!"
Raphiel pressed a finger to her lips, pretending to think deeply. "Hmm… maybe I was summoned by Rikka's heartfelt call?"
"Be serious for once!" Vigne shouted, a vein throbbing on her forehead. "You're not some heavenly cocktail or a Pokémon spirit — no one can summon you out of thin air!"
"Ah, oops~ wrong line." Raphiel tilted her head cutely, tapped her forehead, then stuck out her tongue and winked. "Heehee."
Vigne's expression twisted. "Don't you dare weaponize cuteness against me, you smug angel!"
"Anyway~" Raphiel continued, clasping her hands as if in prayer. "The last class was Ms. Shizuka's, but she got a call mid-lesson. Apparently, her best friend dragged her off to a blind date, so we got turned loose for self-study."
Vigne raised a brow. "Then why aren't you self-studying in class?"
"Because I missed everyone!" Raphiel said, flashing a bright smile. "You guys had Home Ec this morning, right? I didn't get to see the glorious Satania-sama cook. So tragic~ (╯▽╰ )~~"
"Eh?" Satania blinked before puffing up with pride. "You're right! Missing my culinary brilliance is a huge loss! Watching me command the kitchen is like watching a goddess at work! Wahahaha—"
'Oh, shut it! No one wants to relive the image of you being knocked out cold by a boiling pot of water!'
Vigne exhaled deeply and rubbed her temples. "Anyway, Kouya, you should apologize to Machiko."
Kouya frowned. "I didn't do anything."
"Hmph. Classic male behavior," Satania said knowingly, arms crossed like some old sage.
"Yes, a textbook case of restless masculinity," Raphiel added with an expression so serene it only made it worse.
'You're both enjoying this way too much!'
Surprisingly, Gabriel chimed in — with reason. "I don't think you need to. It's not even serious. People will forget in a day or two. Trying to explain it will only make them remember longer."
Kouya blinked. 'Wait… is this lazy angel actually talking sense for once?'
Gabriel caught his look and raised a fist lazily. "Keep staring like that and I'll slug you."
Raphiel giggled. "Still, before we rule anything out, maybe we should monitor Kouya for a while. You never know what horrors he might unleash on another poor, innocent girl next time."
'Oh come on! Monitor the gossip-spreading idiots, not me!'
Gabriel huffed, cheeks puffing. "Forget that nonsense. The real tragedy is what happened to me last night in-game. I was raiding with the usual squad of middle-aged weirdos, and they still kept calling each other 'husband' and 'wife.' And now they want to meet offline! Imagine it — a room full of old guys sipping tea and talking about loot tables. Gross! If I didn't need their high-tier drops, I'd have exiled the lot of them!"
'An angel ignoring real-world rumors but raging over online uncle drama. Yeah, truly divine.'
At this point, Kouya stopped expecting anything "angelic" from her.
"Alright, enough!" Vigne clapped her hands, cutting through the chatter. "Let's just go to class. I'll find Machiko later and talk to her. I'm sure this whole mess is just a misunderstanding."
...
When school ended, Kouya — a loyal and dedicated member of the Go-Home Club — made his usual beeline for home.
He finally had a rare moment of peace. No missing cats to find for Vigne, no pointless shopping trips with Gabriel, no teasing angels hovering over his shoulder. Just him and the late afternoon sunlight.
It was a little past four. The air carried the mellow scent of summer grass, and the sun draped the streets in soft amber. Kouya walked with his hands in his pockets, relaxed, letting time flow as slow as he pleased.
Before long, he crossed the old stone bridge by the river.
The water shimmered like glass, clear enough to see every pebble below. Fish darted playfully, breaking the surface now and then, sending tiny ripples that glittered in the light. On both banks, willows leaned gracefully over the current, their slender leaves swaying with the wind.
A cool breeze tousled his hair, brushing across his face, carrying the faint scent of water and earth. For a brief moment, Kouya felt the world quiet down completely — no gossip, no teasing, no nonsense. Just calm.
When he arrived home, he changed into casual clothes and pulled out the spirit fruit he'd been storing.
He'd nearly forgotten about it — until lunch, when that horrifying bowl of "whatever-that-was miso stew" reminded him of his promise to the shrine maiden: to make cookies infused with spiritual energy.
It wasn't difficult. He had all the tools at home — oven, flour, butter, sugar. The challenge was keeping the fruit's aura intact during baking. Most people would find that impossible. But for Kouya, a simple sealing sigil was enough.
He infused the fruit's essence into the dough, layered the energy through each cookie, then placed them neatly on the tray. The oven hummed softly as it preheated, filling the kitchen with a warm glow.
"Alright, twenty minutes," he murmured, leaning back against the counter.
With time to kill, he grabbed his phone and dialed the shrine maiden's number.
The line rang twice.
"Kou-kun?" Her voice came through — soft, soothing, like the whisper of leaves stirred by the wind. It carried that faint, natural warmth that made people slow down without realizing it.
"The cookies are almost done," Kouya said. "You can come pick them up." He could've sent a message, but somehow, hearing her voice felt nicer.
"Thank you, Kou-kun," she replied, a spark of joy in her tone. "We'll be right over."
"Mm." Kouya ended the call, but as he lowered the phone, his brow furrowed.
"…Wait. 'We?'"