Chapter 108: Surging Power (2)
“I guess clothes don’t matter after all…?”
I muttered to myself as I looked at the clothes I had taken out of the closet and thrown away.
Aizel date was outside, but my date with Zetto was in my room.
‘Okay, let’s save the clothes for later…’
I stared at my pants, which were so short it looked like I wasn’t wearing any pants, and then looked away.
Clothes didn’t matter to Zetto anyway so I hurriedly gathered my clothes and moved to the kitchen.
Keeping everything ready to cook at a moment’s notice, I remembered the incident in the woods earlier.
Deep in the woods Zetto heard me when I was debating whether or not to invite him to eat in my room.
‘I never thought he’d come looking for me…’
It was a giddy moment, even in retrospect.
I was practicing my speech, thinking he was right in front of me, when he suddenly appeared.
If it was Zetto with his sensitive ears…It was very likely that he heard everything I said.
“Ha… I must be crazy… What can I do…?”
Coming to a conclusion, I stomped my foot and stopped chopping ingredients.
‘Cooking sounds exciting, so should I come to Ms. Yuri’s room?’
Well, that went over well, but…There was no romance.
No matter how much I tried to charm him, I still came up short.
“Whoa… At least there’s food…”
I took a deep breath and pushed myself back up from my squatting position in the kitchen.
Anyway, when is Zetto coming?
He said he’d come by on his own, but he didn’t set a specific time.
When I asked him how he was going to find my room, he said he had a feeling it would work out.
He could tell if someone was in the room or not. His ability to “feel” was amazing so in a way that was the most important thing but since he was so casual about it, I let it slide.
The sun was setting and it was getting dark, but Zetto hadn’t shown up yet.
This gave me plenty of time to prepare, but I was starting to get antsy.
The thought of meeting Zetto in a few minutes made me impatient, and the ticking of the clock, which I would normally have ignored, was pressing on me.
‘Was it too much to eat in my room…?’
I was deeply worried that Zetto had been caught by the security guard while trying to enter the dormitory.
After I finished cooking, I sat down on my bed with my legs crossed and decided to wait for him.
I don’t know if I’ve ever waited so anxiously for someone in my life.
Zetto was the first. Still, I doubted I could call it love.
It wasn’t that I didn’t like him, but was it right to feel this way about him so suddenly?
I had met him by chance, and it had come so naturally to me.
I never once felt uncomfortable with him in all the time I was close to him.
If I did, I was confused as to whether it was because he couldn’t see my appearance, which other men were obsessed with, or simply because he was ‘Zetto’ but as I’ve been thinking lately, I don’t think Zetto would have made me uncomfortable even if he could see.
I don’t think I sensed any blackness in him. It just felt that way.
If only he wasn’t blind…What if he wasn’t blind?
Would he have been more open to me?
Would he have approached me as an ‘opposite sex’ instead of a ‘friend’?
…It was a stupid thought.
-Knock.
There was a knock on the door so I jumped out of bed as soon as I heard it and opened the door since I was worried if Zetto had gotten here in one piece.
Eventually, the door opened fully and the figure standing in front of it slowly came into view.
White bandages…Black hair…It was Zetto.
He had come to the right place and as soon as I saw him, the corners of my mouth turned up.
“…”
I started to call out his name in delight, but Zetto put his index finger to his lips as if to silence me.
That’s right. Zetto was a boy, and this was a girl’s dormitory so I quietly let him in and quickly closed the door behind him.
“…I’m sorry to keep you waiting, but I thought it would be a good time when the hallways would be less crowded.”
Zetto spoke first, smiling.
“Oh, no, I wasn’t really waiting, I was just sleeping…?”
The words tumbled out of my mouth as I felt embarrassed by his gentle voice and kind words.
It was a ‘habit’ I’d acquired from Zetto, who had been embarrassing me lately.
“Haha, the door opened pretty fast for someone sleeping, didn’t it?”
“That’s……How did you get here, other than that, you didn’t get caught on the way, did you?”
“Umm… Not really, I was hiding in the shadows.”
“Shadows…?”
Zetto shrugs at my question.
…Well, I suppose that means he traveled stealthily.
“Well, if you’ll excuse me.”
Soon, Zetto was standing in my room.
“This is Yuri’s room. I’ve never seen a girl’s room before…”
After walking around the room, Zetto leaned his sword against one of the walls, and then stood in the center of the room, his head turned toward me, waiting for something.
“…Oh, do you want to sit on the bed?”
I was puzzled by this, but quickly ushered him over.
He was the guest, not me, but the thought of being alone with him in this cramped room made it hard to stay calm.
Sitting on the bed, Zetto’s mouth opened.
“I’m surprised you’re cooking all of a sudden, I didn’t know Yuri could cook.”
“Hmm, hmm… Cooking is nothing special.”
At Zetto’s question, she let out a hollow cough before bluffing.
…I didn’t need to tell him that I had been practicing cooking all day so I headed straight to the kitchen to prepare the food.
As I prepared the food, I turned my head and caught sight of Zetto, who was sitting still on the bed.
As usual, he was looking like a picture sitting on the bed, blending in with the darkness of the night reflected in the window behind him.
I wanted to say something, but it wasn’t easy. I was embarrassed to be in a room with just the two of us, as if we were a married couple.
I pulled my gaze away from Zetto and focused on the food again.
The food was ready in no time since I had prepared it in advance, and the process had become second nature to me because I had repeated it so many times.
Toward the end of the cooking process, I heard Zetto’s voice in the distance.
“…It smells good. Are you cooking meat?”
Zetto looked up and sniffed.
“Yes. You’ve been bleeding profusely lately, and your body seems to be weak… so I’ve been preparing a specially prepared nourishing meal handed down from my family.”
I guess I don’t need to tell him what kind of meat it is.
“I wonder if it’s okay to feed such precious food to an outsider like me…”
“Phew, don’t worry. This is probably the first time I’ve ever served a non-family member, but… Well, I have my father’s permission.”
“Your father?”
“Yes. In a letter…He also gave me the ingredients.”
I answered Zetto’s question and poured the food into a bowl.
“Zetto, it’s ready…”
I called out to him as I set the bowl on the table and he got out of bed, and came over to sit at the table.
There were two people, but only one bowl and one cutlery.
I looked at Zetto, who was sitting at the table, tilting his head, and opened his mouth.
“This, this is going to be tricky to eat because of the bones, so I’m going to help you…”
I said, and used the knife to remove the bones from the meat.
“It’s okay. It’s nice of you to cook for me.”
Zetto waved his hand away, but my hand didn’t stop.
“And while we’re on the subject of frailty… Never mind. Take it.”
Zetto smiled weakly at my words and gave up trying to resist.
‘It’s only for the sake of the blind Zetto, not to satisfy my own selfishness…’
With that thought in my mind, I slowly pushed the meaty fork to the corner of his mouth.
“Ah. Do you want to try…?”
At my words, Zetto opened his mouth.
Just like that, the meat is in his mouth, and his mouth immediately closes.
When he’s finished chewing and swallowing, I ask him carefully.
“How is it…?”
I taste it in the middle, and it’s not too bad.
When I fed it to Lucia when she woke up in the morning, her eyes were wide as she said it was fine… Maybe it was done well, but everyone’s tongue has different preferences.
I couldn’t let go of the tension. But unlike my worries, Zetto, who had been scratching his head, asked a pleasant question.
“Miss Yuri is a good cook, isn’t she…?”
“Is it delicious…?”
“It’s not an exaggeration to say that it was made by a skillful chef.”
As I listened to his words, I felt my heart leap for joy.
I was satisfied that my efforts were not in vain and I felt a sense of accomplishment that I had fed him according to plan but most of all it meant a lot to know that I’d been able to bring a smile to his face.
“Ah.”
I pushed the meat to his lips again.
“…”
The corners of my mouth twitched upward as I stared at Zetto, with his clenched jaw.
‘…Cute.’
Zetto’s obedience to my words was so different from his usual demeanor that I found him cute.
I’ve never been a big fan of cute things, but I guess this isn’t a bad thing sometimes.
‘We look like a real couple…’
I’ve never been married, but this date was definitely special and as I thought about it, I pushed the meat toward him again.
“It seems like I’m the only one eating…”
Zetto grabbed my hand and gently took the meaty fork from me.
“I made this food for you, so you should be the only one eating it.”
“…Because food tastes better when we eat it together, even if I can’t get it to your mouth…Yuri, try it.”
Zetto said as he held his fork near my face. Apparently, he was bothered that I wasn’t eating.
“…”
I stammered, embarrassed by the turn of events but Zetto was still waiting for me.
‘To be fed by someone else…it’s very shameful…’
I rolled my eyes and popped the meat into my mouth.
The only sound in the quiet room was my mumbling but for some reason, I felt even more embarrassed.
I swallowed the meat completely, and Zetto smiled at me.
“What do you think? Is it good?”
“……Yes.”
I replied weakly, unable to look up for a moment as my face burned.
