TWENTY-TWO
After work, she heads to the grocery store.
Since she's been condemned to facing Mr. Kazanari tomorrow, she has to restock for the dinner they'll have.
That means they won't be able to visit Elfnein, but perhaps it's for the best. She'll have to remember to call and see if Elfnein would like to have them over on Sunday—Sunday is okay, right? Not too soon, but also not too distant….
"But before that, I have to face the dragon," she grumbles, picking up a hand basket on her way in.
She makes a quick stop to the sweets aisle; she might as well reward herself ahead of time.
Once that's out of the way, she checks the ingredients list Tsubasa texted her for what she needs to buy. She squints at some of the names on the list—super-traditional Japanese cuisine has never been her forte, and so she has to stop some employees to help her find what she needs.
Hm, it looks like she's going to need an actual cart: twenty-two items and she's barely half-way through the ingredients list! Are they preparing an entire feast? She's pretty sure only Tsubasa's father is coming for dinner, but she suddenly has an uneasy feeling….
She stops in front of the rice, perplexed because Tsubasa's text tells her to buy another bag of rice.
'Hey, are you sure we need more rice? I thought we had a bag in the pantry.'
While she waits for a reply, she trails her gaze over the boxes of instant rice meals and instant noodles. She remembers having to literally tie down Kirika and Shirabe at one point just so that they would eat their vegetables.
She hopes Elfnein won't be as picky about food as they were—assuming everything goes well, of course!
(Though, honestly, she's getting kind of tired having to check herself….)
'Yes and yes,' is all Tsubasa finally texts back.
'But why do we need more?'
It's not major news that they have, so it wouldn't make sense to invite anyone else from the Kazanari clan, and it's not like Mr. Kazanari to bring guests anywhere, especially since he knows how private Tsubasa is, so then why on Earth do they need so much food?
'Because Genjuurou is coming with and we're going to have a picnic with Elfnein.'
"WHAT."
She blushes when other shoppers give her sidelong looks, but this is the first she's heard of having a picnic with Elfnein, so of course she has her wife on the line right away.
"Maria?" Tsubasa sounds completely calm.
She takes a few deep breaths before she demands, "What do you mean we're going to have a picnic with Elfnein?!"
"This Sunday; I called to arrange it."
Wanting to smack her forehead on something hard, she resigns herself to questioning Tsubasa later. "That still doesn't explain why we need so much food," she asks instead.
"You forget how much Genjuurou eats."
"Oh, hm. You have a point… maybe I should buy more…?"
Tsubasa laughs.
a/n: To my guest XD (lol, your name is very appropriate!), I'm glad you enjoyed the last chapter! ^^
Please review!