"Time to get to work."

After a short break, Ryohei pushed himself up from the tatami mat, stretched his arms and legs, and walked into the kitchen to prepare the fillings and batters for the evening. The batter for the chocolate lava cakes was different from the breading for the katsu sando, so they had to be prepared separately. Since the cake batter needed to chill before baking, he decided to start with that. He opened the fridge, took out the high-quality dark chocolate and butter he had bought that morning, and placed a large mixing bowl on the counter.

To make a perfect lava cake, the quality of the chocolate is paramount. Too sweet, and the dessert becomes cloying. Too bitter, and it loses its comforting quality. The balance is key.

"Alright, pay attention," he said to Jashin-chan, who was already at his side, ready to absorb his techniques. "First, we melt the chocolate."

Ryohei gently melted the dark chocolate and butter together over a double boiler, explaining the importance of low, indirect heat to prevent the chocolate from seizing and becoming grainy. While the chocolate was melting, he took another bowl and began whipping whole eggs and egg yolks with sugar.

"You need to whip these until they're pale, thick, and form a 'ribbon' when you lift the whisk," he instructed. "This is what gives the cake its structure."

He demonstrated the technique, whipping the eggs until they were light and airy. Then, he showed Jashin-chan the delicate process of folding the dry ingredients—a small amount of flour and cocoa powder—into the egg mixture, followed by the glossy, melted chocolate. The key was to be gentle, to avoid deflating all the air they had just incorporated.

Yurine, with nothing else to do, leaned against the kitchen doorway, watching the two of them work. Jashin-chan, having finished her own chores, had been drafted by Ryohei and was now carefully preparing the panko breading for the tonkatsu. Yurine just watched them, occasionally glancing down at her phone.

"By the way," she said, looking up, "when are we moving?" She realized that, without noticing it, she had started to defer to Ryohei's opinion on these matters.

"In a couple of days," Ryohei replied, looking over his shoulder at her as he continued to gently fold the batter. "Let's earn some more money over the next two days to buy beds, pillows, and sheets. Then we can move in."

"We can buy the rest of the appliances and furniture slowly, as we earn more."

As Ryohei spoke, an image of them gradually furnishing their new home together popped into Yurine's mind, and she felt a strange sense of warmth. She thought it sounded nice.

Stare—! ( ﹁ ﹁ )

Jashin-chan shot them a sidelong glance. "If we're moving in two days, couldn't we have just rented the place in two days? We're wasting money right now!" she grumbled. She had calculated that, not counting this month, her share of the rent would be over 2,000 yen a day. 2,000 yen a day! There were so many other things she could do with that money!

Ryohei cleared his throat. "Well, I didn't expect us to be so happy with the very first house we saw. I thought we'd spend a day or two looking at different places." To be honest, he had even planned on taking Minos and Medusa with them to look at houses tomorrow afternoon.

"But it's fine," he added. "Tonight's earnings should be enough to buy the beds. We can go to a furniture store tomorrow, or just buy them online. As soon as the beds arrive, we can move in."

The revenue from the past few nights had been great. With the new Chocolate Lava Cakes added to the menu tonight, he expected they could hit 500,000 to 550,000 yen. That was more than enough to buy four beds with all the bedding, and maybe even some other furniture.

"Let's go to a store, then," Yurine said. Who wanted to stay in a cheap, cramped apartment when a better place was waiting? "Ordering online takes longer, and you can't be sure you'll like it when it arrives. Making returns is a hassle."

"I agree!" Jashin-chan chimed in. She was desperate for her own room. More importantly, the idea of paying rent for a place she wasn't even living in was killing her. So, for once, she was in rare agreement with Yurine.

"Alright then. After your friend arrives tomorrow, Jashin-chan, we'll all have lunch, and then we can go look at beds in the afternoon."

"You're really counting on Minos staying, aren't you?" Jashin-chan teased. But she thought about it, and the probability of Minos being lured in by his food was actually quite high, as long as she didn't have anything important to do back in the Demon World.

"I have absolute faith in my cooking!" Ryohei said confidently.

Thinking about the move-out process, he turned to Yurine. "You should start figuring out what you want to get rid of from this place."

"Ugh… that's a headache," Yurine said, looking around the apartment. She thought about all the random things she had bought over the years and immediately felt overwhelmed. Some things she was reluctant to throw away, but saw no reason to keep. Moving them would be a pain, but disposing of them was also inconvenient. This is going to be a nightmare, she thought, rubbing her temples.

Jashin-chan, hearing Yurine's distressed voice from the kitchen, couldn't help but feel a surge of schadenfreude. She poked her head out with a grin. "Serves you right! For buying so much random junk! Now you've got a headache, don't you!" She was just short of laughing out loud.

Her gloating didn't last long. Yurine shot her a dark, menacing glare. Jashin-chan immediately went quiet, beads of sweat on her forehead as she turned back to her work, pretending to be extremely busy.

Ryohei almost burst out laughing. Weren't you having fun a moment ago? Go on, keep it up! he thought, but decided against saying it out loud.

He turned his attention back to the cake batter. He gently stirred it one last time; it was now a perfect, glossy, and thick consistency. He then drizzled in some melted butter to keep the final cake moist and tender. With that, the batter was ready. He covered the bowl with plastic wrap and put it in the fridge to chill. This would allow the flavors to meld and make the batter easier to portion into the ramekins later.

"Jashin-chan, you can take a break now. I'll need you to help with shaping the onigiri later," he said, taking over her task of prepping the katsu.

"Okay," she replied, and turned to leave. She saw Yurine standing in the kitchen doorway, arms crossed, squinting at her. She silently turned back around.

"Um… I'm actually not busy right now. Is there anything else you need help with?"