"I, I'm back..."

Izumi Toru's voice came from behind.

Sakurai Ruiko, who was cooking in an apron, subconsciously turned around and responded.

"Welcome home..." Before the words were spoken, the girl's expression changed when she saw Izumi Toru's appearance.

At this moment, Izumi Toru's face was pale and he was holding on to the door frame, almost unable to stand.

Without thinking about why she said "Welcome home", which was obviously a wife welcoming her husband home, she hurriedly ran over.

"Are you okay?"

Izumi Toru stood up straight unsteadily.

"No, it's okay..."

Plop!

Izumi Tetsu couldn't stand firm and fell towards the girl.

The long-awaited hunger suddenly hit him when he walked to the door of Qingshui Residence, and this time it unreasonably grabbed his stomach and madly stirred up his nerves.

Izumi Toru barely walked to the door of the restaurant, which was already his limit.

Being suddenly [attacked] made Sakurai Ruiko stunned for a while.

"Hey! You, what are you doing...I, I will be angry, really angry!"

Although she said this, the girl was not angry at the moment. Instead, her cheeks were hot, her breathing was difficult, and her heartbeat was racing.

W-what! Why did this happen all of a sudden!

Me, I hate you the most!

Really the most annoying!

She kept mumbling words in her heart, but she didn't say a word, and her hands unconsciously wanted to wrap around his waist...

When her fingertips touched his back, the girl suddenly reacted.

She hurriedly retracted her hands.

"Feel sorry……"

"Ahem," Sakurai Ruiko, who felt a little guilty, coughed twice, "Then, um, what's wrong with you?"

This guy wouldn't do something like this for no reason, and the way he looked just now was very worrying.

Aren't the results announced today?

What happened?

The girl originally thought that he might have encountered something along the way that made him like this. But Izumi Tetsu's answer made her head full of questions.

"I'm so hungry..."

"ha?"

…

"Another bowl of rice, please! Thank you!"

Izumi Toru handed the bowl to Sakurai Ruiko for the fifth time.

Sakurai Ruiko took his bowl, filled it with rice and handed it to him, and then looked at him in a daze as he ate happily.

What's going on with this guy?

It’s super delicious today.

but……

The girl held her chin in her hands and watched Izumi Tetsu's cheeks moving continuously, and couldn't help but smile.

It looks a bit cute like this...

Huh? I, what am I thinking!

Sakurai Ruiko hurriedly put her hands under the table again, lowered her head, and did not dare to look at him again.

If you look at him, you will become very strange...

Or, maybe, I am sick!

Right, that is it!

She deceived herself so much in her heart.

Soon, Izumi Toru finished his fifth bowl of rice.

This time, he did not ask Sakurai Ruiko to continue adding more food, but leaned on the chair and let out a long sigh of relief.

"Ah - come to life!"

Sakurai Ruiko, who had already calmed down, breathed a sigh of relief.

The rice in the rice cooker has been eaten...

Just when she was about to get up and put away the tableware, Izumi Toru handed her the bowl again.

"One more bowl..."

The girl was stunned and asked: "Aren't you full?"

"You mean you're full? Your food today was so delicious, but I didn't eat enough!"

Sakurai Ruiko's face turned red when she was suddenly praised.

"You, you, what are you planning!"

Izumi Toru didn't pay attention to the little thing like the girl biting her tongue. He clasped his hands at her and prayed: "Just have another bowl. Please!"

Being begged by Izumi Tetsu, the girl wanted to agree.

but……

She bit her lip and whispered: "Well, that... the rice is gone..."

"ah?!"

There was uncontrollable disappointment in Izumi Toru's eyes, and Sakurai Ruiko couldn't bear it.

"Yes, how about I steam it again?"

Izumi Toru waved his hand.

"That would be too much trouble, so forget it..."

"But aren't you not full?"

"It's okay, I'll have some snacks... that'll be... good..." Izumi Toru's voice became lower and lower because his eyes caught the rice in the girl's bowl.

"Ahem! Sakurai-san, um, I'm sorry, I must have frightened you by eating so much, right? Have you not had enough to eat either?"

Sakurai Ruiko immediately shook her head.

"No, it's nothing. I have a small appetite, and my appetite is not very good today. Look, I still haven't finished eating half of it."

As she spoke, she pointed to the rice in the bowl.

"Wasting food is a bad behavior."

""Hug, I'm sorry, I really can't eat..." Suddenly, Sakurai Ruiko was stunned.

She glanced at Izumi Tetsu. At this moment, his eyes were firmly fixed on his rice.

A ridiculous and embarrassing thought arose in her heart.

Does this guy want to eat the rice I've eaten?

"If you don't want to eat it, I'll help you eat it! If you just throw it away like this, the God of Rice will cry!"

Sakurai Ruiko hesitated for a long time, and finally pushed the rice over.

"If you don't mind it..."

“I don’t dislike it at all, but I want to eat it very much!”

"Eh?!"

The girl watched blankly as Izumi Toru took away her rice and started eating.

【I want to eat very much】

His words just now lingered in her ears, and Sakurai Ruiko couldn't help but have random thoughts.

What does he mean by this sentence?

Is it because I'm just not full and want to eat rice, or...

She was so flustered that she didn't dare to think.

But Izumi Toru didn't notice at all how troubled Sakurai Ruiko was caused by what he just said.
To be continued...