024. Cola Is Justice!

“Um, if you don’t mind, could you share it with me as well, Jiang Yu?” Suddenly, a petite phone appeared beside him, accompanied by a voice so familiar to Jiang Yu.

“Whoa! Ka—Kato? You’re here?” Jiang Yu looked in surprise at Megumi Kato, who had somehow appeared behind them.

“Well, I personally think that’s a rather rude thing to say. I’ve been in the classroom this whole time, you know? It was the two of you who started discussing otaku topics right next to me,” Megumi Kato said, her brows slightly knit, a hint of annoyance in her tone.

Sensing trouble, Jiang Yu resisted the urge to retort, “Isn’t it because your presence is so faint that I didn’t notice you at all?” Instead, he said, “I’m really sorry, Kato…”

“Oh, it’s nothing. After all, it’s just because my presence is so weak, isn’t it?” Megumi’s voice seemed to return to its usual calmness, yet somehow unchanged.

Was it just his imagination? Jiang Yu wondered.

“When did you get here, Kato?” beside him, Tomoya Aki seemed to awaken from a dream.

“Hmm… I suppose around the time you said, ‘Yu, have you watched any new anime lately?’” Megumi mused for a moment before replying blandly.

“So you’ve been here since the very beginning?!” Jiang Yu quipped.

“That’s why I said, you two started discussing anime and games all on your own,” Megumi replied with a smile.

Yet Jiang Yu felt a chill run down his spine, sensing an edge in her words…

He quickly shook his head to dispel his supposed misapprehension, swallowing nervously. “Kato, do you want to read it too? My… uh… light novel?”

“If it’s inconvenient for you, that’s fine,” Megumi tilted her head, prepared to withdraw her phone.

Jiang Yu’s internal alarm sounded, and he hurriedly shook his head. “No, no, I’d be honored! Having friends willing to critique my humble work is a blessing—I’d never refuse!” He paused, then, for the first time in his life, ventured, “Kato, what’s your LINE ID?”

…

After adding Megumi Kato on LINE, Jiang Yu shared the first few chapters of “Spring Things” with them. When his friends were about to begin reading immediately, Jiang Yu hastily stopped them.

Seeing the puzzled looks from Megumi and Tomoya, Jiang Yu scratched his cheek, somewhat hesitant. “It’s a bit embarrassing to have friends reading my work right in front of me…” he confessed.

Under Megumi’s serene gaze and Tomoya’s “I surrender to you” expression, Jiang Yu quickly capitulated.

Then, right on cue, the bell for afternoon classes rang. Tomoya regretfully put away his phone and returned to his seat, and Megumi, not one to browse her phone during lessons, did the same—a relief, indeed.

Jiang Yu cast aside his tangled thoughts and entered a state of apparent attentiveness, though in truth his mind wandered elsewhere.

Hmm… perhaps he was pondering character designs for “The Witch’s House”?

Before long, the afternoon classes ended quickly. Due to Jiang Yu’s words and his own actions yesterday, their tentative club activities between himself, Tomoya Aki, Megumi Kato, Eriri Spencer Sawamura, and Utaha Kasumigaoka were postponed.

Tomoya claimed he had work and slipped away, promising, as he left, “I’ll definitely read your novel, Yu.”

Megumi vanished as soon as school finished. Jiang Yu glanced at his solitary self, chuckled self-deprecatingly, and prepared to go home—he had his part-time job that night.

On his way home, remembering that he’d finished the dishes he’d previously made, Jiang Yu sent a few messages to Umaru Doma via LINE, asking what she wanted for dinner.

Umaru quickly replied: hamburger steak, followed by a cola emoji.

Jiang Yu promptly ignored the cola emoji, somewhat concerned by Umaru’s obsession with carbonated drinks.

Though he’d occasionally had cola himself in his previous life, it certainly wasn’t to the extent of a two-liter bottle every other day.

Shaking his head in exasperation, Jiang Yu detoured to a nearby supermarket. Hamburger steak—a dish somewhere between fast food and a proper meal—he’d heard of but never made.

After searching for the ingredients on his phone, Jiang Yu left the supermarket carrying pork, bread, onions, and other essentials that weren’t at home.

A mischievous grin appeared on his face as he bought a small can of cola at the convenience store and sent a photo to Umaru.

Then, he drank it on the spot and tossed the can into the roadside trash bin.

After completing this sequence, Jiang Yu, holding his bag of groceries, leisurely made his way home.

Upon arriving, Jiang Yu studied the method for making hamburger steak and began preparing dinner.

As he was still wrestling with the meat mixture, the sound of the front door opening echoed through the entryway, followed by Umaru Doma’s familiar voice: “I’m home!”

Jiang Yu continued kneading the meat and bread crumbs together and replied, “Welcome back!”

Then came a series of strange noises from the entryway to the living room and finally to the bedroom. Curious, Jiang Yu looked up and saw the high school uniform of Arahata High scattered everywhere—from over-knee black stockings to shirts—all the way to Umaru’s bedroom.

Just as Jiang Yu felt a throbbing pain in his forehead, Umaru, now wearing her hamster cloak, burst out of her room, shouting, “Umaru returns!”

Upon seeing Jiang Yu, Umaru’s eyes lit up. She rushed over, glanced at the dining table, then checked the fridge. After a moment of confusion, she turned to Jiang Yu. “Brother, where’s Umaru’s cola?”

Jiang Yu suppressed his laughter and said, “Ah, you wanted to see cola, right? Didn’t I send you a photo?”

Umaru puffed out her cheeks, her beautiful eyes burning with indignation. She demanded again, “But where’s the actual can of cola?”

Jiang Yu answered naturally, “I drank it.”

Umaru, unhappy, began to charge up for a combo attack!

Then, to Jiang Yu’s astonishment, Umaru leaped and rolled on the floor, chanting, “No, no, no! Umaru wants cola! Brother is mean!”

“…Unbelievable…” Jiang Yu couldn’t help but cover his ears.

As the price for appeasing Umaru, Jiang Yu paid with a trip to the store and two large bottles of cola.

While Umaru hugged her cola and drank, Jiang Yu, resigned yet curious, asked, “Umaru, why do you love cola so much?”

“Because cola is justice!” Umaru declared, raising her fist into the air with surprising seriousness.

Jiang Yu’s mouth twitched at the sight, mustering great effort to suppress his urge to retort aloud.

How did I end up with a sister like this? I’m no champion of justice, maxed out in homemaking skills and a total cheat!

If you keep this up, you’ll become an adult who can’t survive in society, little sister!

Harboring these odd thoughts, Jiang Yu returned to the kitchen with a subtle expression, continuing to prepare dinner.

Nearly an hour later, Jiang Yu carried his less-than-appetizing hamburger steak and freshly made miso soup to the living room, where Umaru was engrossed in a fighting game.

After calling her several times with no response, Jiang Yu gave up on such futile efforts and simply turned off the TV screen. Watching Umaru’s astonished face, he articulated, “Dinner. Time. Now.”

Umaru reluctantly set down her controller and turned to see the oddly shaped hamburger steak, looking at Jiang Yu with an expression as if to ask, “Is this really safe?”

Embarrassed, Jiang Yu rubbed his nose and tried to explain, “It’s my first time making this, but I promise it tastes good!”

Umaru looked skeptical, picked up a small piece, and stuffed it into her mouth with the air of someone facing execution.

Yet, as the juices burst forth in her mouth, Umaru’s eyes widened in surprise. Af