The Carnivorous Maidens Living with Me - Chapter 32 & 33

Chapter 32: Is This What Newlywed Life Feels Like?

The day after Sofia and I started living together was a Sunday.

Yesterday, Sofia was thrilled about my house’s prized hot spring, tried to use it as an excuse to bathe together, and even barged into my bedroom at night, forcing me to desperately fend her off.

“It’s our wedding night, so it’s fine, right?”

“We’re not married!”

Sofia’s getting relentlessly pushy.

It’s gotta be Alicia-san’s blood… yeah, that’s it.

So, it’s Sunday morning, and it turns out Sofia’s not exactly great at cooking.

I helped her out, and we made toast, eggs, bacon, salad, and instant vegetable soup together.

“Yum, this is good! Thanks, Sofia.”

“Ehehe, you’re welcome, Shoma!”

We chatted lightly, joking around while finishing breakfast.

“Hey, Sofia, I’ve got a favor to ask.”

“Sure thing!”

“I haven’t even said what it is yet.”

“If it’s from you, Shoma, it’s all good!”

“Is that so?”

Sofia’s love is heavy.

“The favor is, I wanna go to the park for a bit. Can you come with me? We’ll need to buy some snacks on the way.”

“Oh, that park? You’re giving snacks to the kids again, right?”

“How’d you know?”

“Because I’m your love watcher!♡”

That’s a nostalgic phrase.

On weekends or after club activities when I have time, I go to the park and share snacks with kids and the neighborhood ladies.

It’s a community thing I started after entering high school.

Getting feedback on the snacks or hearing about supermarket deals is actually pretty fun!

With everything going on with Sofia and my hospital stay, I haven’t been able to show up much, so I figured it’s time for a visit.

“If you know, that makes it easy. I’d usually bring homemade stuff, but we’ll grab some store-bought snacks this time.”

“Got it! What time we going?”

“Hmm, around three, maybe. Tokiko-san should be there then.”

“Okay!”

We spent the morning sorting Sofia’s stuff.

The house has enough furniture, but she’ll probably want some to her taste, so we planned to hit a big shopping mall’s furniture store in the afternoon.

“Hey! Can I make dinner tonight?”

“That’s fine, but can I trust you with it?”

“Yup! If it’s my specialty, I won’t mess it up… probably!”

“I’m a bit worried… what’s your specialty?”

“Mama used to make borscht a lot! She gave me the recipe note yesterday on the way home, so if I follow it, it’ll be fine.”

“Then I’ll leave it to you.”

“Kinda feels like newlywed life, huh?”

As we kept talking, those words slipped out of my mouth naturally.

“Newlywed?! You’re finally ready to get married! Let’s fill out the marriage papers! Let’s do it!”

“No way! It just slipped out!”

“Ugh, why can’t you be honest…”

The words that came out so naturally made my heart skip a beat.

“Oh, right! Gotta tell Hazuki!”

“Huh? Tell Hazuki?”

“Yup! I’ll tell her we started our newlywed life! And that she should hurry up and join us!”

“What are you saying? Don’t send that! I don’t need more trouble!”

I was gonna tell her about living together, but suggesting more roommates is a hard no!

“I already sent it! Teehee!♡”

Pironn

“It’s from Hazuki. She says, ‘That’s not fair! I’ll talk to my parents!’”

“Haa, no way Hazuki’s parents would agree to that.”

I was sure Hazuki’s parents would flat-out refuse.

At least, that’s what I thought at the time.

“Alright, let’s head out to shop!”

“Yup! Our first date, kinda!”

“Yeah, yeah…”

We stepped out the door, heading for the shopping mall.

Chapter 33: A First Date Sure Makes Your Heart Race, Doesn’t It?

When we got to the shopping mall, we decided to grab lunch first.

At Sofia’s suggestion, we ended up at a place with an all-you-can-eat dessert buffet.

“Wow, this looks so delicious, Shoma!”

“No kidding, this is wild. Not just sweets—pizza and pasta too! I could eat forever!”

Yesterday at dinner, we talked a bunch, and it turns out Sofia loves food just as much as I do.

Having someone with the same values to live with is pretty great.

“Shoma, what do you want? I’ll grab it for you!”

“Don’t worry about it. How about the cheesecake with berries and some tiramisu?”

“Okay! Tiramisu’s so good, I love it too!”

She laughed, looking as cute as an innocent kid.

We piled our plates, took our numbered seat from the staff, and started eating.

Sofia was snapping photos like crazy, munching away happily.

Watching her, I wondered if I really managed to protect that smile of hers…

“Oh, Shoma, sorry! It’s hard to eat with just your left hand, right?”

Saying that, she slid into the seat next to me, fork loaded with cake, and brought it to my mouth.

“Here, say ahh!”

“No way.”

“Yesterday, I was shy with our parents around, but now it’s just us.”

“There’s a ton of people around…”

“Who cares about them? Plus, your face is red, Shoma.”

So this is the legendary girlfriend “ahh” moment.

The thought made my face burn like fire.

Usually, her pushy attitude keeps me too busy to feel shy, but this natural move totally caught me off guard.

“Should I feed you mouth-to-mouth instead?”

“I’ll take it! Right now!”

Paku

I was an idiot for thinking she’d be demure, even for a second.

After that, we finished eating and checked out the furniture.

Surprisingly, Sofia’s into European antique-style stuff.

I thought she’d go for super girly things, so learning this new side of her made me kinda happy.

I’m sinking deeper into the Sofia swamp, aren’t I?

The time was just right, so we bought some snacks and headed to the park.

As soon as we got there, I heard some lively voices.

“Hey, it’s Poyopoyo~!”

“Poyopoyo~! You didn’t come for so long, we were worried (just kidding)!”

“Aoi’s one thing, but Kanade, that’s a lie.”

“It’s not a lie~!”

The girls who jumped me were twin sisters, Aoi and Kanade.

They’re third-year middle schoolers this year.

These tomboy princesses live to tease me.

“No snacks for naughty kids like you!”

“No way, we were really worried!”

“What’s the real reason?”

“We were sulking ‘cause we didn’t get snacks.”

“Knew it! Well, whatever. Sorry I couldn’t come, stuff came up.”

I handed them the bag of snacks.

“Yay! Thanks, Poyopoyo!”

“Sweet!”

They happily tore into the bag and started eating.

“Mogu mogu… No homemade stuff today?”

“Yeah, I got hurt and couldn’t make any, sorry.”

“Ng… For real! But… Poyopoyo’s homemade is way better.”

“Thanks for that.”

Getting honest praise makes me kinda shy.

As we talked, someone called out from behind.

“Shoma-san, it’s been a while. I was worried since I hadn’t seen you lately.”

“Oh, Tokiko-san! Long time no see. Sorry, I got caught up with some stuff and couldn’t come.”

It was Tokiko-san.

Dressed in a kimono with a refined air, she’s an elegant lady over 60, but you’d never guess her age from her vibe.

She runs a tea ceremony school, so her posture and manners are flawless.

She reminds me a bit of my late grandmother.

“Tokiko-baaba! Here, have some! Poyopoyo gave it to us!”

“Oh my, Aoi-chan, thank you, I’ll take it.”

“Tokiko-baaba! When’s the next tea ceremony?”

The twins go to Tokiko-san’s tea ceremony school.

I’m the one who recommended it.

“By the way, is this lovely young lady someone new?”

Tokiko-san greeted Sofia.

“Oh, nice to meet you! I’m Sofia Kisaragi! I’m dating Shoma with marriage in mind! Nice to meet you!”

Sofia must’ve been starstruck by Tokiko-san.

She got flustered, blurting that out.

“Well, well, is that so? I’m Tokiko, I run a tea ceremony school. If you’re ever training to be a bride, please do visit!”

“Yes, thank you!”

“Still, Shoma-san with such a beautiful girlfriend? I was hoping to marry my granddaughter to him someday, but you beat me to it!”

“Haha, Tokiko-san, always joking.”

“O-hohohohoho!”

I couldn’t tell if Tokiko-san was joking or dead serious…

“Haha! Poyopoyo with a girlfriend? And such a pretty one? No way!”

“Pretty lady, is he blackmailing you or something?”

“Uh… haha…”

The tomboy princesses thought it was a joke.

“Who’s what now? She’s my legit girlfriend, okay?”

“For real?”

“Damn straight!”

“Hmph… we were gonna marry one of us to you someday.”

“Yeah, Poyopoyo! We were serious!”

“Say that in your sleep, you brats!”

“We’re not brats! We’re only two years younger than you!”

The twins huffed and got in my face.

Tokiko-san watched our banter, smiling warmly and saying, “Youth is wonderful.”

After a good round of chatting, we all split up.

As they left, the twins shouted, “We’re not giving up~!”

“They’re nice people.”

“They’re important to me. I bet you’ll get along with them, Sofia.”

“Yup!”

She hugged my left arm, smiling happily.