Evening preparations.

In the middle of his walk back home and with a shake of his head, Leonardo had to **** himself to change gears and refocus. He actually asked out Victoria White out, a woman outside of the clan. Sure, she still knew the whole situation but regardless, it felt like an actual step forward, so long as he didn’t screw things up. But no matter how scared he was of that happening, he had to push the matter aside until Sunday. Why? Because he had promised to spend this evening with Seina, and the least she deserved was his full attention.

When he got home, he greeted everyone, saw that Seina wasn’t home yet, and immediately got to work on dinner. However, there would be a twist to it. He had kept Seina waiting for this day, and she had admitted to being disappointed by their first encounter. She wanted to experience the real thing, and he’d give it to her and then some, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t make the evening a little more special. To start, he’d make some fake Chinese food. Why was it fake? Because it was the stuff they sell in most some South American countries that they tell you is Chinese but it’s actually altered Peruvian food. Not that Leo would complain much, as he still liked it a lot. It had been years since he’d last had some, and he doubted anyone in the house had ever tried it, so there was that. But on top of that, Leo had dessert planned. He’d gotten the idea when, as he was cleaning the pantry, he found a food processor and a cake pan. Thus, he’d be making cheesecake. He didn’t have that much experience baking, but you don’t learn when you never try. It was a little difficult to manage the food and the cheesecake at the same time, but he did it.

At one point, Angela and Kaede got wind of what he was making and started watching him from behind the counter.

“Leo-san! You’re baking something!?” Kaede asked with sparkling eyes.

“Cheesecake,” he told her as he mixed A LOT of cream cheese with sugar in a bowl. “There’ll be enough for everyone. Do you like sweets, Kaede-san?”

She made a complicated expression that told him a lot. “I do, but…” she didn’t have to say much more for Leo to nod in understanding. Her mother probably didn’t let her have many, if any, sweets.

“Why don’t you do stuff like this for nights with me?” Angela pouted, making Leo raise an eyebrow.

“That’s some selective memory you have there,” he told her. “Did you really forget all the times I’ve made your requests?”

“Well, yeah, but… you’ve never made sweets before.”

“You never asked.”

“Then make donuts!”

Kaede’s eyes shone again at Angela’s words, and she added them to Angela’s pleas to further strengthen her case. “…Another time, but sure.” Leo sighed. It sure was easy to ask things when they didn’t have to make them. Still… Angela raised her palm as she looked at Kaede, and though the younger girl was startled at first, she eagerly went for the high-five as they shared a victorious grin. Okay, maybe agreeing to make donuts was worth it. "But you two need to wash the dishes today or there’s no deal,” he told them. Their faces fell for a moment, but after sharing a look where they silently debated the pros and cons of the agreement, they both nodded. Come to think of it, Reiko had a sweet tooth as well. He’ll have to save some for when she came over tomorrow.

The cheesecake finished baking and looked nice and crisp, and the fake Chinese food gave off a nostalgic smell. Dinner was ready, and everyone gathered to eat at the table.

Finally, when everyone finished their meal, Leo shot Seina a look as he smiled to himself, causing her to tilt her head with curiosity. It was nice that she hadn’t been here while he was cooking, so dessert remained mostly a surprise. He stood up from the table, went to the kitchen and gave a generous slice to everyone but Seina and himself. The voice actress looked a little confused and worried about that, but then she saw him taking two plates and giving her another looked that tried to remain cool despite what he was about to say.

“Miryoku-san, shall we?”

“O-Oh!” Finally the penny dropped. “Yes! Um, excuse me,” she said, standing up from the table and nodding towards the others with an excited smile.

Angela seemed to have decided to leave him to it and focus entirely on her slice of cheesecake; Kaede did the same, but mostly out of the desire to not show her blushing face to everyone; Valerie eyed him a look of resignation, knowing this was just what had to happen; Lucia let out a soft sigh, but otherwise didn’t give them a second glance; and finally, Mrs. Wisler gave them a small wave before going back to enjoying dessert.

Leo and Seina moved to his bedroom, where she had to open and close the door for him as he was carrying the two plates.

“I got a little worried there,” she chuckled. “I thought I wouldn’t get to eat any dessert.”

“I made it especially for tonight, so of course you get to eat,” Leo laughed and offered Seina her share. “I hope it’s good.” She took it and looked at it without saying anything for a moment before she turned to Leo again, this time with an… uncharacteristically nervous expression. “Miryoku-san?”

“Say, Leo-kun…” Seina started. “I’d like to ask you something.”

“Hmm? Yeah, of course. What is it?” Did she have some sort of request? A little fantasy she wanted to fulfil? Or perhaps something he needed to avoid and be careful of?

“Would you… listen to a podcast with me while we eat?”

“…Ah?”

Author's Note: Chapters 103 to 106 available at my Patreon.