Umbra Frontier Online – A Casual Playthrough of the Umbra Witch

The next day.

Hikari and Himeji had just gone off to school. They looked quite tired, which I supposed was my fault for keeping them up so late at night.

But now, I am making preparations for today's dinner early before noon.

Himeji will be coming over for dinner again, so I'm making another feast for the three of us.

I just hope that the ingredients I have are enough.

I bought them just the other day with Madam Tori and the rest of the NHA, but the amount of ingredients I'd used was more than I expected.

Hikari and Himeji are both going through puberty after all. So I guess it's only natural that their appetites grow as time goes by.

But still... this is too much. Especially for Himeji.

"Hm?"

As I was cooking, my phone on the kitchen counter rang.

Boss? What does he want?

I quickly put down the knife, washed my hands and picked up the phone.

"Hello?"

"Hey, kid! *Cough* *Cough* Good morning!"

"Morning, Boss. Err... Are you okay? You sound kind of... unwell."

"Well, that's because I am. Hahaha— *Cough* *Cough* Ah, fuck. Caught a cold basically..."

"I see. So, why are you calling? Shouldn't you be in bed, resting?"

"Yes. You're absolutely right about that. Which is why I want to ask: You think you could come in for today, kid? Just for lunch hours will do. I'll pay you bonus for it in your next paycheck."

"And what do you plan to do if I say no?"

"Oh. Then we'd just be closed for the day. So? How about it...? You're not.... You're not busy now, are you?"

"Not really. I'm just making preparations for dinner later. I'll clock in once I'm done. Is that all right?"

"Heck yeah! Absolutely! *Cough* *Cough* Argh...! Fucking cold. Anyways, see ya later, kiddo."

And he hung up...

I sighed, placed my phone down and finished whatever necessary prep I needed to prioritise first as fast as I could. Afterwards, I washed my hands again, took a quick shower and changed my clothes. Then, it was time to head out for work.

Hopefully they stay closed until I arrive...

Fortunately, they are. As from what it seemed while I'm making my way there, the restaurant doors are closed with two recognisable individuals standing outside of the place.

Then, one of them noticed me approaching as I waved to them.

"Hey, it's Yoruto."

"Huh? Oh. You're right. Good day, Yoruto. Nice weather we're having, eh?"

"Good day, Mr Yamazaki, Mr Kokonoe. You two here for lunch?"

"Yeah, we are but... The place seemed to be closed today though." They pointed at the sign posted on the door.

"Do you know anything about this, Yoruto?"

"Yeah. The Boss got sick basically, so I'm here to fill in for the lunch hours for today."

"Oh... is that so, huh.... Wait."

"That means..."

They looked at each other, realising what was going on.

"We get to eat Yoruto's cooking today!" Mr Yamazaki yelled in joy.

"All right! I freaking love you, Yahiro!" Mr Kokonoe shamelessly cheered.

Due to the two regular drunkards celebrating outside, the sliding door of the restaurant opened slightly as Sanae's head then popped out from the other side to check out the ruckus.

"Oh. You're here, Yoruto. And Mr Yamazaki and Mr Kokonoe are here as well."

Seeing that it was us three, she pushed the door open fully and welcomed us inside.

"Please come in and take a seat. Now that Yoruto's here, we shall be opening business for lunch hours shortly."

"Will do, Lil' Sanae!"

"Pardon our intrusion!"

Mr Yamazaki and Mr Kokonoe entered the restaurant. As I do, greeting Sanae a good day.

"How's the Boss?"

"Dad's fine. He's currently resting in bed. Mom's taking care of him."

"So it's just the two of us then?"

"Yeah. We'll open when you're ready, chef."

"Let me change into appropriate garments then."

And thus, Sanae and I worked our butts off on that busy afternoon. Mrs Kanae later joined in to help, but that assistance was only for her daughter as I was still all alone, cooking non-stop even as my hands got tired.

What the hell's with the number of customers today!? There were way more than usual!

Come to think of it, there were around the same number as well, yesterday.

What's going on?

Eventually, lunch was over and the restaurant closed early for the day. As I washed the pots and cooking utensils in the sink, Sanae cleaned the tables while Mrs Kanae went to check on her husband. After that, Sanae went to her room to change while I changed back to my original clothes in the staff's changing room. Once that was done, I went up to the family's residence to check up on my Boss.

"Boss, you awake?" I asked on the other side of the sliding door.

However, it was Mrs Kanae who responded to my voice. "Come in, Yoruto." she said, permitting me entry as I gently opened the door and sat down on the tatami mat.

Mr Yahiro is still asleep. Faintly snoring. Whereas his wife is seated in a kneeling position, providing the man with probably the most comfortable lap pillow in the world. How lucky.

"Looks like I need not worry about the Boss, huh?"

"Fufu~ Yes. Thank you for coming in today. I'm sure you must be tired from the sudden massive amount of traffic today."

"Yeah. Speaking of which, what's up with that? There were way more customers than there usually are."

"Well about that... it seems like some of the customers a few days ago were famous influencers of sort. Because of that, customers have been flooding in wanting to try our food."

"Is that why the Boss caught a cold?"

"Sort of. Yes... Yahiro did spend some time late at night, trying to figure out a way to ease the issue. Having a lot of customers is good business, but having too many can be quite a problem, you see."

Yeah... I get where she's coming. The business is only run by three people after all. Four, if you include me. Obviously, the sudden surge in customers would be overwhelming for the family.

"So, have you all found a solution to this problem?"

"Well, we're thinking of increasing our prices if the issue persists for a while. Other than that... Well, we'll handle it somehow. You don't have to worry about it for us, boy."

"Alright. I won't."

After my brief conversation with Mrs Kanae, I stood up and got ready to leave. "Well then, I should be going now." I said and proceeded to take my leave.

"Thank you for your help again, Yoruto." Mrs Kanae waved me goodbye. Unable to see me out because of the Boss's head on her lap.

But as I made my way to the exit, I accidentally bumped into Sanae in the corridor, when she suddenly appeared from the corner.

"Oh. Sorry."

"It's alright. Are you going home now, Yoruto?"

"Yeah. I got to finish making preparations for dinner tonight. A friend of my little sister eats a lot, so I'll need to make another feast for her, my sister and myself."

"Is that so...? Hm? Wait...." Sanae's eyes opened wide, as if she'd realised something. "So that means the dinner you will be making is going to be more for just three people, correct?"

"In a general sense... yes. Why?"

"Well uh, in that case, would you mind if I come over to your house and join you for dinner tonight?"

"What?"

I was slightly stupefied by Sanae's question.

"You want to come over to my place?"

"Well it's just that... Since Dad is currently sick, it means that Mom is gonna cook. So..."

"Alright. You can stop. No need to say anymore. Just inform Mrs Kanae about this first."

"Give me a moment. I will be right back~!"

Sanae took off. While I went downstairs to wait for her.

Five minutes later. She's not back yet.

Ten minutes later. She's still not back.

Fifteen minutes later...

Twenty minutes later...

Thirty minutes later...

Man... She's really taking her time, huh.

"Sorry for the wait!"

Finally, she arrived. Carrying a fairly large bag with her which doesn't seem to just contain her personal belongings.

"What's with the bag?" Thus I asked.

"Right. About heading to your place for dinner. Dad had apparently woken up while I was speaking to Mom and he heard me talking about that. So, he kinda made me pack some of my clothes and other necessities and told me to stay over at your place for the weekend, rather than just going there for dinner. Mom agreed to that idea as well."

"And they said that without asking me first?"

"Well, knowing you. They both said it'd probably be fine.... Right?"

"Well, I don't mind. But still... should've asked."

"Sorry. Was kinda in a rush, packing."

"It's fine... And? Did the Boss say anything else?"

Knowing that old man, he might've said something to Sanae regarding me.

"Nope. Dad didn't say anything else."

"Really? That's surprising...."

"He did hand me this pack of condoms though."

God dammit! Of course he did!

I took a deep breath in and sighed out loud at my Boss's antics. "So you're taking that with you or what?"

"Well, I was given this. So, might as well. Besides... who knows? We might actually use it later~" Sanae joked with a snarky smirk. But I just sighed again in response.

"I don't think it's possible. Those won't fit anyways."

"Ooh~ Is that so— Wait... What!?"

"Come on. Let's go now."

I took Sanae's bag off her shoulders and carried it for her along with mine, as I headed for the exit first. Leaving a stupefied Sanae behind.

"Wait! Hold up, Yoruto! You need to elaborate! What did you mean these won't fit!? Hey! Answer me, you jerk!"

We left the restaurant and locked the doors. Heading straight to the station after that. As we were walking, however, a thought came to my mind as I had just realised something.

"Come to think of it, you have not met Hikari before, have you?"

"Come to think of it, you're right! I wonder what she'll think of me..." Sanae stayed quiet for a second thinking about it. "...My goodness. I'm actually getting nervous now." she said, showing me her bare arm. "Look! I'm getting goosebumps just thinking about it."

"I don't need to see that. Also, don't worry too much about it."

"Why? Is your sister that accepting?"

"Not really. But it'll be fine. Before we return to my place, we'll stop by the convenience store for a minute."

"For... what?"

"You know the saying: 'The way to a man's heart is through his stomach'? Well... the same applies to my sister."

"Soooo..... Your sister is a man?"

"She does have a tomboyish personality, so... Close, I guess."