A special dinner

I underwent my surgery and recovered well. Thank you to everyone who sent supportive messages. I'll now resume updating, but it won't be every day anymore. Starting today, I should be able to update three times a week. Initially, it will be on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. If I have time, perhaps an extra chapter might come along. I'm considering sending extra chapters if we reach significant power stone . Enjoy the chapter. Thank you.

— — —

After a rather eventful lunch, Mateus returns to his world. Without forgetting about the afternoon classes, Mateus quickly heads towards his classroom. With the feeling of having been away for too long, Mateus feels strange, but he doesn't forget about the important things and what he still has to do. Classes resume, and Mateus focuses on other things, less on the class that is happening. For example, now he's thinking about inviting Mahiru to go out for dinner tonight or simply making something tasty for everyone to eat. In reality, he just wants to be with her. And that's not to be judged; people like her are rare, you don't find several of them, or one on every corner. Mateus also wants to distract himself. Tomorrow, he'll face something that (for him) can be very stressful. Without further ado, Mateus makes up his mind.

— — —

Classes are over, and Mateus is focused. One could say he's rushing some things. But soon he calms down and remembers: 'There's nothing to worry about in this life, let it happen naturally.'

That doesn't mean he'll be passive, but it just reaffirms that he wants to live life in what can be said as "natural." His pensive appearance doesn't go unnoticed by one of his classmates, Miyuki Shirogane. Finding Mateus' attitude strange, he asks, "Everything alright, buddy?"

Coming out of his own world, Mateus returns to reality and quickly responds to the student council president. "All good. Just thinking about some stuff. Nothing serious."

Responding casually, Mateus shows that everything is fine. Without wanting to bother anymore, Miyuki simply accepts it and lets it be. Mateus, who was pulled out of his thoughts, has nothing else to do at school, so he simply prepares to leave.

Thinking about what he can do to train Rias and her peerage tomorrow, Mateus makes his way home thinking about what could be effective for training the group. And surprisingly, his thoughts were not in vain. Now Mateus has some good ideas on how to train Rias.

Before heading home, Mateus quickly stops by a convenience store and buys a few things he needs at home. With everything sorted out, Mateus faces the final stretch home, while he can't help but think again 'Living in an apartment is cool and all, but I still prefer a house, I have to buy one urgently.'

Money isn't the problem, Mateus has enough money to buy whatever he wants. He's thinking of looking for a place to live after figuring out what his love life will be like, if he'll have a harem, and if so, how many women will be in it.

Even though he's resolved to have a harem, he still wonders if he'll truly be able to love his women or just treat them as objects. That's not what he wants; clearly, he prefers to love them, but if that's not the case, he simply gives up the idea.

Arriving at the door of his apartment, Mateus does the usual, unlocks the door and takes off his shoes. Normally, there would only be his shoes and Ophis's, but there happens to be another pair of shoes there.

The only person Mateus can think of who would be in his house would be Mahiru; after all, Mateus can affirm that the only person he has a strong bond with other than Ophis is Mahiru.

And unsurprisingly, the person in his house is none other than Mahiru Shiina. But this time, to Mateus's surprise, she's wearing an apron and preparing some kind of food, most likely for dinner. Believing that Ophis let Mahiru in, Mateus quickly finds an explanation for what's happening. But without jumping to conclusions, Mateus greets Mahiru. "What a surprise to see you here, Shiina-san. Even more surprising is to see you cooking in my house, not that I'm complaining, on the contrary, thank you very much."

Being courteous, Mateus thanks Shiina for what she's doing for him. "Nice to see you too, Mateus. Actually, I had agreed with Ophis that I would cook for her."

Giving a beautiful smile, Mateus understands that it was indeed Ophis who let her in, now as for when the two of them talked and arranged to cook at his house, Mateus doesn't even bother to imagine. "Do you need help?"

Arriving in the kitchen, Mateus offers to help Mahiru, who quickly responds, "No need, I'm almost done. Besides, this dinner is special for you and Ophis." Once again with a beautiful smile. 'That smile.' Mateus always gets lost when he looks at this angel's smile.

Simply nodding, Mateus accepts what Mahiru says. He then goes to his room and changes his clothes, taking off his uniform.

Arriving in the living room, he sat on the couch with Ophis and waited just a little longer until the food was ready. Without much wait, everything was ready and placed on the table. Each dish prepared looked great, and both Ophis and Mateus were ready to devour this delicious meal. Ophis, in particular, was already devouring the food, while Mateus, before eating, thanked Mahiru.

"Thank you, Shiina-san. It's really nice to eat food made by you. Even more so when we're together like this. Seriously, thank you."

Unaware that his words were sincere, revealing what was truly in his heart. Hearing this, Mahiru blushed lightly and didn't hesitate to respond:

"I feel the same way. It's really nice to eat together like this."

Mateus was also pleased with Mahiru's response. Thanks to that, a pleasant and warm atmosphere lingered at the table as they dined. Meanwhile, Ophis was simply oblivious to all the developments happening in front of her. Dinner proceeded pleasantly, with everyone enjoying the good food on the table.

After dinner, Ophis went to watch television, leaving only Mateus and Mahiru at the table, continuing to talk and get to know each other more. They sat there and talked for a long time, until Mahiru said she had to go. Without them realizing it, they grew much closer. Mateus accompanied Mahiru to the door, and before saying goodbye, he made the following invitation:

"Hey, Shiina, want to go out with me on Sunday?"

"..." Mahiru was surprised by Mateus's gesture and was briefly speechless. Moreover, she also blushed quite a bit. 'Isn't this the same as asking for a date?' Confusion set in the mind of the petite blonde.

Hearing the silence as a response, Mateus felt a bit discouraged.

"It's okay if you can't make it. I understand."

Hearing Mateus speak once again, Mahiru put aside her thoughts and now focused on responding to Mateus in front of her, who was waiting for an answer.

"I accept."

"..."

"I'll go with you!" Without giving Mateus a chance to respond, she spoke again and reaffirmed strongly that she would go with Mateus.

"Alright then. We'll leave at ten in the morning, what do you think?"

"Sounds good."

"Deal." With his spirits renewed, Mateus finished arranging with Mahiru.

"Good night, Shiina-san."

"Good night, Mateus."

Saying goodbye, each went back to their apartment. Mateus returned to the living room where Ophis was and watched a football match that was on. Shortly after, Mateus went to sleep. Without worrying about tomorrow, Mateus quickly fell asleep and entered the world of dreams.

— — —

Waking up early, Mateus does something he hasn't done in a while. A walk.

Not that he needs to, but just to clear his mind and be ready to train Rias and her peerage.

"I don't even know where to go, but I want to run at least 10 kilometers."

Without a destination or route in mind, Mateus simply runs for a while.

Far surpassing his initial goal, Mateus realizes he got carried away, turning what was supposed to be a morning run into a marathon.

But no worries, his enthusiasm is more than enough. Taking a shower in the morning, Mateus relaxes well and is more than ready.

So before leaving, Mateus asks Ophis, who still seems a bit sleepy, "Do you want to come with me, Ophis?"

"No..." It seems Ophis has plans for today, so Mateus simply doesn't mind.

"Okay. See you later, Ophis."

"See you."

Responding briefly as usual, Ophis doesn't worry too much and goes back to sleep.

"Well, if I'm going alone, then I better do things right." Teleporting himself, Mateus heads to Kuoh and prepares to train Rias.

"Here we go."

—*—*—

Sorry if the chapter wasn't as good and for not being longer, I'm returning to writing today after a long time. So I took it a bit easier for today, I hope you understand.