The warmth of steam rising from the dessert prickled against her skin and drilled into her defenseless nostrils.

  The fruity tang scent seeped through the sweetness—sticky, fragrant jam, thick with sugar and just a hint of something citrusy teased her senses like the memory of something she knows.

  'This is what they call Jam Roly-Poly? I don't know what it looks like, but it smells good.

  Reminds me a bit of Melon Pan, but this is much better. To think a little boy made it, he should be given an award. I wonder how old he is?'

  Through the smell alone, she could already tell this was heavenly made, but as much as she wanted to dig in…

  …she had to take into account what had happened the last time she consumed something.

  'Ah, right. I was poisoned…'

  Her fingers curled slightly on the rough wooden table.

  Yuzuriha lost her life in the arms of her murderous husband in that cold office bathroom.

  It was a stark contrast to the table she was seated at and the warm atmosphere of the apartment she found herself in.

  The walls weren't too far apart, this place was cozy, and its air was filled with the warmth of lived-in comfort.

  This sure did bring back memories from living with the old couple that adopted her.

  They used to live in a smaller apartment, everything was so close that a step in one direction often brought her near a wall or a piece of furniture.

  It was exactly the same with this one.

  A faint remorseful smile tugged at her lips as she brought her hand down to the dessert, using her sense of smell and touch to locate it.

  Yuzuriha felt a piece of the jam roly-poly, it was warm but not too warm and soft—perhaps fluffy as well.

  As she brought it closer to her mouth, the scent grew stronger. There was a crispness at the edges, like the scent of golden baked pastry just as it leaves the oven.

  At this point, her mouth was probably drooling. She couldn't resist anymore. The torture of vanilla and steam was killing her!

  'These two don't seem like the type…right? Besides, how good can this be?'

  She took a small, cautious bite.

  The moment it touched her tongue, warmth bloomed, and then—the world shattered.

  'Savory! Smoky! Sweet! Crispy! This—this..!'

  Her eyes widened as flavors burst through her mouth, rolling over her tongue in waves. The warmth settled in her chest, spreading through her entire body like sunlight after a lifetime of winter.

  "THIS IS AMAZING!"

  A new voice echoed in her ears, it was high pitched and shouted the exact thoughts she was having in that moment.

  Yuzuriha's body tensed, heat rushing to her face as her hands instinctively clamped over her mouth. By then, she was already on her feet.

  'Wuah?! Was that my voice?! I can speak?! But I was mute a second ago. What's going on?!'

  ??Processing complicate. The astris Art [Soulspeak] has been acquired??

  That familiar voice rang out in the back of her mind.

  'The Voice of God?!'

  She almost shouted those words, but thanks to her hands, they came out muffled.

  Once again, she had spoken—sort of.

  She looked around half panicked but saw nothing, as expected.

  That voice obviously came from her mind, so she must have either been hearing things or it was the Voice of God again.

  It would have been nice to prove that, but it had gone silent once again.

  Forgetting that, Yuzuriha brought her attention to the current moment.

  There was a moment of silence. If it wasn't for her acute sense of hearing, she could have sworn that she was alone in this room, but unfortunately, she wasn't.

  'My acute sense of hearing and the fact he walked in with me'

  The person who served her this dessert must have been flabbergasted for a moment.

  The little girl, Willow Drapes, wasn't with them since she was told to prepare her church clothes. 6 days from tonight was going to be Sunday to which they had to go to church.

  Personally, she didn't like church but if it was a must, then she had no choice in the matter.

  In this kitchen, she was left with the other person she walked home with.

  That person was Leo for short and full name Leopold Drapes. She must have known what he looked like but just didn't remember.

  'Huh, remember what?'

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  Yuzuriha didn't recall being told any of that, yet she knew somehow. Anyways, he had stopped moving around so she assumed he must have been taken aback by her outburst.

  "Woah, Yor, that…just now, was something. You've never reacted like that before to any of the desserts I made. You always brushed them off like nothing. Are you feeling good?"

  Leo asked in a surprised and concerned tone. She deflated back to her seat, realizing that she might have blown it.

  'Blown what exactly? What is going on here?!'

  As she shouted internally, Leo immediately placed his palm on her forehead for a couple of seconds before removing it.

  "Well, you don't seem to have a fever or anything of the sort. Did I make it that good?"

  The boy pondered for a second before shouting at the top of his lungs, he probably did a victory pose as well.

  "Hell yeah! Even the cold hearted Yor Drapes screamed for joy at the taste of my dish then that means my skills are getting sharper! Gray City Fair, here I come!"

  Yep, he definitely did a victory pose.

  Now then, how to respond to him? As he mentioned, this Yor character, who she is being referred to, came off as a cold individual, so maybe something of the sort might work.

  'Alright, since this is something he's used to, I'll try!'

  While Leo was celebrating, Yuzuriha whipped her head to the side attempting to be edgy but broke down immediately after.

  'I can't do it! His jam really was too delicious. It'll be mean to just brush him off. I got to show him some gratitude while also not giving myself away. Right!'

  At the same time, she raised her head and puffed her cheeks, there was a sudden shout from the door.

  "Yor! Leo! Willow! I'm home!"

  Oh right, Yuzuriha forgot to mention that these kids were orphans, same as her apparently. And the person at the door was the closest to an adult they had in this apartment.

  Well, except for her—mentally speaking. Not that it counted now anyways.

  The time now was six in the evening, which meant…

  "Big sis's back!"

  A muffled voice exclaimed in the next room. It was high pitched so it was probably from Willow. Those light footsteps rushing across the floor only confirmed it.

  She got there first and practically launched herself at Marcille before she could even step inside properly. Her small arms wrapped around her waist in a tight hug…at least that's what Yuzuriha imagined.

  'No doubt that's how it went. Almost cliche at this point'

  Hana and Haru often jumped at her like that whenever she got back from work. So, it was probably the same.

  Next up was Leo, he was already moving toward the other room, but he stopped, hesitating for a second. She suddenly felt the boy's hand tugging hers along.

  "Come on Yor. Let's go and welcome big sis together!"

  He's so full of energy!

  'Oh, right. I forgot I'm supposed to feel excited too, but how would Yor have responded to this? Well since he didn't react much to my indifference, I suppose I'm doing it right.'

  Strangely enough, Marcille was the only person between Willow and Leo whose face came to mind so clearly.

  Her full name was Marcille Drapes, she had ashen hair framing her youthful face, cut short in a practical, almost military sort of fashion.

  Her eyes were a striking shade of deep grey and the one thing that always stood out about her was that pale scarf wrapped tightly around her neck.

  The person she saw in her memories seemed to be a lot younger than the one before her.

  Well, she couldn't see her, but that voice was unmistakable that of a woman—teenager—young adult. Take your pick.

  She was also…

  'My older sister'

  And so, by the logic of nature. Yuzuriha's current appearance should look like that.

  As it stood, she had no idea how she looked, only the feel of the width and weight of her body.

  'She was so cute! Then I must be two times as adorable! But wait… Some siblings don't look much alike. Don't they? Well, whatever. If I do look like that, then I'll be drop dead gorgeous when I grow up!'

  She grinned at the thought while she was getting dragged by Leo. Despite his rush, he wasn't too rough in handling her and she could keep up just fine.

  The only problem now was how to react when meeting Marcille.

  'Wait, hold up…'

  A thought popped up in her head.

  'Why am I trying so hard to be someone else?'

  That question made her pause but before she could ponder on it even further, there was a sudden rush of movement, a pair of strong arms around her almost in an instant.

  "Poof—"

  A tight squeeze pressed her head into something warm.

  'Too tight!'

  Yuzuriha felt her ribs getting crushed and a startled wheeze forced its way out of her throat.

  "Yor! Yor! Yor! I couldn't wait to get back. I missed you all so much!"

  Shouted the young woman enthusiastically while squeezing the life out of her younger sister.

  Yuzuriha didn't get a chance to respond or even think properly because the pain was just that great.

  To show that she meant no animosity, she was nudging her head with hers in an affectionate way. Same as how a cute little kitten might do it.

  It might have been adorable, but in this case, it was pure torture.

  'So strong. I get it. She's the dotting older sibling type!'

  Was she trying to crush her?! Her lungs desperately screamed for air.

  "That's a little dramatic. I mean, you just saw us this morning"

  Leo said while laughing beside them. Thanks to that, Marcille loosened her iron grip—just a bit, and reached out one hand to the boy.

  This was followed by a messy rustling sound and a slight grumble. Not actually annoyed, but put upon, like this was something he had gone through too many times.

  Yuzuriha didn't need to see to put the pieces together.

  'Ah. She's ruffling his hair'

  "Bless the Stars, all of you are fine. Leo, I hope you've cooked something good cause I'm starving!"

  Marcille said as she released her victim. Yuzuriha gasped for air while inspecting whether her ribs weren't broken, finally free from her captor's bear hug.

  'Phew, I'm still alive!'

  She sighed at the same time as Leo, but their reasons were different.

  "Well, you're in lu—"

  "Big sis, big sis! Today I helped fold the laundry all by myself!"

  Willow interrupted, practically bouncing with excitement.

  "Oh, oh, oh. I also helped in making clothes for church!"

  "Did you now? That's my big girl! You're growing up fast, huh? Aunty Grace is going to be so proud!"

  Yuzuriha swore she could feel the way Marcille's energy shifted. The warmth in her voice was practically radiating.

  Willow let out a giddy giggle.

  "Yup!"

  Leo, still beside Yuzuriha, simply sighed as if this was nothing new. Even though he was rudely interrupted and ignored, he didn't seem to hold any grudges.

  How matured!

  'This is…'

  The reincarnated woman could feel the warmth in the air. It was…strange.

  But also, just a little bit…comforting.

  "Okay, that's enough, we should probably get to it now. I'm in a good mood today so let's start with training before dinner. But first, is there anything else that happened?"

  The moment Marcille asked that question they all went quiet.

  Willow's bouncing had come to a sudden halt and Yuzuriha's breath hitched.

  'Anything else that happened was that incident in the alleyway. Leo told us to keep our mouths shut'

  Such a task was child's play for her. Keeping secrets wasn't difficult if you just keep the attention away from you.

  'I won't tell, but can she hold it in?'

  She turned her head toward the direction of the girl—a pretty pointless action. She still couldn't see her facials which made her face reading skill utterly useless.

  'Dang it'

  "Oh right, I forgot to tell you…"

  To what seemed like a tense situation, Leo took up the stage!

  "You won't believe it. When Yor ate one of my desserts, she actually shouted for joy. The taste was so good she couldn't resist expressing it!"

  Leo said that with such enthusiasm it even caught Marcille off guard.

  "What, no way!"

  She gasped as she leaned in closer to Yuzuriha's face, feeling her forehead with a rough hand.

  "Yor, are you ok? Are you feeling sick? Your temperature is normal, and your vitals seem to be in working order. But you don't usually react to Leo's delicious cooking! If something's wrong, please tell me!"

  That rough hand had left her forehead and landed at her shoulders with another as an assistant. Together they wiggled her ceaselessly while screaming at her face.

  'Yep, she's definitely the dotting older sibling type!'