Chapter 10: Asria The Land of Magic

Kaoe and Fyumi were cleaning the table while Yuki was busy cooking in the kitchen. Ester was helping her, and Mina was just standing in the corner doing absolutely nothing. 

Suddenly Yuki shouted loudly, “Hey, don’t eat it yet!!” She was talking to Kaoe, who had already tried to steal one of the cupcakes. Kaoe looked annoyed and replied, “Eh!! Why!!!”

At that moment Sean and I walked inside. I raised my voice happily. “We are back!!” Mina immediately came over to greet us, looking very excited. 

“Did you get my snacks????!” she asked eagerly. Sean looked at her and answered in a funny tone, “Umm… I’m afraid he didn’t.” I scratched my head awkwardly and admitted, “I forgot, so I got some puddings instead.” 

Honestly, I expected Mina to get angry, but instead her eyes lit up. “Really??? Wow… puddings??” she said happily. Somehow it worked. I quietly exhaled with relief.

Soon the table was ready, and everyone gathered around it. I looked at everyone and asked, “Shall we begin?” Everyone replied at the same time, “Yeah!!” But before we could even start eating, we suddenly heard loud knocking on the door. 

Bump, bump, bump! It was our neighbor. He looked a little annoyed and said, “Guys, can you please keep it down?” We all apologized nervously before he finally left.

The dinner finally began. Kaoe immediately grabbed some food and said excitedly, “Woo, let me try this!” Yuki quickly responded, “Hey, leave some for us!” After tasting the food, I looked at Yuki and said honestly, 

“Wow Yuki, you’ve improved a lot in cooking.” I thought it was a compliment, but Yuki suddenly looked at me with emotionless eyes. 

“Huh? You mean it was bad before?” she asked coldly. I panicked and tried to fix it quickly. “No, that’s not what I meant!” Everyone burst into laughter.

The atmosphere became very lively. The food was great, the conversations were fun, and overall it felt like a perfect evening. Soon the desserts arrived. 

Kaoe looked extremely excited and shouted, “Here we go!!” The table was now filled with cupcakes and strawberry cake. Everything looked perfect.

Then Mina suddenly spoke. “Hey guys, listen.” Everyone, including me, became curious and looked toward her. She continued calmly, “Since summer vacation is close…”

She paused dramatically before saying the words. “Let’s go to Asria… the land of magic.”

Everyone looked shocked and confused at the same time. “What!?” we all asked. Mina smiled slightly and explained, “I borrow powers from Asria. 

Aren’t you all curious to see how Asria actually looks?” Mina was always good at coming up with strange but exciting ideas.

Before anyone could answer, she added calmly, “Take your time to decide. After one week, we will meet again.” And just like that, the night finally came to an end.

To be continued…