On the other hand, Masaru was exploring one of the aisles with a large bag of pancake flour, a bag of powdered sugar, butter, maple syrup, strawberry jam, two dozen eggs and two gallons of milk.

“Hmm… ‘Devil’s Vanilla’” the black-haired boy muttered as he checked the boxes of cake mix. On the cover was a picture of a cartoonish demon king savoring a vanilla cake, Masaru couldn’t help but smile. “Hmm, it’s so strange to see the underworld king being so kind. I wonder what Mitsuru would say?”

The boy held the box to look at the demon king more closely and noticed a simple castle in the background.

“I wonder if he feels lonely in a place like that…” he muttered to himself before looking up at the top of the opposite shelf. Why? It’s just that he had had the feeling that something or someone was watching him; however, there didn’t seem to be anything. Masaru tried to find whatever it was he had perceived, but his interest was short-lived when he suddenly heard some children talking.

“Did you see how Rage’s dumb brother was together with his so-called brother at the entrance?” someone suddenly said. Masaru searched for the source of the voice, realizing that they were in the hallway adjacent to his, right on the other side of the shelf he was looking at.

“Yeah, they looked very out of place. Who could they be waiting for?”

“Surely Rage had them obediently wait for him, it wouldn’t surprise me if he bullied his own family. Or maybe their parents? If so we should let her kn-” as he heard this, Masaru clenched his jaw with raw irritation.

"I don't think so, I heard that they were abandoned and now live alone."

"Surely they didn't want to have such useless children."

"Yeah, they don't know anything other than causing trouble wherever they-!"  exclaimed, being interrupted by Masaru, who had run up to punch him in the face. The other boy stepped back upon seeing this and instead looked at the black-haired boy with disgust.

"My, my... You two sure have guts to say stupid things out in the open," Masaru said as he hit the palm of his hand with the other in the shape of a fist repeatedly.

"It's the grimling!" one exclaimed. Masaru looked at him in disbelief at the stupid nickname.

"What is the hellspawn doing here?!"

“Grimling… Hellspawn… Can I know what made you guys call me those dumb nicknames? You make me want to hit you from second hand embarrassment.”

“What do you want?!”

“Hm? Well… For you guys to stop talking nonsense about my family, unless you want to be my excuse to beat someone up today,” Masaru suggested, seeing himself very willing to hit them.

“You're only threatening us because you know it's true!” Masaru sighed and immediately stepped forward in a threatening manner, looking like he was about to throw punches.

“Who was it that said our parents abandoned us?!” the black-haired boy shouted while the children took a step back nervously.

“That was-!” Before they could answer, Masaru opened his eyes wide as he saw a liquid heading towards him.

“It was me, is there a problem?” said a female voice. Masaru reflexively squeezed his eyes shut and instantly covered them as he agonized over the stinging pain caused by a few drops that had entered them.

Erika had approached where they were with a bottle of alcohol vinegar, opened it and with a movement had thrown it towards Masaru to make him step back.

“Well? Did either of you find the hot sauce I told you to look for?” she asked as she saw the two children impatiently.

“Uhm, we…”

“Ugh…! This burns…!” Masaru whined without being able to avoid tearing up as a result. Erika turned to look at him with amusement, she couldn’t miss seeing one of Rage’s brothers pathetically agonizing.

The girl grabbed one of Masaru’s wrists and quickly pulled him so that he would stop covering himself and she could see him suffer.

“Aw, what’s wrong? Is the pet crying because it misses its owner?”

“It's not like that, this thing burns! You have no idea what you threw at me!”

“Tell me, little doggy, what are you doing away from the knockoff?”

“Shut up! Don't call him that, you're a...!” Upon hearing him shout, Erika quickly pulled his hair and observed him more closely.

“And what are you going to do about it? You're covered in alcohol vinegar and I have a box of matches. If you have a brain you'll know what I mean,” she said as she smiled with satisfaction seeing the other complain.

“You...!” Masaru half-opened his eyes as best he could, unfortunately looking as if he was really crying out of distress due to not being able to open them properly. The brunette smiled maliciously, however, after observing his expression carefully..., she soon became confused due to a new emotion swirling up inside her; however, she didn't have time to interpret it as she was hit by something hard and powdery on the side of her head.

Erika turned in the direction of the blow and was immediately greeted by a thick cloud of powdered sugar that covered her face and hair. She coughed, blinking furiously as the sweet powder got into her mouth and nose. In front of her, with the bag still open in his hands and sugar residue falling from the edges, was Daitaro, who looked at her angrily.

“Masaru! Are you okay?!” Daitaro asked as he quickly approached Masaru. After seeing him nod despite his current pain, he proceeded to put him behind him. The other two children ignored the scene as they searched for the sauce Erika wanted, so Daitaro chose to just focus on her.

“What a surprise that you have the nerve to look at me after I caught you spying on me.”

“Huh…?” Masaru muttered, still with his eyes closed. Rage had done what?

“Think whatever you like, however, were you planning to light a match?”

“Duh, did you have to say it out loud for your brother to understand?”

“And what are you waiting for?” the redhead asked with a ‘kind’ smile.

“What?”

“You’re taking too long.”

“Do you think I’m not capable of lighting it? Don’t blame me if your brother bursts into flames because of your dumb provocation.”

Faced with the threat, Daitaro let out a chuckle that seemed to express amusement and mockery at the same time.

“What are you laughing at?!”

“Ahaha, I’m sorry, it’s just that…” the redhead briefly wiped away a tear before narrowing his eyes and looking at Erika with pity.

“You do know that powdered sugar is highly flammable…, right?”

“Rage…?”

Masaru muttered, not understanding the reason he was talking like that. She knew he wanted to intimidate her, but…

“What are you saying? That’s nonsense, how could it be-” while the brunette tried to mock him, she saw the way Daitaro pulled out a zippo lighter from one of his pockets.

Bewildered, the girl watched the redhead put a handful of sugar in his mouth and then stretched his arm with the lighter far enough away to spit the sugar into the flame, resulting in a brief instant burst of sparks and a small flare that illuminated the environment.

The two children who were previously looking for the sauce witnessed this and quickly ran away scared of the obvious threat from the red-eyed boy. Masaru had tried to see what was happening, but he still had trouble opening his eyes due to the pain, while Erika had remained frozen.

“So… you were about to light a match, right?” Daitaro asked once more.

“I…”

“Oh, you don’t have any?”

“T-That’s…”

“Do you need help with that?” Daitaro offered as he showed her the lighter.

“Are you threatening me? How cute-”

“3…”

“W-What?”

“2…”

Without delay, Erika left the place furiously, which made Daitaro smile pleased.

“Rage…, you weren’t serious, were you?” Masaru asked while seeing his brother with his eyes still watering, he had managed to open them a little despite the fact that they were still burning.

“Masaru, don’t force your eyes open”

“Is powdered sugar really flammable?” At the question, Daitaro assumed that his brother hadn’t seen the demonstration.

“Of course it is! Don't go around lighting things, it's dangerous.”

“And why do you still have that lighter?” the green eyed boy asked, not understanding what his brother was doing walking around with that in his pocket.

“Does it really matter? We better go to the bathroom so you rinse your eyes,” the red-haired boy suggested, holding his brother's hand in order to guide him.

“Okay…”

“Does it hurt a lot?”

“It's really annoying, but I'll be fine soon.”

“I'm so sorry I didn't get here sooner…”

“It's okay, I imagine you were able to get even at least a little, right?” Masaru suggested, smiling. “Her reaction made it all worth it, right?”

“Nothing would make your suffering worth it, Masaru… Oh… Maybe we should look for Daiki after you rinse and go home.”

“What?! No! We need those ingredients, I'll be fine!”

“But…”

“I already had a few things in the cart, I left it in the next aisle where the cereal is. I just need to go get ice cream and ask the other two if they want anything else.”

“Okay… I still have to buy you the bread I promised you,” Daitaro said as he considered buying the cookie in addition to Daiki’s cake. Masaru nodded while he let his brother lead him to the bathroom.