"Shu, could it be that you... like me?"
"..."
"Holy—" Shu did a carp flip and suddenly sprang up from the bed, his face pale and covered in cold sweat.
His memory seemed to be stuck at the moment last night when Kiana had spoken in his ear with a hidden smile, her voice drawn out. He seemed to still be able to feel her weight and warmth on his back.
But looking at the alarm clock on the bedside table next to him, it was still the familiar 7:59. Under Shu's gaze, the second hand was constantly ticking, and finally, it reached 8:00.
"Beep—"
The most primitive ringtone suddenly sounded, so piercing that it made Shu shiver. The physical discomfort made him reach out and quickly press the alarm's stop button, preventing it from even making a second sound.
"Phew..." Although the sound of the alarm clock was soul-stirring, it finally shattered the chaos in Shu's mind, and the subsequent memories came flooding back like a tide.
What Kiana had said at that time was definitely not so sharp. And although Kiana's nerves were thick, she was very clear on this kind of issue.
What Kiana seemed to have said at that time was... whether he had low blood pressure?
Shu didn't remember how he had answered, but he remembered that the reason Kiana had given was "even I feel tired, Shu, you must be exhausted!"
Hiss... it wasn't a very uncomfortable option.
Although looking at it from the perspective of hindsight, the "excuse" that Kiana had provided was full of loopholes, but at that time, he had admitted it in one go.
When a person admitted to something ridiculous, there was often another, more ridiculous reason. It was just "low blood sugar," and Shu was more than happy to admit it.
Then Shu was pointed at by Kiana for the whole night, with things like "I knew that you would definitely have problems if you don't eat properly," and "you eat less in a day than I do in one bite!" repeatedly appearing.
Shu buried his head like a quail and agreed to every accusation from Kiana. He performed a "can't fight back..." uh, he didn't fight back, and he didn't scold her. It was just that Kiana's tone was a little reproachful.
And Shu also made a 800-word guarantee about "I will definitely eat well in the future, two bowls per meal," which made Kiana can't help but ask, "can you let me copy a copy?"
And then... Kiana generously said that she would give all her snacks to Shu, and quickly escaped back to her room from the window.
...Wait, why did he use the word "escape"?
But overall, it was worth celebrating. The whole "accident" last night could be said to have a strong start but a weak finish. Although a hasty end was not a good ending, it was really fast.
8:01.
Shu watched the alarm clock tick again, and subconsciously turned his head to look at the still open window.
He didn't hear Mei calling Kiana to get up? It seemed that after Kiana had left him last night, she had gone to find Mei again.
After picking up the pieces of his shattered heart, Shu let out another long sigh, turned over and got out of bed. After quickly washing up, he came to the kitchen with some hesitation.
The noodles he had taken out yesterday were still on the stove. Looking at the empty induction cooker, Shu was silent for a long time before he realized that his pot had been taken away by Kiana and he hadn't gotten it back yet.
It seemed that he couldn't eat noodles... he'd just fry some bread, fried eggs, and bacon, and then heat up some milk in the microwave.
The ingredients in the refrigerator were indeed abundant. Shu took a frying pan, and... sprayed some oil on the bottom of the pan, then turned to toast the bread.
For a moment, only the sizzling sound of the oil sprayed on the bottom of the pan by the spray-type oil can was left in the kitchen.
And amidst this sizzling sound, like the sun rising from the horizon, a white, crescent-shaped ahoge, showing a clear personality and an unyielding will, slowly rose from the stove...
This scene was strangely familiar.
Kiana stuck out her head, sniffed left and right with her nose, and regretfully found that she had come a little early, and Shu hadn't done anything yet.
"If you're really hungry, have two slices of bread to tide you over first," Shu's faint voice floated over from the side.
This scene was also strangely familiar, so much so that Kiana didn't show much surprise, but naturally squatted in place and greeted Shu.
"Eh, what a coincidence, Shu."
Shu: "..."
Shu had a dead fish eye, staring at Kiana seriously for a while, and then sighed.
"You go and sit over there first. I'll be done in a minute," Shu wanted to raise his hand to pat Kiana's shoulder, but thinking of the absurd things that had happened last night, he still withdrew his hand and just made a gesture to Kiana.
"Okay," Kiana nodded and quickly slipped away from Shu's side, and sat down at the dining table.
This time, she wouldn't take his frying pan away.
Just as Shu picked up an egg, the doorbell rang from downstairs. Shu's movements froze. Just as he was about to put down the egg, Kiana had already jumped off the chair and ran to the door in a flash.
"You concentrate on cooking, I'll open the door!"
Shu stood in place with his hand outstretched for a long time, and then picked up the egg again with a twisted expression.
Why did it feel like Kiana was the owner of the house? The moment the eggshell cracked, this was the only question in Shu's mind.
Not long after, when Shu was scooping up the second fried egg, Kiana came up with Mei and Bronya. Mei was still carrying the pot that had been taken away by Kiana yesterday.
"Good morning, Shu," Mei's morning greeting seemed to be a basic code, and Bronya, who was following behind her, was also developing the habit of greeting.
Shu gave them a sheepish smile and silently went to get a few more eggs.
It wasn't enough for Kiana to begin with. Now that Mei and Bronya were also here, he had to prepare at least a double-digit number of eggs.
And bread and milk. He had only planned to toast two slices to make a simple sandwich, but now it seemed that he had to cut a whole loaf.
Bacon... just bake a whole pack.
"Let me help," Mei looked at Shu taking a full armful of things from the refrigerator and wanted to help with some concern, but was quickly refused by Shu.
"I'm enough on my own. I'm just making something simple, it's not much trouble."
"This... alright," even though Shu said so, Mei still hesitated for a moment before sitting down at the table with Kiana.
"Mei, Mei, when are we leaving?" As soon as the three of them sat down, Kiana couldn't wait to speak. "The location of the selection competition, I remember it's by the sea in Sapphire City?"