In Bronya's room, Kika and Bronya were staying up late playing games while wildly feasting on takeout fried chicken and beer.
"What are you two... doing!!!" Kiana roared and pounced on them.
"How dare you secretly eat delicious food behind my back without calling me! This is too much, just too much!"
Kiana angrily grabbed two large pieces of fried chicken, fiercely taking a bite from the one in her left hand, then a bite from her right, as if each bite was consuming Kika and Bronya themselves.
"What nonsense is the idiot Kiana spouting now..." Bronya glanced at Kiana a few times before losing interest, her focus returning completely to her game.
Kiana's sudden shout had startled Kika, causing the controller to slip from her hands and fall to the floor. In the moment it took to pick it up, Kika's character was killed by an enemy.
"I'm dead, and it's all your fault, seriously..." Kika simply tossed her controller aside, giving up on the game, and turned to tackle the chicken-devouring Kiana to the ground.
"You wretched Kiana, let me teach you a lesson!"
"Hahaha, that tickles, Kika, stop messing around, let me eat first..."
"No way, take this, and this!"
People's joys and sorrows are not always connected. Bronya just found Kika and Kiana to be very noisy. Because Kika had fed, the pressure on Bronya instantly skyrocketed. She had no choice; Bronya had to start playing with both hands.
People's joys and sorrows are not always connected. The opponents thought it would be easy with one player down, but they didn't expect the remaining one to stop holding back.
The enemy, defeated by Bronya's serious gameplay, couldn't understand why it had been a pecking match between noobs one second, only for them to be utterly dominated the next.
Finally, they could only type a few words in the public chat in frustration.
"Hacking? Done pretending to be bad?"
After seeing the message in the public chat, Bronya also typed back a few words.
"If you're bad, practice more. To a bad player, everything looks like a hack."
"???"
"Boring." Bronya ended the battle in the online game and turned to look at Kika and Kiana.
Kika was wrapped around Kiana, endlessly tickling her. Kiana was laughing so hard she couldn't close her mouth, all while frantically stuffing her face.
"Bronya has always suspected Kiana's body structure is different from a normal person's... How can she still eat..."
Whatever, she couldn't be bothered. Bronya pulled out her treasured stash of canned food from under the bed, placed one in front of Kiana and Kika each, then opened one for herself and began to savor it.
Bronya said, "Kiana, eat up. After you're done, the three of us will play together."
"Yay!" Kiana jumped up in excitement, sending Kika flying.
"Kiana, you bastard!"
Kika rubbed her bottom and got up from the floor. Just as she was about to scold Kiana, Bronya covered her mouth.
"Shh, keep it down. Don't wake Himeko and the others, or we'll definitely get an earful..."
"Then let's turn off the light, too. I only came in because I saw the light from Bronya's room when I was outside." After speaking, Kiana turned off the room light, and the three little ones sat together and started gaming happily.
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Meanwhile, Ryn, who had climbed through the window of Kiana's room carrying large and small bags, was stunned.
Ryn looked in confusion at the quilt that had been kicked to the floor by Kiana.
"Where is she? Where's my big Kiana?"
She must have been hungry too and went to find something to eat...
After picking up Kiana's quilt and placing it back on the bed, Ryn prepared to go to the living room or kitchen to find her.
"..."
However, not long after leaving the room, he saw Mei holding a kitchen knife, eavesdropping at Bronya's door.
"Mei, what are you doing here? And why are you holding a knife..."
Ryn was suddenly very curious. Why did Mei, like Yae Sakura, enjoy observing from the shadows? Was this a common trait among cooks?
"Aah!"
Mei flinched in fright from Ryn's appearance, then quickly covered both her own mouth and Ryn's.
"Shh~ Don't let Kiana and the others find out..." After speaking, Mei took Ryn's hand and pulled him into the living room.
"I was thinking that everyone might not have eaten enough tonight, so I made some late-night snacks. When I was about to ask Kiana and the others if they wanted some, I found Kiana sneaking into Bronya's room."
Mei placed the knife back on the rack and opened the lids of two nearby pots. Inside were the chicken soup and rice noodles she had prepared.
"From outside Bronya's door, I could smell the fried chicken and barbecue, and hear Kiana and Kika's laughter. I knew they must have secretly ordered a lot of takeout."
Mei served a bowl of rice noodles for both Ryn and herself, ladled chicken soup over them, and brought the two steaming bowls over.
"I was originally going to ask them to have a late-night snack, but now I suspect they're already stuffed. The reason I don't want them to find out is that if Kiana knew I made supper, she would definitely grin and ask for another meal. It's late, and eating too much isn't good for you."
"I see! I was being thoughtless. Look, I also brought some late-night snacks to share with you all." Ryn presented the instant noodles he had packed.
Mei looked over curiously. The moment she saw they were instant noodles, her brow furrowed, and she said to Ryn earnestly:
"Eating too many instant noodles is unhealthy, it's bad for you! Ryn, you should eat less of them... If there's anything you want to eat, you can tell me, and I'll make it for you."
"Hehe, I was just thinking of whipping up a quick snack... Look, it has meat, vegetables, and an egg. It's very nutritious!"
"You smooth talker, how can that be the same? Eat my chicken soup noodles instead. Don't eat the instant noodles." Mei pushed the instant noodles aside and nudged her bowl of chicken soup noodles towards Ryn.
"Er, don't be so disdainful of instant noodles... It's fine as long as you don't eat too much!"
Ryn picked out the braised beef and vegetables from his instant noodles. Soaked in the noodle broth, they were incredibly fragrant and delicious.
He'd take the remaining instant noodles to Yiselian and Sin Mal later. Ryn figured they were still in the lab doing experiments, without any time to eat.
After a simple meal of noodles, Ryn and Mei washed the dishes together. Gradually, their figures drew closer and closer.
Mei's shoulder lightly brushed against Ryn's. She subconsciously flinched away, but quickly leaned back in, nestling against him.
Mei tilted her head up slightly, looking at Ryn's side profile. "Ryn, has it been a long, long time... since the two of us were alone?"
"Yeah... there have been a lot of missions lately, so I haven't had much time to stay at the academy..." Ryn replied, scratching his head, not thinking too much of it.