In the middle of the night, Ryn was awakened by a rustling sound.
He got dressed, climbed out of bed, and went to see what was making the noise.
"Smells good... that's the smell of instant noodles..."
Following the sound and the aroma, Ryn arrived at the living room. After turning on the lights, sure enough, he caught a big black rat, Kallen, secretly eating instant noodles.
"Were you not full tonight? Why are you sneaking out for a midnight snack in the middle of the night?"
Realizing she had been discovered, Kallen stopped slurping her noodles. She hesitated, looking at Ryn, then at her instant noodles.
Kallen stared at the noodles with reluctance, but in the end, she held them up to Ryn.
"There's still some left... want some?"
"You're really something... I think it's better to make another serving."
Ryn pushed away the noodles Kallen offered. He couldn't bring himself to eat something someone else had already eaten.
"Are there any more instant noodles? The smell is making me a little hungry too..."
"There are still a few packs. Go make some yourself! And make a few more servings for me too." Kallen pointed to a cabinet in the kitchen where the instant noodles were kept.
"By the way, Ryn, be quiet and don't wake up Sakura. If she finds out, she'll give me a good lecture again. They always say instant noodles have no nutrition and are bad for you if you eat too much... but it's not like I eat them every day... just a little for a midnight snack when I'm hungry."
Ryn paused in the act of getting the noodles, then turned to look at Kallen, and then up at the corner of the hallway.
Kallen, you idiot. If I could be woken up, how could Yae Sakura not have noticed!
Ryn frantically tried to give Kallen a look, reminding her that Yae Sakura had been staring at her from the corner all along.
"Didn't you just refuse? I'm not giving you any!" Kallen hugged her bowl and drank all the remaining soup and noodles. Kallen couldn't understand Ryn's look, but she most likely thought he had changed his mind and wanted to fight her for food!
"Hopeless..."
Ryn turned back, not bothering with Kallen anymore, but he grabbed a few extra packs of instant noodles.
"Let's start with some vegetables!" Ryn took some fresh vegetables from the fridge, but it seemed like the stock was running low.
"Some bok choy and napa cabbage will do, perfect for noodles." Ryn used his Authority of Creation on the vegetables he took out from the fridge, changing their genes and forms, transforming their species and multiplying them into many servings.
"Then dice some meat. There's still some of Yae Sakura's braised beef left... let's copy it..."
Ryn recorded the data of Yae Sakura's braised beef and directly rewrote some raw pork into ready-to-eat braised beef.
Then, preparing a few eggs, Ryn heated up a pan with oil and made several fried eggs.
Next, he put the instant noodles and seasoning packets into a pot with cold water and brought it to a boil. When the water boiled, he added the bok choy and napa cabbage, and finally the braised beef.
After a minute or two, he poured the cooked noodles into bowls, topped them with the pre-fried eggs, and a nutritious midnight snack was ready!
Ryn came out with three large bowls of instant noodles and placed them on the dining table.
"Hehe, Ryn is the best. This noodle dish looks so appetizing!" Kallen picked up a fried egg and bit off half of it in one go.
"So hot..." Kallen burned her mouth, then blew on it a couple of times and took another bite. A small burn couldn't stop her from eating.
"Eat slowly, there's more in the pot..." Ryn handed Kallen a glass of milk to relieve the spiciness and soothe the burn. Then, he said to Yae Sakura, who had been watching from the corner:
"Sakura, come and have some. I made a serving for you too."
"Sakura?! Sakura is here too?" Kallen's noodle-slurping came to a halt, and she followed Ryn's gaze.
There, Yae Sakura was leaning against the wall with her arms crossed, her icy blue eyes having an extra chill under the moonlight.
However, Yae Sakura didn't say much. She walked over quietly and sat down next to Kallen.
Looking at the bowl and chopsticks set before her and the hot noodles, Yae Sakura put her hands together and said to Ryn,
"Thank you."
"You're welcome, we're all family." Ryn waved his hand, not minding. He usually ate Yae Sakura's cooking, so making her a meal now was no big deal, especially since it was just instant noodles with no technical skill involved...
Seeing Yae Sakura also pick up her chopsticks and start slurping noodles, Kallen's lips curled up, and her eyes narrowed into crescent moons.
Yae Sakura could practically smell Kallen's joy.
"Kallen, don't get too happy. This is just an exception. I'll still be keeping a close eye on you in the future!"
"Aww... no..." Kallen's mood instantly plummeted. She had thought Yae Sakura had tacitly approved of her eating instant noodles and that she could eat them openly from now on...
"Heh heh, looks like nobody ate their fill tonight..." Ryn teased while slurping his noodles.
"Yeah... Kiana volunteered to cook, and the result was nobody got to eat their fill..." Kallen thought of Kiana holding that pot of dark matter with a sad face tonight and couldn't help but laugh out loud.
Wait, what right did she have to laugh at Kiana...
"What's wrong now... Are my noodles so delicious they moved you to tears?" Ryn looked at Kallen, who was laughing one moment and crying the next, feeling a bit helpless.
"Just eat your noodles, she'll be back to normal in a bit..." Yae Sakura was already used to it. Every time the topic of cooking came up, Kallen would be like this.
A few minutes later, Ryn drank the last mouthful of soup from his bowl and patted his stomach with satisfaction.
"Ah~ that was good. I'll leave the dishes to you guys. I'm going to check on Kiana and the others. They should still be hungry right now."
"Mhm, go ahead!" Yae Sakura nodded without saying much more.
So Ryn packed up the extra servings of instant noodles and braised beef he had intentionally made and headed to Himeko's place.
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"Grrr~"
Kiana stared blankly at the moon outside the window, her stomach growling with hunger.
"Tonight was supposed to be my time to shine, to conquer everyone with my culinary skills... Sigh, I messed up again..."
"Whatever, I'll go get something to fill my stomach first. I'll get some canned food from Bronya's place!" No sooner said than done, Kiana threw on a jacket and tiptoed towards Bronya's room.
"Huh... Bronya isn't asleep yet? Why is there still light?"
Arriving outside Bronya's room, Kiana saw light shining from under the door. She knocked once, then pushed the door open and walked in.
Seeing the scene inside the room, Kiana froze. On this twenty-something-degree day, Kiana felt a chill. This time, she clearly understood the taste of betrayal.
"What... are you guys doing!!!"