When Shu woke up, the first thing he saw was Kiana Kaslana, silently slurping down a huge bowl of noodles.
Her cheeks bulged like a hamster's, stuffed full of noodles, and her bright eyes were fixed on Shu's face.
It was an enormous bowl – the amount of noodles Shu would need several mouthfuls to finish, Kiana had somehow crammed in all at once and was inhaling rapidly.
More importantly, despite being so close, Shu heard absolutely no slurping sounds. Even with such forceful inhalation, not a single drop of broth splashed anywhere.
Seeing Shu's eyes open, Kiana's own eyes widened, and her noodle-slurping speed somehow increased, as if she wanted to swallow everything quickly so she could speak.
Now Shu finally heard the slurping. Then, he watched as Kiana, face flushed red, put down the noodle bowl and started pounding her chest with her fist.
All while still trying to suck in the small bit of noodle dangling outside her mouth.
Watching Kiana's face get progressively redder, Shu silently sat up on the sofa, picked up the bowl from the floor, and held the broth to Kiana's lips.
Kiana, who had been locked in mortal combat with the noodles, seemed to short-circuit for a second before quickly taking the bowl and gulping down a large mouthful of broth.
"Hoo—Hah—!!"
The potential first-ever death by choking on noodles due to excessive slurping was averted. Kiana let out a long, satisfied breath, her face beaming with relief.
"Ah, that hit the spot!" Wiping her mouth, Kiana looked back at Shu, who was sitting on the sofa watching her silently. She suddenly remembered what she was supposed to be doing.
"Mei! Shu's awake!!" Kiana turned her head and shouted, then promptly sat back down on the floor to continue tackling the noodle bowl.
It was as if she had just come here to slurp noodles, and reporting Shu's status was merely an afterthought.
...It probably was just an afterthought...
"What time is it?" Shu instinctively glanced out the window. The sun was still up, but being near the Arctic Circle meant daylight hours were miserably short.
"It's still morning," Kiana said after quickly swallowing the noodles in her mouth. "Want some breakfast?"
She generously offered the chopsticks and the basin—no, bowl—in her hands towards Shu, wanting to share.
Breakfast?
Shu looked down at the portion size. That looked like enough food for his entire day.
No, wait, he didn't even have much of an appetite. That basin Kiana was holding looked like it could feed him for two days.
"No thanks..." Shu waved his hand dismissively. Putting on his glasses, he could now clearly see the clock on the wall. It was nine in the morning.
Considering Kiana's routine on the train, this was indeed her mealtime.
Just not breakfast. Kiana had already eaten breakfast around eight.
"But these are Mei's noodles!" Kiana tried again, pitching them like a salesperson.
Shu paused for a moment, then pointed to his mouth. "I haven't brushed my teeth yet."
Kiana froze instantly. She looked down at the bowl in her hands, smacked her lips thoughtfully, and her expression suddenly became uncertain.
It seemed... she had forgotten about that too!
That darn Herrscher of Memory! Even as a Divine Key, can it still affect me?!
On the first page of the black notebook in Kiana's room, a line of ink slowly materialized.
[Analysis: No power activation targeting individual Kiana Kaslana detected recently.]
Although Shu couldn't see the words, he understood exactly why Kiana had forgotten to brush her teeth.
It wasn't the first time.
"Hehe..." Seeing Shu's "too tired to even comment" expression, Kiana scratched her head sheepishly. She reluctantly put the noodle bowl down, then scrambled up and ran off barefoot.
"Kiana, what's wrong?" Raiden Mei, arriving just then, watched Kiana dash past her and couldn't help but ask.
"I... I just need to use the restroom for something!!" Kiana only had time to flash Mei a grin before diving into the washroom.
A moment later, the sounds of vigorous teeth brushing and rinsing made Mei understand exactly why Kiana had run off.
"Aih..." Sighing helplessly, Mei turned back to Shu, who was sitting on the sofa, seemingly lost in thought. "Shu, Bronya said you fell asleep out here last night. Are you feeling unwell anywhere?"
"Unwell? No." Shu shook his head. "Did Bronya put me on the sofa?"
"Yes," Mei nodded, placing a bowl of plain white porridge she was carrying onto the dining table. "Bronya said you were sleeping very soundly and didn't want to wake you, so she moved you to the sofa."
Shu tried to recall the last thing he remembered. He should have fallen asleep on the floor amidst a pile of scattered discs... He'd searched for a long time last night but couldn't find the sequel...
Wait, the discs?
Shu quickly looked back towards his "bed" from last night. All that remained there now was Kiana's unfinished giant bowl of noodles. The discs had all been neatly put away in the drawer under the monitor.
Those discs were Bronya Zaychik's to begin with – ones she had collected during various missions in ARC City over the past three months on the train.
So not only had he made a mess of her discs last night, but he'd also ended up making Bronya herself clean them up?
She even moved him to the sofa and found him a blanket...
Smack. Shu slapped a hand over his eyes.
Mei knew instantly: Shu was embarrassed.
Over the past three months, they had all become quite familiar with Shu's little tells and what emotions they represented.
When Shu felt ashamed, he'd cover his eyes. When he was about to lie, he'd make a couple of meaningless sounds first...
They knew each other's little habits so well they could practically read each other's minds at a glance.
But just like Kiana moments ago, they still tried to make excuses... cover things up a bit. And the others wouldn't deliberately expose these small attempts at saving face.
She's already like this, what's wrong with letting her keep a little dignity?
"Alright, you didn't eat dinner last night either. Have some porridge first. I'll make lunch a bit earlier today, how about that?" Mei said with a smile. Shu sighed softly, thanking her as he reached for the bowl of porridge.
"What?! Lunch is early today?!" Kiana, having finished brushing her teeth, rushed back over, still dabbing water from the corners of her mouth, letting out a shocked cry.
She looked distressedly at her massive bowl of noodles. According to her brilliant brain's calculations, this bowl was just enough fuel to last her until lunchtime!
If lunch was early now... didn't that mean she'd miss out on one mouthful of Mei's delicious cooking?!
"Missing one mouthful isn't going to make you any thinner..." Shu finally managed to retort.