"Shu." After careful consideration, Kiana tugged on Shu's hand, drawing his attention to her.
"Yeah?" Shu immediately bit off the piece of roasted sausage in his hand, chewed it quickly, and swallowed it hard.
"What's your favorite kind of snack?"
Didn't you just ask this question?
Shu thought for a moment.
"They're all fine." He gave the same answer.
Kiana puffed out her cheeks.
"What does 'all fine' even mean!"
"Just that... there isn't anything I particularly like."
"How can you not have anything you particularly like!" Kiana glared at him with considerable dissatisfaction. "How can a person not have a favorite food?"
Shu seemed to stop functioning for a second.
"I guess I do..." He resumed operation. "Actually... there are quite a few things I like to eat."
"Like what?" Seeing a breakthrough, Kiana hurriedly pressed him.
"Uh... at home..." Shu's answer was somewhat hesitant, clearly trying to organize his words.
At home?
This answer made Kiana pause.
She thought of the meals Shu had cooked for her... they were indeed delicious, better than any of these snacks.
But there was a very serious problem with Shu's house, a problem so severe Kiana couldn't tolerate it.
That was the fact that, aside from the fresh ingredients they had just bought and the frozen foods, there wasn't a single snack in Shu's house!!
My god, that place is practically hell!
Even though Kiana only had to wait ten minutes at most after getting hungry for Shu to bring out a freshly cooked meal, a life without snacks was incomplete!
A life without junk food was incomplete!
"So when you eat out, do you never feel like you particularly like anything?" Kiana still wouldn't give up. "Aside from regular meals, do you never get cravings? What do you want to eat most when you get cravings?"
She spoke righteously, as if getting cravings was the most natural thing in the world.
Shu really didn't dare say he absolutely never got cravings, but...
"Probably... no."
"How is that possible?!"
"When I get cravings, I dip a little soy sauce, or have a piece of rock sugar."
"???"
Is this a human?
Using her eyes and expression, Kiana issued a soul-searching interrogation to the indifferent-looking Shu.
How can anyone satisfy a craving by tasting soy sauce?!
Is he really human?!
"Because..." Shu read the disbelief in Kiana's eyes and paused. "Isn't a craving just wanting to taste a flavor..."
"If I want something salty, I try some soy sauce. If I want something sweet, I suck on a piece of rock sugar... it really does satisfy the craving."
Hiss~ Kiana sucked in a breath of cold air in horror.
"That's because your taste buds have been abused into numbness!!"
"Really?" Shu was shocked.
So that's how it is?!
Kiana's expression completely collapsed.
Tasting plain soy sauce, rock sugar, or whatever—she had done those things too, and she knew exactly what that felt like.
During the initial period when the Great Honkai descended, Kiana had also done such things. After all, at that time, rather than enjoying food, it was more important to cherish it as a necessity for survival.
So back then, Kiana really had done things like that... although she had also tried it before the Honkai came.
But now...
This clearly wasn't the apocalypse...
There was so much good food here now, so many flavors he hadn't tried, why use this method to "abuse" himself?
It was clearly just a few minutes' walk, clearly just a matter of opening his phone to order takeout...
Why be so... detached?
She looked at Shu, at his calm face, and suddenly felt a pang of heartache.
He seemed to have gotten used to not holding expectations for anything.
Just as he had gotten used to not giving too high of an evaluation to anything.
He had even truly integrated this kind of "water-carrying" fence-sitting into his life, to the point where even he believed his own noncommittal words.
It's all about the same, no difference.
And then only the flaws remain in one's eyes.
But... but—
He was clearly a person who would be happy from eating good food when he was a kid!
That happiness born from delicious food—does Shu still remember it?
I'm afraid he's long forgotten it.
Kiana didn't ask anymore.
She just gripped his hand tighter.
The two continued to sweep through the stalls.
Every item at every stall—Kiana bought them, ate them, and offered a portion to Shu's mouth.
And Shu humored Kiana, tasting every single one, and then giving pretty much the same evaluation.
Kiana's bun-like face grew puffier and puffier.
She wanted to make Shu happy.
Wanted him to feel that "eating is a happy thing."
She wanted Shu to stop being so calm, so restrained, so... like a bystander.
But Shu was just like that, accustomed to the middle ground.
Never speaking in absolutes, neither praising highly nor criticizing harshly.
He was used to keeping a bit of distance from everyone, used to entirely molding the side he showed based on the other person's preferences.
Including hers.
This realization made Kiana feel a bit uncomfortable. She really wanted to throw an unreasonable tantrum in front of Shu, to make him stop being so stiff and unyielding.
But she didn't throw a tantrum, because this kind of thing absolutely couldn't be forced.
If she threw a tantrum, not only would it fail to make Shu lower his guard, it would instead make him think he had done something wrong again, making him even more tense!
Aren't you embarrassed to do that? you ask her?
Hmph! If that method actually worked, I'd throw a hundred tantrums in front of Shu right now!
But for now, Kiana lightly bit down on the skewer, continuing to hold Shu's hand, continuing to eat, continuing to make him taste, continuing to observe his reactions.
Then, she thought of a plan.
"Shu, let's take a break."
Kiana dragged him to a stop in front of a milk tea shop.
"Let's buy a cup of milk tea, sit down and drink, and rest for a bit."
Shu nodded, then set down the pile of snacks in his hands and stretched his sore arms.
Kiana felt a little embarrassed seeing this.
Shu was already finishing off these snacks very quickly, but still not as fast as Kiana was buying them.
The two ordered two cups of milk tea, then found a seat in a corner of the shop.
This milk tea shop wasn't big, and its decor quite clashed with the rustic style of the street outside. A handmade wall was covered in various handwritten sticky notes.
Because it was morning, there weren't many people yet. Only a few tables of customers were chatting quietly.
Kiana took a huge gulp of milk tea and let out a long, satisfied sigh.
"So good!"
Shu also took a sip.
"It's alright."
Kiana shot him an exasperated glare.
"Can't you just say 'so good'?"
"It is alright."
"..."
Kiana took a deep breath.
Then she set the milk tea down, pulled Shu closer, leaned her own body forward, and stared into his eyes.
"Shu."
"Yeah?"
"Let's play a game."
A trace of confusion flashed in Shu's eyes.
"What game?"
"It's..." Kiana organized her words, "asking each other questions. You have to answer immediately, no thinking too long!"
Shu was taken aback.
"Why?"
"No reason, just for fun!" Kiana blinked. "Are you going to play with me or not?"
Shu was silent for a second.
"...I'll play."