Speak of the devil and he shall appear.
Opening her eyes and seeing she wasn't in Ren's arms, Airi panicked completely.
Ignoring her clothes, still wearing her purple Gengar pajamas, Airi ran out of Ren's room in a panic, looking around.
Seeing Ren, who had just sat down in the dining room on the first floor, Airi's eyes lit up. She ran toward him in her plush slippers, thumping all the way.
"Ren... sob... Ren... I thought you didn't want me anymore..."
Pouncing into Ren's arms, Airi hugged him tightly, burying her head in his chest and crying.
Waking up halfway through her sleep, Airi only had eyes for Ren and ignored everyone else present.
"There, there, Airi is my treasure. How could I not want you?"
Putting down the bowl and chopsticks in his hand, Ren gently patted Airi's head in his arms, comforting the frightened girl as she burrowed into him.
Arisu didn't speak, watching this scene quietly.
Her intuition told her that a good show was about to begin.
"Airi, did you have a nightmare? You can tell Chie-sensei."
Elegantly wiping her mouth, Hoshinomiya leaned toward Ren's side, gently stroking Airi's back to calm her down.
With Airi's personality, even Hoshinomiya couldn't bring herself to tease her.
Whether as a teacher or a sister, she should comfort her.
"Airi, you can tell me too." Ichinose showed a worried expression.
The archangel had gentleness engraved in her bones and would lend a hand to most people seeking help, not to mention her best friend and sister.
Being jealous was one thing, but Ichinose wouldn't play any tricks in such matters.
"Airi, don't be afraid, don't be afraid, you still have us."
The newcomer Kikyo Kushida also cared for Airi.
Not because Kikyo Kushida had a particularly good relationship with Airi, but as a sister who would be living together for a long time.
Kikyo Kushida, who knew interpersonal relationships well, wouldn't miss any detail.
Besides...
Kikyo Kushida glanced discreetly at Arisu beside Ichinose.
Want to laugh at us? Eat dirt!
Airi didn't speak, just crying in Ren's arms.
"Eat in peace."
Knocking on the table, Ren signaled the girls to keep eating.
Picking up Airi in his arms and returning to the living room, Ren leaned into Airi's ear and imitated the tone of their first meeting: "Are you really crying?"
"Sob... Ren, you're teasing me again."
The tears stopped instantly, and Airi raised her head, her eyes red.
Just now in the dining room, hearing the comfort from Honami and the others, Airi had already adjusted herself.
It was just that there were too many people at that time, and she was a little embarrassed.
"So what nightmare did my treasure have?"
Ren amusedly flicked Airi's forehead.
"Mmm..."
The dream was too embarrassing for Airi to talk about.
Just one last step away from letting Ren eat her up, and she woke up right before the final step.
Breaking away from the desire-filled dream and returning to the reality where Ren wasn't by her side.
As soon as the sense of loss hit, the overly sensitive Airi naturally felt afraid.
"Let me guess..."
"Did Airi dream that today is the last day of summer vacation, and she hasn't written a single word of her summer homework?"
"So, Airi is going to be expelled."
Last day, homework, expulsion...
Summer vacation has homework?
Airi, who had just found out today that there was summer homework, looked blank: "Homework... expulsion..."
Smack!
Gently slapping Airi's butt, Ren woke her from her daze.
"Go eat first. Summer homework can be finished today."
"Is there a lot of homework?"
Smack smack.
"Go eat."
"Oh..."
Still hugging Ren tightly, Airi returned to the dining room while being carried.
"Ren, where's my breakfast?"
Noticing that there was no extra breakfast on the table, Airi was confused.
"Thought you would wake up later, didn't make any."
Turning Airi over in his arms so she faced the dining table.
Ren moved his noodles in front of Airi: "Eat."
"Mhm mhm!"
Airi, who only wanted to finish eating quickly to rush her summer homework and prevent herself from being expelled, picked up Ren's chopsticks and started slurping noodles.
Seeing Airi recover, the girls who were worried about her also relaxed and began to enjoy their breakfast.
"Ren-chan, it's too much, Chie-chan can't eat anymore."
Hoshinomiya pushed the porcelain bowl with more than half a bowl of noodles left in front of Ren.
"Ren-kun, I'm full too."
Ichinose did the same.
"Bastard..."
Kikyo Kushida was about to follow suit but was interrupted by Ren.
"Eat even if you're full. Don't think about leaving the table until you finish. I'm not a vegetable; I won't starve myself to death."
Seeing Ren say this, the three girls silently pulled their bowls back.
"Ren."
Airi also knew who the owner of her bowl of noodles was.
"Homework..."
Ren whispered in a voice only Airi could hear.
Slurp! Slurp slurp slurp!
Too late to argue, in order not to be expelled, Airi fiercely slurped the large bowl of noodles in front of her.
The showdown Arisu had expected never happened, and she felt somewhat regretful as she picked up noodles and slowly sipped them into her mouth.
The delicious noodle soup and fried minced meat greatly satisfied her taste buds.
So, the all-around genius can cook too?
Without thinking too much, Arisu carefully savored this bowl of noodles.
Unlike the girls who chewed slowly, the noodles in Rokusuke Koenji's bowl disappeared at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Rokusuke Koenji also didn't expect Ren's cooking to be so good.
Should I learn to cook?
Rokusuke Koenji couldn't help comparing himself to Ren in his heart.
But after thinking about it, Rokusuke Koenji gave up.
Learn to cook? Better to keep mooching off Ren.
"Ren, thanks for the meal."
Putting down his bowl and chopsticks, Rokusuke Koenji greeted everyone, left the table, and walked to the living room.
Ren, who was twirling Airi's cowlick that had stood up from just waking up with his finger, saw this and put Airi on the stool: "Airi, you have to finish too."
Pinching Airi's cheek, Ren followed Rokusuke Koenji's footsteps.
...
"Phew, so full."
Hoshinomiya, who finished the noodles, happily touched her slightly bulging belly.
The portions of noodles Ren served for everyone were different, so there was no issue of not being able to finish.
The reason Hoshinomiya said that just now was because she saw that Ren had nothing to eat.
"Airi, are you okay?"
Ichinose still cared about Airi.
Kikyo Kushida buried her head in slurping noodles...
The third person to finish the noodles was Airi.
"Honami, can you lend me your summer homework for reference!"
After finishing breakfast, Airi couldn't wait to ask Ichinose for help.
"Summer... homework?"
Hearing Airi's words clearly, Ichinose paused.
There's summer homework? Why didn't I know?
Arisu and Kikyo Kushida stopped at the same time and looked at Airi in confusion.
Summer homework? Is there such a thing?
"Chie-sensei, do we have summer homework?"
As a good student, Ichinose's first reaction was that she had also forgotten about the summer homework.
"Summer homework? This school doesn't have such a thing."
Four pairs of eyes looked at Airi in unison, putting all the pressure on her.
"But... Ren said there was homework..." Airi said weakly.
The pressure shifted again.
"Ren-chan!"
"Ren-kun!"
"Bastard!"
"Katsuragi-kun!"
"Ren..."
Hearing the voices of the girls in the dining room calling him, knowing that the lie about Airi's summer homework had been exposed, Ren waved his hand without looking back.
"I was joking."
Really.
Just by looking at Airi's flushed face, one could guess what kind of dream she had.
See through it, but don't say it.
Sometimes a white lie is necessary.
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