To celebrate both their victory and their reunion, the three of them went to the bustling Pá Táng Valley ramen shop.
Under warm yellow lights, the rich aroma of pork-bone broth filled the air, temporarily driving away the gloom that had hung over them for days.
"Master Chop, I want one extra-large black bowl pork-bone ramen, with double meat!" Rin ordered the moment she sat down, her eyes sparkling.
"As for me, I'll take an extra-large black bowl smoked chashu ramen, and make the chashu double too!" Nicole said with a bright smile, raising her hand—and not forgetting to wink at Zhe.
"You two little gluttons..." Zhe's mouth twitched as he looked at the prices on the menu. "At this rate, you're going to eat through the entire month's allowance."
(Inner thoughts: There goes my 648 top-up for this month... sob...)
The ever-enthusiastic Master Chop bustled about in the open kitchen, skillfully slicing chashu.
"Coming right up! Today's noodles are especially springy—you're guaranteed to be satisfied!"
And to be fair, the ramen here really did live up to its reputation.
The broth was rich, the noodles had excellent bite, and the thick slices of chashu made every mouthful feel luxurious—
if you ignored the price tag.
"So good!" Rin bent over her bowl, fully absorbed in slurping noodles, her cheeks puffed out like a delighted little hamster.
"Every bite feels like I'm chewing through money..." Zhe ate with great care, as though he were savoring the fragments of his shattered wallet.
Right then, Nicole quietly picked up the biggest slice of chashu from her own bowl and, while Zhe wasn't paying attention, gently stuffed it into his mouth.
"Don't be so stingy" she whispered by his ear, low enough that only the two of them could hear. "As compensation... later on, you can do whatever you want to me"
Zhe froze instantly. The piece of chashu in his mouth nearly dropped out.
Nicole's warm breath brushed his ear, carrying the smell of ramen and that distinctive gardenia scent that was uniquely hers, and his heartbeat skipped.
The air between them suddenly turned dangerously suggestive.
"Ahem."
Rin slurped her noodles expressionlessly, dead-eyed.
"Have you two forgotten there's still another person sitting here?"
Then she raised a hand.
"Master Chop, add one more serving of chashu!"
Zhe's wail immediately rang through the entire shop:
"Nooo—! My wallet—! Aaaaahhh!"
Master Chop's hearty laughter mingled with the banter of the three of them, and under the warm yellow lights, their noisy little scene looked almost like a painting.
For this one moment, all the fighting and all the hurt were temporarily forgotten, leaving behind only the simplest kind of happiness, gently rising with the steam from the ramen.
After they had eaten their fill, Nicole's phone rang with a message from the hospital.
A delighted smile immediately bloomed across her face.
"Xiao Luo's awake! Zhe, come with me to the hospital and see her, okay?"
Rin waved a hand and let out a satisfied little burp.
"I'm not going to go be a third wheel. Eous and I will head back to the shop and hold down the fort—you two go ahead~"
Although Rin could tell that Nicole's attitude toward her brother had become... not exactly ordinary, she was actually quite at ease about Zhe's character.
Otherwise, she would have made her move ages ago.
On the way to the hospital, the sunlight was just right.
The two of them first stopped by a fruit boutique to pick out a gift basket, and then, at Nicole's insistence, bought some nutritional supplements as well.
Walking beneath the shade of the trees, Nicole suddenly slowed down, her fingers unconsciously winding around a strand of hair.
"Hey, Zhe..."
She spoke softly, the tips of her ears faintly pink.
"What exactly are we now?"
"Huh?" Zhe turned his head blankly, arms full of things. "Obviously good friends! The best kind!"
"G-good... friends?"
Nicole's steps stopped.
Her voice sounded utterly disbelieving.
"Just... friends?"
"Yeah!"
Zhe didn't notice anything wrong with the atmosphere at all, and continued earnestly explaining:
"You know, friends are supposed to help each other. If you run into trouble, of course I'm going to help you—just like you'd help me. That kind of precious friendship..."
He kept going on and on about his grand "friendship above all" theory, even starting to provide examples.
"Like last time, when you got trapped by the Nightmare. I risked everything to save you, right? That's exactly what the best kind of friend should do."
Nicole's face was growing darker and darker. The fingers gripping the shopping bag tightened little by little.
This blockhead!
In the dream he had said all those heart-shaking things—I'll become your family, I'll never let you be lonely again—
and in the end, it all just fell under "concern between friends"?
"...So I really think the friendship we have is—"
"Friendship my ass!"
Nicole finally exploded.
One precise kick landed squarely on Zhe's shin, and she smacked him with the shopping bag for good measure.
"Ow!"
Zhe hopped on one foot in pain.
"Why'd you hit me all of a sudden?!"
"I hit you because you're a complete blockhead!"
Nicole glared at him furiously.
"You said all those heart-fluttering things in the dream, and in the end it's just 'friends'? Do you even know what those words mean to a girl?!"
Still rubbing his aching shin, Zhe looked utterly innocent.
"What did I even say? I just said I'd stay by your side and not let you be lonely, right? Isn't that exactly what a friend is supposed to do?"
Nicole was so angry at his perfectly sincere response that she nearly blacked out on the spot. She genuinely felt like murdering someone.
How had she gone and fallen for this idiot?
She stomped hard, turned on her heel, and marched off.
"Forget it! Let's just go already! I seriously should never have had any expectations for an emotional idiot like you!"
Watching her back, Zhe muttered quietly to himself,
"Did I really say something wrong...? We are good friends... And besides, Rin told me before that kissing between siblings is normal, so kissing between friends should be normal too, right...?"
When they reached Xiao Luo's hospital room, the girl was propped up against the bed. Her face was still a little pale, but her spirits were clearly good.
The moment she saw Nicole and Zhe walk in one after the other, she happily waved at them.
"Big Sister Nicole! And big brother too!"
"How are you feeling?" Nicole asked, forcing out a smile as she walked over and gently touched Xiao Luo's forehead.
"Mm! Much better!"
Xiao Luo nodded enthusiastically, then suddenly showed a puzzled expression.
"But I had a really strange dream before... In it, I saw lots of my old friends from the orphanage, and Big Sister Nicole too. And the strangest part was..." She tilted her head toward Zhe. "I'm pretty sure I don't know this gray-haired big brother, but in the dream it felt like I'd seen you before... and I also saw you two..."
"Pff—"
Zhe couldn't help laughing out loud.
He immediately received Nicole's stare of death in return.
That look was so icy it felt like it could freeze him solid on the spot.
Zhe hastily coughed twice to cover up the laugh.
"Maybe... you've seen me somewhere before and just don't remember?"
Xiao Luo nodded in half-understanding, then was quickly distracted by the fruit Nicole had brought.
Taking advantage of the moment while Xiao Luo lowered her head to peel an orange, Nicole leaned close to Zhe's ear and whispered in a voice dripping with murderous intent:
"If you dare tell anyone about what happened in the dream, I'll make you experience what 'wishing you were dead' really means."
Zhe instinctively shrank his neck. A sudden chill ran down his back.
He secretly glanced at the still-fuming Nicole, then at innocent little Xiao Luo—and for the first time in his life, realized:
the hearts of girls might actually be even harder to deal with than Nightmares.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 175)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 119)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter79)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter125)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 73
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 55
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 66
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 64
The Way the Umamusume Look at 63
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 55
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 45
Zenless Zone Zero, but Kamen R 31
Multiverse Crossover: The Perf 31
My Cyberpsycho Girlfriend 31
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