Kiana shook her head and said, "No, no, it's not that kind of like. It's the same kind of like I have for you, Ryn! I'm going to marry Mei in the future!"
Ryn suddenly felt like his head had gotten a bit heavier. He looked at Kiana in disbelief and said:
"Huh?! How long have I been gone for you and Mei to get into this kind of relationship!"
"Not yet, I'm just telling you first. I haven't talked to Mei about it yet."
"No way. If you marry Mei, what about me?"
"Hmm? Didn't you say marriage is a one-husband, one-wife system? You're my husband, and Mei is my wife!"
"Idiot Kiana! The one-husband, one-wife system is for me and you. I'm the husband, you're the wife, it's for two people!" Ryn was so angry he gently butted his head against Kiana's. He couldn't bring himself to scold her, let alone hit her.
"Is that so... Well, in that case, I guess I still like Ryn more!" Kiana hesitated for half a second, then hugged Ryn and said coquettishly. Although she also liked Mei a lot, since she could only choose one, of course she would choose Ryn~
"I like Kiana the most too. Come here, give me a kiss~"
"Mwah~"
After being lovey-dovey for a while, the two packed up some food and headed to Himeko's house.
Mei opened the door to welcome Ryn and Kiana. Looking at Mei, who was smiling like a wife waiting for her husband and child to come home, Ryn wouldn't have thought much of it before, but now he felt a bit strange looking at her.
Ryn subtly and quietly moved Kiana behind him. Hmm? That seems a bit like burying his head in the sand, since they live together after all.
Kiana noticed Ryn's small gesture and felt a little happy inside.
She held up the hand that was holding Ryn's and said to Mei, "Mei, the love between us is over! Ryn and I are true love! Let's not contact each other anymore, I'm afraid Ryn will get jealous!"
???
Three question marks appeared above Mei's head. She then gave Kiana a light chop and said, exasperatedly, "Idiot Kiana, what love is there between us?"
"Ah... but Ryn told me that love is just two people liking each other. Mei likes me, and I like Mei, isn't that love?" Kiana shook her head, then took one of Mei's hands as well and said to her.
"No, love is a very complicated thing. I do like Kiana very much, but I also like Ryn very much... The feelings between you and Ryn could be considered love, but my feelings for you are more like family affection~
It was you who took me in when I was at my lowest... It was you who saved me when I was in despair... It was you who became my everything when I had nothing."
Mei placed the hand she was holding with Kiana in the middle of the three of them, then took Ryn's hand with her other hand and placed it there as well, all three of their hands intertwined. Mei took a deep breath, then said firmly to Ryn and Kiana:
"Me, Kiana, and Ryn, we are a family, aren't we?"
"Yes, we are a family." "Mhm, a family." Ryn and Kiana both replied with a smile.
That's right, the three of them were already inseparable, so why bother with these things?
"The Bronya wants to join too." "Don't leave me out."
As the three of them were smiling at each other, Bronya and Kika also ran out and placed their hands on top of theirs. They had been eavesdropping behind the wall for a long time. They had thought there would be some major drama, but it was turning into a sworn siblings ceremony.
"Sister Mei saved the Bronya, and is the Bronya's everything. The Bronya also wants to be Sister Mei's family."
Bronya looked at Mei seriously. It was Mei's care that made her feel a long-lost warmth, just like a mother's. If she could, Bronya wanted to stay by Mei's side forever.
"Mhm." Mei nodded at Bronya. Although she wasn't very familiar with Bronya, Ryn didn't have any objections either.
"Damn it, you smelly brat Bronya. I'll acknowledge you this time and allow you to become my family!"
Kiana was starved for affection, so the more family she had, the happier she was. But she was still very annoyed with Bronya. Kiana gave Bronya a hard bump with her butt, nearly sending the petite Bronya flying.
Bronya almost summoned Project Bunny to punch Kiana, but seeing the blissful smile on Kiana's face, she gave up on the idea.
"Kiana is such an idiot!"
Kika, on the other hand, just sprawled on top of everyone's hands and said huffily, "Hmph, you guys are my only friends. If you all become a family, wouldn't that mean I'm isolating all of you? No way, I can't accept that. I want to be your family too!"
"Yes, yes~ We are all family."
Ryn looked at Kika and Bronya and smiled happily. Although he had nothing when he first came to this world, now he had Kiana, he had Kika, Mei, and Bronya, he had a family.
"But, since everyone has decided to become a family, how can we forget our little butler! Cortana, come out."
Ryn took out his phone, and the Soulium material immediately began to transform, turning into a mini-sized Cortana.
This was a discovery Ryn made after becoming a Herrscher. By injecting a large amount of Honkai energy into Cortana, she could transform herself from the size of a small USB drive into a mini-person with a physical body. After all, the essence of Soulium is countless nanobots, and nanotechnology is trustworthy.
(Most people probably haven't played Halo, so they don't know what Cortana looks like. Just imagine an adult version of Prometheus.)
"But I... I'm not human, and besides..."
"There's no 'besides'." Kiana interrupted Cortana's words and said, "What does it matter if you're human or not? Hasn't Cortana always been our family, isn't that right?"
"Kiana is right. Haven't Cortana and we been family for a long time?"
Ryn placed Cortana on Kika, then gently hugged everyone.
Kiana and Mei also hugged Ryn and the others.
"Damn it, pay attention to me in the middle! I'm suffocating!" Kika was squeezed between Mei's and Kiana's chests, unable to breathe.
But because Kiana and Mei had also pulled their hands away, Kika was now only being hugged by Bronya.
"Kika, the Bronya thinks you should lose some weight!"