After Ryn and Kallen left, the two girls who had been pretending to be asleep because they were too shy about Kallen's sudden appearance immediately woke up.
They gathered together simultaneously. Kika pressed Sabayon against Mei's head, and Mei held a kitchen knife to Kika's neck.
They both said in unison.
"Forget what happened last night!"
They fell silent for a moment, then spoke in unison again.
"Stop copying me!"
"..."
The two looked at each other, at a loss for words. In the end, Kika spoke first.
"Raiden Mei, I hope the next time we're this in sync is on the battlefield, not in a situation like this..."
"I feel the same way, Miss Mushoku Kika," Mei replied, retracting the kitchen knife and crossing her arms.
Kika also put away Sabayon, let out a cold laugh, and then pounced, grabbing the two mounds protruding from Mei's crossed arms.
"Damn you, Mei! I can't believe our friendship is so fragile!!"
"You were the one who pointed Sabayon at my head first!"
Mei retaliated, not to be outdone, but it was clear that Kika's were a bit smaller than Mei's.
After roughhousing for a while, they calmed down and sat on the sofa. Mei peeled fruit for Kika, while Kika lay lazily on Mei's lap.
Mei cut off a small piece and fed it to Kika.
"Fat Kika, if you keep lying down like this, you're really going to get fat."
"Shut up. If you call me fat again, I'm really going to shoot," Kika replied, her cheeks stuffed full.
Mei stared into Kika's eyes and then suddenly asked, "Kika, do you like Ryn or Kiana?"
"You should answer first before asking someone else!" Kika didn't dare to meet Mei's gaze and quickly turned her head, burying it between Mei's thighs.
"Kiana and Ryn, I like them both very much~ What about you?"
"I... I like Ryn," Kika said in a voice as small as a mosquito's.
*Smack—*
Mei slapped Kika's upturned butt hard. Kika jumped up, clutching her rear.
"I can't hear you, say it louder."
"Damn you, Mei! I like Ryn, alright!!" Kika yelled through gritted teeth.
Then she saw Mei smiling with her eyes narrowed, laughing so hard that tears were about to come out. Mei pointed behind Kika.
Kika instantly had a bad feeling. *Creek, creak.* She turned her head mechanically. She saw Kallen curiously looking at the phone Cortana was fiddling with. Cortana had started recording...
And next to them... Ryn and the other person stood there stunned, holding takeout food.
Ryn never knew what a "Steam Princess" was like, but today he had seen it. Kika's face instantly turned so red it looked like it would bleed, her ears turning completely red. Her eyes swirled like electric mosquito coils, and steam continuously rose from her head. This was probably what a mosquito coil spirit looked like!
"R-R-Ryn... y-y-you..." Before Kika could finish, she fainted from embarrassment.
"Silly girl..." Ryn quickly caught Kika and placed her on the sofa.
"I like Ryn very much~" At that moment, Mei's voice rang out.
Mei's eyes widened. She hadn't said a word!
"Your circle is a real mess~"
Cortana, with a wicked grin, handed the phone to Kallen and then disappeared from sight.
That last sentence was a recording Cortana had made of what Mei said earlier, which she then edited and spliced together.
And now, with Cortana gone, Mei had also turned into a Steam Princess under the gazes of Kallen and Ryn.
"Your circle is a real mess..."
Looking at the two Steam Princesses, and at Ryn who had been with Kiana from night till noon, even Kallen couldn't help but sigh.
"Aba aba..." Ryn didn't know what to say. Playing dumb was the best strategy at this point. Good thing Kiana wasn't here, or Ryn would surely fall apart.
"Wait! Where's Cortana!" Ryn suddenly remembered something and ran towards Kiana's room.
He opened the door to Kiana's room. Kiana was already awake, sitting on the edge of the bed listening to Cortana's embellished nonsense.
The moment Cortana saw Ryn, she immediately prepared to flee, but Ryn was ready and trapped her with a Pseudo Black Hole.
Kiana looked very well now; the fatigue from the night was completely gone. After all, the Queen hadn't given her a hard time this once, and Ryn's life energy was indeed very nourishing.
"Care to explain?" Kiana looked at Ryn with a smile, waving the phone in her hand, which was playing the video of Mei and Kika from earlier.
Clutching Cortana's USB-drive-sized main body in his hand, Ryn didn't quite dare to look Kiana in the eye.
One could only say that Cortana was truly something else. In the video Kiana was holding, Ryn was already being embraced by a girl on each arm.
Damn Cortana, MAD, my fists are clenched.
Ryn immediately slid to his knees in front of Kiana, saying cautiously, "Actually, this is all just nonsense Cortana edited together. I don't know anything..."
"Mhm, and then?" Kiana nodded, still smiling with her eyes narrowed.
"Don't be like this... I'm scared. I really didn't do anything..."
Ryn knelt before Kiana, though he didn't know why he was kneeling, nor did he understand why, when he seemed to have done nothing wrong, he was being publicly judged.
"Haha, silly Ryn, come and help me up." Kiana couldn't help but burst out laughing. She tapped Ryn's head lightly with her hand, then placed her hand in front of him.
Ryn took Kiana's hand and gently helped her up.
"You're not mad?" Ryn asked curiously.
"What would I be mad about? Mad at you, or at Cortana, or Mei and Kika?" Kiana tilted her head and asked Ryn curiously, then rested her head on his chest.
Listening to the sound of Ryn's heartbeat, Kiana said softly, "Cortana told me from the beginning that it was fake. She just wanted to come and tease me, to mend the rift between us."
"Besides, you're all talk and no action~ I have complete faith in you," Kiana said, kissing Ryn's forehead. "Let me count your circle of friends: Otto and Amber, the fried chicken shop owner, the owner's wife and Miyuki trio, Class Rep Fu Hua, Aunt Theresa, Auntie Himeko, the history teacher, and then there's our family, right? Kika, Mei, Bronya, and me!"
"And Seele..." Ryn replied subconsciously, then immediately wanted to slap himself twice. He should have just kept his mouth shut...
Kiana's just-opened eyes immediately narrowed again, but seeing Ryn sitting upright and proper, she broke into a wide smile once more.
"You big dummy... I don't mind, you know~
Everyone clearly likes each other, so why suppress your feelings!
I hate partings... Instead of letting Mei and Kika leave us someday, it's better to have them stay with us forever~"
"Ah, this..."