"Let me think..." Ryn mused, rubbing Kika's chubby little face as he searched his memory.
Kika had cooked only a handful of times; most of the time, she was helping Mei in the kitchen. And if Mei was home, she would never let Kika take the lead. Otherwise, it wouldn't be Kika helping Mei, but Mei breaking Kika's hands.
The earliest time he ate something Kika made... when was that?
It was probably on Kiana's birthday, when he ate Kika's dark cuisine in the kitchen, right?
"I know... but thinking about it, it seems my charm is really high. Little Kika has had a crush on me for so long~
Come to think of it, after that day, Kika often made desserts to give to me, didn't she? Kiana was so envious seeing you only give them to me."
"Hmph!"
It was better not to mention it; the thought of it made Kika angry. Kiana was always pestering her for a taste, which in turn piqued Mei's curiosity...
And now, Mei refuses to let her into the kitchen, no matter what!
So what if she almost didn't make it? What's the big deal!
Kika shot to her feet, hands on her hips, and shouted petulantly:
"Hmph! The more I think about it, the angrier I get. Mei is probably already asleep! I'll wake her up when I get back!"
"No, no, no... for goodness' sake, spare Mei and spare yourself."
Ryn didn't know whether to laugh or cry. He quickly pulled Kika back, stopping her from bombarding Mei with phone calls.
He didn't know why Kika loved to annoy Mei so much, but it wasn't just about annoying her. Every time, she would get kicked out of the room by Mei, end up partying on the floor unable to get up, and someone would have to go and fish her out...
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The night was deep. The stories were told, and the chatting time was about to end.
Ryn opened a black hole, connecting Schicksal HQ with their current location, and sent Durandal, Rita, and the Honkai Beast materials back to headquarters. Then, he and Kika returned to St. Freya High School.
Because Ryn and Durandal had been gone for a while, the four of them had chatted for a bit upon their return.
By the time they got back to St. Freya High School, it was already very late. Kiana, Mei, and the others were already asleep.
Probably only Sirin and Bronya were still up, playing games...
After returning to Himeko's house, Kika skillfully walked into the kitchen and retrieved the dinner Mei had prepared for her in advance from the warmer.
Pulling Ryn to sit at the dining table with her, Kika picked up a small card attached to the top of the lunchbox, which had a little cartoon of Mei lecturing her.
"You damn Kika, you must be seeing this note very late, right? Eating dessert before bed is bad for you, so today, as usual, I didn't prepare any for you. If the food isn't hot enough, remember to microwave it! Also, don't come to my room in the middle of the night!"
Kika smiled. Seeing the dinner Mei prepared for her always made her happy, sweeping away the fatigue of the day.
"Are you hungry, Ryn?"
"I'm not. Mei specially prepared this for you, so enjoy it!"
"Mhm~ I'll leave it for a bit, wait for me~
"Kika clapped her hands cheerfully and then bounced upstairs.
Ryn covered his face in resignation and then went outside, waiting under Mei's window.
It wasn't long before he heard Kika's joyful cheers.
"My dearest Mei~ The super-duper, incredibly beautiful Lady Kika is back!"
"Get out!"
With Mei's angry roar, the sound of shattering glass immediately followed.
Ryn silently extended his hands and caught Kika, who had been thrown out the window by Mei.
Kika happily wrapped her arms around Ryn's neck and gave him a kiss. Then she shouted towards Mei's room, "Lady Kika is in a good mood today, you bastard Mei, I forgive you~
"Holy crap—!"
Ryn, holding Kika, quickly dodged from where they were standing.
In the next second, beer bottles, controllers, a monitor, a bottle of bitter melon juice, and more...
All smashed through the glass and landed where Ryn and Kika had been standing just moments before.
Himeko's figure appeared at the window. The drunk, red-haired auntie, disheveled, leaned against the windowsill, her eyes so blurry she couldn't even open them properly.
"You bastard Kika, if you make another sound... hic... I'll kill you tomorrow!" Himeko waved the wine bottle in her hand, looking at the empty lawn and roaring angrily.
Upon hearing Himeko curse her, Kika immediately roared back, not to be outdone.
"You'd be lucky not to drink yourself to death! You old, busty, drunkard spinster!"
"I have something to do, I'll be leaving now."
Ryn put Kika on the ground and turned to run without looking back.
"Hey! Take me with you, I can't run fast on my own!"
As soon as Ryn left, Kika immediately deflated, all the bravado she had when yelling at Himeko gone in an instant...
_Thud—_
With the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground, the hair on Kika's body stood on end. She trembled as she slowly turned around to look at the bloodthirsty red-haired witch behind her...
"Haha... I admit I was a little loud just now... Himeko, can you pretend you didn't hear anything?"
Himeko's large hand slammed down on Kika's head, grabbing her and lifting her up, looking at her with a benevolent smile.
"Who's Himeko? There's only an old, busty, drunkard spinster here..."
"Aaaah! Murder! Murder!!"
The moment Kika started screaming, she realized she seemed to have been put down by Himeko.
"Huh... what's going on... could it be that I'm already dead?"
Kika incredulously patted herself all over to confirm if she was still alive. Normally, she would definitely have been beaten up by Himeko first. How could nothing have happened?
"Stop patting, you're not dead, and you're very safe now!"
Ryn flicked the foolish Kika's forehead. He had snatched her from Himeko's grasp just before her screaming could attract Theresa.
"Hmph! Hmph! Hmph!" Seeing that it was Ryn in front of her, Kika crossed her arms and turned her head away angrily.
"Someone promised just a few hours ago that he wouldn't let me be bullied! And now you just run away like that!"
"For goodness' sake, our promise was that you wouldn't be bullied by others, right? What do you call running up to a tiger's mouth, pulling its teeth, and then slapping it a few times..."
Ryn was on the verge of tears from both laughter and frustration at Kika's death-defying antics.
Although it was fun to watch as a bystander, it was better not to disturb everyone's rest!
"Because I cleared things up tonight, I love Ryn even more! I'm super, super happy! I want to share my joy with everyone!!"
Kika jumped up happily, spreading her arms wide in the air in a star shape, and then let herself fall freely with gravity.
"Alright... but I'm also very happy today. So let's let Himeko and the others suffer for a while~
"Ryn reached out and caught the falling Kika, placing her on his shoulders to let her ride there.
Kika happily hugged Ryn's head, swaying around with joy.
"Knight Ryn, charge!"