Early the next morning, when Kaito pushed open the door to Manhattan Cafe's room, the "spectacle" before his eyes almost made him think he had walked onto the wrong set.
Inside the small hospital room, the table, which was normally completely empty, was now entirely full, comparable to a small international food festival.
The steaming, fragrant, and ultra-luxurious supreme land-and-sea bento box was the work of Gold City.
The scones and macarons, presented on a three-tier English dessert stand and as exquisite as works of art, were a "gift" from TM Opera O.
And a row of "All-Weather Perfect Nutrition Packs," complete with detailed ingredient labels and colors ranging from rainbow to fluorescent, were the "masterpiece" of Agnes Tachyon.
The owners of these three "love lunch boxes" were positioned in a triangular formation, each occupying a corner of the room, engaging in a silent and fierce battle of glares.
Manhattan Cafe, who was waiting there, was deeply startled by the sudden scene. Like a frightened little animal, as soon as Kaito entered, she instinctively hid behind him, clutching the hem of his coat tightly with her small hand.
Kaito looked at the three uninvited "pests" before him with an expression of absolute despair.
"Hello, you're finally here"
Gold City spoke first. Pointing at the dazzling collection of lunch boxes on the table, she told Kaito in an unmistakable tone.
"Idiot, pick one, eat it, and then come with me immediately! Your 'work' with this gloomy girl is over"
"Heh, heh, the protagonist's valuable time should not be wasted on such a boring extra"
TM Opera O added with irony, elegantly stroking her dessert stand.
"It's time to return to the magnificent stage that belongs only to you and me"
Agnes Tachyon raised her detector and scanned Manhattan Cafe, who was hiding behind Kaito. Then, she declared in the indifferent tone of someone reading a final report.
"Conclusion reached, Sample D no longer has research value, Assistant-kun, stop wasting valuable experimental time, our next phase of fusion experiments should be put on the agenda"
Kaito listened to the "ultimatums" of the three, feeling completely overwhelmed.
But he did not acknowledge any of them.
He simply turned to the side and, using the softest voice he could muster, gently asked the young woman who was still trembling slightly behind him.
"Manhattan Cafe, which one do you want to eat?"
Then, under three man-eating glares that could almost pierce him on the spot, he slowly and without hesitation reached out and took the simplest and plainest bowl of white congee provided by the hospital, which had been pushed to the corner of the table.
"We'll just eat this, okay?" he whispered to Manhattan Cafe
This action was like a spark thrown into a powder keg.
"Crack!"
The stainless steel fork in Gold City's hand was forcefully twisted into a pretzel.
The perfect and fake smile on TM Opera O's face showed a distinct stiffness for the first time, threatening to break.
Meanwhile, a dangerous red light, symbolizing "system overload," appeared on Agnes Tachyon's lenses.
"Kaito —!"
Gold City was the first to attack. Unable to bear the steaming humiliation of being completely ignored, she lunged forward and reached out to drag Kaito away immediately.
TM Opera O, meanwhile, directed her attack at the "culprit." She uttered the most hurtful words with the most elegant posture.
"Oh my! It seems this young lady is simply a pitiful creature who only knows how to take shelter behind a man, in truth, she does not possess the self-awareness of a protagonist"
As for Agnes Tachyon, she silently pulled something like a TV remote from her lab coat pocket and pointed it at the hospital bed beneath Manhattan Cafe, apparently looking for the button that could "scientifically" eject the bed and the person on it.
Facing this comprehensive siege from the "senior group," Manhattan Cafe, who had been silent with her face buried in Kaito's back, suddenly made an unexpected move.
She poked her small head out from behind Kaito.
Her eyes, which had barely regained their luster the day before, bravely met the gaze of the three terrifyingly powerful "enemies" before her for the first time.
Then, with a small but incredibly clear voice that had a hint of protection, she said softly.
"Don't... bother him"
This was the second time she had spoken of her own initiative.
The first time was to express gratitude.
The second time, however, was for… defense.
The three members of the "senior group" were stunned by this comment, which could only be described as a "counterattack."
Immediately after, an even more turbulent and overwhelming rage ensued.
Did a newcomer who had just been cured dare to... lecture them in return?
At that moment, the four-way Shura field centered around Kaito officially entered its second white-hot and relentless phase.
...
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