"…"
"…"
They were both completely stuffed.
"I can't move."
"Neither can I."
—Gaby Mochizuki
CLINK.
The moment Mom gave the signal, everyone immediately started reaching for the hotpot.
"Hey, hey, don't take all the beef!"
"I'm not!"
"You took three pieces!"
"Because I like beef!"
"That's not an excuse!" I couldn't help but lchuckle as Gavin and Ddraig immediately began their usual battle over who could get the most meat.
Plop.
I calmly picked up a piece of beef before either of them could get it.
"Got one."
"HEY!"
"Too slow."
"Gaby!"
I simply smiled and dipped the beef into my sauce before eating it.
...
Delicious.
The broth had already absorbed the flavor of everything we'd thrown into it. The beef was tender, the mushrooms had soaked up the soup, and somehow Mom had managed to make the whole thing taste amazing despite literally throwing half the refrigerator into the pot.
"Here, Kanade."
Plop.
Klein quietly placed some mushrooms into Kanade's bowl.
"Thank you…"
Kanade gave her a small smile before continuing to eat.
Meanwhile—
Plop.
…
Stare
"Eat." A single word from mom was all it took for dad to surrender as he ate another one.
"Here… eat.." Grandma said as he tried to feed the Gray Reaper
Shake Shake shake
Push
"That's a good girl…" she continued as the Gray Reaper's head seemed to droop for a while as if resigning to it's fate.
"Pass me the sambal Klein" As the other me said those words, the sambal itself was already pouring from the bottle to her bowl, her face looking even more satisfied as more sambal was poured into her bowl.
"… What's up with you? you're flooding it with sambal, you can't taste normal food or something?" I said half curious and half trying to lighten the mood
"Nah, I just love spices <3" the other me said as she soon dipped more of the enoki's and ate them heartily
…
Chomp
The Shitake shrooms earthy, savory, and meaty flavor filled my mouth, acting like little sponges that soak up the rich, spiced broth while adding a concentrated umami flavor and a soft, juicy bite to the soup. A heavenly feel one could say.
Munch Munch
They were good, that's for sure.
—Bronya Zaychik
Munch Munch
The cabbages were great, they reminded me of the hotpots Mei used to make when it was just the 3 of us, though then again, the Mei and Kiana I used to know back then is no more, replacing them, people who also carry a burden I can't explain.
Even so, they still try to keep others from worrying about them.
One had lost her memories, then found herself with 3 others, the other lost her humanity, then found herself in the dark.
…
But.
Slurppppp
"HEYY THAT'S MY BEEF"
"Too late."
"***KLEIN—***Ah."
"Kiana."
"Sorry…."
…
"Since Bronya only likes studying, I'll just play this on my own."
"Subject Kiana is leaving as she acknowledges Bronya's supremacy in gaming."
"I won't let you beat me! Not in gaming, at least!"
"Alloy_Bronya deployed."
…
She's still the same Baka-Kiana I know just. With someone else.
"Bronya you good?"
"I think I overworked myself"
"…"
"Don't fall sick now"
Plop.
"Eat more meattt, it'll help you get betterrrrr"
.
"Bronya?"
She's still the same after all.
—
…
Munch Munch
"Are you seriously going to eat it raw?"
"huh?" I thought to myself as I stared at my chopsticks holding what seems to be raw enoki.
"You must be really tired eh" She said as she took the enoki from me with lighting speed. I didn't even realize when she took it from me.
I must be really tired.
"Here" She spoke as she placed the enoki near my mouth which I accepted of course before she tried to continue scooping more food. Well tried to.
"Grandma, I can take it myself you know" Another piece of Chinese cabbage was placed in Kiana's
"Don't be feisty now, eat some moreee"
"Gavin pass me the sauce"
"yeah yeah you fat dragon."
"I am not fat."
Munch Munch
Rustle
Point
On the other hand Shiraori was taking the things that the Gray reaper wanted,
"Dear…"
"Come on Honeyyy, "
Sighhh
"Amane Amane, hereee"
"Mahiru…" Gulp
Munch Munch
…
—Some Time Later
Clink.
The once lively hotpot had become noticeably quieter. Most of the ingredients were gone, leaving only a few pieces of vegetables and mushrooms floating around in the broth. It was almost wiped clean one could say.
"I'm fulll….." Kiana said while leaning against the cushion patting her seemingly non-existent stomach. A single look at the the once tall mountain of food we'd started with was practically gone. The beef. The mushrooms. The vegetables. The gyoza. Even the fish balls.
Everything had somehow disappeared.
And judging from the state of Gavin and Ddraig—
"…"
"…"
"I can't move."
"Neither can I."
Right, now that I'm done I should continue—
"What are you thinking my dearest Bronya."
Shiver
"Ah. Since we're done with the hotpot I thought—"
SLAM
"Ah." The laptop I was using slammed shut. For some reason I was reminded of 2 people I dearly loved.
"Bronya-Onee chan did you skip sleep again..."
"You have to sleep to take care of your self okay Bronya?"
"Anyways, all this work is for tomorrow"
"Ah—"
"No Buts."
"but my deadlines—"
CRACKKKKKKKK
She just broke space.
"B R O N Y A."
"Ah. I need to go see you" As those words were spoken out of Klein Moretti's mouth he disappeared instantly as soon as he finished that sentence.
"Let's go now honeyyy~" Spoke mom to dad
"C'mon Gray Reaper" Grandma said as she picked it up and left.
…
Klein's 'Fooling' they're perceptions isn't he.
—
Splash
Slippp
"Let's start with an actual bath shall we?"
"But—"
"Not those quick showers you took to save time. I know you've been using your powers to do it to you know."
Snap
/// . ///
"What? You've probably seen Seele and the others naked to back in the day no?"
She's still shameful, just differently
Flick
"Ow—What was that for???"
"You were thinking of something bad about me weren't you?"
"I was not."
"Liar, you always made that face when you're trying to hide something"
Thud
"Hey—"
Push
Splash
"Kiana-???"
"What?"
"Are you sick-?"
"What?"
—
"Ah, did I scare you or something?"
Scrub Scrub
"You did,"
"Ahahhaha… My bad"
"I didn't expect you to suddenly well—"
"Act outside how I usually do?"
…
"Eh figured."
Scrub Scrub
"Are you trying to act like how Kiana used to?"
Scrub—
Stops
"Well not really."
Scrub Scrub Scrub
"Even if I tried to I won't be able to be like 'Kiana'"
…
Scrub Scrub
"You should know that quite well after all"
…
Scrub Scrub
"Sometimes I wonder how you're still alive"
—?
"Imagine yourself thrust into a world you don't know and well you know bla bla bla, fiction this fiction that, but then imagine meeting some 'people' yet out of 5, only 1 remained the way you remembered"
…
"Well it must be hard no?"
"Is it because you've been through a lot that you didn't think of ending it all?"
"What?"
"Nah, I'm just asking"
Scrub Scrub Scrub
…
I ruined the mood didn't I, I'm sorry." She said with that smile.
Grab
"No—It's just"
"Unexpected, Different from what you expected, yeah I'm not the same person. Just someone who looks the same, sounds the same, and feels the same no? Ah I'm not mad by the way, I'm just speaking the truth."
…
"Do you feel hurt?" I finally spoked
"Well not really, I mean I get it from where your coming from."
"That wasn't the question I asked."
Silence
"I don't know. I really don't"
Scrub Scrub Scrub
Splash
…
"I'm sorry."
"Don't be, it's not your fault"
Scrub Scrub
"Though I can't be your 'Kiana' nor can I somehow bring her, I can only be myself. I can't ask you to accept me, nor can I become her."
Scrub Scrub
"Even so. I hope we can be friends, just like 'we' used to."
…
"I hope so to."
—
Wipe Wipe
Rustle Rustle
Snap
"Well I'm gonna go spend some time with Gaby."
…
"Cya."
As she was about to snap her finger, possibly teleporting.
"Ah—"
"Hm?"
"Take care—Kiana"
"…"
…
"You too" She said while smiling.
Snap.
She disappeared.
…
I stared at the empty space for a moment.
Kiana.
A name that felt so familiar yet foreign at the same time.
…
—Gaby
Step Step—
I stopped halfway down the hallway as the other me suddenly appeared beside me, well tried to.
"Sup"
"AH—!"
Thump.
"Ow…"
"Sorry."
"You scared the hell out of me!"
"…"
Sigh
"Well, it's fine anyways whats up?"
"Let's do something together? I'm bored."
-???
"What?"
—
…
Sob Sob
…
"Holy shit it's peakkkkkkk"
[Mayyy all the beautyyy be blesseddddddddddd]
We were currently watching some peak Honkai Impact 3rd animations, to be exact, the Moon Halo theme, you know, when Kiana was fighting the Herrscher of Domination well yeah yeah. What were we doing you ask?
Binge watching some videos.
"It's been a while since I watch one of these"
"Oh?"
"I was busy adventuring with the others after all"
"Let's binge watch Lord of the Mysteries"
"The entire seasons???"
"Hell yeah."
…
"You know what sure"
—25 Minutes Later
[Find out in the next episode]
"…"
"…"
"Next episode?"
"Duh"
It felt wasteful honestly. I could hone my skills or scout the area or something but—It also felt familiar.
"It used to be like this, back in university"
"Well yeah, but I got responsibilities now" I say while giving a big smirk
"You mean adventuring" the other me spoke while giving me a rather obvious side eye.
"That's just playing outside"
???
"No it's different"
"How?"
"Because—"
…
"See, it's the same thing—Oompf-" Without hesitation she laughed and I? out of instincts perhaps…. Threw a pillow at her face
Thud
"…"
"Heh see—OOMPFH-"
Thud
"HEYYYY—OOMPFH"
Thud
"PFFFT—OOMPFH."
"Stop throwing pillows at me!"
"You started it!"
"I threw one!"
"You threw the first one!"
"That's not how that works!"
Thud
"OW!"
"HAHAHAHA!"
She immediately grabbed another pillow and swung it at me.
WHAM
"GOT YOU!"
"…" I slowly looked at the pillow that had just smacked me in the face.
Then back at her.
"You're dead."
"Wait."
Grab
"Wait wait wait—"
WHAM
"AHHHHH!"
"Gotcha."
"You're such a cheater!"
"There's no rules!"
"THERE ARE ALWAYS RULES!"
WHAM
WHAM
WHAM
"HAHAHAHAHA!"
"STOP LAUGHING!"
"I CAN'T!" Pillows were flying everywhere. One hit the wall. Another somehow landed on the floor.
And one—
THUD
"…"
"…"
"Oops."
—landed directly on the head of a passing Klein.
Silence.
Klein slowly turned his head toward us.
I froze.
The other me froze.
…
…
…
Glance
…
…
"Alright."
THUD
"OH YOU'RE SO ON KLEIN." The other me spoke
—Several Minutes Later
THUD
"GET THEM!"
"WHY IS EVERYONE CHASING US?!"
Step Step Step Step
"Because you attacked Klein!"
"It was an accident!"
"You still attacked him!"
WHAM
"OW!"
"GABY!"
"Sorry!"
"You're not sorry!"
"Not really."
Pfft-
Thud.
A pillow to the face.
"…"
"…"
"Rematch?"
"Obviously."
Grab.
As the 'fight' continues once more.