Everyone had woken up by the time the soup finished cooking. The warm, savory smell filled the air, carrying through the house and coaxing even the most stubborn sleepers out of bed. Hana carefully ladled it into bowls while Yunfeng placed cutlery and napkins at the table.
Qiu Yue walked out of one of the rooms with Kailin trailing behind him. The two were murmuring quietly about some recent testing results—Kailin's voice unusually nervous while Qiu Yue nodded seriously. But as they entered the dining area and spotted Yuki sitting stiffly at the end of the table, Qiu Yue's eyes narrowed ever so slightly.
Everyone settled down around the table. The bowls of soup steamed gently, and Hana moved around topping off everyone's bowls with just the right portions. Yuki sat among them, her hands clenched tightly around the fabric at the bottom of her shirt, unmoving.
She didn't touch her soup.
