"Ask away!"
"Alright! Let's begin then—I'll ask first!"
Seeing Shu fall into her trap, Kiana took a deep breath, her mind spinning rapidly.
What kind of question should I ask to make him speak his true feelings?
What kind of question will break his habit of sitting on the fence?
What kind of question will make him answer immediately without thinking?
Got it!
"Shu!" She leaned in excitedly. "You—do you think the food Mei cooks is better, or the food you cook?"
Shu's mouth fell open.
"I've never eaten the food Mei cooks," he answered truthfully.
Kiana's expression stiffened.
"You clearly... ah... right, you don't remember..." Kiana muttered to herself blankly, then shook her head vigorously.
"Then... then between you and Mei, whose cooking do you think is better!"
"The styles are different. Mei's is more Japanese home-style, mine is more Chinese home-style. They each have their own characteristics—"
"Stop, stop, stop!" Kiana hurriedly interrupted him. "Too fast! How did you think of that so fast!"
Shu blinked innocently.
"You told me to answer immediately."
"I told you to answer immediately, but not—not to give such a long answer!"
Kiana puffed out her cheeks.
She had originally thought that during a rapid-fire Q&A, a person wouldn't have time to think and would subconsciously blurt out what was truly on their mind.
But not Shu.
He thought way too fast!
Not only could this guy produce an answer immediately, he could also accurately pick out the answer that dissatisfied her the most!
So mad!
This guy is doing it on purpose! Mean! Mean!
She refused to accept defeat.
"Again!" she said. "Next question—what's your favorite color?"
"White."
This time it was very short.
Kiana's eyes lit up.
"Why?"
"Because it has nothing."
"And?"
"That's it."
"Just one reason?"
"Mhm."
Kiana paused.
This answer... she felt Shu was still lying, but there was at least a bit of genuine feeling revealed.
Wait, so why exactly does Shu like white?
A certain almost entirely white-haired girl held Shu's hand tightly as she pondered this question.
"Then... what's your favorite season?"
"Autumn."
"Why?"
"Not too cold, not too hot."
"And?"
"That's it."
"..."
Kiana stared at him.
Shu stared back with a calm face.
She suddenly understood a little.
It wasn't that rapid-fire Q&A didn't work on him.
It was that no matter if he answered quickly or slowly, the answers he gave were all weighed and measured.
He could, within a tenth of a second, run through all possible responses in his mind and select the most middle-of-the-road, safest, most infallible one.
This ability... was so practiced it made her heart ache.
"Shu," she asked suddenly.
"Yeah?"
"Do you... often think about things like this?"
Shu paused.
"What do you mean?"
"Like..." Kiana weighed her words, "before you answer, you first think carefully about how to say it so you won't make a mistake."
Shu was silent for a second.
"...Probably not..."
Three very hesitant words.
Even this sentence was the product of calculation.
It felt like something had gently bumped against Kiana's heart.
She didn't ask anymore.
She just reached out and held his hand.
"Now it's your turn to ask me." She sat up straight in front of Shu, ready for battle.
"You can ask anything!" She was very confident.
Shu was silent for two seconds.
"Then... what's your favorite thing to eat?"
In the end, Shu only dared to ask such a harmless, inconsequential question.
And one right in Kiana's comfort zone, to boot.
Kiana paused, then laughed.
"That question is too easy! There's so much I like to eat—roasted gluten, teppanyaki squid, takoyaki, fried chicken cutlets, grilled cold noodles, stinky tofu, egg waffles, fried milk, wheel pies, taro ball sweet soup... oh, right, and the milk tea from just now! Strawberry flavor!"
She rattled off a long string of dish names in one breath, her cheeks feeling a bit tired from talking so fast.
"That much?" Shu admitted he was dazzled by Kiana's verbal gymnastics.
"Yeah! I just like good food!" Kiana said righteously. "Eating good food makes me happy! When I'm unhappy, eating good food makes me happy! When I'm happy, eating good food makes me even happier!"
Sunlight slanted in from outside the shop, falling on her face and illuminating her pure blue eyes like the sky itself.
"Mhm," he nodded.
"You're just going to say 'mhm'?" Kiana's eyes widened.
"Mhm."
"Aren't you going to ask me why I like eating so many things?"
Is there a need to ask that?
Shu's eyes conveyed this, but a different sentence popped out of his mouth.
"...Why?"
"Because..." Kiana actually thought about it seriously, then said very earnestly, "Because every bite is a new flavor! Even if it's the exact same thing, what you eat today might be different from what you eat tomorrow, and what you eat at this shop might be different from that shop! So every time you eat, it's an adventure! Who knows if this next bite will be the best bite you've ever had in your life?"
"Hmph hmph, this is the secret of the Kaslana family! Only by eating all the food can you eat the best food!"
What kind of Kaslana family secret is that?!
Shu was dumbfounded.
He really had never heard of this before.
Though this sentence sounded abstract, it was actually just like the Five Ultra Pledges—essentially using a small example to express a profound truth.
It wasn't hard to understand.
Always hold expectations for life, always be ready to welcome the arrival of beauty...
So that's how it is...
Actually, Shu wanted to ask Kiana: But if you expect something every time and are disappointed every time, doesn't that get exhausting?
But he didn't say it.
Because there was no such "exhausted" expression on Kiana's face.
She truly believed the next bite would be better.
She truly believed... the beauty in this world was endless.
"Um... Shu..."
Kiana's somewhat awkward voice interrupted his thoughts.
He looked up.
Kiana was looking at him, an embarrassed expression on her face.
"It's about that..." She guiltily averted her gaze, not daring to look at him. "Actually, I wanted to play the game earlier because I wanted to hear you speak your true feelings..."
Shu was speechless.
Wasn't that obvious? Aren't rapid-fire Q&As specifically designed to get at inner thoughts and subconscious reactions?
"Yeah, it's fine." Shu shook his head and smiled gently at Kiana.
"I don't mind."
"But I mind!" Shu felt Kiana's hand suddenly tighten.
"I want you to stop sitting on the fence, stop being so polite, stop..." She paused, "stop keeping your distance from me..."
"I... I even thought that maybe you hated me too..."
Actually, she didn't really think Shu hated her; Shu definitely liked her.
Kiana was just worried that Shu didn't like her that much... if that were true, wouldn't some of the things she had done make Shu feel very awkward?
Shu's lips moved, but no words came out.
"But now I know," Kiana smiled, as if relieved of a heavy burden. "You don't hate me, it's just that I'm still like everyone else—I haven't been able to walk into your heart yet."
She gripped his hand tightly, her eyes revealing the determined certainty of a star striker aiming for the goal.
"It's fine!"
Shu watched as Kiana made her declaration right to his face.
"I will definitely succeed!"
Kiana smiled confidently, completely unbothered that what she just said was practically equivalent to...
"I will definitely conquer you!"
Shu was silent for a long time.
Then he lowered his head and took a sip of milk tea to calm his nerves.
"Mhm."
This was his answer.