"Gulp."
Kushina clearly heard herself swallow a large mouthful of coveted saliva.
Tears at the corners of her eyes wanted to spill out uncontrollably.
She pursed her lips tightly, her eyes glued to the coarse cloth bag that Ryo slowly unfolded.
The coarse cloth was peeled back layer by layer, revealing the main attraction inside, a huge, simple bamboo lunchbox lid, filled with… meat.
It wasn't the kind of soft, stewed chunks, but golden-brown, crispy ribs with tiny oil bubbles sizzling at the edges. There were slices of smoked meat, cut uniformly thick, evenly coated in sauce, glistening invitingly. There were also chewy, well-marinated meat strips.
The lunchbox seemed to have been specially insulated, and steam and aroma wafted upward. Kushina felt her stomach clench violently, and her empty belly let out a deafening roar. "Gulu rulu rulu."
This time, the sound was too loud.
Several classmates around, who were also opening their lunchboxes, all looked over in unison, their gazes darting between Kushina and the sinfully fragrant plate of meat.
Kushina's face instantly turned as red as a ripe apple, an intense shame intertwining with an almost devouring hunger.
She no longer cared about her small resentment toward Ryo or the unpleasantness of yesterday.
Heaven and earth were vast, but filling her stomach was paramount.
She mustered the greatest courage of her life, abruptly turned her head, her light blue eyes wet with longing and embarrassment, and stared intently at the meat mountain lunchbox in Ryo's hand, which was larger than her own face.
"Ryo-kun!" Her voice trembled slightly from nervousness and weakness, her fingers subconsciously twisting the hem of her clothes. "You… yours looks like so much! Can… can you…" The rest of the words were really hard to say, but the desire for food ultimately overcame her shame. "…can you share a little bit with me? Just a tiny bit!" She quickly made a small gap with her thumb and forefinger, her voice as faint as a mosquito's, but full of pleading.
Ryo was about to pick up a crispy, delicious-looking rib, thickly coated in sauce, when he heard Kushina's words and his movement paused in mid-air.
He turned his head, his face expressionless, only the instinctive impatience of being disturbed during his meal.
His deep-set eyes glanced at Kushina's cute, red, embarrassed little face, then lowered to look at his own important rations, which he had spent time and effort making last night to replenish his energy.
"Eh?" He let out a short sound, his brows habitually furrowing slightly. "Sorry." He refused bluntly, his tone flat, without malice, merely stating a fact. "This is all for one person." He emphasized "one" and "person."
What a joke, this little bit of meat wasn't even enough to fill his own teeth. All the energy to support his physical recovery was in this.
How could there be any extra to give to others?
Especially this deskmate he had only met yesterday, who was just a small trouble in his eyes.
He, Ryo, was not some generous philanthropist.
This cold, crisp refusal, without any room for negotiation, was like a small ice pick, precisely piercing Kushina's last bit of forced dignity.
No.
Not even a tiny bit.
Was it because she was an outsider? Was it because she was new? Or was it because he was simply a cold, selfish, straight-laced jerk?
The shame of being mocked for being late, the grievance, hunger, the feeling of being isolated, the pain of a fallen country, the helplessness of being alone in a strange environment, all the suppressed negative emotions erupted at this moment.
Kushina felt like a balloon blown to its limit, and it exploded.
No matter how strong Kushina used to be, she was still just an eight-year-old girl.
So those light blue eyes, which had been stubbornly holding back tears, could no longer contain the surging emotion.
Large, hot tears rolled out uncontrollably, sliding down her rosy cheeks, pat, pat, falling onto the open textbook, quickly soaking into two dark flowers.
She didn't wail like ordinary little girls, but just bit her lower lip tightly, letting the tears flow silently, her body trembling slightly from trying to suppress her sobs.
She even stubbornly didn't raise a hand to wipe them away, just buried her head deeply into her arms again, curling into a ball.
Her fiery red hair, at this moment, was no longer a dazzling flame, but like a cluster of fallen leaves, soaked by rain and trembling in the wind.
Her appearance made her seem like she had been abandoned in a corner by the whole world.
Ryo held the rib, frozen in place.
"???"
His mind was instantly filled with question marks.
Isn't it normal to refuse to share food?
He didn't even have enough for himself.
Being hungry was unpleasant, but… crying like this? Was it really that bad?
Ryo looked at the fragrant meat in his hand, then at the red-haired girl next to him, who had shrunk into a trembling little shrimp, her tears almost soaking her textbook.
"Trouble." Just as he muttered this word in his heart, something suddenly pricked him.
He couldn't stand the tears of women and children, especially the pure, wronged, and sad kind like Kushina's.
The scene before him completely exceeded his simple, logical scope of fighting, killing, eating, sleeping, and training.
A little girl who had just been rejected by him, whose stomach was growling with hunger in front of him, and who was crying so miserably after being refused…
His defense line of avoiding trouble and stay away from me instantly broke a large hole in the face of this silent, incredibly destructive tear attack.
Her angry look after school yesterday and this pitiful little crybaby in front of him overlapped. A strange feeling called unease of conscience emerged in the straight-laced Ryo's heart, making him feel uncomfortable all over.
"Tsk… so annoying." Ryo growled inwardly with extreme impatience. This emotion, beyond his handling capacity, made him irritable.
But his body acted before his brain.
He almost rudely put down the rib, wiping his greasy fingers casually on his clothes.
Frowning, he rummaged through the pile of meat. Which piece to choose? No, he really couldn't bear to part with it. Too many bones… this piece? Too fatty, afraid she'd choke… Damn it, why is sharing some meat so hard!
Finally, as if he had made some huge decision, with a sense of tragic heroism akin to a warrior severing his own arm, he, with great effort, tore off a whole piece of fatty and lean meat, with tendons and skin, glistening with oil and substantial in weight, from the largest stewed hind leg, which he himself hadn't even dared to gnaw on yet, with the most sauce and the crispiest skin, a pig hock.
The size of that pig hock was almost as big as Kushina's small face.
Thick, rich sauce dripped down Ryo's fingers, steaming hot and fragrant.
Ryo, with a dark expression, stiffly almost prodded this extremely tempting large piece of meat next to Kushina's lowered head.
His voice was still stiff, with obvious impatience. "Here. What are you crying for? Take it. Eat quickly." His tone was like he was dealing with a troublesome piece of garbage, rather than offering a fragrant piece of meat that could fill her stomach.
That rich, immediate aroma of meat, like a tangible shockwave, instantly pierced through Kushina's self-pity.
Her crying stopped abruptly.
(To be continued.)
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