The bizarre silence lasts exactly two seconds.
"Tomato beef-bone broth, please."
Trigger speaks first. Her voice is still icy, but her gaze finally leaves Yanagi and returns to Chiya, carrying a faint, almost imperceptible "are you okay with this?" check-in.
Chiya responds immediately—nodding like a frantic pecking chick.
Yanagi inhales, then reassembles her flawless smile—only now it's obviously sharpened with calculation.
"We… will sit here too. Tomato beef-bone for us as well, thank you."
Before Trigger can reject her again, Yanagi pulls out the chair beside Trigger—the one closest to Chiya—and sits down with smooth, shameless inevitability.
Soukaku silently takes the chair on Chiya's other side, posture rigidly straight, hands folded on her knees… but her big eyes are glued to the tomato broth, throat bobbing as she swallows.
Miyabi sits beside Soukaku, fox ears pricked up—quiet, vigilant, like a wordless guardian statue.
Trigger's jawline tightens to the breaking point. The red behind her eyepiece deepens—almost blood-colored. She cuts Yanagi a glacial look from inches away…
…and still doesn't explode.
She sits back down beside Chiya, but angles her body slightly, keeping him protected on the inside by the window.
Vivian finally dares to breathe.
She quickly slots the tomato pot into the table's built-in burner, adjusts the heat, sets down utensils and dipping dishes for everyone.
"Okay! Tomato beef-bone is coming right up! Please wait a moment—ingredients will be here soon!"
Then she retreats like she just defused a bomb with a toothpick.
The feeding war begins: Yanagi vs Trigger, and Chiya's bowl becomes a mountain
Soon Siki arrives carrying a glorious spread:
fatty beef rolls, lamb, hand-whipped shrimp paste, fresh veggie platters, springy mushrooms, tofu that soaks up broth like a sponge…
The tomato broth starts bubbling happily, releasing a sweet-and-sour aroma.
Yanagi moves first—elegant, deliberate.
"Doctor Chiya, here—try this."
With serving chopsticks she lifts a top-grade beef roll, swishes it in the tomato broth until it changes color and curls, then places it perfectly into Chiya's oil dish.
Her smile is gentle enough to drip.
"The beef quality here is excellent. Tomato broth really whets the appetite."
Chiya stares at the meat, ready to thank her and eat—
"Meat with that much fat isn't suitable not long after breakfast."
Trigger's voice cuts in, cold and clinical.
She doesn't even look at Yanagi's offering. Instead, she takes a thick white slice of fish, blanches it quickly, and places it into Chiya's bowl with absolute certainty—directly covering the beef.
"Better protein. More balanced."
Her motions are clean, decisive, and unmistakably dominant.
Chiya's chopsticks freeze midair.
In his bowl: one slice of beef… trapped under fish like evidence under a paperweight.
Yanagi's smile dims by a fraction—still soft, still sweet.
"Miss Trigger has a point. But tasting occasionally is fine—food is also about joy."
She pivots smoothly into the next move.
"Here, Doctor Chiya. Try the shrimp paste—very fresh and sweet."
A pink shrimp ball drops neatly into his bowl.
"Shellfish can trigger allergies. Chiya needs to be cautious." Trigger answers instantly.
And then—without mercy—she dumps a big heap of lettuce and mushrooms into Chiya's bowl, burying the shrimp ball like a scandal.
"More vegetables. Better digestion."
Chiya looks at his bowl—now a rapidly forming food pyramid—and nearly tears up.
He only wanted hotpot.
Why is survival so hard?
Soukaku's stomach breaks the tension… briefly
A tiny, hungry voice slips out.
"…Mm… meat… meat tastes good…"
It's Soukaku. Her wide eyes are basically magnetized to the rolling beef. Her nose twitches; she looks seconds away from drooling.
She doesn't even seem to register the toxic atmosphere—only hunger.
Yanagi instantly spots a potential breach in the frontline and tries to normalize the situation:
"Soukaku, don't be shy. Take whatever you like."
Trigger snorts once, dismissive, stops engaging Yanagi—then resumes stacking "safe and healthy" items into Chiya's bowl:
tofu, enoki, winter melon…
The bowl is approaching structural failure.
Chiya finally whispers, small and weak:
"Um… my bowl… I think it's almost full…"
Right as Yanagi prepares a new strike and Trigger prepares the counterstrike—
Vivian saves the table with gourmet distraction
"Honored guests!"
Vivian reappears like a savior descending from the ceiling, holding an elegant seasoning bottle. Her smile is perfectly calibrated.
"At this stage, the tomato broth is at its richest! I brought our house secret—mushroom umami powder. Just a tiny sprinkle in the soup or dipping sauce boosts the savory flavor several times over! Especially for vegetables and tofu—absolutely incredible!"
While talking, she casually steps in and—like it's nothing—nudges Chiya's overflowing bowl to a safer position and steadies a wobbling slice of winter melon on top.
Then she offers Trigger the bottle:
"Miss, the tofu and winter melon you picked—this powder is a perfect match. Would you like to try?"
Then she turns to Yanagi, seamlessly giving her a stage too:
"Ma'am, for your premium beef, our special seafood soy sauce with a little garlic and scallion really brings out the natural flavor. Would you like me to mix one for you?"
With one fluid sequence, Vivian reroutes the entire conflict into a safe topic:
How to eat it best.
Trigger and Yanagi are both seasoned operators—and both clearly understand the existence of a "stairs" to step down from.
Trigger pauses, then accepts the seasoning bottle.
Yanagi nods smoothly.
"Then I'll trouble you."
The air finally loosens.
Chiya, secretly exhaling, looks at the food mountain in his bowl and decides to start from the very top:
winter melon first.
Soukaku, using the moment when attention shifts, finally snatches a slice of beef, shoves it into her mouth, and closes her eyes in pure happiness.
Miyabi also calmly picks up a small mushroom slice.
And Vivian—having done the impossible—smiles once, then slips back into serving other tables like a hero who refuses applause.
Parking lot: Ling's meltdown and Wise's "volcano philosophy"
In the parking lot, Wise has just opened a bottle of water to steady his nerves—
when Belle (Ling) wails at the surveillance screen.
"What?! They just… sat down peacefully?! I just smelled blood and it already stopped bleeding?! Quack! I—no! I refuse this ending! This is unacceptable!"
She thrashes, furious.
"Yanagi is too sly! Why didn't Trigger throw the meat in her face?! Chiya's bowl is a whole mountain! What kind of 'Asura scene' is this—zero excitement!"
Wise chokes and spits water—barely manages to turn and spray it out the window onto dry concrete, leaving a dark splash mark.
"Cough—Belle! Can you watch quietly? Isn't it good that Chiya can eat safely?"
"…Brother. Didn't you call me here to watch the drama?"
Wise coughs again, then drops his voice into "world-weary man" mode, eyes deep like he's staring through time itself.
He starts talking about men's "impulsive periods" like magma under the earth, pressure building, yearning for an eruption—violent, glorious, destructive—
and then the cooling:
magma becomes obsidian sheen, becomes basalt, becomes new land; ash falls and becomes fertile soil.
Finally, he asks:
"Belle… do you understand now?"
The car goes quiet.
Belle tilts her head, blinking, wearing the expression of someone who is half enlightened and half certain she's being trolled.
"…Brother…"
"What is it?" Wise asks, still basking in his own philosophical atmosphere.
"You just used a whole volcano documentary to describe—post-nut clarity."
"You could've just said '贤者时间.' Four characters. Efficient. Easy."
Wise violently chokes again.
"Pfft—! You're talking nonsense! I'm kindhearted! And aren't you worried?"
Belle shrugs, innocent as an angel and smug as a reigning empress.
"Worried about what? Brother~ your reaction is so big… did I hit the truth?"
Then she points at the screen, excited again.
Chiya is finally nibbling winter melon from the peak of his bowl-mountain, cheeks puffed, content.
Trigger and Yanagi are still exchanging "ice arrows" and "flying knives" with their eyes… but the feeding battle has stopped.
"No matter how they fight, how they grab, how they pile his bowl into an ocean…"
Belle smiles like a little devil with absolute confidence.
"In the end, Chiya will come back to RAndomn. Back to you and me. Because this is his real home."
"As for them?"
She sniffs, disdainful.
"Passing clouds."
She taps Fairy's chat window.
"Right, FAIRY? Analyze Chiya's core sense of belonging!"
FAIRY replies in full emoji-rigged certainty:
Data analysis… In RAndomn, Chiya's physical stability +68%, natural smile +92%, relaxed body language at peak frequency.
Estimated probability of core belonging pointing to RAndomn: 99.7%.
Belle's "main wife declaration" is highly supported by data!
Belle beams like a victorious peacock.
Wise looks at Chiya on the screen—finally relaxed, quietly eating—then at Belle, radiating "victory assured."
He can only shake his head, helpless.
But his mouth betrays him: a faint, warm curve appears.
"…Fine. This outcome… isn't bad."
He stares at the screen and murmurs:
"Chiya… no matter what you're hiding… as long as in the end…"
"the three of us are still together…"
"…then everything will be fine."
Final stinger
Under a deep-blue sky hangs a golden full moon.
Below it is a Black Goose construction site—endless rows of silver machinery.
Somewhere among them, a pile driver of uncertain age opens its eyes, scans the surroundings, then kicks into motion on four legs—
and sprints off into the night, vanishing into darkness.
Join here to read ahead.
In Star Rail, Ultra-Beast Armored — Have I Caught "Equilibrium"? l (Chapter 80)
Uma Musume, But I Only Have Five Years Left to Live (Chapter 150)
Zenless Zone Zero: I'm a Doctor, Not a Bangboo (Chapter 115)
Ben Tennyson Wants to Join the Justice League (Chapter 110)
TYPE-MOON: Redemption Beginning with the Holy Grail War (Chapter105)
Yu-Gi-Oh! — Transmigrated into the White Dragon Girl (Chapter100)
"Is this chat group even serious?" (Chapter69)
I, Lord Ravager, Utterly Loyal! (Chapter100)
Can Playing Games Save the World? 65
Crossover Anime Multiverse: The Demon Hunter of an Unnatural World 70
From Junkman to Wasteland 60
Weekly Refresh of Overpowered 31
I'm Grinding Proficiency Like 40
From Kiana, Lord Ravager, Onwa 60
Honkai: Is This Still the Prev 42
Elf: My Starter Pokémon Is Inc 50
Warhammer: My Primarch Is Remi 50
From Demon Slayer to Grand Ass 50
The Way the Umamusume Look at 31
Uma Musume, but My Cheat Power 26
Naruto: Weaving the Future, Be 26
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