Crossover Anime: The Heroine's Savior in the Other World

Kitahara Sosuke followed Rin's lead and joined in teasing Hoshizuki Kaede, even taking out the sacred object from the prop box and showing it off from an angle that only the three of them could see.

Then, with a "bang".

Feng pulled out a thick stack of notebooks and smashed them on Kitahara Sousuke's head in an attempt to shut him up, but considering that he was still a patient, it was just loud and didn't hurt much.

"Enough with the nonsense! These are my class notes from the past two days. Hiratsuka Shizuka-sensei asked if you needed to review the recent lessons, so I brought these notes over. If you beg me, I might be able to tutor you..."

Xingyuefeng pouted; the girl's personality contained a small element of arrogance, which occasionally came out and made her look quite cute.

Her hair, which had been neatly combed, suddenly stood up with a single stray hair sticking up on the top of her head, as if it were an exclamation mark, warning of something dangerous. She took two steps back without making a sound.

"Oh, I'm going to the restroom..."

Ling raised her hand expressionlessly; the child's facial expressions rarely changed.

“It just so happens that I have to tutor Ling’s homework at home every day.” Without turning around, Feng grabbed Ling, who was trying to sneak away. “I can take you with me. Heh heh, you’re really lucky.”

"Ugh, Feng, who tutors us... is so fierce."

Hoshizuki Rin's face showed a rare pitiful expression as she complained to Kitahara Sosuke.

"That's because you never pay attention in class."

"My grades aren't at the bottom either..."

"If you had listened to me, you would have been in the top 100 of your grade long ago!"

Feng tapped his younger sister on the head in exasperation. She was an excellent student who could always be among the top five in the grade, but her sister, who was exactly the same as him, was completely different in this respect and always hovered in the middle of the grade ranking.

"Don't keep hitting people on the head, it'll make you stupid."

A slightly resentful look came from Ling.

“I know your math and physics grades are pretty good; you can study those on your own.” Hoshizuki Kaede said, picking out two notebooks and placing them next to Kitahara Sousuke’s pillow. “The focus of tutoring will be Japanese literature and history. Rin, come over here too…”

"Oh--"

Xingyue Ling reluctantly came over. Instead of moving a small stool to sit on the side like Feng did, she sat directly on the bed like Kitahara Sōsuke.

Seeing that his sister didn't react, he simply stopped taking the book and started reading it with Kitahara Sousuke.

Time seems to drag on when you're getting tutoring. Japanese literature and history have always been Kitahara Sosuke's weak points, but thankfully this time the tutor is a beautiful young girl instead of a balding old man who's been studying history for ages.

Kitahara Sousuke diligently followed Hoshizuki Kaede's explanations, sketching and drawing, and then copied a set of class notes, finally ending this agonizing period.

As for Rin, she had been curled up on Kitahara Sousuke's hospital bed since the middle of the journey, her eyes closed and her breathing even.

"In short, you have to memorize it, memorize it, memorize it!"

Hoshizuki Kaede emphasized it three times as a closing remark for the tutoring session, and Kitahara Sosuke nodded like a chicken pecking at rice.

"Tutoring is over, let's get something to eat!"

Just a second ago, Hoshizuki Rin was lying down pretending to sleep, but she immediately sat up, her eyes unable to stop drifting to the gift box on Kitahara Sōsuke's bedside table, which contained the sweets that she and Kaede had picked out before they came.

"hungry?"

Kitahara Sousuke asked with amusement.

"Yes, it's already past dinner time."

Hoshizuki Rin rubbed her stomach pitifully. Even through her clothes, you could tell that the girl had a healthy figure. Then she blinked and said, "Sousuke, let's go get some late-night snacks!"

“Okay, I happen to know a good ramen restaurant nearby.”

Chapter Seventy-Seven: Master Fujii

"What kind of delicious ramen would be hidden in a place like this?"

Xingyuefeng couldn't help but complain.

She followed Suzu and Kitahara Sosuke out of the hospital, turned west into a narrow alley, and walked through winding lanes. The corners of the walls on both sides had a musty, old smell. In the blink of an eye, they arrived at a deserted street.

"Don't worry, I definitely won't let you down."

Kitahara Sosuke brought the Hoshizuki sisters to a small street not far from the hospital, a place they had stumbled upon while shopping with Marina earlier.

Although taking the shortcut drew some complaints from Feng, when they actually got closer to the ramen stall, a rich aroma wafted from behind the curtain, filling the entire street and making the girl sniffle.

The ramen stall in front of the Hoshino sisters was a very common mobile ramen stall, also known as a yatai cart, which was specially designed for selling ramen from street to street, so that ramen chefs could avoid paying high rents.

Generally speaking, the environment and taste of food stalls are not as good as those of regular ramen shops. Only office workers who work overtime until late at night and poor students go there. Of course, there are also some people who are craving fast food and want to eat late-night snacks.

If you happen to stumble upon a shop like this in a quiet corner of a bustling city, you'll feel both warm and comfortable. People from different places and backgrounds, strangers to each other, sit together in this small but cozy place, like old friends who have known each other for years, eating snacks and chatting without any barriers, or listening to the noodle maker kneading the dough and telling stories of the strange and wonderful people he has seen over the years.

This is why small food stalls can't usually compete with fancy street food stalls, but if they survive, they have a much higher frequency of repeat customers than ordinary shops.

"Master Fujii, are you still up and running this late?"

Kitahara Sousuke pulled back the curtain and greeted him.

The ramen chef, known as Master Fujii, looked quite old. His head of white hair was parted in the middle, with a few inconspicuous black hairs mixed in. He wore a white linen uniform specially made for ramen chefs, and a black towel was tied around his forehead. He seemed to have been immersed in the ramen chef business for many years.

"If there were no customers, we would have closed up shop. But we've welcomed you all here, Kitahara-kun!" Master Fujii stretched out the chewy noodles, then suddenly noticed the two pretty girls following Kitahara Sousuke. He smiled and thought, "Youth is truly wonderful."

Master Fujii doesn't have any other special skills, except for his excellent ramen making skills. He has a pretty good memory and can roughly remember the names of several customers who have patronized his business in the past month.

Is she your girlfriend?

Master Fujii smiled and winked at the Xingyue sisters behind him. This sixty-year-old man still had a youthful heart, and pretty girls are popular wherever they go.

"I can keep your secret about bringing another pretty black-haired lady to eat ramen before."

Master Fujii joked with a smile that he knew Marina and Kitahara Sosuke were siblings.

"She's not my girlfriend!"

Hoshizuki Kaede pinched Kitahara Sousuke's lower back, then put on her usual business-like smile from when she worked at the school: "Nice to meet you, I'm Hoshizuki Kaede, and this is my younger sister, Hoshizuki Rin."

"Hello."

Master Fujii waved his flour-covered right hand and invited the three to sit down. "Since you're all minors, I won't offer you drinks. But lovely ladies, I can give you an extra serving of braised eggs."

"Thank you, Master Fujii."

Hoshizuki Kaede smiled sweetly, pulled her younger sister to sit down, and took the menu handed to her by Kitahara Sosuke, beginning to carefully select her dishes. In the end, Kitahara Sosuke ordered a tonkotsu ramen, while the Hoshizuki sisters ordered two identical miso ramen dishes.

While stretching the chewy noodles, Master Fujii boasted to Kitahara Sosuke and the other two about how handsome he was in his youth, and how many girls in high school could have pursued him.

As the group chatted and laughed, Master Fujii placed three bowls of fragrant ramen in front of them, and as expected, a large braised egg was added to both Kaede and Rin's bowls.

"It smells so good!"

Unlike her older sister, who had to maintain a reserved demeanor in front of outsiders, Ling couldn't wait to pull out disposable chopsticks from the bucket as soon as she smelled the aroma. She broke them apart, picked up a small bite of ramen, brought it to her lips, blew on it gently, and then put it in her mouth.

"Ouch, it's so hot..."

However, the freshly cooked ramen seemed too hot. After swallowing the noodles, the girl pouted and stuck out her small tongue at Kitahara Sosuke, wanting to show him the burn.

"Eat slowly."

Kitahara Sousuke poured a glass of water and handed it to the girl, watching her eagerly tilt her head back and drink half of it. Then he turned around and poured a glass for Hoshizuki Kaede on the other side as well.

"It's actually pretty good."

Xingyue Feng nodded in agreement. The ramen here was just as good as some expensive ramen shops. The steaming broth enveloped the three of them, creating a hazy atmosphere.

As the three of them were enjoying their meal, the bell on the door curtain rang again, signaling the arrival of new customers and reminding the owner to hurry and serve them.

"Brother, is this the kind of place you brought us out for a late-night snack?"

"Actually, the ramen at this shop is quite delicious..."

A somewhat embarrassed male voice came through.

"Hehe, then let's trust our brother this once."

The girl's complaints could be heard even through the curtain, but Master Fujii remained unfazed. He had heard these kinds of complaints from new customers many times before, and instead of arguing, he preferred to win them over with his superb skills.

As for Kitahara Sousuke, upon hearing this familiar address and the self-reference of "we," he turned his body with a strange expression and looked behind him.

"Is Tokyo really that small?"

Sure enough, a girl with a black bob haircut walked in with a smile, pulling a boy by the arm. Although Sifang Diezi had been complaining, she was secretly overjoyed.

My brother, that blockhead, is finally starting to get it. He actually invited us out for dinner. Although the location is still as clueless as ever, it's just some obscure little shop. But at least it's an improvement.

Yoko stepped past the Hoshizuki sisters, who were engrossed in slurping their noodles, and sat down next to Kaoru Sato, a chair away from the three of them. She picked up the menu with great interest and began to choose her noodles.

"What would you like to eat, brother?"

"How about soy sauce ramen?"

"Two bowls of soy sauce ramen, please, boss!"

Butterfly energetically raised her hand to order, then, out of the corner of her eye, she seemed to catch a glimpse of someone next to her. She turned around, looking at the Hoshizuki sisters with some surprise: "Eh? Maple, Rin, what a coincidence..."

"Diezi, what a coincidence!"

Xingyue Feng wiped her mouth with a tissue and nodded, while Xingyue Ling simply waved as a greeting.

Then, Yoko passed over Hoshizuki Kaede's figure and saw Kitahara Sousuke sitting in the middle. The latter waved to the two of them with an expression that was seven parts surprise and three parts amusement:

"Yo, good evening, Sato-senpai and... Yomo-kun."

"Good evening..."

Sifang Diezi forced a smile, but inwardly she couldn't help but complain, "Why did I have to run into him again?"

Chapter Seventy-Eight: Good Men of the Showa Era

"Oh, it's Kitahara-kun."

Sato Kaoru greeted Kitahara Sosuke. Compared to when he saw Hoshizuki Kaede and Hoshizuki Rin earlier, this junior, whom he had only met once, made him feel more relaxed.

It would be fine if he just ate with Choko, since Choko was almost like a childhood friend to him. But when he ran into a classmate who was just as pretty as Choko, Sato Kaoru felt a little uncomfortable.

His personality was like that of a shadowy figure in the class, much like Kitahara Sousuke in the first year. He preferred to hide in a corner and read by himself rather than have too much contact with others.

Sato Kaoru subtly moved Yoko to her left, so that Hoshizuki Kaede and Yoko were sitting together, while she sat alone in the far right corner.

The girls sat together and talked about anything and everything. Before long, they went from talking about interesting things on campus to a popular cosmetic product.

"Sato-senpai, you seem a little nervous?"