Tokyo: After years of stagnation, the heiress of the yakuza arrives.

"Beep beep beep—"

"Click!"

A crisp electronic door opening sound rang out.

After Amamiya Kaoru forcibly turned off the smart lock's alarm with a dark expression, the door finally opened.

Kuroba Shido entered the room leaning on his cane, his movements as practiced as if he had returned to his original location. He showed no awareness of being an outsider and even went straight to the living room sofa without any hesitation, bypassing the entrance hall.

Kaoru Amamiya watched his retreating figure, her lips twitching slightly.

"Kid, aren't you being a little too skilled?"

Kuroba Shido sat down on the sofa, put his schoolbag aside, leaned back, and showed a peaceful expression of relief after surviving a disaster.

"Teacher, the most important thing in life is to adapt to the environment."

"This is my home."

"So I'm trying to adjust to my teacher's home."

Amamiya Kaoru: "..."

She suddenly realized that she should have triggered the smart lock alarm earlier.

Kuroba Shido lay there for two seconds, then raised his hand and very naturally commanded, "Teacher, water."

Amamiya Kaoru remained silent.

Kuroba Shido continued, "Ideally, it should be ice-cold, but lukewarm water is fine if ice-cold water isn't available. Of course, if you have soda, that would better reflect the teacher's humanistic care for the wounded."

Amamiya Kaoru slowly walked to the sofa.

Shido Kuroba blinked.

"teacher?"

boom.

Amamiya Kaoru punched him on the head.

"You brat, you really think you're the boss, huh!"

Kuroba Shido got beaten up so badly he looked like a cat and mouse meme, he almost got to enjoy his newfound happiness...

"If you keep uttering any more nonsense, I'll make your injuries even worse today."

Kuroba Shido fell silent instantly, and pulled the small blanket closer to his chest, as if protecting the last shred of human rights.

Amamiya Kaoru turned and went to the kitchen, grumbling under her breath, but still opened the cupboard to find something to eat for the brat.

Then she fell silent.

The cabinet was very clean.

The refrigerator was also very clean.

It was so clean that it didn't look like a normal adult living in a house; it looked like it had just been ransacked by some famine raid.

Amamiya Kaoru stared at the refrigerator for a few seconds before finally remembering something very serious.

It seems like she hasn't bought anything in a long time.

She usually spends most of her time lounging around in the school clinic, where there are snacks, instant noodles, emergency drinks, and all sorts of other things she's stockpiled up on at some point. Over time, the clinic has become like her second base camp.

As for home?

As long as I can sleep, that's fine.

She had already eaten the last bit of food herself, but she had been too lazy to restock.

In the living room, Shido Kuroba was leaning back on the sofa recovering his energy, while Daikoku popped out of his backpack, clutching a piece of cordyceps he'd somehow found, and was snapping away in the corner.

Kaoru Amamiya poked her head out from the kitchen.

"Little brat."

Shido Kuroba looked up.

"Um?"

There's no food at home.

The living room fell silent for a moment.

Kuroba Shido and Daikoku, who was chewing cordyceps, stopped at the same time.

The man and the mouse slowly turned their heads.

Kuroba Shido's eyes widened.

Half of the cordyceps in the big black dog's mouth fell off.

"What?"

Kuroba Shido's voice changed.

"No food?"

Amamiya Kaoru felt a little guilty, but she still forced herself to appear calm and composed.

"I didn't buy it."

The way Kuroba Shido looked at her was as if he were looking at an incomprehensible phenomenon of civilization regression.

"Teacher, you're an adult, how come you don't have any food at home?"

"I don't usually eat at home!"

"Then what's the point of you living here?"

"Go to sleep!"

Kuroba Shido remained silent.

Big Black also remained silent.

Amamiya Kaoru was somewhat annoyed and angry by the stares of the man and the rat.

"What? If you don't have anything to eat, go out and buy some. Don't look at me like that!"

Kuroba Shido took a deep breath and stood up with a serious expression.

"Teacher, you're right."

Amamiya Kaoru was taken aback.

"Why are you being so cooperative this time?"

"Because the food issue is a matter of people's livelihood."

Kuroba Shido leaned on his cane, put his backpack back on, and carefully stuffed the big black thing back in, leaving only its head sticking out so it could breathe.

"And I also have to pick up Big Black's wife and son."

Amamiya Kaoru: "???"

"What wife and son?"

"Big Black is a family rat."

Shido Kuroba's expression was serious.

"His wife and little black cat are still outside. As the head of the family, even though he is so hungry that he is eating cordyceps, he cannot forget his wife and children."

Amamiya Kaoru glanced at Daikoku.

Big Black also looked at her.

Whether it was my imagination or not, I could see a hint of weariness on the face of a mouse.

Her lips twitched.

"Your family is even more complicated than mine!"

"Teacher, a sense of responsibility transcends species."

"You brat who's planning to laze around in my house, don't talk to me about responsibility!"

Despite saying that, Amamiya Kaoru eventually changed her shoes and went out with Kuroba Shido and Daikoku.

Procurement.

Pick up Big Black Wife.

Pick up Xiao Hei.

This was the original plan.

As a result, the two had only been out of the apartment for a short while when they smelled the aroma of barbecue on the roadside.

Night had fallen, and the roadside stalls were lit with warm yellow lights. Oil sizzled on the grills, and the meat skewers kicked up a cloud of smoke as they were turned over. The aroma of cumin and chili wafted over on the wind, hitting the two hungry ghosts squarely.

Kuroba Shido stopped in his tracks.

Amamiya Kaoru also stopped in her tracks.

Both of them looked at the barbecue stall at the same time.

The air was silent for two seconds.

Kuroba Shido spoke.

"teacher."

Amamiya Kaoru swallowed hard, forcing herself to adopt a rational, adult demeanor.

"No, we're out shopping."

"You need to be well-fed to have the energy to shop."

"No, things from outside aren't healthy."

"Teacher, the instant noodles in your infirmary aren't exactly healthy either."

Amamiya Kaoru: "..."

Kuroba Shido continued to patiently guide him.

"Moreover, we also need to pick up Big Black's wife and Little Black. This is a very serious family matter, and handling family matters on an empty stomach will affect our judgment."

Amamiya Kaoru remained silent.

She glanced at the chicken wings on the barbecue stand that had just been brushed with sauce.

The chicken wings glistened under the light.

It was as if fate was calling her.

Three seconds later.

Amamiya Kaoru turned around.

"Just a little bit."

Kuroba Shido's eyes lit up.

"I understand, teacher, you're only scratching the surface."

Ten minutes later.

Kaoru Amamiya sat at a small table, a skewer in her left hand, a can of soda in her right, and a little sauce on the corner of her mouth.

Kuroba Shido looked at her.

"Teacher, you said you'd only eat a little!"

Kaoru Amamiya remained expressionless.

"Kid, don't take adults' words too seriously."

"I've learned something."

The two of them lowered their heads and began to eat.

Kuroba Shido was genuinely hungry.

Although he ate a club meal on the third floor of the cafeteria today, he was extremely exhausted after experiencing Miyazaki Kiyoshi, Onodera Tsuneo, the toilet escape, the medical room horror movie, and the mental blow of being homeless.

Amamiya Kaoru was genuinely hungry.

He rode a shared bike to school, argued with Kuroba Shido in the infirmary, and was so scared by a horror movie at night that he almost lost his soul. Now, when he eats barbecue, he's just as fast as Kuroba Shido.

Big Black was perched on the opening of his backpack, staring longingly at the roasted corn on the table.

Kuroba Shido broke off a small piece of the un-spiced edge and gave it to him.

"Big Black, have something to eat first."

Seeing this, Kaoru Amamiya couldn't help but complain.

"You're so loyal to rats?"

Kuroba Shido was completely serious.

"It lived with me in the sewers."

Amamiya Kaoru ate a meal with chopsticks.

She glanced at Kuroba Shido, but in the end, she didn't continue to complain. She simply pushed a skewer of grilled mantou slices that weren't very spicy towards her.

"Give it to me."

Shido Kuroba blinked.

"Teacher, you are a good person."

Amamiya Kaoru blushed and immediately turned her head away.

"Stop talking nonsense and eat your food."

Not far away.

Next to another small table.

The elegant lady and Ritsuki Sawamura were also sitting there.

The two had perfectly legitimate reasons for leaving the hotel.

To restore strength.

You need to be well-fed to have the energy to work.

After all, the transfer student plan is no small matter, and settling scores with Kuroba Shido is no small matter either. Before that, he must first get his physical condition to its best.

The elegant lady ate until her belly was bulging, and she was still holding a skewer of roasted chicken skin in her hand, chewing it very carefully.

Riyue Sawamura was holding a drink, her dark circles were still very heavy, and her pink hair was still a bit messy, but at least she was in a better state than the defeated little ghost she was in during the day.

"Auntie, are you still eating?"

The elegant woman chewed and chewed.

"Little pink-haired girl, do you understand how to regain your strength?"

"You call that restoring your strength? You're just eating yourself into a ball."

"The loser has no right to judge the winner's diet."

Ritsuki Sawamura's eyes turned cold.

"Who did you just call a loser?"

Just as the elegant woman was preparing to retaliate, her peripheral vision suddenly caught sight of a small table not far away.

She stopped what she was doing.

Chew.

stop.

The elegant woman remained silent.

Her gaze was fixed on something not far away.

Under the warm yellow light of the roadside stall, Shido Kuroba and Kaoru Amamiya were sitting together eating skewers. There was also a backpack next to them, with a small mouse's head peeking out of the backpack opening.

……