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

zoo.

The toilet, the last one.

Kuroba Shido sat on the closed toilet seat, holding a double cheeseburger in his left hand and two fries in his right. His soda was stuck between his injured leg and the wall, and his plate was awkwardly propped up on his knee.

Big Black was squatting on the tissue box next to him, holding a small piece of unseasoned chicken leg in his arms, chewing away...

One person and one mouse.

One person is eating a hamburger.

A chicken leg to gnaw on.

From time to time, the sound of wrapping paper being opened could be heard from the toilet stall, as well as the soft chewing sounds of Dahei eating with great concentration.

Kuroba Shido took a big bite of his hamburger and mumbled, "Kuroba, eat your chicken leg slowly. Nobody's going to take it from you. The boss hasn't even finished this piece yet, what's the rush for you, his little brother?"

"squeak……"

"Don't just eat meat, have some bread too. Nutrition needs to be balanced."

Kuroba Shido broke off a small piece of bread from the edge of the hamburger and threw it into Daikoku's arms. Daikoku caught it skillfully, pressed the chicken leg meat under his belly, and continued chewing.

The next cubicle.

A man who had just sat down gradually stopped moving.

What is that?

Boss?

little brother?

drumstick?

And there's a strange squeaking sound?

The man glanced down at the bottom of the partition, confirming that there was only a pair of sneakers next to him, and his expression gradually became wary.

Could someone be making a phone call in the restroom, discussing the division of spoils within some underground organization?

"Big Black, this fry belongs to the boss, don't stare at it."

"squeak……"

"Being cute won't work. Too much salt will easily lead to high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and high blood sugar. Your head is getting more and more pointed, which means you're at a critical stage in your martial arts breakthrough. You must strictly control your diet."

The man next door: "..."

I understand less and less.

Kuroba Shido stuffed the fries into his mouth, chewed them a couple of times, then picked up the chicken leg and crunched off a piece of the crispy outer skin.

"This is spicy, you can't eat it."

"squeak?"

"It's not that the boss is reluctant to give it to you, it's for your own good. Why would a rat like you need such heavy tastes? Are you planning to marry a second wife someday?"

The man next door: "???"

mouse?

So that little brother was a mouse?

The man looked down at the ground, lost in thought.

Would a normal person bring a mouse and hide in the last toilet stall in the zoo to eat fried chicken?

Old Eight and Little Eight?

It cannot be said to be completely abnormal.

There's definitely something wrong with it.

Just then, a French fry rolled under the partition and stopped right next to the man's shoes.

Both sides fell silent at the same time.

The man looked down at the fries.

Kuroba Shido also looked down at the French fry that had failed to escape.

A few seconds later, Kuroba Shido lowered his voice and said, "Brother, could you please bring back my little brother's rations?"

The man next door: "..."

Not your fries?

It's from a mouse?

The man silently lifted his foot and stiffly kicked the fries back.

Thanks.

Shido Kuroba picked up the fries, glanced at the dust that had settled on them, and casually tossed them into the trash bag.

"Big Black, do you see? Food that runs around outside can't be eaten; it's unhygienic."

The man next door: "..."

When you eat in the toilet, why don't you consider hygiene?

Completely unaware of the mental torment his neighbor was enduring, Kuroba Shido took another big gulp of soda, finished the remaining half of his hamburger, and then handed the last bit of unseasoned bread and chicken breast on his plate to Daikoku.

"We're done eating and calling it a day. The senior student should have finished chatting by now."

Big Black held the food in its two paws and buried its head in its food.

It doesn't care how the senior student's conversation goes.

As long as Shido Kuroba doesn't forget to feed him, Kuroba will follow his boss wherever he goes.

A few minutes later, the cubicle door opened.

The man next door stopped everything almost simultaneously and pricked up his ears to listen to the sounds outside.

Shido Kuroba, leaning on his cane, walked out of the last pit. Big Black was perched on the edge of his coat pocket, with a bit of bread crumbs still stuck to the corner of his mouth. The two of them went to the sink and diligently finished cleaning up after the meal.

The people washing their hands in the restroom gradually slowed down.

Some people are watching Kuroba Shido.

Some people are watching Big Black.

Some people looked at the cubicle that Shido Kuroba had just come out of, as if to confirm whether they had misunderstood the purpose of the toilet.

Kuroba Shido turned on the tap, washed his hands, and then took out a tissue to wipe Dahei's paws.

"Pay attention to hygiene in public places, so that others don't think we lack manners."

Those around: "..."

Who is the one with less manners?

After wiping its paws, Big Black obediently shrunk back into its pocket.

Shido Kuroba, leaning on his cane, walked calmly towards the door amidst a chorus of strange looks. As he passed a young man wearing glasses, the man finally couldn't help but speak.

"Um...were you eating inside just now?"

Kuroba Shido stopped and turned to look at him.

"How is that possible?"

The young man breathed a sigh of relief.

really.

Why would a normal person hide in the toilet to eat fried chicken?

Kuroba Shido said earnestly, "I'm taking refuge inside; eating is just something I did on the side."

Young man: "..."

Kuroba Shido didn't explain further, limping away from the restroom, leaving several people standing by the sink, questioning their existence...

This guy doesn't look like a normal person...

After leaving the restroom, Kuroba Shido took out his phone and checked the time.

More than twenty minutes.

Based on Yoshiko Sawamura's appetite and Ritsuki Sawamura's current level of redness, this time should be enough for them to finish eating and then have another round of intimate conversation between mother and daughter.

Most importantly, Onodera Zannen should have already finished his temporary table-sharing session.

You can go back now.

Kuroba Shido moved back the way he came towards Kendeshuang. When he got close to the door, he didn't go in immediately. Instead, he very cautiously hid behind the advertising sign, only showing half of his face, and observed the inside through the glass window.

The senior student is still here.

The Sawamura mother and daughter are still alive.

Not only did they not finish their meal and leave, the three of them even had a very pleasant conversation.

Yoshiko Sawamura held half a French fry in her hand, talking non-stop. Tsuneo Onodera listened quietly, nodding occasionally. Ritsuki Sawamura sat beside her, her face still flushed, but she had clearly joined the conversation.

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

Why are you chatting like this?

Moreover, judging from the current situation, it shows no sign of ending anytime soon.

What level of social terrorist is Zanne Onodera?

Twenty minutes ago, they were complete strangers, but now they can sit together and discuss life and relationships.

Kuroba Shido gasped and slowly pulled his head back.

You can't go in.

Going in now is tantamount to voluntarily walking to the execution ground, and you have to find a chair to sit on and ask the three executioners which question they intend to begin with.

run away.

Let's continue watching the animals.

At least the animals wouldn't ask him what his relationship was with the pink-haired girl, nor would they question why the senior was holding his arm.

Kuroba Shido turned around, deliberately making the sound of his cane hitting the ground soft, and the man and the rat quietly retreated along the outer wall of the fast food restaurant.

He turned and left, as if he had made up his mind... without looking back.

Inside the Kendesheng fast food restaurant.

Onodera Zannen picked up the warm water, his peripheral vision quietly sweeping across the window.

Behind the sign, a cane had just been retracted when that familiar figure appeared, limping along the outer wall of the fast food restaurant. The speed was not fast, but the movements were very firm, and there was no intention of even turning around to check.

The smile on Onodera Zanne's face remained unchanged.

It was as if I hadn't seen anything.

"So, you've known each other for many years?"

"Um."

Riyue Sawamura, holding her soda, said somewhat awkwardly, "We met when we were kids playing video games. We just chat, but we've never met in person."

"I see."

Onodera Zannen nodded slightly, not immediately asking what the person's name was, nor showing excessive curiosity, but simply continuing the conversation based on the information that Sawamura Ritsu herself had provided.

"To have known each other for so many years, we must be very important friends."

"It's not that important."

Ritsuki Sawamura answered quickly.

It moved as fast as an ostrich burying its head in the sand at the first sound of noise at night, even though it said there was nothing outside, its whole rear end was still sticking out of the air.

Yoshiko Sawamura sat next to her, her mouth stuffed with a chicken leg, blinking her eyes.

unimportant?

Who is it that huddled up in a ball with their blanket after not receiving any news all day? Who is it that, upon hearing that someone had a date with a senior, immediately let out a snarling sound like a defeated dog? And who is it that was half-dead this morning and finally needed their great mother to drag them out to bask in the sun?

Children should not lie.

You should especially not lie in front of your mother.

Yoshiko Sawamura mumbled, "He's very important. When the little pink-haired girl was bullied as a child, she would go to him; when she lost a game, she would go to him; when she couldn't sleep, she would go to him; and later..."

Under the table, an elbow strike landed precisely.

Yoshiko Sawamura: "Hmm!"

I almost spat the chicken leg out of my mouth.

She clutched her side and looked at Ritsuki Sawamura in disbelief.

Ritsuki Sawamura wore a polite smile, but her eyes were chillingly cold: "Old lady, don't talk while you're eating, you might choke."

Yoshiko Sawamura: "..."

How could the little pink-haired girl say such a thing?

Who was the person who almost choked her to death twice today?

However, considering that continuing to sabotage might actually lead to a third near-death experience, Yoshiko Sawamura wisely lowered her head and began to focus on eating her chicken leg.

Onodera Zannen observed all of this, her smile undiminished: "It sounds like he's been by your side the whole time."

Ritsuki Sawamura paused slightly, looking down at the bubbles rising continuously in the cup.

"It's just through the internet."

"There are people on the other side of the internet too."

"It's hard to say whether that guy even counts as a human being."

At this point, Ritsuki Sawamura's tone finally became a little more natural, and she began to list the misdeeds of a certain absent online friend: "He often doesn't reply to messages, suddenly disappears halfway through a game, likes to say inexplicable things, and always brags that he is the most handsome boy in Tokyo, the human form of Ultraman, the summoner of Kamen Rider and Emperor Armor..."

Onodera Zannen listened quietly, a faint smile appearing in his eyes.

That's definitely what Shido said.

It even sounds a bit conservative.

"What's his name?"

Onodera Zanne asked the question very naturally, in a tone no different from asking about the game, the chat, or how long they had known each other.

Ritsuki Sawamura didn't think much of it: "Shido Kuroba."

She paused slightly after the name was uttered.

Shido?

Suddenly, the scene from before flashed through Ritsuki Sawamura's mind.

Inside the panda enclosure, Onodera Zanne was supporting the strange man with a crooked mouth and slanted eyes, and seemed to be calling out to him repeatedly...

Shidou-san?

She looked up: "By the way, I just heard you call that guy 'Ren Dao'?"

Onodera Zannen nodded gently.

"Um."

"He's also called Shido?"

"Yes."

Onodera Zannen did not add any more surnames, nor did he reveal any information that could connect the two identities; he simply calmly acknowledged the overly coincidental name.

Ritsuki Sawamura frowned.

Same name?

Not impossible.

While Shido isn't exactly a common name, Tokyo is so big that it's not unusual to run into two people with the same name. Besides, the guy she just met had absolutely nothing in common with her online friend except for their names.

He was over 1.8 meters tall, with a slender figure, and his profile seemed quite good-looking. In reality, he was accompanied by an excessively beautiful black-haired woman.

The other type is the otaku who likes to brag online, play games, and say weird things. He's probably sitting in front of his computer with potato chips in his hand, and he might even make a "hehehe" sound when he laughs.

They are not the same species at all.

Yoshiko Sawamura didn't make the connection either, but instead became interested: "What a coincidence, the pink-haired girl knows someone named Shido, and your classmate is also named Shido."

Onodera Zane's smile remained unchanged.

"It's quite a coincidence."

When she said this, her gaze was fixed on Ritsuki Sawamura's face, and her tone was so gentle that it conveyed no hidden meaning.

Ritsuki Sawamura inexplicably felt that this woman seemed to know something.

But this feeling comes quickly and disappears just as quickly.

She looked again at the spot where Kuroba Shido had been sitting and asked curiously, "What's your relationship with that person?"

"We are currently classmates at the same school."

"Just classmates?"

"Um."

Yoshiko Sawamura nodded in realization.

"I see."

reasonable.

That's quite reasonable.

The man from earlier was indeed of decent height and build, and his profile was passable, but when he turned around, his features looked like they were engaged in a fierce internal war with no winners.

And what about Onodera Zannen in front of us?

From appearance and temperament to body proportions, they are the type that stand out in a crowd. When the two stand together, the difference is so great that even a couple's filter might not be able to save them.

Ritsuki Sawamura also felt that being just classmates was more reasonable.

"I knew it..."

She swallowed the rest of her sentence.

Although the man's appearance was somewhat uncontrollable, it was still a bit impolite to say it in front of someone's classmate.

With a chicken leg still stuffed in her mouth, Yoshiko Sawamura clearly lacked her daughter's strong sense of etiquette, and mumbled, "You two really don't seem like a couple. There's a bit too much of a difference between you two..."

Ritsuki Sawamura stomped on her foot hard under the table.

Yoshiko Sawamura: "Hmm!"

He suddenly straightened up, and the second half of his sentence instantly turned into a painful groan.

Onodera Zannen had no life.

Even the smile on her face didn't change; she simply picked up her water glass and quietly looked at Ritsuki Sawamura.

"Not yet."

Ritsuki Sawamura paused for a moment.

Now?

That word is used rather strangely.

Yoshiko Sawamura stopped rubbing her feet and looked up at her.

Onodera's voice was still soft, even gentle in the noisy fast food restaurant: "But it will be in the future."

Ritsuki Sawamura: "..."

Yoshiko Sawamura: "..."

"Shido will become my boyfriend and the person who will accompany me for the rest of my life."

Onodera Zannen spoke calmly, without boasting or joking, as if he were talking about something that had already been decided and only needed to wait for time to bring it to a certain point.

"He is very important to me."

After a brief pause, her gaze returned to Ritsuki Sawamura's face, her eyes still filled with a gentle smile.

"Therefore, I will not give him to anyone."

The air fell silent for a moment.

Even though she was talking about another stranger with the same name, Ritsuki Sawamura felt a strange, indescribable feeling, as if the words in front of her had bypassed something she hadn't yet clearly seen and landed precisely on her.

But how is that possible?

The person she knew, Kuroba Shido, was just an online friend.

The man who just left was just this woman's classmate.

The two people don't even look alike.

It's probably just that Onodera Zannen is used to looking at the other person when she speaks.

While Riki Sawamura was still pondering, Yoshiko Sawamura had already sensed the undeniable aura in the air, and her expression changed visibly.

"Actually, if you look closely, you two are quite a good match!"

Ritsuki Sawamura: "???"

That's not what the old lady just said.

Yoshiko Sawamura quickly adjusted her stance, her tone so sincere that it was as if nothing had happened: "That boy is tall and has a great physique. Although his facial expression was a little out of control just now, young people are like that, it's normal for their faces to twitch occasionally. He'll recover after a massage when he gets back."

Ritsuki Sawamura: "..."

What is facial cramping?

Onodera Zanne chuckled softly: "Shido-kun isn't usually like that."

Ritsuki Sawamura's eyes flickered slightly.

It's not like that?

In other words, that guy's crooked mouth and slanted eyes were intentional?

Why?

Yoshiko Sawamura, completely oblivious to her daughter's confusion, was still trying to smooth things over: "Besides, he looks incredibly promising. You and he are a perfect match, a match made in heaven. My eyesight was just bad; I didn't see him clearly just now."

Onodera Zannen nodded gently: "Thank you."

You're welcome, you're welcome.

Yoshiko Sawamura finally breathed a sigh of relief and lowered her head to continue eating her chicken leg.

The art of language.

He saved his mother's life once again.

Onodera Zannen picked up his water glass, glancing out the window again out of the corner of his eye.

Kuroba Shido had long since vanished without a trace.

She didn't chase after him.

She simply continued to have dinner with the Sawamura mother and daughter, as if everything that had happened that day was just a coincidence, as if her words just now were simply introducing her relationship with Shido to two strangers.

As for the Kuroba Shido that Sawamura Ritsu knows, is he really the Shido classmate she mentioned...?

Onodera Zannen did not ask.

It was not pointed out at all.

Sometimes, once something is said out loud, it loses its original effect.

……

The elephant enclosure at the zoo.

Kuroba Shido was completely unaware that a cross-server chat was taking place in the fast food restaurant, and even less aware that his name had appeared in two completely different servers, yet the two parties involved naturally interpreted it as a coincidence.

Shido Kuroba stood outside the fence, feeling quite relaxed.

There weren't many tourists in the elephant area. It was spacious and well-ventilated. Most importantly, there were no pink-haired animals, no middle-aged women, and no older female students asking him why he ran away again.

Safety.

We're finally safe.

Inside the enclosure, an adult elephant stood beside the pool, its long trunk curling up grass and slowly putting it into its mouth. Its huge ears occasionally twitched, its movements as gentle as a retired cadre who had seen through the ways of the world.

Kuroba Shido watched for a while, then reached out and patted his coat pocket.

"Big Black, come out and take a look."

Big Black poked its head out of the pocket.

"See that? This is a true master who makes a living with his nose. Not only can his nose eat, drink, bathe, and move trees, but it can also provide two large sinuses for his disobedient underlings when necessary."

Big Black: "..."

It quietly shrank a little deeper into its pocket... Why does this sound like it's implying something about it?

Kuroba Shido reached out and lifted the large black dog, placing it on his shoulder.

"Don't be afraid. The boss didn't say you have to learn. He's just taking you to broaden your horizons. Rats need to see a bigger world so they'll have something to brag about when they go back to the sewers."

Big Black perched on my shoulder, its beady black eyes gazing at the elephants inside the enclosure.

Just then, the elephant turned its head.

One big, one small, their eyes met through the fence.

The elephant stopped chewing grass, its long trunk froze in mid-air, and its huge ears stopped flapping.

Kuroba Shido paused for a moment, then asked, "Did it see you?"

Big Black: "Squeak?"

The next second, the once gentle elephant's eyes suddenly widened. Its massive body seemed to have seen some extremely terrifying natural enemy. Its four legs retreated in panic, its long trunk was raised high, and it let out a deafening scream.

"hold head high--!!!"

The elephant's face turned almost white with fright.

Although it was originally gray.

Zookeeper: "???"

Surrounding tourists: "???"

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

The elephant completely lost control, turned and ran, its massive body causing the ground to shake, water in the pool to splash out, a wooden frame next to it was kicked away, and then crashed into the reinforced fence with a bang.

boom--

The earth is shaking and the mountains are shaking.

The elephant swayed twice, rolled its eyes, and slowly tilted its massive body to the side, crashing to the ground and raising a cloud of dust.

coma.

The entire elephant enclosure was deathly quiet.

Kuroba Shido looked down at the large black creature on his shoulder.

Big Black also raised its head and cautiously looked at its boss, as if asking... Boss, what do we do now?

The Black Feather Warrior said, "..."

Don't call me boss anymore, you're the boss now...