And her precious little sister, Miho, was standing right beside Orange Quiet Forest like a dutiful little assistant, holding two clean sets of bowls and chopsticks in her hands, looking up at her with eyes full of adoring stars.
“Mhm, the seasoning is just right.”
Orange Quiet Forest turned her head and happened to meet those deep blue eyes at the end of the hallway, widened in extreme shock.
Time seemed to freeze in that moment.
Umimi stood frozen in place, bare feet on the slightly cool floor, mouth slightly agape, completely petrified.
An illusion?
Must be the fever messing with her head, right?
Then, the two teammates locked eyes.
“Ah…”
“Good evening.”
That abstract, god-like person who drove the judges crazy on the audition stage with “I don’t know” and performed “Ice Cream Sandwich” using a virtual avatar in her live streams…
…Why was she wearing an apron, radiating a motherly glow, standing in her kitchen making congee?
And even though they were about the same age, their relationship was complicated.
Kunomi Umi stared at Orange Quiet Forest in confusion.
“You… you, you, you…”
Umimi’s severe social anxiety erupted completely under the massive shock.
She pointed a trembling finger at Orange Quiet Forest, unable to form a complete sentence, looking exactly like a Meowth that had just seen an alien.
“Oh, the patient’s awake?”
Orange Quiet Forest couldn’t help but chuckle softly at her amusing expression.
“If you’re awake, go wash your hands. Running around barefoot might make your condition worse.”
“Okay!”
Miho immediately put down the bowls and chopsticks, pattered over to the entrance, fetched a pair of fluffy rabbit slippers, and placed them at Umimi’s feet.
“Sis, put these on quickly!”
It wasn’t until her little sister pulled her to sit at the dining table, until a silver spoon was pressed into her hand, and until she was looking at the bowl of steaming hot congee in front of her, garnished with vibrant green scallions and finely minced meat, that Umimi finally felt a sense of reality.
“Gurgle…”
Her stomach let out an incredibly loud, honest rumble.
Umimi’s originally pale face flushed red all the way to the tips of her ears.
She hung her head low, wishing she could bury her face right into the congee bowl.
“Eat it while it’s hot, it’ll warm your stomach.”
Orange Quiet Forest sat across from her, propping her chin on one hand, her eyes brimming with amusement.
She didn’t laugh at Umimi’s embarrassment, just gently pushed a plate of light, cold-tossed side dish in front of her.
With a trembling hand, Umimi scooped up a spoonful of the white congee, blew on it lightly, and brought it to her mouth.
The rice had been cooked until the grains burst open, melting on the tongue.
The savory flavor of the minced meat and the fresh sweetness of the vegetables blended perfectly on her taste buds, transforming into a warm current that slid down her throat and into her empty stomach, instantly dispelling the chill from head to toe.
It’s so good.
“Thank you…”
Umimi squeezed out two words, her voice as thin as a mosquito’s.
“You’re welcome.”
Orange Quiet Forest looked at her with a smile.
“If you want to thank someone, thank Miho. If Miho hadn’t picked me up outside the convenience store, you’d probably be fighting that virus on an empty stomach tonight.”
Hearing this, Umimi jerked her head up to look at her little sister, who was sitting beside her obediently drinking her congee:
“Miho? You… you went out alone?!”
“Because big sis was sick, I was scared…”
Miho put down her spoon, her face flushed as she shouted.
Like a child who had done something wrong seeking an explanation.
“I knew Quiet Forest sis was around that area, so I went to ask her for help. Quiet Forest sis is a good person!”
Orange Quiet Forest, who had just been given a “good person card,” felt a bit awkward.
“Ahem, it was nothing. I’d just be playing games back home anyway, meow.”
But for Orange Quiet Forest, being willing to spare time from gaming to help was already quite gentle.
Wasn’t the reason she didn’t want to become an idol in the first place because she didn’t want to waste her gaming time?
Umimi looked at this beautiful girl sitting across from her, who radiated a lazy aura yet was unexpectedly reliable.
Actually, the sick Umimi had been very afraid.
Being sick always brought out some bad thoughts.
But now, looking at Orange Quiet Forest across the table who was complaining “hot, hot, hot” while stuffing meatballs into her mouth, listening to the slight boiling sound still coming from the clay pot in the kitchen…
Umimi’s eyes suddenly felt a bit sore.
“Um… Orange… Orange-san…”
Umimi mustered her courage, though her voice was still trembling.
Orange Quiet Forest swallowed the food in her mouth and corrected her.
“Just call me Quiet Forest, or you can call me sis, meow. Aren’t we teammates after all?”
That’s right, “teammates,” not “mom.”
Mhm… even without this marriage, she and Umimi were going to be teammates anyway.
Might as well start treating each other as teammates from the beginning.
“Okay.”
Orange Quiet Forest still had to go home for dinner later, so she didn’t plan to eat too much.
She’d just finish this small bowl of congee slowly like this.
“No need to be so nervous, or so resistant towards me. I’m not greedy for anything, and I don’t plan to pull rank. Isn’t that contract already half-abandoned? From now on, let’s just get along as friends, as teammates.”
Orange Quiet Forest had originally planned to take Umimi’s temperature again after the meal, but she could do it herself.
Right, she is a high school student after all.
“Umimi, I’m sorry I didn’t notice you weren’t feeling well during training today.”
Umimi shook her head.
“No… actually, I didn’t have a fever during training. I just felt a bit heavy, I thought I hadn’t slept well. I didn’t expect that once I relaxed after training ended… I should have paid more attention.”
Orange Quiet Forest smiled.
“Then we were both a bit careless, huh.”
Time had dragged on until Ms. Orange Peach finished her work.
She said she’d come pick her up personally soon.
Might as well chat a bit more.
“Ahem… as a teammate, I wanted to ask, do just the two of you live on the top floor of this apartment building? Miho’s only in her first year of middle school, and you’re only a second-year in high school, right? Even without safety concerns, it must be tough for two girls to live together?”
Umimi lowered her head to answer.
“The two of us can manage.”
Miho, however, replied quickly.
“Although we could hire someone to manage the household, my sister and I want this to be a home that belongs only to us.”
Miho paused for a moment, took a breath, and continued.
“And this building…”
Umimi interrupted her sister.
“Maybe we shouldn’t talk about that.”
Miho shook her head.
“Quiet Forest sis helped us so much today, and it’s not a bad thing for her to know, right? If that man isn’t dead, Quiet Forest sis can’t stay out of it anyway.”
“Alright.”
Miho sat up straight, placing her hands in front of her thighs, like a little adult.
“In a nutshell, to put it simply. We were actually abandoned by our father. Our mother was a beauty, pursued intensely by our father back then. After giving birth to us two, we lived a happy life for a while.”
Umimi, who had been acting timidly, looked up and added, her tone no longer halting.
“When I was 12, and my sister was 8, our mother passed away. That man quickly found a new lover and found us to be in the way. So, in a buyout sort of way, he secretly cut ties with us.”
Miho picked up where her sister left off.
“The price of the buyout was this high-end apartment in the city center. We’re practically like princesses imprisoned in a high tower from a fairy tale.”
Umimi sighed.
“The first floor has many high-end shops. The upper floors are all apartments. The occupancy rate is very high because the location is excellent, with complete amenities. There are many international fashion brands and entertainment companies around here. A lot of celebrities live here too. The monthly money… it’s a lot… This is the gift for drawing a line with us…”
Miho looked at Orange Quiet Forest, who had taken care of her.
“And that man… probably wouldn’t give up all those other women for you. He might have had women on the outside even before our mother died, otherwise how could he abandon us so quickly? Even if that man isn’t dead, you’d most likely be used and discarded in the end, and end up imprisoned here with us.”