Chapter 9: Things Xiaobai ate

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to run, it was…

The subsidiary card.

She closed her eyes and, at an angle Hisaki couldn’t see, silently clenched the fist resting on her knee.

Just endure it for now.

Once I get the card, I’ll show that woman what regret really means.

The moment the takeout bags opened, Rina’s brain stopped working.

The access card.

The escape plan.

The kidnapper’s schemes.

All of it, every single bit, was forcibly squeezed out of her skull by the aroma of fried chicken.

McDonald’s french fries, KFC egg tarts, Burger King burgers, Dicos pistol chicken legs…

Four bags held the signature items of four fast-food chains, and the heat and savory scent of grease mingled together, forming a small mushroom cloud above the dining table.

Rina sat on Hisaki’s lap, her back pressed against Hisaki’s chest, but at this moment she couldn’t care less about how intimate the position was.

Her eyes were welded to those takeout bags.

“Which one first, which one first, which one first…”

The words looped in her head at triple speed, but her hands didn’t move. Because she suddenly realized a problem…

She didn’t know what any of this tasted like.

She’d seen them in videos.

When she was lying in that hospital bed, scrolling on her phone was her only form of entertainment.

Food videos were her favorite category.

Cross-sections of burgers, the creative way of dipping fries in ice cream, egg tarts puffing up with golden crusts in the oven.

Countless videos. She’d memorized each store’s signature item and memorized the texture descriptions of every single food.

She’d never eaten a single one.

Now, facing four foods she’d “known” through a screen for eighteen years, she suddenly didn’t know where to start.

“Stuck?”

Hisaki’s voice came from above her head, carrying a hint of curious teasing.

“Weren’t you so confident listing off the names a moment ago?”

Rina’s shoulders trembled.

Then she reached out and grabbed the first thing.

Fries.

Rina picked one up.

Her fingers could feel the slight firmness of the fry’s exterior and the soft give of the mashed potato inside.

Her heart was racing.

She opened her mouth and stuffed the fry in.

Crunch.

Her eyes flew wide.

“Mmh!”

Rina swallowed the first fry, then grabbed the second and third at a speed almost too fast to see.

Her mouth never stopped, cheeks stuffed so full she looked like a hamster frantically shoving seeds into its cheeks.

“Slow down.”

Hisaki reached out and wiped the salt grains from the corner of Rina’s mouth.

Rina completely ignored her.

She’d already opened the second bag.

Egg tart.

Rina reached for it, but the moment her fingertip touched the tart shell, she snatched her hand back.

Hot!

She blew on her fingers, adjusted her grip, and pinched the edge of the tart to lift it up.

The flaky crust crumbled softly between her fingers.

She opened her mouth and bit down.

“Mm!”

Rina let out a second muffled sound, this one louder than before.

Then she looked down at the three remaining egg tarts in the box.

A mischievous idea suddenly popped into her head.

She picked up the second tart, took a bite.

Then put it back.

Every single tart now bore her neat, even teeth marks.

Rina looked at the four tarts she’d “claimed” and nodded in satisfaction.

Then she reached for the third bag.

The hamburger bun had gone slightly soft from the takeout steam, and a few sesame seeds stuck to her palm as they fell off.

Rina gripped the burger with both hands…

Her hands were too small, making the burger look especially huge in her grip…

Then she opened her mouth as wide as she could and bit down.

The softness of the bread…

The crunch of the lettuce…

The juiciness of the beef patty…

The sweet-tangy spiciness of the ketchup and mustard exploded across her mouth all at once.

Her chin got ketchup on it.

When Hisaki wiped it off with her finger, Rina was already taking her second bite.

This time she hit a pickle, and her brow furrowed instinctively.

She wasn’t sure she liked that flavor…

But then the beef patty’s juices surged up and mingled with the pickle’s tang, and she decided it wasn’t so bad after all.

She ate half, stared at the remaining half for two seconds, then wrapped it back up in the paper.

Her stomach was already sending out an “okay, that’s enough” signal.

But she still had one last target.

The pistol chicken leg.

Rina gripped the foil handle and raised the drumstick to eye level.

It was big.

Bigger than she’d imagined.

She swallowed hard…

She was already close to full, but that chicken leg looked way too good.

She lowered her head and bit down.

The crispy coating shattered in her mouth differently from the fries—thicker and crunchier, with steam rushing out of the crack the moment she bit through, carrying the pungent aroma of pepper and garlic powder.

The chicken fibers separated between her teeth, so tender she barely needed to chew, and the juices flowed out along the bite mark, dripping onto the palm she was holding underneath.

She only managed two bites before stopping.

Her stomach had reached its absolute limit.

It was round and full, the curve clearly visible through her nightgown.

Her stomach was filled with things she hadn’t dared to even dream about for eighteen years…

Rina looked down at the mess spread across the table.

Fries, every single one bitten in half…

Egg tarts, all four, each with a perfect crescent-shaped gap…

Burger, only half left…

Pistol chicken leg, two bites taken…

Every single food bore the marks of her teeth.

She’d “visited” every one of them in turn…

Rina tilted her head back.

The back of her skull pressed right against Hisaki’s collarbone, and her upside-down gaze met Hisaki’s dark red eyes.

Hisaki was looking down at her.

In fact, Hisaki had been watching her the whole time.

Her little Shiro was sitting on her lap, curled up in her arms, focused and wholehearted, eating the food she’d ordered.

Something in Hisaki’s chest was swelling, expanding until her ribs ached.

Rina’s voice sounded from within her embrace, lazy from being stuffed full and smug with satisfaction.

“I’m full~”

She drew out the last syllable languidly, then flashed a sly grin…

“Cleanup’s on you, kidnapper.”

As she spoke, Rina wriggled her body, signaling for the kidnapper to put her down.

Hisaki’s arms loosened.

Rina hopped off her lap and landed on the floor…

“Shiro.”

Hisaki’s voice chased after her from behind.

Rina stopped mid-step and turned around, still wearing her “I just ate and I’m invincible” expression.

“Brush your teeth.”

Rina’s expression froze for half a second.

Then she let out a “tch,” changed direction, and veered from the second bedroom toward the bathroom.

Hisaki watched the white fur ball reluctantly—but ultimately obediently—walk into the bathroom.

An obedient little Shiro.

Her gaze drifted back to the dining table.

A complete mess.

Hisaki looked at the food that little Shiro had “marked.”

Normally, she didn’t eat food.

Food had no nutritional value for her body. It would only take up space in her stomach and bring unnecessary digestive burden.

But now, sitting at the table, facing food that had been touched by little Shiro’s lips, bitten by little Shiro’s teeth, and licked by little Shiro’s tongue…

She suddenly had an appetite.

She wanted to eat these things stained with her saliva.

Hisaki reached out and picked up the fry that little Shiro had bitten in half.

The fry had gone cold and soft, but she still put it in her mouth.

She bit down, and the fry’s remains crumbled in her mouth.

It still tasted like a fry.

The salty flavor of deep-fried potato, no different from any ordinary fry.

But maybe it was psychological…

It really did taste better.

Hisaki broke off and ate the bitten side of every single egg tart.

The egg custard and flaky crust mixed together, carrying a faint, elusive sweetness in the eggy aroma…

She didn’t remember egg tarts being this sweet.

She picked up the half-eaten burger and took a bite.

Thinking that this was probably the same side little Shiro had bitten.

Last was the pistol chicken leg.

By the end of the meal, Hisaki had eaten every part of the food that little Shiro had touched.

The untouched parts were left behind instead.

She leaned back in her chair, wiped the corner of her mouth with a napkin, and then…

Smiled.

At the same time Hisaki was cleaning up the table.