Honkai Impact 3rd: Catching the Herrscher of Sentience at the Start

Fu Hua thought to herself, looking at Fu Lin with understanding and compassion. She sighed and said,

"Sigh~ I won't hold the vegetable theft against you. Mei should have finished cooking by now, we..."

(Fu Lin, Crap, in Fu Hua's eyes I've really become a beggar!)

Unfortunately, Fu Lin didn't know what Fu Hua was thinking. His clear eyes sparkled slightly, assuming she had truly forgiven him and let bygones be bygones.

So before Fu Hua could finish her sentence, Fu Lin turned around and ran back the way they came, leaving Fu Hua standing alone in the wind.

"Hua, we better hurry or Kiana will eat everything."

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Early the next morning, Fu Lin sat up on the bed, bleary-eyed. Looking around at the unfamiliar room, he scratched his messy hair, got up, and gulped down a glass of ice water, finally waking up.

Creak!

Suddenly, he heard the sound of a door opening behind him. Fu Lin turned around, still holding the water glass, and saw Mei standing there in a St. Freya Academy uniform.

Their eyes met at the same moment. Mei's gaze carried a hint of urgency and excitement.

"Fu Lin..."

Her eyes flickered as if she were thinking about something. Her lips trembled slightly as if she wanted to say something, but in the end, said nothing.

The next second, however, Mei looked confused, and there was also a hint of astonishment in her eyes as she looked at Fu Lin. An awkward atmosphere quickly filled the air.

"Fu Lin, it's not what you think!"

Mei's face instantly turned bright red. Her gaze shifted away from Fu Lin's upper body. She yanked the doorknob, and with a bang, the door shut tightly.

"..." The wind today is quite noisy… Another day of unrest, huh…

Fu Lin looked at the closed door, the way Mei had just called him "Fu Lin" made his eyes fill with confusion. He froze on the spot, seemingly not understanding why Mei had appeared.

Meanwhile, Mei was leaning helplessly against the door, covering her face, unable to remember why she had come there in the first place.

As the sound of rustling clothes came from the room, even if Mei didn't want to recall, the image of Fu Lin popped up in her mind, and her heartbeat involuntarily sped up.

After a while, the rustling stopped, and Mei's heartbeat gradually returned to normal. She let out a breath of relief, then pushed open the door and walked in.

What met her eyes was Fu Lin slouching lazily in a chair, his long legs crossed and resting on the desk.

He was holding a book, hiding his face, seemingly trying to cover up the awkward moment from earlier.

Looking further down, Fu Lin was dressed in a white shirt with the collar slightly open, revealing a delicate collarbone. He wore casual pants and a pair of sneakers.

After waiting for a while and not hearing Mei say anything, Fu Lin, sensing her gaze, stiffened behind the book.

Slowly lowering the book, he adjusted his collar and, with an awkward yet polite smile, looked at Mei.

"Mei?"

"Ah… sorry, I didn't mean to suddenly barge in without asking..."

Mei came back to her senses and hurriedly apologized for entering without permission. She herself wasn't sure why she had done something so impolite.

But she knew that the moment Fu Hua mentioned Fu Lin, she ran over uncontrollably, as if trying to confirm something.

"...Ahem, so early. Did Theresa ask you to come wake me up?"

Seeing Mei's shy expression, Fu Lin let out a breath of relief. That one affectionate "Fu Lin" had almost given him a heart attack—he thought the Mei from another world had arrived.

"No, I…"

Mei hesitated. She didn't even know why she had come to find Fu Lin. But when she met his gaze, she subconsciously said,

"I made some breakfast. Want to eat?"

Then, realizing what she just said, she quickly added, "Don't get the wrong idea. Class Monitor and Fu Shi are here too."

"Mm, sure, let's go!"

Upon hearing that, Fu Lin licked his lips, put his feet down, got up, grabbed the black coat hanging on the rack, slipped it on, and headed out the door.

....

"Hey! Did you all miss me?"

Fu Lin pushed open the door and walked in. Seeing everyone eating, he raised his hand to greet them, then pulled out the chair next to Fu Hua and sat down.

Fu Shi, sitting on Fu Hua's lap, quickly swallowed her food, looked up at Fu Lin, and gave him a bright smile.

"Perfect timing! I was just about to go call you, cough cough...!"

"Eat slower."

Fu Hua gently patted Fu Shi on the back and nodded at Fu Lin with a smile.

"So casually familiar…"

Himeko gave Fu Lin a glance, then looked at Fu Hua and Fu Shi. She muttered softly, continuing to eat her own food.

Fu Lin chuckled, looked at Fu Shi in Fu Hua's arms, patted her head, and said, "Weren't you guys the ones who sent Mei to call me?"

Just then, Mei walked out of the kitchen with a bowl of porridge and placed it in front of him, saying, "Fu Lin, eat up."

Fu Lin picked up his chopsticks, took a bite, and mumbled with his mouth full, "Mm, as expected of Mei's cooking, it's delicious. Suddenly, I'm kinda jealous of Fu Shi."

Hearing Fu Lin's compliment, Mei smiled faintly. Kiana, who was about to get up and fetch water, froze in place and sat back down, continuing to eat in big bites.

Maybe this is what they call "thirst quenched by gazing at Mei."

Fu Shi crossed her arms and said sarcastically, "What's there to be jealous of? You and Ki… her seem pretty happy too~"

Pfft! Cough cough, I'm not!

Fu Lin, who was drinking porridge, choked the moment he heard Fu Shi's sarcastic remark. His face flushed red, and after coughing up a few grains of rice, he hurried to defend himself.