As night fell, everything was quiet.
Uncle Neil was drunk, very drunk.
Knowing he truly had a wife and daughter filled him with overwhelming joy, and he clinked glasses with Kyoma repeatedly, drinking wine like water.
Soon the wine was finished, and Kyoma's bottle from Rayleigh that he'd kept safely in his pocket came in handy.
However, the aftereffects of this particular wine were incredibly strong.
Rayleigh must have given him and Zoro the "good stuff" that had been treasured in Shakky's warehouse for a long time, which would explain why Shakky had looked at Rayleigh like he was a wasteful fool.
****
After cleaning up the smell of alcohol in the bathroom, Kyoma carefully opened the bedroom door.
When he saw the girl's sleeping face under the bright moonlight, he couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief.
'Fortunately, I didn't wake her up.'
After closing the door and tiptoeing into the room, he suddenly felt something was wrong.
'Wait, why am I being so sneaky? I feel like a husband coming home late, trying to sneak in during the early morning hours.'
He stopped mid-step, embarrassed by his own behavior.
'What am I even thinking about?'
Kyoma patted his flushed face, trying to get his thoughts back to normal.
His mind wasn't clear after drinking.
However, when he noticed the bed made on the floor and the quilts placed neatly, a warm current surged through his heart, and those stray thoughts disappeared immediately.
"It turns out you're not as clueless as you look..." He muttered.
A smile appeared at the corner of his mouth.
Kyoma took one last look at the sleeping girl on the bed before burying himself in the makeshift bed on the floor, his drunkenness pulling him toward sleep.
'Good night, world…'
****
The next morning.
Sunlight streamed through the window and fell into the room.
"Mm..." Kagura stirred on the bed a few times before finally opening her eyes.
Then, in one swift motion, she sat upright.
She glanced around the room.
When she spotted Kyoma lying on the floor, still sleeping, her eyes suddenly lit up.
She braced her hands on the mattress, then kicked hard and launched herself forward.
Like a crow taking flight.
"Kyo-chan, I'm hungry."
Bang.
"Ugh... ah!"
Kyoma felt a sharp pain in his abdomen, as if something heavy had struck him.
He jolted awake instantly from his dream.
"What... what happened?"
Kyoma opened his eyes helplessly, thinking he'd encountered some critical situation.
When he saw the girl with disheveled hair sitting on his abdomen, he finally realized what had happened.
Immediately feeling angry, he said, "Get off first!"
There was an important reason why he needed her to get up…
But she didn't listen and get off him; she actually lowered her head and moved her face closer.
"Hurry up and get up, Kyo-chan. Let's go have breakfast!"
'Can my mornings not be like this in the future…?'
"Sigh"
Kagura tilted her head, her eyes flickering as she looked at him strangely for a few seconds, then suddenly stood up silently.
"Then I'll go brush my teeth first. Don't stay in bed anymore."
Kagura spoke as she walked toward the door. When she reached it, she looked back and asked, "By the way, does the uncle have any extra toothbrushes at home?"
"Probably not. Anyway, go wash your face first, and wait for me... Then I'll come out and take you to eat."
Kyoma answered quickly, being as detailed as possible.
"Hmph, you're so eager to take me out…"
After saying that, Kagura looked at him suspiciously.
"No fun. I'll go first. Come out quickly!"
But his worries were obviously unnecessary.
Kagura lost her patience after a moment, waved her hand dismissively, then turned around and left, closing the door behind her.
For a long time afterward, Kyoma lay completely still.
"So energetic...."
He lay on the makeshift bed for a while longer. He was suffering from something that all men suffer from in the morning.
Finally, Kyoma threw off the covers with renewed energy, ready to get up and greet the new day.
At that moment, the sound of Kagura and Uncle Neil talking suddenly drifted in from outside.
"Hey, Kagura, why are you the only one up? Where's Kyoma?"
"Oh, him? He's too embarrassed to get up because I caught him with morning wood earlier."
"..."
Boom.
Like a bolt from the blue, Kyoma froze on the spot, covering his face with his hands.
He couldn't tell if it was tears or cold sweat sliding down his cheeks.
'Damn it, she understood the whole time!'
He was genuinely mortified and didn't want to leave the room now.
****
For the entire morning, Kyoma remained in a state of existential dread.
Even after leaving the house and finishing some matters, his condition still hadn't improved.
"Come on, Kyo-chan. You're not a teenager anymore, hiding in your room to read dirty magazines behind your parents' backs. How can you be so depressed over such a small matter?"
Suddenly, Kagura pressed down on Kyoma's shoulder and shouted loudly in the middle of the street.
Swish.
As if they'd heard some explosive gossip, all the passersby around them cast strange looks at Kyoma and Kagura.
"What kind of outrageous things are you saying now?"
Kyoma was so shocked his jaw nearly hit the ground.
Not wanting to die of embarrassment twice in one day, he quickly took action.
He stretched out his hand to cover Kagura's mouth and fled the scene in utter humiliation.
Uncle Neil was waiting for them not far away.
When he saw Kyoma and Kagura emerge, he smiled and greeted them warmly.
"Kyoma, Miss Kagura, why are you leaving in such a hurry?" Seeing the two walking hastily, he followed their pace and asked in confusion.
"It's all because of this loudmouthed troublemaker."
Kyoma gritted his teeth and released his hand from covering the girl's mouth, then pinched her cheeks vindictively, as if to vent his frustration.
"Mmph mmph..." Kagura made a cute, pitiful whine.
"Hahaha, you two have a really good relationship." Uncle Neil laughed heartily.
"Who has a good relationship with him/her?" they both said in unison.
"Hmph!" they added simultaneously, turning away from each other.
Uncle Neil's laughter only grew louder.