Fried Tofu

Seeing Ayame seemingly faint after returning to normal in his arms, Kouro had a relieved expression, the golden chain that bound him to Ayame also receded and disappeared with a light.

['Main Quest' has been completed. Rewards will now be distributed.]

He could feel Ayame's breath in his ear, she was fast asleep comfortably in his arms.

Kouro glanced at Higokumaru beside him and spoke softly as he did not want to wake Ayame, "Thank you, Higokumaru. I am very, very grateful to you."

Higokumaru could feel Kouro's sincere gratitude for her so sincerely that it made her feel very embarrassed.

"No, no, compared to you, I didn't do anything too extraordinary!"

Higokumaru couldn't help but remember the plan Kouro had made earlier.

__

An hour ago before they fought against Herrscher Ayame.

"I'll go over that plan once more. I'll be the bait and distract her, then Theresa-san will wait for my signal, and once Herrscher Ayame focuses her attention only on me, you'll use the chains from the [Oath of Judah] to restrain her."

Kouro added, "Sakura will focus on protecting Theresa and Higokumaru from Herrscher Ayame's attacks, and once Herrscher Ayame is successfully bound with the chains, Higokumaru will absorb the Honkai Energy within her body."

"How will you distract Herrscher?" Sakura asked Kouro after listening.

"That's easy, because as you might have guessed, I'm probably the biggest factor why Ayame turned into a Pseudo-Herrscher, even if not, I still have other ways to distract her."

"Alright, next let's talk about the information we've gathered regarding Ayame's Herrscher abilities." Kouro moved on to the next topic.

"Isn't her ability to control plant life?" Theresa said in confusion.

"You're right, but her ability isn't just that. If I were to guess from the pattern of her attacks, it's very likely that her true ability has to do with poison, and the poison will probably spread through the air." Kouro explained.

"Hmm... then how should we deal with it?" Theresa asked.

Sakura and Higokumaru were silent because Herrscher's poison was not deadly to them, even if they were affected, they would only feel weak for a few moments.

"You guys remember the mask I gave you? It can actually be used to defend against poison." Kouro replied and took out two more masks to give to Sakura and Higokumaru.

"Kouro, a Herrscher has extraordinary abilities, even if she is not a true Herrscher, she is still a Herrscher, is this alone enough to survive her poison attack?" Sakura asked doubtfully.

"Relax, she may only be able to spread her poison through the air as a trump card, so we have a chance to counter her attacks."

Higokumaru looked at Kouro with sparkling eyes and said, "Kouro-nii, you're really amazing for being able to think of such a strategic plan!"

"Of course! And if we win, I'll give Higokumaru ten fried tofu as a reward."

"Hountou ni!? Yatta! Yosh! I'll work hard." Higokumaru exclaimed happily.

__

Sakura along with Theresa approached Kouro and nodded in agreement with Higokumaru's words, "That's right, Kouro. You really are amazing."

"No, no. It's because everyone worked together that we succeeded."

"Hehehe, I hope Kouro-nii doesn't forget his promise." Higokumaru reminded while placing both hands on her hips.

"Of course I haven't forgotten, but first, let's go somewhere to rest." While saying so, Kouro began to carry Ayame in a princess sling.

"By the way Kouro, what about that big sword of yours?" asked Theresa while pointing towards a bunch of building debris that was destroyed by his sword throw.

"...Can you help me retrieve it?"

"Sure." Theresa stepped towards the building and searched for a while before finding it near the ruins of the building.

She pulled it out and confirmed that it was the Nitro Crystal Greatsword, except that it was already dented, scuffed and there were even some cracks on the tip of the blade.

"Hahh... Kouro! Looks like you need a new, more durable weapon." Theresa suggested as she walked back to Kouro and the others.

"Alright... It's okay, I still have other weapons too."

Kouro actually didn't mind his weapon badly damaged because St. Freya Academy would definitely replace it with a better one.

"Let's go. Let's go."

The morning sun shone on the backs of Kouro and the others.

..

15 minutes later.

Inside the resting dormitory building, Kouro was seen laying Ayame down on the bed, brushing her soft green hair to the side, "I'll go Ayame."

Kouro left not realizing that Ayame's cheeks were flushed.

He then walked outside the room and joined Theresa and the others in another room.

Realizing that Higokumaru was looking at him with sparkling eyes as soon as he entered the room, Kouro just smiled and put his hands into his pockets and took out the hot and steaming fried tofu one by one and gave it to Higokumaru.

Sakura raised her eyebrows at this, but did not ask.

Theresa wasn't too surprised, after all, there was already a technology similar to the item box, so she just thought that Kouro had it.

This Fried Tofu came from a random gift box that Kouro collected.

"Woah!" Staring at the steaming fried tofu, Higokumaru directed her gaze to Kouro's shirt pocket with a glint in her eyes, she thought simply, 'is there still fried tofu in there?

As if sensing Higokumaru's intention, Kouro spread his hands, "I don't have any more fried tofu, so don't try to get into my shirt pocket."

"Ehe." Higokumaru scratched her neck in embarrassment, her mind felt.

"You can eat it."

"Jaa... Itadakimasu! Uwooh! Delicious!" Higokumaru ate the fried tofu quickly.

Kouro just smiled, while waiting for Higokumaru to finish her food.

"This is the best fried tofu I've ever eaten!" Higokumaru was very happy.

They chatted for quite a while about various things, until finally Theresa decided to ask.

"Sakura-sa-"

"Sakura. You can just call me that without any honorifics." Sakura interrupted.

"Then, Sakura, Higokumaru-chan, I'd like to recruit you to enter St. Theresa's Academy.

Theresa began to tell about the St. Freya Academy organization to the two of them.

Sakura looked at Theresa with deep confusion, from the first time she met her, she could feel a familiar aura from her, coupled with the cross weapon she used, Theresa might have a special relationship with 'her' (Kallen Kaslana).

Sakura also saw Theresa's personality, besides being a little childish, she also had the same kindness as Kallen.

If it was her old self, she would definitely accept Theresa's proposal, it's just that—

Sakura looked at Higokumaru and felt her gaze, Higokumaru just smiled sweetly.

Seeing this, Sakura looked back at Theresa and replied, "Sorry, Theresa. I can only refuse your proposal, me and Higokumaru have goals that we want to accomplish."

Theresa was not angry at being rejected and just smiled, "Oh, I see... It's fine even if you refuse, St. Freya's Academy is always open to both of you."

"When are you guys leaving?" Kouro asked.

"We'll leave after 2 hours if we rest." Sakura replied.

Hearing that, Kouro simply nodded before saying, "I'll go first to check on Ayame's condition."

Kouro then stood up and entered the dorm room where Ayame was sleeping.

Inside the dorm room, Kouro could be seen rocking Ayame on the bed, he looked at Ayame's sleeping face.

"Ayame... I know you're awake and just pretending to be asleep, you better get up now."

"..."

Seeing Ayame not reacting, Kouro thought of a 'brilliant' idea, he slowly brought his face closer to Ayame's face.

"Ayame... If you... Not... Get up now or I'll do something bad to you."

"..."

Kouro's face kept getting closer until it was only a few inches away from Ayame's face, he could smell the jasmine odor from Ayame's breath and her pink lips let out a small breath, unfortunately, even after Kouro got that close, Ayame still didn't show any reaction other than her cheeks turning red, which Kouro didn't notice.

"Ayame... I... Will really do it."

Kouro brought his face closer, Ayame's eyelids trembled slightly and her face began to blush like an apple, if Ayame raised her head, her lips would definitely touch Kouro's lips.

Realizing that, and as if on cue, Kouro shifted his path horizontally towards Ayame's right ear and said softly, "Your blushing face is very cute, Ayame."

"Huh!?" Ayame opened her eyes abruptly.

Kouro then blew into Ayame's ear, "Fuuh!"

"KYAA!"

*SLAP! * *SLAP! *

That kind of moaning scream, coupled with a loud slap, echoed throughout the room.

Just an ordinary day in the world of Honkai Impact.