>> Shin's POV << 

"It's here." I heard Kana speak.

We arrived at an establishment that was situated at the corner of the village.

I look at the front, there was a sign written on the board placed at the top of the entrance saying, 'Niraku Ramen'. 

'I guess it's a ramen shop.' 

I am with Kana while holding hands with her. 

I was confused about my feelings for her earlier. 

Why do I feel like she was Erica? 

Though, soon, I later found out that she was indeed Erica the moment she spoke about a certain scarlet-haired woman.

There was no drama whatsoever that happened. We just continued to treat each other normally.

I'll talk to her about it later.

For now, let's enjoy this moment with her.

"Ramen…" I muttered.

"Yep. Have you eaten it before?" Kana looked at me and asked. 

I knew she was talking about my time on earth.

"Nope. Never tried it before. This will be my first time having one." I replied while patting Syri.

Syri fell asleep inside my clothes. 

She must be full by now after eating that many Dango earlier. 

"Hey, how many servings did you feed Syri?" I asked Kana beside me.

I know that it was a lot. I'm asking for the specifics.

"Hmm. I don't know, I didn't count. Why? Should I have not done that?" Kana asked as she tilted her head. 

"No, it's okay. I am grateful that you did that, but next time try to not overfed her. I don't know about fox physiology but I know too much is unhealthy. Just be moderate about it." I explained to Kana with a calm tone. 

"... Hn. I'm sorry about that." She looked down. I can feel that she was sorry about it from the tone she used when she replied.

"Keke ~ How about we go inside the shop already?" I patted her head and after that, nudge her to get moving. 

"Hehehe ~ Okay, let's go." She giggled and agreed with me. 

…

We came inside Niraku Ramen's shop.

Inside, there was a lamp that was the only thing giving light in this room. 

Straight ahead there was a counter, with a wooden chair placed in front to sit on.

There was also an old man who was wearing a dark blue kimono. He adorned a white chef hat on his head. 

His eyes were closed while he was cooking the noodles. 

There was no other customer besides us right now.

Noticing that someone entered his shop, the old man looked in our direction.

"Welcome, please take a si— Oh, it's just you, Kana." He greeted Kana. 

It's not that hard to figure out, Kana must be a regular here.

"Hello, Toyota-ojissan," Kana responded to the man's greetings. 

We then sat at the counter.

"I'll take Miso and a Tonkatsu Ramen, 1 serving each, both with medium noodles, and also make it spicy, Toyota-ojissan." Kana raised her hand and signaled for his fingers the number of serves she wanted. 

"1 Miso and Tonkatsu ramen coming right up! Give me 5 minutes to whip this out, Kana." Toyota, which I believe the owner of this ramen eatery replied energetically.

He then began preparing our order.

While waiting I asked Kana,

"How long do you plan on holding my hand?" 

Even after coming inside, we still haven't broken free from the hold. 

"Hmm. How about forever? Why did you ask? Do you want to let go of me?" She asked with a dangerous glint in her eyes. 

For some reason, I felt her tone was cold even though she said that teasingly.

"..." I didn't reply. 

'Keke ~ You're talking about something different woman.' I commented in my mind.

She is assertive compared to before. 

But it's not bad, I like it. 

'I hope she becomes a yandere on me Keke ~' 

Yandere is interesting and I think have a fetish for that.

Like Victor's women in a certain novel, I read before.

After that short moment of silence, I answered, 

"Nah, I'll hold onto you forever then," I said to her with an easy-going tone.

But I truly meant that.

Now we are talking about something different. 

"Hehehe ~ Is that so? You better man up and uphold to that." She giggled and said teasingly.

"I will don't worry. Keke ~" I chuckled as I noticed from the corner of my eyes that the owner stopped moving and had a dumbfounded expression written on his face.

We are talking about something different after all, so he might have caught on to that.

After minutes of waiting our ramen is finally ready.

"Here, 1 tonkatsu and miso ramen." The owner brought two wooden bowls of ramen. He also gave us two pairs of chopsticks and a wooden spoon.

He put the miso ramen in front of Kana and tonkatsu on mine and as he finished doing that he asked a question, 

"It's my first time seeing you together with a man, young Kana. Can I ask what is your relationship with this young man?" 

He pointed his head at me while saying that with a knowing smile.

"Hmm…" Kana made a thoughtful expression while puckering her lips.

She then looked in my direction, stared at my eyes, and released a smirk on her face.

"He is my husband, Toyota-ojissan."She raised our hand which was still on the lover's hold and flexed it towards the owner and said with a confident tone.

'Now I had become a genuine married man. I didn't see that coming. Kekeke ~' 

'Should I thank those gods for making my wish come true?' 

'It added Erica as a special bonus too. Lucky ~' I thought jokingly in my mind.

"I didn't know that you were in a relationship. When have you been married, Kana?" The owner asked curiously. 

"I just married him just now ojissan." 

"What? Is that true?" Once again the owner had a dumbfounded look on his face asking for confirmation.

I decided to go along with their conversation.

"Hello Toyota-ojissan, my name is Shin. It's true that I just married Kana right now." I said to the owner and looked at Kana's eyes while smiling at her.

I don't know if there was any ceremony to be held before marrying or not but you only just need both parties to have an agreement to marry.

Let's just follow along with what this woman is up to.

"That's great. Congratulations on your marriage." The owner gave his pleasantries with a smile.

"Hehehe ~ Thank you very much, Toyota-ojissan." Kana smiled brightly and thanked the owner.

The owner then left us alone and went to some corner of his kitchen. 

So I proceed to dig in with my ramen.

I'm right handed but I can use my left hand to eat because my other hand is occupied with Kana's right now.

But there's one thing I forgot…

'Bruh, I don't know how to use chopsticks.'

So I tried but my hold kept fumbling over. 

When I got it steady, I faced another problem which was I couldn't firmly clip the noodles with the chopsticks.

I don't know about this, I'm weird because I can learn some complicated sword moves back then but I couldn't quite get that sharp comprehension with just as simple as holding chopsticks even though I have been observing how Kana does it.

I can use my other hand to hold the spoon in combination with the chopsticks but I don't want to release the hold right now. It's comfortable. 

'Keke ~ This is awkard.' 

"Hehehe ~ So cute." I heard Kana giggle.

"Right, you don't know how to use chopsticks. I forgot." She then said teasingly but I can feel that she wasn't making fun of me.

She then scooted over, close to me so that our bodies were touching while still not releasing our clasped hands, just placing them below the table.

"Here ~ Ahn ❤" She then took a noodle from my ramen and offered it to me.

'It's awkward but she is sweet.'

So I didn't shy from it.

"Thanks for the food." I gave thanks and eat the noodles that she offered to me.

'Keke ~' I glanced at the corner and chuckled as I was glad that the owner wasn't looking at us. 

"..." Deciding not to stay useless, I use the spoon to scoop the soup and offered it to Kana, while not saying anything but just staring at her in the eyes.

"Mhm ~ ❤. Hehehe ~" She also accepted my offer and giggled. After that, she stared into my eyes lovingly. I can imagine hearts forming from there. 

So we finished our ramen by helping each other out. I used the spoon to scoop some soup while she used the chopsticks and fed me with noodles.

It's not the ethical way to eat ramen as I've read from a manga back then. 

But I'm extremely satisfied and that's what is important. Ethics can go to hell.

I couldn't enjoy the taste of the ramen because I am feeling so sweet inside.

She did not only got turn off by me not being able to use the chopsticks but also helped me eat them.

She is so kind and sweet.

She is my Erica. No — Kana.

'I am a lucky bastard. Keke ~'

I too didn't hate myself for not knowing how to use chopsticks.

But I swear I will become the best among the best of them all — about using the chopsticks I mean.

…