"Ohoho~?"
Seeing Shirou leaning on Sora's shoulder, both Exusiai and Croissant revealed identical ⌓‿⌓ expressions.
"Th-this…"
Under their auntie-like grins, Sora felt her face heating up.
But she did not dare speak loudly or move too much, afraid of waking Shirou.
Fortunately, she was wearing two thick coats, so it was not uncomfortable for either of them when he leaned on her.
Still… being stared at by Exusiai and Croissant made her uneasy. Even Texas occasionally glanced over through the rearview mirror.
"Hey, do not move! What if you wake him up!"
The mischievous angel had found new material to capture and was in an excellent mood.
"Exactly. Shirou worked really hard just now, you cannot treat our hero like that, Sora."
Croissant also could not help but pull out her phone to take pictures. She missed her chance yesterday, but this moment was even better.
The troublemaking duo snapped photo after photo, while Sora, red-faced, tightly gripped her pants and did not dare move.
Meanwhile, the other person involved, Shirou, remained fast asleep.
After taking a large number of photos, even Exusiai felt like she had had too much "sweetness" for the day. Looking satisfied, she returned to her scouting duties.
Croissant, at least having a bit of conscience, took a blanket and covered Shirou and also took over Sora's job of handing water and food to the front seats.
"Mm…"
Hearing a sound from beside her, Sora turned her head.
Shirou's brows were tightly furrowed and he seemed to be having a nightmare.
Watching him like that, Sora thought for a moment, then softly began to hum.
A gentle melody filled the air, and Shirou's tense expression gradually relaxed.
The others quietly listened as she hummed.
"…."
A slight bump in the road shook the car, waking Shirou from his short rest.
"Did I fall asleep…?"
The first thing he felt upon waking was pain in his neck, staying in an awkward position too long had made his body protest.
Sitting upright and rubbing the sore spot, he suddenly realized something was off.
…Which side had he just gotten up from?
Turning his head, he saw Sora moving her left shoulder.
"Uh…did i just…"
Even though he already knew, Shirou still tried to avoid reality.
"You did exactly what you think you did."
Exusiai flashed a ⌓‿⌓ expression and held up her phone.
On the screen was Shirou sleeping soundly leaning on Sora's shoulder.
"My, my~ Shirou's sleeping photos, that is quite rare, you know."
Croissant also took out her phone, showing the same scene from a different angle.
Looking at their teasing expressions, Shirou could only… suppress the embarrassment and the urge to snatch their phones and smash them, and decided to settle old and new scores together later.
Fluorescent lights and bicycles would be arranged.
"Sora, sorry."
Shirou apologized. Falling asleep on someone's shoulder was not exactly polite, especially when the other person was a girl.
Even if it was unintentional, an apology was still necessary.
"It is fine. You were really tired."
Sora waved her hand. She did not mind at all and if anything she had more complaints about Exusiai and Croissant.
"That is good."
Seeing she was not upset, Shirou let out a sigh of relief.
"…We will probably reach Lungmen at night. Have you thought about what to eat?"
Seeing Shirou fully awake, Texas started a new topic.
They had kept conversation minimal earlier, which made her a bit drowsy while driving, especially after expending so much energy that morning.
Now that he was awake, they could chat a bit.
With a topic in place, Exusiai and Croissant quickly joined in, they had been holding back for a while.
"At this hour, only fast food places are open, right?"
Said Croissant, a true fried-food enthusiast.
"Mm… apple pie from fast food sounds good."
Exusiai nodded, already thinking about apple pie.
By the time they returned to Lungmen, it would be very late, there would be no fancy desserts, so she set her sights on her go-to fast food rival chain.
"They have apple pie!"
"No fried food. We have had too much recently."
Shirou immediately vetoed.
They had just eaten it a few days ago, this was way too frequent.
"But at this hour, it is either fried food or late-night snacks! And I do not want snacks, I want meat! Lots of meat!"
Croissant protested loudly.
Unlike Exusiai, who had already replenished her sugar, she desperately needed meat.
Looking at her determination, Shirou felt that if there were more space in the vehicle, she would probably be rolling around throwing a tantrum.
"…Hot pot? I remember there's a place open until late."
Sora, who kept up with Lungmen trends, suggested a special hot pot restaurant open from noon until late night, with good reviews.
"Hot pot works."
Croissant agreed immediately as long as there was meat.
"Mm… fine! Hot pot it is!"
Exusiai was convinced too. After freezing in the snow earlier, craving hot pot was only natural.
"That is fine. Just do not only eat meat, have some vegetables too."
With fried food off the table, Shirou had no objections, it was just a reminder.
"So, hot pot it is?"
Watching them argue felt like watching a comedy routine to Texas so entertaining that her drowsiness disappeared.
"Yep! I will book a table once we have signal!"
Sora quickly organized things.
"We should head back to the dorm first for a shower… even if we did not sweat much in Ursus, it still feels uncomfortable."
Shirou tugged at his slightly sticky collar. They had not bathed for days, only the cold had prevented things from getting worse.
"…Agreed. Let us go back to the dorm first."
With that reminder, the Penguin Logistics crew realized the same thing, if they went out like this, their disheveled photos might be all over the internet by tomorrow.