"Familiar ceiling..."
Shinji opened his eyes. Because he had slept on the sofa for the night, he felt a bit sore all over.
"Shh..."
Shinji looked in front of him, and Zero made a "keep it down" gesture at him.
Zero's finger pointed to the side.
Shinji turned his head and found Asuka sleeping soundly while leaning in his arms.
Shinji's face flushed red in an instant. He gently tried to push Asuka away, but unexpectedly, when he pushed like that, Asuka hugged him tighter instead.
She was still talking in her sleep: "Idol Shinji..."
Shinji looked at Zero with a helpless expression.
He lowered his voice and said, "Brother Zero, help me..."
"You brat, you don't know how lucky you are." Zero teased Shinji with a mischievous look on his face.
Shinji's face blushed so hard that steam was rising from his head.
"Is this the time to be saying that?!"
While the two of them were bickering, Asuka woke up.
She looked up and saw that she was lying in Shinji's arms, along with Zero's mischievous grin.
Her face turned bright red in a flash.
"Slap!"
A large red handprint appeared on Shinji's face.
"Idol Shinji! You actually!!"
"It was clearly you who lay on my body yourself! And you're blaming me!" Having taken a slap, Shinji climbed up and started arguing with Asuka.
Zero came out and said, "I'll vouch for him, Shinji didn't do anything."
"Hmph, why is it that when these words come out of your mouth, I find it so hard to believe!" Asuka turned her face away to hide her shyness.
"Isn't this all because of that perverted training you set up yesterday that left me exhausted..."
"I originally just wanted to rest on the sofa for a tiny moment... Who knew I'd just fall right asleep." Shinji explained.
After putting the futon back into the room and tidying it up, Shinji put on an apron and went to the kitchen to make breakfast.
Zero took a moment to glance at Misato's room. With a commotion this big just now, it still hadn't woken her up.
"I bet this older sister drank quite a bit again last night..."
"That's right, Kaji came over last night."
"Why didn't you wake me up." Asuka mumbled.
"He saw the way you two were lying together, so he specifically told me and Misato not to wake you up." Zero answered truthfully.
"Ah... How mortifying..." Asuka covered her face and said.
"Come on Shinji, I'll teach you a few dishes." Ignoring Asuka, Zero instead began teaching Shinji how to cook.
"I'll teach you a few Dragon Country dishes. First you do this, and then..." Zero instructed Shinji in an orderly fashion.
"Brother Zero, you even know Dragon Country cuisine?" Shinji was somewhat puzzled.
"That brings up my experience of going to another world once to assist another Ultra Warrior."
At that time, Zero received a card's summons and came to X's world.
He came to Shencheng in Dragon Country, assisting the Xio Dragon Country branch in defeating Demagorga.
Later, he was captivated by this place and decided to live in Dragon Country for a while, taking a leave of absence from the Space Garrison.
With the help of Daichi Ozora, he lived in Shencheng for a period under the guise of Shin Moroboshi.
Zero made some human friends there, and he felt the hospitality of the people here.
Some peaceful aliens could even openly appear there.
The thing that left the deepest impression on him was definitely Dragon Country's specialty dishes, which blew Zero away with deliciousness.
Therefore, Zero specially learned how to make some Dragon Country dishes.
He clearly remembered when he went back later and told the Ultra Brothers about his trip to Dragon Country, Taro sixth uncle's excited expression as he asked about the taste.
What a pity that cooking and eating were impossible in the Land of Light.
However, with the construction of the human embassy, some Earth people opened canteens within the embassy grounds.
Needless to say about the Ultra Brothers, even the Father of Ultra went there to experience it.
Zero briefly recounted his Dragon Country trip to Shinji.
"Wow, Brother Zero has been to so many places."
After finishing cooking, Shinji skillfully packed a bento and put it into his schoolbag.
Then he sat down to eat breakfast together with Asuka.
"Today's new dishes are good, they really hit the spot." Asuka's displeasure from just now vanished into thin air.
After breakfast, Asuka helped Shinji tidy up the table, which happened to be seen by Misato as she came out of her room while yawning.
"You two really look like a married couple doing this."
"Shut up" x2
Zero's phantom gave Misato a thumbs-up.
With red faces, the two grabbed their schoolbags and ran straight out the door.
"Huh? Aren't you taking the bus to school?" Shinji came to his senses and looked somewhat quizzically at Asuka, who was running out alongside him.
"This young lady wants to get some exercise too, is that not allowed?" Asuka answered breathlessly.
"Fine then, you two run over together." Zero directed.
Hearing this, Shinji no longer hesitated, shouted the Five Ultra Oaths, and ran toward the school.
Asuka followed behind him.
"Who taught you this slogan?" Asuka unexpectedly felt that this slogan wasn't bad.
"It was taught to me by Brother Zero. It's called the Five Ultra Oaths."
"It was taught to him by a senior in the sunset."
"Yeah, many warriors of the Guard know it, and this slogan has already spread among humans in my world." Zero came out to explain.
"Chanting this during training makes the effect even better."
Tsundere Asuka claimed on the surface that she didn't believe it, but she was already reciting it silently in her heart.
She couldn't manage to shout it out loud like Shinji yet.
Passing by the riverbank, Zero scanned the vicinity and found no surveillance.
"Shinji, can you pause for a moment? I want to do an experiment with a capsule."
"Huh? Sure."
Shinji stopped and opened the Capsule Case.
Pulling one out at random, it was the capsule of Ultraman.
"What is this for?" Asuka asked, breathing a bit heavily.
"Oh! What a coincidence, this is the very first Ultra Warrior to arrive on Earth-Ultraman. We all respectfully call him Professor Manny, and at the same time, he is also my second uncle."
"Press it."
Shinji pressed the capsule.
The skill selection lines [Ultra Cutting Beam], [Mini Ultra Slash], [Ultra Water Flow], [Binding Ring], and [Ultra Barrier (Ultraman Version)] appeared in front of Shinji.
"Good grief, Hikari, what kind of big treasure have you built!" Zero was also taken aback.
"Try the Ultra Cutting Beam. It shouldn't draw too much attention."
After Shinji spoke the skill, the phantom of Ultraman appeared.
"Clasp your hands together toward the sky!"
Shinji did as told, and Ultraman's phantom also clasped its hands together, subsequently merging into Shinji's body.
"Buzz~~"
After the phantom merged with Shinji, several orange-yellow light bullets grazed across the sky along with Shinji's hand.
"So amazing..." Shinji felt the lingering warmth on his hand.
"My goodness..." Watching Shinji launch a beam in human form right before her eyes, Asuka was dumbfounded.
"You'd better use it sparingly. I can feel energy being consumed." Zero sensed the energy depletion.
"I'm really understanding you and your abilities less and less..."
After this interlude, Shinji and Asuka ran to school on time.
Opening her shoe box, Asuka saw that it was stuffed full of love letters.
Seeing this scene, Shinji felt somewhat angry, though he didn't even know why.
Seemingly sensing Shinji's anger, Asuka threw all the love letters straight into the trash can without even looking at them.
"I wouldn't deign to read these vulgar things."
She glanced at Shinji, who was still somewhat angry, and swallowed back the teasing words she had prepared next.
"This kid should be considered enlightened." Zero thought to himself.
During the break between classes, the two went to the rooftop to gaze into the distance, and Shinji accidentally saw Kensuke and Toji selling photos of Asuka.
Without a doubt, they were candid shots.
"These two bastards!" An angry Asuka wanted to rush downstairs to properly teach them a lesson.
"Wait," Shinji called out to Asuka.
"Help me watch if anyone's coming." Shinji mischievously took out Ultraman's capsule.
"Let's use this to teach them a lesson."
"Oh~~~" Thinking of some of the skills Shinji had told her about, Asuka also grinned mischievously.
Skill selection [Ultra Water Flow]
Shinji's hand began to spray high-pressure water streams.
While blowing away all the candid photos taken by Kensuke and Toji in one breath, he also poured some water onto their bodies.
Shinji still held back; the water pressure directed at Toji and Kensuke was somewhat smaller.
"Hahaha, you're the best!" Asuka laughed heartily, feeling relieved.
Feigning composure, Shinji and Asuka went back downstairs and returned to the classroom.
A furious Kensuke and Toji searched everywhere without finding out who had done it; Shinji and Asuka hid themselves very well.
"What happened to you guys?" Shinji asked them, holding back a laugh.
"I don't know which bastard blasted us with a water cannon! We didn't see clearly which floor it was poured from!" Toji answered angrily.
Asuka: "Are you guys dreaming? How could a school have something like a water cannon?"
"It really is like running into a ghost, and they've got a point..." Kensuke thought carefully, and the school really didn't have anything like a high-pressure water cannon.
Inside the school, there weren't even fire hydrants of that sort.
At lunch, Shinji and Asuka sat together to eat.
Asuka picked up a piece of meat with her chopsticks and extended it toward Shinji's mouth, saying with a red face.
"Don't misunderstand, this is a reward for you teaching those two a lesson."
Hiding far away, Zero's phantom peeked.
"Thanks, I'm stuffed with dog food (￣.￣)."
Before you continue