Cake fight

"Xiao Bu, why are you still here?"

On the steps outside the Orphanage, Natasha looked at the silver-haired little girl sitting there, her eyes full of sympathy.

She continued trying to persuade her:

"Your brother and Uncle Oleg went up to the Upper District. They won't be back until tomorrow."

"I know. My brother told me before he left." Xiao Bu's voice was quiet, her nose sounding a little stuffy from the cold. "But what if Mu comes back early and can't find me here?"

As she spoke, she hugged the Snow Globe tightly to her chest.

Hearing that, Natasha walked over and slowly sat down beside Xiao Bu, letting the girl nestle against her.

"The last Cable Car arrives at ten. I'll wait here with you until then, all right?"

Xiao Bu looked at Natasha in surprise and said uneasily:

"Miss Natasha, the ground is cold."

But Natasha stopped her with a gentle look and said softly:

"What's a little hardship when we're waiting for someone important? Xiao Bu, Chu Mu is a very important student to me, too."

"Okay." Xiao Bu nodded and nestled into Natasha's arms.

The Underworld had no sky full of wheeling stars, but the falling temperature still let people feel time passing.

Natasha's embrace was so, so comfortable that Xiao Bu no longer felt cold. She even grew a little sleepy.

Xiao Bu wasn't sure if she was imagining it, but at the junction below the steps, she saw the lamplight illuminate a familiar figure.

She rubbed her eyes. The figure drew closer and closer.

Natasha had already stood up, looking in surprise at the approaching figure, then back at Xiao Bu.

He really came back! Was this the bond between siblings?

"Mu!" Xiao Bu was already running down the steps.

"Slow down. Don't hurt yourself," Chu Mu said with concern.

But Xiao Bu had already rushed up to him and wrapped her arms tightly around him.

"I was only gone for a little while." Chu Mu shook his head helplessly.

He lifted the takeout box in his hand and said to Natasha:

"Miss Natasha, look what I brought."

"Hmm? I smell cream." Natasha sniffed, then glanced into the takeout bag and immediately spotted the lavish, enormous cake.

She said in surprise:

"Oleg actually bought something this expensive?"

A cake like this was an incredibly rare luxury even in the Upper District!

"No, some kind people gave it to us." Chu Mu shook his head. "Unfortunately, we never met those two before we left, so we couldn't thank them in person."

He paused, then smiled at Natasha.

"Miss Natasha, take it and share it out. That's what Uncle Oleg and Seele wanted, too. I'm sure those two kind people would want their kindness shared with more people."

"All right." Natasha nodded and carried the cake into the Orphanage.

Chu Mu took out another, smaller takeout bag. It held the meal he hadn't eaten at the restaurant.

He had kept it tucked against his chest the whole way back.

"Eat it now. I saved it just for you, so no refusing! I really did eat this time!"

"Okay." Xiao Bu nodded, tears shimmering in her eyes again.

"Why are you always tearing up?" Chu Mu ruffled her silky silver hair. "The classroom's empty right now. Let's eat there."

The siblings went to the classroom, where Xiao Bu ate the meal as Chu Mu watched.

Unlike Seele's rough way of eating, Xiao Bu ate slowly and delicately.

It was as though she wanted to chew every bit of this beautiful moment and feed it into her heart.

Suddenly, the classroom door opened, and Natasha walked in.

"I knew I'd find you here!"

She was carrying a plate of sliced cake and said with a smile:

"I've divided it all up. They're already asleep, so they won't get to eat theirs until tomorrow. These are for the three of us. Let's have them now."

Chu Mu shook his head.

"I've already had some."

"Does that mean you can't have any more? I've already cut your share." Natasha picked up a small piece with her fork and held it to Chu Mu's lips. "If you don't eat it, it'll fall."

Helpless, Chu Mu could only open his mouth and take a bite.

The three of them shared the cake on the plate, taking a bite each in turn.

Something about the scene seemed to touch Chu Mu, and he couldn't help asking a question.

"Miss Natasha, when people in the Upper District eat cake, do they have cake fights and smear cream on each other's faces?"

"Hey, what are you thinking?" Natasha tasted the cream on her fork. "Even in the Upper District, not everyone can afford cake. In fact, most people have never had any. Even a little piece is precious. How could they bear to waste it on the cake fights you're talking about?"

"I see." Chu Mu nodded.

"Did you remember something from your past?" Natasha suddenly asked.

"Yes." A trace of reminiscence surfaced in Chu Mu's eyes. "A very hazy memory."

Whenever his illness flared up, he would see strange, fantastical scenes. One of them was a cake fight.

He had been at the center of that cake fight, seeing it through his own eyes. Beside him was a silver-haired child with an indistinct face, and opposite him stood a white-haired woman whose face was just as unclear.

The feelings that scene stirred had brought him to tears. It had felt so warm, and so unbearably sad.

Now, Chu Mu couldn't help recalling it again, and his emotions began to stir.

Suddenly, something cool stuck to his cheek.

Natasha had scooped up a little cream with her finger. She smiled and said:

"The rich have their way of having fun, and the poor have theirs. Don't you think?"

"Miss Natasha, you're wasting food!" Chu Mu snapped back to his senses and rebuked her with an anguished look.

"Huh?" Natasha was dumbfounded.

Suddenly, the corners of Chu Mu's mouth lifted. Before she could react, he scooped up a dab of cream and dotted it on Natasha's face!

"Chu Mu, you little rascal! No fair-you ambushed your teacher!" Natasha pretended to look angry, but there wasn't a trace of anger in her eyes.

Instead, they sparkled with eager excitement.

Sensing trouble, Chu Mu immediately made a run for it.

Natasha promptly chased him around the classroom.

"W-who should I help?" Xiao Bu asked, at a loss.

"Your teacher, of course!" Natasha answered without hesitation.

She was struggling now. Taking advantage of his nimble body, Chu Mu had hidden under the desks and kept sneaking up behind her whenever she let her guard down.

Just then, Xiao Bu walked over. While Natasha bent down to look for him, she suddenly smeared a fingerful of cream across Natasha's forehead.

"Sorry, Miss Natasha!"

Xiao Bu lowered her head in apology, then quickly slipped under a desk as well.

"That's my sister!" Chu Mu immediately praised her.

"Wow, you two are ganging up on me!" Natasha said indignantly.

The cake fight finally ended in a crushing defeat for Chu Mu and Xiao Bu.

Although it had been two against one, Natasha had discovered a crucial loophole.

As long as she stood up, neither child could reach her face!

By exploiting that loophole, Natasha successfully defended her dignity as their teacher.

But the more fun the cake fight had been, the more miserable the cleanup was.

Xiao Bu scraped cream off her face with her hand, then licked it off.

She couldn't help asking:

"Mu, did you clean up like this after playing before, too?"

"I don't remember." Chu Mu shook his head and said lightly, "Could it be that you can just wash it off?"

"That would be such a waste," Xiao Bu said regretfully.

"Yes." Chu Mu licked the cream off his finger and said quietly, "Maybe we're just too poor right now."

He looked at his sister, his tone utterly serious.

"Xiao Bu, I won't let you stay here forever."

"Mu, I think it's pretty nice here." Xiao Bu glanced at Natasha, who was sitting some distance away, and said softly, "The Old Director and Miss Natasha are both very, very good people."

"You're still young." Chu Mu stroked Xiao Bu's head. "You'll understand when you're older."

Then he silently added to himself:

I'm afraid I won't be able to walk the road ahead with you.