Chapter 206 The Adult's Burden

"Haruko? What are you doing here?"

Rin was running errands when she unexpectedly spotted Haruko standing out in the crowd of adults—a little girl with short legs among the adults.

"Lin!"

Haruko waved to her, signaling her to come over and talk. Nohara Rin obediently squeezed into the crowd and stood next to her.

Once inside, she discovered that everyone was gathered around watching a young couple arguing. Nohara Rin stood there listening for a long time but still couldn't understand what they were arguing about.

It's probably a common problem for couples; they argue about this and that, sometimes even bringing up old grievances, and when they look back, they don't even remember what they were arguing about in the first place.

Rin then asked Haruko, who was standing next to her, "What are they arguing about?"

"The boys thought miso ramen was the best, while the girls thought tonkotsu ramen was the best. Neither of them would admit the other's opinion, and they started arguing about which ramen was the most delicious."

Haruko gave a complete summary of what she had witnessed, and while answering her question, she kept her eyes glued to the center of the argument.

"I see..." Nohara Rin didn't understand but respected. "By the way, wasn't Obito with you?"

Haruko pointed behind her and said, "Obito went to line up. I saw someone arguing and came over to join in."

"queue?"

Following the direction she pointed, Nohara Rin looked and discovered that a new ramen shop had opened on this street sometime during the day, and a long queue had already formed outside the shop, with the queue seemingly stretching to another street.

After observing for a while, Nohara Rin finally spotted Uchiha Obito, who was slightly ahead in the line, indicating that he had been waiting for a short time.

Rin Nohara read out the shop's name, "Ichiraku Ramen? Is it a newly opened ramen shop?"

“That’s right! It became a sensation throughout Konoha as soon as it opened. We only managed to get a chance to queue up today because we were off work.” Haruko quietly pointed to the couple arguing in front of them. “They started arguing because Ichiraku Ramen is so delicious.”

Arguing over how delicious the ramen was? That's truly unbelievable...

Rin Nohara couldn't help but feel curious: "Is this ramen really that delicious?"

Haruko directly invited her, "Rin, do you want to try it with us? Obito's already in line anyway."

"Is it okay?" Nohara Rin asked a little shyly. "I feel like I'm letting Obito down."

"Yes, yes!"

Obito Uchiha, whose relationship with his partner was disrupted: ...

"Oh? Those are the two little girls from that day."

A pleasant female voice came from behind Haruko and Nohara Rin. They turned around and saw that it was Takeuchi Mirei, whom they had met before, who was now looking at them with a smile.

"What a coincidence, we've run into you again."

When Nohara Rin greeted her back, Haruko stared at her for a few seconds and said confidently, "Meiling-neechan, you've been watching the show here, haven't you?"

"Eh? I just happened to be passing by," Takeuchi Mirei defended herself without changing her expression.

Haruko continued, "So, the reason you greeted us was because you heard Obito was in line, and you wanted to join in, right?"

"That's probably impossible, Haruko." Nohara Rin made an apologetic gesture to Takeuchi Mirei.

Mirei Takeuchi laughed awkwardly a few times, "That's right, I'm not that kind of person."

That was spot on! How did this little girl even guess it?!

Haruko crossed her arms and sighed, "Sister Meiling, you can be more honest. It's not like we're preventing you from joining."

“Haruko, that’s a bit rude…” Nohara Rin was about to dissuade her when Takeuchi Mirei interrupted her.

“Then I shall respectfully accept your offer!” Takeuchi Mirei smiled brightly.

Nohara Rin paused, her lips twitching. So it really was as Haruko said?

Meanwhile, Obito Uchiha, who was still waiting in line, wondered: "Why hasn't Haruko returned yet?"

Finally, they sat down inside Ichiraku Ramen, and the three little ones and the adult started eating ramen.

Obito Uchiha whispered in Haruko's ear, "Haruko, who is she?"

“She is an illegitimate daughter of a large family who has been living away from home,” Haruko replied seriously.

"ha?"

Takeuchi Mirei quickly slurped up some ramen and exclaimed in admiration, "This ramen is definitely the best, but the lines are just too long."

"So you really only came to say hello after you heard us lining up..." Nohara Rin said with a hint of helplessness.

"Ahem." Takeuchi Mirei decided to pick up her adult persona for a moment. "Since I've joined your queue, let me treat you to ramen this time!"

"Really? Meiling-neechan is amazing!" Haruko cheered, all traces of her previous inner complaints about her gone. "Then let's pack two more portions to take back to Fugaku and Mikoto!"

Mirei Takeuchi joked with a laugh, "Hey, illegitimate daughters don't have much savings."

"But Meiling seems to have a lot of free time. Isn't she busy with work?" Qingzi asked sincerely.

Knowing she was referring to the covert operations, Takeuchi Mirei choked up.

How did she manage to give children the impression that she had so much free time?!

Mirei Takeuchi put down her chopsticks with a forced smile. "I'm finished eating. It's time for the adults to go back to work."

She was immediately met with strange stares from the three little ones. Takeuchi Mirei understood exactly what they meant: Is this adult so easily amused?

Takeuchi Mirei:......

Suddenly, the sound of raindrops began to fall outside. They all looked out and saw that the sky had darkened and the raindrops were getting bigger, washing away the hustle and bustle of the street.

But there were still quite a few stubborn people who insisted on queuing even in the rain, once again showing them just how popular Ichiraku Ramen really is.

"It's raining, I have to hurry back..." Nohara Rin said worriedly, wondering if the clothes hanging out to dry at home had been brought in yet.

Haruko left her seat and reached out to check the intensity of the rain, but was quickly pulled back inside by Obito Uchiha a second later.

"Be careful you don't get sick again!" Obito Uchiha warned her anxiously.

Ever since Haruko fell ill last time, he had been paying more attention to the factors that might have affected her health. Seeing that she showed no signs of weakness and even curiously reached out her hand, Obito Uchiha felt like the emperor wasn't worried but the eunuch was.

Takeuchi Mirei teased, drawing out her "Oh~" sound, "I didn't realize this little boy was quite a gentleman. Is he Haruko's childhood sweetheart?"

"No, Obito is my childhood friend," Haruko corrected her.

Not one to shy away from a good spectacle, Takeuchi Mirei smiled subtly. "Because they're childhood friends, they often end up together when they grow up. In that sense, he could be considered Haruko's childhood sweetheart, couldn't he?"

"What...what are you saying?!" Obito Uchiha blushed with embarrassment.

Haruko pondered for a few seconds, "If Fugaku knew, Obito would be in big trouble, wouldn't he?"

He hadn't thought about that question before. When Obito recalled Fugaku's gloomy and fierce face, his originally rosy complexion turned pale.

Seeing his reaction, Takeuchi Mirei leaned closer and patted him on the shoulder, "A real man shouldn't give up on the girl he loves just because of this little setback!"

That's not wrong... wait, why should he listen to this strange adult?!

Obito snorted at her and quickly walked behind Haruko, avoiding Takeuchi Mirei's gossipy gaze.

Mirei Takeuchi suppressed a laugh and patted Haruko's head. "In that case, I'll be leaving now and won't disturb your private time."

A world of three?

Nohara Rin turned her gaze from watching Takeuchi Mirei leave to Uchiha Obito, who was fussing over Haruko.

Only then did I realize that I was the third person outside of our world as a couple.