I woke up rather suddenly the next morning. The sun was barely beginning to rise. The clock said it was a little past six. I sat up, a hair tie falling to my side as I did. I must have forgotten to take my ponytail out before I fell asleep. I quickly tied it back up as I got out of bed.

I could hear something out in the living room. Nothing loud, but a little subtle noise. As I walked out there, I immediately saw Pucca, still asleep on the couch. Her arm was dangling off the couch, and on the ground next to it, I could see what, I assumed, was her phone. The screen was lit up, and it was vibrating. My guesses were either her uncles, or Ching. I wasn't about to creep on her phone, so I just let it vibrate. I'd wake her up soon, but at this moment, she just looked too peaceful.

The sun was starting to come through the curtains of the front window, but she barely seemed to notice. I'd always assumed she was a really early riser.

I decided I'd at least try to have food ready for her. That was the gentlemanly thing to do, right? Looking through the fridge, I found a couple of eggs, some cheese, and some peppers I needed to use up. Omelets it is, I guess. I wasn't exactly a master chef, but I at least knew how to not survive on solely microwave dinners and takeout.

I got out a pan as quietly as I could, hoping none of the lids would fall and clank together. I whisked my eggs, adding in my salt and a tiny bit of milk. That'd what my mom always did. I think it's supposed to make the eggs fluffier of something?

As I threw the peppers in to sauté, I could kind of hear the sound of Pucca readjusting out in the living room. She must have really been exhausted, the sound of the peppers in the pan wasn't exactly silent.

After a few minutes, I finished up the first omelet, and had just flipped the eggs in the pan for the second one, the peppers and cheese already on top, when I heard a little voice behind me.

"Hi." Pucca said quietly, rubbing her eye as she stood in the archway to my kitchen, leaning her weight on one crutch.

Okay, Tobe. You can do this. Just. Untwist your tongue. She just looked so cute. Finding any words to say to her felt almost impossible. "Hi." I responded back to her, half smiling. Clearly, I was a poet.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to fall asleep like that…" She said, fighting back a yawn.

"Oh! It's totally fine. I uh…I just didn't want to wake you up. You looked tired, and it felt super rude to just…wake you up." Smooth as silk, Tobe. A ladies man, extraordinaire.

"Whatever you're making smells really good…" She glanced at the plate that was already on the counter. "Are you…making me food, too?" She asked.

"I. Uh. Yeah! I figured you'd be hungry. But it's fine if you don't want it! Don't feel like you have to eat it, it's just omelets and-" She cut me off.

"I have basically only eaten soup for like, two weeks." She started look excited. "Thank you, Tobe!" She smiled. "You didn't have to do that."

"It's no problem at all, Pucca." I could feel my face getting red. She looked so happy. "I gotta ask though, why so much soup? Isn't that more of a sick food and less of a bike accident food?" Was that disrespectful? Damn it.

She laughed. "See, that's what I keep telling them! My uncles won't bring me anything else. They had some superstitious reason I honestly don't remember."

I pushed the plate over to her, and she quickly sat down at one of the stools that I kept at the island counter. She quickly took a big bite. "They've been driving me nuts, like they've been - Holy shit, Tobe, this is really good…" She interrupted herself. It caught me off guard. Not so much that she liked my cooking, which I'd have to celebrate later, but that I'd never heard her swear before.

"Anyway. They keep waking me up in the middle of the night to ask me if I'm in pain? Who does that? I know they're just worried, but I was perfectly happy being asleep, thank you." She took another bite of food.

Well, that explained why she fell asleep so fast, I suppose. "I mean, to be completely honest, I've been worried, too." I admitted to her. Why'd I do that? That's weird. Now I'm creepy. "Even a few of the ninjas asked about you, if you'd believe that."

She smiled. "Well, you can tell them I'm f-" She was interrupted by the sound of my smoke detector going off. Oh, yeah. Eggs.

I quickly turn around and move the skillet onto a different burner, turn off the stove, and reach up and fumble with the smoke alarm trying desperately to get it to turn off. I didn't even notice that it was getting smokey in here.

I finally got the alarm off, and as I walked over to the window to open it, I noticed Pucca. Laughing at me. Great. Really crushing this whole 'cool' thing.

"I. Am so sorry about that." I stuttered.

She got herself to stop laughing for a moment. "I totally forgot that was on the stove, and I literally looked at it like thirty seconds ago." She continued giggling a little. "Did the omelet make it?"

I went back over to the stove. "Believe it or not, it's not too bad. I think the butter was burning." I said, somehow maintaining an even tone, even though I kind of wanted to go have a quick embarrassment cry.

"Then come eat your extra toasty omelet!" She said excitedly. She was adorable when she was excited. I put my plate across from her, on the other end of the island, and took a bite, too.

"It actually still tastes pretty good." I chuckled. Hers was mostly gone at this point.

"Good." She smiled. "As I was saying, before your fire alarm interrupted…" She teased. "You can tell them that other than really missing the joys of walking, I'll be fine. Just got really dinged up. Even my leg is only sprained."

"Good…" I said back to her.

"Ya know, it would've been a lot worse if you hadn't done anything."

"Yeah, but it was my stupid food delivery that your bike decided to blow, on." Oh, why would I say that? Don't make it about you, ya idiot.

"Oh, shut up." I looked up at her quickly. "It would've done it regardless. Besides, it ended up being a nice excuse to talk to you, mister mysterious hero man." She smiled. "I think Dada knows. But everyone else thinks you're just some vigilante or something. People have even been whispering about thinking it was Garu, acting in the shadows or something."

That was weird to hear. At least people thought I did good… "I like Dada. He's equally nervous talking to me as he is everyone else. It's nice." I told her. "I'm still used to be treated like the evil street kid." I half laughed.

Her face got more serious. "Street kid?"

Oh yeah. She didn't know about that.

"Uh. Yeah. I didn't mean to bring down the mood, but my parents died when I was pretty young. This was their house. I've just been trying to scrape by ever since."

She frowned. "Do you mind if I ask what happened…?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm fine talking about it. My mom got sick when I was six. She didn't make it a year. My dad died in the war when I was seven."

"My mom died in the war, too, actually. That's why I live with my uncles. She was their sister. Chef by day, ninja by night, is what they've always told me. I don't remember a lot about her. I was only five when she died. But! That's how the restaurant got its name! Her name was Goh. Goh Rong."

I never put together that Pucca's last name was the same as the restaurant. Rong. Huh.

"The ninjas are basically my family. It's like having ten younger brothers you never asked for." I told her. She laughed. At least she thought I was a little funny.

Then I heard her phone vibrate again. It was sitting on the table next to her.

She groaned. "I've answered their messages a hundred times to tell them I was fine. Apparently, a twenty-year-old girl can't run away from home for a night anymore." She smiled. "It was worth it though." She told me, looking up from her phone.

"I should probably go home." She looked annoyed. "You should walk with me, though." She smiled. "I like your company."

I felt my face het hotter than the stove fire I nearly caused. Does that mean she likes me? Or like likes me? Or is just thankful I helped her? I don't know. I'm learning that I'm extremely bad at this.

"Oh! Yeah. I'd… like that. Besides, I don't think I could live with myself knowing you had to sadly crutch your way all the way back there." She looked thrilled.

She grabbed her phone and crutches, and we headed back to the Gohrong. "I hate these things." She complained. "They hurt my arms."

Without thinking, I stopped her. She was so little compared to me. I got down on a knee in front of her, with my back facing her. "Get on, you're not walking anymore." I told her.

"Oh! It's okay! You don't have to-"

"The trains leaving the station in ten seconds…" I told her jokingly.

"Alright, twist my arm why don't you." She laughed.

I took her crutches from her, and she got on my back. This is not a thing I could have ever imagined doing. It was as far from a burden as was humanly possible. I get to help the girl I like, AND do it with her being literally on me? This is the high life as far as I was concerned.

As we continued on towards the Gohrong, she leaned forward, putting her chin on my shoulder, and wrapped her arms in front of me.

"This is much better than walking."