"I'm so sorry, Mei," Yuzu apologized again as she stirred a bag of instant noodles over the stove.
"It's fine," Mei reassured her for the tenth time. "We both lost track of time with our workload. Not to mention someone forgot to visit the grocery store," Mei mentioned passively in a way that let Yuzu know that it was definitely not fine.
Yuzu sighed at her tone. "Come to think of it, I don't think I've ever made you instant noodles before, Mei."
"I don't believe I've ever had it," Mei confirmed.
"What, seriously?" Yuzu's spirits seemed to perk up at this. "Mama and I used to eat this stuff all the time," she laughed as she poured the steaming noodles into two bowls. "One day we couldn't take it anymore and decided to learn to cook together!"
Mei still looked dubious as a bowl was placed in front of her. "The only thing I took from that story is that I won't enjoy this…"
"It's not as bad as it sounds!" Yuzu reached over to grab Mei's chopsticks, rolling up some noodles and blowing on them until they weren't steaming. Then she held out the portion to Mei's mouth with a smile. "Open up!"
Mei pouted slightly at being fed, but it did oddly help with traversing this new territory of cheap instant foods. With trust in Yuzu, she accepted the portion, trying to slurp it up gracefully. She was partially successful.
"So?" Yuzu asked with wide-eyed suspense.
Mei dabbed away traces of her attempted slurping with a napkin. "It's surprising," she volunteered vaguely as she took back her chopsticks.
Yuzu lit up. "Surprising?"
"Surprisingly not terrible," Mei said, grabbing Yuzu's chopsticks to repay the favor.