Zero sat cross-legged on the living floor upstairs, his eyes closed in deep tration. At first, he had wao try making another e. But something stopped him. What if summoning a new e caused Soma to disappear? The thought uled him.

  He had no idea how many es he could maintain at onor what the sequences would be if he pushed his ability too far.

  He wasn't about to take that risk—not while Soma was out there attrag ers. So instead, he turned his focus to something less risky, but just as important—

  Coffee.

  Zero desded to the café floor, rolling up his sleeves. Since he had unlimited ingredients, there was no reason to hold back.

  "Alright. Let's go wild."

  He tried everything—from traditional macchiatos to affogatos. Some turned out rid fvorful—others? Well… some tasted like garbage.

  "Ugh. hat was disgusting." He grimaced, dumping the failed experiment into the sink.

  Other brews, however, intrigued him. The bance of bitterness and sweetness, the impact of grind size, water temperature, and brewing time—it was all more plex than he had expected.

  He experimented for hours, perfeg what he could, discarding what didn't work. By the end of it, Zero felt different. Not just more knowledgeable—but more fident.

  Even so…

  Something him. A weight settled in his chest as he stared at the test cup of coffee he had made. His hands tightened slightly around the ceramic mug.

  "Why do I feel… so useless?" he muttered to himself.

  Soma had been out there engaging with people, cooking with ease, pulling in more ers—and what had he been doing? Struggling to make a det cup of coffee. He let out a breath.

  "Why don't I have the skills that my e does?" he wondered aloud. "I'm the inal. Shouldn't I be the more talented one?" As he sat there, lost in thought—

  The café door swung open.

  Soma stepped inside, carrying a rge empty materials crate with all his cooking tools stacked ly inside. Zero quickly posed himself, pushing his thoughts aside. He turned with a smile.

  "So. How was your day?"

  Soma let out a dramatic sigh, setting the crate down with a small thud. "Exhausting. But great." He stretched his arms. "A little bit of help would've been hough." Zero chuckled. "Oh, of course. My apologies, my dear e." Soma smirked. "Damn right."

  Zero picked up the crate and helped move it to the ste area he kit. As he stacked the tools properly, he gnced over.

  "So, how was the live cooking?" he asked. "Judging by the empty materials, I'm guessing it was a success?"

  At that, Soma's eyes lit up.

  "You would NOT believe it!" he said excitedly. "At first, it was just a handful of people watg me chop ingredients—then BOOM! By the time the first dish hit the pan, the entire square acked."

  Zero chuckled. "Sounds abht."

  Soma grinned. "The smell alone was enough to hook them. I had people leaning over just to get a closer look! Then, when I started flipping the food in the wok—oh man, you should've seen their faces. They lost their minds."

  Zero smirked. "So, in other words, you were just showing off."

  Soma shrugged. "Hey, showmanship is part of the experience. And besides—" he paused, his grin widening, "you'll never guess how much I made just from people buying my samples."

  Zero tilted his head. "Oh? You charge them for a sample, how noble."

  Soma pced a hand on his hip and held up a pouch. With a satisfying jingle, he dropped it onto the ter. "Several hundred silver."

  Zero blinked.

  "…What."

  Soma crossed his arms, looking smug. "Yup. Turns out, when you make good food, people just throw mo you." Zero ughed. "Well then. How exg! Let's put it away first." Soma frowned. "Why?" Zero smirked. "Are you hungry?" Soma's stomach growled in response. He sighed dramatically. "Starved." Zero rolled up his sleeves. "The's cook together."

  Zero and Soma moved in sync—at least, they tried to. They bumped into each other.

  Twice.

  Zero reached for a pan at the same time Soma did, their hands colliding.

  "Dude. Move."

  "You move."

  They both reached for the salt—only for Zero to actally knock over the pepper shaker instead. Soma groaned. "Man, we suck at this." Zero ughed. "We'll get it." Despite their awkward teamwork, they had fun.

  They chatted, teased, and adjusted to each other's rhythm as they cooked, the sounds of sizzling food filling the air. Then, as Zero reached for the frying pan, his forehead bumped against Soma's.

  The moment their foreheads made tact—

  Something clicked.

  A rush of memories flooded between them—not just thoughts, but experiences.

  Zero suddenly saw everything from Soma's day. The faces of the people in the square, the energy of the crowd, the weight of the wok in his hands.

  And Soma? He saw Zero's frustrations, his doubts, his struggles with coffee. They both staggered back, gripping their heads.

  "Whoa."

  Zero inhaled sharply. "What the hell was that?"

  Soma blinked rapidly, then poi Zero acgly. "You—" he took a breath, "You think I had it easy today?!"

  Zero scoffed, still rec. "Oh, I don't know. Maybe because you made a deal to split the earnings 35-65?!"

  Soma threw his hands up. "Hey! That dwarf drove a hard bargain!" Zero exhaled, rubbing his temples. Whatever just happened, it wasn't a simple exge of thoughts—it was a plete memory trahey had see, and experienced each other's day.

  Soma smirked. "So. Wanna trade pces tomorrow?"

  Zero grinned. "Hell no."

  And with that, they dug into their meal together—both ughing at the sheer ridiculousness of their bond. The warm glow of the nterns flickered softly as Zero and Soma sat across from each other, enjoying their meal. The smell of their freshly cooked food still lingered in the air, mixing with the faint aroma of coffee that had seeped into the café's wooden walls.

  For a while, they simply ate in silence, enjoying the fvors.

  Then, Soma gnced up. "Hey, I think you do it, y'know."

  Zero looked at him, raising an eyebrow. "Do what?"

  Soma gestured with his chopsticks. "Get better. I mean, I've got all these cooking skills, but let's be real—they're not mihey came from the Soma Yukihira card."

  Zero poked at his food, mulling over Soma's words. "I know. But that's exactly why it feels... hollow."

  Soma smirked, resting his in his hand. "That's why it's even cooler if you improve your skills from scratch. It'll be yours."

  Zero g him, surprised for a moment. Then, slowly, he smiled.

  "…Thanks," he said, voice quieter than before. "And... I'm sorry for thinking you had it easy."

  Soma let out a shh. "Hey, I kinda do—I like cooking."

  Zero rolled his eyes but grinned. "Good thing we have this e ability now."

  Soma leaned back, smirking. "Oh yeah? Why's that?"

  Zero chuckled. " you imagine if we had this ba our past life? Our food expenses would've been a nightmare."

  They both burst into ughter, picturing themselves in their old world, double portions for every meal just to keep up with their es.

  Soma shook his head. "Good thing it's unlimited now."

  Zero raised his cup. "To unlimited food."

  Soma smirked and ked his gss against Zero's. "To unlimited food."

  …

  After they finished eating, Soma gathered the dishes, rolling up his sleeves. "I'll hahis. You did most of the work earlier."

  Zero waved a hand. "Appreciate it."

  While Soma washed the ptes, Zero grabbed the pouch of silver s Soma had earned from the live cooking demo. He walked over to the cash register, lifting the lid before p the money inside.

  He waited for the usual version message.

  Nothing happened.

  Zero frowned. He tapped the ter, peering into the register. The money was still there. It hadn't been verted into points like before.

  "…Weird."

  Soma finished up, wiping his hands with a cloth. "Something wrong?" Zero g him. "It's not verting."

  Soma froze.

  A beat of silence.

  Then, as if something clicked in their minds at the same time, they both spoke in perfeison.

  "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"

  Another pause. Then, again, perfectly synized—

  "Yes."

  Zero exhaled, leaning on the ter. "The register only verts money from transas ihe café."

  Soma whistled. "So anything we earn outside the café stays as real money?"

  Zero nodded. "Looks like it."

  Soma ran a hand through his red hair, thinking. "Well… that's actually not a bad thing. We use this for real expenses if we ever need money."

  Zero leaned back, letting out a small chuckle. "True. 't exactly go shopping with Gacha Points."

  Soma grinned. "Hey, who knows? Maybe one day we'll find a way." They ughed, the tension lifting from the room. Even though the money hadn't verted, they had still made a solid profit. And more importantly—they were learning. Little by little, Café Lebnc was growing.

  And Zero had one goal in mind. He would improve. Not as a e, not with borrowed skills—

  But as himself.