In Issou's mind,
What was Jim like?
Nice。
Very sweet.
Very warm smile.
Occasionally gentle gentleman.
Occasionally childish.
It could be said that as the first customer of "My Chinese Restaurant", Jim was a big brother who was fun and worth being friends with in Issou's mind,
She did not forget what he said to her when he first came to visit.
He said,
The food she cooked was delicious.
He said that the food she cooked amazed him.
He said,
When he took the first bite of the food she cooked,
He couldn't help but change his mind and stay at Empire State University to teach.
He said,
He was so happy to meet her today.
...
Even as a person who made everyone who had eaten her food feel that she had a pair of magical hands, when Issou first came to New York to open a Chinese restaurant, she was not just full of confidence and courage.
She came to a strange country alone,
Her closest family was in a state of disconnection, and what was even worse was that she inexplicably broke the dimensional wall, making the world she was in even more dangerous.
But when Moriarty said that after eating the Chinese food she had cooked,
At that moment, no matter what other emotions she had in her heart, they all turned into confidence and courage at that moment.
In the days after that, whether it was her,
Or "My Chinese Restaurant,"
They were all moving in a better direction step by step. The praises of the diners and their repeated patronage made her more confident and brave in the bottom of her heart.
Until when she faced the hostile Magneto, she was confident that she could make him, a mutant who hated humans, kneel down and call her father after eating the Chinese food she made as a human.
But even so,
For Moriarty, who was the first to walk into "My Chinese Restaurant,"
Every word he said then was still fresh in her mind.
Every time he warmed her heart with a smile and played along with her awkwardness, she could still remember it vividly.
Issou didn't know if it was because Moriarty really had the gentleness of a big bad guy, or because he maintained his image too well, she only knew one thing —
For this reason, even though she had learned from Peter that he was the James Moriarty she knew, she still felt no fear or dread of him from the bottom of her heart.
This could be seen from the way she let her rationality cry in a storm.
Yeah.
Although it was true that she often couldn't grasp the main point regardless of the occasion, but...
This time, she wasn't trying to clear Issou's name. She really wasn't afraid.
She thought about her reaction when she found out that her neighbor was Hannibal. She thought about how her face turned pale when she bumped into The Clown...
So when she found out that Jim was Moriarty, she was still in the mood to ask if he was Moriarty because he was sweet and warm, which was why she was so happy to have dinner with Shylock, Watson, and the others. She didn't turn pale with fright, which was enough to prove that Moriarty was right.
But the truth was one thing, and whether Issou knew it was another. Now, it was obvious —
Moriarty didn't say it out loud, and the black-haired girl didn't notice it, but now that he said it out loud...
Moriarty looked at Issou, who was a little stunned by his words, and he couldn't help but laugh.
To be honest, after knowing that his ZD blew up, Moriarty was so angry that he couldn't laugh at all. He really wanted to blow up the culprit, Peter.
But on second thought —
If he blew up, so be it.
It was not that Moriarty was as careless as Issou, but he felt that there was no point in holding anyone responsible at this time. Instead of blowing someone up, why not coax his little girl first?
Therefore, from the time before lunch to the end of the afternoon market, Moriarty had come up with no less than ten ways to deal with Issou. Unlike the plans he came up with to confess to Issou but didn't use because of Peter, in this short period of time, Moriarty had already roughly guessed what kinds of reactions Issou would have.
And Moriarty had thought of a way to deal with every reaction the black-haired girl would have. But even so, he couldn't help but sigh —
It seemed that he wasn't that unlucky today.
Because Issou's current reaction was the most favorable one among the many reactions Moriarty had guessed. Moriarty felt like he had done a lot of preparation before the exam, but in the end, he only got a "1 + 1 =?" result.
But in any case, this matter had not developed to the worst point for Moriarty, so his laughter was a little relaxed.
The black-haired girl, who heard Moriarty's laughter, glanced at him. Even though she was not afraid of him because he was Moriarty, but...
"You don't seem nervous at all?"
Issou wondered if Moriarty's reaction was a little strange. If he didn't care if his identity was known by her, he would have told her his full name.
Yes.
After knowing that Jim was Moriarty, the black-haired girl reacted —
Previously, she had not asked for his full name several times, partly because of external reasons, but also because Moriarty had deliberately changed the topic.
Since Moriarty could not tell her his full name when he knew her secret, it meant that he was not indifferent to what she thought of "James Moriarty."
But the problem now was —
Why was his attitude so calm now, as if she was the one who was hiding her identity and name?
"No, I was very nervous."
When Moriarty heard Issou's words, he said to her, "Do you know that when I was eating with Shylock just now, I lost to Shylock several times because of my nervousness?"
What?
Don't you think Watson is also at the same table as you? Why did Moriarty only lose to Shylock?
...
...
...
There was nothing wrong with that.
Moriarty said that it was true that Watson was eating at the same table as them, but did Watson participate in the food competition?
Watson: "...???"
Hey.
I don't care about my reputation.
After all, I came from Afghanistan...
Forget it.
Compared to them, coming back from Afghanistan alive didn't seem like a big deal.
After Issou heard Moriarty's words, he was a little confused —
Just lost to the food competition?
Shouldn't he be so nervous that he couldn't eat?
Moriarty: "..."
He really wanted to pretend.
But...
Emmmm。
Who could resist Issou's Chinese food?
The master criminal pretended that he didn't see the obvious emotions on Izu's delicate face after hearing his words. He continued, "But after confirming that you're not afraid of me, what's there to be nervous about?"
Moriarty smiled at Issou. His brown eyes didn't have the neurotic madness, nor the chilling coldness of a venomous snake. Instead, they were full of smiles, like the sunshine on the Gold Coast, so warm that it was impossible to guard against them.
"Did you do it on purpose?"
Looking at Moriarty like this, Issou tried hard to recall in his mind and found that the Jim she saw was always like this. He always looked at her with such warm and gentle eyes.
Unlike Hannibal, in the beginning, she could clearly feel the politeness and alienation of her neighbor. It was just that this alienation was masked under his gentlemanly demeanor. It was not until the two gradually became familiar with each other that this alienation was completely broken.
Moriarty, on the other hand, was different. From the first time she met him until now, he seemed to be the same as always. He was as nice as a big brother next door, and she couldn't put up her guard against him at all.
If Issou didn't know that Jim was James Moriarty, she naturally wouldn't suspect that he was faking it. But she knew, and she knew what kind of person James Moriarty was from the novels.
So he patiently disguised as another person in front of her for such a long time. Issou didn't believe that he didn't do it on purpose.
Especially since he knew her secret.
"Sweethearts, you're so smart."
When Moriarty heard Issou's question, he did not deny it. Instead, he admitted it openly. He said, "At first, I just thought it would be easier to get close to you with this persona."
In fact, the first time Moriarty stepped into "My Chinese Restaurant", it was not because he accidentally passed by the street and walked into the restaurant, as he said, but because he wanted to find out if Dr. Banner, who was disguised as Hulk, had changed back because he ate Issou's crab soup dumplings.
Of course, the reason was not important. What was important was that —
Moriarty, who ate Issou's Chinese food, changed his mind.
At that time, the master criminal only spent a little effort to disguise himself for a bite of food. But after he recognized her, especially when she gradually became more important in his mind, his disguise became more deliberate.
"There's a saying in China — Boiling the frog in warm water, right?"
Moriarty did not hide what he had done. He said this directly to Issou —
I'm just trying to make you like me.
Issou: "..."
Is that even possible?
Moriarty also chose to confess to Issou by revealing his full name, but compared to Hannibal, Moriarty's confession made the black-haired girl...
Hmm.
She had mixed feelings.
"So you're relying on me to make me like you, so you're starting to be unscrupulous?"
Issou looked at Moriarty and found that he didn't know what to do.
"No, no, no."
When he heard Issou's words, Moriarty shook his head in denial. The smile on his lips looked a little sweet. He said, "I just want you to know that you can just treat me as Jim. In front of you, I will always be Jim."
No one said that a person could only have one side of him. He was James Moriarty, the supervillain who had no conscience and no moral bottom line. He was also Jim, a diner who often patronized "My Chinese Restaurant" and liked to flirt with the owner here.
Looking at the smile on his face, Issou wanted to refuse, but the words just wouldn't come out of his mouth.
In the end, she could only change the topic. She asked, "What about you in front of Shylock and the rest?"
Issou was really curious about this question. "Aren't you and Shylock... uh, arch-enemies?"
But the three of them formed a London trio and had a lot of fun with each other.
To be honest, the black-haired girl said that if she didn't know Moriarty's full name, then based on how Shylock and Watson treated Moriarty, she felt that she would never be able to guess his true identity in this life.
"Issou, this has nothing to do with me eating with Shylock and the rest," Moriarty explained to Issou with a smile.
Moriarty explained to Izzo with a smile. "You should believe that the Chinese food you make is so charming that people are willing to throw away their positions and identities during the meal."
Hmm.
Some people even don't want to pick it up after throwing it away.
Hearing Moriarty's words, Issou nodded. After the two chatted for a while, he planned to get up and leave.
Looking at the black-haired girl in front of him, Moriarty approached her with a smile and gently planted a kiss on her forehead, just like the first time they met.
The difference was that this time, there was no chef's hat blocking him.
"Forgive me for my rudeness."
Moriarty repeated what he said to Issou. He said, "Because I'm happy that you're not afraid of me."
Issou, "...???"
If you're happy, you can kiss yourself.
What's wrong with kissing me every time you're happy?
Even after Moriarty left, Izzo was still thinking angrily, "He clearly blew up a ZD today, but why does he look like he set off fireworks?"
"Issou."
Just as Issou was thinking that no matter how warm Moriarty's smile was, he would not forgive him easily, Peter walked up to her and said, "There's something wrong with that Professor Moriarty, you have to be careful of him."
Just now, because Issou and Moriarty both wanted to talk in private, even if Peter wanted to eavesdrop on them, he was pulled away by Pietro, who was oblivious to the situation.
In addition, Issou's back was facing him, so Peter could only see Moriarty's smile that almost never disappeared. When the two separated, he even kissed Issou so intimately.
So at this moment, Peter did not care about anything else and directly reminded Issou.
"Uh."
Hearing Peter's words, Issou, who came back to his senses, remembered.
Just now, it was because of Peter that she knew Moriarty's identity, right?
So Moriarty also knew that it was because of Peter that he exposed himself?
The black-haired girl knew that Peter must have sensed Moriarty's danger through the Spider Sense, but she did not know how to tell him.
Compared to her, he should be more careful of Moriarty.
After all, no matter how she looked at it, Moriarty would not hurt her, but it was hard to say what would happen to Peter. After all, his ZD exploded because of his detonation.
Peter did not know what Issou was thinking. Seeing that she did not give him the answer he wanted, he could not help but feel a little anxious. He said, "I'm telling the truth, Issou, there's really something wrong with Professor Moriarty."
Hearing Peter's words, Clarice, who was passing by, asked curiously, "Professor Moriarty?"
Issou added, "It's Jim."
"Oh."
Like Issou, Clarice did not know what Moriarty's full name was. Well, it was mainly because they were not as close to him as the black-haired girl, so whether they knew his full name or not —
It did not matter.
But...
"What's wrong with Professor Moriarty?"
Although Clarice was not as close to Moriarty as he was to Issou, he often visited "My Chinese Restaurant", so they naturally knew a little about him.
Therefore, not only Clarice, but also the twins, Wanda and Pietro, were very curious about Peter's words.
"Peter, you're overthinking it."
Because of Peter's presence, Pietro no longer used his superpower to clean up the dishes like before when there were no other diners in "My Chinese Restaurant" after the lunch market was over.
After he slowly cleaned up the dishes, he said to Peter, "And isn't Professor Moriarty a professor at your school?"
"No... No, I mean, he is a professor at our school, but that has nothing to do with whether he has a problem or not."
Peter looked at Izu and the others (Izu: … No, actually, I believe you) who didn't believe what he said, and he couldn't help but feel a little anxious.
Although Little Spider did not know who Moriarty was, his spider senses had already told him how dangerous he was. Besides —
Peter did not forget the look in Moriarty's eyes when he just looked at him in the kitchen.
All of this told him —
James Moriarty was dangerous.
It was precisely because Peter knew so well that when he saw that no one believed him, he was so anxious that when Pietro asked him what evidence he had, he directly said that he was the Spider-man.
"Spider-man?"
"You're the Spider-man?!"
"You're the Spider-man!!!???"
When they heard Peter accidentally spill the beans, except for Issou, Clarice and the twins were stunned by this news. They all looked at him in shock, as if they had seen a ghost.
In fact, Clarice and the twins could not be blamed. After all, just like how Pietro misunderstood Peter, they also had certain misunderstandings about him —
Even though he always beat Pietro when it came to food.
But this did not prove that Peter was good, it only proved that Pietro was weak.
Pietro: "…???"
So when they heard Peter say that he was the Spider-man, Clarice and the twins were in disbelief.
Seeing their reaction, Peter, who was secretly regretting his slip of the tongue, smiled stiffly at them and said, "Haha, if I said that I was actually joking, would you believe me?"
Issou: "…"
Stop fooling around.
His acting is terrible.
There is no credibility.
If it weren't for the fact that she already knew about it, the black-haired girl couldn't help but want to cover her face when she saw Peter's horrible reaction, indicating that she couldn't bear to watch.
Although Wanda and the twins did not know as much as Issou, they were not fools. How could they not know what Peter said was true and what was false?
But when they saw that Peter was about to cry (Peter: … I'm not, don't talk nonsense), Wanda and Clarice said in unison —
"If believing it will make you feel better, then we'll believe it."
Peter: "…"
You're saying this because you don't want me to have a good time, okay?
"Don't be nervous."
When Issou saw Peter's expression, he couldn't help but reach out and pat him on the shoulder. She said, "We won't tell anyone about your identity."
At the end of the day, Peter was worried that she would be in danger because she trusted Moriarty too much. That was why he exposed his identity in a panic. Therefore, the black-haired girl could not help but comfort him.
In fact, based on her relationship with the Avengers, she should have known (secretly and on the surface) that Peter was the Spider-man. But since Peter didn't intend to say it, she didn't intend to pretend that she accidentally knew his identity because she knew Steve and the others.
Anyway, whether or not she knew that Peter was the Spider-man was just a matter of whether Issou needed to put on her big fool persona again.
Therefore, the black-haired girl didn't care at all.
It was just that Issou didn't expect that even though she pretended not to know Peter's identity, she still found out in the end.
After hearing Issou's words, Wanda and Clarice also promised. As mutants who didn't want to reveal their identities, they naturally understood how Peter felt as a superhero who didn't want to reveal his identity.
In this regard, Pietro also felt the same. But! Yes!
No matter how much he empathized, he wanted to figure out a question —
"You said you are the Spider-man, then …"
"Did you cheat when you were eating!!!?"
The former mascot, who had repeatedly lost to the "soft and easy to bully" Peter due to lack of strength during the food snatching segment, stared at the current mascot, looking like he would not give up until he got an answer.
Peter: "…"
Uh.
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