Ha! Talk about a high-sounding excuse. She was clearly the one who had been chasing me the hardest in the alleyway just now, almost ripping my wig off!
“A heroic act?” Qiluo tilted her head to look at Shizuru, a faint, knowing smile playing on her lips. “That fan chased me for several streets, and Kirishima-senpai just happened to pass by and save me! So amazing~”
Shizuru instinctively avoided Qiluo's gaze. She felt like Tian Gong-san's words had a double meaning, but the other girl's expression was flawlessly innocent.
She chalked it up to her own heart rate not having settled down yet.
“...It was just a coincidence.”
After listening to Shizuru's explanation, Yuki took half a step forward, naturally positioning herself slightly in front of Qiluo's side.
She bowed slightly to Shizuru, returning to her usual polite and earnest demeanor. “Thank you for helping Qiluo. I didn't notice she was being followed. It was my oversight.”
“I didn't realize Lightweaver's fans were so passionate,” Kizuna said, nodding half-comprehendingly. “But Tian Gong-san really does look a lot like her in that outfit. I thought so back in the classroom, too. If I were a fan of Lightweaver, I'd probably want to chase her down for an autograph as well.”
Facing these two gazes, Shizuru shook her head without changing her expression. “Don't mention it. It was no trouble at all.”
“Yes, no trouble at all,” Qiluo repeated from the side. Shizuru tried her best to maintain her composure, but the tips of her ears were already turning red.
Tsk, acting so calm and collected. As expected of a female lead who can deliver altered monologue lines on stage.
The crowd on the sports field grew denser. The idol group on stage began interacting with the audience, and the fans in the front row raised their glow sticks in a neat block of color.
Kizuna stood on her tiptoes to peer toward the stage, tugging at Yuki's sleeve and pointing into the distance. “There's a shaved ice stall over there! Kirishima-senpai, come with us. It'll be a good way to thank you for helping Tian Gong-san just now.”
“There's no need, it really was just—” Before Shizuru could finish, Kizuna was already pulling Yuki with one hand and nudging Qiluo with the other toward the stall.
Shizuru stood in place, dazed for a few seconds. Realizing she hadn't been included on the “dragged along” list, she had no choice but to start walking and catch up on her own.
The four of them lined up side-by-side in front of the shaved ice stall.
Kizuna rested her hands on her knees, leaning forward as her eyes swept across the dozen or so colorful syrup bottles inside the glass display case.
Before long, the four girls each had a cup of shaved ice in hand. They leaned against the railing at the edge of the sports field, watching the idol group on stage transition to a new song.
“I heard there's a raffle over there.” Kizuna pointed her straw toward a red tent on the other side of the field, her eyes sparkling. “First prize is a limited-edition Magical Girl figurine! Kurokawa-san, want to go together?”
Yuki set her cup of shaved ice on the table, pulled out a tissue to wipe her hands, and followed Kizuna toward the raffle stall.
After a few steps, Kizuna turned back to wave at Shizuru and Qiluo. “Wait for us here! If we win the figurine, we'll show you!”
The line at the raffle stall was shorter than expected.
Kizuna's gaze landed near Shizuru's shoulder. She tugged at Yuki's sleeve and lowered her voice. “Is that thing perched on Kirishima-senpai's shoulder a Contract Spirit? I just transferred here, so I'm not entirely sure about the rules, but that doesn't look like an ordinary plushie.”
Yuki Kurokawa knew what she was asking about.
Nuomi had been draped over Shizuru's left shoulder from the very beginning, its two long ears hanging limply over Shizuru's chest, rising and falling gently with its master's breathing.
“...Yes,” Yuki whispered back.
“I knew it! I noticed it during the performance earlier. It looked like it was crying in the theater. So it really is a Contract Spirit—”
Kizuna stopped mid-sentence, her gaze shifting to Qiluo, who was sitting on a stool in the background eating her shaved ice.
Qiluo was poking at the last bits of unmelted ice at the bottom of her cup with her straw. Sensing Kizuna's gaze, she looked up.
“Tian Gong-san, what were you looking at just now?” Kizuna called out to her.
Qiluo moved the straw away from her lips and looked up. “Hmm? I was looking at you guys. Did you win?”
“It's not our turn yet!” Kizuna waved the raffle ticket and ran back to Yuki's side.
She sighed, lowering the ticket as she complained to Yuki. “I have no idea where Star-trail went today. I haven't seen it since this morning. Usually, it would want to come out and play during such a lively school festival, but now there's not even a trace of it.”
“It probably found a quiet spot to sleep again. Last time, we found it under a bench in the school's courtyard. It's likely somewhere similar this time.”
“But with so many people today, won't it get squished? Even though ordinary people can't see it, if someone steps on its tail—”
Kizuna shook her head as she spoke, probably realizing that the image of Star-trail getting its tail stepped on was highly unlikely.
“It's very good at hiding.”
Yuki Kurokawa wanted to laugh just thinking about Star-trail's habit of sleeping all over the place.
Qiluo watched Yuki and Kizuna squeeze into the crowd until their heads—one dark, one light—bobbed away and were completely swallowed by the passing throng.
She pulled her straw out of her shaved ice cup, slowly stirring the mostly melted ice. Turning around, she faced Shizuru.
Shizuru stood by the shaved ice stall, holding a cup of shaved ice that she had barely touched.
The ice had melted into half a cup of sweet liquid while she was lost in thought, the edge of her straw slightly deformed from her biting it.
Sensing Qiluo's gaze, she instinctively straightened her back and set the cup down on the stall's table.
“Tian Gong-san, aren't you going to enter the raffle?” Shizuru asked.
“No, I don't have much confidence in things that rely on luck.”
Qiluo set her own shaved ice on the table. “Besides, if I leave, you'll be all alone, Kirishima-senpai. If that ‘fan’ from earlier comes chasing me again, who's going to shield me?”
Shizuru looked away, picking up the nearly iceless drink once more. Her straw made a gurgling, empty sound against the bottom of the cup.
She clearly didn't want to continue this topic, but she couldn't find a suitable way to steer the conversation elsewhere either, so she silently chewed on her straw.
Leaning against the folding table, Qiluo decided to add a little more fuel to the fire.
“Speaking of which, Kirishima-senpai, what was written on the note that masked person gave you?”
Shizuru set her cup down, wiped the corner of her mouth with a tissue, and neatly folded the tissue before placing it next to the cup.
This series of actions took twice as long as normal, a clear attempt to buy time to formulate her response.
Meeting Qiluo's eyes, which were waiting for an answer, she realized that if she didn't give some sort of response, Tian Gong-san probably wouldn't let it go.
“Um... contact information left by an acquaintance.”
“Oh? If it's an acquaintance, why didn't they just come say hello directly? Why go through the trouble of having a stranger hand over a note?”
Qiluo poked her straw into her shaved ice and stirred, the ice clinking softly.
Shizuru couldn't answer. She wanted to know the answer to that, too.
“...Probably because that person gets nervous when we're together. Just like me, they can never hide their expression when we're face-to-face.”
Qiluo sucked up the last bit of shaved ice, the ice crunching softly between her teeth.
While Shizuru was still busy studying the ring of condensation on the table, Qiluo quietly switched her consciousness over to Star-trail.
Star-trail was currently lying on top of an awning at one of the school festival stalls. Upon receiving her command, it jumped down.
It pulled out a phone—completely normal, Qiluo had one, and Star-trail had one too.
Swiping open the screen with its tail, it tapped into the contact list to find the friend request it had received not long ago.
The verification message read, “I am Mingyue.” Star-trail gently tapped the “Accept” button with its paw.
Shizuru's phone lit up beside her, displaying a brief notification on the screen: “You and Lightweaver are now friends. You can now start chatting.”
Rate on N.U.
