“Nuomi!”
Shizuru reached out, scooped Nuomi off her shoulder, and held its round little body up in front of her with both hands.
Her ears were as red as if they had just been fished out of hot water.
“Nuomi! You're not allowed to say another word! If you keep talking, I won't give you any money for snacks tomorrow.”
Nuomi's ears perked up with a snap, its twin tails freezing in midair as its bell let out a sharp, brief chime.
“You're biased! Tian Gong-san clearly—Mmph mmph!”
Shizuru buried Nuomi's entire face in her palm, leaving only its twitching ears exposed.
Maintaining this pose, she stood up, bowed slightly to apologize to the nearby tourists who were casting curious glances her way, and quickly walked over to a relatively quiet corner behind the stalls.
She placed Nuomi on her lap and took a deep breath.
“First, you are not allowed to mention Tian Gong-san again. Second, you are not allowed to peek at my phone. Third, about your snack budget—”
She gently pinched Nuomi's ears, her tone softening slightly.
“...It will remain the same tomorrow. But you must not say a single word about today.”
“Deal,” Nuomi said, instantly ceasing its struggles.
“But I want extra money! And I have to buy a portion for Star-trail too! We agreed on this last time! You can't make me break my promise to Star-trail!”
Shizuru stared at her Contract Spirit bargaining so confidently. After a brief silence, she let out a resigned sigh.
Her fingers slid down from Nuomi's ears, gently tapping its wet little nose.
“That's more like it.” Nuomi shook its ruffled fur in satisfaction and hopped back onto her shoulder.
Shizuru turned off her phone screen, stood up, and brushed the grass clippings off her skirt.
Perched on her shoulder, Nuomi suddenly pointed its tail toward the row of food stalls across the sports field.
“Shizuru, I want to eat takoyaki. The kind with lots of sauce.”
“...Didn't you just have shaved ice?”
“That was then, and I'm hungry again now. Besides, you were mean to me just now, so you have to make it up to me with takoyaki.”
A helpless smile curved Shizuru's lips as she turned and walked toward the food stalls.
After taking a few steps, she couldn't help but pull out her phone and open the chat window. A small "Read" mark glowed next to her last message.
On the other side of the field, Qiluo leaned against the guardrail. Pulling her senses back from Star-trail, she looked up just in time to see Yuki and Kizuna squeezing out of the crowd at the raffle stall.
Kizuna was holding a raffle ticket. Qiluo could tell she hadn't won anything, yet she still looked incredibly happy.
Yuki followed behind her, holding a freshly bought cup of lemonade. She nodded slightly when she saw Qiluo and quickened her pace.
“Tian Gong-san! We won the participation prize! A pack of tissues each!” Kizuna ran up to her, holding the tissues high in the air, her proud tone making it sound as if she had won first prize.
“The stall owner said the participation prize is guaranteed for everyone,” Yuki added from behind, handing the lemonade to Qiluo. “I brought this for you.”
“Thank you.”
The sweet and sour liquid slid down her throat, perfectly neutralizing the lingering sweetness of the shaved ice.
“Let's go. Let's find Kirishima-senpai.”
...
“So anyway, the lead singer of that idol group was amazing—she did a one-handed cartwheel while dancing during the interlude!”
Kizuna gestured the trajectory of the cartwheel with her free hand as she spoke, almost flinging her participation prize tissues away in the process.
Yuki walked beside Qiluo, quietly listening to Kizuna. She occasionally glanced at Qiluo to make sure she wasn't being bumped by the crowd.
Shizuru followed closely behind, Nuomi perched on her shoulder, playing with the ends of her hair with its paws.
Kizuna was just saying, “I think the school anniversary is way more fun than a concert,” when three overlapping phone vibrations buzzed almost simultaneously.
Kizuna's voice cut off mid-sentence.
Yuki was the fastest, pulling her phone from her pocket and angling the screen slightly toward herself.
Shizuru reacted almost as quickly as Yuki, but her phone was hidden beneath Nuomi's tail, taking her a few extra seconds to see the screen clearly.
Kizuna also hurriedly pulled out her phone and unlocked the screen.
The expressions of all three changed at the exact same moment.
On their phone screens, a red alert banner flashed in the notification bar.
The emergency notification from the Association's Observation Department was brief yet glaring: a large Erosion Body reaction had been detected in the Hachioji mountains. The disaster tier was temporarily designated as B+ Tier, and it was slowly moving toward the city center. All deployable combat forces were requested to immediately head out to assist.
The three of them put their phones away almost simultaneously. They exchanged a brief look, and Kizuna was the first to speak.
“I—I just remembered my sister said she was coming to pick me up from school today. It's about time, so I have to go wait for her at the school gate.”
Just as she turned to take a step, Yuki gently caught her wrist.
“Asana-san, the school gate is that way.”
“Right! Right, the school gate is that way. I was in too much of a hurry and didn't look properly.” Kizuna turned back to wave at Qiluo. “Sorry, Tian Gong-san. Let's hang out together next time. I'll take my leave first.”
“The student council has a temporary patrol duty as well, so I must leave first.”
Shizuru put her phone back in her pocket, even bowing slightly in a polite, formal farewell.
Yuki Kurokawa stood in place, watching their figures blend into the crowd without saying a word.
Now, only she and Qiluo were left. She should have been happy; she had been waiting for a moment like this since morning.
With no one else around, Qiluo's gaze would be fixed on her alone.
But the Association's alert was still flashing at the top of her phone screen. The red light reflected deep in her eyes, like a thorn pricking a soft spot.
She didn't want to go...
She wanted to turn her phone face down and pretend she hadn't seen the notification. She wanted to hold Qiluo's hand and keep visiting the next stalls, eat the snacks Kizuna had just recommended, and try the rifle game at the shooting gallery she had been wanting to play.
But she was also a Magical Girl, and she was supposed to be a hero who protected the world...
“...Yuki?”
She snapped back to reality. Qiluo was looking at her, quiet and focused, as if she had already seen through everything, or perhaps she was just waiting for her to speak.
“Something suddenly came up with my class. The class rep asked me to go take a look.”
She didn't dare look into Qiluo's eyes as she said this.
I'm sorry, Qiluo. I lied to you again.
“Go ahead, then.” Qiluo placed her empty cup on a nearby recycling tray and turned back to look at Yuki. “The café's matters are important. I'll wander around here a bit more. Come find me when you're done.”
Yuki looked into Qiluo's eyes. How could her eyes be so beautiful?
They gleamed with a faint violet hue under the sunlight, like two amethysts washed by a spring stream, or the last trace of light in the sky reluctant to fade as twilight set in.
Those eyes were quietly watching her, so clear without a trace of shadow, and so open that they made her heart panic.
Qiluo probably knew all along, didn't she?
She knew Yuki wasn't actually going to help her class. She knew Yuki had other reasons every time she vanished, and she knew those clumsy excuses hid secrets that could not be spoken.
She suddenly felt the weight of that gaze, a weight so heavy she could barely maintain her flimsy facade.
For a moment, she even wanted to just spill everything. She wanted to dump everything rotting in her heart right in front of those eyes, consequences be damned.
“Qiluo.”
“Hmm?”
“...It's nothing.” Yuki tucked her long hair, which had slipped over her shoulder, behind her ear. “I just wanted to say—”
Yuki Kurokawa still couldn't say it. She swallowed the thousands of words that had risen to the tip of her tongue.
“I'll be back very soon. Wait for me here, and don't wander too far.”
She walked away quickly, never looking back.
She was afraid that if she turned back and saw Qiluo still standing there, watching her, she wouldn't be able to stop herself from running back and pouring out everything she shouldn't say.
Rate on N.U.
