She stretched out her hand, and pale-gold Holy Light flickered and danced at Su Yuzu's fingertips.
If this had been seen by the Holy Royal Court — or, for that matter, by the Healing-type teachers of Keigunen Private Academy — it would surely have been hailed as a miracle.
And then they'd have started seriously considering whether or not Su Yuzu should take up Healing-type courses on the side as well.
This was a Holy Light that, even within the Holy Royal Court itself, only the very fewest, most utterly devout of believers could ever possess.
The clear, crisp purity of the Holy Light seemed to be linked to the sun itself.
Unfortunately, the girl who possessed this Holy Light — well, even if you didn't go so far as to call her brimful of wickedness, no matter how you sliced it, she had nothing whatsoever to do with piety.
Then again, considering that — unlike the religions Su Yuzu was familiar with — the Holy Royal Court, established at the resting place of the witch who had crawled up out of hell's starving dead, didn't actually believe in any deity at all.
The so-called 'deities' were nothing more than symbols of certain convictions — like courage, like perseverance, like sacrifice, or else... Fate.
An Su Yuzu this wicked might really, truly be able to go and pull a guest stint as a part-timer over at the Holy Royal Court.
Su Yuzu clenched her fist tight.
The crisp, clear Holy Light lit up the girl's room — and then dissipated.
For just a brief instant, Su Yuzu felt as though she had caught hold of some kind of crucial piece of information; but when she tried to give it any careful thought, it was already gone, slipping out of reach.
Never mind. She glanced at the time.
It was already nearly eight o'clock in the morning — almost time for her to meet up with her sister at their agreed-upon spot and then head off to call on the Sakura family.
Having changed into a set of appropriately decent casual wear, Su Yuzu adjusted her collar and prepared to head out.
Instinctively, she called out a 'Zero' into the room — and only then, with a faint pang of melancholy, did it come back to her... Zero was still over at the Soga clan's hospital, undergoing rehabilitative treatment and observation.
Driving the Pseudo Throne had done very heavy damage to the little cat.
Even though Zero had originally been created as an Aberrant using Su Yuzu's Factors as a template — even so, driving an impostor-substitute of that nature had left Zero, even now, perpetually stuck in a kind of sustained debuffed state.
In Su Yuzu's [Operator Development] panel, Zero's HP bar still remained sitting at around eighty percent.
Slowly lowering her hand, Su Yuzu stepped out of the Assault Department girls' dormitory.
Soga Yura was already waiting outside the girls' dorm, well ahead of time.
Without much in the way of words, Soga Yura simply spread her arms wide and pulled the briskly approaching Yuzu tight into her embrace.
She breathed in the citrus fragrance lingering between the girl's strands of hair.
Whether or not it was simply her imagination, Soga Yura couldn't help feeling that today, the Yuzu in her arms seemed to be wreathed in some kind of holy, saintly scent.
It got her excited in an instant.
If they hadn't already arranged today to go pay their respects to Sakura Mai's parents at the Sakura family, Soga Yura, right then and there, would have wanted to gently shove Yuzu back into the dorm and have a really good 'communication of feelings' with Yuzu instead.
Su Yuzu nuzzled her chin lightly against Soga Yura's neck.
"To think Sister Mai didn't come with you today, after all?" Su Yuzu whispered softly right next to Soga Yura's ear.
The girl's warm, soft voice blew against Soga Yura's heart and turned it to mush. She forced herself to maintain a calm exterior, her right hand resting lightly against the girl's waist, her left hand curled across the girl's shoulder.
"After we'd agreed to go pay our respects to the Sakura family..."
"It seems she had something or other to prepare, so she just didn't come along."
Su Yuzu nodded, signaling that she understood.
The two girls walked side by side along the little path through the campus, and along the way, quite a few of the girls fixed their gazes on Su Yuzu and Soga Yura with looks bordering on outright admiration.
"Two Yuzu-himes..."
"No wait — there's one really flat Yuzu-hime over there, that's Yuzu-hime's older sister, Soga Yura, right?"
"Probably, yeah."
As a Fourth Sequence mental-type Esper, the sharpness of Soga Yura's mental perception goes without saying — Su Yuzu could even feel that her sister's forehead had already burst out with a manga-style hash-mark anger vein.
"Is Soga-senpai really Yuzu-hime's older sister?"
"She does look about the same height as Yuzu-hime, but... Soga-senpai's heels seem to be a little bit taller, don't they?"
"..."
Although every single thing the girls had said was simple fact, Su Yuzu could already feel her Sister's mortified fury on the verge of slipping its leash entirely.
She hurriedly clasped Soga Yura's hand in her own, her fingertips gently kneading the girl's soft palm. "There, there~~~"
Su Yuzu defused Soga Yura's resentment.
Just a moment ago Soga Yura had been all puffed up with anger, but at the girl's caress, half her anger evaporated in an instant.
The girls of Keigunen Private Academy watched the backs of those twins and exchanged glances with each other.
The look in the girls' eyes seemed to say... "See? In the end, Yuzu-hime really is more the older-sister type, isn't she."
The Soga family's car was parked right outside the gates of Keigunen Private Academy.
The maid, dressed in that peculiar kimono-and-apron combination, was waiting attentively beside the car. Soga Iori bowed to Soga Yura and Su Yuzu. "Eldest Young Lady."
"Younger Young Lady."
"Good morning~ Sister Iori." Su Yuzu gave the maid a great big hug, and Soga Iori only lightly stroked Su Yuzu's head in return.
"Good morning."
Although Soga Yura herself would very much have liked to be like Sakura Mai — to just drive Su Yuzu somewhere herself, for a trip that belonged to the two of them alone.
But... Soga Yura had only just come of age, and it would be a while yet before she could get her driver's license, so all she could do was entrust the task to Soga Iori instead.
The girls sat in the back seat, watching the scenery outside the car windows go flying past.
Unlike the Soga clan, which made its home right within the Tokyo metropolitan area, the Sakura family's dojo lay somewhat farther out — far enough that it didn't even fall within the coverage of Saint Michael's holy radiance.
Even with the roads completely clear, driving over still took more than half an hour.
This, perhaps... was one of the main reasons the Sakura family had purchased property within Keigunen Private Academy in the first place. After all, the back-and-forth really wasn't terribly convenient.
From some distance away, Su Yuzu caught sight of a stretch of maple grove.
It was just the start of early summer; the maples' new leaves were tipped with red, while the old leaves were turning back to green — and the interplay of red and green carried a certain unique charm.
That was where the Sakura family's dojo was located.
They got out of the car in front of the maple grove, where a crooked, meandering little path of bluestone could be seen snaking off into the woods.
Soga Iori opened the car doors for the two girls. "We've arrived... Eldest Young Lady, Younger Young Lady."
Su Yuzu got out of the car first, then took Soga Yura by the hand and helped her down.
In front of the maple grove, Sakura Mai was already waiting.
She was dressed completely differently from her usual white trench coat.
Today, Sakura Mai was wearing a set of black-violet training robes.
As the girl came hurrying over at a small jog toward Su Yuzu and the others —
Su Yuzu was caught quite off guard by the discovery... that Sakura Mai's trousers had slits up the side that revealed great expanses of bare thigh, and what's more... a bit higher still, you could see right up to the line of her side waist — they were the kind of wide-legged trousers slit to that level.
They were perfectly proper, formal attire — and yet... unexpectedly, scandalously alluring.
"Sister Mai~~~" Su Yuzu hugged Sakura Mai softly.
She glanced downward — through that wide slit, she could once again make out the line of the girl's side and leg. Really, really hot.
Sakura Mai had no idea at all how unusual her own outfit was.
She simply smiled, exchanging greetings with Su Yuzu and Soga Yura.
"Welcome to the Sakura family's dojo."
"Honored Father, Honored Mother, and Honored Grandfather... have all been waiting for quite some time now."
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