[Kasumiko: Tsukihime-sensei?]
[Tsukihime: Here!]
Kasumigaoka Utaha lay on the bed, her plump long legs draped over the side. The owner of the legs seemed very pleased, twisting her body restlessly with excitement.
A few days ago, she had been anxiously waiting inside that 'iron box'.
Until the sunlight streamed in.
Sen Getsusa's face appeared outside.
Kasumigaoka Utaha smiled unconsciously. Two white things peeked out from under the quilt and rubbed together gently—that day, she opened the door to a New World.
Sen Getsusa... a Psychic?
This World is getting more and more interesting.
[Kasumiko: Utaha, that Child, told me everything. There was a fire.]
[Kasumiko: Thank goodness Tsukihime-sensei stopped her.]
[Kasumiko: Something terrible almost happened!]
Sen Getsusa pulled out her phone, stepping on the wall's Shadow.
So... that's what Senpai said?
She thought for a moment and continued the conversation along the lines of the other party's message.
[Tsukihime: After all, the second floor was already faintly smoking.]
[Tsukihime: Although I don't know what Kasumigaoka-san was doing in the new building, I stopped her anyway.]
[Tsukihime: Sure enough, a fire broke out shortly after.]
Kasumigaoka Utaha rolled over, pushing the quilt up over her face. A soft giggle sounded in the muffled space. Then, her previously exposed long, slender legs clamped the quilt, and she rolled around on the bed a couple of times.
If the girl's mother had pushed the door open and seen this scene she had never witnessed before, the older, experienced woman would certainly know what had happened to her daughter.
The quilt was tossed and turned, becoming messy. The only sounds in the room were soft giggles and the tapping of fingernails on the screen.
[Kasumiko: Thank you so much, Tsukihime-sensei!]
[Kasumiko: Not only did you provide advice for my novel, but you also saved someone important to me.]
[Kasumiko: Utaha, that Child, is used to doing whatever she pleases. I didn't expect her willfulness to almost cost her this time. I will speak to her properly later.]
The girl, who had just happily scolded herself, stared blankly at the white ceiling, her hair spread out. Meanwhile, under the slightly golden, scorching Sun, Sen Getsusa skipped and bounced as she turned into a familiar yard.
Hum hum hum, la la la—
The afternoon sunlight was strongest. In the early summer season, the road surface began its long period of stillness and dryness. The girl wore a round-topped, wide-brimmed straw hat sewn with a blue ribbon, which swayed as she bounced.
The hem of her skirt was embroidered with lace, concealing her not-too-tall white heels.
This outfit made her look like a beauty stepping out of a fashion poster posted by the beach.
"Grandma~ What are you doing, Grandma?"
Sen Getsusa shook the small paper bag in her hand, which contained a small toy she had bought for Grandma Hiratsuka. Since she was on holiday with nothing to do, Sen Getsusa decided to visit the elderly woman; she really liked this grandma who was like a friend.
"Mayumi-jie?"
The caregiver sat on the long bench, pen in hand, writing notes in a book. Hearing the voice, she looked up and saw the bright, bouncing straw hat under the Sun from afar.
"Hi, Tsukisa!"
The caregiver waved her pen and greeted Sen Getsusa. On the long bench under the shade, several white bags were scattered, looking like gifts someone had brought.
"I came to see—"
Pausing, Sen Getsusa suddenly softened her steps.
On the lawn, Grandma Hiratsuka sat in her wheelchair. Two people, one tall and one short, stood beside her, bending over and whispering something.
The girl smoothed her skirt and sat down next to the caregiver.
"Do you know them, Tsukisa?"
"Little Shizuka had something to do today," the female caregiver explained. "Those two are Little Shizuka's friends."
Of course, Sen Getsusa knew them, and judging by the glances occasionally floating over, they must have spotted her too.
"I know them."
Sen Getsusa's lips moved slightly. Before they could chat much, the person opposite smiled and looked over.
Yukinoshita Haruno, with her back to the Sun, winked at Sen Getsusa, then leaned down and whispered a few words into her sister's ear. Afterward, she pushed Grandma Hiratsuka toward them.
"Hi, Miss Sen Getsusa, long time no see."
The woman still wore that smile, her expression elusive, her voice highly modulated, her makeup always beautiful and refined, and she was wearing a women's suit with half-length sleeves.
After parking the wheelchair, the woman carefully examined Sen Getsusa.
"Your dress is beautiful, Miss Sen Getsusa."
Sen Getsusa nodded in acknowledgment, not wanting to deal with this fox-like woman; she had nothing to say to her.
Standing up, the girl pushed aside her wide-brimmed straw hat, revealing her small face, and looked at the other person.
Yukinoshita Yukino.
Today, she was wearing a white shirt and a small pink skirt.
"Hi, we meet again."
"Mhm."
Amidst the loud chirping of summer insects, the girls gazed at each other as if no one else was around, quietly finding their own reflection in the other's pupils.
"Eh? Does Sen Getsusa know Little Yukino?"
Haruno looked at the two in surprise. Yukino stepped forward, seemingly having not heard her sister's words.
"Long time no see," Yukinoshita Yukino's cool voice drifted over. She seemed hesitant because of her sister standing nearby, and the many words she held back were left unspoken.
Huh...?
Yukinoshita Haruno blinked thoughtfully. Sen Getsusa turned slightly and spoke to her: "I met Miss Yukino while shopping."
This barely counted as an explanation. Haruno glanced at her sister beside her, and her lip gloss-coated mouth only uttered a simple, "I see." However, she continued to stare at Sen Getsusa with a meaningful look.
Sen Getsusa didn't care whether she believed it or not.
She walked up and half-knelt in front of the wheelchair: "La la la, Grandma, did you miss me?"
"You are..."
"Who are you?"
The elderly woman seemed dazed, her fingers gripping the armrest, her murky eyes unfocused.
"Chasing butterflies! Do you remember?"
Sen Getsusa separated her hands, fanned them by her face a few times, and blinked her large eyes repeatedly.
"Butterfly... butterfly..."
"Here, like we promised last time, I brought you a toy. Do you want it?"
The paper bag rustled as it shook.
Yukinoshita Haruno stood nearby with a smile, but her gaze secretly watched her sister. Yukino just stared at the girl who was half-kneeling and teasing Grandma Hiratsuka... "Long time no see..."
"I already said it once." Sen Getsusa giggled and looked up, letting the afterglow of the warm sun hit her face. After asking Sister Mayumi and Haruno, and leaving a 'Let's chat for a bit,' Sen Getsusa grabbed Yukino Yukinoshita's hand and pulled the dazed, cold-faced girl directly into the Small Garden.
"What have you been up to lately?"
"Preparing... for school." Yukinoshita Yukino lowered her eyes. At this moment, she had many things she wanted to ask Sen Getsusa, wanting to chat warmly with her like a friend.
Unfortunately, it seemed difficult for her to do something that appeared so simple to ordinary people.
"If it's Yukino, are you also a first-year in high school?"
"Mm."
"At which school?"
"Yours."
"Eh? Really? The same school as me?"
"Mm, that's right."
The two girls walked side by side facing the sunset, speaking little, yet showing not a hint of awkwardness. Instead, the chirping of some unknown birds made the two girls' serene faces look even softer and more harmonious.
Their shadows stretched long behind them. Unconsciously, Yukinoshita Yukino quietly slowed her pace—she pursed her lips and trailed behind, ahead of her was the girl with her hands behind her back and a straw hat bobbing on her head.
Yukinoshita Yukino carefully stepped on Sen Getsusa's shadow with her toes, then looked up at Sen Getsusa—then looked down and gently stepped on it twice more.
A childhood game, yet at this moment, it made a hallucinatory warmth rise beneath the girl's feet.
It's so nice... At the end of the garden was a shallow fountain.
"During the School Festival..."
Reaching here meant it was time to head back. Yukinoshita Yukino bit her lip, her white, unpleated shirt pinched into several creases: "Are you... okay?"
Sen Getsusa turned around, the hem of her skirt blooming, her large eyes full of surprise.
"Whoa!"
"Little Yukino heard about it too?"
Yukinoshita Yukino pursed her lips and approached the fountain. Under the rich, blazing sunlight, a few stray droplets of Water and a sense of coolness finally appeared on her face.
"I heard it from Mother. It was... dangerous, wasn't it?"
Sen Getsusa held out her palm, as if trying to catch the Water droplets falling after being sprayed into the air: "It was okay, not as dangerous as that time with Yuno."
Having said that, she suddenly leaned in and used her fingers to gently brush the ends of Yukinoshita Yukino's hair, small, cool, crystalline droplets sliding down.
Yukinoshita Yukino lowered her head, her long black hair concealing her flickering eyes.
"Last time... I didn't have the chance to thank you. If possible, please give me your..."
—On her serious and somewhat awkward expression, one could see that this second young lady was deliberately imitating someone.
Although her overall aura was close to those resolute professional women, her murmuring, twitching lips and her fingers tangled beneath her skirt betrayed everything.
As Sen Getsusa's large eyes looked over, the girl's voice grew lower and lower.
"Contact..."
"Contact information..."
"Hmm?" Sen Getsusa didn't hear clearly and turned to ask: "What?"
Several white pigeons landed by the pond, begging for breadcrumbs from the nearby pedestrians.
"That, please give me your con—"
Cough.
"Ah, so you're both here?"
A clear, beautiful voice interrupted the hesitation.
Whether intentionally or not, when Yukinoshita Haruno walked over from behind with a smile, she happened to step between the two, blocking their gaze.
"I've already sent Grandma back."
Yukinoshita Yukino lowered her head.
"Miss Sen Getsusa, would you like to have dinner together?"
"No thank you."
After Sen Getsusa politely declined, she sidestepped past Yukinoshita Haruno, poked her head out, and reached out her palm toward Yukinoshita Yukino.
"?"
"Phone." Sen Getsusa grinned quirkily, the blue ribbon on her straw hat fluttering in the wind.
Tap, tap, tap.
"Here, my contact information."
Under Yukinoshita Haruno's scrutinizing gaze, Sen Getsusa nonchalantly took Yukinoshita Yukino's phone and entered her own number.
"I'm off."
Yukinoshita Yukino kept a cold face, but the corners of her mouth curled up imperceptibly.
The dazzling light outlined Sen Getsusa's departing silhouette, the silk ribbon on her straw hat swaying in the wind.
"Yukino, is she considered your friend?"
"Is she?"
Only after the girl's back disappeared from sight did Yukinoshita Haruno withdraw her smile and speak.
Yukinoshita Yukino didn't speak; she looked down and opened her phone.
Inside, besides a string of numbers, there was also the name of the number's owner.
[The Beautiful Hero My Lord]
—Pfft, I knew it would be like this.
—Honestly.
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