When school let out, Mei seemed to have forgotten the morning's minor displeasure. On the way home, she walked ahead, her small legs moving quickly, her ponytail swinging behind her.
"Shiraha. I'm starting to like school."
Shiraha's expression turned subtle. This child is even starting to talk nonsense!
"Mei-nee... you just want to play that game, don't you?"
He had no idea what kind of game Mei had ended up in. But if it required a brain-machine interface, Shiraha was admittedly a little curious. Still... it couldn't compare to the Elysian Realm!
Mei let out a little huff but didn't argue. She hadn't bought popsicles after school today, but Shiraha bought three cones at the school shop.
This time it was Shiraha handing one to Mei. She accepted it naturally, no need to keep score between them.
Then, habitually, he rose onto his toes and raised a cone up before Nee-chan with a bright, clean smile.
Elysia nibbled small bites, her voice drifting and mournful. "We'll be home soon. Have you thought of an excuse to fool me with yet, Shiraha?"
She'd spent the whole afternoon lost in her own spiraling thoughts.
Shiraha was supposed to be from the Manticores. No matter what he saw inside that game, he shouldn't have gone this quiet.
He should have been alert. He should have been calm. He should have been analyzing pros and cons and drafting plans the very first second.
Unless... what he saw was connected to her.
"I got some intel..." Shiraha still didn't answer the question. "Let's talk when we're home."
Elysia fell even more silent.
Just then, Mei abruptly stopped walking up ahead. She turned and stared at Shiraha, which made his heart skip a beat for a second.
He ventured, "Mei-nee?"
Mei's little face was dead serious. "Shiraha. The club should be able to have activities after school too, right?"
In case he hadn't heard clearly, she repeated herself.
Shiraha was quiet for a moment, then nodded. "In theory, yes. But we'd need to let Uncle Ryoma know."
After all, Mei's kidnapping was barely a month ago. Ryoma Raiden had specifically moved them to a house right by the school gates, even Chiba Academy's security system had been upgraded as a result.
Mei waited for Shiraha to catch up, then retook his hand. "Tonight we'll beg Dad together. He'll definitely say yes."
I have to beg too?
But it was no longer a question of begging. Shiraha's two hands were held at different heights. Elysia-nee's gaze was mournful. Having finished her cone, she clearly had no intention of letting go.
"Alright."
Shiraha answered softly.
Back home, Mei habitually changed into her slippers. No little white socks. If Dad didn't force it, she'd honestly prefer running around barefoot.
Shiraha was finally freed, his left hand released by Mei-nee. But Elysia still didn't let go. She was waiting. Waiting until it was just the two of them. Waiting for the answer Shiraha would give.
"Let's go to my room first."
Shiraha managed to swap his own shoes single-handedly and pointed upstairs.
Elysia nodded.
She'd always believed she wasn't a woman with a strong sense of possessiveness. But she truly hated being kept in the dark. Sigh... is this era going to see a repeat of Origin revealing herself too?
Mei went to her room first to grab some toys. Shiraha went to his own room.
He pushed open the door, a starry sky of brilliant, dreamlike decorations. Delicate fluorescent threads hung from the ceiling, tiny stars dangling at their ends, faintly glowing in the dimness. A little girlish... but it didn't matter. Shiraha didn't care about the décor.
Elysia blinked. Refusing to believe her eyes, she stepped back two paces, confirmed this was indeed Shiraha's room, then stepped back inside.
"Nee-chan. Does it look similar? To your old room."
Shiraha hurried to the center of the room, arms flung wide as he spun in a circle, like he was showing off some incredible masterpiece.
He'd secretly borrowed Mei-nee's phone to tell Uncle Ryoma about this. And Uncle Ryoma, after a long silence, had replied with a single word: Alright.
Shiraha had read that "Alright" over and over. He couldn't shake the feeling that it held a thousand things Uncle Ryoma hadn't said aloud.
Elysia blinked again, her cheeks faintly flushing. It was hard to describe what she was feeling.
'Shiraha... did you really have to drag out the decorations from my maiden days and parade them around all over again?'
But Shiraha was uncharacteristically elated. "I restored this almost 1:1 based on the data. I even swallowed my pride and begged Uncle Ryoma."
He stood in the center of the room, reaching out toward her. "Nee-chan... does it feel at all like coming home?"
His smile, under the glow of the starlight, seemed especially bright.
"Welcome home, Nee-chan!" he said, his voice crisp and clear. "Even though we haven't earned our own little house yet... the Raiden home is our home too."
Elysia opened her mouth, then closed it. She understood the logic. She understood that Shiraha had gotten information from somewhere, wanted to give her a surprise, wanted to charm her.
But... could these decorations still be returned?
Sob. In the Previous Era, more than once, these very decorations had gotten her laughed at when guests came over, mocked for having a heart that never grew up.
Why, the very first time the mischievous Eden had visited, she'd stood in the doorway and said, "Elysia... I'm a little too tall. I won't knock down your stars if I come in, will I?"
Despite these thoughts, she still reached out to touch the starry, dreamlike ornaments around them, at first glance, they even resembled the phantasmagoric deep sea.
The fluorescent threads swayed gently at her fingertips, twinkling like real stars.
"Nee-chan... are you touched?"
Shiraha leaned in close, tilting his head, peering curiously into Nee-chan's always-brilliant starry eyes.
Elysia let out a helpless laugh. "Even if I really was touched, being asked like that... it'd make it not touching anymore."
"So, your Elysia-nee is unhappy today." She deliberately tightened her cheeks.
She gave him no time to wonder. She bent down fiercely, hugged Shiraha tight, and planted a loud, resounding smack on his cheek. Then, putting on a ferocious act, she scooped him up and tossed him onto the bed.
Shiraha bounced once on the mattress before sinking into the covers. He blinked, not particularly fazed. After all, he was six. As everyone knew, at six, you couldn't do anything.
"What did Grey Serpent show you?"
Elysia didn't actually do anything further. She truly wasn't perverse.
She simply lay down beside Shiraha, looking up at the ceiling, like the echo of the deep sea, murmuring softly.
"The Elysian Realm."
"Oh, the Elysian Re—THE ELYSIAN REALM!"
No time left to linger in memory. In one motion, Elysia flipped over, pinning Shiraha beneath her, arms braced on either side of his head. She stared at him intensely then decided that probably didn't look very cute, so her gaze slowly softened.
"Shiraha... do you know what you're saying?"
Shiraha's voice remained steady. "I ran into Dr. Mobius acting babyish. And Eden. These decorations, Eden told me about them."
Elysia felt dazed. How did the Elysian Realm end up in Grey Serpent's hands?
She was aware that Grey Serpent and Mobius had some ties, but dear, adorable Dr. Mobius: had you really grown so willful that you'd hand something this important over to a former Fire Moth resistance fighter?
She forced herself to calm down. The time for romance could wait. She could tease the child later.
Elysia ventured a guess. "Did Grey Serpent join the Fire Moth?"
"To be precise, all that's left of the Fire Moth is a successor organization. Grey Serpent is currently that successor organization's administrator."
Shiraha explained. Not a lie, but not the whole truth either.
Elysia was silent for a long time. She needed to process this. The Previous Era's greatest anti-Fire-Moth ringleader had transformed into the successor of the Fire Moth itself... This wasn't some April Fool's joke?
The standstill lasted until Shiraha reached out, cupped her cheeks, and spoke earnestly. "Nee-chan. The era of the Fire Moth is over."
His palms were small, pressed against either side of her face, warm, carrying that unique temperature of a child. Elysia remained silent.
Shiraha continued, his voice resolute. "Now... it's our era."
'You mean yours and little Mei's era!'
Elysia grumbled inwardly but didn't say it aloud. Still, after everything that had happened, to let things fade out so quietly now... it left her a little.... unwilling.
She lay back down beside him. But a person had to accept reality. Her era had passed.
Just then, Mei pushed open the door. "Shiraha, today let's keep building..."
She didn't finish. She watched as Shiraha was suddenly yanked to the side, his cheek seeming to be squished by something. She blinked. Was the fierce ghost finally turning on its master?