“You mean Lightweaver? Lightweaver is indeed an important person, but it's not what you think—”
“I didn't even say who it was yet.” Kizuna's smile widened a bit more.
Yuzuki opened her mouth, realizing she had walked right into a trap.
“It's not that kind of relationship—” Yuzuki's voice rose slightly, a rare occurrence for her. She raised a hand to brush back the neat strands of hair on her forehead. “I just lost to her in the training ground last time and want to find a chance to win it back. And she always acts like she can't be bothered with anything. It makes me really want to see what she looks like when she actually gets serious.”
“Sis—” Kizuna dragged out the word. With her hands clasped behind her back, she circled around to stand in front of Yuzuki. She looked up at her, wearing the exact same teasing smile Yuzuki had used on her moments ago.
“Not that kind of relationship? Then why are your ears red? Is it because I mentioned Lightweaver's name just now?”
“It's not that kind of relationship—” Yuzuki reached out and flicked Kizuna's forehead. “You learn fast, don't you? Even daring to tease your older sister now. But if you want to win against me, you're still too green.”
Kizuna clutched her forehead, her eyes still sparkling with laughter. “But Sis, you still haven't answered my question.”
“What question?” Yuzuki began to play dumb.
“Lightweaver is just a colleague I know through work. We've only interacted a few times, and we just happened to run into each other at the school festival today. That's all. Besides, think about it—she's so cold and hates trouble. Every time we meet, she practically wishes she could avoid me. How could we possibly—”
“But Sis, after saying all that, I still haven't heard you deny liking her. You only said she's cold, hates trouble, and avoids you. What does any of that have to do with whether you like her or not?”
Kizuna looked at her sister's slightly flushed cheeks and how she was talking faster and faster, and decided not to press any further.
The answer was already written all over her sister's face anyway. If she teased her any more, her sister would definitely use their next practical combat class to exact personal revenge under the guise of training.
“Alright, alright, I won't ask.” Kizuna raised both hands in surrender and took two steps back. “I'm going to find Tian Gong-san and the others. Take your time eating your cotton candy, Sis. Remember to wipe your mouth—you've got powdered sugar on it.”
Without waiting for Yuzuki's response, she turned and ran off.
Yuzuki stood where she was and subconsciously reached up to wipe her mouth. A bit of fine, white powdered sugar rubbed off onto her hand.
“It's not that kind of relationship.”
After saying it out loud, even she found it a bit amusing.
She set the empty cotton candy stick down on a nearby stall and pressed the back of her hand against her still-burning ear.
She was Meruru. When she stood in the spotlight, everyone looked at her, but she rarely looked at others from this perspective.
Wanting to know someone's true strength and real face—this feeling was far too unfamiliar to her.
So unfamiliar that even Kizuna could spot the anomaly at a single glance.
But did she really feel that way about Lightweaver?
Yuzuki didn't think so. She did have an extraordinary interest in Lightweaver, but it wasn't the kind of “liking” Kizuna had in mind.
To her, Lightweaver was more like an unsolved mystery.
Her mana spectrum, her energy that didn't belong to any registered system, and the way she acted alone yet managed to solve problems with absolute precision—all of it made Yuzuki incredibly curious.
It was no wonder that this desire to get to the bottom of things could be mistaken for “liking.”
But truth be told, Yuzuki was far more curious about who she was behind the mask and what kind of life she led.
The urge to uncover the truth indeed felt a lot like falling in love, but in essence, it was different.
Therefore, she did not like Lightweaver.
“Achoo!” A sudden sneeze made Qiluo's shoulders shudder.
She rubbed her nose, muttering softly, “Who's talking behind my back?” only to find Yuki staring intently at her.
“Did you catch a cold?” Yuki's hand was already on her jacket's zipper.
“No, my nose is just a bit itchy.”
Qiluo sniffled and tried to stop Yuki from taking off her jacket, but Yuki's movements were much faster. The jacket slipped off her shoulders and, in the next second, was gently draped over Qiluo's.
“Aren't you cold?”
“I'm not,” Yuki answered quickly.
In fact, not only was she not cold, she actually felt a bit warm.
In those few seconds just now, she had thought of some things that felt rather forward toward Qiluo. Now, that impulse was transforming into heat, creeping up her neck.
“Thank you,” Qiluo said, looking down at the jacket on her shoulders and zipping it up.
The jacket was a size too big for Qiluo, the sleeves running a bit long and just covering her hands.
It still held Yuki's warmth, along with a faint scent of citrus.
Kizuna came jogging back from not too far away, her hair slightly messy from the night breeze.
She stopped in front of Qiluo, bending over to rest her hands on her knees, a mischievous, prank-accomplished look on her face.
“Tian Gong-san, guess what my sister was just doing?”
Without waiting for Qiluo's answer, she stood up straight and turned to Rei, announcing in a tone as if sharing major intelligence, “My sister was actually self-reflecting all by herself! I've never seen her self-reflect before. It's the first time I've ever seen her rendered speechless. Usually, she's the one leaving me with nothing to say.”
Rei looked curiously behind Kizuna. “Where is your sister? Why didn't she come back with you?”
Kizuna shifted half a step to the side and pointed in a certain direction.
“She said she needs a bit of time to gather her thoughts and told us to go ahead and have fun first.”
Qiluo had just picked up her cup to take a sip when a sudden commotion echoed from afar, rapidly drawing closer.
They looked toward the source of the noise.
Kohinata was pushing Misa Tachibana's wheelchair, sprinting madly toward them. The wheels left two crooked tracks in the grass of the sports field. The speed was so intense that Misa's bangs were blown completely back, exposing her smooth forehead.
She was still clutching a half-eaten apple in her hand.
Amamiya was chasing from behind, wearing a rare expression of wanting to say something but not knowing what. She kept her hands outstretched as if trying to grab the wheelchair, but every time she got close to the armrests, Kohinata would suddenly accelerate and turn.
Night Sakura was running on the outermost edge with a video camera on her shoulder, occasionally turning back to film her teammates' rare, disheveled state while shouting something.
“Out of the way, out of the way, out of the way! The brakes are broken!”
Misa Tachibana's wheelchair thus plowed right into the crowd of the after-festival party, barely managing to come to a stop after a sharp turn right next to the bonfire, leaving several squiggly tire tracks on the grass.
Amamiya finally caught up, resting her hands on her knees and panting heavily. Night Sakura followed closely behind, aiming the video camera at Misa Tachibana in the wheelchair for a close-up shot.
Although Qiluo had long known that Kohinata could enhance her explosive power, and had even wondered what would happen if she applied that enhancement to pushing a wheelchair, actually seeing Store Owner Tachibana zip past her at that speed, with her hair blown completely straight by the wind, was still far more ridiculous than she could have imagined.
So that was what Wings of Freedom meant:
Store Owner Tachibana's wheelchair flying freely as if it had grown wings?
Rate on N.U.
