"Damn it! Damn it! And to think I felt sorry for you." Kiana's eyes were filled with killing intent. After all, this person had hurt the one she loved most, the one she had sworn to protect—Raiden Mei!
"Go to hell!!!" Kiana roared, her expression ferocious. A flash of azure light appeared in her hand, coalescing into a pistol—'Mjolnir.' This was a power of the Kaslana family.
So, I'm going to die. The girl smiled faintly. A beam of light erupted from the muzzle of 'Mjolnir,' and a bullet carrying immense kinetic energy tore through the air, spinning toward the girl. There was no doubt about the consequence of being hit by this bullet… only death.
"No, stop!!" a voice suddenly cried out, catching the girl's attention. A not-so-broad back appeared in front of her, blocking the moonlight and the whistling bullet.
A somewhat thin, azure shield appeared in front of Li Xuan, blocking the bullet. The shield rippled slightly. The bullet spun against the shield, but eventually, its momentum was spent. With a crisp 'clang, clang' of metal, the bullet fell to the ground.
"Why?!" Kiana shouted, her eyes wide, her pistol still raised.
"I'm sorry. Please, don't hurt her anymore. This is my only request," Li Xuan said in a low voice, his face pale. This was the first time he had ever pleaded with Kiana. "Mei wasn't seriously injured. Shouldn't you go check on her?" he added.
"Hmph!!" Kiana reluctantly holstered her gun and turned, rushing over to Mei to check her wound.
Li Xuan watched Kiana leave and finally breathed a sigh of relief. Just then, he felt a tug on his clothes. He turned quickly and saw the girl clutching the corner of his shirt.
"Why… did you save me?" the girl asked, her golden, glass-like eyes looking at Li Xuan with a mixture of indifference and confusion.
"Because I like you," Li Xuan said, rubbing his hair, a little embarrassed. "I don't want you to die…" he added. "You look a lot like my little sister." Indeed, the girl's appearance strongly resembled his little sister, who had just started high school.
"Little sister?!" The girl looked startled. This was the first time she had ever encountered something like this.
"Yes. Can you be my little sister? My family?" Li Xuan reached out and placed his hand on the girl's head, stroking her silk-like golden hair.
Family?! The girl's eyes widened, and she repeated the word in her mind as if under a spell. This was something she had longed for, something she had never been able to have. She used to think 'family' was something distant and unreachable, but now it was so close, within her grasp.
"Yes, yes, I'm willing. B-brother," the girl said, a smile breaking out on her face, but large tears streamed from the corners of her eyes.
"Hello, little sister," Li Xuan said, gently pulling the girl's thin frame into an embrace. The girl smiled through her tears. She felt warmth… but…
Li Xuan suddenly felt a warm, soft touch on his cheek. It was a kiss from the girl. Li Xuan, who had been single for over a decade, felt his face and neck turn red at a visible rate, like a ripe tomato.
"I'm sorry, brother," the girl said, her cool fingers touching Li Xuan's cheek. "I have to disappear now…" She could already feel the Honkai energy within her breaking down her body.
"Goodbye." The girl's body began to turn translucent, like a projection. Li Xuan reached out, trying to grab her hand, but his hand passed through hers strangely. He couldn't touch anything.
"Brother, I'll tell you, my name is…" the girl said softly. Her body began to dissolve into specks of fluorescent light, scattering into the heavens.
"…Yaoye-hime." The girl in Li Xuan's arms completely transformed into motes of light and flew toward the night sky, as beautiful as a summer firefly.
"Clink~" Two golden, glass-like oval hair ornaments fell into Li Xuan's hands.
Li Xuan opened his palm and stared at Yaoye-hime's hair ornaments. Suddenly, a drop of water landed on them, splashing into tiny droplets. One drop after another fell.
Is this rain? Li Xuan thought, reaching up to touch his face. Oh, these are my tears.
Li Xuan, crying, looked up at the specks of light flying toward the bright moon.
This was the day the summer firefly vanished.