(Yuuta POV)
First class.
Those two words alone were already enough to make me feel like I'd won some kind of life lottery. Plush seats that could recline into a bed, little screens that looked like they came straight from the future, and even our own air hostess. It was so luxurious I half-expected someone to feed me grapes while fanning me with a palm leaf.
Erza, of course, wasn't impressed in the slightest. She'd probably flown around on dragons that served wine mid-flight. But me? This was my first time in first class, and I was ready to soak up every second.
I plopped into my seat like a king claiming his throne, while Erza sat beside Elena, who was happily stationed next to the window like it was the command center of her kingdom.
"Alright, let's go," I muttered under my breath, my inner child doing somersaults.
The flight announcement crackled through the speakers, and then—BWOOOOOM—the engines roared to life. Loud enough to make my teeth rattle.
Erza and Elena both slapped their hands over their ears.
"Why is it so loud?!" Erza shouted, glaring like she was ready to fight the plane itself.
The air hostess smiled politely, leaning closer. "Ma'am, it's just the plane's function."
Erza squinted at her with suspicion, as if the crew had secretly installed the noise just to irritate her.
Once we were in the air, the view was… honestly breathtaking. The clouds looked like floating cotton candy, and below us stretched the endless ocean, dotted with glittering cities.
"Papa, look!" Elena pressed her tiny finger against the window. "Our home!"
I squinted. "Oh—yeah! Good eyes, Elena."
She giggled like she'd just won a prize.
And then… I felt it. A sudden, sharp tug on my ear.
"You," Erza's voice was low, dangerous, "how long do you plan to keep using my lap as a support?"
I froze yes i did use her lap to see view. My hand—warm, comfortable, and definitely very in her lap—suddenly became the most awkward place in the world.
"Uh… for stability," I said quickly. "Turbulence, you know? Safety first."
Her eyes narrowed. "We're not even shaking."
"Exactly!" I grinned nervously. "It's working!"
We were somewhere above the clouds—thirty-five thousand feet, according to the Pilot—though honestly, numbers didn't matter when the whole country of Libeus looked like a tiny toy set vanishing behind us.
Elena had her cheeks squished against the window, staring out like she might spot a dragon mid-flight. Erza was reading her novel with the calm dignity of someone who could probably fly herself if the plane failed.
Me? My eyelids were heavier than my suitcase. First-class seats were basically beds with wings, and I had every intention of making use of mine.
"…Yeah, nap time," I mumbled, pulling the blanket up to my chin.
I barely heard the quiet tch from Erza before my brain shut down.
---
(Erza POV)
Tch. This mortal… asleep again. So lazy Idoit. So defenseless. He trusts me far too much. Trusts me more than I trust myself to protect him.
"Mama!" Elena tugged my sleeve. "Mama, Elena wants to breathe fresh air!"
Fresh air? I inhaled. "Hmm… now that you mention it, this air is kind of stale."
I raised my hand and the air hostess came running with the kind of professional smile people reserve for celebrities. "Yes, ma'am, how can I help you?"
"My child wants fresh air," I said plainly. "Can you open the window?"
Her smile froze. "…Ma'am… you must be joking right?"
I gave her my most honest look. "I am not."
"Well, I'm sorry to offend you," she said carefully, "but you can't open the windows. It's… impossible."
"Can I try?"
She laughed nervously. "Even the strongest man alive couldn't open this window—" she said Arrogantly.
"Mama is super strong!" Elena interrupted proudly.
The hostess blinked at her, still smiling but now in the way people do when they're wondering if they should call security.
I reached out, grasped the window latch, and with a casual click—shhhk, slid it open.
Wind exploded into the cabin, whipping hair, scattering papers, and causing a man three rows down to lose his toupee to the great blue beyond.
Passengers screamed. The air hostess stood frozen, her jaw somewhere near her shoes.
"…Impossible…" she mouthed.
I turned to Elena, letting the freezing gale slap my hair around. "There. Fresh air."
---
(Yuuta POV)
Somewhere in my peaceful dream, a hurricane punched me in the face. My blanket was gone, my hair was trying to leave my head, and I opened my eyes to—
"WHY… is there a hole in the plane?!" I shouted.
Erza didn't even look up from adjusting Elena's scarf. "Your daughter wanted fresh air."
I stared at her. "That's… not… how planes work!"
"Clearly it is," she said, as if the answer was obvious.
I couldn't even speak. My lips were flapping from the wind pressure like a badly tuned flag in a storm.
"EERRRZAAA—!" I tried to scream, but it came out like a dying goat in a blender.
And there she was—Erza. Sitting with perfect posture, expression calm, hair whipping majestically in every direction like she was posing for some shampoo commercial.
Me? I was clinging to my seatbelt for dear life, praying I wouldn't be sucked into the clouds.
Then the intercom crackled.
"Attention passengers, please fasten your seatbelts immediately. We are preparing for an emergency landing."
"NOOO!" I yelled over the wind. "My trip… my entire trip is doomed!"
Erza sighed like I was the problem, pressed her palm against the window, and slid it shut with a casual click.
And just like that—silence.
Well… silence plus the sound of my heartbeat screaming in my ears.
Within minutes, the plane steadied, the turbulence stopped, and my blood pressure started coming down from "final moments of life" levels.
Except… now every single person on board was staring at us.
Not the curious kind of stare. No. This was the look—the "are we sitting next to terrorists?" look.
From somewhere behind me came whispers:
"How can a plane window even open?"
"That's impossible…"
"It must have been some kind of malfunction."
I forced a shaky smile, stood up slowly, and laughed like someone who was totally not about to cry.
"Well, everyone! Haha… see… it was just a… uh… technical issue! Yes, a small technical problem. The window just… opened by itself! Happens all the time. Completely normal."
Some passengers actually nodded, murmuring, "Makes sense,
Yes it must be Techincally issue or else No one can easily lift window of a planmakes sense…"
The air hostess, however, stood frozen in place. She'd seen everything—Erza opening the window like it was a sliding door at home—but her eyes screamed, I value my job too much to say a word.
Poor girl looked like she'd need three weeks off, a pay raise, and possibly a priest after this flight.
Twelve hours later.
After all the chaos—the near-death turbulence, the open-window hurricane, and the inevitable passenger panic.
Phew. We finally made it. The endless stretch of ocean below had given way to something far more exciting—Japan.
From up here, the coastline shimmered under the morning light.
"Papa!" Elena's little voice was brimming with excitement. "Look! That land looks like the letter J!"
I leaned over and squinted. "…Oh. Yeah. You know what? That… actually makes sense. Maybe that's why it's called Japan."
Erza glanced up from her book and peered out the window. "Woah. That city is glowing."
"You mean Tokyo," I said, grinning. "Yeah, it's basically the city that never sleeps."
"Really?" she asked, her tone almost curious.
"Of course! And I can't wait to eat sushi."
"Sushi?" she repeated slowly, like she was testing the word.
I smirked. "You'll see."
we finally landed.
Of course, Erza and Elena immediately clamped their hands over their ears, like the landing gear was some kind of metallic banshee wailing in their faces.
"Why the hell does this piece of metal make this sound?!" Erza shouted, voice cutting through the cabin like a battle cry.
The poor air hostess froze. She didn't even try to answer—probably hoping that if she stayed silent long enough, Erza wouldn't notice her existence. Honestly, I couldn't blame her. If I had to choose between explaining physics to Erza or wrestling a bear, the bear suddenly sounded safer.
The plane touched down with a solid thump, and the entire cabin erupted into applause.
"What's happening?" Erza asked, looking genuinely baffled.
I gestured vaguely at the clapping passengers. "They're… afraid of dying," I muttered.
Erza tilted her head. "Why would they be afraid of dying?"
I stared at her, my brain sending out a warning: You. Are. The Reason. Everyone. Almost Died.
"They're not celebrating the landing, Erza," I said slowly, letting the words sink in. "They're celebrating surviving the fact that we were on this plane."
She blinked at me, perfectly calm, as if I had just pointed out the color of the carpet. Meanwhile, I slumped back in my seat, holding on to my sanity with one hand and hoping I'd make it through the customs line alive with the other.
Am I going to survive this trip? …I'm afraid the answer is no.
To be continue...