...
"Seiun Sky, can you forgive me?"
"I-I never said I wanted to quit the team." Seiun Sky seemed flustered.
"That's good." Lucian let out a sigh of relief. "I thought you were going to leave."
"But I haven't said I forgive you yet."
Seiun Sky's emotions were slowly being soothed by Lucian. The fiery anger in her heart had now dwindled to nothing more than a flickering ember.
"Then what do I need to do for you to forgive me?" Sensing that Seiun Sky was calming down, Lucian quickly pressed.
"You... you..."
Only then did Seiun Sky realize how close she was to Lucian.
His warm breath gently brushed against her face, making her heart race uncontrollably, like a turbulent sea brewing a storm.
In a barely audible whisper, she struggled to say, "Can you... hug me again?"
Lucian didn't respond with words but instead swiftly answered with action, wrapping his arms around her and gently patting her back.
"Will you forgive me now?"
Seiun Sky's body was incredibly soft—that was Lucian's first thought. Earlier, when he had hugged her, he'd been too focused on apologizing to notice.
Moreover, Lucian could feel Seiun Sky trembling slightly in his embrace.
He could sense her breathing, and the air around them seemed to grow gentler.
"Thump—thump—"
The sound of Seiun Sky's heartbeat was indistinguishable from his own.
In the end, it was the bashful Seiun Sky who pushed Lucian away first. After calming down, she seemed surprised by her own impulsive actions tonight.
"O-okay, I forgive you."
"Mm."
"But Trainer, you can't do that again in the future."
"Don't worry, now that I know how you feel, I'll be more careful. But I never thought Spe-chan was guaranteed to win and you were destined to lose."
"Of course I won't lose so easily! Next time, at the Satsuki Sho, I'll definitely win!"
Seiun Sky declared with conviction, only to be interrupted by a loud "growl" from her stomach. Embarrassed, she quickly covered it with her hands.
"You haven't eaten dinner?"
"No... I didn't have the appetite because of all this."
Now that she had opened up to Lucian, Seiun Sky no longer hid anything. She felt an incredible sense of relief after confiding in him.
"Then let me treat you to a meal?"
"Just eating out...?"
Lucian understood Seiun Sky's hint perfectly, though he couldn't help but detect a hint of coquettishness in her tone.
"Right now, all I can make for you is noodles."
"Oh?" Seiun Sky covered her lips with her hand, pretending to look surprised at Lucian.
Lucian froze for a moment before realizing the implication behind her gesture. He rolled his eyes. "Sometimes, life feels really helpless. Around you guys, I feel like I'm just... never mind."
It wasn't that he felt like one—he was a virgin.
But sometimes, these fillies really knew how to tease him.
"Hehe." Seiun Sky giggled, then asked mysteriously, "Trainer, have you ever been in a relationship before?"
"No."
"Really? But Trainer, you're so handsome." Seiun Sky clearly didn't believe him.
After tonight's events, the relationship between the two had subtly deepened, and Seiun Sky now felt bold enough to ask such questions.
"Really." Lucian was used to people not believing him when he told the truth, though he had to admit his looks were indeed above average. "My family had very strict expectations for me, and I also had my own goals to pursue, so I put romance on hold for a while."
"I see..." Seiun Sky pressed a finger to her chin, reluctantly accepting his explanation.
She was still lost in thought under the moonlight when Lucian suddenly turned and started walking away. "Are we eating or not? Let's hurry up so I can take you back afterward."
"Okay, okay~ Wait for me!"
...
Meanwhile, elsewhere.
Special Week had just returned to her dorm after a late-night run outside the school. She pushed open the door to her room.
"Suzuka! I brought you something delicious!"
Silence Suzuka was startled and quickly hid a book she was holding under her blanket. "Spe-chan, why didn't you knock?"
"Do I need to knock? Then I'll knock next time." Special Week assumed Silence Suzuka was particular about this. As her roommate and friend, she was willing to compromise and accommodate.
Though, strictly speaking, this was Special Week's dorm room—why would she need to knock to enter her own room?
"Actually, you don't have to..." Unsure how to explain, Silence Suzuka quickly changed the subject. "Spe-chan, what did you bring back?"
"Oh! It's grilled skewers! I saw a stall roasting carrots after my run and couldn't resist buying some." Special Week closed the door behind her and placed the late-night snack on the table.
"But eating this so late at night isn't very healthy..."
"It's not every day. Indulging once in a while is fine." Having just won the Yayoi Sho, it was only natural for Special Week to let herself relax a little.
After handing Silence Suzuka a skewer, she suddenly asked, "Suzuka, what were you reading earlier?"
Silence Suzuka, who had been about to take a bite, froze mid-motion at the question. "It's nothing, just an ordinary book."
"Oh. I thought I saw a couple on the cover... hugging or something?"
Hearing this, Silence Suzuka panicked even more. Though her expression remained calm, her other hand, hidden under the blanket, quietly pushed the book further down.
She hadn't expected Special Week's eyes to be so sharp—she'd hidden it so quickly!
But based on Special Week's description, Silence Suzuka concluded that her roommate hadn't seen it clearly.
The illustration on the cover could indeed be described as a couple hugging... or perhaps, stacked...
"Suzuka, why are your ears so red? I didn't ask for any chili on these." Chewing happily on her carrot, Special Week looked puzzled. "So, was it a manga?"
Silence Suzuka thought she had dodged the question. "No, it's just a novel... Spe-chan, did you see anything else?"
She gulped nervously.
Did Spe-chan see the title too?
What if she decided to look it up online? There might not be any direct sources, but there'd definitely be related information... and then her secret would be exposed!
"No, that's all I saw." Special Week still found Silence Suzuka's reaction strange. "Suzuka, is the book really that interesting? Since we've got nothing else to do, why don't you tell me the story?"
"That... might be a bit hard to explain."
Because it was a manga—and in more ways than one, it was difficult to describe.
"Okay~" Special Week didn't press further, as she wasn't much of a reader anyway. "Suzuka, eat up. I'm going to take a shower."
"Mm, okay."
Only after Special Week entered the bathroom did Silence Suzuka pull the manga out from under her blanket and stuff it into a box under her bed.
With that done, she finally relaxed and gazed at the bright moon outside the window. "Lucian-kun... I wonder what he's doing right now?"
For some reason, she had been feeling a strange tightness in her chest since earlier.
Was she... growing up?
The moment the thought crossed her mind, Silence Suzuka's brain overheated. A clash of fire and water sent invisible steam hissing through her thoughts.
Silence Suzuka, Silence Suzuka! How could you think of such shameless things again!? No, absolutely not...
Yet, amusingly, even as she scolded herself, Silence Suzuka couldn't help but glance down with a hint of hope.