"Heh-heh-heh~"
After shooing Tsunayoshi out of her room, Loki lay on her bed and raised her hand, gazing at the plainer ring.
"That boy really has no idea—bringing a ring to me and saying all those strange things. 'Acceptance,' was it…?"
Her voice dwindled, but her smile only grew.
"So this is how the gods who tumble into love-traps end up feeling. Turns out when a child you fancy does something like that, your heart really does flip."
Loki had never minded the idea of a god and a child sharing feelings; she was more than happy to try experiences she'd never had—especially with a child she liked, found interesting, and was curious about.
And in every way, Tsunayoshi hit her standards. His singular nature, his power, and the traits she admired made it hard to stand against that boy's unconscious "proposal."
"Tsunayoshi, you've realized it by now, haven't you?"
In fact, Loki had guessed right. Back in his own room, Tsunayoshi finally recognized what he'd done.
"Don't tell me I basically… proposed to Loki?" he muttered.
He understood his misstep. Maybe he'd been single too long. Thirteen years in this life, thirty-three in the last—that was a long stretch solo. He'd remembered to keep a respectful distance and avoid leading girls on, but he'd forgotten how easily certain gestures could be misread.
And giving a ring was the quintessential gesture to be misread.
He quickly reeled in his moment of fluster. Proposing wasn't embarrassing; being refused was. And Loki hadn't exactly refused. She'd accepted the ring—and then staked an almost possessive claim on it.
"Should I… confirm it?" he wondered.
After a moment's thought, he shook his head and shelved the idea. "No need to ask now. If Loki doesn't deny or reject it, I'll see it in what follows."
He set the ring matter aside and turned to tomorrow's business: Finn and Gareth, and the framework of the Flames.
"That the Dying Will Flames didn't register as Tiona and Tione's magic surprised me. I thought they'd sit under Magic."
"So what's the difference between magic and skills? Is magic limited in number while skills aren't?" He grimaced. "That's too simple. Classification can't be about 'which is rarer.'"
His own Monster Creation was classified as a skill, proof that rarity wasn't the dividing line. Magic tended to be active; skills could be active or passive.
That line of thought sparked an idea.
"So Tiona and Tione got the Flames as a passive pathway, which is why it ended up as a skill?"
"But even if it's 'passive'…"
He stopped cold.
"Wait. Is it because their Flames require a ring I made as the trigger condition? Is that why their power is 'Dying Will Circuits' and sits in Skills? Loki also said the Flames and the Circuits are the same in essence."
"So the difference is the condition of use?"
He tapped the desk lightly while he recorded the thought. "I can't confirm it yet. Maybe only if I bring Loki across and let her carry Falna power into that world will we be sure."
"For now, I'll file it away. It's mostly my curiosity about how the Falna categorizes things."
He didn't know if the question mattered; he treated it as a personal research itch.
"Tomorrow is Finn and Gareth. As for Tiona and Tione's attributes—were they the result of my 'tests,' or simply what they were meant to be?"
He had no precise answer. "Tiona exceeded my prediction. I'd guessed Sun, but she matched Tione exactly—Storm and Sun."
"Then it isn't about my expectations. Each person's innate 'wavelength' must determine which power manifests. The only reason my expectations seem to 'matter' is because I'm the one initiating the process."
"We'll see with Finn and Gareth."
With that heap of thoughts, Tsunayoshi drifted to sleep as usual.
At sunrise he headed straight for Loki's room.
Knock, knock, knock!
"You can just come in."
With his hand raised for a second knock, he heard her voice and opened the door. Loki lay on the bed in a nightdress, hair down over her shoulders in a loose, slightly messy spill.
"Haaa~"
Sleepy-eyed, she gazed at the boy in her doorway, at a loss for words.
"Only you would knock on my door at this hour."
These days, he was the only one who stopped by so early. In the past, even special cases went to Finn, Gareth, or Riveria first. Only Tsunayoshi came here at dawn when something needed doing.
"I'm already 'late' today," he reminded her.
"That's you. I was up very late," she grumbled—then paused, a hint of mischief sharpening her eyes. "You went to bed early yesterday?"
"You gave me a ring, said all that, and then you slept like a baby?"
(End of Chapter)
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