Earlier, that craftiness had filled Tsukiyomi Fuya's heart with all sorts of misgivings.
Even if it wasn't any kind of negative suspicion. Still... in the end, it had left Tsukiyomi Fuya somewhat at a loss—enough that she'd even fled in a panic.
But now, the girl's pitiful, adorable, sorrowful and frail appearance put Tsukiyomi Fuya's heart completely at ease.
"Such an adorable girl after all~"
[Just like a little cat (Zero)—]
"Still just a child."
A faint urge even rose in Tsukiyomi Fuya's heart—to gather the girl into her arms and ravage her, to knead the girl's cheeks and watch her reveal a pitiful, adorable expression, eyes brimming with tears as she begged her to stop.
"Afraid of the dark?" she murmured softly, signaling that she understood.
And then—
She turned off the lights.
As a mobile base that needed to transform and unfold, the observatory was tightly sealed.
Perhaps to make it easier for Tsukiyomi Fuya to catch up on sleep during the daytime, the windows and curtains had been drawn shut as well, leaving no gaps at all.
Almost in an instant, Tsukiyomi Fuya's boudoir was plunged into total darkness.
Su Yuzu was suddenly plunged into darkness.
Her crimson eyes snapped open in the dark almost the very same instant. Su Yuzu clutched tightly at the soft bedding around her—bedding that carried a rich, sweet floral fragrance—curling up into the corner of the bed, as though guarding against some unseen monster lurking in the dark.
Her slightly panicked eyes looked toward Tsukiyomi Fuya's direction.
Inside the dark room, only the door behind the woman let through a faint sliver of light, casting the woman's voluptuous silhouette.
In the darkness, those light purple eyes were as brilliant as the stars.
Tsukiyomi Fuya reached out her hand.
The next second—
Stars were lit within her hand.
Countless glittering stars rose from her outstretched palm, encircling Su Yuzu, drifting all through Tsukiyomi Fuya's room, gathering into the shape of a galaxy.
Tsukiyomi Fuya sat down at the edge of the bed.
With a touch of apology, she looked at the girl shrinking into the corner of the bed. The hand that had conjured the starry night reached out and gently caressed the girl's hand where it gripped the bedding so tightly.
"Sorry..."
For a Fifth Sequence Esper, this little bit of darkness was nothing at all.
She could clearly see the rippling, watery sheen in the girl's eyes, see the panic and fragility welling up within them.
In Tsukiyomi Fuya's heart... the image of Su Yuzu as "weaker," "pitiful and adorable," and just a tiny bit crafty seemed already to have been firmly cemented.
Only after her hand was caught by Tsukiyomi Fuya did Su Yuzu finally realize how awkwardly she had just behaved.
The tips of her ears flushed faintly red.
The girl's bashful posture naturally fell into Tsukiyomi Fuya's view as well.
"Sorry... I just wanted to give Yuzu a little surprise." Tsukiyomi Fuya apologized to the girl gently and sincerely.
She really hadn't expected that Yuzu would be so afraid of the dark.
Afraid of the dark to the point that it was like an illness.
Tsukiyomi Fuya suddenly began to worry about this operation.
Beneath the sea—
That kind of pitch-black darkness and depth where you couldn't see your own hand before your face—could Yuzu... really endure it?
Because of the effect the abnormal Aberrant aura at the bottom of the sea had on humans, it had been determined that anyone diving below the surface to investigate had to be a mental-type Esper, or an Esper like Sakura Mai who possessed a certain resistance to mental interference.
At the same time—
The demands of diving also meant that a "sickly" person like Soga Yura could never possibly serve as a main force.
The main force of this mission was, in fact, Yuzu and Sakura Mai.
But... now, Tsukiyomi Fuya looked at the girl before her—shrinking into the bedding, blinking and staring fixedly at her, gazing at the stars in the room.
She didn't feel that the girl was being affected or putting on airs because of her fear of the dark.
She knew that deep in everyone's heart there harbored some kind of fear.
That fear might come from instinct, or it might come from the shadow of some past event.
Tsukiyomi Fuya simply began to worry for Su Yuzu.
[Forget it—]
[Worst case, she would just go down into the sea together with the girl when the time came.]
"Just lighting up the ocean for her, that's all."
[It wouldn't get in the way of the girl's training, either.]
"Of course...
"It would still be best to figure out the reason the girl is afraid of the dark."
But for tonight, Tsukiyomi Fuya gave up on asking about the reason behind the girl's fear of the dark.
The girl had already been frightened once.
What she needed to do now was simply soothe Yuzu and let Yuzu rest well.
The reason Yuzu feared the dark... tomorrow she could perhaps go and ask Soga Yura.
At this moment, Tsukiyomi Fuya hadn't yet realized something.
For Soga Yura—
The Little Sister hadn't come home all night.
And then... a good-looking teacher suddenly came to ask her: why is your Little Sister so afraid of the dark?
For Soga Yura, whose sister-complex trait was maxed out to the limit, what exactly would that mean?
Tsukiyomi Fuya simply held the girl's hand, gently caressing along the web of the girl's thumb and across her palm.
Stars rose from her fingertips.
Cupping the stars, she slowly drew them near the girl, watching as the girl couldn't resist leaning in toward the stars—then suddenly blew them apart.
Su Yuzu felt only a sweet fragrance brush across her face.
The woman leaning down over her... her hair swaying gently, her light purple eyes holding a faint glow.
Tsukiyomi Fuya gazed at the tip of the nose of the girl with those wide, adorable eyes, mere inches away, and only then suddenly realized that she... seemed to have leaned in too close.
But after all, she was a woman as brilliant and gentle as the stars.
Tsukiyomi Fuya didn't reveal too much... in fact, hardly revealed even a trace of bashfulness.
She simply took the opportunity to grasp Yuzu's hand and placed the stars into Yuzu's palm.
"Go to sleep~"
The woman's soft, gentle voice was light as a song.
She secretly shared with Yuzu... that these stars were actually her secret.
Whenever night fell, if she was alone, she would often conjure these stars, and they would talk with her.
Telling her... the sordid thoughts in the mind of that suitor from earlier in the day.
Telling her... whether that woman from before had harbored ill intentions.
Suddenly—
Tsukiyomi Fuya's voice stopped.
She looked at the girl before her.
The girl, holding the faint glow of the stars, had curled up into the bedding, sleeping sweetly and tenderly.
Looking at the sweetly sleeping Yuzu, Tsukiyomi Fuya suddenly let a slight smile show.
She prepared to release the girl's hand and rise.
She still had a great deal of work to do tonight.
But... just at that moment, Tsukiyomi Fuya suddenly discovered that she couldn't pull her hand free.
This time, it wasn't of her own doing.
Rather... Yuzu had grasped her hand.
Had grasped... the stars.
It seemed she could still forcibly pull her hand away.
Though the girl was gripping for dear life, Tsukiyomi Fuya was, after all, a Fifth Sequence Esper; if she forced her hand free, it would most likely be no problem.
But she looked at the sweetly sleeping girl.
Tsukiyomi Fuya suddenly let out a soft sigh.
[Forget it.]
[Those tasks... she'd just do them tomorrow.]
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