"Little~Yu~zu?"
The voice matched almost exactly the Kirishika that Su Yuzu had imagined.
Soft and sticky-sweet, gentle, innocent.
With just a faint touch of a girl deliberately playing the mature big-sister role, and yet
it was a little different from the naturally big-sisterly air of Senior Tsukiyomi Fuya.
It was the kind of voice that made you want to give a half-teasing little smile, to go along with whatever she said, and
then answer as if humming a lullaby to coax a little girl.
"Yes yes yes~"
Just like… the Kirishika in that late-night movie she'd watched together with Kujou Katora, "The Flowers of Evil."
Su Yuzu looked at the girl in the white dress.
It seemed the girl wore nothing but that single white dress.
The gauze-thin dress had long been soaked through by the seawater, and now the half-transparent, soft silk clung tightly to the girl's lines—not exactly stunning, yet still alluring—setting off skin even more striking, even fairer, than the white translucent silk itself.
The girl's skin was tender and pale as… Su Yuzu lowered her head.
The flowering sprig at her throat seemed to sway.
Just like… Kirishika.
Su Yuzu watched Kirishika wobble as she tried to wade down through the seawater.
But the tide over the reef had already risen; standing on that rock, the water already came up past her thighs—let alone below the rock.
Su Yuzu watched Kirishika brace her tender, pale arm carefully against the reef and, testing the waters, stretch out a leg.
And then… her skirt floated up in the seawater.
The girl's fair, slender right leg swept lightly through the water.
Honestly… it was very tempting.
Kirishika's every movement brimmed with a captivating purity—a purity so pure that it made Su Yuzu want to Recruit her, then compress time and feed her one "Combat Records" after another.
Su Yuzu glanced down at Soga Yura in her arms.
Soga Yura seemed to understand what Su Yuzu meant; she gestured for Su Yuzu to set her down.
The road where Soga Yura and Su Yuzu stood hadn't yet been swept over by the tide, but… Su Yuzu looked at the thin white line churned up on the far horizon by the raging waves.
Perhaps soon, the tide would come rushing in.
Su Yuzu set Soga Yura down, then walked straight toward Kirishika.
Silvery-white ripples spread out beneath the girl's feet.
Su Yuzu didn't choose to leap from rock to rock over to Kirishika's side; she chose a simpler, cruder method.
The Immaculate Pure Land.
Under the blessing of the Immaculate Pure Land, the girl could walk across the water's surface as though on level ground.
Su Yuzu bent down and reached out a hand toward Kirishika.
"Ooh ooh ooh~" Kirishika let out a sound of amazement.
She was in no hurry to take Su Yuzu's hand; on the contrary… Kirishika stroked Su Yuzu's calf and ankle with one hand, sliding up and down, gazing at the fine silver chain fastened around the girl's ankle, her small face leaning in as if in wonder.
"What a cute and amazing Holy Relic."
"But Little Yuzu is too naughty…"
"You bullied a girl until she cried."
The lines of Su Yuzu's calf drew taut, as if from stiffness—not only from being caressed so intimately by Kirishika, but also from what Kirishika had said.
It was true… someone as 'evil' as herself would find it hard to earn the recognition of the Immaculate Pure Land.
The standard for acceptance by the Holy Relic - Immaculate Pure Land was that its wearer must fight for all that was good and beautiful.
That was why, back when Kujou Iruka fell into corruption, Director Saionji had, with deep regret, dissolved her contract with the Immaculate Pure Land.
And as for herself…
Su Yuzu found it hard to imagine what beauty she was even willing to protect.
She turned to look back at Soga Yura.
If a beautiful girl also counted as something good and beautiful, then perhaps she might just earn the recognition of the Immaculate Pure Land.
Su Yuzu looked at the icon of the Holy Relic she wore.
A girl sitting on an autumn mountain, weeping, the fine silver chain at her ankle shimmering.
[So… this weeping wasn't there from the very beginning, was it.]
Kirishika seemed to be listening to the Holy Relic's voice. "I only meant to act a little tsundere…"
"But Little Yuzu just went and took me so roughly."
"If you're too rough…"
"you'll end up making some strange girl fall for you, you know."
Su Yuzu was about to nod in acknowledgment of her own repentance, and then she froze on the spot.
Only now did it dawn on her.
Kirishika was the Lady Godmother of the Holy Royal Court.
And the two Saintesses of the Holy Royal Court that Su Yuzu had encountered so far.
did indeed all seem to be… a little bit twisted in the head.
She looked down at the Kirishika before her.
The girl gently took hold of her hand, borrowing Su Yuzu's strength to try and rise up from the reef.
Su Yuzu pulled Kirishika up, then gathered her into her arms.
So… light.
And so soft.
It seemed no different from that time she'd first met Kirishika at the street corner.
Su Yuzu carried Kirishika back to the edge of the road, and Kirishika slipped nimbly down out of Su Yuzu's arms.
Twelve years ago.
The Kirishika who appeared in Soga Yura's memories still looked like a big sister.
Never mind how the seemingly sinister Kirishika of back then differed in air from the Kirishika of now.
Back then, she could still bend down and flash a wicked smile at Soga Yura.
But now… Kirishika was a little bit shorter than Su Yuzu, even shorter than Soga Yura.
"Li-li-little Yura~~~" She looked positively delighted as she greeted Soga Yura.
The corner of Soga Yura's eye twitched; her whole being felt on the verge of falling apart.
Why was it that greeting Yuzu got a "Little Yuzu," but greeting her turned into a "Li-li-little Yura"!
Just like twelve years ago, Soga Yura glared at Kirishika. "I'm the older Sister!!!"
"I know, I know~" Kirishika waved her little hand gently, and the girl proudly thrust out her chest. "But Yura is still li-li-little Yura, isn't she."
Soga Yura looked at Kirishika's thrust-out chest.
The soaked skirt clung to the girl's skin, the young, soft lines laid bare before Soga Yura's eyes.
But there was no room for doubt—
After all, Kirishika, who could still count as having a girlish figure, though she no longer matched Soga Yura and Su Yuzu in height, could in certain respects still edge out Soga Yura by just a little.
Soga Yura was trembling.
And Su Yuzu… Su Yuzu was holding back laughter.
Su Yuzu wanted to give Soga Yura a tug; she knew Soga Yura's habits all too well.
Every time someone mocked her about this particular subject, the girl would bristle like a cat whose tail had been stepped on.
But… this time, Soga Yura's gaze was unexpectedly calm and resigned.
Soga Yura looked at the Kirishika before her.
What could she possibly do about it.
The girl in front of her… was the one who had brought Yuzu back from that terrifying place.
To her, Yuzu was more important than anything.
And the one who had helped her bring Yuzu back could ask her to do anything at all.
Not to mention it was only a bit of mockery about her own meagerness.
Soga Yura simply gave a helpless smile. "Long time no see."
"Sister Kirishika."
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