The training area was usually at its quietest during the evening. Most Magical Girls chose to train at night or over the weekends.
At this hour on a Friday afternoon, the only sound echoing down the corridor was the sound of one's own footsteps.
Shizuru pushed open the door to the training room, leaned her scythe against the wall, and checked the strength of the barrier first.
The sensing runes glowed with a steady, pale blue light at her fingertips. She adjusted the settings to her usual level for solo training, took off her coat, folded it neatly onto the bench, and tied her long hair back into a clean, high ponytail.
Nuomi hopped down from her shoulder and perched on the observation platform in the corner of the training room, the bell on its tail chiming softly.
Shizuru stood in the center of the training ground. She summoned her scythe into her hands, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath, letting her mana flow through her circuits.
In her last battle, she had encountered an exceptionally agile Erosion Body that managed to dodge her first slash and circle around to her flank.
Although she had won in the end, that fight made her realize that her follow-up after a missed first strike was still not fast enough.
“Nuomi, simulate moving targets. Random directions,” she said, opening her eyes.
Nuomi jumped down from the platform and lightly tapped its tail against the floor.
Several golden shockwave particles flew from the tip of its tail, coalescing in midair into a few shifting points of light.
Shizuru lowered her center of gravity, holding her scythe horizontally in front of her. The tip of her blade adjusted slightly as she tracked the movement of the light points.
She kicked off the ground to give chase, swinging her scythe in a wide sweep, but she missed the point of light by less than a palm's width.
The point of light came to a sudden halt and changed direction just before being hit, and her momentum carried her forward by a few inches.
In real combat, those few inches of recovery lag would be more than enough for an Erosion Body to land a heavy blow.
The point of light dove from above. Using her forward momentum, she flipped and blocked, barely catching it with the shaft of her scythe. Her arms went slightly numb from the impact.
Meanwhile, another point of light had already circled behind her.
Without looking back, she swung her blade behind her, the tip of her scythe striking the exact center of the light.
The point of light shattered instantly. Golden fragments drifted through the air, settling on her shoulders and the blade of her scythe.
Nuomi sat on the observation platform, silently clapping its tiny paws.
Shizuru propped her scythe against the ground and wiped the sweat from her brow with the back of her hand.
“Still not enough...”
She was still far from where she wanted to be. She could feel the gap between herself and that person.
The gap frustrated her, yet it also filled her with an inexplicable sense of excitement.
Her training session ended earlier than expected. She glanced down at the device on her wrist.
There was still some time before her scheduled patrol handoff with Snowrealm. This brief window was just enough to go sit in the second-floor cafe for a bit.
“Let's go grab a bite to eat on the second floor.”
She bent down to pick up her coat, draping it over her arm as her scythe dissolved into particles of light in her palm. Nuomi scurried up her arm and settled onto her shoulder.
She pressed the elevator button and leaned against the wall, letting her shoulder muscles slowly relax.
Pushing open the glass doors of the cafe, Shizuru scanned the room out of habit.
The corner table by the window was already occupied.
Looking closer, she recognized the person sitting there.
It was a figure with long pink hair, resting her chin on her hand and leaning forward slightly, as if sharing a pleasant conversation with someone.
It was Senior Meruru. She was at the Association today.
Without pausing, Shizuru started walking over to say hello.
Just then, Meruru smiled and leaned to the side, revealing the person sitting across from her.
Shizuru froze on the spot, her fists tightening instinctively.
Nuomi raised its head from her shoulder, its ears instantly perking up as its tail began to wag rapidly.
Why was Lightweaver here? And why was she with Meruru?
Shizuru looked down at herself. She had just finished training. A few strands of hair were damp with sweat and stuck to her forehead, and her clothes were still dusted with mana residue from the training ground. She looked like a completely different person from her usual neat, sharp self as Mingyue.
“Isn't that Lightweaver? Shizuru, look, it's Lightweaver!”
Nuomi's voice was thick with suppressed excitement.
“Let's go over and say hi! Haven't you been wanting to see her again?”
“Wait—I haven't cleaned up today—”
Shizuru lowered her voice, but Nuomi had already hopped off her shoulder. Its four short legs pitter-pattered toward the corner table, the bell on its tail jingling all the way.
“Lightweaver, Lightweaver, Lightweaver!” Nuomi ran up to the table, clinging to the edge with its front paws, its ears twitching excitedly.
“Long time no see! What are you doing here? Are you having tea with Big Sister Meruru? Mingyue is here too—Mingyue, what are you doing standing at the door? Come over here!”
Lightweaver turned her head.
Mingyue still had one hand on the door handle. A few stray strands of hair had escaped her ponytail, clinging to her slightly damp forehead.
Her coat was draped over her arm, her sleeves rolled up to her elbows, exposing the faint red pressure marks on her forearms that hadn't faded yet after her intense workout.
Oh no, she saw me. She's looking at me. I must look terrible right now.
If I had known I'd run into her at the cafe today, I would never have worked myself into this state in the training room.
At the very least, I should have washed my face before coming up!
Their gazes collided in midair.
Mingyue instinctively raised a hand to fix her hair, but her fingers froze the moment they touched the messy stray strands. She realized that trying to fix it now was utterly pointless.
Seeing Mingyue like this, Lightweaver found herself wanting to laugh for some reason.
Ha. Is this girl actually embarrassed because I saw her like this?
But to be honest, her slightly messy hair right after training was actually... a little cuter than usual.
She probably felt like she had embarrassed herself, but there was really no need for that.
“...Sit,” Lightweaver said, pulling out the chair next to her.
Mingyue hesitated for another moment. Then, as if steeling her resolve, she walked over quickly and sat down beside Lightweaver.
She draped her coat over the back of the chair. Her movements were gentle, but the chair still made a brief scraping sound as she pulled it closer to the table.
Nuomi had already hopped onto the table, sitting down right next to Lightweaver's coffee cup. Its tail swayed slowly behind it, the bell chiming occasionally.
Mingyue sat with her back perfectly straight.
Having just finished a high-intensity training session, her heart rate hadn't fully settled, and sitting right next to Lightweaver only made it race a little faster.
She picked up the glass of ice water on the table and took a sip, stealing a glance at Lightweaver out of the corner of her eye.
“How did you two end up sitting together?”
Nuomi tilted its head, its ears twitching slightly as its tail swept back and forth across the table.
“What is Lightweaver doing at the Association? And how does Big Sister Meruru know Lightweaver?”
Good question, Nuomi!
Nuomi had asked the very thing she wanted to know most.
When on earth did Lightweaver and Meruru meet?
She recalled the moment she pushed open the cafe door. Meruru had been leaning forward with her chin resting in her hand, smiling with such ease and warmth.
That atmosphere didn't look like a first meeting at all. It looked like they had known each other for a long time.
How many conversations have they had behind my back?!
“We crossed paths once at the concert venue before. Today, we happened to run into each other at the Association, so we had a friendly spar,” Lightweaver said.
Mingyue set down her water glass.
A spar. That single word instantly cleared all the messy thoughts from her head.
Lightweaver and Meruru had fought, and she hadn't even known about it.
A brief wave of disappointment washed over her, but it quickly passed. She wanted to ask who won, and whether Meruru's sonic waves had given her any trouble.
Yet she swallowed her questions. She realized she cared far more about something else: Lightweaver had taken the initiative to come to the Association, but she hadn't come to see her.
“Wait, what?! Big Sister Meruru and Lightweaver sparred?!”
Nuomi jumped up on the table, its tail wagging so fast it looked like a propeller.
“Who won? Who won? It must have been amazing! We were in the training room and didn't hear a thing! Mingyue, why didn't you finish training earlier? We missed it!”
Mingyue lightly tapped its forehead.
Do you think I wanted to miss it?!
She watched Nuomi bounce around on the table, badgering them for details of the spar. Its ears were twitching with excitement, and its tail nearly knocked over the sugar bowl.
She reached out to push the sugar bowl further onto the table, using the opportunity to cover the lower half of her face with her hand.
As Nuomi kept chattering away with questions, Meruru laughed and described a particularly thrilling moment from their spar. Lightweaver leaned back in her chair, listening quietly and occasionally chiming in with, “She was the one who started it.”
Mingyue found herself completely unable to join the conversation.
She could only nod when Nuomi asked her, “Right? Right?” and smile whenever Meruru described an exciting part, and quickly avert her eyes to look out the window, pretending to admire the view, whenever Lightweaver glanced her way.
Rate on N.U.
