“Wait—” Qiluo wanted to say something to reject this overly flashy title, but Rei had already grabbed her and Kizuna by their wrists, dragging them toward the classroom.
Kizuna stumbled a step as she was pulled along, her other hand holding her wig to keep it from sliding off.
In the hallway, students who were putting up the last batch of balloons turned their heads, their gazes following the three of them as they ran past.
Rei nudged open the door to Class A's classroom with her shoulder and pushed the two of them forward like she was showing off a trophy.
The class representative, who was hanging ribbons on the wall, almost fell off his chair. The roll of ribbon in his hand rolled all the way to the podium. Several girls arranging tablecloths looked up at the same time, the edges of the tablecloths sliding across the desks with a neat rustling sound.
“Oh my god—Tian Gong-san? You're Tian Gong-san, right? I barely recognized you in the hallway just now! You look completely different from last time. It's like Lightweaver herself is standing right in front of me—”
“It really looks like her, this is amazing! Stand right there and don't move. I want to take a picture to send to my cousin. She loves Lightweaver, she'll be so jealous when she sees this!”
“Wait a second, I haven't agreed to photos yet—” Qiluo reached out to block the lens, but a girl in the front row had already raised her phone and snapped a picture, the flash going off just as Qiluo reached out to block it.
“This one is so cute! The real Lightweaver has never made this kind of face in her videos. Tian Gong-san, are you sure you're not actually her? Put your hand down and let me see again—”
Qiluo lowered her hand and tugged at the slightly ill-fitting decorations on her shoulders.
All the students crowded around, surrounding Qiluo by the podium. Their noisy chatter sounded like a flock of sparrows whose nest had been disturbed.
“What was Lightweaver's signature pose again—the thread-pulling one? Splay your fingers like this and pull back. Tian Gong-san, try it!”
“Yes! Her fingers are so pretty, and after she does that, the threads of light reel back in from all directions—Tian Gong-san, your fingers are really long too, you'll definitely pull it off.”
What signature pose? Since when did I have a signature pose?
“There are no threads of light,” Qiluo said, pretending she was just casually flexing her wrist.
“That's fine, we'll Photoshop them in later!” The girl holding the phone grinned, showing off a snaggletooth, as her fingers flew across her screen, flipping back and forth to compare the photos she had just taken.
Qiluo was surrounded so tightly she couldn't move an inch. She felt more like a rare animal on display.
The kind with a “Please Do Not Feed or Tap on the Glass” sign.
“How about this pose? Turn slightly to the side. Yes, raise your right hand—”
The girl taking photos grew increasingly enthusiastic with her directions. Qiluo took a deep breath, raised her right hand into the air, splayed her fingers slightly, and turned her head to cooperate.
The flashes went off in a rapid, continuous barrage, making her squint.
How long were they going to keep shooting? Her wrist was already starting to ache.
“Tian Gong-san—”
The girl taking photos had just raised her phone again, wanting to get a few more close-ups, when she heard a voice from the side.
“Um, Rei-san just said they need help carrying things over at the dessert stall.” Kizuna took a step forward, shielding Qiluo.
With one hand behind her back, she gently brushed against Qiluo's wrist, the warmth of her fingertips transferring through the thin fabric.
Her voice wasn't loud, but the classroom fell silent for a brief moment.
The students looked at each other, and a few of them started putting away their phones, murmuring things like, “Oh, alright then,” and “We'll take more later.”
Kizuna didn't look at Qiluo. She simply raised her chin slightly and smiled at the girl holding the phone.
It was a gentle, harmless smile, but for some reason, the other girl didn't dare raise her phone again.
She had been standing outside the crowd for a long time, watching those girls surround Qiluo, making her strike one pose after another. A strange, inexplicable irritation had welled up inside her.
Wasn't one photo enough? Why did they have to take so many?
And why did that girl have to hold Qiluo's wrist to teach her how to pose?
That was a bit too deliberate!
Lightweaver's signature pose was something Qiluo could do on her own. She didn't need someone else teaching her hand-by-hand.
Wait, why was she angry?
It was completely normal for Qiluo to be surrounded and photographed when she looked so beautiful, wasn't it?
She should be happy for Qiluo.
But seeing Qiluo squinting from the bright flashes, she felt a slight, gentle tug somewhere in her chest.
She didn't like seeing Qiluo treated like this, even if their classmates meant no harm.
She wanted Qiluo to be free, just like when she sang to her on the rooftop—with the wind blowing through her hair, the entire campus stretched out beneath them, and only the two of them in the whole wide world.
Rei was just carrying a crate of milk in through the back door. Hearing Kizuna's words, a giant question mark popped up over her head.
She swept her gaze across the classroom. A few girls were still flipping through their phone albums, unsatisfied, while others cast lingering glances toward Qiluo.
She was about to say that there was absolutely nothing that needed carrying over at the dessert stall, but before she could open her mouth, she saw Kizuna shoot her a look.
Her gaze darted back and forth between the two of them, and a certain radar pinged in her mind.
She set the crate of milk down on a nearby desk, patted the dust off her hands, and strode forward to squeeze into the crowd.
“Alright, alright! The dessert stall really does need help. I just came from over there, and if we don't start setting up, the whipped cream is going to melt.”
She slung an arm around Qiluo's shoulders and flashed a bright smile at the surrounding classmates. “You guys go ahead with your own things, I'm borrowing Tian Gong-san for a bit—”
With one arm around Qiluo's shoulders and the other hand waving in the air to signal “make way, make way,” Rei parted the crowd like an icebreaker, rescuing Qiluo from the circle of flashing lights.
“Saved,” Qiluo muttered, straightening her crooked wig. The red streak had been pushed out of place by the crowd and was sticking up, so she pressed it down several times with her fingers.
“I told you this outfit would suit you,” Rei said, hands on her hips. “But seriously, that crowd was a bit much. Thank goodness Kizuna reacted quickly, or you'd still be standing in the classroom like a cardboard cutout.”
As soon as she finished speaking, a flurry of hurried footsteps came from behind them.
Kizuna trotted over from not far away, her right hand clenched into a fist against her chest.
Rei looked at Kizuna, then at Qiluo, and that certain radar pinged once more—a sound only she could hear.
She took a step back and clapped her hands. “I'm heading to the dessert stall. Take your time, you two.”
Rate on N.U.
