Night Sakura began showing up like clockwork every few days at the battlefields where Qiluo had just finished clearing out Erosion Bodies.
The first time was at the multi-story parking lot behind the station. Qiluo had just used her light threads to pin a mid-tier Erosion Body to a support column and shred it. Before the white light from canceling her transformation could even fade, Night Sakura poked half her body out from the fire escape, carrying two cans of coffee bought from a convenience store.
Today, she had switched to a pair of thin, silver-framed glasses, and her mask's lace had changed from black to deep purple, matching her dress.
“Thanks for your hard work. Want some coffee? It's sugar-free.”
“...How did you find me?”
Qiluo wasn't actually that angry anymore. She realized the reason she was upset wasn't that she was being followed, but rather that after being stalked, the coffee the other girl handed her was actually sugar-free. Who drinks sugar-free coffee? Is this person even human?
“The mana fluctuations from an Erosion Body's spawn have a delay in the Association's observation network, but we have our own sensing arrays.” Night Sakura placed the coffee on the fire escape steps, then took two steps back to show she had no intention of getting too close. “By the way, this is the fourth one you've cleared in two days. Your efficiency is even faster than last week.”
“You're counting?”
“The boss is counting. She really admires you.”
Lightweaver didn't take the coffee. She flicked out a light thread to hook onto a steel beam on the top floor of the parking lot and vanished into the shadows between the buildings without looking back.
That can of sugar-free coffee sat on the fire escape steps all night until a janitor threw it away the next morning.
The fourth time was at the waste disposal area behind the shopping district.
Night Sakura was sitting on the iron fence of the recycling station, wearing sneakers and denim shorts, with a loose-fitting T-shirt featuring a rabbit print thrown over her top. She still hadn't taken off her mask, though.
She held a round paper fan, lazily waving it back and forth. Seeing Lightweaver emerge from the corner, she naturally raised her fan to greet her.
“Hello~”
“Does your organization not have night shift subsidies?” Lightweaver wound the light threads around her fingers, tightening them as if trying to hold herself back.
Night Sakura tilted her head in thought, pulled a crumpled convenience store receipt from her pocket, scribbled a few words on the back, and handed it over.
“This is this month's night shift subsidy application form. Our boss said if you're willing, we can count you as an official member.”
Lightweaver used a light thread to snatch the receipt from her fingertips. There were three lines written on the back: amount, overtime hours, and notes. A smiley face was drawn in the notes column.
After returning home, Qiluo dug the crumpled receipt out of her bag, smoothed it out, and stared at the smiley face for a few seconds.
It was a very ugly drawing. She tucked the receipt into her notebook, placing it on the same page as Yuki Kurokawa's cookie sticky note.
The sixth time was by the riverbank. She had just finished fighting off a batch of low-tier Erosion Bodies and hadn't even fully retracted her mana threads when Night Sakura strolled down the slope of the bank, holding an insulated bag.
She opened the insulated bag to reveal a box of takoyaki. They were piping hot, and the bonito flakes on top were still curling slightly from the heat.
Night Sakura placed the box on a flat section of the riverbank railing, stepped back a few paces once it was steady.
“Every time you finish a fight, you go out of your way to the convenience store to buy oden,” Night Sakura said, leaning against the other end of the railing. “This place's takoyaki is cheaper than the convenience store's, and the sauce is richer.”
“You wouldn't know how far I live from here if you hadn't investigated me.”
“I didn't investigate you.” Night Sakura rested her chin on the railing, the half of her face visible beneath the mask curving into an innocent smile. “I just used the process of elimination on a map. Your combat zones radiate outward with your apartment building as the center. Your first appearance was at the amusement park, and the spawn points after that can all be calculated backward based on walking distance.”
“...”
Standing next to the insulated bag, Lightweaver added, “That's a bit creepy.”
Night Sakura chewed on those words for a few seconds, and then her expression suddenly lit up. “That's why our boss said you're a good person. You were followed six times without attacking me, and you only called me a name on the last one. And calling me a creep isn't even that harsh.”
She left the insulated bag on the railing, stood up, and brushed the leaves off her denim shorts. “See you tomorrow, Lightweaver. Or the day after, depending on when the Erosion Bodies decide to make a bad life choice.”
The seventh time, Night Sakura didn't show up.
There was only one low-tier Erosion Body that night. After Qiluo dispatched it with her threads, she stood under the streetlamp and waited for about two extra minutes.
Thoughts she shouldn't be having crossed her mind—like whether something had happened to her, or if the Association had shut down the Wings of Freedom.
Then she realized what she was thinking. She whipped her light thread sharply, producing a crisp crack in the air, before canceling her transformation and walking back to her apartment with heavier steps than usual.
So the eighth time, when she saw Night Sakura drifting over from the streetlamp carrying bubble tea, she actually felt a wave of relief.
But she wouldn't let that expression show on Lightweaver's face. Lightweaver's persona was that of a mysterious, impatient, and aloof Magical Girl who would whip out her light threads and leave at any moment.
In Night Sakura's eyes, this person must seem very difficult to get along with. In her heart, she pressed her hands together toward Night Sakura: I'm sorry, I'm just better at keeping up a cool facade when I'm using this persona.
She calculated in her head: I'll go check out their headquarters first. If I'm not satisfied, I'll just refuse.
After all, she was only going to learn about them, not join. Any normal person would want to find out what kind of organization they were after being stalked eight times.
This wasn't her softening up; it was strictly from an information-gathering perspective.
That evening, she had covered half a shift for Nishikawa at the convenience store, standing for nearly five hours until her calves felt as heavy as lead. Yet just as she clocked out and walked near the riverbank, her detection array flagged two low-tiers and one mid-tier Erosion Body—right on her inevitable path home.
She transformed, finished the fight, and before she could even retract her mana threads, a stomach-churningly familiar mana fluctuation drifted over from the direction of the glowing streetlamp.
Tonight, Night Sakura was wearing a sleeveless, summer version of her deep purple long dress. The edges of her mask were adorned with a few newly replaced tiny silver beads, and she held two cups of bubble tea.
“Today we have taro paste boba—”
“Lead the way.” Lightweaver snapped her last light thread back from the remains of the Erosion Body, the thread whipping through the air with a sharp crack.
“...Huh?” Night Sakura's steps halted. This was the first time she had failed to successfully offer her food after showing up.
“Take me to your Wings of whatever headquarters. Right now.”
“Eh? Wait, let me check—don't you still have to tomorrow—”
“I don't have to work tomorrow.” Without turning back, Lightweaver gathered all her mana threads into her palm. Her warm white short hair was blown by the river wind, covering half her face, but her visible eye was written entirely with the words: I have given up struggling.
“We go now. If we wait any longer, I'll regret it.”
Night Sakura stood frozen in place for about two seconds before hurriedly pulling her phone from her skirt pocket. She dialed a number and whispered, “Boss, she's coming,” speaking so fast as if she was afraid the other side would hang up.
She hung up, stuffed the bubble tea into Lightweaver's hands, and turned to lead the way.
“You'd better not take me anywhere else.”
“Yes, yes, of course not. Our boss said even if the sky falls today, we have to bring you in.”
Night Sakura glanced back at her, the corners of her mouth curving up beneath her mask in a grin she couldn't suppress. “She said you'd agree right away. She guessed perfectly.”
Rate on N.U.
