Never mind. If I teased her too much, she'd probably lose sleep again.
Of course Qiluo knew it was different, but seeing how tense Yuki was, she couldn't resist teasing her.
Qiluo realized she really was a bit mean.
She actually enjoyed seeing her like this.
It was like raising a kitten—a tiny kitten that had just learned how to use its paws. She was so cute it made Qiluo want to tease her just a little bit more.
The warning bell for the end of lunch break hadn't rung yet, so the courtyard remained empty save for the two of them.
Yuki kept her head down. Her silence lasted longer than usual—so long that Qiluo began to think she wouldn't speak at all.
When Yuki finally spoke, Qiluo felt a quiet wave of relief.
“...Qiluo. There's something I want to discuss with you.”
“What is it?”
“My sister—she wants to meet you.”
Yuki let go of her jellyfish charm, her fingers returning to her lap and intertwining.
“I mentioned you to my mother. She said my sister should get to know you.”
She didn't look at Qiluo after she finished speaking, keeping her gaze fixed on her interlaced fingers, as if waiting for a verdict.
The second half of her thought remained lodged in her throat.
You can refuse, it's okay, I won't force you.
But she couldn't bring herself to say it. She didn't want Qiluo to refuse, yet she felt she had no right to demand that Qiluo agree.
“When?”
“My sister's medical school internship ends next week, and she'll be coming back to stay for a few days after that. The exact time depends on when you're free.”
Yuki laid out her sister's schedule in full, then immediately added, “If you don't want to go, you can refuse. I know this is very sudden, and my sister is also—”
“Sure.”
Yuki looked up, blinking. She had already prepared herself to be rejected.
It wasn't that she thought Qiluo would intentionally reject her; she just felt the request itself was far too presumptuous.
She didn't really understand what it meant to bring a friend home to meet one's family.
She had never done such a thing before, nor had she ever seen anyone else do it.
“What kind of flavors does your sister like?” Qiluo asked.
“...What?”
“Cookies, cake, whatever. I can't exactly show up empty-handed. It's my first time visiting your house, so it's probably better to bring a little gift, right?”
Qiluo tilted her head, looking at her.
Yuki opened her mouth, only to realize she didn't have an answer.
She had never asked her sister what she liked to eat.
Her sister was always the one giving her things—books, notebooks, study guides.
Yet, she had never once thought about giving anything in return.
“...I don't know.”
Yuki's voice was muffled.
“In that case, starting tomorrow, bring me a cookie of a different flavor every day.”
Qiluo held up a single finger, her expression carrying a mock-authoritative seriousness.
“They have to be home-baked by you, and I'll act as your taste tester. We'll keep going until you find the right one.”
“...You just want to eat free cookies, don't you?” Yuki's voice was still muffled, but the corners of her mouth twitched upward in a barely perceptible smile.
“You caught me.” Qiluo dropped her hand, dropping her teasing tone as she looked at Yuki seriously.
“I'll go, but on one condition.”
“What condition?”
“When we meet, you don't need to stand in front of me to shield me. And you don't need to stand behind me and leave me to face her alone.”
“We'll stand together. Your sister is your sister, and I am your friend. She can ask me questions, and I will answer them.”
“But don't apologize on my behalf beforehand, and don't get nervous for me. And definitely don't lose sleep the night before and show up to meet me with dark circles under your eyes the next day.”
With every condition she listed, Yuki's eyelashes drooped a little lower.
“...How did you know I lost sleep?” Yuki mumbled, her voice buried in her knees.
“I know now. I was just bluffing earlier.”
A certain someone had been tossing and turning at two in the morning last night, messing up Star-trail's fur.
It wouldn't do any good to complain to Star-trail, either.
Oh well. If I tease her any further, she might actually dig a hole and bury herself right here.
As for her sister, as long as they talked things out, there shouldn't be any major issues.
“Alright, take your hands off your knees. The bell is going to ring in a few minutes, and you don't want to go back to class with knee marks on your face, do you? I don't want people spreading rumors that I made the top student cry.”
Yuki lifted her face from her knees. She rubbed the corners of her eyes with her sleeve, then stood up and smoothed down her skirt, her movements hastier than usual.
It was as if she wanted to quickly hide the version of herself that had just been buried in her knees.
“...I didn't cry.”
“Right, right. You didn't cry.”
The warning bell rang from the direction of the school building, its sound slightly muffled by the wind.
She stood up from the bench, slung her schoolbag over her shoulder, took a couple of steps forward, then paused and turned around.
Yuki stood in place, still using her fingers to smooth out nonexistent creases on her skirt. She only looked up when she noticed Qiluo's gaze.
“Don't worry. Your sister doesn't have three heads and six arms; it's not like she's going to eat me alive. Besides, don't I have you to cover for me? The protection of the school's top student sounds incredibly reassuring.”
Qiluo's tone had returned to her usual teasing self, but these words, though spoken like a joke, were exactly what Yuki needed to hear right now. She couldn't help but let her lips curve upward.
“...I'll protect you,” Yuki said, only realizing after the words left her mouth that her voice was trembling slightly.
“Don't be afraid, no matter what my sister asks. If she asks about your grades, I'll speak up for you. If she asks what you plan to do in the future, I'll tell her that your knowledge of astronomy is incredibly professional. If she asks if you and I are dating—”
Yuki trailed off halfway through, her voice fading to a complete silence so quiet that Qiluo couldn't hear her final words at all.
She looked down at the tips of her shoes, which had a small blade of grass clinging to them.
“...This is just how close friends interact,” she murmured in a very low voice.
“Well then, see you tomorrow.” Her voice wasn't loud as she said this, and she turned to walk toward the school building.
After taking a few steps, she glanced back at Qiluo once more, lightly raising her hand to wave.
It was much more natural than her wave in front of the aquarium last time.
The afternoon classes passed routinely amidst the ringing of bells and the drifting of chalk dust.
By the time Qiluo returned to the classroom, Rei was already sitting in her seat. Although her textbook was spread out in front of her, her eyes were clearly focused elsewhere.
Seeing Qiluo enter, she immediately set down her pen, propped her hands on her desk, and leaned forward, staring at Qiluo with a look that clearly said, ‘I've been waiting for you.’
“Are you okay? Are you okay?” Rei's eyes darted quickly across Qiluo's face, as if searching for any telling clues.
“I saw you turning the corner from the hallway just now. You came from the courtyard, right? I saw Kurokawa-san there too, and Kirishima-senpai from the second year. How did the three of you end up together?”
Qiluo pulled her textbook from her schoolbag. “Kurokawa-san wanted to talk to me about something, and Kirishima-senpai just happened to be passing by.”
“Happened to be passing by?” Rei's eyebrows shot up high, clearly not buying this perfunctory explanation for a second.
However, she didn't press further. She simply rested her chin on her crossed arms, tilting her head to look at Qiluo.
“Tian Gong-san, you and Kurokawa-san are really close, aren't you? Did she give you cookies again?”
“...Are you interested in the cookies or Kurokawa-san?”
“Both!” Rei laughed.
After she finished laughing, she lowered her voice slightly, shifting her tone from gossipy to a softer, more earnest sincerity.
“But seriously, Kurokawa-san has changed a lot lately. Before, whenever I ran into her in the hallway, she would always walk really fast with her head down. Now, she actually stops to greet people. Even if it's just a nod, it's still way better than keeping her head down.”
Qiluo's hand paused for a fraction of a second as she flipped open her textbook. “Is that so?”
“Yeah, I'm sure it has something to do with you, Tian Gong-san.” Just as Rei finished speaking, the bell for class rang.
A connection... maybe a little.
Yuki Kurokawa's change wasn't solely due to Qiluo's doing; she was already a wonderful person to begin with.
It was just that, in the past, no one had ever told her that she didn't have to constantly rank first to be liked.
She had simply happened to be the one to tell her.
Rate on N.U.
