The setting sun bled across the horizon, painting the sky in hues of molten gold and fiery orange.
The warm light spilled over the campus, tracing the rooftops of the school buildings in a brilliant, gilded edge.
Down on the sprawling athletic fields, the shouts of students from various sports clubs echoed faintly, a proof of their evening training.
Lucian ambled out of the main teaching building, his attention fixed on the phone in his hand.
He scrolled idly through the day’s trending topics, a small, bemused smile playing on his lips.
Far East Amusement Park: Mechanical HOMU Dolls Spontaneously Break Out into the Gokuraku Jodo Dance.
The Reason Will Shock You… First Trailer for the Sequel to ‘The Great HOMU Movie’ Released!
“That yellow rabbit is still as popular as ever,” Lucian sighed to himself.
He truly couldn’t fathom the creature’s immense popularity in this world.
Honestly, looking at that vacant, perpetually surprised face, it was a struggle to keep his own expression neutral.
Pocketing his phone, Lucian’s gaze swept across the courtyard and snagged on a familiar, undeniably striking figure.
By a flower bed near the side entrance, a small group of girls in Senba Academy uniforms had gathered.
At their center, commanding attention without effort, was a purple-haired girl who carried herself with a remarkable aura.
She stood tall and poised, her long, silken hair tied back in a sleek, practical ponytail that shimmered in the sunset.
Her entire being radiated an effortless elegance and composure.
It was Raiden Mei.
Lucian paused, his steps faltering for a moment.
The girl before him was a world away from the resilient, battle-hardened, yet gentle woman he knew from his Remembrance.
This Mei radiated a vibrant, youthful energy.
A soft smile graced her lips as she tilted her head, listening intently to the chatter of a short-haired girl beside her.
The other girls surrounding them were all smiling, too, though their expressions held a fawning quality that Mei, in her earnestness, seemed completely oblivious to.
It was a perfectly normal, idyllic high school scene.
Lucian didn’t linger.
His gaze rested on the small circle for only a heartbeat longer before he turned and continued on his way.
If only it were possible, he hoped Mei could remain this carefree forever.
He wished, with a pang of futility, that growth didn’t have to be forged in the crucible of pain.
This wasn’t supposed to be some grim, tragic epic.
Unfortunately, he knew better.
And he himself was painfully weak—so weak that he wasn’t even sure he could preserve his own life when the Honkai inevitably came, let alone protect anyone else.
—————— A month passed in the blink of an eye.
Lucian’s life at Senba Academy settled into a strange but comfortable rhythm.
Every morning, he would slip into the classroom precisely one minute before the bell, placing a freshly made breakfast on the desk of his perpetually late, perpetually endearing desk mate.
At noon, he’d either escape to the rooftop for a quiet moment to admire the scenery or find himself dragged along by Kiana to explore the local shops.
In the evenings, he would patiently tutor her, trying to cram months of neglected knowledge into her head.
During those tutoring sessions, Kiana’s focused, almost gentle demeanor often left him in a daze.
He felt as if, over this past month, he had somehow begun to usurp the place ‘Senior Mei’ was meant to occupy in her heart.
And yet, he’d also noticed Kiana unconsciously peppering her speech with mentions of ‘Senior Mei’ lately.
Had meeting the girl in person finally awakened the latent preferences coded into the Kaslana bloodline?
‘A month of grinding favorability,’he mused wryly,’wiped out by a single appearance from a stat monster.’The game balance of’Honkai Online’ was a complete mess.
“What are you thinking about?” Kiana’s voice sliced through his thoughts.
The girl was looking at him with open curiosity, her brilliant blue eyes appearing exceptionally clear in the bright sunlight.
Only then did Lucian realize he’d been zoned out for quite some time, sitting on one of the rooftop benches and staring into space.
“Just some trivial matters…” He stood, stretching his arms high above his head with a satisfying groan, before turning his gaze to Kiana.
“And you?
Why aren’t you off accompanying your precious Senior Mei?” “Hey!
Don’t tease me about that!” Kiana puffed out her cheeks and waved a fist at him, making a show of wanting to punch his shoulder.
Beneath the huffy display, however, a hint of shyness flickered in the depths of her eyes.
Lucian just smiled and shook his head, leaning back against the safety railing and gazing out at the lush, green campus spread below.
A gentle breeze drifted past, carrying the fresh scent of cut grass.
“Speaking of which…” Kiana sidled closer, leaning against the railing beside him and studying his profile.
“The School Festival is coming up soon.” “Any plans?” Lucian asked casually, his eyes still fixed on the distant playground.
“Me?
Of course, I’m going to eat at every single stall!” Kiana’s eyes lit up, her earlier shyness instantly forgotten.
She began to count on her fingers, a look of intense concentration on her face.
“Takoyaki, fried noodles, crepes… I heard some classes are going to run a maid cafe; I wonder if they’ll have omurice…” Watching her, Lucian shook his head in helpless amusement.
This was Kiana in her natural state—as long as she had an external brain nearby, she saw no reason to use her own.
“Glutton,” he commented with a fond smile.
“I’m not a glutton, I’m a gourmet connoisseur!” Kiana retorted, her nose wrinkling in dissatisfaction.
“Alright, alright, a gourmet connoisseur,” Lucian placated her.
“So, besides eating, are you not interested in any of the other School Festival activities?” “Other activities?” Kiana blinked, her finger-counting coming to a halt.
“Like the drama performances?
Or the haunted houses?
Or maybe…” Her train of thought suddenly derailed.
Her eyes widened slightly as she leaned closer to Lucian, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper laced with disbelief.
“That maid cafe project for our class… is it actually going to happen?” A week ago, during the class discussion on festival activities, a few of the girls had excitedly proposed the idea, and it had received a surprising amount of support.
“I overheard the class president and a few other girls discussing the menu and costumes after school yesterday,” Lucian said, adjusting his sunglasses.
His tone was perfectly flat.
“It seems they’re taking the preparations very seriously.” “For real?!” Kiana’s voice shot up an octave.
She quickly slapped a hand over her mouth, her eyes darting left and right to confirm they were still alone on the rooftop.
“Then… that means… those kinds of clothes…” Her expression became a complicated mess of emotions.
She seemed to be imagining herself wearing a maid outfit, and the tips of her ears began to turn a faint shade of pink.
“What, are you interested?” Lucian found her rapidly changing expressions endlessly amusing.
“Not at all!” Kiana shot back instantly.
Then, looking at Lucian’s far-too-smug face, she seemed to think of something else.
She pouted, averting her gaze.
“I bet a certain someone would be very happy to see all the girls in class wearing maid outfits, right?” “Yeah, Kiana, you’re starting to understand me more and more.” Lucian grinned and reached out, ruffling her silvery-white hair.
“Who understands you!” Kiana slapped his hand away and jumped back half a step, looking for all the world like a bristling cat.
Her cheeks were flushed a brilliant red, though whether from anger or embarrassment, it was impossible to tell.
“You… Your head is full of such strange ideas!” “Is it strange?” Lucian withdrew his hand, though the soft texture of her hair seemed to linger on his fingertips.
He adjusted his sunglasses again, the playful curve of his lips not fading.
“Appreciating beautiful things is only human nature.” “Hmph, excuses…” Kiana crossed her arms and looked away.
After a moment of stewing, she seemed to come to some sort of decision.
Her gaze drifted down towards the playground below.
“However… I could wear it for you to see…” Her voice grew smaller and smaller with each word, trailing off into a near-inaudible whisper.
Her eyes were fixed on some distant point, as if she had just made a casual, throwaway remark.
The air on the rooftop seemed to freeze.
The wind rustled past, lifting a stray strand of Kiana’s hair.
Having spoken the words, she remained perfectly still, her body locked in place.
Her eyes were glued to a spot on the playground, but Lucian knew she was using her peripheral vision to gauge his reaction.
The easy smile on Lucian’s face faltered.
His sunglasses did an admirable job of concealing the flash of genuine surprise in his eyes.
He looked at Kiana’s profile, at the tips of her ears that were practically steaming, at her desperate ‘I-didn’t-say-anything’ posture.
A soft, vulnerable place in his heart was gently nudged.
“…What was that?” he asked, deliberately softening his voice with a hint of uncertainty, as if he truly hadn’t heard her clearly.
“No-nothing!” Kiana whipped her head back around as if stung, her words tumbling out so fast she nearly bit her tongue.
“I didn’t say anything!
You heard wrong!” She waved her hands frantically, her eyes darting everywhere except at his face.
“But I could have sworn I heard something very interesting…” “You!” Kiana took a deep, steadying breath, forcing herself to calm down.
“I-I meant!” She straightened her back, trying to look imposing.
“If the class really decides on it, and if everyone else is wearing one… then I guess I could reluctantly wear it, too!” Lucian watched her struggle to maintain her forced composure.
The mischievous impulse to tease her further rose in his mind, but he quickly suppressed it.
He knew that if he pushed any more, this little white-haired dumpling might actually explode on the spot.
“Mm,” he nodded, his tone returning to its usual calm.
“I’ll be there to see it.” “…Whatever.” She muttered the word under her breath, a blush still dusting her cheeks.
She turned back to face the sky and the campus, now soaked in the deep colors of the evening glow.
The cool wind felt good against her face, calmly dispersing some of the lingering heat.
They stood there side-by-side in the quiet.
No one spoke again, but the atmosphere flowing between them was completely different from what it had been only a few minutes before.
[Elysian’s Note: Having a good time with the story?
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