The morning sun shone on the balcony of the student dormitory, the transparent glass reflecting a dazzling white light...
"..." Mei put down her rice bowl and chopsticks and sighed softly, looking at the empty seat beside her... The food on the table was about to get cold because no one had come...
"Sister Mei, should I go call Kiana again..." Bronya suggested.
"No, it's fine. Bronya, just hurry up and finish your food. I'll go get Kiana..." Mei revealed a gentle smile, reaching out to pat Bronya's head. She stood up, took off the floral apron she was wearing, casually tossed it on a chair, and walked towards Kiana's room...
"Knock knock!~" Mei gently knocked on the door with Kiana's nameplate, but after waiting for a while, there was still no response...
"Sigh~" Mei sighed softly. Kiana had been like this since last night... shutting herself in her room and refusing to come out. The most exaggerated thing was... during dinner, Kiana, who usually ate at least five bowls of rice, only had two!!
"Kiana, I'm coming in..." Mei said softly, reaching out her small hand to push open the door and walk in... Although it was a sunny morning, because the curtains completely covered the room, Kiana's room was still pitch black...
"Kiana..." Mei walked to Kiana's bedside and pushed the large lump on the bed, which was clearly Kiana lazing in bed.
"Mmm..." The lump on the bed shifted restlessly, making a muffled sound. After a moment of silence, Kiana, her face flushed red, stuck her fluffy head out from the pile of blankets like a snail, looking at Mei with red, teary eyes.
"What's wrong, Kiana?!..." Mei looked in surprise at Kiana, who looked like she could cry at any moment. In her impression, Kiana had always been a person who smiled happily every day, as dazzling as the sun... bringing her joy and smiles.
"In the ice cave... Li Xuan was right next to me, but I couldn't save him at all... I didn't even have the strength to help Himeko when she was injured..." Kiana raised her head to look at Mei and said.
"Although, Li Xuan is a disgusting man... and Himeko is a fierce, big-breasted woman..." Kiana said in a small voice, huddled in her quilt, "But they are my friends...."
"As the heir of the Kaslana family, I swore to my dad... that I would definitely protect the people I cherish... But... am I too useless?"
"You're not..." Mei hugged Kiana as if she were embracing the whole world. She said softly, "Kiana is definitely, definitely not a useless person... My life was saved by Kiana, you know."
Mei would probably never forget... back at Senba Academy, when she was isolated after her father, Raiden Ryoma, was involved in an economic fraud case, which led her to become a Herrscher during a Honkai event. But Kiana never gave up on her, fighting with all her might to save her from the clutches of the Honkai...
"Um... Mei, I had a nightmare last night..." Kiana said with a somewhat empty gaze. In fact, a large part of the reason for her low spirits today was the nightmare she had last night...
"Hmm?... What dream?..."
"I dreamed that I turned into a monster and ate you..." Kiana said, trembling a little. The thought of that image made her feel like throwing up...
"Mhm..." Mei placed Kiana's head in her arms and said with a smile, "It's okay... it was just a nightmare..."
"But what if it comes true?!..." Kiana said with red eyes.
"Then of course... I'll choose to forgive you~" Mei playfully ruffled Kiana's white hair and said while teasing her.
"You wretched Mei-senpai, taste my counterattack!" Kiana, being tickled by Mei, giggled while struggling to reach out and counterattack... The two of them rolled into a ball on the bed....
'Wouldn't it be great if life could just continue like this forever?...' Kiana thought silently in her heart. She suddenly pounced on Mei, feeling the warmth her body brought...
"Hehe..." Faintly, Kiana vaguely heard a voice from a distant place behind her. It was a childish laugh, and it was hard to tell if it was out of kindness or mockery.
..........................
In the infirmary of St. Freya High School... The ceiling fan, perhaps because it hadn't been used for a long time, made a 'whir, whir' sound as it turned...
"So that's how it is..." Li Xuan said with sudden realization after swallowing a grape that Yae Sakura had fed him. Under Yae Sakura's slow explanation, he finally learned everything that had happened after he took the blow...
"But..." Li Xuan rubbed his chin and said with some embarrassment, "Why didn't I know Sakura's swordsmanship was so strong..." He felt that he was such an unqualified boyfriend... He didn't even know his girlfriend's three measurements yet... Wasn't that a bit abnormal?
"My swordsmanship has been passed down through my family for generations..." Yae Sakura peeled another grape and brought it to Li Xuan's lips while saying, "After I became Xuan-kun's Familiar... it seems my sword skills have improved as well..."
"Such amazing swordsmanship... Was your family's swordsmanship created by an ancestor?" Li Xuan asked curiously. He felt that people nowadays were so weak... Look at the ancients, creating all sorts of sword arts at the drop of a hat. It was simply awesome...
"No..." Yae Sakura shook her head slightly and said, "It's said that... my family's swordsmanship was passed down from a passing Ronin..."
"A Ronin?!..." Li Xuan felt a strange sense of familiarity...
"Yes, that's right..." Yae Sakura raised her head with an innocent look, seeming to recall, "Grandma told me... it seemed to be a Ronin wearing a white robe and Gusoku... It seems that after hearing about my ancestor's wish to protect the village, he taught my ancestor a set of sword techniques... I guess you could say he took him as an in-name disciple..."
"?!" Li Xuan felt that he should know the person Yae Sakura was talking about...
"I think his name was..." Yae Sakura tried hard to remember. After all, it was something from 500 years ago... Yae Sakura had forgotten some of it...
"I think the surname was... Hokushin..." Yae Sakura said with some uncertainty...
"..." Li Xuan was silent... His heart was in turmoil... In ancient times... a Ronin... white Gusoku... surname Hokushin... He really couldn't think of anyone else besides his cheap master, 'Hokushin Mei'... His master really liked to wander around.
So how should the seniority be calculated?... Li Xuan looked at his girlfriend Yae Sakura's tender and fair face... As the direct disciple of Hokushin Mei...
His swordsmanship couldn't even compare to half of Yae Sakura's from 500 years later!.... Ah, how embarrassing... Li Xuan couldn't help but cover his face.
(End of Chapter)