...
The weather was nice today.
The light through the glass windows filled the vast airport, and Lucian dazed for a moment before continuing to drag his luggage toward the meeting point.
"Trainer!!" Haru Urara waved at him; she was always the first to spot him.
"Looks like I'm the last one to arrive." Lucian glanced around. "Everyone looks so pretty today."
Seiun Sky: "Trainer doesn't think saying some nice words can cover up the fact that you're late, right?"
"Sorry, traffic jam on the road. Otherwise, I definitely would've arrived early."
Seiun Sky huffed lightly. "I don't care about that. Usually during training, if we're late, Trainer doesn't let us make excuses."
"Then how should I be punished?"
Dextrous Bailey: "Punished?"
Lucian gave Dextrous Bailey a look; he still hadn't settled the score for her forcing herself on him!
"Just punish Trainer by carrying my luggage~" Seiun Sky handed her bag to Lucian.
"Trainer, weren't you late and wasting not just Seiun Sky's time?" Tokai Teio, carrying big and small bags, said faintly.
Lucian looked at the things in both hands. "I can still carry one in my mouth. How about I bite Teio's collar?"
"Then Urara can ride on Trainer's shoulders!"
Dextrous Bailey: "I can actually hang on Trainer's leg too."
Lucian tilted his head slightly, amused. "I still have one foot free. Who wants to hang?"
Special Week, Meishou Doto, and Rice Shower remained silent.
At this time, Silence Suzuka spoke up: "Alright, Lucian-kun, time to board."
...
After boarding the plane, the group of nine each found their seats.
One side of the plane had three seats; Lucian sat in the innermost one, right next to Special Week and Silence Suzuka.
"Spe-chan, want to switch seats with me? I have something I want to ask Trainer." Haru Urara suddenly squeezed over.
Special Week didn't want to; this was a stroke of luck, and she wouldn't give it up like before.
"No, Urara, too much trouble. I'll just sit here."
"Alright~" Haru Urara didn't insist.
Silence Suzuka glanced sideways toward Special Week.
Spe-chan seemed more and more different.
At least before, with Spe-chan's personality, she would've agreed directly to such a request.
Then, in her peripheral vision, Silence Suzuka saw Lucian's side profile. Combining all of Special Week's previous issues, it seemed all the doubts had answers.
"Playboy..." Silence Suzuka cursed inwardly.
But speaking of radish, wasn't radish what Special Week liked most?
"Urara, what do you want to ask?" Lucian asked.
"Trainer, I bought some small gifts for Uncle and Auntie, Kojiro souvenirs... Will they like them?"
Lucian was stunned; Haru Urara's question reminded him of Silence Suzuka from that morning.
Looks like Urara was really serious about this too.
"They will. How could they not like such a cute and thoughtful Urara?"
His dad Lu Fengzhou, he didn't know, but his mom Lucia had been nagging for a daughter for a long time.
Haru Urara breathed a sigh of relief. "That's good. Because the gifts I bought are all very cheap; I was afraid they wouldn't like them."
"You're overthinking it." Lucian pinched Haru Urara's cheek.
"Hehe." Haru Urara not only didn't resist but tilted her face toward Lucian a bit more. It had been a while since she'd been close to Trainer like this.
Tokai Teio's gaze silently watched over. "Stinky Trainer... You touched my cheek the longest back then."
"Trainer, I-I didn't buy gifts, what do I do!? Can I still buy some now? (◞ ‸ ◟ㆀ)" Meishou Doto from the front seat suddenly turned around.
"The plane's about to take off. How about this: stick your head out and scoop up some air, hide it in your pocket, and say it's a Japanese specialty."
"Can I do that? (●'◡'●)"
"Of course not!" Lucian sighed helplessly. She really believed whatever he said. "By the way, Doto, you really like small animals, right?"
"Yeah, I like the little orange cat on campus, and little sheep and cows d(=^･ω･^=)b."
Lucian nodded. "I can tell from your online name."
"Eh— that obvious? (=;ェ;=)!?"
Lucian: "..."
"So Trainer, why suddenly ask about this?"
"Because we have a cat at home. It can do backflips."
"Eh!? R-Really really really? Ꮚ･ꈊ･Ꮚ"
"Fake." Lucian decided not to tease Doto anymore, though he felt no guilt haha.
...
The flight from Japan back to Dragon Country took about four hours.
Everyone woke up early in the morning; after sitting for a bit, sleepiness swept over them, and soon they were leaning on their seats resting.
But Special Week next to Lucian couldn't sleep; her little hand had been waiting for a long time but still hadn't gotten its other half.
She glanced at Silence Suzuka beside her, and Seiun Sky and others on the other side... all asleep.
Good chance!
She turned to the other side... Trainer was asleep too? Seriously.
Special Week could only quietly reach over, hooking Lucian's finger.
Lucian opened his eyes. "When did Spe-chan get so bold?"
"Tra-Trainer sir? You weren't asleep..."
"I was, but Spe-chan woke me up."
"No way, I just touched lightly." Special Week gripped two of Lucian's fingers; she needed to hold something to feel at ease.
"It was Spe-chan's restless thoughts that woke me up." Lucian glanced downward. "Why is Spe-chan holding my hand?"
Special Week's eyes dodged as she lowered her head.
If Trainer sir didn't take the initiative, fine... but why ask out loud?
"H-Holding hands."
"Alright then, since Spe-chan insists, I can only agree." Lucian held Special Week's hand in return.
Now, Special Week couldn't sleep even more, because she had to prevent suddenly waking companions from discovering.
So after holding Lucian's hand, her eyes continued standing guard.
Nervous and anxious, but this feeling was so thrilling.
...
However, even if Special Week was ever so careful, she still underestimated Silence Suzuka's reconnaissance ability.
Silence Suzuka was just closing her eyes to rest, not asleep, so she heard all of Lucian and Special Week's whispers just now.
Her earlier guesses were now all confirmed.
"Lucian-kun... When did this happen? Hiding it from me!"
While feeling jealous and angry inside, Silence Suzuka also worried about how to confess this to Special Week later?
Say it directly? Could Spe-chan accept it?
Silence Suzuka slightly opened her eyes, saw the two's sneaky interaction, and immediately got furious. "It's all Lucian-kun's fault! I won't worry for him; let him explain it himself."
...