She watched Tsukimisato Somehana wheel Shingai Hitomi away.
Soga Yura gently took Su Yuzu's hand. "It's all right—"
"Yuzu..."
"Even if it's the Shingai family, the ones who've taken over 'Epiphany Manufacture'."
"There is absolutely no way they could do anything to Yuzu."
"What happened twelve years ago will never happen again. As for the Factors concerning Yuzu... we will keep them under the strictest guard."
"It's only the Shingai family..." Sakura Mai stared coldly after the direction Shingai Hitomi had gone.
From the moment Shingai Hitomi had cut her way into the confrontation, Sakura Mai hadn't said a single word.
For some reason she couldn't name—
the instant Sakura Mai laid eyes on Shingai Hitomi, instinct had told her something was wrong.
Probably it was a natural clash: Sakura Mai, a body-enhancement type Esper, against Shingai Hitomi and that persona of hers, so frail and sickly she couldn't even stand up.
"Lord Father will certainly stand on Sister Yuzu's side."
"Even the Shingai family... there's nothing they could possibly do to Yuzu."
"Right! Exactly!!!" A snow-blue ahoge swayed wildly as the little rabbit glared indignantly after Tsukimisato Somehana.
This was a first. Not even Tsukiyomi Fuya, back then, had put this much pressure and this much displeasure on the little rabbit.
So being big is something to be proud of, huh!!!
She actually... she actually pulled that whole bow-until-your-buttons-fly-off routine right in front of Yuzu-senpai.
The little rabbit latched onto Su Yuzu's other arm and pulled it deep into her own chest.
What good is being big on its own!
Can you hug Yuzu-senpai?!
You don't even get to hug that sickly Eldest Young Lady of your own house.
"A mere Shingai family..."
"The second I get home, I'm having my old man cut every tie with the Shingai family."
"Let's see where they make all that money then."
If the Soga clan meant power and the Sakura family stood for antiquity and inheritance, then the Saotome family — whose trading houses spanned the world, whose funded organizations and laboratories were beyond counting — stood for limitless wealth.
Saotome Yukina's father could even use his influence to have the Holy Royal Court's Saintess assigned to the very same dormitory room as his daughter.
Though she was a "counterfeit" Saintess.
And this was Keigunen Private Academy, mind you.
A place that wouldn't even give the Investigation Bureau the time of day.
Soga Yura could pull her little tricks because her power made things convenient; Sakura Mai enjoyed all her privileges purely because the Sakura family sat on Private Keigunen's board of trustees.
Among all the girls around Su Yuzu, Saotome Yukina was the genuine little moneybags.
"Are you an idiot?!" Su Yuzu rapped a knuckle down on Saotome Yukina's forehead before the thought had even finished forming.
Wound the enemy by eight hundred and lose a thousand of your own — and she'd proposed it without blinking.
Odds were, the moment the little rabbit brought this up with her father at home, Su Yuzu would be hearing news of the little rabbit's transfer by next week.
Beside Su Yuzu, only Sakai Miho's face dimmed, little by little.
She understood... every girl around Yuzu-senpai was such a dazzling existence.
And her — beside Yuzu-senpai she was so ordinary, so small, a single speck of dust.
Treating Yuzu-senpai to one single meal meant saving up for ages and ages and ages.
And besides... she never had the heart to eat any of it herself.
Whenever she remembered that one meal like that cost her family several days of living expenses, Sakai Miho's lips would tremble so badly she could hardly keep hold of a bite.
And even a meal like that was, to Yuzu-senpai, probably the simplest, plainest sort of meal there was.
But... but Yuzu-senpai was truly wonderful, truly kind.
She had never once looked down on her.
She had never once refused her invitations.
She had even let Sakai Miho take her to the most "down-to-earth"-looking open-air eatery near the academy, calling it a taste of ordinary life.
Sakai Miho even knew that the work-study position and the stipend the school had arranged for her had most likely only come her way because of Yuzu-senpai's influence.
In Sakai Miho's phone, Su Yuzu was saved under the name "Light".
But... but...
Having received Senpai's light, how was she ever supposed to give anything back?
She couldn't.
All she could do was drain resources and nourishment out of Senpai like some vampire.
Deep at night, when sleep wouldn't come, she even had to picture Senpai in her mind before she could... could finally black out.
Just being allowed to stand here already felt like more luck than she deserved.
"Miho?" The girl looked like she was drowning in self-reproach, like she wanted to fold herself into the nearest corner and shrink down as small as a person could go.
Su Yuzu knew... however sweet and obedient little Sakai Miho was, that was exactly how deep her sense of inferiority ran.
To talk her out of it—
might take a very, very, very long time.
That was how long it would take before little Sakai Miho could be cultivated and developed into that sunny, confident, strongest Valkyrie who appeared in the event side quests.
But Su Yuzu didn't mind.
It was only time.
Company stretched across a long span of years was its own kind of romance.
"You look so listless—"
"Are you hungry?"
"What does Miho want to eat?"
"Chinese~~~? Or barbecue~~~? Or... me?" The whole business with the Shingai family had already been tossed aside.
Next to the Shingai family, the girls at her side mattered far more.
Smiling... a fingertip pressed to her lips.
Su Yuzu leaned in until she was very, very close to Sakai Miho.
The little rabbit and Soga Yura watched with a distinct twinge of jealousy, but when the target was Sakai Miho, they were still happy to let Senpai coax this particular idiot out of her shell.
Sakai Miho stared up at the Senpai who had closed in until she was almost against her — no... who was bearing down on her, pinning her to the wall.
"S-S-S-Sen... Senpai..." Her voice came out thin and quavering, on the edge of tears.
Sakai Miho tried to tilt her head aside to escape Su Yuzu's gaze, but Su Yuzu cupped her cheeks and turned her right back.
She could hardly breathe.
If it were allowed, she really, really wanted to choose the third option.
But the hesitation inside her won out. "B-barbecue, please."
For all that she looked quiet, meek, even timid, Sakai Miho was a pure carnivore.
"Yesss!!!"
"Barbecue!!!"
The "Seat of Evil" and Kirishika bursting into cheers swept away every last trace of the gorgeous mood that had only just begun to brew between Sakai Miho and Su Yuzu.
Sakai Miho realized it all at once—
So many people—
There were still so many people here.
The girl's waist went weak, as though it might buckle out from under her.
Her cheeks burned scalding hot.
Thump. Thump.
Su Yuzu delivered a flick to the forehead of each of those two "troublemakers".
But the "Seat of Evil" and Kirishika didn't care in the slightest.
Both of them had stars in their eyes, and nothing in those eyes but barbecue.
—
At that same moment, a slender, pale fingertip brushed lightly across a wooden pink jellyfish photo frame.
Inside the frame was one of the rare pictures of Su Yuzu and Soga Yura together.
"Su~ Yu~ zu~"
A lazy voice, lilting upward at the end.
And the world seemed to plunge into darkness.
____
________________________________________
💖 Gift for Everyone: Once we hit 50 Powerstones, I'll release +1 bonus chapter to warm your hearts.
🚀 Community Reward: If we reach 20 supporting members, we'll have a +5 chapter marathon across all stories! The romance won't stop.
👻 Come to our secret corner: Search for GirlsLove on (P). You know that's where the magic happens... 😉