---
The headquarters of the Fire Moth.
Lumine's eyes twitched as he looked at Sakura standing beside **Mobius**.
Why was Sakura here? Wasn't this supposed to be the timing for her to join the Fire Moth? If this was some kind of plot twist, it was so absurd that even her own parents wouldn't recognize her.
"Let me introduce her. This is Sakura, your sparring partner—found personally by **Elysia**," Mobius said casually. Since Elysia was the only one who had confessed to Lumine, she could take the blame for this as well.
Sakura nodded. "Hello."
Oh, so it was Elysia's doing. Fine, then.
—Wait.
Did Elysia also bring **Vil-V** back this time?
The thought of one particular Vil-V personality sent a chill down Lumine's spine. In his previous life, he had fused with too many Honkai Beasts—his humanity had been worn down, leaving him disturbingly indifferent. Looking back now… damn it, that was a yandere, wasn't it?
"Then please guide me." Lumine smiled and extended his hand. "Don't hold back. I'll complete any kind of training."
Sakura looked at him and shook his hand. "Then let's not waste time. We'll begin immediately."
She understood why Dr. Mobius hadn't allowed her to tell Lumine about her rebirth—because she truly… couldn't refuse him.
Lumine looked at Sakura suspiciously before calming down.
---
A transport craft of the Fire Moth.
"Achoo!" Elysia sneezed lightly. "Someone's thinking about me again. Is it Lumine?"
For some reason, she felt as if something ominous was looming overhead.
"Hmph. As if he'd miss you." [Evil] muttered.
Looks like there are far more competitors this time. Maybe she should just kidnap Lumine and run away from the Fire Moth?
Then again… how would she keep him by her side? And if Lumine made a request—how would she fulfill it?
Though the other Vil-V personalities had no idea what [Evil] Vil-V was thinking, they instinctively kept their distance from [Evil] within their shared mental space.
We always feel uncomfortable around you because we're simply not twisted enough.
If [Evil] Vil-V knew what they were thinking, she would scoff:
"Was I wrong for trying to win Lumine over? Even if I succeed, you all benefit too, don't you?"
---
Fire Moth Headquarters- Training Room
"Huff… huff…"
**Lumine** plopped down on the ground, his standard training rifle lying to one side. He looked at Sakura—who wasn't even out of breath—and said, "As expected of someone **Elysia** found, Sakura. You're really amazing…"
Although I had already expected my current physical condition to make me easy prey for Sakura, seeing the reality right in front of me still left a bitter taste.
And what about that saying, *"an inch longer, an inch stronger"*? Are you trying to reenact a Holy Grail War where a Lancer counters a Saber?
…Fine. Self-deprecation aside.
Lumine knew very well that while longer weapons did have advantages, in close combat a spear offered little against a sword—especially when facing Sakura, a true master of the blade.
Even at his peak, he had never been able to halt Sakura's advance. The spear had never given him an edge. The only way he had ever suppressed her was by relying on sheer physical power to force openings.
Sakura sheathed her sword and looked at the panting yet unbroken young man before her. A question surfaced in her mind.
What was it that drove him so relentlessly to save the world?
She herself had never possessed such grand ambitions. All she had ever wanted was for her younger sister to live peacefully. Nothing more.
…So what about him?
What was he fighting for? What forged such unwavering resolve within him?
After Iliya and the others had fallen in battle, his figure had been unbearably lonely—not the loneliness of isolation, but something deeper. Like an unbreakable barrier no one could cross.
He was alone. And yet, unyielding.
This time… she—
Lumine sat cross-legged, regulating his breathing, forcing his body back into rhythm. Suddenly, his balance tipped backward.
When he came to, a faint fragrance filled his senses. Looking up, he met a pair of watery eyes.
"Huh—?!" Lumine's mind blanked as realization struck. A lap pillow.
"S-Sakura… what are you doing…?"
Her eyes widened, panic flickering across her face. "I—I'm sorry. You looked like that and I… I just acted without thinking…"
That's what you say—but you're still holding my shoulders so I can't get up.
Lumine swallowed his words.
A lap pillow…
He'd experienced it many times in his previous life. Most often from Iliya, who used to sneak up on him whenever his guard was down.
"Sakura, I came to find— you?!"
Elysia's** voice snapped both of them back to reality.
Sakura released her grip at once. Lumine immediately sat upright.
"A-Elysia, you're back?"
For some reason, Lumine felt a faint sense of guilt.
After coming back to her senses, Sakura felt even more guilty than Lumine and didn't dare look at Elysia.
On the other side, Elysia was completely numb. She had just returned to the Fire-Chasing Moth when Mobius told her that Sakura had also come looking for her. She had assumed that even if Sakura liked Lumine, she wouldn't act so quickly—but the moment she arrived at the training room, this was the scene she witnessed.
For a split second, she even considered quietly closing the door and releasing the "evil."
Fortunately, Vil-V was away on an investigation. Otherwise, it would have been disastrous if [Evil] went berserk and let Lumine discover that everyone had the possibility of rebirth.
"Um… training's over for today. I'll be leaving now."
Sakura stood up and hurried out of the training room with her head lowered, almost as if she were fleeing. If one looked closely, they would notice a faint pink tint at the tips of her ears.
Of course, this didn't escape Elysia's eyes.
Soon, only Elysia and Lumine remained in the vast training room.
There was a difference between a training room and a training field. A training room was usually used by a small number of people for live-fire drills. Besides direct sparring, it could also simulate enemy projections as targets.
Lumine was still thinking about how to explain things to Elysia. After all, she had openly expressed her feelings toward him, and he had a bad feeling that something troublesome was about to happen.
Elysia walked over silently.
Lumine tried to stand up—but Elysia pressed him back down without hesitation, followed by that all-too-familiar sensation of losing balance.
Lumine: "..."
Being given lap pillows by two beautiful girls in succession sounded great on paper, but as someone actually experiencing it, he could only say one thing—this was terrifying.
Come to think of it… from this angle, Elysia seemed a little more… mature than Sakura—
Realizing what he was thinking, Lumine felt alarm bells go off in his head and hurriedly tried to distract himself. He stared at Elysia's face and forced out a conversation:
"Elysia… what are you doing?"
He really needed to rein in his thoughts.
"A lap pillow. What's wrong with that?" Elysia said with a smile. "Sakura can do it—why can't I?"
…This version of Elysia felt terrifying.
Lumine had just opened his mouth to say, "Of course not—"
But Elysia cut him off.
"Iliya used to give you lap pillows quite often too, didn't she?"
Lumine fell silent.
A lap pillow itself wasn't a big deal. In fact, Iliya had even climbed into his bed before—after he had fallen asleep under a sedative specially prepared by Mobius. That time, she was caught by a device invented by Vil-V. Afterward, Lumine had asked Xira to keep a close watch on Iliya to prevent anything even more outrageous.
Wait—had he just realized something even worse?
No. Elysia absolutely couldn't know about that. He had a strong feeling that if she did, she would definitely do the same thing.
"Judging by your reaction," Elysia leaned closer, "it's happened more than once, hasn't it? Then why can't I?"
She had a suspicion that Iliya had done far more excessive things.
After a long pause, Lumine finally spoke.
"You… of course you can. I just… always feel guilty accepting it."
"Then," Elysia said softly, "let's stay like this for a while longer. Spend a little more time with me, okay?"
"…Okay."
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