“Hold on a sec. Sisi is living with you guys?”

“What the eff? That’s some weird-ass shit right there.”

Caius and Franco reacted to the news with disbelief.

“I said that too; both those things actually, when I first heard of it from them earlier.”

Hanging around in the great, high-ceiling locker area before heading off to their classroom for their morning classes, the five Elites debriefed each other on yesterday’s events. As usual, Eon met up with the three siblings first on the way to school, and was the first to hear of the spicy news.

Though Sisi initially was resting inside the spare room of the siblings’ flat, she eventually decided to convert one of the guest bedrooms in Karl’s flat into her own room. Her intuition serving her well, Sisi realized that in order to live with the whirlwinds, it was best to give them a wide berth. As she was partially replacing Karl as their guardian, this aspect of the arrangement also panned out nicely.

“It’s good news and bad news. Good news is that it is possible to make her one of us.”

“One of us, one of us!”

Kato beat his chest twice in quick succession with the thumb side of his fist. His men replied in song as they nodded in earnest.

“Bad news is that our operations will probably come under scrutiny. Therefore, we must act with care when carrying out our duties, soldiers.”

Suddenly, Kato became the sergeant of their little platoon. He took his baseball cap out of his schoolbag and Evie’s sunglasses from her schoolbag, and wore them.

“As such, our main base of operations, the old playground, is even more important. Whenever we need to gather, we’ll gather there. Codenamed Point Alpha. Corporal, please take note.”

“Hey-yo. Point Alpha, registered as a rallying point.”

Caius saluted him merrily. The other two snickered.

“Private Koziko. You live the closest to us and therefore the closest to Sisi too. While we’re under surveillance, you’re not. If anything happens, you’re our first line of communication.”

“Hey-yo. I’ll make sure everyone else knows how Sisi bosses you around.”

Eon saluted him haughtily. The other two snickered.

“And Private Atkinson. I… don’t think I got anything for you, actually. Maybe the occasional Alpha Charlie, I dunno.”

The three other guys outside of Franco snickered.

“Wait, what the eff, guys! Don’t snake me like that, Kato! I already get enough ass-chewing from you guys.”

Franco cried out a bit, clearly dying a bit inside.

“Your warrant officer is not amused that she’s been left out of the conversation.”

Evie clasped her hand on Kato’s shoulder, who immediately got the chills from the stare that was drilling holes in the back of his head. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face before he turned to Evie and repeatedly bowed in repentance.

As they finished changing into their indoor shoes, the crew started to move out towards the main set of spiral staircase that stood majestically in the spacious centre of the locker area. The locker area was colloquially called the “atrium” due to this expansive space in the centre. It was in this open area that the aforementioned corporal punishments were carried out. These main stairs led to the upper floors of the building; the second floor housed the second-years and the third floor housed the third-years. Looking up, one could see the balconies of those floors. On the ground floor beyond the atrium housed the first-years. The crew’s lockers were at a corner of the area and at the very tail end of their row of lockers, so they were far away from the staircase.

“Huh. What’s up with that there?”

Right before they set off, Kato noticed something intriguing several locker columns over. Behind one of the few pillars that stood from the ground floor to the ceiling several floors up, a few boys from another third-year class were huddling around a crouching girl, apparently sneering at their victim. Because they formed a tight circle around that girl, as well as being plainly too far away, Kato couldn’t see who that girl was.

“Dunno. Doesn’t seem to concern us though.”

Franco shrugged at the circle of vultures, which was very clearly a disturbing scene. But Franco was right nonetheless. Relations between the different classes were rocky at best, and it was best to leave each other to their own devices.

“Still looks really bad, though at least they’re bullying the poor girl in a corner where it’s hard for others to see them. That’ll look shameful as ass.”

Just as Eon finished his sentence, one of the bullies aimed a kick that produced a fall and a muffled squeal from the girl. Then they heard the sound of coins dropping on the floor. Almost immediately, the circle of boys hastily picked up the fallen coins from the floor, broke away from their encirclement, and ran off as quick as possible.

“Ah. Like always, what makes the world go round is the sound of gold.”

Caius remarked at the sound of things as he, along with most of the crew, already turned around from the spectacle and left for the stairs. But Kato, who was still intrigued, took a final glance at the scene of the crime before turning around too.

Though he only caught a glimpse of the ponytailed girl who had her back turned to him and took off quickly too, Kato still caught sight of both her old and new bruises and cuts along her legs, especially the fresh and rosy one blooming above her right ankle. Despite being far away, Kato thought the girl looked like someone he knew, but there weren’t anybody from the other classes that he knew of that would match this girl’s description, so he remained puzzled at that familiarity as he followed his brethren to class.

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“A casus belli is a reason which can justify a war between two classes. A valid casus belli is a casus belli that a Supervisor of the Class Wars is willing to accept. All teachers and staff are Supervisors, so therefore, if a teacher thinks a casus belli is reasonable enough to warrant a settlement of the conflict on the battlefield, he or she can bring it forward to the headmistress, and she shall announce the opening of hostilities.”

Sisi explained to the class further about the Class Wars. For the next week or so, it seems like homeroom would consist of Sisi drilling the class on its rules.

“As war can break out at a moment’s notice, remember to bring to school and wear your cleanse tags. Although you all already know, as you have had them many times in your previous years’ Class Wars, the faculty staff cannot stress enough how important it is to keep it on you at all times. Not only does it protect you even if the cleanse tag is fully saturated in black, only those with cleanse tags can participate in the Wars.

“Even more importantly, your cleanse tag is only fully replenished once a month, at the start of the month. At the end of a War, your cleanse tag shall only be replenished a small percentage. So it is possible for multiple classes to snipe a certain class within a single month to take advantage of their battle fatigue.

“Therefore, a single War is not a be-all and end-all. A single War is merely a battle. The real war is the entire competition throughout the year. Don’t be discouraged if the enemy is ahead at the moment. The only thing that matters is where the score shall settle come next July.”

“Teach, what if we don’t want to participate?”

A hand went up in the air.

“Standard diploma students are always entitled to conscientious objection. At the start of the war, if you wish, you are allowed to retire from the war without punishment. To do so, simply remove your cleanse tag to signal your retirement, and Lady Eterna’s divine protection shall protect you for the rest of the war. Sisi recommends putting the cleanse tag back on once you’ve retired, since you may forget about putting it back on after the war concludes. The cleanse tag prevents injury outside of wartime.”

“Miss, are you allowed to rip away other people’s cleanse tags?”

Another hand went up.

“If you do, you both shall retire from the war immediately and receive divine protection. A period of arbitration by a Supervisor shall follow, and usually, the offender shall get punished while the other gets to re-enter the war. That is the precedent set.”

Then, right as the bell rang, the classroom door opened. At the door was Yui, her hair a bit messy and her expression a bit gloomy.

“Sorry, Ms Romana. I am late to class.”

“That is fine. The bell just rang, and class has not begun yet, so Sisi shall not take your late attendance. Take your seat.”

Yui bowed in appreciation and trotted off with her head down, and she seated herself in her usual spot in front of Caius and the Elites.

It was in this moment that Kato realized, in a flash, that the girl who had her money stolen this morning was Yui. Though Yui did not wear that ponytail she had downstairs to class, it was obvious now, with the real specimen right in front of him, that this was undoubtedly the girl hunched back, crouching on the floor, being kicked around by those scumbags. The new injury above her right ankle was definitely the same one he saw mere minutes ago.

Kato stiffened as he took out his notebook and quietly ripped pieces of paper out of it. Taking out a pencil, he quickly wrote a short note on one of the scraps, rolled it up and handed it to Evie to his right.

Yui was the girl being beaten this morning.

Evie furrowed her eyebrows upon reading the contents. Then, she also took out a pencil to write on the scrap of paper she received.

If that’s true, it might be become a complicated situation. Kato, are you sure?

She wrote on it, scrunched it up and threw it to her northwest, at Franco’s head while Sisi was facing the chalkboard. Franco flinched a bit at the unannounced hit, turned around smoothly and caught the rumpled scrap nicely in his right hand. He took out his mechanical pencil as he opened and wrote in it.

We don’t know which class those goons are from though. Either way, I feel a cross-class conflict incoming.

Franco folded the scrap expertly in a neat square and passed it under the table to Caius on his left, who received it without moving his line of sight away from the front of the class. Caius flipped out a blue rollerball pen and wrote on the back of the piece of paper.

Think she’s been struggling for some time already? She has many injuries.

Caius folded the paper in the same manner Franco had, and passed it behind him. Eon picked it up and wrote in it as well with a ballpoint pen.

She seems to have enough money to be the target of robbery. What do you think, Kato?

And finally, Eon scrunched the note again and returned it to its owner for him to read. This was the Elites’ note-passing path while class was in session.

The four others had markedly different handwriting. Caius had the most beautiful and clear handwriting; Kato’s was decent enough but clearly not a practiced writer; Franco’s was clear but wrote his characters with heavy strokes; Evie’s strokes were light, slanted and elegant; Eon’s was cursive to a nearly illegible fault. After reading its contents, he took a fresh strip of paper to write on, and began passing them to Evie again.

I’m certain it is Yui. We’ll investigate her to start. Then we’ll deal with the other classes. Who’s up for morning recess?

In.

In.

Out. Going to student council. I’ll fill in for Eon.

In. Skipping student council.

And the note returned to Kato, who mused over their responses for a brief moment before quickly writing another message.

I will clear the way forward and wait on the rooftop. Evie will drag her there. Eon and Franco, clear the path behind us. Caius, I’ll leave the Jupiters to your discretion.

The Jupiters. It was the shorthand for the Jupiter sisters, just as Elites was shorthand for the Elite Four. Very concise and clear instructions were written on the third and final message, and when the slip returned to Kato, it came with “Understood” from all four of them. And so the plan was set in motion.

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“Glad you can make it here, Yui.”

If Kato had a swivel chair, he would be sitting in it with a cat on his lap and swinging it around to face Yui. Unfortunately, he did not, so with his baseball cap and Evie’s sunglasses, he only could only stand in front of her, hands on hips, while Evie had a lion’s grip on Yui’s wrist, clearly not going to let her go.

“I brought the goods.”

“Good, good. Soon, we’ll complete the grand transmutation circle and summon the great mythical beast Nessie. No, of course not. We’re here for Yui.”

Kato dropped the antics as soon as Evie started to open her mouth to respond. No doubt she has some pleasant remarks for Kato. Behind Kato now stood Franco, who trailed behind the two girls as they came up and holding onto Yui’s schoolbag.

The plan went quite smoothly. The moment that the bell rang for morning recess, Evie and Kato stood up immediately, the former headed straight to Yui while the latter ran for the door. Too surprised to react, Evie only said “we need your help, come with me” to her before taking an iron hold of Yui’s arm, pulled her off her chair and out of the classroom.

While the rest of the class was a bit startled by it, it wasn’t too uncommon to see Evie using physical force. As Evie hustled Yui out and up towards the rooftop, Franco tidied up and grabbed her belongings before following Evie and Yui out the door. Eon, expecting a reaction from Sisi, already headed to the front of the class to explain to her their intentions. Perhaps surprisingly, Sisi tentatively bought his story at face value, and let Eon and the others go.

Kato, on the other hand, ran full speed down the hallways to make it to the student council room, where they stored the keys for various doors in the school, including the key for the rooftop door. Due to his speed, he arrived at an empty student council room. He proceeded to snatch the key to the rooftop door, which he has stolen before on multiple occasions. With the key, he wasted no time to bolt for the rooftop.

Caius, of course, was no stranger to this setup. He would cover Kato’s back in the student council room if he was caught in the act, or if he wasn’t, Caius can do damage control if anyone actually notices; what he chooses to do, was in his discretion.

“The deed is done. We are in the clear.”

Eon appeared at the top of the stairs to the rooftop, surreptitiously notifying the crew of his mission being accomplished along with an “OK” hand gesture. Kato nodded appreciatively at Eon’s words. It was wise to not startle Yui with Sisi’s knowledge of the proceedings.

“Now, let’s get down to business.”

Kato rubbed his hands together as Evie let go of Yui to come over and stand by Kato. Eon also made his way over to the crew, and everyone there faced Yui. The sky was overcast and the light winds were uncharacteristically chilly for a late summer morning. The rooftop was bounded by an old chain-link fence topped with barbed wire, and the ground was tiled with plain white ceramics, a few of them broken. The rooftop was probably used at some point in the school’s long history, but has long since fell into disrepair.

Ditching the baseball cap and sunglasses, Kato advanced towards Yui, who instinctively took a step back; but it was not in the manner of a cornered animal. Because of how long they had known each other, Yui knew the Elites and their personalities well enough, and vice versa. The gesture was not an expression of fear, but of her wariness and did not want to answer their questions. But of course, Kato was not taking a ‘no’ for an answer.

“We’ll make this quick and go straight into the issue. This morning, we happened to witness an armed robbery, but with no arms and just kicks to the ankles.”

Kato glanced over at Yui’s now swollen ankle as he said so. Yui’s expression, which was already forlorn to start with, gradually turned more miserable and lost. Avoiding eye contact with the faces in front of her, she could only look down at her feet in grief.

“It happened on the far side of the atrium, behind one of the pillars at the end of a column of lockers. It involved some students who aren’t in our class. We have good reason to believe the victim was you. So is it?”

Several moments passed, but Yui still did not respond. She closed her eyes and stand in place motionlessly as she struggled internally with the question presented to her.

Of course it was Yui who was the victim of that robbery. It wasn’t the first occurrence either. It happened on and off throughout the course of senior high, but the physical violence only began at the end of the last school year. Before that, she would give up a bit of money to those bullies and would try to avoid them as much as possible. However, they have grown bold enough to physically abuse their victims to get them to give up more money.

Yui did not know whether she could explain to the Elites about her predicament. But as she opened her eyes and looked up at the four of them, she found her vision blurred and watery.

“Huh, what…”

Yui sniffled as she put her hands to her face. Only when she touched her tears, she realized that she was crying.

“Hey, wait! Don’t cry! Oh god, we didn’t come here to make you cry. We’re here to help you with whatever it is, alright? We can go beat them up in your place.”

“I’m a bit disappointed, Kato. Is your special ability making girls cry?”

“Don’t listen to her, Yui. She’s just jealous that you’re more of a girl than she is. It’s perfectly acceptable to cry. I just hope it wasn’t because of me.”

“A woman’s tears is sacred, Kato. She’s crying here because this is damned important to her. Right, Yui?”

Kato and Evie exchanged conversation as they both walked up to Yui. Kato gently wiped away her tears while Evie wrapped herself around behind Yui, tenderly brushing Yui’s back with her hand as Yui continued to sob ever so lightly.

“Crying like that, my guess is certainly right, right? Then the next step is simple. We’re gonna go look for those kids in the other classes, find them, and beat the shit out of them. Isn’t that right?”

“Sure, boss. You’re doing the beating anyway.”

“Just don’t get any blood anywhere, please.”

Franco and Eon replied to Kato in their usual attitude.

“Yui, you don’t need to be afraid of them with us here. I promise that we’ll take care of you and the consequences that follow.”

Kato said soothingly as Yui continued to remain silent. Yui still did not know whether she was able to trust them. Even so, a sense of helplessness crept upon her as she was stricken by the Elites’ generosity in extending their help to her.

“We just need to find an opportunity to beat them until their mothers can’t recognize them. And naturally, I have just the way.”

Perhaps because Evie said something really dangerous juxtaposed with her calm and cool voice, Yui finally woke from her stupor and broke her silence.

“W-wait! You can’t just do that!”

“Why not?”

Evie asked innocently. Though she feigns a lack of common sense often times, apparently she was still missing some of it as she still comes to physical answers to problems.

Either way, Yui choked as she struggled to find the words to explain herself. After calming down a bit, and knowing Evie as she did, she realized it was almost certain that the Evie and the Elites would cause an uproar, with Yui herself at the centre of attention as the root cause. She shuddered at that thought, and with courage, she turned around to face Evie.

On her face was exactly the expression Yui imagined it would be: a look of childlike curiosity. Yui then turned back to Kato, whose expression was warm and soft. She closed her eyes in helplessness once more. She would have to tell them about her situation, or else the Elites might run loose with it.

“I’ll talk about it, just please, don’t go beating them up on your own. It will ruin my life for good.”

Yui sighed in resignation. She buckled as her knees and hands hit the floor. If it was anybody else who saw that scene, they would not have pursued her as the Elites did, and life would have moved on unabated. But now, her future seemed fraught with danger as the whirlwinds of Class F entered the fray with her.

Satisfied that Yui was willing to talk, the two siblings smiled, and kneeled down to Yui’s level.

“Then let’s hear about it. We can stay here for as long as we need. We can skip classes too, so there’s no need to rush.”

Kato reassured Yui as he nodded to Eon, who understood his question and nodded in response. Luckily, Eon was indeed smart enough to ask for mercy from Sisi in case of needing to skip classes. Seeing that the two siblings in front of her were now listening attentively, Yui took a deep breath. Slightly in awe at the impressive assembly of friends in front of her, she began.

“Then I’ll start from the beginning. As you already know, I live in the main orphanage of the ghetto all my life. By middle school, I was too old to go to a foster home, so I was put in the post-foster ward of the orphanage. Going to that ward usually meant that the kid has no future. It was homelessness if you haven’t found a job or a place to stay after you turn eighteen, so I knew I had to do something before I graduated from senior high.

“There aren’t many ward children, but anyone who gets there, knowing what awaits them in six years’ time, inevitably become desperate; desperate to leave the ward without living on the streets, and I’m no different. We have to make something happen, somehow.”

Yui paused here for a moment as she prepared herself. The four other human beings present also tensed up.

“To make ends meet, when senior high started, I’ve started working in the north Shamshuipo area of the ghetto. Jobs only poor girls are willing to take on.”

Yui paused here again as her audience’s faces hardened. As people who lived in this city for years, it wasn’t hard to figure out what she was implying. The north area of Shamshuipo was one of the largest red light districts in the city. There was no doubt about the nature of work that Yui would be doing there.

“You guys… don’t seem too shaken by that… maybe?”

Yui asked hesitantly as there was still no response from them.

“… I don’t have to judge what kind of work you have to do. After all, you have your hardships to overcome, and only so many options are available to you. My resolve hasn’t changed. I’ve already promised you that I’ll take care of you, so nothing you say’ll change that.”

Kato said finally. For sure, he was surprised that Yui was working in the red light district, a notorious part of the ghetto. From what he knew of her as a long-time fellow classmate, she was a quiet and polite girl who wore a soft and content expression often times, though her mannerisms were obviously not of someone who was well-off. She definitely did not seem like a girl who would be part of the city’s sex industry.

“Thank you. I appreciate it.”

Yui smiled at them for once. Having been living in near-poverty throughout her life, she tended to be cynical and less trusting of other people, despite the friendliness she expresses outwards. Instinctively, she tried to suppress that feeling of hope, but at this moment, from the bottom of her heart, she really wanted to believe in Kato’s words.

“With the money, I could pay for the advanced classes in the afternoon to make work towards a Standard diploma. With the Standard diploma, hopefully I could balance post-secondary with work and be able to support myself. I’m not sure if I have to continue with my job in Shamshuipo by then. It’ll be up to luck whether I can find a stable part-time job while studying.

“But first, until I graduate from here, I have to put up with the stupidity from those idiots from Class E. The reason why I have to just endure it is because one of them is the son of the director of the orphanage.”

Yui shook her head in frustration as she explained the crux of the problem. The siblings understood instantly why Yui did not want them to turn her world upside down. As long as Yui lived under that roof, she could not rebel against the master of the house.

“The orphanage doesn’t know that I’m taking advanced classes, nor do they know that I work in Shamshuipo. All they know is that I work a part-time job somewhere in the ghetto and making some money. It was enough for that bastard and his minions to start taking away my money. One saving grace is that as long as I give up money regularly, they don’t seem to care where I get it from.”

“Who’s the son of the director?”

“Ethan Henderson. Class E. He’s the tallest guy in the group from this morning.”

Yui answered Kato’s question, to which he immediately recognized the description. Ethan was the bloke with a fairly large frame and an unshaved and handsome face. On first impression, it was hard to imagine he would be a bastard, but it turned out that there was more than what meets the eye.

“Do you know if he’s a racist scum from the fatherland? I would imagine that knowing you’re half Yue and half Avian, he would have no remorse stealing from a half like you.”

Evie presented a good point to the group around her. Evie herself is half Yue and half Avian as well, and despite how beautiful and impressive she was, she still occasionally encounters the racial discrimination that other, less gifted halfs suffer from.

“Definitely. It’s not hard to pick up on these details after having these kinds of interactions with that bastard for so long.”

Yui confirmed Evie’s suspicions as her speech veered into vernacular territory. Both Kato and Evie were pleasantly surprised that Yui had some defiance in her.

“Whoever that Ethan guy is, his mental is probably twisted as fuck. Yui is already a beautiful enough girl to shut most people up, so for him to have the balls to rob her is just fucked up.”

Kato said as Yui blinked in surprise and her heart skipped a beat. Though she heard words of praise for her looks more times than she could remember, this was the first time that it took her aback and made her heart race. Perhaps it’s because she held the people here as those that she cared about, or because those who complimented her in the past were merely unimportant passersby to her in the long list of clients in the alleyways of Shamshuipo, she was more sensitive to it and reacted so.

“So the orphanage never found out that you were taking afternoon classes or that you were taking up work in Shamshuipo? At the very least, the custodian of your ward should be receiving your report cards, right? Also, if you’re with the orphanage, aren’t you on the People’s assistance program? That’s the only way they can let you go to a school as expensive as this one.”

Eon finally spoke. Pushing up his glasses with his finger, he asked another pertinent set of questions.

“No, they aren’t that invested in finding out what the ward orphans are up to, as long as they’re there when they need them, which is almost never.”

“At middle school age, they no longer need to take full legal custody of ward orphans, but usually still provide shelter until they reach adulthood, because normally, renting out property to minors is illegal. It’s sort of like a homeless shelter kind of situation. There’s probably some kind of contractual arrangement for it.”

Caius added onto Yui’s explanation, to which she nodded in agreement.

“That’s right. And then, I pay a press artisan to forge my report cards for me. I have to be timely and intercept the mail that arrives at the orphanage, but so far, nothing’s been blown over yet.”

“Wow. You’ve been living on the edge.”

“Always have.”

Yui shrugged at Eon’s quip.

“As for the People’s assistance program, I don’t have it set up because I take advanced classes. Similarly for my report cards, I need to forge all the required documents. Luckily, both things that I need to forge only needs to happen three times a year in total, so it isn’t too much of a hassle to do.”

The People’s assistance program. It was a loan scheme set up by the school to allow poorer students to get a loan and stay in school to complete the People’s diploma. As a rule to prevent abusing the system, students within the program were not allowed to take advanced classes.

“So the orphanage thinks you’re still on the People’s assistance program despite being not on it. Then that Ethan chap never found out that you were taking afternoon classes? I’d assume that he would make that connection at some point.”

It was Caius’ turn to interrogate her.

“It’s pure luck. He doesn’t take any advanced classes, so he probably has no idea about the scheme. The orphanage seems to still believe I’m on the People’s diploma, so I’m not complaining about it. Of course I take precautions, like appearing to leave the school after lunch…”

Yui said sheepishly as the rest of them flipped their shit out in comical fashion.

“Yui had such a great setup around managing her life, up until I heard this.”

Evie put her hand to her forehead as shook her head helplessly.

“That flimsy straw can break the camel’s back, but its back survived up to this point because of pure luck. That’s insane.”

Eon sat down on the ground, clearly deflated.

“At least she only has one year left to go.”

Caius joined Eon, crouching on the floor, amused at the incredulity of Yui’s situation.

Yui could only smile weakly at the Elites, feeling a bit sad that she couldn’t give a better answer than that. While the rest of his crew was taking a break from the tension, Yui turned to Kato again to address him.

“So that’s all I have. Do you think I’m wrong to believe that I can continue on like this?”

Yui asked softly. A question filled with insecurity and hope.

Kato gave a moment’s thought before he replied.

“Yui, that’s the whole story, right?”

“Yeah.”

“Then I’ll definitely take you with me, away from the bullshit you have to go through. You can leave it to me.”

Kato said confidently to Yui as the Elites around them nodded. Yui felt the same glimmer of hope that Kato gave her earlier. She tried to shy away from it, but it was hard to do so as Kato’s figure filled her field of vision. Yui felt guilty that she allowed herself to believe in them, but at this point there was no turning back. She felt that somewhere at the very start, Kato had already stolen her heart away, and she could only follow behind him and his crew.

“Am I not enough? I certainly think I am.”

Though Yui knew full well that Kato was talking about his abilities as an Elite, but for a short moment, she let herself believe that it was something more equivocal and fanciful.

“Then, as you’ve promised, I’ll have you take responsibility for me.”

Yui buried her face in Kato’s chest, wrapping her arms around him. Her blazing red hair danced lightly in the cool summer wind, mirroring her swirl of emotions in this moment of tenderness.