“Phew.” She set the Eternal Twin Stars on the table like lowering a hot iron. Relief rolled out of her chest like steam. The range, wrecked by Bloo like a storm-flattened field, meant her test was toast.
“Honestly, Bloo’s too impulsive sometimes.” Hoshina’s scold tapped like a fingertip on glass. Cheek propped on her palm like a flower, her face held spring-warm care. Xiao Qianxue’s lip curled like a cat’s tail.
“Test over?”
“Uh… probably. I’ll collect your data in a bit.” Her words fell like pebbles in a pond. “One last test. Hold on, I’ll pull in two targets.” Hoshina flicked her hand like a baton. Two robots marched in with targets like shields, lining up like a drill team. One stood behind the other, stacking the targets like two moons in one sky.
“What’s the idea? Make my round snake past the front target and hit the back one?” She picked up the Eternal Black Star like a dark meteor. She popped the mag free, clicked in a fresh one, then knocked off the safety like flicking dew.
“Good, you get it. Start.” Her tone snapped like a twig. “This trick’s a must for advanced gun-kata. Shouldn’t stump you.” Hoshina turned and waved a flock of repair bots into the corners like ants to crumbs.
“I’ve only seen this shot in old movies… Like this?” Following film muscle memory like a shadow and her pulse like a drum, Xiao Qianxue gripped the Eternal Black Star. Her wrist snapped like a whip. The bullet burst out like a spark, skimmed around the first target like a swallow around a post, and punched the second target’s third ring like a nail.
“At least it landed. Not the bull’s-eye, but it’ll do.” Hoshina glanced up like a gull, then dove back into repairs like a fish into reeds.
“Wait… maybe this will work.” Calm sank through her chest like a settling lake, chasing the feel from that storm of gunfire like a scent. “Back then my head was crystal clear, every move clear like starlight. It wasn’t my Combat Mode, which just cranks up the body like a furnace. This is…”
After a brief hush like falling snow: “Shooting Mode.” She slid back into it like stepping into a stream. She lifted her head and saw the route curling past the first target and threading the second like a line of light.
She raised the gun like lifting a brush. Her wrist snapped, and the first shot cracked like a breaking twig. She fired a second. Pop—the air hit air like clashing cups. The targets answered with dull thumps like drums.
“Exhale… That should do.” Xiao Qianxue lowered her gaze like a curtain. Her pupils had pinched to a single golden point like a tiny sun, then spread like ink in water and went calm.
“Yo, not bad. You used one bullet to bump the other midair, change its angle, and find the line, like swallows nudging in flight. Looks like my tweaks worked.”
“What tweaks?” With the shooting haze gone like smoke, Xiao Qianxue sat aside and slowly combed her long gold like silk through water.
“A heavy boost to spatial sense, like gifting you a second pair of eyes. That’s why it felt like the world sat in your palm.” Hoshina floated down like a feather and sat beside her.
“So what now?” The girl hugged her legs like a cat, tilted her head, and watched the little robots scurry over the range like ants on sugar. Gold strands slid to the sofa like poured honey. Hoshina’s hand rose, wanting to touch, then froze midair like frost as she remembered she was only a projection. “Guess it’s time I built myself a body…”
At some point Bloo had returned to the platform like a shadow retracing its path. Even with Shooting Mode on, Xiao Qianxue barely felt him move; at normal speed, he was just a gust.
“Done testing?”
“Mm. I’ll tidy the data later. I’m counting on you tomorrow.” Hoshina tucked a stray hair like pinning a leaf. Her smile bloomed like a crescent moon, bright and disarming.
“What are you counting on?” The blonde tipped her head like a curious sparrow and looked at the two.
“I’ll process the data tonight. Tomorrow, I’ll have Bloo teach gun-kata tailored to you.”
“Gun-kata? For real?” Interest lit her golden eyes like sparks on oil.
“Yeah. So tomorrow might be rough.”
“No problem. Can I head home now? It’s getting late like a sinking sun.”
“Of course. Bloo, see her back.” Hoshina snapped her fingers; her body thinned into light like mist and vanished. Bloo took point out the door like a silent hound. The golden-haired girl fell in behind.
Back home, the girl stripped and flung her clothes into the washer like tossing twigs into a fire. She reeked of powder; her big bro wasn’t dumb and would smell it like smoke. She dove straight into the shower like a fish into a clear stream.
Cut to Lu Ke. He hurried home in the blue A5 like an arrow. He wasn’t alone; Gu Wen rode shotgun like a bright flower in a vase. “Hope Xue’er got my message. It’s been a while with no reply.”
That afternoon Gu Wen had clung to him like ivy, insisting on dinner at his place, help with student-council work, and study on top. Lu Ke fought it off like a crab in a pot and still lost. After the furniture-store mess, they’d only grown closer at school like two lines drawing near. Today she hugged his arm to her chest like a pillow and joked she wouldn’t let go unless he took her, so…
Lu Ke texted Xiao Qianxue as a heads-up, like tossing a float before a wave. “No idea if Xue’er’s feeling any better,” he thought. Worry for his sister rode with him like a shadow all the way.
But someone had been testing all day, then went straight to the shower, leaving no time for a phone’s glow.
So Lu Ke and Gu Wen stepped into the house like two birds into a nest. Xiao Qianxue, thinking only her brother had come back, naturally…
“Welcome home, Big bro!…” A petite girl bounced out of the bathroom like a spring. The golden-haired girl wore only a white sleep dress, its fit tracing a body just beginning to bloom like a bud. Damp gold spilled down her back like threads of light. A flawless face held a radiant smile like sunrise. Then her voice faded as she saw the two at the door, thinning like a receding tide.
“Lu Ke, why is there a little sister in your house? Wasn’t it a little brother?”
“Uh, about that…”
“Big bro!!! Why did you bring a woman home!!!”
