Today's training finally wound down, like dusk settling over the ring.

Xiao Qianxue stepped out of the room, fragrant sweat beading like dew, as a robot drifted over with a towel and water like a slow fish.

“You’ve been extra serious these days...” Hoshina’s voice chimed like silver bells.

Time skimmed past like blown petals; the amusement park incident was already a week behind them.

A pressure pooled in her chest like stormclouds, then she breathed, “No one knows how many days I’ve got left here.”

“You never told me you were leaving,” Hoshina said, her body condensing midair like frost, then she landed lightly before the blonde girl.

“Yeah. Before, I didn’t even have a place to stand, so leaving wasn’t even a word,” Xiao Qianxue said, returning towel and cup as if setting offerings on a tray.

She sank onto the couch; the cushion swallowed her like a soft cloud.

“So, after you leave, what’s the plan? Find your Lin Fan?” Hoshina’s mouth tilted like a slim crescent blade.

“If contacting the Lin Clan didn’t take stupid risks, we’d have wrapped you up and shipped you over already,” she added, like tossing a pebble into a still pond.

“Don’t—” Xiao Qianxue’s face warmed like a peach in sun. “I’ll find my friend first, then decide.”

Old scenes flickered in her head like lantern slides, the shyness hot as coals, and it had been so long since they met.

“Better to stay,” Hoshina said, hands on hips like a guardian statue. “We might catch a chance to reach the Lin Clan, and you’re safe with us.”

She glanced at the blue-haired youth, a look like a hidden blade in silk. “After all, we’ve got Bloo.”

“No. I’ve imposed long enough,” Xiao Qianxue said, voice steady like a taut bowstring. “My friend’s in the military, and they might reach the Lin Clan easier.”

“We’ll see each other again,” she added, as the word revenge glowed like embers. Her eyes sharpened under her gold fringe like drawn steel.

“Since you’re firm, I won’t hold you,” Hoshina said, kicking back lightly to drift up like a weightless kite.

“Before you go, a gift.” She snapped, crisp as breaking ice, and a robot presented a metal box like a ritual tray.

“Open it,” Hoshina said, her tone bright as a temple bell.

Xiao Qianxue rose at once, moved to the box like a cat to a beam of sun, and eased it open carefully.

A pair of pistols shone inside, twin moons of steel, much like her Eternal Twin Stars.

One was red, one silver, and white filigree climbed their bodies like frost vines, beauty blooming cold and clean.

“These are an upgraded line I mentioned after modifying Eternal Twin Stars. I call them Star-Red Twins,” Hoshina said, arms folded like calm water.

“They hit harder than Eternal Twin Stars by far, the firing assemblies etched with magic patterns like runes on bone, boosting power and speed like wind feeding flame.”

“With special rounds, they reach a third of the Naga Serpent God’s might,” she said, the claim hanging like thunder behind a veil.

“Seriously?” Xiao Qianxue lifted both guns, impatience sparking like flint, weighing them in her palms like birds.

“By the way, what are ‘magic patterns’?” she asked, curiosity pricking like needles.

“They’re pretty common; once you go deeper into the organization, you’ll know,” Hoshina said, keeping the fan half-closed like a coy smile.

“It’s about time. Bloo will bring you magazines later,” she added, voice soft as evening.

Hoshina’s form began to fade like morning mist, the edges drifting into air.

“And once you leave, don’t bother coming back; we’ll come to you...” she said, her promise echoing like a bell across a quiet hall.

The cute, pink-haired girl vanished, and her words lingered in Xiao Qianxue’s heart like incense smoke.

“Let’s go.” A hand tapped her head like rain on bamboo, and she looked up into Bloo’s face.

“Mm...” she answered, the sound small as a teardrop.

Engines roared like thunderclouds, and the two pulled away from the little villa like a hawk from its perch.

“With the gun-fu I taught you, as long as you don’t meet tricky espers, you won’t be in life-threatening danger,” Bloo said, driving hard like a river in flood.

“Hey, hey, I can’t listen when you’re driving like this!” she yelled, knuckles white on the handle like snow on bark.

His car felt scarier than a roller coaster, the world pitching like waves smashing cliffs.

“Then, until next time.” Bloo watched Xiao Qianxue step down, left her magazines like seeds in hand, and drove away.

The blue Mercedes shrank into distance like a fish sliding into deep water.

Watching it go, she felt dazed like standing in fog, wondering when they’d meet again.

Was this choice right, or a leaf blown off the path?

“I’m back.” She eased the door open like a reed parting water, and after clearing things with Luke, her comings and goings no longer needed shadows.

“Welcome back!” Their roles swapped like day and night, yet nothing felt out of tune.

“Nii-chan, I’m gonna shower first, you hurry and cook~” she sang, sweet and sticky like honey, padding toward the bath.

“Got it, leave it to me,” Luke said, livelier this week like spring grass after rain.

While she changed, a strange sound pricked her ears like a cricket at dusk.

“That’s—” The small screen on the table flared to life like a lantern, and panic pecked at her like a sparrow. “Right, the battery—where is it?”

She remembered Joanna’s words, sharp as a knife: if the battery isn’t in within ten seconds, both screens die.

As the countdown hit “1,” she finally found it, snapping the battery in like threading a needle in wind.

“SH City, XX Road, No. XX” scrolled across the screen like chalk on slate, then five seconds later it crackled with sparks like a moth into flame and died.

“Thank goodness...” She’d kept the screen and battery on her these days like talismans, afraid time would slip.

Otherwise, the fall would be a ravine without a bridge.

“Target has received the info. All units, prepare!” Ouyang Si’s voice cut the air like a blade, and shadows swallowed men like a hunting forest.

All of it moved behind Joanna’s back like a hidden current, and she was probably still celebrating contact with Xiao Qianxue.

“Joanna, you did great this time!” The head of the Qiao Clan strode over, praise pouring like wine, and the clan had already reaped Ouyang Clan’s favors like grain.

Promotions rose like kites, and their power in the military swelled like a tide, though none knew why.

“Xiaoxue, we should be able to meet soon...” Joanna whispered, hope glowing like a lantern, not seeing they were already stones on a Go board.