Sifting through the flicker of her memories like torn film, Lian felt miserable; she’d almost been pushed down. In theory it was Ling’s body, but she was at the wheel—paper theory under a storm.

She reached out and poked Alicia’s cheek, soft as fresh tofu.

All you! Jerk! I’ll poke you to death!

Playing the wronged little wife, Lian kept tapping that tender cheek, a drizzle of tiny jabs.

“Mmm~~” Alicia stirred, stretching like a sunlit cat.

Seeing her about to rise, Lian bolted like a startled kitten. She slipped free of Alicia’s arm, dashed to the door, and snapped it shut—a fluid chain of motion, not even a second long, smooth as flowing water.

Alicia woke fully once Lian left. When she saw the little cutie was gone, her mood dropped like dusk settling.

So she hasn’t forgiven me… Not surprised. I crossed a line. I probably won’t even get to be her alarm girl anymore…

Outside the door, Lian leaned on the wood, forehead on cool grain, regret pooling like rain.

Idiot, why’d you run! Now it looks like you care and you’re dodging her. Explaining later will just be more awkward!

Two minds spun their own threads; those threads missed and tangled, keeping them apart like misaligned loom work.

At breakfast, Remi watched the two eat alone. The air pressed down like low clouds. Even Flan, under that pressure, didn’t feed her, which pricked Remi’s temper—fine, be messy, but why make me go hungry?

Without a word, Remi slapped the table—crack like thunder—and even her usual gentle tone hardened.

“I’m asking, what’s going on with you two?”

Alicia tensed, reached out to stop her, then withdrew her hand like a tide, knowing silence would only deepen the knot.

Lian glanced at Alicia, hesitated, then gathered courage like breath before a dive.

“A-Alicia… um… next time, with that kind of thing… tell me first, okay?”

She thought, I should be able to reach Ling by then. I’ll call her out.

Alicia’s gloom blew off like mist; her eyes warmed like dawn. She grabbed Lian’s pale hand and squeezed, fingers twining like ivy.

“Really? Ling, you’re not mad at me?”

“Only at the start. Next time you have to say it first.”

Which meant there was hope; Alicia saw a route like a path opening through bamboo. “Is that so? Then right now—”

“But I refuse!”

“Eh—but you just said—”

Lian crossed her arms in an X over her chest, a gate shut firm. “Not now! I’m not ready.”

At least let me reach Ling first…

Alicia whispered, small as a mosquito by the ear, “Guess the affection bar isn’t full. Gotta grind more.”

Lian, unfocused, missed the murmur like wind through reeds.

“Whatever—so long as you don’t hate me, Ling, I’m happy.”

She scooted from two seats away to Lian’s side and sat, hugging Lian’s arm, rubbing it like a happy kitten against a warm leg.

Lian sighed at the childlike habit and let her be. She ate with her off hand, awkward as chopsticks in a novice grip.

They rose early today, so Lian didn’t have to attempt a solo run down Mount Akina—no mountain drift, no white-knuckle wheel. Even if she did, she wouldn’t take that black sedan they’d abandoned. From the curb, the sedan whispered, touched, “Someone remembers me? I’m so moved!”

The four walked to the academy. No thugs, no punks, no psycho killers. The Empire sat still, a lake without ripples.

In a shade over ten minutes, they reached the meeting room. Alicia and Lian straightened the files, sheets lining up like leaves before tea.

People trickled in, wing by wing, like birds returning to roost.

The loli took her command seat. As for the guy with the stage name Blazing Broadsword—real name Dick—he was reportedly hospitalized. Not because a crowd broke him; just a normal cold. Really.

Lian faced the table, voice steady as a drumbeat on wood. “So, everyone, did you finish yesterday’s tasks?”

A bespectacled man stood, lenses catching light like twin moons. “Report to Lady Ling! The academies are unified. A few resisted, but they signed consent forms at the hospital.”

“Good. Sit.”

A green-haired girl rose, her hair like spring bamboo. “Report! All event sites are planned. The defiant ones are digging coal now, raising funds for us.”

Lian’s eyes lit like lanterns at night. “Oh! Excellent! You solved the venues and the money. Name your reward.”

The word reward dropped like candy, and joy popped in the room like fireflies. The green-haired girl beamed; eyes around the table began to glow.

“Th-Then, Lady Ling, I have a… friend. She wants to draw a doujin of you and Alicia. Can we get your permission? Of course, you’d be the top.”

Lian blinked, thinking it might be the same girl as last time. Approved is approved; a stamp is a stamp.

“Mm. Granted.”

The girl leaped and hugged Lian’s delicate frame, clinging like a koala to a trunk. A full minute passed before she let go, muttering, “I won’t wash this off in this lifetime.”

Back in her seat, Lian looked over the crowd, eyes like red beams scanning a night road. “All right. Continue your reports.”