Translator: Reflet
Editor: ryunakama
"Yo!"
Taiyou called out from beyond the fence, catching them unawares. He had flown up to the roof with wings of light.
"What brings you here?"
"I saw the two of you over here, so I was just curious what you were talking about."
"It"s a secret…between girls."
"Oh is it now?"
He soared over the fence, landing on the concrete floor. Akiha skillfully changed direction on the fence, in order to face him.
"Is it really okay? Wouldn"t it be weird if people saw you fly over here?"
"According to Kohaku, most people don"t even look at the sky."
"Oh really?"
"…"
Akiha made an intrigued expression, while Shirokiyami made a blank expression. Neither of them seemed to quite understand.
"Well anyway, it"s Kohaku who said that, so there should be some truth to it."
He shrugged his shoulders as he peered down at the courtyard. As Kohaku had said, most of the students were looking at either one another, their close vicinity, or the ground. Not a single one of them was looking at the sky.
At that moment, the bell rang. The students wearing gym uniforms a.s.sembled together, and the students wearing school uniforms returned to the schoolhouse.
However, Taiyou showed no inclination of following any of them. Akiha inclined her head.
"You good with not going back?"
"What about you?"
"What about you?"
Taiyou asked Akiha, and Akiha shifted the question over to Shirokiyami.
"But I"m…not a, student."
"Then just transfer schools and you"re good."
"Don"t be ridiculous, there"s no way she can—-"
"But can"t Youran solve all that?"
"Oh yeah, she was the chairwoman, wasn"t she?"
"Either way it"s a piece of cake, right?"
"True."
Taiyou nodded, looking at Shirokiyami as he waited for a response. After thinking about it, she shook her head.
"I don"t need…school."
"Okay."
"When things get tough…it hinders, me."
"When things get tough?"
Shirokiyami nodded.
"And what would cause things to get tough?"
"Natural disaster?"
"Why are you asking me? And how come you said that so smoothly?"
As he relaxed and listened to their exchange, Taiyou sat atop the concrete, resting his head against the fence, beckoning.
"The heck does that mean?"
"C"mere."
He called out in a soft voice. Akiha made a slightly exasperated face.
"In a place like this?"
"No, we"re not doing what you"re thinking of."
"Then what are we doing?"
"I just wanna flirt."
Taiyou said bluntly. Akiha became even more exasperated.
"Y"know, you"re really—-"
As Akiha was beginning to say something, Shirokiyami trudged over to Taiyou, sitting down next to him. There was no hesitation in her movement as she touched her shoulders to his. Taiyou put an arm around her, hugging her closer.
"Warm."
"And your body, on the other hand, is cold. You alright?"
"Yes…I can regulate temperature, when things get tough."
"You can regulate temperature?"
"Yes…like, this."
Right after she said that, Taiyou felt warmth suddenly course through her shoulders. He initially felt like he was imagining things, but the heat eventually rose to the level of hot tea.
"Wow, you can do that too?"
"I sure…can."
She proudly raised her head. She still had that same vacant expression on her face though, so it didn"t actually feel like she was bragging. But that was lovely in his eyes all the same. Taiyou put even more power into another embrace.
"And that was just your shoulder area?"
"Mhm…at least, right now."
"How about you stop that real quick and turn this way?"
Shirokiyami did as he said. She turned her cold front area toward Taiyou, leaning into his arms. The two of them clung together, exchanging heat as they both began to gradually feel equally warm.
"Akiha."
"Okay, fine."
Akiha made a small fuss and sat down on the other side of Taiyou, nudging closer to him as well. Her body was even colder than Shirokiyami"s.
"Wow, you"re cold."
"Am I?"
"Were you up here the whole time?"
"Well yeah, cause the wind feels nice."
"Seriously? You really don"t have to climb up here in the wintertime."
"But that"s exactly why I go up here."
"Is that a valid reason?"
They snuggled together briefly. The northern winds were blowing against their bodies, but their shared body heat prevented them from feeling cold. In Taiyou"s case, he actually felt a bit on the hot side, since he was between both of them.
"Oh yeah, I might go to Juuni Island during winter break."
Taiyou suddenly said as he remembered.
"Juuni Island? You mean where Youran lives? Why?"
"I felt like there was a lot I needed to help out with, you see. Plus I wanted to check it out and see if I want to consider living there in the future."
"Where would you live once you"re over there?"
"I"ve been thinking about that. Kohaku-san is thinking of building something over there."
"Build?"
"Yeah, a seven-story building up from the ground. And then we"d make a bunch of gimmicks to go along with it."
"Since it"s seven stories, I imagine everyone gets their own room?"
"That"s the idea."
"And then enemies come…defeating everyone as they, go up."
"This ain"t no RPG dungeon, okay?"
"That sounds fantastic, I say. I"ll claim the fourth floor, then."
"Why the fourth floor?"
"Why not…the fifth, floor?"
"Fourth floor is just fine. I like that number."
"You do, now?"
They were for whatever reason discussing the future when suddenly, Taiyou looked up at the sky, thinking of Kohaku. The sky was a bright, vivid blue, but something unexpected was in it.
"Is that a helicopter?"
"Mhm…"
Shirokiyami followed his gaze, affirming. Her vision was more powerful than Taiyou"s, apparently. Akiha also looked up with a surprised face.
"You sure it isn"t heading over here?"