A Date Promise
The other students didn't seem to know I'd gotten hurt getting mixed up in the Mudwell incident.
…Not that I'd gotten mixed up in it — I'd walked into it myself. And my classmates didn't approach me much to begin with, anyway. Still, that was the general atmosphere.
And if there was one thing a little different from usual…
"Comfortable?"
"Mm… yeah…"
It wasn't me holding Luna — Luna was holding me…?
I'd slept my fill at the hospital for days, so I wasn't even sleepy, yet Luna kept pulling me toward her, trying to put me to sleep in a back hug.
I hadn't told Luna this, but to be honest… this position was not comfortable at all.
It was so uncomfortable I had to keep tensing my lower back.
So why wasn't I trying to get free? Well…
I pushed my head back, pressing into her.
"What is it?"
Luna asked from above in a languid voice.
"Mm, nothing."
I kept pressing back.
Through the back of my head, I could feel two soft, squishy sensations.
When I carefully reached behind me, my hand found Luna's thighs — firm yet soft.
I believe everyone understands by now why I wasn't leaving Luna's embrace.
The other students kept stealing glances at Luna too, still amazed that she was awake at the Academy.
And I was among those students.
When I kept peeking up at her, Luna covered my face with her palm, asking why I kept doing that.
Is this Luna's scent…? It's sweet!
I wanted to lightly lick the palm covering my face to taste it… but if I actually did that, she'd be disgusted, right?
I'd save that for the future and hold back for now.
More than that, the scent was excessively sweet. I felt like I was going to suffocate.
When I shook my head a little, Luna gently moved her hand away.
And that same hand started squishing and kneading my cheeks.
Hmm. Is this what clay feels like? Not as bad as I expected.
Do I just get along well with clay, or is it because Luna is the one touching me?
Probably the latter, right?
It was fascinating how Luna's fingertips, which had been cold, grew warmer as they touched my cheeks.
I made Luna warm! I can control Luna's body temperature at will!
Luna stretched and pulled at my cheeks. She seemed to be gauging my expression and pulling just enough that it didn't hurt.
And it was a little amazing that my cheeks could stretch that far. My chubby cheeks have incredible elasticity.
As we played like that, at some point the position shifted so that I was lying with my head resting on Luna's lap.
By then Luna seemed tired of touching my cheeks and moved her hands to my hair.
She combed through it with her fingers, or lifted strands and toyed with them.
I'd always felt this, but my hair is beautiful. The long cascading locks look like a river flowing under moonlight, and even without any special care, they're always in perfect condition.
Thinking that if I actually took care of them they'd get even better, I bought various products I'd seen online and tried them for weeks — but nothing changed.
My hair is amazing…!
Then Luna plucked a few strands of my hair with a pop.
I flinched, and Luna laughed playfully.
…I'd been wondering why it felt a little awkward — Luna was always asleep, so we'd never really played around and teased each other much.
This was the first time I'd ever seen Luna laugh like that.
…But Luna? Why are you putting my hair in a plastic bag?
Why are you carefully folding it and putting it in your front pocket?
…Figuring there was no point in asking, I just quietly sighed.
Then I closed my eyes… and when I opened them.
My eyes met Luna's, who was staring down at me intently.
And…
"Mm? Mmmmm?"
In the empty classroom bathed in orange sunset light, only Luna and I remained.
I'd thought I wouldn't fall asleep since I'd slept so much at the hospital, but apparently I'd slept soundly until now.
Is the saying that beauties are sleepyheads not just a rumor but the truth…?! This is the first I've learned that I'm such a sleepyhead.
I stretched my arms out wide, yawned, and sat up, and Luna was still staring at me with those blank, wide eyes.
"…Luna."
"Mm?"
"Have you been like that this whole time?"
Luna tilted her head slightly as if wondering what the problem was, and nodded.
…She'd just been staring at my sleeping face for hours?
Well… I spend hours in front of the mirror every day myself, so it's not like I can't understand how Luna feels.
Mm-hmm, I nodded slightly in acknowledgment, then stood up.
"Well then… shall we head home?"
"Mm."
Luna stood up after me and stuck right to my side as she followed.
"Come to think of it… Rina didn't come to pick you up today?"
"I told her to go ahead today."
"…Because of me?"
"Mm."
"……"
I felt a little bad for Rina.
And until we left the Academy, only silence hung between Luna and me.
…Did Luna and I really have so little to talk about?
It was true that we didn't get many days to meet, and even when we did, one of us was almost always asleep, so there was a slight sense of distance compared to friends like Tania or Adele.
Then, taking this opportunity…
"Luna."
"…Mm?"
She answered a beat late, as if she hadn't expected me to call her name.
"If you're free, want to go on a date?"
"…Huh?"
Luna's eyes went round. She looked like a startled weasel…
Blinking like that, she was extremely cute.
She seemed flustered — maybe she didn't have time today?
Well. Luna was incomparably busier than me.
"If you're busy, we can hang out next ti—"
"Tomorrow!"
"Huh?"
"Let's do it tomorrow. The date."
"Uh… okay."
She was more enthusiastic than I'd expected. Had Luna been wanting to play too?
Well, someone as busy as Luna would want a day or two off to play.
Especially with a beautiful girl of my caliber…!
Luna started running off somewhere with a visibly excited expression.
"Th-then! See you tomorrow!"
"See you tomorrow."
When I waved, she smiled like an innocent child and bounced away, hopping as she disappeared.
Watching her retreating figure grow distant, I thought:
This world really is heaven after all…!
When the boss of the world's largest mafia organization is a cute beautiful girl like that, there's no way this could be a bad world.
The moment she left the Academy, Luna spread her enormous wings and flew to headquarters in an instant, urgently searching for Rina.
"Rina! Rina!"
"Mm?"
Rina, who had been dozing just moments before, turned to look at Luna with a tired face.
"What's going on? What's got you so worked up?"
"I—I need Rina's help."
At those words, Rina's expression turned serious as she looked at Luna.
"…What kind of help?"
In her entire life, Rina had never once heard Luna say she needed help.
Looks, combat prowess — and beyond that, she maintained excellent connections and had a sharp head for business.
Luna had always been a complete being unto herself, and other people's help was something she simply didn't need.
Strictly speaking, even the secretarial duties Rina performed in Luna's place were things Luna could handle perfectly well on her own.
The only reason Rina could serve as Luna's secretary was because Luna cherished her.
Because she wanted Rina always by her side, and wanted Rina herself to know that she was useful.
Rina knew this too, and pure joy filled her at the fact that she could be of even a little help to her sister.
But now that same Luna was asking for help?
If it was something even Luna's power couldn't accomplish, the odds that Rina's assistance would make any difference were vanishingly low.
But… Luna was asking her right now.
Asking her to help.
Even if it was impossible, she would find a way for the sister she loved.
That resolve was rendered almost comically unnecessary by the words that came out of Luna's mouth — words Rina could never have imagined.
"I have a date tomorrow!"
"…What?"
"So I have to finish everything I was supposed to do tomorrow today! Quickly!"
She stamped her feet in a way thoroughly unlike Luna.
But in contrast to her visibly frantic sister, Rina's mind had gone numb, blanked out by what her sister had just said.
"A date… a date? …A date…… Unnie is going on a date…"
"Rina?"
"Unnie."
"Mm?"
"Who's the other person?"
When Rina asked with a serious look, Luna squirmed bashfully, twisting her body a little, and mumbled hesitantly.
"Ely…sia."
"……Haa."
Rina let out a long sigh and pressed a hand to her forehead.
Right. If the other person was Elysia, that was at least a relief.
Elysia, who came with a guarantee, was far better than some random guy or girl she'd never even seen.
But… Rina still harbored a slight dissatisfaction even with that.
She knew full well how hard Luna worked. She handled things every day that an ordinary person could never manage.
That was why she had always done her utmost to support her sister, and wished that when things got hard, Luna would lean on her even more.
And in practice, Luna had leaned on Rina a great deal.
But… starting sometime last year, a girl named Elysia had inserted herself into the picture.
The first thought that crossed Rina's mind when she saw her was, She's a pretty one.
Someone who looked like the word "beauty" itself had been given human form.
After watching her for a while, Rina found that her personality was good too, and she was overflowing with consideration for others.
Even Luna would want to lean on someone like that — so Rina had felt dissatisfied, but she hadn't complained.
As the times Luna leaned on her dwindled and the times she leaned on Elysia grew, the dissatisfaction grew with them, but she held it in.
And now… she was supposed to help her go on a date with that person?
The first favor she'd ever asked in her life was that?
Her heart, already blackened to a crisp, felt like it was twisting.
Maybe that was why.
"Then."
For the first time, Rina failed to overcome her dissatisfaction and found herself trying to throw a wrench in the works.
"Take me along too."
"Rina…"
Or rather — she tried to. Until Luna answered with an incredulous look on her face.
"Isn't that obvious? There's no way I'd leave you behind."
And she patted Rina's head.
In that instant, Rina's heart — which had felt like it was rotting away — bloomed back into pink, just like before.
A childlike smile flowered across Rina's face.