Crisis of the Girls Left Alone for Five Days - 2
It's Saturday.
The Flower Lily Bookstore is closed this weekend. The manager shut it down, telling Rohan to focus on studying for his exams.
In truth, more than half the manager's motive seemed to be playing with his grandson, but Rohan was grateful anyway.
'Gotta send the manager some gifts more often. Buy a ton of books too.'
He'd also given notice that he'd probably quit his part-time job soon.
He hadn't worked there long, but the manager just smiled, said he understood, and told him to drop by anytime. Rohan felt like bowing deeply in thanks.
With such a clean wrap-up, his heart felt lighter.
"Clara. This the right bus?"
"Yeah!"
"Seats are 11A and 11B... Window side's yours."
"I-I'm fine with the aisle... Wouldn't it be comfier for you inside...?"
"Hurry and sit. I hate scrunching my legs up."
And so, on this weekend before midterms—the last bit of leisure granted—
Rohan boarded the bus to the station with Clara.
No need to explain: they were heading to pick up Sion, who was arriving from Tigrova.
"Here, water, bro."
"Thanks. Not too cramped?"
"It's fine! You?"
"Plenty of room. These seats are pretty luxe."
Rohan chatted freely with Clara.
He'd put off cramming theory for midterms for now.
His brain was overloaded from suddenly diving into studies that had never been in his stars.
He needed time to moisten his parched mind, and this trip felt perfectly timed.
"On the way back, you two sit together. I'll take a single seat."
Clara nodded in agreement, her purple twintails swaying. She wanted Rohan in the middle, but the seats made that impossible.
"Clara, sleep if you're tired. I'll wake you when we get there."
"Aren't you sleepy from studying? Your messages lately... you sleep late."
Rohan chuckled and pulled out his smartphone.
—Company Wave!
He turned the sound way down and launched the game they played together.
The girl's eyes sparkled with interest as she leaned her head toward him.
"Just need resources now, and the third party's complete. Whaddya think?"
"Bro... you leveled it up so fast. I'm gonna cry..."
Clara had watched the whole time, but Rohan's play was flawless—no room for advice.
Clean and precise. None of his old habits that begged for nitpicking.
Just grind time now, and he'd punch through the top ranks. A truly satisfying growth.
"Oh, you talk to Sion yesterday?"
"Yeah! Sounded like it went well, so I was relieved. D-Did you call sis too...?"
"Yup. She suddenly asked what cologne I use."
"..."
Clara remembered Sion's voice over the phone.
The thick embarrassment in that one line, realizing Rohan didn't wear cologne.
Like she'd just clocked that it was his scent driving her crazy.
"Clara."
"Y-Yeah...?"
"Kinda late to say, but exams are coming up soon, right?"
"Yeah! I know."
"Written tests end Monday next week, then practicals start right away. So I won't be at the dorm till they're done."
Clara's eyes went wide.
Her voice rose and trembled without her realizing.
"H-How long... A day? No way, two days...?"
"Sorry, longer than that. Schedule's Monday through Friday."
"!!!"
Not a day, not two—the entire workweek without him. Despair.
Clara plummeted into an endless abyss at his words.
"Fridge is stocked with sides, so eat well with Sion, okay?"
"..."
Clara couldn't respond.
She barely even heard it.
'N-Next week... no bro...?'
Looking back at recent life, imagining that much time apart was impossible.
Even if someone called it dependency or addiction, she couldn't argue.
"Eueung..."
To the girl leaking her soul through slack lips,
Rohan reached out carefully.
"And this is kinda random, but a gift for you, Clara."
"...?!"
Click! The sound snapped light back into her dead eyes.
"Thought it'd suit you, so I got it. Not super expensive."
"Huh?"
Her fingers fumbled up, touching the accessory in her hair.
Smooth texture, heart charm at the end—she knew by feel alone.
"B-Bro...!"
"If it's no good, no pressure to wear it. I picked on my own."
"I'll wear it forever...!"
Clara's grand declaration. Rohan laughed and asked,
"Shouldn't check the color and shape? If you want different, we can exchange together."
"This one's perfect!"
No need to unfold it or inspect.
Rohan picked it—that was enough. Nothing else mattered. No changes, ever.
The hairpin's bliss shot her mood from the floor to the skies.
With this spark clutched tight, she might survive the Rohan-less weekdays without freezing solid.
At the sky train station.
Plainer than expected, but it felt like waiting for a plane at the airport.
"Ah! Bro, that...!"
Through the glass, a sky train descended from the heavens.
Clara pointed, guessing Sion was aboard given the timing.
They headed to the entrance where announcements played.
Rohan grabbed a big sheet of paper and marker from a table.
"Let's write 'Sion' on placards and wait."
"W-Won't sis feel burdened...?"
"That's the fun part. Either she'll love it or ignore it—those are the two options."
Rohan scrawled huge, wobbly [Sion] letters in his awful handwriting.
One each, held up at the entrance.
Less than five minutes later,
Passengers poured out.
Sion emerged wearing Rohan's outer coat.
Her striking beauty stood out alone, catching Rohan and Clara's eyes instantly.
She perked her ears, scanned, and spotted them right away.
Saw her name on their placards and let out a hollow chuckle.
"Welcome. Good trip?"
"Sis, welcome...!"
Approaching, she wiped the smirk,
And softly curved her lips.
"Thanks for the flashy welcome."
Back from Tigrova, she carried a deeper air of leisure.
Rohan craved the details the phone couldn't capture.
"Let's head home first."
⋯
⋯
On the bus to Academy City, they shared tons of stories.
Even right before arrival, their chatter didn't stop.
"Lady Yoho said she worried you'd charge in the moment you met."
After seeing the elders' disgrace, the girl wouldn't act that way.
Thanks to it, she'd learned plenty.
Rex Frozenheart moved straight toward his goals while honoring proper bounds.
Clinging to it emotionally, calling the agreed conquest wrong—it besmirched her parents' names.
Sion knew that much about the world's flow.
'Heard Rex Frozenheart doesn't dodge challenges. Probably lives with resolve steeled.'
Maybe because she'd pulled the trigger on the grand elder's head, settling petty emotions.
Lately, Sion felt her thinking broadening.
'Or maybe not that...'
Her gaze naturally drifted to Rohan.
The superb spotter who made her heart race.
Thanks to him, she now knew exactly where to aim her barrel.
"Oh! Here."
Bus stopped; Rohan naturally grabbed Sion's bag and led.
Her freed hands took Clara's.
"So."
"Hm?"
"What was he like up close?"
Rohan's question as they exited the front. Sion knew it meant Rex Frozenheart.
Anyone with upward ambition would wonder.
Clara listened intently too.
"A monster you couldn't kill any way... one that wouldn't die."
Sion's honest impression. Was that enough?
Rohan nodded and walked on, curiosity sated.
"Drop bags at dorm, then early dinner? My treat, something good."
"Rohan. Hold on."
Sion halted, word firm.
Clara stopped too; Rohan turned.
"Dinner's on me."
"...?"
Rohan blinked. Rare hesitation on what to say.
She hadn't mentioned inheriting the fortune, so of course.
Offering to buy after borrowing his card? Seemed off.
"Remember I said I'd show you when I got back?"
"What you mentioned yesterday?"
"Y-Yeah... there was..."
They recalled her phone words.
Sensing something coming, Rohan and Clara waited quietly.
Sion rummaged one pocket, pulled her smartphone,
And showed the account Yoho had deposited into.