Unnie Never Said That!!
After summer vacation ended, Ryu-yeong, Seolhee unnie, and I had been going to the sparring grounds at the Erosion Control Center every Saturday. We put into practice everything we'd felt and learned at the resort—though not quite at the same intensity.
Father had carefully asked me why I was going so far out of my way to help Ryu-yeong and Seolhee unnie grow stronger. All I could do was offer a bitter smile and say I just wanted to do something.
Watching me follow them into the sparring grounds, coaching their fights and helping with their training, must have looked utterly alien through the eyes of my father—a man of the original world. Even so, because I was his son, Father trusted me. He might have harbored a few questions about what I was doing, but he never stopped me or denied me.
Honestly, I didn't fully understand why I wanted to help Ryu-yeong and Seolhee unnie grow this much either. Maybe it was because I didn't want to reject my experiences in this world or my memories from my time as a hero. Maybe I just wanted to do something different from everyone else—to prove to myself that I had been special. All I could hope was that this ugly desire of mine would end up helping my family and friends.
"Hey! Harang, what are you fretting about?"
"Mmff! N-nothing, Little Dragon. More importantly—how's that future sight you mentioned feeling?"
"Hmm… it's vague. Like you said, maybe it's not foresight so much as instinct…"
While Ryu-yeong was warming up before entering the sparring grounds, she'd noticed me lost in small worries and come over, grabbing both my cheeks as she spoke.
Ever since we'd come back from the resort, her skinship toward me had increased dramatically. At first I'd worried she'd somehow figured out I was a guy when she started cautiously touching my face or hands—but that didn't seem to be it. I figured it might just be the skinship of someone like Ryu-yeong, who'd said she'd never made friends before. I simply talked with her as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
A few times I'd reacted to her touches, and each time Ryu-yeong would flush red and bolt away as if nothing had happened. After that cycle repeated enough times, I'd just started pretending not to notice.
Ryu-yeong had also told me that after the training at the resort—specifically after sparring with Cheon Sa—she'd started being able to, in her words, "foresee" her opponent's movements when sparring with others. The window was so short, though, that even when her brain knew, her body couldn't keep up. For now it wasn't very useful. Since she'd never heard any stories about an Imugi foreseeing the future either, she was treating it as something like a wild instinct for the time being.
Seolhee unnie finished her warm-up and came over to us. She pushed Ryu-yeong's hands away from my cheeks and started kneading them with her own instead. I had no idea what was so fun about touching my cheeks, but Seolhee unnie had a particular possessiveness when it came to kneading them.
"Harang, cheer for Unnie. I'm gonna win this time too."
"Like I said last time, I'm Little Dragon's coach for now—mmff!!"
"You're so mean. If Harang won't cheer for me, Unnie might lose."
After losing to Ryu-yeong twice at the resort, Seolhee unnie hadn't lost another spar since—but she clearly had far less room to spare than before. She'd used her iron wire launchers for Lightning Spear and Lightning Death so much that Mother had recently bought her new ones. With better launchers, Seolhee unnie's wall-traversal speed and wire-handling speed had both improved.
Seeing that, I'd wondered whether Ryu-yeong should look for some kind of support gear too and asked her about it—but Ryu-yeong had just snorted and refused, saying she could win without any tools helping her. In response, Seolhee unnie had tried fighting without her wires, only to find herself at a growing disadvantage the longer the spar went on. She'd eventually used the wires to turn things around once.
Of course, the expression on Seolhee unnie's face after winning that spar hadn't been bright at all. Since then she'd been cutting back a little on wire use, but so far it hadn't shown much effect.
I poked Seolhee unnie's arm with a finger, trying to get her to stop while she was completely absorbed in kneading and pinching my cheeks. Looking disappointed, she headed into the sparring grounds with Ryu-yeong.
On the last Saturday of September, after summer break had ended, the result of the spar was Seolhee unnie's victory. She'd used Lightning Death to create an opening, predicted that Ryu-yeong would move on instinct, fired her wires to wrap Ryu-yeong's body, and then sent lightning through them—but once the spar was over, Seolhee unnie's face was twisted in frustration, while Ryu-yeong's eyes sparkled as if she'd learned something again this time.
Ever since the resort, that was how every spar ended.
For the first time in a while, I visited the Erosion Control Center with just my family—no Ryu-yeong. Part of the purpose was to adjust Seolhwa's superpower usage methods, and part was for Seolhee unnie to train under Mother.
Seolhwa's attack method of trapping opponents in water droplets and detonating them had, after nearly a month of persuasion, successfully been changed to launching a giant water orb packed full of glittering little droplets. Seolhwa would fill a huge water orb she was bouncing on with sparkling droplets, kick it flying, then spin once in midair to create another giant orb and hop back on. She'd invented that whole attack sequence herself.
It was definitely less brutal than before, and more magical-girl-like—something both Seolhwa and I could be happy with. I'd based that attack style on one used by a Demon Light Brigade member I'd met while traveling in the other world. Of course, that Demon Light Brigade member had ridden around on fireballs and launched them, but aside from the slight difference in the orbs being fired and Seolhwa's current appearance, it was almost identical.
"Unnie! Unnie! How was it? Whoosh—spinning in the air!!"
"Yeah, Seolhwa was sooo pretty!! I think our Seolhwa could go on stage!"
"Heeheehee!! Really? Should I try being an idol instead of a magical girl? Like—singing and dancing and stuff. Would Seolhwa be good at that too?"
Seolhwa came bouncing over and plowed into my arms in a full hug. I laughed and told her of course she could be an idol too. Seolhwa wanted to become someone who sparkled and shone on TV—like a magical girl or an idol. And I wasn't just saying it because she was my little sister: if someone was as cute as Seolhwa, I figured she could pull off being either.
Giggling at my words, she hugged me tight and bounced in place—until she heard Seolhee unnie and Mother approaching. Her cheeks puffed out and she glared at Seolhee unnie.
Ever since Seolhwa had awakened her superpower and started researching and developing it with me, she'd come to dislike Seolhee unnie just a tiny bit. Mother and I had both been giving Seolhee unnie all kinds of help with developing her superpower—Mother in her own way, me in mine. That meant there were plenty of times like now, when Seolhwa was playing with me and I had to go help Seolhee unnie instead.
Seolhwa felt like Seolhee unnie was stealing me away from her. Whenever she heard Seolhee unnie and Mother approaching, she'd puff out her cheeks, cling to me, and tug on my collar, insisting we go the other way. I smiled a little and shuffled in the direction Seolhwa wanted—but the sparring grounds had walls, so we didn't get far before Mother and Seolhee unnie caught us.
"Seolhwa, Harang Unnie needs to go help Seolhee Unnie too."
"That's a lie!! Unnie never said that!! Right? Right~?"
I couldn't bring myself to agree with Seolhwa's cry. I just offered a bitter smile and stroked her hair. Tears were already welling in her eyes as if she might start crying any second—
Mother, without a word of coaxing, gently pried Seolhwa's arms from around me, slipped her hands under Seolhwa's armpits, and scooped her up. The soft sound of Seolhwa sniffling with her face buried in Mother's chest made my heart ache.
Patting Seolhwa, Mother asked me to help Seolhee unnie and headed out of the sparring grounds. All I could do was hope Seolhwa wouldn't end up hating Seolhee unnie too much.
I walked over to Seolhee unnie, who was watching me from a short distance away. While Mother taught Seolhee unnie how to handle her wires, what I helped with was lightning itself—how to control it. Calling myself a battle coach as I helped Ryu-yeong and Seolhee unnie with their superpower use, Mother and Father had come to believe, at least a little, that I'd been to another world. They still didn't take every part of the story as fact, though.
Even so, that small measure of trust made it possible for me to give Seolhee unnie and Seolhwa all kinds of advice like this. For anyone else who knew I was a man, they covered by saying I'd learned it all from reading lots of books at home.
I went up to Seolhee unnie and explained the concepts and properties of lightning again, helping her form a Lightning Spear without any wire assistance. At first, even gathering the lightning that wanted to scatter outward without wire help had been hard—but now she could successfully form a Lightning Spear after about two minutes of concentration.
Of course, that was far too slow for real combat, but if she kept repeating it, she'd get used to it soon enough. And since she could use it even if her wires snapped or she didn't have them, the efficiency was more than enough.
"Hah… hah… Faster… I have to do it faster."
"Seolhee Unnie, I tell you every time—the more you rush, the lower the density gets. And if the density's low, even if you make it, it won't be a threat."
"But—! …Okay. Sorry."
Seolhee unnie had started obsessing a little more over getting stronger than before. Part of it was probably the experience of losing to Ryu-yeong—but more than that, she'd told me she was disappointed in herself for feeling like she couldn't keep up with Ryu-yeong's growth rate.
Ryu-yeong really was close to a genius. Feeling yourself fall behind when comparing yourself to a genius—especially when you'd been the superior one before—was a natural reaction. As long as it didn't go too far, it could be a good motivation during training. So I didn't try to change Seolhee unnie's thinking or comfort her. I just made sure the impatience didn't devour her.
Seolhee unnie threw the Lightning Spear she'd formed once more toward the far wall of the sparring grounds. The pure Lightning Spear, with no wire mixed in, exploded against the wall with a sound like thunder. I lightly covered my ears against the loud noise and looked at Seolhee unnie's expression—but she still looked unsatisfied, frowning as she started gathering another Lightning Spear in her hand.
I looked at the scorch marks the lightning had left on the wall. The blackened spot was to the right of the grid intersection Seolhee unnie had been aiming for. She'd be disappointed that she hadn't hit her target—but for someone with no javelin experience, landing that close without any wire assistance was already impressive.
To Seolhee unnie, who kept comparing herself to Ryu-yeong's talent, it could only look like an unsatisfactory result. I watched her with a slightly worried expression—there was definitely impatience in Seolhee unnie's face, but beyond that, a fierce desire to grow stronger flickered in her eyes. I decided to quietly cheer her on.
Ryu-yeong was a genius, that much was true—but for the time being, I didn't think Ryu-yeong would be beating Seolhee unnie again anytime soon.