The New Year's Celebration
"Jeff?" Amy's welcoming voice called out. Her eyes, wide with surprise, turned toward me. After staring at me for a moment, Amy walked over and opened the door. The slightly ajar door swung wide open, revealing the room's interior. It was cluttered with all sorts of mysterious gadgets and tools. Among them was the suit Amy had worn before.
"Rain and Shine too?" Stepping out after opening the door wide, Amy looked incredibly surprised by our sudden visit.
"Rain. Didn't you tell Amy we were coming?"
"Nope. I just asked her where she was." Rain replied to my question as if she couldn't see what the big deal was.
I began to cautiously gauge Amy's reaction. However, she merely let out a soft chuckle and patted my head, not pressing us at all about our unannounced arrival.
"Did you come to see me?"
"Yes...!" I replied, nodding vigorously.
"Hmm..." Amy's gentle smile turned slightly complicated. She pulled her hand back and looked behind her. Shine, Rain, and I followed her gaze. Looking into the room, we saw a woman standing there holding a folder. She wore a stark white lab coat, and her long orange hair cascaded down her back. She was definitely someone I remembered.
"Hello there~" Mary. Right, she was the person I had met back when I snuck out of the room behind Amy and Shine's backs. She gave us a friendly smile and waved.
"Hello!" She was a good person. After all, she had tried to help me the very first day we met.
"Jeff. Who is that?" Shine, who was standing behind me, asked curiously. I felt a gentle tug on my arm as Shine's fingers softly intertwined with mine.
"That's Mary. We met before, and she helped me."
"She helped you?"
"Yeah. I was trying to go up the stairs, but it was really hard."
"She is a good person, then." Only then did Shine release my arm, stepping forward to greet her. "Hello, Mary."
"Hi there~ You must be Shine?"
"Yes."
"You two look exactly alike."
"Yes, we are identical." Shine nodded with a satisfied expression as she spoke with Mary. It seemed she had taken a liking to her.
"Mary. Is it alright if the kids stay in here?"
"There's nothing dangerous, so I don't mind. Just make sure they don't touch any of the items."
Amy, finishing her brief exchange with Mary, turned back to us. "You heard her, right? You mustn't touch anything."
Shine, Rain, and I nodded and stepped into the room. The support items displayed around us looked incredibly expensive. It was clear that touching them carelessly would lead to disaster.
Staring blankly at my surroundings, I walked over to the suit that presumably belonged to Amy. I had some questions about it and wanted to ask her, but she seemed too busy talking to Mary. My hand, which I had raised slightly, hesitated in midair. Pursing my lips, I let out a soft sigh and shook my head. It didn't look like their conversation would end anytime soon.
"I know this." Shine, who had been looking around, walked over to the suit with Rain and spoke. Since Amy had rescued us while wearing this suit that day, Shine naturally remembered it too. "Amy was wearing this." "Yeah, she was."
Staring at the suit, I recalled a man who had worn a similar one. The sight of him actively utilizing his physical enhancement ability to rip a steel door apart like paper was an unforgettable, vivid memory. As my mind chained back to that day, my mouth fell open. Come to think of it, was that Lamonax guy even alive?
"Ugh..." A subtle headache began to creep in. Rubbing my forehead, I turned to look at Rain. She was staring at the suit with sparkling eyes. "Do you have one of these too, Rain?"
"Me?" Caught off guard as she focused on the suit, Rain shook her head in surprise. "No. I don't have anything like this."
"Why not?"
"Well, my ability doesn't rely on physical force, right? There's no real need for me to fight on the front lines." Rain raised her hand as she spoke. A tiny droplet of water gathered at her fingertips. As I watched in fascination, she grinned and flicked the droplet toward me. The cool, dispersing water brushed against my cheek.
"I see..." I nodded, wiping the moisture from my cheek. "And besides, this thing is super expensive." "Expensive?" "Yeah."
I wondered just how much the suit actually cost. I looked at Rain inquisitively, but she didn't seem to know the exact price either. Just hearing that it was "expensive" didn't really give us a sense of its value. Shine must have felt the same, as she asked Rain, "Then how many sandwiches can you buy with this?"
It was a question born of pure innocence. To Shine, the most expensive thing in the world was a sandwich.
"Uh... probably enough to eat until you burst for the rest of your life." At Rain's words, I imagined a massive mountain of sandwiches. The sheer number of sandwiches required to eat until bursting... they began to pile up high. A seemingly infinite cascade of sandwiches falling from the sky.
"Ugh..." I shook my head, looking slightly repulsed. I liked sandwiches, but if I had to eat nothing but sandwiches for the rest of my life, I would definitely grow sick of them.
"What about pork cutlets?" "Probably the same for pork cutlets too, right?" This time, instead of sandwiches, I imagined a mountain of pork cutlets. No, this time, I imagined one single, colossally huge pork cutlet. Its size transcended imagination, expanding until it became a massive island. A crispy, golden-fried crust floating on the ocean... Saliva began to pool in my mouth.
"Jeff, are you hungry?" "Uh-huh..." In the middle of my blissful daydream, Shine approached and wiped my mouth with a handkerchief. Feeling a slight dampness, it seemed I had been drooling without realizing it. At any rate, this conversation made me realize just how incredible the suit was.
"Do you think using this makes your ability stronger?" "Probably, right?" Shine and I began to exchange thoughts while looking at the suit. Recalling Amy and that man, it seemed the suit didn't just enhance one's abilities but also provided other secondary effects. Considering my electricity hadn't worked on it, it likely possessed the ability to block external supernatural powers as well.
"I want to wear it too," Shine muttered softly, reaching her hand out toward the suit. I quickly reached out and grabbed her hand. "No. Amy told us not to touch anything." Shine obediently nodded and lowered her hand.
"And besides, you wouldn't be able to wear this anyway, Shine." "Why?" Shine asked, looking genuinely curious. Meeting her wavering gaze, I answered slowly. "Because... you're too short."
I pointed to the leg section of the suit. It was incredibly long. As if to prove it was custom-made for Amy, the arms and legs were stretched out tall and slender. Compared to that, what about us? I waved my stubby little arms. "There's no way we could wear it."
"I see..." Shine licked her lips in disappointment. "I guess Rain can't wear it either." "Yeah."
"I... I don't even need one!?" Hearing our conversation, Rain flapped her arms in embarrassment as she retorted. Her face flushed a light shade of red.
"Rain, it's not that you don't need one, it's that you can't wear it."
"No, it's not! It's different from this one, but I have one too!" Rain huffed and shouted. I was utterly shocked. Rain had her own suit? Even though she was this small? Even smaller than us?
"You have a suit too, Rain?" "Of course I do!" "Show us!" Shine, dying to see Rain's suit, clung to her arm and shook her back and forth. Rain's blonde hair whipped in all directions.
"O-Okay, fine! Just wait a second." After being shaken violently, Rain pried Shine off her and shouted toward Mary, who was still talking to Amy. "Mary! Where's my suit?"
"Huh? Rain's suit? Just a moment!" Mary scurried over to a nearby desk and ran back carrying a silver attaché case. "Here it is! The repairs are completely finished. Now we just have to do some simple testing."
"Really? It's done already?" "Of course. I am Mary, after all." Taking the case from Rain, she set it on the floor and popped the latches. With a sharp click, the case sprang open. A brilliant, gleaming yellow met our eyes as the lid swung wide.
"Ta-da!" Rain grinned as she pulled a yellow raincoat out of the case. With a bright smile and a smug, boastful attitude, she slipped the raincoat over her shoulders. The color matched her blonde hair perfectly. She looked exactly like a little baby chick. Wrapped in her yellow raincoat, Rain sat on the floor and pulled out another item from the case. It was a pair of adorable, matching yellow rain boots. After scrambling to pull the boots onto her feet, Rain spun around in place. "How do I look?"
"Uh..." I looked back and forth, comparing the suit Rain was wearing to Amy's. It certainly suited Rain incredibly well. "It looks good on you." "Yeah. It's cute." "Really?" Patter-patter! Rain stomped her booted feet excitedly.
"Mary! I can test it out now, right?" "Yes. Shall I open up the training room?" "Get it ready now." Boing, boing. As Rain began to hop in place, tiny droplets of water began to float around her. They were incredibly small. She waved her hand, scattering them. "Follow me!"
Rain scampered off after Mary. Shine and I quickly followed behind her. At the back of the room was a door leading to a vast space. It was a stark white, rectangular room. Seeing the wide glass wall that allowed us to look inside brought back memories of the laboratory.
"Watch closely!" Stepping into the training room, Rain waved to us through the glass wall. Shine and I pressed ourselves flat against the glass to watch her. Stopping in the center of the room, Rain took a small breath and began to bounce lightly. Her movements were incredibly nimble. Patter-patter. The sound of her footsteps echoed. Around her bouncing blonde hair, tiny, glowing droplets of water began to gather. Rain smiled as she watched them, then brought her hands together. Clap! A loud sound rang out. Instantly, the droplets shot out in all directions. The scattered water began to rapidly expand in size. Droplets floating in the air... no, could they even be called droplets anymore? The water had grown into massive spheres, slowly rippling in midair.
Rain stomped her foot. At that exact moment, the floating spheres of water burst, unleashing torrents of water like a massive waterfall. My jaw dropped in sheer shock. A colossal waterfall pouring down from the ceiling... wait, was it actually pouring down? The continuous stream of water showed no signs of stopping. It flowed downward, only to rise back up again. The torrents Rain created were repeating this endless cycle.
Tap, patter, tap! Rain stomped her feet again, multiple times. The light, rapid pattering of her boots echoed loudly. Triggered by that sound, the massive spheres of water floating in the air began to pour down all at once. Whoosh—! The roaring sound of a mountain waterfall filled the room. I could only blink in awe at Rain's incredible water manipulation. But she wasn't done yet; she looked toward us, her eyes gleaming with excitement.
"I'll show you something really cool!" Rain declared, pointing a finger toward the ceiling. Her tiny, cute finger stretched out. She began to spin her entire arm in a circular motion. At that moment, the multiple streams of the waterfall began to move. The long, pouring torrents merged into a single body of water, swirling rapidly around her body in perfect sync with her hand movements. A whirlpool. A massive wave of water generated a roaring sound. Whoooosh! Even at a glance, the speed of the water was staggering. The expanding vortex grew large enough to engulf the entire room. Suddenly, Rain leaped right onto the swirling vortex. My fingers twitched in alarm, but Rain seemed completely unaffected, walking along the raging whirlpool as if it were a paved road. "Whoa..." A little yellow chick walking on water. Staring at the fairytale-like sight, I rubbed my flushed cheeks.