So tall, so pretty…
Yukina tilted her head up and for a moment forgot what she was going to say.
Mashiro stood right at the doorway.
Her silver-white long hair had not yet dried, clinging wetly to her cheeks and neck.
Water droplets fell one by one from the tips of her hair.
Sunlight leaked down through the hole in the tin roof and fell right on her exquisite side profile.
Her skin was so thin it was almost transparent, looking just like some kind of fragile and expensive porcelain.
Those eyes were blood-red, yet up close they did not feel frightening.
Instead they were like jewels sunk in deep water—quiet and profound.
As expected of the female protagonist, huh? Her beauty stats were truly maxed out.
And herself?
Yukina subconsciously lowered her head and looked at herself.
So short. Her height was barely over 140 centimeters, about the same as in her previous life. Her face was half-hidden by her bangs.
The school uniform hung loosely on her, always looking like she had stolen her older sister’s clothes.
The position of her head… it could barely reach Mashiro’s chest.
There was still a considerable distance to the shoulders.
Looking at it this way, Mashiro’s height was at least 175 centimeters, maybe even 180.
So nice. So nice.
Beautiful looks, plus unfathomable strength.
Who wouldn’t like this kind of standard beautiful, strong, and tragic female protagonist?
“…?”
Mashiro tilted her head and blinked twice.
She seemed not to understand why the pink-haired loli in front of her kept staring blankly.
The strands of hair stuck to the side of her neck fell with the movement, bringing down another water droplet.
“Ah! Right, right—”
Now was not the time to space out.
Yukina came back to her senses and hurriedly held out the white towel in her arms.
“I prepared a towel. Wipe your body first.”
Mashiro lowered her eyes.
Her gaze lingered on the rabbit pattern on the towel for two seconds, then she shook her head.
“No need.”
“Eh? Why…”
Yukina had not expected to be refused. Her small hands clenched the edge of the towel as she worried:
“If you don’t dry off, you’ll catch a cold.”
“I’ll do it myself.”
Mashiro raised one hand and pushed outward with her palm, signaling her to step back.
What is she going to do?
Yukina was a little confused, but she still obediently did as told, hugging the towel and taking two steps back.
Then Mashiro slightly lowered her center of gravity, took a deep breath, tilted her body a little to one side, and then suddenly in the opposite direction—
Shake-shake-shake-shake-shake-shake-shake!
It was simply a human-shaped hurricane.
From head to toe, from toe to head, her whole body vibrated at high speed.
Her silver-white long hair whipped into a blurry fan shape.
The flying water droplets were smashed into countless tiny prisms under the sunlight.
For a brief moment, Yukina felt she saw a stretch of rainbow.
“Done.”
In less than five seconds from start to finish, Mashiro returned to factory settings.
All the water droplets were gone. She turned her face slightly and used her fingers to tuck a strand of silver hair behind her ear.
Her whole body was clean and refreshed, her hair fluffy and light. She looked rather pleased with herself.
Yukina stood in place, completely silent.
She wanted to say something, but could not get the words out.
It was not that she did not want to speak, but that she could not.
Because if she opened her mouth now, those flung-out water droplets would pour into her mouth.
Are you a golden retriever that just finished a bath or what!! All the water ended up on me!!!
Yukina complained a hundred times in her heart.
Of course, she did not dare say a single one of those words hidden in her heart out loud.
She simply buried her face in the towel and vigorously rubbed left and right several times, trying hard to wipe the water from her face.
“…Sorry.”
Mashiro’s voice came from above her head, carrying a hint of apology.
Yukina lifted her face from the towel and saw a rare trace of fluster appear on that usually cold face.
For some reason, that expression immediately made her lose all her temper.
“Pfft.”
“?”
“It’s fine,” Yukina curved her eyes, a silly smile appearing at the corners of her mouth. “See, the towel still came in handy.”
Mashiro stared at her for a few seconds. Something in her eyes shifted slightly.
“…Mm.”
“Alright, alright, hurry inside so no one sees you.”
“Mm.”
The iron door closed behind them with a creak, shutting out the midday heat.
***
There were no lights inside the shack, but it was not dark.
Sunlight drilled in through the gaps between the wooden boards and tin sheets, cut into long thin beams of light that illuminated the dust slowly floating within them.
Some rusty sports equipment was piled in the corner.
A folding chair stood crookedly, and the vaulting box next to it was flipped upside down on the ground, its surface already rubbed smooth.
Having come here so many times, there was no need for special greetings anymore.
Mashiro walked over and sat in front of the vaulting box.
Yukina took a bento box out of the bag by the chair and held it out with both hands.
“Mashiro, you’re still hungry, right? This is for you.”
She remembered that Mashiro’s lunch had all been ruined in the bullying just now.
Fortunately, she had prepared an extra portion in advance.
Mashiro took the bento, looked down at it for a moment, then raised her head and said very softly, “Thank you.”
The lid opened, and the aroma of the food spread through the closed shack.
Yukina also sat back down on her own folding chair and wiped her hair absently with the towel.
The shack quieted down. Only the occasional sound of chopsticks hitting the sides of the box and the soft rustling of hair being wiped remained.
Without realizing it, two months have already passed.
She turned her head and secretly looked toward Mashiro at the other end of the shack, muttering quietly in her heart.
As mentioned before, two months ago she had woken up in this body and become a small-fry NPC in the game Blood-Colored Return Gift.
On that same day, she had for the first time personally witnessed the scene of Mashiro being bullied by Yumiko.
Only, at that time, she had done nothing.
She had not dared to do anything, and she had not known what she could do.
She could only watch helplessly as that bullying continued to the end.
Perhaps it was impulse, perhaps the condemnation of her conscience. After that, she made a decision that went against the script.
She came here.
According to the game’s settings, this tin shack was Mashiro’s secret base, the only place in the entire academy where she could catch her breath.
Yukina chose to barge in.
At first, Mashiro was like a wolf whose territory had been invaded—fierce, huffing and growling, her gaze almost able to eat someone.
Every time Yukina came, she curled up in the corner, not daring to breathe loudly, trying her best to turn herself into a pink object with no presence.
She did not know from when the atmosphere slowly changed.
Perhaps it was because she got used to it. Mashiro no longer glared at her.
Later, Yukina tried talking to her, and Mashiro would occasionally reply with one or two words.
Even later, Mashiro would even lower her guard and accept her help.
“Thank you.”
Yukina vaguely remembered that the first time she heard Mashiro say those two words, she almost fell off the folding chair.
A cold-faced female protagonist suddenly expressing thanks… the destructive power was way too high!
But well—
This subtle relationship was about to end soon.
Calculating by the timeline, the male protagonist from the game would appear before long.
After the male protagonist appeared, Mashiro as the female protagonist would have a knight to protect her and would no longer be so easy to bully.
The plot would get back on track. The two of them would hold hands and walk step by step toward a happy ending.
And a small-fry NPC like herself would also be able to avoid the death ending and no longer have to worry about being torn apart by the berserk female protagonist.
This should count as a good thing.
But for some reason…
Thinking that they would no longer be able to meet like this in the future, her heart felt a little empty, as if a piece was missing.
Was this feeling loneliness?
Ugh… she couldn’t figure it out.
“Here.”
The bento box was held out in front of her. It was already empty. Mashiro had eaten it clean.
“Ah, okay.” Yukina came back to her senses, reached out to take it, and asked casually, “How was the taste?”
“It’s okay.”
“Just okay?”
“…A little bland.”
“Mm, then I’ll add a bit more sauce next time.”
Yukina put the bento box back into the bag, tying the string while thinking about the next recipe.
She rustled as she finished tying the bag, then raised her head to look at Mashiro, preparing to say the usual line—“I’ll head back first.”
But the words had not yet left her mouth before they were stuck in her throat.
Tap.
Mashiro did not return to the vaulting box. Instead, she took half a step forward.
Just half a step, and the distance suddenly shortened.
“Wait…”
A lower leg wrapped in black stockings pushed into the space between Yukina’s knees that she had not yet had time to close.
Accompanied by the soft rustling of fabric, the hem of the pleated skirt was gently pushed backward, the edge curling up slightly.
Yukina subconsciously wanted to stand up.
A hand pressed down on her shoulder.
The force was not great, but unexpectedly firm, pressing her steadily back onto the chair seat.
“…Mashiro?”
There was no response.
The folding chair was very low. Sitting on it, Yukina’s whole body shrank into a small ball.
Two hands reached forward from in front of her.
Fingertips brushed past the collar of her school uniform, carrying a slightly cool touch, and braced left and right against the edges of the chair back behind her, enclosing her in the middle.
Wait, what is she trying to do?
Yukina subconsciously protected her face.
Close. Too close.
Close enough to hear Mashiro’s breathing, falling lightly from above, accompanied by that cool scent of roses mixed with rainwater, lightly brushing past her bangs.
It tickled.
When the sound of breathing swept past her ear, Yukina’s shoulders unconsciously shrank a little.
She raised her head.
Mashiro was leaning down, gazing at her from above.
“Takanashi-san.”
The tone was no longer the usual indifferent declarative sentence.
Yukina subconsciously swallowed.
She suddenly realized that in these two months, this was the first time Mashiro had called her name in such a tone, and also the first time she had gotten this close.
“What I’m about to ask next—”
Wind poured in through the hole in the roof, stirring the hanging silver hair.
The tips of the hair lightly brushed past Yukina’s cheek.
“—Please, don’t lie to me.”