Ever since Seele's rescue mission, Bronya's emotions had become very strange; she became unwilling to harm others.
This puzzled Inaba Tsukiyo. Even if they temporarily lived in a relatively safe orphanage, sometimes they still had to harm others, and Seele's incident was the best proof.
Under Inaba Tsukiyo's questioning, Bronya finally revealed the truth: when she was dealing with Seele, Seele looked at her, covered in blood, with great fear, even calling her a monster.
Because of Seele, Bronya didn't want to harm others. Although she still accepted Inaba's training, she wasn't as serious as before.
Despite her helplessness, Inaba Tsukiyo respected Bronya's choice. To help Seele grow stronger, Inaba Tsukiyo also included Seele in their training plan.
Time flew by, and it was August 2013. Roughly more than a year had passed since Inaba Tsukiyo and Bronya arrived at Cocolia Orphanage.
During this year, the relationship between Inaba Tsukiyo, Bronya, and Seele grew increasingly close.
The three of them often moved together at Cocolia Orphanage, forming a small group. Cocolia even let the three of them live in the same room.
Inaba Tsukiyo liked this feeling very much, but what made her uncomfortable was that in this past year, Seele and Bronya's height had surpassed hers, which made her, as the older sister, very upset.
However, Seele and Bronya were very sensible and didn't make an issue of their height, which allowed Inaba Tsukiyo to regain a bit of the feeling of being an older sister.
As their relationship grew closer, Inaba Tsukiyo discovered that Seele was actually a child who loved to act spoiled. Perhaps it was a child's nature, or perhaps it was the mature aura Inaba Tsukiyo occasionally exuded, that made Seele very fond of hugging Inaba Tsukiyo.
This night, Inaba Tsukiyo brought Bronya and Seele to sit on the lawn by the river near the orphanage, enjoying the cool evening breeze.
Although winter nights were cold, the wind on an approaching summer night was very comfortable. Even though she couldn't see the stars in the sky, she could feel the two presences leaning against her.
Seele and Bronya smiled as they leaned against her. Compared to their usual playful antics, sitting quietly brought more peace of mind.
"Hey… Sister Tsukiyo, Sister Bronya. Have you ever seen the sea?"
"The sea? When Bronya was a special forces soldier, she conducted underwater demolition experiments. Her best record was holding her breath underwater for about four minutes."
Learning to conceal oneself was also a very important thing. To better ambush enemies, during training, they would also train them on how long they could hold their breath. If they surfaced early, they would be shot.
"Eh~ Is that so? Haha~ Ever since I started to understand things, I've always stayed at the orphanage. Besides the small river near the orphanage, I've never known what the ocean is like."
"Oh? Is that so? Then Seele, you're better than me. I haven't even seen a small river. After all, in my world, there aren't so many colors."
With a comparison, one's mood would feel much better. Inaba Tsukiyo wanted to bring up worse experiences to make Seele feel a little more comfortable.
However, her words had the opposite effect. Not only did they not have a positive effect, but they made Bronya and Seele's emotions increasingly worse.
Their silence made Inaba Tsukiyo realize she had said the wrong thing. It seemed she really wasn't good at comforting others, nor did she know how to joke.
"Alright, you don't have to be like this. Even if my eyes can't see, because of that, I can see many things that eyes cannot see."
She reached out and put her arms around Bronya and Seele's shoulders, smiling as she felt their presences. She could feel the kind hearts of Bronya and Seele.
Moreover, she felt that her world was not as monotonous as she imagined. As long as she worked hard, her originally monotonous world could also become colorful.
"Then Sister Bronya, what do you think the ocean is like?"
Seele, not wanting to dwell on the matter, chose to change the subject. Regarding the ocean, she had only read about it in books.
Bronya thought carefully, about the detailed description of the ocean, she really didn't know what to say.
"Bronya thinks the ocean is like Seele's eyes."
That one sentence made Seele blush shyly, but Bronya didn't notice this and continued.
"Bronya believes that anyone who has seen the ocean will fall in love with it. The ocean can embrace all things, nurture everything, and make people feel immense peace and warmth."
"However, once the life the ocean protects is in danger, the calm ocean will churn up giant waves, displaying immense power."
"Bronya thinks Seele is like the ocean. Bronya knows that Seele, like the ocean, has a gentle and kind heart. This is what Bronya likes most, and Sister Tsukiyo is the same."
"Really… Please don't speak for others without permission, okay? However, Bronya isn't wrong either. It's also because of Seele's gentleness that I became friends with you."
Seele's kindness was indeed the most important factor attracting Inaba Tsukiyo, and it was precisely because of her kindness that Inaba Tsukiyo felt a sensation she hadn't experienced in a long time.
"Sister Bronya, Sister Tsukiyo."
Thus, the bond between the three deepened. Unbeknownst to them, their relationship had already progressed beyond that of the best of friends, something none of them had realized.
Seele, moved, embraced Bronya and Inaba Tsukiyo, but the other personality within her watched Seele with a hint of envy.
This personality had eyes similar to Seele's, but unlike Seele, her eyes were red, and her aura was very dangerous.
This personality watched the three interact, her gaze lingering on Bronya for a while before disappearing.
To allow Seele, who had never seen the sea, to go to the beach, they planned to go together for fun on the fifth of next month.
Seele was very much looking forward to this outing, but it caused Inaba Tsukiyo some distress, as she too would have to wear a swimsuit to go with them.
Although reluctant, as long as Bronya and Seele were happy, Inaba Tsukiyo didn't mind wearing a swimsuit.
However… good times don't last forever. One day, not long after, news of Bronya falling down the stairs reached Inaba Tsukiyo's ears.
"Bronya!"
Inaba Tsukiyo, unable to believe it, immediately rushed to the infirmary where Bronya was. The person attending to Bronya's explosion was Cocolia.
However, she didn't pay attention to Cocolia. She went to Bronya's side to check her injuries.
"This isn't an injury from simply falling down the stairs!"
In a short while, Inaba Tsukiyo understood that Bronya's injuries were not due to an accident at all.
"While there's some impact, this kind of injury, rather than a fall, is more like… a trampling."
Bronya's leg was injured because someone had trampled her, which meant… Bronya was pushed down the stairs.
Without a word, or any comforting words for Bronya, Inaba Tsukiyo silently picked up mikazuki munechika, stood up from her spot, and intended to walk out.
"Stop! Tell me, what are you planning to do?"
Cocolia, sensing something amiss, blocked Inaba Tsukiyo, who was about to leave, and demanded.
"Do? Can't you see what I'm about to do, Witch?"
Unlike before, she called Cocolia a Witch.
Turning her head, Inaba Tsukiyo opened her eyes, her lifeless pupils filled with killing intent, like a beast with bloodshot eyes.
"You broke your promise, Witch. Even though Bronya's injury wasn't directly your fault, someone in the 'absolutely safe' orphanage you spoke of dared to harm Bronya. You can't blame me for this."
"What? Do you intend to kill everyone in the orphanage except Seele and Bronya?"
Cocolia questioned loudly. Even though the crimson moon hadn't appeared for over a year, she knew Inaba Tsukiyo's nature of always following through. If she let Inaba Tsukiyo leave like this, it would definitely lead to unpredictable consequences.
"Kill? How could I? If an adult makes a mistake, then killing them is fine. But if it's a child, I wouldn't be that cruel."
"However… precisely because they are children, they should not be let off. Since I can't find the culprit, then let everyone who could have caused this incident pay the price for that culprit's actions."
Inaba Tsukiyo, who had just breathed a sigh of relief at the previous sentence, immediately became tense at the next. She knew that the price Inaba Tsukiyo spoke of would definitely not be small.
"If left unchecked, that person will think that even if they do this again, there won't be any consequences in the future. In that case, let everyone pay the price of one leg. After all, it's just one leg. Without one leg, they can still walk with crutches, right? Hehe~ What a merciful idea, it can issue a warning and also spare their lives, how good."
"Don't worry, I won't hesitate at all. It will only take an instant, the pain will only last for an instant."
Inaba Tsukiyo, having entered some strange state, her aura became increasingly terrifying, even Cocolia found it somewhat frightening.
"Stop! Sister Tsukiyo!"
Just as Cocolia was about to intervene, Bronya, lying on the bed, suddenly spoke.
Bronya's voice calmed Inaba Tsukiyo down. She turned her head to look at Bronya.
Bronya, with her bandages freshly applied, limped over to Inaba Tsukiyo with crutches, tugging at her clothes, pleading.
"Sister Tsukiyo, let it go. Bronya fell accidentally."
"But…"
"Sister Tsukiyo!"
Bronya's attitude was firm. Although she knew her injuries couldn't be hidden from Inaba Tsukiyo, she didn't intend to pursue the matter.
The calmed Inaba Tsukiyo finally nodded, agreeing to Bronya, and helped her, limping, towards the room.
As soon as they returned to the room, they heard crying and soft apologies coming from inside.
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