Sirin didn't reply in the end. She just sat quietly, holding the milk tea, lost in thought.
Her golden eyes looked dazed almost cute.
"Shiraha."
"Yeah."
"You won't change, right?"
Shiraha's voice was still firm: "Yeah. Shiraha never lies."
It was a good thing his Elysia wasn't there, she was currently watching over those people lying in the nurse's office, otherwise, she probably would've laughed out loud.
Sirin then added: "We're friends, right?"
Shiraha nodded without hesitation.
The two of them sat by the roadside, chatting idly. Sirin hadn't had a normal conversation with anyone in a long time. She talked a lot, repeated the same topics often, but it didn't sound annoying.
She talked about how cold the winters were in the Babylon Tower, about how the researchers treated them like lab animals, about how when Theresa came, she thought it was a scam.
By the time she finished another cup of milk tea, Sirin's pace slowed. She leaned tiredly against Shiraha's shoulder: "Do your best, Shiraha. Someone like you shouldn't have to go through that kind of thing."
She nuzzled against him gently.
Shiraha, understanding, held Sirin in his arms. What Sirin had always longed for was this kind of embrace, Shiraha wouldn't forget such an important detail.
She murmured softly: "When you get assimilated by this world too, I'll destroy it then."
At least this world had given her a glimmer of hope.
Cecilia was gone, but it seemed someone else shared her ideals, and was just as gentle with her…
Shiraha held her for a while, until he felt they'd been sitting too long: "We should head back, Sirin, or maybe find somewhere to eat."
No response.
Shiraha looked down and could only see the back of Sirin's head. He lifted her face, those sky-blue eyes looked especially… awkward, her fair cheeks flushed pink.
She hadn't blushed at all when Sirin was the one in his arms.
Kiana's lips twitched as she forced out a topic: "Does your Nee-chan… do this to you too?"
Shiraha thought for a moment, not hiding it: "Hugs? Nee-chan does that a lot."
Kiana shook her head: "I mean, forcefully taking over your body."
Strictly speaking, what Sirin did wasn't really "taking over", it was more like a reasonable allocation of body-use time but Kiana probably wouldn't understand that right now.
Shiraha nodded: "Sometimes. Nee-chan has all sorts of sudden ideas, and I just have to go along with it."
If it weren't for his Nee-chan's sudden whims, Shiraha would never have kissed a big sister in front of the school gate, that was way too awkward.
His answer made Kiana feel a little better, at least Shiraha goes through the same thing.
"Suddenly, I think I understand why you're so convinced your Elysia exists."
Kiana sighed, stood up from the steps, stretched hard, rising on her toes.
"Let's go, let's grab something to eat. I'm not that hungry, but it feels like if I don't eat at this hour, something's missing."
Kiana walked ahead on her own, her pace fast, her rolled hair bobbing prominently, her ears still a little red. No matter how carefree a kid was, coming back to consciousness and realizing they'd been cuddling in their partner's arms was still a little embarrassing.
Shiraha stood up too and quickly caught up.
The flush on Kiana's face slowly faded, and reason regained control.
"Can Sirin… also interact with her surroundings through certain means?"
Shiraha shook his head: "I'm not sure. I think my Nee-chan is special."
Kiana seemed half-convinced: "Yeah, your Nee-chan can even leave you to go monitor those people."
She fell quiet again at that thought. Could a figment of an imagination really do that?
And Shiraha's situation was clearly different from hers, she could call it split personality, or being possessed, but Shiraha… was clearly just haunted by something, right?
They arrived at a noodle shop near the school. Kiana had a big appetite, but today she ate a little less, after two cups of milk tea, even her big stomach couldn't hold much more. She was still young after all.
She quickly finished her lunch, rested her chin on her hand, and watched Shiraha eat.
Kiana felt something was missing.
What was it?
Oh, feeding.
"Shiraha, how long do you think your Nee-chan will be watching?"
Shiraha thought for a moment: "At least another hour. We have to wait for those people to wake up, wait for their parents to leave, then we can see their true reactions."
Honestly, having his cute fairy Nee-chan suddenly absent made him feel a little out of sorts.
Kiana slapped the table and stood up: "Let's go out and play! We've already skipped class, whether it's two periods or three, there's no real difference."
She'd finally gotten out, no teachers nagging, and she could drag some poor soul along to do part-time work with her. Maybe she could even build some favor, and in the end… Shiraha probably didn't care much about part-time wages anyway, he might even generously give them to her.
Perfect!
Kiana began mentally calculating her options.
As for Sirin… she decided not to ask Shiraha about it. He and Sirin were too close.
Shiraha paused for a moment: "I'm not going."
Kiana's smile froze on her face.
"Kiana, we'll probably have to go back there tonight. If we skip class and lose track of time or if my Nee-chan can't find me—"
He looked into her eyes: "It'd be easy to mess things up."
Shiraha refused decisively.
Another thing was… his Nee-chan would be all alone. If she suddenly felt like she was being left out by the world again, that kind of feeling was hard to bear.
Sure, a little separation and reunion could highlight how important he was, but Shiraha and his Nee-chan didn't need those little tricks. His Nee-chan didn't like them, and neither did he.
Kiana sighed and didn't press further. He had a point, she hadn't thought it through.
"Let's go back to class. Your Nee-chan will definitely find you there."
When they returned to the classroom, it was still lunch break. Mei was at the club. Shiraha sat by the window. Kiana, after a moment's thought, gave a little hop and sat on the windowsill, one leg dangling outside, swaying gently.
"In a while, I'm going to Siberia with Dad." Kiana turned her head: "You're sure you won't come?"
She wasn't dumb. From what she'd pieced together through a series of misunderstandings, she now knew a bit about the Second Eruption. The name Sirin didn't exactly scream "hero."
With Mei out of the way for the moment, Shiraha only hesitated briefly before answering: "Let me come up with a reason in the next few days, otherwise, Mei-nee will get mad."
Hah Mei. Kiana's lips curled up, as if she'd thought of something amusing.
Just then, a little fox crawled out from Shiraha's desk, it was Rin. Her little fox head looked dazed. Shiraha reached over and scooped her up into his arms without thinking.
Rin squinted, letting out a very soft "kyuu."
Kiana toned down her smile and looked out the window: "When I get to Siberia, I'm going to ask Dad what really happened during the Second Eruption."
Her voice grew calm: "I'm really curious, whether Cecilia, my mother, was actually killed by Sirin."
If Sirin was the one who killed her, then Kiana would have to perform a sacred severance! Sirin? Just another wandering ghost, don't really know her.
"Probably not, but I don't have any proof yet. Let's ask Uncle Siegfried together when we get a chance."
Shiraha was about to say that Sirin was also searching for answers about Cecilia, but Sirin seemed to be slowly connecting, so he couldn't pretend to know everything anymore.
Kiana was quiet for a moment: "Shiraha, I'm not that smart. I'll probably need you to do the talking when we try to get information out of him."
She didn't lower her head often. But to learn about her mother and about Sirin, bowing to Shiraha a little was no big deal.
Shiraha smiled brightly: "No problem, Cecilia and Sirin are both your family, Kiana."
"And family is the most important thing."
The little fox, apparently done sleeping, perched on Shiraha's shoulder and looked out the window.
The afternoon sun was a little blinding, she squinted even more.
Yes… family really is the most important thing…
But using abilities on family isn't exactly the right thing to do… That's it! Shiraha, we have to become enemies first, don't we?
Just kidding, Rin wasn't that crazy.
Kiana was sitting by the window for the first time, after all, that spot was usually monopolized by Shiraha and Elysia. She leaned one shoulder against the frame, swinging her legs, and found it pretty fun.
Just before class ended, Mei walked into the room, looking worried.
And the boy and girl she'd been worrying about were squeezed together at the window, smiling naturally, seeming to be having a good time.
"See? I told you.... Shiraha and Kiana wouldn't get into trouble."
Yuna looked a little pleased, though with her pale eyes, her smile always seemed a bit lacking in emotion.
Mei puffed out her cheeks: You're right! But why skip us when something's going on?
Fu Hua adjusted her glasses again, sure enough, the communicator was offline.
That was fine. After school, she'd ask Kiana for details, workaholics never kept secrets from each other.
"Shiraha!"
The bell rang. Mei took a deep breath, then, looking proud, said nothing and returned to her seat. She tore off a piece of paper, ready to send a "carrier pigeon" note.
She was a good student, after all, she couldn't whisper during class.
Shiraha watched the little paper ball fly in from diagonally ahead and caught it smoothly. With his Nee-chan not around, handling this kind of thing was almost too easy, just dealing with kids, hmpf.
Before the first class ended, his Nee-chan drifted back to the window. Shiraha was still paying close attention, twirling his pen between his fingers.
Elysia didn't disturb him, she loved seeing kids take things seriously, whether it was Shiraha or anyone else. But watching Little Shiraha especially made her feel a lot less guilty.
At the end of class, the teacher specifically called out Shiraha: "Shiraha, you were very attentive today, keep it up, and first place will definitely stay yours."
Thanks to Fu Hua and Shiraha, Chiba Academy's average scores had risen a little, that was good for the teachers' performance metrics, and came with bonuses.
Shiraha blinked and nodded obediently.
"Mr. Omnipotent One pays that much attention in class without me?"
Elysia, taking advantage of Shiraha's desk being right by the window, casually lay across it, suddenly, a grinning face appeared right in front of him.
"Nee-chan, even if you've never been to school, you should know that romance affects academic performance."
Elysia blinked
Romance? R-romance?!
"But getting back to business, Nee-chan, how did things go over there?"
Shiraha quickly steered the topic away.
Romance was definitely in the cards, but openly admitting he was dating a ghost sister… the childhood-friend route might get a little shaky.
Still, with Mei's personality, she probably wouldn't take it too seriously.
Elysia seemed to want to say more, but since the kid had already changed the subject, she… endured the heartache and moved on.
"There's definitely something wrong, they're already planning how to get back at Miyuki." Elysia's expression turned serious quickly: "Two of their parents are cops, and they're apparently scheming to sneak out their parents' service weapons."
Shiraha blinked, then asked: "What about their parents? Do they support them or not?"
Elysia shook her head: "They don't support it, but those parents are way too indulgent. Honestly, it feels like indirect support… why can't some parents control their kids?"
She sighed. At that point, she even lost the mood to tease Shiraha from the desk.
Shiraha's lips curled up: "That's perfect."
Elysia murmured: "That doesn't sound like something to be happy about, does it?"
Shiraha shook his head and explained: "The Far East doesn't have a total gun ban, but gun control is extremely strict. Someone's going to jail."
Elysia hesitated, she felt that this would only make those people worse.
Shiraha paused, then added: "But strict as it is, the Far East doesn't go that hard on 12-year-olds, most of the punishment falls on the parents."
"I believe that no matter how indulgent they are, once they realize their kid might end up in juvie, they'll change, at the very least, they'll transfer the kid to another school."
"Of course, that might not solve the root problem, so I'm planning to use a little supernatural help to leave them with some trauma."
The best option would be Rin, but… again Shiraha would rather go through the trouble himself than let Rin run wild with her authority.
Elysia blinked. She didn't know what kind of power he meant, but she had a feeling she'd be needed again.
This ghost form wasn't so bad after all!
When class ended,
Mei was finally able to march over with authority. Nothing made kids feel worse than being left out. She stood in front of Shiraha's desk, hands on her hips, face tight.
Before she could speak, Shiraha looked up: "Mei-nee, I need your help. The note didn't say much, but I really don't know how to handle this properly."
He paused, his voice carrying a hint of helplessness and reliance: "So I need you to help wrap things up."
Mei was quiet for a moment, meeting Shiraha's expectant gaze. Her lips slowly curled upward: "Now you know who you should bring next time, right?"
What was the point of bringing Kiana? What could she even solve?