Preparation ✧ 6

It turned out I was even more tired than I had thought, because by the time I woke up, I found that two of my roommates had already left the room. We didn’t have a set schedule, other than for lunch and dinner, so we were free to wake up any time we liked. They probably had left the room as quiet as they could be, wanting to make sure I got enough rest. While their consideration made me feel touched, I somehow felt embarrassed.

Hastily, I brushed my hair, and put it in a messy bun. It looked a bit silly because of my uneven haircut, but I hoped that it still had a charming vibe to it. I picked out a random shirt and pair of shorts. One good thing about our fashion sense was that we would only buy items that were in black or white. It was to ensure both Mimi and I would not have disagreements about our appearance. We realized that we tended to disagree more when different colors were involved, and Mimi valued fashion a lot—even the cool one of us would turn feisty when it came to this topic…

I grabbed a cup of tea from the shared kitchen, and I decided to check the garden. The weather was more mild compared to the hell that was yesterday, so I figured people would want to spend their time there rather than indoors. The garden was so spacious that it almost looked like a public park. The dancers seemed to be discussing new choreographies, and some people were sitting on the grass, all focused on their own tasks.

“Good morning!”

I raised my voice to greet everyone with great energy, happy to witness such a beautiful morning. Many heads turned towards me in sync, and greeted me back. This felt… amazing. I could definitely get used to it!

Suddenly, I noticed someone getting up from the bright green grass, towards the right corner of the garden. Holding a cute hat and ensuring it didn't fall from her head while running towards me was none other than Nilsu!

“Nilsu!!! Good morning~!” My hastened steps matched her stride and we soon met in a hug. She held me tight, and started talking in her unique, aquatic way. This voice… the voice I had longed to hear at least one more time! It was so beautiful, so fresh… Even if I couldn't understand what she was trying to tell me, I figured from her expression that she was apologizing.

I gently pet her head over her hat and smiled in a most soft manner, so she knew my sincerity without any doubts. “Aw, aw… it's okay. There's no need to be so regretful. I don't blame you, everything is cool between us! Right?”

She eagerly nodded, looking up to my face with her precious eyes. When she blinked, I realized she had tears gathered up in the corners of her eyes.

“She is indeed unnecessarily emotional.”

“Shh… she must have been scared that she did something to hurt me, even if unintentionally. Just like how worried I was…”

I chuckled as I removed my hand from her head, this time lowering it towards her nose, booping it most gently. “You have no idea how much I wanted to see you again, to spend more time together.”

She smiled and made some sounds that were akin to a sweet, sparkling soda. I hadn't heard this one from her before—discovering a new sound from her somehow made my heart pound in its cage…

“Oh, ladies, ladies! Sorry to interrupt this heartwarming reunion~”

I had momentarily forgotten that we were surrounded by other people, so much that it made me flinch when Roan approached us. He waved at us, speaking in Tamamiran. I didn't know he was fluent in it, but as the translator of the crew, it made sense that he would be.

“Good morning! Did you need something from us, perhaps?”

I greeted him back. Since Nilsu was rather short compared to us, she had to look up to him as he spoke, and I had to stop myself from melting right here. She was so adorable, how could I possibly deal with it…?

“Well, I guess you could put it that way? It's just that, I couldn't help but hear Miss Nilsu’s voice… while I had heard from Aunt Emery about your Aberrance, you only introduced yourself via writing, sooo…”

Nilsu’s mouth curled to the endearing shape of a pout, and it made me wonder if she regretted using her voice in front of everyone like this. But if others didn't really get to hear it… did this mean that she only trusted me with hearing her?

“Hehe, it's a very gorgeous voice, even better than what I had in mind! Describing it as mere ‘water sounds’ doesn't do it justice I think. Though, I can't understand a drop of what you say… Mahahaha…”

He laughed in his unique way, his childish facial features being emphasized with that hearty smile. “Isn't that so funny? You even make a translator troubled~”

This remark made Nilsu furrow her eyebrows, and she looked down with a fairly displeased expression. Even though I was sure that Roan didn't mean anything bad, this was her insecurity point after all.

Without me having to intervene, Roan noticed her soured mood right away and waved his hands in panic.

“Hey hey, I'm sorry! I meant it in a ‘that’s a real cool thing!’ way… in fact, it made me feel thankful I have such sensitive hearing, your unique voice tickled my brain in the bestest way!”

I had heard from people that Roan’s Aberrance could be described as extremely sensitive hearing, and that was why he often wore something like ear muffs, protecting himself. Things could get rather overwhelming for him, so he'd mostly be lost inside his own world, mumbling songs and only removing the muffs when someone needed a translation. At least, this was what I gathered from others, and I hadn't found an opportunity to ask him directly.

Once Nilsu understood that he was genuinely praising her, she seemed to perk up a little. She nodded quietly, her puffed cheeks reverting back to their original positions.

Roan made an exaggeratingly dramatic bow, and put his ear muffs back on his ears. “I shall take my leave now, dear ladies. It would be my honor to hear your voice again, Miss Nilsu! And if you ever need anything, feel free to call for me!”

Possibly remembering how Ivone harshly threw a pillow on him, he shuddered. “Just… nudge me slightly if I seem preoccupied, yeah?”

I chuckled as he left. He was a really funny person, almost making me wish that I had a big brother like him…

“I don't know if I want to explode him or if he's an alright person… Maybe that is precisely what having a big brother is like.”

“Hehe, he really seems like a sweetheart. Even though he is a bit of an oddball… aren't we all~”

“Definitely not to that degree.”

I tried to hold back from snorting at that comment from Mimi, and I glanced at Nilsu. Her cute, droopy eyes were trying to make contact with mine. Why was she so cute… Whyyy… Suddenly, I realized that I hadn’t asked about how she was faring this day.

“Ah, I heard yesterday that you were unwell. Are you fine now…?”

We walked to the corner she was sitting in before and sat down on the pretty green grass together. She nodded, and took out her trusty notebook to scribble her words on it.

“Thank you for your concern, I just tend to be sensitive to weather changes. It was suddenly too hot, I seemed to malfunction.” She giggled softly, making the sound of bubbles floating around.

“You seem recovered now, so that's a relief. I also heard you did some designs~?”

Her eyes widened, and she immediately reached for her design sketchbook. Afterwards, she momentarily hesitated, and opted to write on her notebook instead.

“I heard you wanted to be the ringmaster. That's so cool, I ended up making a few designs… I got rather excited.”

…!!!!!

Was I reading things wrong? She had made designs for me?! Specifically for me? Huh?!

“Well, there's me too but. Continue.”

I blinked rapidly, trying to digest what I had just read on the surface of the smooth paper. She shyly opened her sketchbook, and revealed some designs to my astounded eyes.

My astonishment couldn't possibly be described with the vocabulary I possessed. There were three figures of me, all of them wearing different outfits. All the options were so cool, so charismatic, so gorgeous…! I would get to wear something like those?! Specially tailored by my cute friend herself…?

“Mimi, am I dreaming?”

“Nope. Totally real, can confirm. That being said… damn, she is talented. These are incredible.”

I relayed Mimi’s thoughts to Nilsu, and emphasized that she was a very picky fashionista, so for her to approve of something was an incredible feat. Hearing that, she blushed and hugged her legs to herself.

“There's one issue, though…”

She looked at me with widened eyes of panic. I laughed and shook my head. “Not in the negative sense of the word. All of these are so nice, just how am I supposed to choose?”

Relieved that I didn't mean a real problem, she grinned wide. Taking her small notebook, she wrote that I could take my time picking.

“I especially like this one with the middle-length skirt, though. I myself am not very fond of skirts, but I thought it'd fit your long, slender legs.”

The outfit sketch she gestured at depicted a flashy outfit, suitable for a circus. It was a mix of white and black parts, and she had incorporated different combinations of patterns in the design. I was amazed at how well it conveyed my Aberrance in a visual manner. Since all of the outfits were fine with me (and somehow even the ever-critical Mimi!), we decided to go with Nilsu’s choice.

“It'd be best to leave it to the pro, after all~”

Her giggles gave me life. With my own custom outfit, I felt like I would transform into a heroine, bringing smiles to people's faces.

Ah, I couldn't wait…