Ryuuto and Shiori hovered over the fallen Reikou. He was still sprawled on the library carpet, a shoe-print bruising his forehead, smiling like a devil who had just won a bet he shouldn't have.
"Reikou-kun... you're truly hopeless," Shiori sighed, shaking her head.
Suddenly, a chill swept through the room. Meiyu had returned. She moved so silently that none of them noticed her until she was standing directly behind Shiori.
"Why were you and Ryuuto-kun following me?" Meiyu’s cold voice whispered into Shiori’s ear.
Shiori jumped out of her skin, scrambling behind Ryuuto. Ryuuto, in turn, tried to use the still-downed Reikou as a shield. Sensing his "Queen," Reikou’s survival instincts kicked in. He performed an emergency "Scorpion Bow" shooting his hips into the air so fast that his rear end collided with Ryuuto’s chin.
"Gah! What is with this lethal ass?!" Ryuuto yelped.
"MISS MEIYU-SAN! ACCEPT MY—"
"Quiet," Meiyu interrupted, folding her arms and sitting in a nearby chair. She stared at them with the same lazy, heavy-lidded gaze Reikou often used. It was unnerving. "Answer me. Why were you following me?"
"How did you even know?!" Shiori asked, raising her hand like a student in class.
"Just answer."
The air grew heavy. Even Reikou raised his hips a few inches higher to show extra "honor."
"We were just worried!" Shiori confessed dramatically. "You looked so rushed! Please, FORGIVE US!"
Meiyu closed her eyes. "Fine. And you..." She looked at the vibrating Reikou. "I told you to hide. Why didn't you hide?"
Reikou didn't use words he simply waved his hips in the air. That was the final straw. Meiyu stood up and delivered a "Penalty Kick" directly to Reikou’s backside.
"STOP! BOUNCING! YOUR! ASS!" For the hundredth time, the Ice Queen’s tempo was shattered. Reikou skidded across the floor, rubbing his head. "I don't want to talk... I'm too lazy," he grumbled.
Ding! Shiori’s phone buzzed with a message from Yueko.
"Hey, Sazanami-Chan! Let's go meet Kiyoshi-kun," Shiori suggested.
Meiyu’s expression clouded with a rare, visible sadness. "I can't. If I go out in public now, the buzzing about that video will never stop. And more importantly..." she hesitated, looking at her hands. "I have a meeting with my parents. I violated their orders to stay with the handler. I’m going to be... punished."
She didn't finish the sentence. She turned and ran out of the library before they could see the look on her face. Reikou stayed on the floor, his lazy smile gone. He understood. She was opening up to them, but the cost was her own freedom.
Kiyoshi sat on the garden bench, the 6-1 defeat tasting like ash in his mouth. He clutched his jersey, waiting for a mother’s hand that would never come.
"Mom..." he whispered, his eyes blurring.
Suddenly, he felt a sensation he thought he’d never feel again. A pair of soft, warm hands landed gently on his neck. The touch was so familiar, so tender, that for a second, he thought his memories had come to life.
"Who are you?" he whispered through his tears.
"You're crying like a nine-year-old boy," a soft voice teased.
Kiyoshi looked up. The haze cleared. It wasn't his mother, but the light was the same.
"You?"
"Yeah! Me," Yueko Han replied with a sweet, radiant smile. She stood behind him, her hands lingering on his neck, providing the warmth he had been starving for.
The wind shifted, blowing through their hair as the dark clouds finally retreated, leaving only the bright afternoon sun.
"Why are you here?" Kiyoshi asked, his voice trembling.
"I didn't know you had a match today," Yueko explained, sitting down beside him. "By the time I finished my test and ran here, the stadium was empty. I was so disappointed... but then I saw you sitting here in the garden. Crying."
Kiyoshi’s pride flared up for a second. He frantically wiped his eyes. "Who—who’s crying?! Not me!"
Yueko gave a soft, knowing smile and closed her eyes for a moment. "Oh, don’t lie. I saw everything."
"No-no-no!" Kiyoshi protested, acting like a stubborn child.
The heavy, suffocating aura of defeat finally lifted, replaced by a light, gentle heat. For the first time today, Kiyoshi’s smile wasn't a mask.
[End of Chapter 19]
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