Now.
Rina stood at the entrance, the black access card pinched between her fingers.
She took a deep breath and slid the card into the slot.
“Beep.”
The electronic lock lit up.
This sound, she had been waiting for it for seven days.
Rina placed her hand on the door handle and pressed down.
Click.
The door opened.
She pushed it open.
A wave of heat like an invisible wall slammed into her face.
“Uwah!”
Rina instinctively stepped back half a step.
The outdoor air was thick and humid, forming a physically hostile relationship with the dry, climate-controlled air of the apartment at 23 degrees.
That heat wave carried the signature smell of summer…
It rushed into the entrance all at once, swallowing her whole.
The hot air met her skin, which had been chilled by the air conditioning for seven days and had dropped to “refrigerator-grade” surface temperature, and immediately condensed a thin layer of moisture on her arms and calves—barely perceptible but definitely there.
“So hot!”
Rina scrunched up her face.
She raised her hand and fanned it beside her cheek, but that tiny breeze was meaningless in the muggy air, only stirring the heat from the left side to the right.
“What the…”
She looked down at her arm.
Cold white skin.
Under the yellow light, it had a porcelain sheen nurtured by the air conditioning, but now, the heat wave was visibly stripping that sheen away.
The skin’s surface was being devoured inch by inch by the outside temperature, replaced by a sticky, clammy sensation.
Rina was wearing a loose short-sleeved T-shirt with a light print today.
White base with a few stylized cartoon cats…
The fabric was pure cotton, soft to the touch, so light she could barely feel it on her body. The sleeves hung loosely around the middle of her upper arms, and the hem just barely—
Below was a pair of side-pleated short shorts.
The legs were wide, unnoticeable when standing, but when she walked, the pleats would sway gently with each step, revealing a sliver of thigh from the side.
She snapped the baseball cap onto her head.
Light-colored base, brim pressed low, just enough to cover her eyebrows, leaving only a pair of sky-blue eyes and a small stretch of nose bridge visible.
Silver-white hair spilled out from under the brim, cascading down her shoulders and back, unbrushed because she had just woken up…
The shadow of the brim fell across her face, making her already small face look even smaller.
Rina caught a glimpse of herself in the entrance mirror.
Yeah, cute.
She nodded at her reflection, then pushed open the front door and accepted the baptism of heat.
Hisaki stood behind her…
Watching Shiro in those loose-fitting clothes made her naturally petite frame look even smaller. The two arms exposed by the short sleeves gleamed white, and the legs under the hot pants were straight and slender…
She wanted to wrap this small, soft Shiro up entirely in her arms from behind…
“Kidnapper, why are you blocking the door?”
Hisaki smiled.
“Nothing. Let’s go.”
She took a step forward. Rina immediately sidestepped half a meter in alert, putting distance between them, as if Hisaki herself were a heat source.
Hisaki was dressed completely differently from usual today.
A big sun hat, its brim wide enough to cover half her face, revealing only an elegantly contoured jaw and lips with a light touch of lip gloss at the edge. Black long hair fell from under the brim, straighter and shinier than usual.
She wore a light-colored long-sleeved dress.
Long sleeves, truly long sleeves, covering from shoulder to wrist. The neckline was conservative, and the hem fell just above the ankle.
The material was lightweight linen, probably breathable, but wearing long sleeves and a long dress in this weather…
Rina felt hot just looking at her.
Standing next to Rina, she looked like an older sister taking a sulky little sister out shopping.
Rina looked her up and down…
“Hey.”
“Hm?”
“Aren’t you hot?”
Hisaki glanced down at her long-sleeved dress, then shook her head.
“Not really.”
“Not really?” Rina raised one eyebrow. “It’s over ninety degrees outside, and you’re wearing long sleeves and a long dress with a big hat, and you say not really?”
“Sun protection.”
“…What?”
“Shiro wouldn’t understand.” Hisaki pressed the brim of her sun hat down a little, her tone serious as if she were explaining a scientific principle. “UV rays are the skin’s greatest enemy.”
Rina looked at Hisaki’s earnest expression, then looked at her own exposed arms and legs, and was silent for a second.
“Then why didn’t you give me sun protection too?”
Hisaki just smiled again without explaining.
Rina rolled her eyes.
But she didn’t press further.
Hisaki extended her hand.
That hand hung in midair, fingers slightly spread, palm facing up, suspended between them.
No urging, no explanation, just waiting there quietly.
Rina looked down at that hand.
Then looked up at Hisaki.
Rina hesitated for two seconds.
Then she clicked her tongue and slapped her hand into Hisaki’s palm.
Hisaki’s fingers closed, gently wrapping around her hand.
Hisaki’s palm was cool, abnormally cool in this muggy weather.
They walked out the apartment gate.
Sunlight poured down from overhead.
The moment sunlight touched Rina, Hisaki’s breath caught.
Shiro’s skin gleamed white under the sun.
Cold white skin under natural light showed a near-snowy sheen…
The shadow of the cap brim fell across her face, covering the upper half, leaving only her chin and lips visible.
Her lips were slightly pouted from the earlier heat wave assault, the lower lip a bit fuller than the upper, carrying a natural pink gloss in the sunlight.
Silver-white hair spilled from under the brim, taking on a subtle tone somewhere between white and silver in the sunlight. A few loose strands were lifted by the tiny currents in the muggy air, drifting at the side of her neck.
Hisaki stood behind her, looking down at this Shiro who gleamed white under the sun.
So cute she wanted to scoop Shiro up and lift her high.
But Shiro would most likely complain it was too hot and make her put her down.
Hisaki sighed silently in her heart, then tightened her grip on that tiny hand in her palm.
“Hey!”
Rina tilted her head up, the cap brim sliding back a little, revealing her full face.
Her tone was arrogant beyond belief.
“Kidnapper, where are we going to play!”
Hisaki looked down at her, and in the shadow of the sun hat, her dark red eyes curved slightly.
“It’s a secret.”
“You’ll see when we get there.”
“What’s that supposed to be!”
Shiro character sheet, [current outfit]