Xia Yao never expected her senior to pay for the plane tickets, using the excuse that “people in love should go on trips.”
While still immersed in shock, her hand was taken, and she was led into a taxi heading for the airport.
“Look, the seaside is beautiful, isn’t it?” Lin Xiaojue pressed against the car window.
The view of the sea outside was exceptionally charming; a layer of ice had formed along the silver beach, and the waves were rolling with crushed ice.
“Yeah.” Xia Yao snapped back to reality and looked out the window at the scenery as well. But soon, she fell back into her thoughts.
Her senior had amnesia and had lost all memories related to Su Yaqing.
Certain books mentioned that when humans suffer a massive shock, the brain activates a self-protection mechanism to forget people or things they do not want to remember.
‘So, what did Su Yaqing do to her?’
Xia Yao pondered for a long time.
A voice told her to just be selfish. Since her senior no longer remembered Su Yaqing, why not just go along with it?
Take her senior away. Escape that family herself. The two of them would live a happy, beautiful life together.
Take her senior away.
Take Lin Xiaojue away.
Take her.
Xia Yao remembered the kiss from last night. She touched her lips; the softness still lingered in her memory.
‘But if I take her away like this, will she forgive me once she recovers her memory?’
She was selfish and despicable. She was taking her senior away while she had amnesia, with absolutely no intention of taking responsibility for her senior’s impulsive actions.
To have her, she was willing to use her amnesia to carry out a fake relationship.
She and Lin Xiaojue weren’t lovers at all. Su Yaqing was the one.
“Xiao Xia!”
Lin Xiaojue’s lively voice interrupted her train of thought.
She pointed out the window excitedly, as if there were some world-class beauty outside.
“Look, look! It’s a once-in-a-1,000-year sight!!”
Hearing this, Xia Yao followed her gaze and looked out the window.
Beams of brilliant, multicolored light, shaped like pillars, shot straight into the sky, lining both sides of the road. It was a spectacular and dreamlike sight, like a fantasy realm.
It was beautiful and bright. Xia Yao watched these pillars of light flash past, forming a colorful curtain of light in the snow.
Xia Yao still went to the airport with Lin Xiaojue.
When checking in for the flight, the staff noticed them and asked if the two of them had any luggage. Xia Yao had bought some clothes on the way and boarded with them in the bag the shop had provided.
The familiar scenery faded from view, and before long, they had left Guangyuan.
***
At night, the plane continued to fly steadily through the dark sky, the wings carving flowing arcs through the air.
The cabin was exceptionally quiet. The dim, yellow lights brought a sense of warmth, making it easy for people to fall into a deep sleep.
Xia Yao was not among them.
She gazed at Lin Xiaojue, who was fast asleep against her shoulder, and found herself at a loss for words.
The questions she should have asked never left her mouth. Merely responding to her senior’s enthusiasm had already left her exhausted.
Whether it was the kiss at noon today or the interactions after boarding the plane tonight.
Hugging, kissing — every action between the two of them looked like a couple’s in the eyes of others.
Xia Yao opened her mouth, wanting to clarify, but she swallowed her words back down. In the eyes of others, this became an act of tacit consent.
“Hey, not asleep yet?”
A low voice suddenly interrupted her thoughts.
Xia Yao pulled her gaze back from the window and looked toward the source of the sound, finding that it was a flight attendant.
She was one of the few people who didn’t view the two of them as a couple.
“Are you not going to rest?”
Xia Yao responded in a low voice. The scent of roses reached her nose. She always smelled roses in the mall as well. Was rose perfume really that popular lately?
“I’m fine. I’m just checking on the passengers, and I thought I’d check on you two as well,” the flight attendant answered with a smile. She took a package of snacks from her trolley. “Are you hungry?”
“I’m not hungry.” Xia Yao shook her head. Seeing this, the flight attendant carefully put the snacks back.
“Are you from Guangyuan? You sound like you have a Guangyuan accent.”
“Yes.”
“Ah, is that so? I’m from Guangyuan too. What a coincidence.”
After a few words of small talk, the flight attendant pushed her trolley, intending to leave.
Suddenly, a small disk hit the floor with a *clatter*. Xia Yao picked it up; it had fallen out of the flight attendant’s pocket.
“Um… Miss, you dropped something.” She caught up and handed the disk to the flight attendant.
“Ah, it is mine. Thank you.” The flight attendant took the disk and left without looking back.
Returning to her seat, although Xia Yao found it a bit strange, her senior was more important than such trivial details.
She helped her senior up. Lin Xiaojue was sleeping very deeply and hadn’t woken up even when Xia Yao left her side.
Letting her senior lean against her shoulder once more, Xia Yao felt a bit more at ease, and the trepidation in her heart dissipated.
In the eyes of others, perhaps she and her senior really were lovers.
She faced the window, watching the red navigation lights blink.
After an unknown amount of time, she drifted off and closed her eyes.
*Whoosh.*
Suddenly, a streak of golden light flashed across the night sky, instantly vanishing into the sea of clouds.
‘What was that?’
Xia Yao blinked, forcing her heavy eyelids open. After becoming a magical girl, she had become very alert to her surroundings.
She closed her eyes and sensed the area.
She couldn’t hear any emotions.
Under normal circumstances, shouldn’t a magical girl flying around like this at night be detained by the authorities?
Xia Yao frowned. If the other party’s flight had a purpose, it shouldn’t be impossible for her to hear their emotions.
If she couldn’t hear them, she couldn’t locate them. This was the first time Xia Yao had been stumped by someone other than her teammates.
Who exactly was it? A magical girl stationed in another city?
Then they should clearly know under what circumstances flight was permitted.
It was a complete mystery.
But there was nothing Xia Yao could do. She couldn’t make a phone call on the plane, and she couldn’t easily report it. Since this newcomer liked to play around, she would let her be.
However, if she told the flight attendant about this…
Just as Xia Yao was thinking, the window suddenly made the *clatter* of shattering glass.
She pulled back in shock and drew her transformation device from her waist, staring at the window and preparing to transform at any moment.
“Who’s there?”
She questioned in a low voice, but the other party had no intention of responding.
Time passed minute by minute in her state of alertness. After that first sound, there was nothing else.
Xia Yao did not let down her guard, still watching for any possibility. But for a full 1 hour, she never saw that golden flash again, nor did she hear the sound of breaking glass.
There was no damage to the window. The opponent was either a residual beast or a magical girl with mirror-related abilities.
Xia Yao thought of Sakuragawa Iku. Perhaps it was possible, but how would she know that Xia Yao was with her senior?
Besides, Sakuragawa Iku would need a reason to look for her senior in this manner.
All of this was based on the premise that Sakuragawa Iku liked her senior.
Xia Yao didn’t understand. Sakuragawa Iku was busy every day and hardly ever met with everyone. How could she have fallen for her senior?
She turned her gaze back to the window. Until the horizon turned pale, Xia Yao never found that person.
Perhaps she was overthinking it.
She hadn’t slept well these past few days while taking care of her senior; perhaps she was hallucinating.
Her temples throbbed with a faint pain. Xia Yao hadn’t slept all night. Her eyes were dry and her brain felt foggy.
She relaxed her mind and gradually let down her guard, leaning her head against Lin Xiaojue’s as they entered their dreams together.