(Red)—Kotori
“……”
Kyoumi (Red)—Kotori
“……”
***
She had originally planned to simply discuss tomorrow’s date plans with the girl, but Kotori wasn’t very cooperative with Kyoumi’s many questions, and the girl herself had no clear concept of Fraxinus.
She’d have to wait until boarding the airship to act according to the situation.
If the conversation topic veered toward Shidou, the girl’s already scarce sleepiness would probably dissipate even faster.
And if she ended up dozing off during the date from overexcitement, that would be an unforgivable mistake for Kotori.
Moreover, to make communication with Kyoumi easier, Kotori had kept her black ribbons tied even while sleeping, causing the girl to brush past any private questions Kyoumi wanted to probe with responses that showed she didn’t want to elaborate.
As a result, even after Kotori let out soft breathing and fell peacefully asleep, Kyoumi’s anticipated romantic gossip hadn’t yielded much, and her inquiries about the positions of Fraxinus personnel had also been deflected by the girl.
On the surface she’s willing to talk with Yu, but since she hasn’t been fully won over yet and can’t relax completely, and the organization isn’t entirely united, she’s holding back quite a bit of information about Ratatoskr…
Really now.
That only leaves knowing that the airship can provide conversation assistance and that resounding pie-in-the-sky slogan… Even the main personnel only mentioned two names: Kannazuki Kyouhei and Murasame Reine.
She had some impression of Kannazuki, and since Murasame was mentioned, she was likely the one relaying support to Shidou or something similar.
There was no way to confirm more than that.
Though plans are no match for changes, and Kyoumi was a spirit skilled at improvising, if she could probe some information in advance, things would be easier.
Unfortunately, Commander Miss hadn’t given her many opportunities.
Lying on her side facing the girl, with one palm extended from under the blanket to support her cheek and the other arm hugging a killer whale plush, Kyoumi gazed at the girl beside her.
To be honest, Kotori’s sleeping posture wasn’t very good.
She hadn’t reached the level of unconscious sleepwalking or flailing around, but she seemed to have a habit of rolling over and tightly hugging something.
Thus, in her sleep, she pulled a fluffy, soft teddy bear plush into her arms.
The girl’s brows were tightly furrowed, a faint expression of discomfort on her face.
Her arms pressed tight indentations into the bear’s belly.
It looked like she was having a rather unpleasant dream.
Since the curtains hadn’t been drawn, the sky outside was already faintly brightening.
It would probably be fully light in about two hours?
Having watched the girl all night like this, Kyoumi still didn’t feel much like sleeping for a bit.
Though she did feel some fatigue, spirits wouldn’t suddenly drop dead from lack of sleep… probably?
After all, Kyoumi hadn’t tried it.
She had rested enough in the Neighboring World. The process from fainting to being awakened hadn’t been pleasant.
Though this time in the real world, there was no premonition of when she might return to the Neighboring World.
She didn’t want to face that dark, boring place, so for the things she could see now while in the real world, she wanted to look at them as much as possible.
Moreover, cute things were never enough to look at until they became cloying, and the girl wasn’t a motionless block of wood either.
Just the repeated rolling over during that time, covering her head with the blanket, then kicking it off because it was too stuffy—those unconscious actions all seemed extraordinarily amusing to Kyoumi.
Well… amusing is amusing, but if she were hugged like that, it would feel way too uncomfortable.
Not everyone would want to experience the fate of that teddy bear plush being squeezed until it caved in.
“Mmm…”
The girl let out an uncomfortable low groan from her throat.
As expected, she was having a not-so-good dream?
Thus, Kyoumi shifted her body slightly backward again to avoid being affected by the girl’s already considerably expanded bed-hogging range.
…That said, the empty sensation at her lower back and the flowing air already proved that Kyoumi had retreated to the very edge of the bed.
After tidying away most of the plushies that had been piled on the bed, the girl’s mattress could barely fit three people, but now it seemed it was truly only enough for her alone.
The purpose of those plushies wasn’t so much to decorate a cute atmosphere as they were to weigh down the bed and prevent the girl from moving around~
Ah… this feeling really isn’t great.
She must have started sleeping separately from her parents quite early, right?
Kyoumi freely slandered the sleeping girl in her mind, and as expected, the girl rolled over once more.
Unlike the previous times, though it was still a body flip, this one came with a slight upward tilt of the head, triggering a small additional incident… such as…
pulling her own hair.
“Gu…”
Enduring the slight pain, the girl slightly opened her drowsy eyes.
Her vision blurred, rationality not yet regained to distinguish reality from dream, the girl blankly propped herself up on her arms, intending to just smooth her hair and roll over to continue sleeping.
The faint morning light filtered through the window into the girl’s room, illuminating objects—including the silhouette of the girl beside her.
And the faintly glowing dark red light source was particularly eye-catching.
Glowing green eyes might remind one of a wolf in the night—what about red, then?
Asking the still-groggy girl this question would be a bit lacking in romantic consideration.
Her not-fully-awake head suddenly jerked up, only to be hindered by the arm pressing on her ponytail.
A bit of pain and shock flooded the girl’s mind.
Her well-developed tear glands began secreting, mist clouding her vision and worsening this brief vicious cycle.
Kotori Itsuka opened her mouth.
“Good mor—mmph cough—” Swiftly pressing two fingers against the girl’s lips, Kyoumi—who had been lying on her side at the bed’s edge to make room for Kotori’s rolling—spoke first.
Before she could fully awaken the girl’s rationality, she received a reflexive rabbit kick in return.
The composed girl hadn’t even finished saying good morning when she was kicked in the side by Kotori—who had perfected her kicking technique through daily 【Super Invincible I-Love-You Candy Flying Kicks】 on her brother—and sent tumbling off the bed, landing on the wooden floor with a thud.
“…Eh… eh?”
Perhaps the solid feel of kicking flesh restored the confidence she’d built practicing on her brother, or maybe hastily touching the ribbons still tied on her head brought comfort.
The ghost-fearing girl didn’t let out a blood-curdling scream that would disturb the neighbors, only making bewildered sounds in the intervals of regaining her senses.
“…Hss…”
Supporting herself on the bed’s edge with a slightly trembling palm, Kyoumi wore a somewhat aggrieved expression and drew in a pained breath as she managed to sit up.
“…Good morning, Kotori.”
“…Y-You scared me first…”
Looking away guiltily, Kotori Itsuka—who had realized what she’d done—stammered a little.
“…A-Anyway, what’s with your eyes… Last time too, and this time again—why do they always glow like that…”
“…They do that when channeling or using spiritual power, or when I’m in high spirits. As for you, Kotori…”
Propping herself back onto the bed and rubbing her side, Kyoumi slightly furrowed her brows.
“Your sleeping posture is really bad.”
“I-Is… it…?”
“Yes!”
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