She regained consciousness at 9 AM the next day. Of course, St. Freya Academy had given the students a holiday after yesterday's assessment, so there was nothing she needed to handle today.
"Hiss... Why did I agree to drink with Himeko...?" Snow pulled her left hand free from under the red-haired woman's body. Leaning back against the sofa, she rubbed her temples, trying to clear her head after a night of heavy drinking.
To her right, the purple-haired girl clung to her other arm, her smooth thighs tangled with Snow's own. She was practically straddling Snow, fast asleep and snoring softly.
A single cotton blanket, draped by an unknown hand, covered all three of them.
...It's a holiday, so Mei will wake up later than usual. She should be washing up around now. Bronya... Bronya probably pulled an all-nighter gaming, so she's catching up on sleep. Kiana can be ignored... she could sleep through the building collapsing.
That leaves Theresa and Fu Hua. Theresa was dragged into her office by her deputy last night for overtime, so she's likely not back yet. Fu Hua always has a habit of morning training. That means Fu Hua must have been the one who covered us with the blanket.
So... get up already, Kyuusyou! And get off me! Do you want the whole building to see this? Snow struggled to push off the purple-haired girl, who was clinging to her like an octopus.
Kyuusyou's embrace of the blonde girl was remarkably awkward, and Snow's pounding hangover left her temporarily powerless to simply throw Kyuusyou off.
Footsteps echoed from upstairs. Their second-floor roommate seemed to have woken up, but instead of coming down, she knocked on another room's door, apparently trying to rouse someone.
Hiss, Mei's awake. She's probably trying to wake up Kiana. If she can't rouse that White-haired Clump after a while, she'll come down to prepare breakfast.
And when she sees this scene...
The knocking and calling from upstairs ceased, and footsteps began approaching the staircase. Kyuusyou, still clinging to Snow, seemed to be having a bizarre dream and tightened her grip even further.
"Cold... soft... Heh heh heh..." the purple-haired girl mumbled unconsciously into Snow's ear.
—A fuse snapped in the blonde girl's brain.
The icy chill rapidly climbed up Snow's freed left hand, forming a glove of black ice crystals on her palm before plunging directly into the nape of Houraiji Kyuusyou's neck.
"Aaaah—mnph...!" Kyuusyou's scream, barely escaping her lips as she jolted awake, was abruptly silenced.
In a desperate move, the blonde girl leaned down and kissed her lips without hesitation, sealing off the impending howl.
"..." Four eyes locked, Kyuusyou's purple pupils filled with confusion and shock, while Snow's azure eyes blazed with humiliation, anger, and exasperation.
—Their lips parted.
"Idiot Kyuusyou! Get off me now! Mei's coming down!" Snow hissed, her voice low and furious, at the still-dazed purple-haired girl.
"Ah?! Oh, oh, oh, oh!" Finally snapping out of her stupor, Kyuusyou hurriedly released her tight embrace around Snow.
The two quickly straightened their slightly disheveled clothes and hair, then sat back down on the sofa, pretending nothing had happened.
-
"Good morning, Snow-chan, and Kyuusyou-chan," the black-haired young woman greeted them as she descended the stairs.
"Good morning, Mei-chan," Snow replied politely.
"Morning..." Kyuusyou, still reeling from the earlier shock, responded casually.
The purple-haired girl sat on the sofa, subconsciously licking her lips as she relived the chaotic kiss.
"Sweet..." she murmured unconsciously.
"Huh? What did you say, Kyuusyou?" Mei looked over, curious.
"Kyuusyou said she wants something sweet for lunch... right, Kyuusyou?" Snow replied with a smile, but out of Mei's sight, her right hand, wreathed in cold air and ice crystals, pinched Kyuusyou's waist.
"A-ah, yes! Sweet! I want something sweet, Mei-neesan!" What else could Kyuusyou say? She could only nod frantically, her head bobbing faster than a garlic grinder, lest her waist be twisted off by the woman beside her.
"I see... Hmm... Let me think," Mei said, sinking into deep thought.
And Kyuusyou took the opportunity to turn her face away, the expression on her face becoming colorful... or rather, incredibly distorted.
"Got it! The Class Monitor taught me a Shenzhou dish, Pineapple Sweet and Sour Pork... Let me see." Mei hit her left palm with her right fist, making up her mind, and started rummaging in the refrigerator.
"Eh... there isn't any... Hmm. Snow and Kyuusyou, could I trouble you two to go buy some pineapple? Hmm, or... how about I leave today's grocery shopping to the two of you?" Mei's gaze once again fell on the two people in front of her.
"Okay! I'm off!" Feeling the soft flesh on her waist slowly being released, Kyuusyou agreed loudly, stood up and rushed towards the door as if fleeing for her life.
"Tsk... taking advantage and then playing innocent," Snow pouted and muttered softly.
"Himeko is in your care, Mei. Kyuusyou and I are going to the supermarket." The blonde girl pointed at Murata Himeko, who was lying on the sofa, dead drunk, still clutching a bottle of whiskey in her hand.
"Eh, Teacher Himeko!?"
"Anyway, she's in your hands, Mei." The blonde girl also darted out of the house and disappeared from Raiden Mei's sight.
-
"What's on your mind?" The two girls, having left their dorm early that morning, strolled along the academy's main road. The blonde girl noticed her companion's fleeting glances toward her, her gaze darting back and forth.
"I... were you serious this morning?" Kyuusyou asked, her voice barely above a whisper.
"About what?" The girl looked genuinely puzzled.
"You... you just kissed me directly, damn it! Were you actually serious about that—?!" Kyuusyou replayed the morning's events in her mind, her face flushing crimson.
-
"...How long can we live?" After a brief silence, the golden-haired girl posed her first question.
"?...Eternally. Even if this leaf eventually withers and falls, dissolving into sea foam, we will still exist. Our essence transcends mortal existence," Kyuusyou answered without hesitation.
"If we entrust our emotions to an ordinary human, how long can they accompany us?" the girl pressed, her second question sharp.
"At most, a few decades... Then they will age, and ultimately leave us forever..." Kyuusyou seemed to grasp something now.
"How many partings can we endure? How long can our hearts withstand such loss before growing numb...? How much can human nature endure the erosion of time?" Snow relentlessly fired off her piercing questions.
"So... you chose me? Because we are eternal?"
"Yes, because you and I are both eternal," the girl admitted, nodding candidly.
Because we are eternal, we need never suddenly part at a fleeting moment in life, forever living only in each other's memories—because we are eternally immortal.
"I can't find any reason to argue against that... But isn't our progress a bit too fast? Even ordinary relationships don't develop this quickly, do they?"
"Because we're immortal, we can skip the tedious and complicated rituals of mortal courtship and establish our bond directly. That way, no one can ever steal you from me," the golden-haired girl declared openly, flaunting her possessiveness and desire for dominance.
"And the missing steps? We can fill them in gradually over the endless years ahead."
"We have all the time in the world. Time is the one thing we never lack... What mortals cherish most, time as precious as gold, is to us merely sand to be scattered at will," the golden-haired girl pressed Kyuusyou against the roadside lamppost, trapping her in a kabedon.
"Or perhaps... Kyuusyou, do you want to have your cake and eat it too?" Snow's gaze held a hint of confusion.
"If I said I did..." the purple-haired girl replied, inexplicably out of her mind.
"I'll—kill—you—then," a voice as deep as the Abyss growled, instantly snapping Houraiji Kyuusyou back to her senses.
"Ahem... What about Little Sirin then?"
"This book contains a complete and copyable criminal law system, my dear Kyuusyou. Please don't get any outlandish ideas about your daughter's children..."
...Seems I didn't lose out after all. No, wait—did I actually make a huge profit this morning? Kyuusyou thought absently as she stared at the golden-haired girl before her.