Catherine blinked, clearly unsure if she should be insulted or impressed. “Code Nine?” she repeated slowly, her tone ced with fusion.Yuzu nodded firmly, as though this was the only possible response. “Yes. Code hat is what you will call Yuzu, or else...” She trailed off with a teasing grin, as if leaving the threat open-ended but pletely unnecessary.Catheri out a long, exasperated sigh but couldn’t hold back a ugh at the absurdity of it all. “You’re impossible,” she muttered, but her voice held a hint of fondness."Is… it safe now, Miss Catherine?" a cautious voice called from the distaurning toward the source, I spotted Lisa and Elise emergiantly from behind the trees. They moved with the careful precision of soldiers who expected an ambush at any moment, eyes darting around as if waiting for something ter another round of chaos. But when they saw the tension had dissipated, their shoulders visibly rexed, though both were still clearly on edge.Lisa offered a small, polite smile as she stepped forward, a breath of relief esg her. “Oh, hello there, Miss Yuzu.”Yuzu, still standing with her arms folded, gave a small, almost dismissive nod in Lisa’s dire. “Hello, Cute Lisa,” she replied, as if it was the most natural thing in the world.Catherine, who had just barely recovered from the citrus fruit i and was still rubbing her forehead in disbelief, turned sharply to Yuzu. She pointed an accusatory fioward her, clearly still processing the earlier events.“Wait, wait, wait,” Catherierrupted. “Why she call you by your name, and I ’t?”Yuzu bli Catherine as if the question was baffling to her. She tilted her head thoughtfully, then responded with utter siy, “Because Lisa food bery good.”Catherine froze, her eyes narrowing in disbelief. “That’s it?!” she asked incredulously.Yuzu nodded sagely, the seriousness in her expression unwavering. “Food bery powerful. Good food equals good person.”The words seemed to hang in the air for a moment as Catherine’s expression twisted in pure offense. “Unbelievable,” she muttered, rubbiemples as if trying to process the logic—or ck thereof.Lisa, catg the humor iuation, giggled softly, c her mouth with a hand. “I’m honored, Miss Yuzu,” she said, her eyes twinkling with amusement.Meanwhile, Catherine looked like she’d just beerayed by the very fabric of the universe. She sighed heavily, exasperation dripping from her voice. “This is insane,” she muttered under her breath.I couldn’t help but stifle a ugh. Watg the se unfold, I couldn’t help but find the trast between Yuzu’s unshakable, almost childlike seriousness and Catherine’s growing frustration utterly hirious. It felt like I was watg two very different worlds collide—and I loved it.Suddenly, I felt a strong urge to yawn. However, it was disrupted when I remembered the presence of a deposing body near me.The moment Yuzu grabbed my wrist with both hands, a wave of warmth spread through me. Her grip was firm but not forceful, her soft palms pressing against my skin with an almost childlike enthusiasm.“Mashiro go sleb now?” she asked, her head tilting as she gazed up at the moonlit sky. “But it bery still not m yet.”I opened my mouth to protest, but a yawrayed me, esg before I could stop it. I quickly covered my mouth, my cheeks flushing with embarrassment.“I’m sorry…” I muttered, my voice slightly muffled behind my hand. “I feel really sleepy, even though I slept a lot.”Yuzu blinked, staring at me as if processing my words. Then, with a decisive nod, she grinned.“Okay!” she decred, her tone filled with unwavering fidence. “Yuzu guard while Mashiro sleb. Let get Mashiro to sleb!”Before I could react, Yuzu tugged me forward, her small but strong hands guiding me along as if personally esc me to bed was now her most important missionCatheri out a tired sigh as she watched Yuzu drag me away with unwaverihusiasm. “Why do I feel like this is going to be more trouble than it’s worth?” she muttered under her breath, shaking her head.Elise chuckled softly. “Miss Yuzu seems… very dedicated.”“That’s one way to put it,” Catherine grumbled, casting o g the corpse before turnitention back to us. “I’ll hahings here. Just—try not to cause another disaster before sunrise.”I barely heard her words as Yuzu pulled me along with surprising strength, my feet stumbling slightly to keep up. She moved with a sense of purpose, weaving through the trees with the single-minded determination of someone on a grand mission.“Mashiro need good sleb,” Yuzu announced, gng back at me with absolute certainty. “Good sleb make Mashir.”I sighed, a tired smile tugging at my lips. “I don’t think sleep works that way…”Yuzu’s fox ears twitched as she gave me a knowing look. “Mashiro no uand. Sleb is bery powerful. Yuzu always wake up stronger after good sleb.”I didn’t have the energy tue. The moment we reached a clearing, Yuzu finally let go of my wrist and spun around, nodding in approval. “This bery good pce. Soft grass. Smell nice. Moon bery round.”I couldn’t help but chuckle. “That’s your criteria food sleeping spot?”“Mm!” Yuzu crouched doatted the grass proudly. “Perfect.”Despite my exhaustion, I found myself smiling. Yuzu’s strange way of viewing the world had a way of making things feel a little lighter. As I sat down, stretg my legs out in front of me, a sense of calm washed over me.Yuzu plopped down beside me, crossing her arms fidently. “Mashiro sleb. Yuzu guard.”I hesitated for a moment before finally lying down, my wings folding against my back. The grass was surprisingly soft, the night air crisp but not too cold. The distant hoots of owls and the rustling of leaves made for an oddly soothing lulby.Yuzu sat upright, her dark eyes sing the surroundings like a vigint protector. “No worry, Mashiro. Yuzu keep danger away.”A small ugh escaped me. “Thanks, Yuzu.”As my eyes fluttered shut, I heard Yuzu humming softly beside me, her tail swishing bad forth in te.For the first time in what felt like forever, I allowed myself to truly rex.

  ? ? ?

  The lone woman stood he edge of the rooftop, the breeze pying with her long silver hair as she gazed out at the city below. The sky stretched endlessly above us, a brilliant shade of blue, with soft white clouds drifting zily across it.I stood beside her, far too close to the edge for fort. My breath hitched as I looked down. The sheer height made my stomach , and my legs wobbled beh me. A sharp sense of vertigo crept in, but I forced myself to turn my attention back to the girl at my side.She sat there in silence, her posture calm yet distant, as if the world around her barely mattered. I ched my fists, willing myself to move. I had po wrestle her if I ever saw her again, to pull her back before she could act, but my body refused to listen. My instincts screamed at me to stop her, yet something about her expressio me frozen in pce.Mencholy. Regret. A quiet sorrow that weighed heavier than words ever could.“Sorry,” she murmured, her voice heavy with aion I couldn’t quite pce. “You weren’t supposed to see that.”I blinked, caught off guard. “See what?”She turo face me slowly, her silver eyes distant, almost as if she were staring through me, lost in something from the past. “My high school days,” she said softly, her gaze drifting away.I stood in silence, unsure of what to do or say. My mind tried to make sense of it, but I had no expectations, no clear idea of what these enters were supposed to be.“Were you… delusional?” I blurted out, regretting the question immediately. The versation she’d had with her mother echoed in my mind, but I couldn’t hide the curiosity that bubbled up.She chuckled softly, her smile never fading. “You’re oo talk,” she said with a pyful glint in her eyes. “At least I didn’t get lost in a world of virtual characters and shiny rewards.”I narrowed my eyes on her. “Hey, they’re not just virtual characters. They have depth and stories,” I protested, my pout deepening.“Sure, sure,” she said, a teasing smirk tugging at her lips. “I’m sure they’ve got real depth.”I sighed, rubbing the bay neck. “You have no idea,” I muttered, half-smiling in spite of myself.She raised an eyebrow, clearly amused. "Oh, I think I have an idea. But hey, if you're really that ied, I guess they're more than just pixels on a s to you."I nodded firmly, crossing my arms. "Exactly! They're... they're like, living characters. There's so much to learn from them. Some of their struggles hit closer to home than you'd think."She nodded, her expression more serious now, though still with a hint of pyfulness. “Yeah, the world be overwhelming. Sometimes it's easier to hide behind a s or in a story where the stakes are clear, and the rules make sense. But... What happens when the s goes dark?”