"Is that so?"
A soft, suppressed, trembling voice—angry, sorrowful, sighing, helpless... laden with indescribably complex emotions—whispered by her ear.
"Chi... Chiba..."
Yukina, who had unconsciously closed her eyes because her heart was racing and her mind had gone blank, suddenly opened them. The blush on her face instantly faded, and as her eyes widened slightly, an expression mingling surprise, astonishment, worry, and concern slowly emerged.
Then, she felt a slight tightening around her shoulders. Her lips trembling, her hands slowly loosened, and her body gradually tilted backward.
"Is that so? So that's how it is..."
At that moment, the low voice filled with incomparably complex emotions sounded by her ear again.
"Are you all right, Chiba?"
Unable to hold herself back, Yukina turned toward Chiba, who was now some distance away, her voice full of concern.
But she received no response. With a rustle, the cloak that had slipped from her shoulders when she had lunged forward too hastily was wrapped tightly around her.
Then, with a startled cry, Yukina's face suddenly changed. Caught completely off guard, she was swept up in Chiba's arms. Almost instinctively, she wrapped both arms around his neck, and two flushes of red spread across her cheeks. Though half her face was scraped against the ground, streaked with blood and dirt and looking utterly bedraggled, the rosy blush on her cheeks gave her a beauty that could not be concealed by her disheveled state.
Th-this... Chi... Chiba... What's wrong with him? Wh-why...
At that moment, her heart pounded like a deer's, even faster than before. Her entire body had gone limp and hot, and though her throat moved, she could no longer speak. With so many people watching, she was so embarrassed that she buried her face in Chiba's chest and shut her eyes, not