Rustling—
Shizuku emerged from behind the curtain of shadows cast by the trees.
She straightened her slightly crooked Black-rimmed Glasses, tugged up her jeans, then lowered her head and blinked. After that, she zipped up her fly.
The whole sequence of motions was a little indecent, but somehow looked cute when she did it.
She glanced around, then lifted a leg to leave—only to lock eyes with Biscuit, who stood not far away holding a wooden basin that had been used to pour out the water for washing their feet.
"Shizuku? What are you doing here?"
"I..."
Shizuku tried to use everything she had learned in her life to come up with a perfect excuse. Then her mind went blank, and her eyes turned vacant.
There doesn't seem to be any suitable excuse. Besides, why do I need to come up with one?
Shizuku blinked her big eyes, thinking with considerable confidence.
Biscuit looked at Shizuku curiously.
She had only happened to run into her and asked casually, but Shizuku's reaction afterward made her suspicious. She couldn't help looking her up and down.
"You've got a leaf on your head... And why are your cheeks so red? Do you have a fever? Should I get Shubika to come take a look?"
Shizuku glanced upward but couldn't see anything. Then she patted her short black hair and sure enough, knocked off a curled, withered leaf.
Had it fallen on her head while she was rolling around, or when she'd just come out of the woods?
Shizuku couldn't remember.
"I'm fine."
She emphasized that she didn't have a fever. Her temperature had indeed been alarmingly high not long ago, but it had come down now.
Shizuku obediently clasped her hands behind her back and pressed her lips together, making no attempt to