Living in the Sunlight

Hoshino pondered for a moment, feeling that what she had blurted out was somewhat inappropriate.

Miss Rope was, after all, a thief who operated in the gray areas. Strictly speaking, she ought to be thrown in prison. Without stricter assessments, it would inevitably be unfair to the other reserve members of "clean background." As a superintendent, Hoshiguma clearly had more to consider than the average person. This was all part of her job.

Thinking that Ch'en should have finished eating by now, Hoshino hurried out to take a look.

Sure enough, Ch'en had finished her noodles, wrapped up the bowl, chopsticks, and plastic bag before tossing them into the trash, then stood at the entrance filled with determination.

"Where is that person?"

After waiting an entire day without receiving Yae Sakura's sword, she was seriously annoyed.

Hoshiguma had run inside to pray, perhaps even tossing in a few Lungmen Dollars. To Ch'en, that was a textbook act of defection. It was just that such feelings were too childish, and as an adult, she would not say them aloud.

Officer Hoshiguma, you traitor!

"You're still too impatient. Once you feel tranquility, she'll probably come down."

Hoshino would stall for as long as she could. Something as mysterious as [feel tranquility] was entirely up to her interpretation, anyway. If Hoshino said Ch'en had gained some insight, then she had gained insight. She just had to bluff her way through it.

"Old Ch'en, go back to work early. If you don't, your attendance pay for this month will all be deducted. What will the juniors think of you?"

"Once you're back, request sick leave for me."

During the time she had been involved with the shrine maiden, Ch'en had become even better at talking nonsense. Hoshiguma shook her head. Seeing that persuasion was futile, she quickly mounted her motorcycle and left the shrine. It was only mealtime before the evening shift, and she still had to go back for her night duty.

That was the sorrow of being a corporate drone.

Hoshiguma actually knew how stubborn Ch'en was. No one could change Ch'en's mind.

All she could do was offer a little advice.

Ch'en waited beneath the mountain gate, and Hoshino saw it all. She hurried back to Tenshukaku to think of a countermeasure. Her most urgent task now was to complete the mission and get Spirit Katana: Sakura Blossom into her hands. Then she would not need to fear Ch'en's Chi Xiao.

To be honest, that sword gave her a bit of psychological trauma.

"Gyakushinn Miko, henshin!"

A brief flash of light passed by, and the long-haired shrine maiden returned. Hoshino pulled Rope in from outside, intending to have a heart-to-heart with her.

Rope finally saw the shrine maiden, and the burden in her heart slowly eased.

She looked around and asked, "Um... where did that white-haired big sister go?"

"She went out to have fun. Don't mind her. Today, let's talk about you."

"About me?"

Rope looked somewhat stunned, then quickly adopted an extremely relaxed expression. She took a slight step back, as though an invisible barrier had risen between them. "What's there to talk about? I just want to earn enough to eat and avoid starving to death in this dog-eat-dog Lungmen."

"Stop lying. Haven't you always wanted to be specially recruited into the Lungmen Guard Department?"

Rope lowered her head.

Rather than a desire, it was more like a distant dream. It had grown from the secret delight of never being caught, time after time. She had watched young guards walk past her as she hid in the shadows of deep alleys, laughing at their stupidity.

They're not all that impressive.

If it were me, I'd definitely do a better job than them.

That thought had taken root, sprouted, and grown strong like a great tree. Eyes hidden in the gray zones watched the people beneath the sunlight, cautiously examining the differences between herself and them, comparing them one by one, wondering whether she could someday become one of them.

It was a tangled mix of disdain, longing, and inferiority.

Extremely complicated.

Like iron exposed to water, once Rope was touched by those emotions, her whole person visibly became "duller."

She had not gone out to steal for two days.

Hoshino watched her blank expression, sighed softly, and said,

"Kallen has spoken with Hoshiguma, your examiner. Your greatest problem isn't your skills, but your mindset. Your heart has never held anything beyond survival. That was true in the past, and though you've changed somewhat now, survival still comes first for you."

Put nicely, Rope prioritized survival.

Put harshly, terms like selfishness and egotism could pour forth endlessly, but Hoshino did not want to use them.

She only addressed the most fundamental issue.

"You've moved into the shrine, and your three daily meals are guaranteed. You no longer need to worry about survival. But it's only been a short time, so it's normal that your way of thinking cannot change overnight. Still, since we've laid everything out in the open, you truly long for life in the sunlight. Then first think about how people living in the sunlight actually live."

Too many words would ruin it. Rope should come to understand on her own.

Hoshino did not want to simply wash her hands of the matter after completing the system-assigned mission. After all, the person standing before her was a living, breathing human being. Helping Rope enter the Guard Department was only opening a door. There was still a long road beyond it.

As for the reason...

This was a shrine, and Hoshino was a shrine maiden who granted wishes. She would treat it as a bit of role-playing.

Back in the small room temporarily assigned to her, Rope pondered.

She truly was someone who regarded survival as incomparably important. Because she could lose it at any moment, she cherished it all the more. There was nothing she could do about that.

What would people living in the sunlight do?

She looked around. Since the shrine was located atop the mountain, it had excellent lighting. Vast swaths of sunset shone in. There was none of the stench of the slums here. Rope liked this feeling, yet instinctively believed that none of it should belong to her.

She felt deeply inferior and afraid of losing it all.

She had lived here for two days already, but apart from a bed, she had not even gone out to buy any other furniture. Those feelings were precisely why. Only now did Rope suddenly realize that their influence had seeped in unnoticed. Instinctively, she believed that such a life did not belong to her.

People in the sunlight?

Rope sat on the bed, the creaking of its wooden frame sounding by her ears.

She looked ahead. The sunset slanted down along the window frame, spilling onto the ground not far before her. Suddenly, an impulse welled up inside Rope. She gently took off her shoes and socks, stretched out her long legs with all her strength, and tried to let the sunlight fall upon the tops of her feet.

Her rounded toes wiggled lightly, her calves taut, her ankles slender. Under the sunlight, they gleamed with a translucent, pearl-like whiteness.

So warm.

That was what she thought.

This was what it felt like to live in the sunlight. Even doing nothing could make one feel happy. It was something Rope had desperately pursued, yet something some people possessed from the moment they were born.

She had to learn how to live in the sunlight.

First, Rope felt that she needed to learn gratitude.