A misunderstanding?
Had she misunderstood Yae Sakura?
Rope looked up. The shrine maiden stood with her back to the sunlight, her face hidden in heavy shadow, yet a faint halo seemed to frame her body. Rope blinked, her long lashes trembling slightly as she tried to gauge her intentions.
"Rope, I was too careless. I thought you would forget me quickly after accepting your new life, but clearly, that wasn't the case."
Hoshino sighed.
How could she possibly forget!?
For no reason at all, Rope felt a little angry. She did not know where that anger came from, but her fists clenched on their own.
A sense of helplessness.
Her clenched fists gradually relaxed. Her anger had nowhere to go, and soon subsided.
A shadow clouded the girl's heart.
To her, the shrine maiden had been her savior, the ray of sunlight that had pierced through the darkness. But to the shrine maiden? She was merely a little girl she had encountered by chance, someone she had saved on a whim. It probably had not meant much to her.
She should have understood that long ago.
"Don't cry." Hoshino shook her head. "You'll make me look like such a scumbag."
"No, no."
Rope shook her head and tried to leave. "I was getting carried away."
She wanted to leave, and even regretted sneaking into the shrine. But as soon as she turned around, Hoshino pressed a hand onto her shoulder and forcibly turned her back. Cool fingers brushed her face, wiping away Rope's tears.
"That's why I said you misunderstood."
She smiled. "The adoption I spoke of isn't adoption in the ordinary sense. It carries a deeper meaning."
"A deeper... meaning?"
"I can't really explain the specifics. You can figure it out yourself."
Hoshino's smile was as warm and lovely