Secret Promise

Lin Xiaolu has been in a good mood these past few days.

It's not just because school is on holiday and there's less academic work to do, but also because the workload related to magical girls has decreased.

The workload has decreased for two reasons. First, the frequency of recent Aberrant Beast attacks has further decreased, almost returning to the level of a year ago. Second, Lin Xiaolu herself has become stronger; with her Magic Armament, she is now more adept at dealing with Aberrant Beast.

Thanks to this, she now has a lot of personal time, which she hasn't had in a long time. Even if she spends a significant portion of it on her magical girl training, she still has plenty of free time to spare.

However, upon closer examination, these were not the main reasons why her mood improved.

On the fifth day of the holiday, as the New Year arrived in an orderly manner, the festive atmosphere gradually dissipated, and people returned to their normal rhythm of life. The streets and alleys have returned to their usual liveliness.

Early in the morning, Lin Xiaolu groggily opened her eyes to the sound of her alarm clock.

Last night, the two teams of new-generation magical girls and Fairy played board games all night long, and almost everyone didn't go to sleep until the early hours of the morning, so she is actually quite sleep-deprived now.

Yawning, she walked into the bathroom, groped for her towel by the sink, wet it with cold water, and then threw it at her face with a "smack."

"Call."

Feeling the cool touch of the towel on her face, Lin Xiaolu felt much better as her nerves gradually recovered. She slowly exhaled.

"You look pretty sleepy too. You don't have to go to school today, so why are you up so early?"

Moko's voice came from the side.

It was also a participant in last night's party, but because it is used to sleeping soundly during the day, it didn't have any problem with not getting enough rest even though it stayed up all night with the magical girls last night.

It originally planned to go to sleep at dawn, but it came to ask out of curiosity after seeing Lin Xiaolu get up.

"I'm sleepy... I can't even be sleepy."

Lin Xiaolu's muffled voice came from under the towel. "I have something very important to do next."

"What's important?"

Moko tilted his head and thought for a moment, then suddenly realized. "Oh, is it because I need to play mobile games when I get up in the morning...?"

"No, that's not true!"

Lin Xiaolu pulled the towel off her face and glared at Moko Ke: "You got up so early just to play mobile games? What do you take me for?"

"You were secretly playing games late at night during the final exams, weren't you?"

"I've said it so many times, it's because the game has an event!"

Lin Xiaolu raised a finger and gestured for silence to her lips. "And don't speak so loudly, didn't I tell you? Don't spread this kind of thing around."

"Who would bother spreading such trivial matters about you all the time?"

Moko rolled his eyes. "Fine, I won't say it if you don't want me to. I'm going to sleep. Can I borrow your alarm clock?"

Although he had his own room after moving to the outpost, Moko didn't really have any personal belongings, so he mostly slept in the rooms of several squad members.

Since Bai Jingxuan often stayed at the base during the day, it would frequently go back and forth between Xia Liang and Lin Xiaolu's rooms, and it had become commonplace for it to ask Lin Xiaolu for things.

"Go away, go away, whatever you want, just don't bother me." Lin Xiaolu was already used to this behavior pattern, and didn't even give a reply of agreement or disagreement, but just pushed her hand away with a lot of disgust.

Moko didn't say anything more, leisurely flapping its wings and flying out of the bathroom. But before leaving, it muttered something under its breath, which reached Lin Xiaolu's ears.

This made her involuntarily stop squeezing the toothpaste.

She put down her toothbrush, squeezed half her body out of the doorway, and angrily said to the departing figure outside:

"Who are you calling stubborn? You lazy, gluttonous little Fairy!"

"I'm just lazy!" Moko turned back and made a face at her, then sped up and flew out of the corridor.

Now that the Bai'an City Squad has gradually become familiar with the group from Fangting City, Moko, overshadowed by the two senior magical girls, Larkspur and Margaret, has long since recognized her own place.

While it still plays an irreplaceable and valuable role as Seeder, it is indeed less experienced than its two predecessors in leading and training the Magical Girl Squad.

Furthermore, Fangting City now has a severe surplus of magical girls, making the need to find new combat power irrelevant. In the end, all it can do is detect the locations of Aberrant Beast attacks.

This ability is innate to Garden Fairy; even when they are sleeping, it does not affect their ability to sense Aberrant Beast. As a result, their daily lives naturally become incredibly lazy.

At first, you might feel a little guilty about it, but as time goes by, that guilt is long gone, and all that's left is a sense of ease.

Lin Xiaolu was somewhat aware of this thought process, but ultimately couldn't see through it. That's why she tried to attack Moko on this point. However, she didn't expect that the other party was already unmoved by her tactics.

However, this didn't really have much impact on her, because what she needed to do next was the important thing: eat breakfast.

Yes, staying up all night and getting up early, carrying out this behavior with such strong willpower, all for the purpose of eating breakfast.

When Lin Xiaolu finished washing up and entered the dining room, there were already two other people having breakfast at the table.

One is White Thistle, and the other is Bai Jingxuan.

White Thistle, or rather Qiu Yun, being present was not surprising. After all, he always presented himself as meticulous and had very high standards for himself, so it was understandable that he didn't want to stay in bed. As for Bai Jingxuan... it wasn't surprising either. She was the first to leave last night because she was dragged to bed by Larkspur halfway through playing.

Lin Xiaolu's arrival, on the contrary, surprised the other two.

"Sister Xiao Lu? Why are you up so early today?" Bai Jingxuan didn't hold back and asked whatever came to mind.

After a brief eye contact, Qiu Yun said "Good morning" and then lowered her head to focus on her breakfast.

"Getting out of bed is such a simple thing, isn't it?"

Lin Xiaolu walked to the table, pulled out a chair, and said casually, "I didn't get up late before because I couldn't, it was just unnecessary."

"Really?" Bai Jingxuan, with a spoon in her mouth, uttered only two words before the spoon handle flew up and down at her lips, drawing a sidelong glance from Qiu Yun, who then silently covered her bowl with her hand.

"To be honest, I am a little sleepy."

Lin Xiaolu thought for a moment and realized she shouldn't have been so absolute, so she slightly modified her previous statement and continued, "However... hehe, today is a special day."

"A rare day?" Perhaps realizing that it was inconvenient to speak like that, Bai Jingxuan took the spoon out of her mouth.

"Don't you understand?" Lin Xiaolu raised an eyebrow, then smiled and looked away towards the kitchen. "Really? You don't understand..."

Just then, Larkspur, wearing an apron, came out of the kitchen.

She came out because of the conversation in the restaurant, since she was in charge of cooking that morning. The first thing she saw when she came out was Lin Xiaolu, who was looking right at her.

"He actually got up?"

She initially echoed the others' exclamations, but upon noticing Lin Xiaolu's current expression, she couldn't help but narrow her eyes. "What's wrong? Why are you smiling so strangely?"

"It's nothing, good morning."

Lin Xiaolu immediately composed herself and sat up straight. "I was just chatting with Bai Jingxuan about some interesting things."

"I see."

Larkspur didn't suspect anything. She simply turned around, ladled a bowl of porridge from the kitchen, and served it to Lin Xiaolu along with a fried egg. "So why did you get up so early? Didn't you sleep? Did you stay up all night?"

"Asleep."

Lin Xiaolu carefully took the bowl of porridge from Larkspur's hands. "I just had something important to do this morning, so I got up."

"Hmm?" Larkspur, puzzled.

"Look, you said yesterday that you didn't have anything else to do today, so you'll be staying at the base and will be in charge of breakfast, right?" Lin Xiaolu explained.

She was telling the truth.

Since it is already the fourth day of the new year, and the shifts at the Anomaly Countermeasures Bureau are on a three-day rotation schedule, Lin Yun, as the director, ensured that the first round of work proceeded smoothly, so he naturally had a reason to take a day off.

However, she couldn't figure out the connection between her being on vacation and Lin Xiaolu waking up early.

So...

Lin Xiaolu's next words answered her question, "The thought that you made breakfast made me get up early."

This statement seems to offer no explanation at first glance, but upon closer examination, it becomes clear what Lin Xiaolu is referring to—she believes that Larkspur made breakfast today, which is why she came.

"... So cheesy!"

Having figured out the obstacle, Larkspur could only sigh helplessly, then looked up and patted Lin Xiaolu on the back of the head. "Haven't I made breakfast for you enough times already? Don't suddenly say such strange things."

Lin Xiaolu simply smiled and didn't refute anything.

This way of interacting was naturally seen as very strange by Bai Jingxuan and Qiu Yun across the table.

Bai Jingxuan didn't think there was anything wrong with Lin Xiaolu's behavior. After all, she herself always expressed her likes and dislikes openly. It's just that she had never seen her "Sister Xiao Lu" act so intimately with Larkspur before.

As for Qiu Yun, her expression shifted from calm to confusion, then from confusion to understanding, and finally she lowered her head to look at the half-eaten porridge in her bowl, her expression turning into one of embarrassment, as if wondering, "Should I not be here?"

Fortunately, this situation did not last long. As Larkspur returned to the kitchen alone, the turbulent atmosphere at the dining table faded away like ripples from a pebble.

Lin Xiaolu picked up a spoon as if no one else was around and blew on the porridge she scooped out, while Bai Jingxuan had already finished her porridge and was slowly and methodically dealing with the eggshells in her hands.

Only Qiu Yun, after a long silence, slowly raised her head and looked at Lin Xiaolu with a complicated expression:

"How exactly did you do that?"

"Hmm?"

Lin Xiaolu was taken aback by the question. At first, she couldn't even figure out who was talking to her. It was only a few seconds later that she realized it was Qiu Yun asking her a question, "What? How did you do that?"

"It's that... they can say such things so openly and brazenly."

Qiu Yun rubbed her thumb against the rim of the bowl. "Don't you feel embarrassed?"

She wasn't particularly familiar with Lin Xiaolu, but after spending over half a month together, she believed her judgment of people shouldn't be wrong. Lin Xiaolu, clearly like herself, was an inherently dishonest person.

So, there's actually a second half to that statement: she believes that if Lin Xiaolu were still the same person she was half a month ago, she probably wouldn't have been able to do what she just did.

"Oh, you mean this?"

Lin Xiaolu understood, then stuffed the porridge in her hand into her mouth, raising her eyes as if pondering how to express herself. After a short while, she spoke again, "Do you feel awkward about acting cute with your mother?"

"Huh?"

Qiu Yun's train of thought was interrupted by the sudden question. After a moment, she hesitated before answering, "I don't know?"

"I don't know? Oh, I'm sorry."

Lin Xiaolu quickly understood the other person's answer, and her expression towards Qiu Yun softened, showing less resistance and more understanding. She put the spoon back in the bowl and raised her finger. "Then you can make an assumption. Suppose you were still with your mother now, how would you feel?"

Qiu Yun fell silent.

She did not offer any further recollection of Lin Xiaolu's "hypothesis," and it was unclear whether she was pondering the answer or immersed in her own memories.

Before she could react, Bai Jingxuan had already devoured the egg in her hand in no time, and with her bowl in her hands and her mouth full, she ran into the kitchen.

"Five Thunderbolts Collapse the Gate!"

Before running into the kitchen, the other two could still hear her muffled voice.

Suddenly, only two people were left at the table.

Lost in her own thoughts, Qiu Yun paid no attention to Bai Jingxuan's actions. She was simply searching her mind for the remaining memories of her mother, piecing together the somewhat distorted image, and finally arriving at an answer that she was not yet certain of.

She spoke again, wanting to share her answer and discuss it with Lin Xiaolu, but she saw Lin Xiaolu already boldly lifting the bowl in front of her.

Then, to Qiu Yun's utter astonishment, he put his mouth to the rim of the bowl.

Thank goodness, to ensure that all the late-rising team members also had hot porridge, Larkspur kept the porridge in the pressure cooker, placed it on the stove, and turned it on to warm it up every now and then. In other words, even if Lin Xiaolu arrived a little late, the porridge in her bowl was hot enough to scald someone's tongue.

But now, right in front of Qiu Yun, Lin Xiaolu, who was slowly blowing air and sipping her porridge just a minute ago, directly shoved it into her mouth.

Then, under her gaze, he puffed up and down his neck, as if drinking cold water, and gulped down all the porridge in the bowl.

Is this person crazy?

Qiu Yun didn't know the answer, but Lin Xiaolu didn't give her a chance to think about it. She stuffed the eggs on the table into her pajama pocket and rushed into the kitchen with the bowl in her hand.

"Me too!"

The speed of their actions, the decisiveness of their decisions, and the absurdity of their motives all left Qiu Yun in awe.

So much so that soon after, the Larkspur's angry shouts of "There are only two bowls, and you two are squeezing each other to death!" never reached her ears again.

To understand why things turned out this way, we need to go back a few days to find out.

This refers to Larkspur's answer when Lin Xiaolu asked her, "Can I treat you like my mother?"

"I don't see you as Sakura, and I could never be Sakura. If you really want to find her shadow in me, you'll probably only end up disappointed."

This was her answer.

She didn't know what Lin Xiaolu's feelings were when she made such a request. Although for her, regardless of her own status, it wasn't a big problem that her daughter depended on her a little more.

However, she still frankly revealed her truest thoughts.

When facing Lin Xiaolu, Larkspur's identity was ultimately just a disguise; her true identity was Lin Yun. And in Lin Yun's eyes, he could clearly see every little detail of the family when Anya was still alive.

She knew how much Anya doted on her daughter, and how much her daughter clung to Anya. She knew very well that no one could ever replace Anya in Lin Xiaolu's heart.

Even though Lin Xiaolu has shown trust and even intimacy with the identity of Larkspur at this stage, and even Lin Xiaolu herself feels that this feeling is genuine, Larkspur is worried that she cannot play the role of "mother" that her daughter wants.

Moreover, she understood very well that the identity of the Larkspur was not something that could last forever.

One day in the future, when she confesses everything and reveals the truth that "Larkspur is Lin Yun," everything she has done as Larkspur will inevitably be re-examined.

Larkspur believed that, apart from lying about concealing her identity, she had done most things with a clear conscience, so there weren't many problems.

But this time, if I really follow her lead and act according to Lin Xiaolu's wishes, wouldn't I be deceiving her feelings again, all while maintaining a false identity?

"I know."

Faced with Larkspur's candor, Lin Xiaolu responded with complete honesty, "I still miss my mother, and I know very well that you are not her."

"It might sound strange, but I have this strange feeling. Even though you and Mom Larkspur completely different, when I'm with you, I always feel the same way I do with Mom."

"Although it's not the same person, we felt the same way when we were together. No matter how I think about it, there's only one answer."

"I love you, Larkspur."

"I've always had a vague understanding of the feeling of 'liking' before. I only knew that I liked my mother, I didn't like my father that much, I liked magical girls on TV, and I didn't like myself."

"But later, after I met you, I felt I could distinguish what this feeling was like."

"Whenever I think of that person, I feel a warm current flowing through my heart; whenever I see that person, my heart leaps with joy; whenever we are together, I feel a deep sense of peace; whenever our eyes meet, I wish that moment could last forever."

"I want to receive more attention from that person, I want to become more important to that person, I want to be closer, I want to be able to possess them, I want... for you to stay for me."

Lin Xiaolu closed her eyes. "Larkspur, you said before that you would leave after I became a fully-fledged magical girl, right?"

"I've said it before, it's all about you taking the lead, even after you retire..."

What if I said I wanted 'forever'?

The Larkspur fell silent once more.

She could make any amount of false promises she wanted, but she couldn't lie to her daughter about this.

Because whether it's Larkspur or Lin Yun, they may eventually leave their daughter's life.

This silence has led to another interpretation of Lin Xiaolu's situation.

"Sorry... were you startled?"

She took two steps back, restoring the distance between them to normal. "I'm sorry to have shown you this side of me... but I feel I can no longer hide it from you, and I can no longer deceive myself."

"I'm not as smart as Xia Liang, nor as obedient as Bai Jingxuan. Every time I see you interacting with them, I feel an overwhelming sense of jealousy."

"I also want to be as close to you as Xia Liang, and as uninhibited as Bai Jingxuan, to express my feelings without restraint. I want to be like them... no, I want to be even more pampered than them."

"But I'm also really afraid that I'm just being delusional. After Larkspur, as a senior, you've already helped me a lot. If I, as a junior, continue to shamelessly pester you, it would really be too annoying."

At this point, she pursed her lips. "Although I seem to be shameless enough right now."

"However, instead of letting my mind wander every day and allowing my jealousy to run rampant, I think it's better to speak up and tell you all my thoughts."

"If you agree, that would be best. But if you find me annoying or irritating, then I can better understand my place in the future..."

--"Lulu."

The Larkspur's words interrupted Lin Xiaolu's increasingly rapid speech.

She didn't say much, but just two words were enough to stop Lin Xiaolu's thoughts, which were racing like a train derailing, from wandering off course, and she stared blankly at Larkspur.

"That's what Sakura has always called you, right?"

Larkspur sighed, slowly raised her hands, and then opened them to the sides. "Stop thinking nonsense, come here."

"Is it really possible?" Lin Xiaolu asked firmly.

"If you don't come, I'm giving up." Larkspur's eyelids drooped.

As soon as she finished speaking, Lin Xiaolu took two steps forward and suddenly gave her a bear hug.

The force was considerable, but only for a fourteen-year-old girl; for Larkspur, who maintained the body of a magical girl, it was practically nonexistent.

The two embraced, and that was it; there were no extra words, because an embrace was enough to convey all their emotions.

"I will leave. Sooner or later, I will depart."

After a long silence, Larkspur spoke, "I told you before that I could wait until you retired, but I don't really know if I can wait that long."

"Mmm." Lin Xiaolu rested her chin on Larkspur's shoulder and responded softly.

"However, if one day you become a magical girl capable of standing on your own, then you can choose to come along and walk with me."

Larkspur's voice was equally soft. "I won't stop you, nor do I have the right to stop you, because no one can stop a magical girl who can stand on her own."

"Hmm," Lin Xiaolu's breath came out a little heavier.

"And then, before that..."

The Larkspur paused slightly, as if making up its mind:

"If you want, feel free to act all cute and clingy, no matter who you think I am."