Chapter 94

She picked up her coat from the side, then tiptoed to get her hat. As she turned around, the seriousness on her face vanished, replaced by a playful smile.

"Efnir, I have an appointment next, so I'll take my leave now."

She even smiled and waved as she left.

Bye-bye~

"..."

Efnir quietly watched Masaki Hina leave. The door clicked shut, and then it was pushed open again a short while later.

This time it was the Yanase couple. They shook off the rainwater outside the door before coming into the ward.

Efnir subtly put the ring away from her hand and smiled.

Good morning, Dad, Mom.

Good morning... Naoto, how are your injuries?

The temperature dropped sharply today; the originally hot weather suddenly became quite chilly. Takuma Yanase helped Kaoru Yanase take off her coat and hang it on the coat rack.

"The recovery is going quite well."

Efnir's eyes crinkled at the corners, a smile playing on them.

Seeing that Efnir seemed to be in good spirits, Kaoru Yanase's tense heart relaxed a little.

"Naoto, I've prepared breakfast for you. Eat it while it's hot."

"Thank you, Mom..."

Kaoru Yanase opened the warm lunchbox and placed it on the folding side table.

Wisps of fragrant white mist dispersed.

"Mom, did you make this?"

Instead of letting Efnir do it herself, Kaoru Yanase carefully shook the porridge and brought it to Efnir's lips with a spoon.

"I just made it. I've finally come back, and I've never cooked before. I tried it, and it seems like my skills have declined a bit."

"I think it tastes pretty good."

"Eat slowly, it's a little hot."

Kaoru Yanase watched Efnir swallowing in small sips, she suddenly stopped and sighed.

"Naoto, your dad and I are leaving today..."

Takuma Yanase stood silently to the side, his eyes dim, while Kaoru Yanase suddenly shed a few tears halfway through her sentence.

We wanted to spend more time with you, but...

"It's alright, Dad, Mom."

Efnir pushed aside the side table, reached out and gently hugged her mother, patting her soft back with her palm. She grinned at Takuma Yanase.

"I have Yukina with me, so you two don't need to worry about things at home. Don't let my current delicate appearance fool you; I used to be a real man. No matter what happens, you can rest assured."

Before 5 p. m., it was time for the first-year students of the Youcheng Girls' Academy to leave school.

The classrooms and school grounds became more lively than ever before.

Today, Yukina left school alone again.

My uncle and aunt came over at noon to deliver lunch and also said goodbye before leaving.

Yukina attended the parent-teacher meeting alone in the afternoon.

After school too.

The students, whom I only occasionally exchange a few words with, all traveled with their parents.

Surprisingly, in the afternoon, Kanade Kotone's father came from his company and attended the grade's parent-teacher meeting, which was a rare occurrence for him.

That was the first time Yukina had met Kanade Kotone's father in person. Unlike what she had imagined, Kanade Kotone's father had the aura of a business elite. In short, because of this Kanade Kotone's original plan to go to the hospital with Yukina was ruined.

Is Naoko feeling better now?

The drizzle was chilly, the damp air felt heavy and suffocating, and dark clouds rolled towards the distant high-rises. The sky had been gloomy all day, and the rain still hadn't stopped.

Yukina shelter outside the school gate, holding her phone, talking to Efnir.

On the other end of the phone, Efnir chuckled softly as she chatted with Yukina. Efnir sounded energetic, and Yukina's brow, which had been furrowed all day, relaxed slightly.

Hearing Naoko's voice makes her feel at ease.

But whenever she recalled the words she overheard outside the ward that morning, Yukina was overwhelmed with indescribable sadness.

"School got out early today. Doesn't the student council have anything to do?"

"... Well, there's nothing much going on at school today. Since there's a parent-teacher meeting, there's no need for us to stay for class, so we'll just let everyone go home early."

With her phone held to her ear in one hand and an umbrella and commuter bag in the other, Yukina stood under the rain shelter and looked towards the bus stop.

At first glance, all I could see were throngs of people and colorful umbrellas.

In Xijing City, not many families own expensive consumer goods like private cars that require electricity or fuel. Even so, the roads outside the school are congested to a considerable extent due to the cars parked by parents, with traffic jams stretching from one end of the road to the other.

So, although it's not yet rush hour, most of the first-year high school students and their parents are already crowded at the bus stop, packed three or four deep.

Besides, it was raining, and the large number of umbrellas crammed together didn't look nice; it was just noisy.

Yukina hated rainy days more and more.

She looked at the crowded bus stop, thought for a moment, and instead of taking the bus, she walked in another direction.

She came to a shopping street.

The distance from the school isn't too far. Strictly speaking... this place is more like an entertainment street for students and young people than a shopping street or pedestrian street. Whether it's the currently popular snacks and clothing, or interesting merchandise and souvenirs, or places like arcades, KTVs, and internet cafes, you can find almost anything you can think of here.

131. Gift

After school, Yukina used to like to walk through here and take the bus on the other side of the street. Compared to the buses in front of the school that were reserved for students, the buses on that side had more of the feel of the city. There were no classmates she knew, so she didn't need to nod or greet anyone, and she didn't need to care about other people's gazes or words.

Yukina preferred that feeling of freedom.

However, the bigger reason is that there are several shops on this street that sell "Magical Girl Efnir" merchandise, Yukina spends most of her time in those shops when she comes here.

"I've heard rumors that the student council is planning to push forward with the school festival project... These kinds of tasks are always handled by the student council, so things might suddenly get busy..."

Yukina was reluctant to hang up the phone and chatted on and off.

She liked listening to Naoko's voice.

"However... the school festival plan hasn't been finalized yet. The upperclassmen are still in class, and they told me there's nothing special planned for today, so I came back first."

The air was dark and gloomy, and the puddles beneath our feet were shattered into pieces.

"Because I wanted to see Naoko as soon as possible..."

Yukina spoke, Naoko's gentle laughter reached her ears, making her feel at ease.

Suddenly, she stopped in front of a shop.

Before me was a secondhand store. Compared to the elegantly decorated shops in the bustling city center, this store near the school had a more youthful vibe. The walls were covered with all sorts of posters, paintings, uniquely shaped jewelry, and clippings of magazines. Some students would bring in their treasured items to sell. While secondhand stores elsewhere mainly sell luxury goods with a certain significance, here, where students gathered, the focus was on various interesting collectibles from their student days.

For example, there are cards, figurines, as well as game consoles, CDs, cameras, and photo albums.

In short, they were all strange and unusual things that came from the students, and in a sense, they were quite nostalgic.

What caught Yukina's eye was the portrait of "Magical Girl Efnir" that was perfectly framed in a photo album.

It seemed to be a fan's work; Yukina could tell at a glance that from the hair and skin to the nails, the painting was meticulously drawn bit by bit with nail polish. The painting was held in the hands of a tall girl who looked young, not much older than Yukina, and wasn't wearing a school uniform, so she didn't seem to be a student at the Youcheng Girls' Academy.

She gently stroked the painting, her fingertips leaving faint watermarks on the glass surface. Then she carefully wiped it clean with her sleeve and gently placed it on the table.

Yukina shifted her gaze and looked at the painting a few more times; it didn't have a price listed on it.

Perhaps... these items are stored here more as a way to showcase them or exchange them with others than to sell them?

Even a portrait of this size cannot be sold without Efnir's consent; it must have been paid a deposit to be displayed here.

Yukina didn't like this kind of deal, so she gave up the idea of buying the painting.

Ultimately, Yukina didn't really like the images that were created by others and existed in their eyes and minds. She was only attracted to the paintings because the person in them was Naoko.

Without thinking much about it, Yukina turned and left. After walking a few steps, Yukina stopped in front of a shop window.

Inside the clean glass door, behind a narrow display shelf, a young couple were gently embracing.

Wearing the uniforms of the Youcheng Girls' Academy, and being of similar height, they could approach each other without even trying, close their eyes, and shyly kiss.

At this moment, one of them carefully pulled out a gift box.

The expressions on their faces did not escape Yukina's notice.

"Speaking of which, Naoko's birthday is coming up soon..."

Shinomiyami Nami brought several bouquets of flowers to Efnir's hospital room, took away the already sickly bouquets, and replaced them with fresh ones.

She wiped the sweat from her forehead.

Because of her eye injury, Efnir has to avoid using her eyes as much as possible. Even though her left eye is still intact, subconscious reactions and eye movements still cause a stinging sensation in her right eye.

The pain, unbearable for most people, tormented Efnir constantly.

Even if it's not obvious on the surface.

But Shinomiyami Nami knew that Efnir was always like this, never showing her pain on her face, so she hoped she could help in a little way, hoping that these lovely flowers would make Efnir feel a little better.

"Why don't you take a rest? You haven't had a break since then, have you?"

"Ah, it's nothing."

When faced with Efnir's words of concern, Shinomiyami Nami simply waved her hand.

"This isn't a big problem; it's you who needs more rest."

Efnir smiled helplessly, offering no comment.

She couldn't get a proper rest at all. Although she was very tired and wanted to close her eyes and take a nap, it was not something that Efnir could easily do right now.

Last night, because Yukina was by her side, Efnir managed to doze off for about two hours.

But then I woke up with a tearing pain in my shoulder, and after that I couldn't sleep at all.

Her whole body felt like it was being burned. Even when she was completely still, the intense sensation continued to ravage Efnir's consciousness. Moreover, because of Qinglan and the Apostle, Efnir's mind was full of chaotic thoughts. If she could fall asleep like this, she would have gone to sleep long ago.

Where did these flowers come from?

"These things were sent by your Fan Club. As soon as they heard you were injured, they sent a whole bunch of gifts to comfort you. Besides these flowers, there were a lot of weird things that I didn't bring."

"Is that so? Thank you for your hard work."

Shinomiyami Nami sighed wearily and said irritably, "Who do you think usually takes care of all this for you?"

Efnir gave a dry laugh and asked, "Has word of my injury already spread?"

"It's been circulating for a while now, but most of what's said online is just baseless rumors."

Shinomiyami Nami paused.

The news that Efnir was wounded in battle was never made public, but it still spread among some people. Although people did not know whether the news was reliable or not, before confirming its authenticity, a lot of condolence gifts from the Fan Club had already been piled up indiscriminately.

Of course, the gifts were not delivered directly to the hospital room, but were handled by Shinomiyami Nami and placed in other locations.

Regardless of how she usually handles gifts, Efnir is currently recovering from a serious injury, and it would be difficult to deal with if someone took the opportunity to send her something with ill intentions. Therefore, Shinomiyami Nami is very strict about the handling of these gifts and never brings them to Efnir's hospital room.

The bouquets in Efnir's hospital room were all personally selected and delivered by Shinomiyami Nami.