She Would Never Tell

"Right..."

Qian Huanyue suddenly seemed to remember something. Under everyone's gaze, she slowly leaned toward Shiori.

"Hm?!" Shiori's body instantly tensed, her pupils widening slightly.

"Huanyue... Sister?" Kotori tilted her head in confusion.

"Oh my~ How bold of you, Miss Huanyue." The rabbit hand puppet Yoshinon spoke in a teasing tone, while Yoshino shyly covered her face with her other hand, secretly peeking through her fingers.

"Huanyue?" Tohka blinked as well, completely baffled.

"!"

Shiori's breathing grew ragged. She could clearly feel their bangs blending together, their noses drawing extremely close, and even the warmth of the other's forehead...

A tingling itch spread across her face. Shiori's heart pounded wildly as she endured with all her might, afraid she would let out an embarrassing moan in front of everyone.

Qian Huanyue's expression remained unchanged. She closed her eyes, seemingly focused on sensing something, completely absorbed in it.

However, aside from sensing Shiori's noticeably elevated, even somewhat feverish body temperature, as well as her slightly disordered yet desperately suppressed breathing and heartbeat... she detected no sign of Spiritual Power flowing at all.

"It looks like I failed to seal it." Qian Huanyue opened one eye and stood up, speaking with extraordinary calm. "My Spiritual Power."

"Huanyue, are you all right?!" Shiori asked almost immediately, a lingering blush still on her face.

"I'm fine." Qian Huanyue shook her head, her tone relaxed. "I'm just a little puzzled. It seems that... at least for the time being, trying to restore the Spiritual Power in your body through 'sealing' won't work."

Kotori, however, looked quite surprised. "Sister Huanyue, weren't you very opposed to sealing before?"

After all, Qian Huanyue had explicitly rejected that option in the past.

"..." Qian Huanyue pressed a finger to her lips and tilted her head slightly. A flash of