Cupping the Face Kill

"Eh...?!"

Caught off guard, Gepard had his wrist seized by the Trailblazer and was hurriedly pulled toward the station.

The man froze for a moment, lowered his head to look at Stelle's hand around his wrist, and a faint blush rose to his cheeks.

They reached the cable car station, the only route connecting the Upper District and Boulder Town.

Unfortunately, it was a workday, and the lunch break had already ended. The entire station was empty; apart from the hum of the vending machines, there was no other sound.

Stelle stopped, panting, casually let go of Gepard, and brushed aside the stray hair before her eyes.

So tired. Being a thief really does make you feel guilty.

It had clearly only been a matter of going down a few flights of stairs, but because she had a guilty conscience and was afraid Sampo would spot her, she had run as though her feet had been greased.

After steadying her uneven heartbeat, she prepared to find a bench to sit on and let out a long sigh with Gepard.

But the young man had her sit and wait for him first. Before long, he returned holding a freshly made cup of steaming hot chocolate.

The moment Stelle looked up, she saw Gepard offering her a cup of hot chocolate. She accepted it, and as she inhaled the sweet scent rising from the cup, she felt as though it had eased the headache brought on by the Mulled Wine she had drunk at noon.

"Wow, Gepard, thank you."

The girl smiled and patted the space beside her, watching Gepard take a seat.

Mr. Guard looked at the Trailblazer as though he wanted to say something but hesitated. He clearly wanted to apologize for having left for a while because of work and failing to protect the Trailblazer the entire time.

Gepard really was far too easy to read.

Just from the way he looked at her, she could tell what he wanted to say.

The Trailblazer smiled and shook her head, putting Gepard at ease.

"It's fine, don't worry about me. I'm the famous Galaxy Bat Knight, you know? Sampo should be grateful I wasn't the one bullying him. You don't think I'm the type to get bullied, do you?"

Gepard suddenly choked up. Thinking it over carefully, the Trailblazer did have a point.

After leaving Belobog, she had gone to several other worlds. He had occasionally heard the Express Crew mention them.

The dangers she had faced were no joke. Yet she had emerged from all of it unscathed, so the Trailblazer must have been extraordinarily capable.

He let out a breath and no longer maintained his tense posture, relaxing against the back of the bench. In his sky-blue eyes was reflected the Trailblazer's figure, like a little gray raccoon, as if he wanted to etch her appearance deep into his memory.

"I heard you mention it during lunch. It seems the Express Crew is preparing to warp again?"

"Yeah."

Stelle sighed. It would have been better not to bring it up. Whenever it was mentioned, she thought of the future Aha had shown her.

A silent, frozen March 7th; Dan Heng, gravely injured and unconscious; and herself, scattering away as golden butterflies.

This warp had all the air of a last stand, of burning the boats behind them. Winning over Sampo alone was not enough—not enough to save the Express Crew's future.

Just as some girls became idols to save their schools, she, the Trailblazer, would become an Emanator of Elation who flirted with everyone she met for the sake of the Express Crew!

With that thought, Stelle pretended to be moved, sincerely wiped away tears that did not exist from the corner of her eye, then took Gepard's hands in both of hers with an expression that said she had a favor to ask.

"So, Gepard, I heard this warp will be fraught with difficulties. You absolutely have to help me!"

"What do you need me to do? I'll do my very best."

Seeing Stelle look as if she had some major matter to entrust to him, Gepard could not help sitting up straight.

Right, what did she need Gepard to do?

If you can't find it by searching the book title, try searching for the author instead! It may simply have been renamed!

What exactly counted as "successfully winning someone over," according to Aha?

Stelle mentally knocked on Aha's door and asked quietly, "So what counts as successfully winning someone over?"

Aha yawned lazily. "Just go ahead and do it. After all, the right to interpret everything belongs to me."

Stelle: Aha, could you stop giving me this kind of nonsense where you say a lot but explain nothing...?

Still, Stelle had not expected there to be no standard answer for winning someone over.

She had thought success meant the other person saying, "I like you," or maybe a kiss.

But Aha had told her, "Give it everything you've got and don't worry so much."

If there was no standard answer, then any answer could potentially earn full marks.

She just needed to fill out the whole test paper as best she could.

That was what she would do.

Stelle rubbed her hands together, filled with motivation from head to toe.

"Can I really, Gepard? Then could I... touch your face?"

"Of course you ca... hm?"

Having instinctively agreed to her request, Gepard suddenly realized something was wrong just as he was about to finish saying "can."

Eh? Touch his... face?

Gepard blinked in bewilderment. Before he could figure out what was happening, he suddenly felt as though the entire world had been switched to slow motion.

Why?

Why had the Trailblazer suddenly made such a request of him?

His breathing had slowed to one-tenth its usual rate, and he did not even have the strength to make a single movement as he watched the Trailblazer beside him unhurriedly lower her head and remove her gloves.

Her fingers were so fair and delicate, her nails neatly trimmed into smooth curves. The warmth of the steaming hot chocolate she had been holding had washed away the chill from her fingertips.

Those tender, scallion-white hands gently slid along his neck, climbed to his jaw, and slowly cradled his face.

For quite a long time now, Gepard had forgotten what it felt like to have his face touched.

Rewind more than ten years, back when Serval had still been attending school with the former Supreme Guardian, Lady Cocolia. Back then, he had been thoroughly tormented by his sister, Serval.

Serval had declared, "The Landau Family can't possibly produce someone tone-deaf! Gepard, sing for me!"

At the time, Gepard had not even been as tall as Serval. He stood ramrod straight in the corner like a soldier, learning to sing after Serval, word by word, line by line.

Then he saw Serval cover her ears in exasperation before walking over and reaching out to knead and pinch his face all over.

In the end, she tossed out, "Sigh, the Landau Family has produced an exception," then left in frustration. She never again took the initiative to ask Gepard to sing.

So that was the most recent memory Gepard had of being face-cupped.

And then there was today. Now. This moment. Right here.

Someone like Gepard, who normally deliberately kept half a meter away from the opposite sex, had never imagined that one day the Trailblazer would treat him like this...

He had completely lost track of how he was supposed to react.

Which was exactly what the Trailblazer wanted.

See? For a well-behaved older man like Gepard, there was no need to activate the Elation Switch. All it took was being direct and adding a little simple physical contact to win him over.

Stelle seemed to hear the sound effect of affection rising beside her ear: Ding↗ ding↗ ding↗~