"Junior Sister"

"Just sitting on a boat is pretty boring, isn't it?"

"...Wait, you're not going to..."

"Well~" Dania smiled as she rummaged through her suitcase. "I happened to buy a Huanglong-style outfit in Jinzhou. I meant to surprise you with it... but then I overslept and forgot all about it..."

"But... it's not too late now."

Lu Guan was a little disappointed. "You're just going to show me an outfit?"

"Mm-hmm~ What else did you have in mind? This outfit was expensive. It cost me a good chunk of my living allowance!"

The absurd thing was that even though Dania had fallen out with the president, an allowance was still deposited into her account every month, and it was twice as much as before...

Although Dania didn't know what the president was thinking, she had no qualms about spending the Fractsidus' money...

She would just consider it compensation for emotional distress.

"Spend it, then... What else is money for? It's not like... Hey, hey, hey... All right, all right... I'll go out myself..."

As he spoke, Dania pushed him out the door, saying she wanted to surprise him, and warned him in a fiercely affected tone.

"No peeking until I've changed and called you back in! Or you'll be sleeping on the floor tonight!"

"All right, all right... Whatever you say..." Lu Guan shrugged helplessly.

Ten minutes later, Dania's voice came from the guest room, shy and a little nervous. "C-come in!"

Lu Guan pushed open the door and froze.

Dania had changed into a pink-and-white Huanglong-style dress and put her hair in twin tails. She looked just like...

"Voice of the Voiceless?" Lu Guan blurted out.

Dania: "??? What are you talking about, you idiot?! Don't I look like a junior sister from one of our Huanglong martial arts sects in this outfit?"

Lu Guan rubbed his chin. "Huh? Now that you mention it... You really do have that look, Yaya!"

"Changli picked these clothes out for me! This is the first time I've worn them for you!" Dania sounded aggrieved. "It took me so long to work up the courage..."

Lu Guan teased her. "You weren't like this back in the academy library... You know..."

"Aahhh, don't say another word!"

The blush on the girl's face said more than any words of love.

Perhaps it was because she had spent so long in Huanglong. Dania was always in the habit of imitating other people's behavior, and, if nothing else, her sense of modesty had changed quite a bit...

After Lu Guan's interruption, Dania was no longer in the mood.

She plopped down on the bed, puffed out her cheeks, folded her arms, and turned her head away from Lu Guan, looking as if to say, "Hurry up and make it up to me."

"Ah... Don't be mad." Lu Guan sat beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. "If you keep that face all day, you might get wrinkles, you know~"

"Then tell me! Who exactly is this Voice-of-something-or-other you were talking about? Why did you say her name the moment you saw me?"

Oh, so she was jealous all along?

Lu Guan found it a little funny. If Dania knew she was jealous of a Yu-Gi-Oh! monster card, he wondered what she would think...

"It's actually a card from a tabletop game... Like Illusive Realm," Lu Guan explained. "Why are you jealous?"

"Who's jealous?" Dania shook her shoulders irritably. "I'm not jealous of a card. You're just flattering yourself!"

Even so, Lu Guan noticed that the corners of his "junior sister's" mouth had begun to curl up slightly. Clearly, she was in a good mood after hearing his explanation...

She says one thing and means another...

Lu Guan played with the twin tails behind the girl's head as he asked, "Speaking of which... What made you decide to buy a Huanglong-style outfit?"

"...I'm going back to Huanglong with you after graduation, aren't I?" Dania said, blushing. "When in Rome... I'm just planning ahead."

"Oh? Since when did you start using idioms?"

"What's that supposed to mean? I'm not some uneducated idiot. I'm a little genius in the Void Matter Science Department!" Dania grumbled. "Anyway, what do you think of the outfit?"

"It looks good... It's just missing something..."

"Missing what?"

"Missing... this." Smiling, Lu Guan took a gilded hairpin out of his suitcase. "A Huanglong-style outfit naturally needs a piece of Huanglong jewelry to go with it..."

"It's so pretty..." Dania happily took the hairpin. "Is this for me?"

"Who else? Shaye and the others?" Lu Guan joked.

"Hmph... Since you prepared a gift for me, I'll be magnanimous and overlook your earlier rudeness!"

Lu Guan suggested, "Want to put it on and see how it looks...?"

But Dania shook her head and set the hairpin aside.

"It's very pretty, but it gets in the way too much..."

"In the way?" Lu Guan was puzzled. He knew Dania hated fuss, so he had deliberately chosen a design that wasn't complicated to wear...

"Mm-hmm~" Dania hummed and brought her lips close to Lu Guan's ear. "Want to see the results of your junior sister's recent training...?"

"Senior Brother~"

That "Senior Brother" came with a playful trill, sounding just like a charming junior sister inviting her senior brother to practice...

But you could only believe half of what Dania said... because by the time you got halfway through believing her, she was already getting hands-on...

"Hey... Wait... It's still daytime..."

"There's an old saying in Huanglong: 'Practice at dawn, practice at dusk.' Senior Brother~ You have to train without fail if you want to become a martial arts master..."

"True enough... Since you're in the mood, Junior Sister... I'd be happy to oblige... Take this! Flying dragon in the heavens!"

[Beep! Dania's Affection +1]

[Beep! Dania's Affection +1]

[Beep! Dania's Affection +1]

Three days later.

Dania had changed back into her everyday clothes. Holding a cup of warm milk tea, she waited on the deck with Lu Guan for the cruise ship to dock.

Aalto tactfully stayed out of their way. He simply waved a greeting to Lu Guan before sitting down at a distance to admire the icy scenery.

"Mm... I'm a little nervous..."

Knowing that the Deep Space Union's discovery of her identity would cause trouble for Lu Guan, Dania was somewhat restless.

She really liked everyone at the academy. If she were expelled because she was a Threnodian Resonator...

Being kind at heart, she didn't know what to do for the moment.

"Relax... I'm here." Lu Guan patted her back. "Don't forget, I'm a young master from a prominent family, after all..."

"If the Deep Space Union dares to do you harm... Huanglong is no pushover either... Besides, there's also the Black Shores..."

"The Black Shores?" Only then did Dania notice the black flower on the chest of the white-haired man in sunglasses who had greeted Lu Guan earlier. "That shady-looking man over there is from the Black Shores?"

"Yeah, he's Aalto, a guest member of the Black Shores. He's representing them in the discussion with the Deep Space Union about your situation this time..."

"But don't worry... He's on our side..."

"Once we get off the ship, I'll go with you to the research institute for a test... As long as the Black Shores can prove you're harmless... Ms. Lacerta at the Deep Space Union will be able to gain some say in the matter..."

"Mm... I'll leave it to you." Dania nodded.

As they spoke, the ship docked.

To Lu Guan's surprise, it wasn't just Dr. Lu Hes who had come to meet them. There was also a group of people in Deep Space Union uniforms...

The two parties stood not far apart, but they seemed to be facing off against each other.

"They don't look friendly..." Lu Guan narrowed his eyes slightly and waved to Lu Hes. "Dr. Lu, we're over here!"

But before Lu Hes could move, the Deep Space Union personnel beside him stepped forward and blocked the pair's path.

"Miss Dania, we're the Emergency Incident Response Team assigned by the Deep Space Union Committee. Please come with us."

"Ahem... I've never heard that the Deep Space Union has the authority to bypass Stardust Academy's administration and deal directly with its students." Lu Hes coughed twice and stepped in front of the pair.

"The situation is urgent. The Deep Space Union has determined that Miss Dania poses a threat to Lahai-Roi... This is no longer just an academy matter." With a single statement, the man in the lead escalated the matter.

"Oh? Is that so?" Lu Hes wasn't upset. He chuckled. "Before Dania's test results come out, no one should be able to say for certain that she actually poses a threat... Even in the New Federation, a suspect is presumed innocent in the absence of evidence."

"Dr. Hes, you're just a school doctor." The man in the lead didn't yield an inch. "Since when can an academy doctor question a decision made by the Deep Space Union Committee?"

"Ahem... Then as a representative of the Black Shores, I should be able to, shouldn't I?" Hearing the man's words and seeing that something was off with Lu Guan's expression, Aalto hurried over to smooth things out.

"According to the committee's previous deliberations, a representative of the Black Shores is to assess the danger Dania poses..."

"Until then, no one can bypass me and take her away!"