Love Is a Battlefield

"Whew~ I'm exhausted."

After running more than a dozen laps with Lupa, Xiao Ling had successfully run out of energy.

After saying goodbye to her, he went back and sat down beside Dania, while Lupa continued training.

But the moment he sat down beside Dania, she quickly moved away from him.

Xiao Ling: ?

Xiao Ling tried to get close to Dania again, and Dania continued to move away.

And so, on the playground where waves of heat rolled through the air, the two began a silent tug-of-war.

Huh? What's with this girl? Why's she keeping me at arm's length?

Xiao Ling immediately began thinking about what he could have done wrong to make this peach so resistant to him.

As he thought, he kept trying to approach Dania, but she continued to move away.

After this had gone on for a while...

When Xiao Ling approached again, Dania stopped running. Instead, she turned around and pointed the canopy of her umbrella at him.

Wherever he went, the umbrella turned with him, as if to say she didn't want to see him at all.

Xiao Ling took the opportunity to review everything that had happened between him and Dania today. Only then did he realize that Dania's mood had been a little off ever since Lupa appeared.

Whoa, could this blueberry cupcake be jealous? Kind Peach has turned into Aggrieved Peach. (not giggling.jpg)

Cheering up a jealous girl was completely outside Xiao Ling's area of expertise, and he suddenly felt a little down.

(His romantic experience was zero.)

You know how it is: a jealous girl's rationality drops. Specifically, for a while, she won't accept any kind of explanation. As for how to cheer her up and make her happy, you have to appeal to her tastes.

But she was acting like she had no intention of talking to him at all, leaving him willing but unable to do anything.

Xiao Ling: Looking for a guide to cheering up a jealous peach. Waiting online, pretty urgent.

"Seriously, Lao Ling, why are you out here baking in the sun instead of sleeping at noon?"

Xiao Ling recognized the voice immediately. His good buddy Ye Qing had arrived.

"I'm watching someone train." Xiao Ling jerked his chin toward Lupa in the distance, directing Ye Qing's attention to her.

Ye Qing glanced at Dania sulking nearby, then at Xiao Ling, who was completely oblivious to her, and couldn't help cursing the damn clueless straight guy inwardly.

What made him even angrier was that a whole group of girls was gathered around a hopelessly clueless straight guy like this, making him want to curse even more.

"Stop watching. Come on, run some laps with me!"

Ye Qing knew perfectly well that Dania wouldn't listen to reason right now. The immediate priority was to separate the young couple having a spat and let Dania process her feelings on her own first.

"Hey... I just ran... I don't wanna move..."

"I don't care. You're running today whether you want to or not!"

Ignoring Xiao Ling's protests, Ye Qing pulled him away to run laps.

Meanwhile, Lupa, tired from training, also decided to take a break and watched as Ye Qing dragged Xiao Ling off to run more laps.

"Ha, you're really working hard, partner."

Lupa naturally sat down right next to Dania. As soon as she settled in, her nose picked up a strange sourness in the air around them, mixed with a hint of bitterness.

Dania seems a little off. Did something happen between her and partner? she thought.

Dania clearly had no fondness whatsoever for this potential love rival. She even disliked her somewhat, and immediately thought of moving away.

"Do I look that scary?" Lupa tilted her head in confusion. "You don't seem very willing to spend time with me."

Dania looked at the little wolf blinking as she stared at her, her eyes rimmed red. In the end, she chose not to move away again and sat obediently where she was.

Lupa looked at her reddened eyes and thought of how she'd just seemed eager to get as far away from her as possible, then recalled the resentful look she'd given Xiao Ling that morning.

"Ah~ I get it. Could it be that you like partner?" Lupa propped her cheek in her hand and looked teasingly at Dania, who was like a little rabbit. "Did you get jealous because you saw me getting too close to him?"

"Who would like a bad guy like that?!"

See, she was being a tsundere again. Haji Peach, your eyes are this red, and you still say you don't like Hajiling. That's really not very convincing, you know?

"He's a big meanie! He picks on me every time, and he's always teasing me until I get angry. Every time I'm about to lose my temper, he suddenly gets all gentle again. He's the worst!"

"Haha..." Seeing how indignant Dania looked, Lupa chuckled softly. "If you like him, you like him. If you're jealous, you're jealous. Why be so awkward about it?"

"If only Mia could see this too..."

Mia?

Dania had heard that name before. Back at the tunnel anchor, when the president had brought her, under his control, to confront Ling and Crimson Snow, he had mentioned someone by that name. She had been a Fractsidus test subject, just like Dania.

"Oh, come to think of it, I haven't told you about myself yet. Now's a good time, so let me tell you. Consider it my apology for upsetting you."

Dania gave her tacit consent to Lupa's suggestion with her silence.

Lupa cleared her throat and began telling her how she and Xiao Ling had met, come to know each other, and joined forces to win that gladiatorial contest.

...And how they had worked together to finally lay the indomitable gladiator named Mia to rest.

"Actually, when I came to this world, the first thing I thought was whether Mia might already be living a new life here. I knew the idea was ridiculous, but I couldn't help looking for her anyway. The result was about what I expected." Lupa's tone was full of regret.

"But now I've found partner, met up with comrades I fought alongside in Septimont, and even made a new friend in you, Xiao Ya!" Lupa's expression changed to a relieved smile, and she affectionately pinched Dania's fresh, dewy cheek.

"Don't pinch me..." Dania pouted in displeasure. "Besides, I never said we were friends..."

"Hahaha, you looked so cute that I couldn't help myself for a moment. Sorry, sorry." Realizing she'd acted on impulse again, Lupa scratched her head and apologized sheepishly.

"Forget it... as long as you're happy." In the end, Dania awkwardly allowed Lupa to overstep with her overly familiar behavior.

"So you admit we're friends now?" Lupa's eyes lit up, and she looked quite happy.

"...I suppose, barely," Dania replied lazily.

Lupa cheered and immediately began rubbing her cheek against Dania's like a happy puppy, much to Dania's distress.

She shouldn't have agreed just now. Lupa had no sense of boundaries at all!

After that little episode, Lupa and Dania shared an umbrella and watched the pair of good buddies running beneath the blazing sun.

Ye Qing ran in front, but he wasn't running seriously at all. He kept starting and stopping, looking as though he were teasing Xiao Ling behind him.

Xiao Ling was already exhausted from running more than a dozen laps, and Ye Qing was teasing him from the front, leaving him both angry and helpless. His ready stream of choice curses could be heard from far away.

"Actually, after we laid Mia to rest that day, I was feeling pretty down, so I stayed in the hotel by myself and drank wheat juice." With a relieved smile, Lupa told the story of what happened after she had seen Mia off. "Then partner walked into the room without a word and took the wheat juice out of my hand, saying drinking too much was bad for my health."

"Somehow, I found myself thinking then that it would be pretty nice to be partners with Rover for a lifetime~"

"After all, he's always been so strong, reliable, and gentle. He always makes people feel at ease."

"But there was nothing I could do. His journey would never stop for any one person, so there was no way we could be partners for a lifetime."

"But now I have that chance."

Lupa stretched contentedly, then turned her gaze back to the utterly exhausted Xiao Ling.

"I didn't expect partner in this world to be just an ordinary student... Haha, he really is a scumbag with a foot in five boats, but I don't find it strange at all. The strong deserve to have more."

The people of Septimont knew Lupa only as a thorny rose growing wild in the gladiatorial arena. Few knew of the girlish feelings she carefully concealed outside it.

"I'm straightforward. I don't understand beating around the bush, but there's one thing I believe: if you like someone, you should dare to say it and act on it, and show him you care through your actions. Only cowards cry in secret."

"Love is a battlefield, Xiao Ya," Lupa instructed her in the tone of someone speaking from experience. "If all you do is defend passively, of course you can keep yourself safe, but if you want to win, you have to take the initiative and attack."

"Love is the same. If you like him, go after him. Don't sit around waiting for a pie to fall from the sky."

"His love is like the many fruits growing on a tree. You don't have to worry that there won't be one for you, but you shouldn't just wait foolishly for it to fall on its own. Wouldn't it be faster to go and get the fruit that belongs to you yourself?"

"Xiao Ya, never be satisfied with how things are. I can tell partner likes you a lot, so you're entitled and have every right to be a little greedier with him."

Dania was a little surprised that a seemingly carefree girl like Lupa had this kind of romantic experience, though Lupa might still be a maiden herself.

"Don't get me wrong. Even though I'm behind at the starting line, I won't give up!" Lupa wore a proud, spirited smile, the same one she wore on the battlefield. "So I'll compete with you fair and square, and we'll see who wins him over first."

"Well? Want to compete?"

Dania was caught off guard by the sudden challenge, but she quickly thought it through.

After all, pressure created motivation, didn't it?

"Mm." Dania held out her pinky. "Then let's see who can win that bad guy over first."

Are you kidding? Given how much a certain Xiao dotes on me, wouldn't winning him over be easy if I took the initiative?

"It's a deal." Lupa hooked her pinky around Dania's. "Friendship first, competition second."

"Mm, friendship first." Dania pressed her thumb against Lupa's to seal the promise.

"But before that, you still need to resolve this little jealousy incident. Don't let it affect the feelings between you."

"Okay."

"Damn it, Ye Qing, if you tease me again next time, I'm really going to punch you a couple of times," Xiao Ling said, panting.

"Why next time? Can't you do it this time? Or is it that you just can't do it at all?" Ye Qing teased him with his sharp tongue.

"Fuck your dam, I'm going to teach you a lesson right now..."

Xiao Ling was just about to punch the obnoxious Ye Qing a couple of times when, as soon as he got up, a fragrant, soft peach burrowed into his arms and wrapped herself around him, rubbing her cheek against his chest again and again.

Rub, rub~ rub, rub~

Xiao Ling: ?

Ye Qing: sobbing.jpg

Happiness came so suddenly that Hajiling's brain couldn't keep up for a moment.

Ye Qing: I should be under the car~ not inside the car~ watching how sweet and loving you two are~

"Um... I'm sorry... I shouldn't have sulked at you just now..." Dania apologized in a soft, sweet voice.

"If anyone should apologize, it's me..." Xiao Ling gave a helpless smile and rubbed her head to comfort her.

That was a big detour, but it ended well. At least Peach isn't mad at me anymore. Still, I should make her some of her favorite food tonight to comfort her. I made a mistake, so I ought to do something to make up for it.

"Ha, that's more like it, partner," Lupa said with a hearty laugh.

You ask about Ye Qing? He'd already been hit with super break and regretfully exited the scene.

"Come to think of it, Yaya, you seem a little taller. Does photosynthesis really work for you?"

Chomp!

Xiao Ling raised his left arm in pain. Whoa! The girl had a good set of teeth; even the marks were perfectly neat.

"Whoa, Sister Da, were you born in the year of the dog?"

"Yes, and now I'm going to bite you to death!"

As soon as she finished speaking, the pair of bickering lovers started chasing each other around the playground again.

Dania's face was as red as a ripe apple. It was hard to say whether the scorching sun had turned it that color or whether it was a blush brought on by the shyness in her heart.