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"Huh~~"

Layfon calmly intruded. Mifi puffed up her cheeks.

"Uh, that can't be done. Speaking of which, how come he became like this?"

"That's my rope-capture technique, passed down by my father. Isn't it incredible?" Naruki said.

"Brilliant. It's too brilliant. But why so sudden? I don't understand what's happening!"

"Oh, I'm just doing it. I'm not sure myself."

"Just doing it? And what's with the rope? Do you carry it with you all the time?"

"As someone who wants to join the police force, it's a must to carry around a rope all the time."

"Is that a given?" Layfon asked, but failed to sway Naruki's confidence.

"So what's this for?" he asked, looking at Mifi and Naruki.

"Oh? I said we were going to drink tea, so we waited here for you."

"I see.... but why this?"

"Just doing it."

"Fufufu ~~ I knew Layton doesn't have to work today. Don't underestimate Mifi's intelligence."

"Yeah, but I didn't refuse you. Before I got the chance to refuse, I was like this."

"Ok ok. Stop talking. We've invited a special guest today."

They didn't listen to his words. Mifi pushed a person out from Naruki's shadow.

He thought it was Meishen.

But.... no.

".... Felli senpai?"

"I got caught," she said without any expression. She was also bound by a rope.

They spaced out like that for a while..

"Hey!! What were you guys doing!?" Layfon looked around. Luckily, there was no one around but them. He wondered how long those two girls had been hiding here, waiting to ambush them.

"Because ~~ I've wanted to talk with her since I saw her."

"No, I'm saying why did you use this method? It's a bit extreme. Um, it's like kidnapping from the perspective of an observer."

"....She's the younger sister of the Student President."

"Meaning....We can get a huge ransom, right?" Mifi asked seriously.

"...."

"...."

Layfon and Mifi looked at each other....

"Police, there's a kidnapper here."

"OK, I'll catch her right away."

In the next moment, Naruki had also tied up Mifi.

"I just wanted to have dinner with everyone!"

After Mifi had surrendered, Naruki untied everyone. The four of them headed for the busier district of the city.

"Mei-chi's got work today, so we're waiting for her to finish, and might as well enter the "observe Mei-chi's working look" plan."

"A plan?" Layfon said.

Mifi laughed.

"Well, can you imagine her appearance at work?"

"....That's a bit difficult."

It was hard to imagine Meishen working. She was so shy.

"Right? This'll be my first time seeing her at work. I'm really looking forward to it."

Mifi skipped on the red bricked path.

"It's good she's taking the initiative, but I feel a bit lonely now," Naruki said, shrugging her shoulders.

"....Have you three known each other for long?"

"Yeah, we were neighbors."

"Our parents knew each other for a long time too, from their birth."

"Amazing...." Layfon honestly showed his admiration. He also had a group of childhood friends from the orphanage, but none of them came to Zuellni.

"You three must be very close, coming here together."

"Yeah~ It's fate."

"Yeah."

"Yes, we won't feel lonely even if we're in an unfamiliar place. Our parents agree with that," Mifi said, and started a conversation about the past with Naruki. Unable to enter the conversation, Layfon kept a distance between them.

Felli was beside him. Silently walking, she stared at the backs of the two girls.

"....Sorry for forcing you to come with us."

"....It's ok."

She didn't move her gaze away from the backs of the two girls.

"The rope seemed fun."

"....Was it fun?"

"Yes," Felli replied, not even moving her eyebrows. Layfon didn't understand what she was thinking. But it was good that she didn't get mad. He let out a sigh.

Felli was walking lightly with her hands behind her back. Looking at her childish appearance, he couldn't imagine that she was older than him. She was older, but her age difference didn't stand out at all because she was only one year apart. But comparing her with Mifi and Naruki, she looked even younger than them.

"Uh, is senpai working too?"

"No."

"....I see."

He couldn't think of what to say. Even his question was blocked. He knew nothing of her. Unlike Mifi and the others, Felli wasn't the type to divert with a conversation so long as the atmosphere was right.

"....Just keep doing that." Felli said as he was thinking of what to say.

"Huh?"

"I meant during training. Just keep doing that."

"Why?"

"Don't you want to avoid fighting?" The honest and direct question made him speechless.

"If you perform well without the will to fight, other people will have expectations of you."

"....I suppose," he nodded.

"It's ridiculous to do what you don't want to do."

Meaning Felli also hadn't used her true ability in training. The same as him.

He now understood why he was so tired. He couldn't escape the place he wanted to leave. This feeling took a lot of his strength. He made unnecessary moves because of a lack of concentration, which in turn wasted a lot of his strength.

"Why do I feel as if there's no other road to take?"

He didn't want to, but he had to. All he could do to resist this was to not put his all in training.

And because of that, he was tired.

"Even so, I have to resist this way. As long as I'm in the Academy City, I can't escape my brother. Unless he lets me go, I've no other choice."

".... Do you dislike your own brother?"

He might have asked a meaningless question. She did say she hated him before. But perhaps "dislike" and "hate" were different.

"I dislike him. He doesn't care about me at all."

Layfon had nothing to say. Walking beside her gave him an urge to find something to talk about, but she didn't care about ending a conversation abruptly.

The two girls walking before them had arrived at the shop. They waved back at them.

"....You're so mean."

"Never mind. You look cute."

Mifi was calm in the face of Meishen's reproachful gaze.

They moved from the coffee shop that Meishen worked at into another nearby shop. In here, senior students were permitted to drink alcohol. Dishes of BBQ skewers and vegetables lay before Layfon and his friends.

Naruki nodded in a serious manner as she put the bamboo sticks back into the bamboo container:

"Yeah, you're cute. Are you making fun of me because I can't wear it?"

"....Of course not."

"Yeah, I know."

Meishen's cheeks puffed up at Naruki's flippant tone.

When Layfon and the three girls entered the coffee shop earlier, Meishen had stood still on her spot, her face turning green. And whether it was fortunate or not, there were no other female waitresses before break time other than Meishen. Layfon felt bad for her. She was shaking like a small animal while receiving the order, but Mifi teased her happily.

"But Mei-chi really is cute, isn't she, Layton?"

"Um?"

He thought back of her look in the coffee shop.

The modest and deep blue uniform in itself wasn't cute at all, but the Meishen hiding her face behind the tray was cute.

He gave his honest opinion, and Meishen lowered her head, her cheeks red as of boiled water.

"Yeah, yeah, Layton. Well done, you unfaithful~~"

"Why?"

"It's a high level skill to praise the person in question along with the uniform."

"....Mi-chan, Nakki, I'll get mad."

The three girls argued in their own styles. Layfon sighed and turned his gaze to Felli.

She was silently eating a skewer of BBQ chicken.

She didn't seem to want to talk. She put the stick back into the bamboo container and examined the dish, thinking of what to eat next like a mathematician tackling a challenging question.

(Here's another small animal.)

Frankly, her sober eating expression was also cute.

Layfon nibbled at one end of the batter-fried vegetable stems as he listened to the conversation of the three girls.

"Aah, let's stop teasing Mei-chi. The cake over there was delicious."

"....Right?"

"It wasn't too sweet. I get why Mei-chi loves that shop. Well, how's it going? Are they teaching you things?"

"....Not sure. Seems they'll teach me later. Really, I've always wanted to just stay in the kitchen."

"Since you showed them your cute look, of course they'd send you out to serve customers."

"....Mi-chan!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Um, according to my investigation, no matter which shop it is, it'll prioritize students getting into the kitchen if they've had real cooking experience."

"That's insurance. It guarantees the students must have some level of skill."

"But it takes at least half a year to get marks."

"....Wuwu, half a year."

"Can Mei-chi tolerate half a year as a waitress?"

"....No problem. I'll steal the recipe."

"Hahaha, what an audacious declaration."

"....Never mind me. What about you two?"

"Me~~? I've already decided."

"A magazine?"

"Yeah, though it's mostly doing errands. Nakki?"

"I'm going to join the City Police force. There're lots of Military Arts candidates, so I can't let my guard down."

"Oh, if you join the police force, then can you get an armed permit earlier?"

"Yes, but you can only carry a baton."

"Fufufu....But aren't you happy? You're really jealous of Layton's sword~~,"

"Not at all. I just want it because a baton is the pride of a policeman."

"You really are!"

Layfon was listening to the three. Even here he felt he was very distant from them. Nothing could help him.

Because he stood on the other side of the glass.

He could hear the sound, but he couldn't step inside it. He squinted at the three, unable to enter that cheerful territory.

There was no chance to speak.

The party ended as the closing hour of dormitories neared.

Student dormitories were spread out across the city. After separating from Naruki and the others since their dormitories lay in a different direction, Layfon found himself heading in the same direction as Felli.

"....Is senpai going in this direction too?"

"Yes, what a coincidence."

Layfon nodded. It was that much of a surprise to him.

"Senpai didn't enter the conversation back then. I'm sorry for being insensitive."

In the end, he himself passed through that time without speaking. He couldn't speak up as a special atmosphere encircled the conversation that only familiarity would allow.

Felli shook her head at the apologizing Layfon. "Not at all. I was happy."

"Really? That's good."

It was hard to conclude whether she was truly happy as her face showed no emotion at all.

They alone walked on the path lit by street lights. Layfon felt awkward about it. The sound of footsteps that was usually small and insignificant drifted into their ears.

"I don't talk, not because I'm not satisfied," Felli said suddenly.

"Ah, really?"

"I didn't know what to say because I haven't had any friends before," Felli said as she walked past a street light. Layfon glanced at her but couldn't make out her expression.

Just then, sparks fell from her silvery hair to scatter the dim light. He widened his eyes.

"Senpai!"

"Oh, sorry. I lost control for a little bit."

She pressed down on her long hair with her hand. Green phosphorescence gathered in her hair, emitting a dull light. Unresponsive and without any heat. Only the tiniest bit of vibration in the air that Layfon could feel with his left wrist.

This was Psychokinesis. It was the external type burst Kei and the internal type Kei, but at the same time, it was different from both. It was an inborn ability, a type of Kei flowing in the body that training would never obtain.

He watched her closely. Even her eyebrows and eyelashes emitted phosphorescence.

Hair was the best conductor for the Kei of Psychokinesis. There were people who conveyed their Kei to whips made by hair.

(She lost control of it?)

That was shocking. Just that and her hair could emit the light of Psychokinesis to the tips of each strand of hair. This meant her ability of Psychokinesis was inconceivably powerful.

"Senpai...."

"....This is the reason that my brother transferred me into Military Arts," she said.

"My ability of Psychokinesis goes way beyond the normal standard."

"I think so too."

Layfon had also seen Psychokinesis phenomenon of glowing hair, but it was only one part of the hair. He had never seen a case like Felli's, whose whole hair shone without her being aware of it.

"Because of this, I've received training in Psychokinesis since I was very small. Everyone in my family strongly believed I'd become a Psychokinesist. Even I never doubted it."

"But...." she added. Layfon could feel her shaky emotions.

He was right. The trembling on her lips was different from that of normal conversation.

"I thought that everyone's future was predestined. I thought that they all knew what they'd become in the future. But this was wrong. Of course, it's not possible for a criminal to know he can only become a criminal."

He didn't laugh at her words. She only said it without much of an emotion. Perhaps this was meant as a joke. Since he wasn't sure, Layfon decided not to laugh.

"Once I realized that, I tried to think of what I'd be doing if I wasn't a Psychokinesist. No one knows their future, but mine was determined from when I was very young. I became intolerant of that, and eventually left my home city to come here."

Her parents took a huge step back for her and allowed her to study at her brother's Academy City - Zuellni.

"My parents thought it wouldn't matter much if I didn't get to train in Psychokinesis for six years. I also thought I could find the other me, the me who wouldn't become a Psychokinesist."

But she was unable to do that.

Because of Zuellni's present situation and the person who tried to solve the crisis - her brother.

"I hate my brother. I hate my brother who forced me on the path of Psychokinesis," she murmured.

Layfon listened to her silently. He couldn't hear any emotions in her light tone, but he felt she felt confined, as if a certain being was under pressure and was crying out sorrowfully.

"And I hate myself for only becoming a Psychokinesist."

Because of her exceptional ability, she couldn't escape her destiny.

"Those kinds of people are too radiant," she murmured.

Layfon could only nod in agreement.

Because he felt the same.