Snow
Before long, snow started fluttering down from the sky.
“……are you, awake?”
A gentle voice, reverberates inside Asch’s head. There’s a soft sensation on the back of his head, and at that moment, he realises for the very first time that he’s being given a lap pillow. He reflexively tries to get up, but, ‘Hey, stay still……please……’, he’s embraced gently from behind. When he looked at Liana’s expression, with his almost-disfigured eyelids, there were clear traces of her having cried.
“You still haven’t, recovered until the state where you can move”
He looks at her palm, and it seems she’s casting the Healing Magic that shines in white for him. Asch resigns, relaxes, and places the back of his head on her lap again.
“……where is Hazen-sensei?”
“He went back. Saying, 『The rest, I’ll leave it to you』. He really is a wilful person”
“It’s not like it’s anything new. But……what a lifesaver”
“……un”
If there wasn’t Hazen, the two of them wouldn’t be here. The reality that he got protected by him, is the best proof that he’s correct.
“He sure is an amazing person, that Sensei……but, one day……”
“One day?”
“……no, nothing. Leaving that aside, it sure was an unbelievable birthday huh”
“Ah! Come to think of it, it was my birthday”
Liana raises a silly voice like she just remembered it.
“What, did you forget?”
“It can’t be helped, right? Something like this happened after all. By the way, what kind of book will you give me this time?”
“……”
Asch takes out from his pocket, a small box wrapped in pink packing.
“This is……not a book, right?”
“……no way it’s the size of a book, right? I’ll say it beforehand, but it’s a shared present with Jill, alright. Make sure you don’t misunderstand when it comes to that”
“Fufuu……”
“……what?”
“I heard from Jill, 『He might get embarrassed and start saying it’s a shared present, but it’s his own individual present』 though”
“……”
Liana happily, removed the packing. Inside was a single letter and a pair of colourful flower-shaped earrings.
“These are……Yureyz?”
“……humph. As I thought, a fake just won’t do. It can’t fully express that solemnity of when it blossoms in the once sky city Orlivis”
“Uun……”
From Liana’s eyes, a streak of tear, fell,
“I, prefer this”
and she happily, muttered.
“……no, it’s no good”
“Geez! Even though the person herself is saying that she prefers it. Stubborn. Obstinate”
“It doesn’t fit my personality to play it off with a fake. That’s why……one day…..I’ll show you the real thing”
“…..un. I’m looking forward to it”
Liana squeezes Asch’s palm.
“By the way, this letter……”
“Ah! That’s……don’t read it herーー”
“I can’t read it……what, is this language?”
“Kuh……you ought to work harder on your ancient language classes!”
Asch curls his mouth into a へ shape, disgruntedly.
“Hey, what’s written?”
“……”
“Hey, tell me. Hey, hey hey. Heyーー”
“Aaaaaah, how noisy! Something of that extent, look up the dictionary and find out yourself”
“Tch……even though I want to know it, now……”
“Well, even if you looked up the dictionaryーー”
Liana covers it, the mouth of Asch who was in the middle of saying that, with her small well-shaped lips.
“……”
“……fufuu, payback”
“Yo-, yo-, you! What are you doing all of a sudden!?”
The pure Magician blushes crimson red like an apple.
“Did you hate it?”
“It-, it-, it’s not whether I hate it or not……”
“……gohoh, gohoh”
“Be-, besides, coughing badly after that, it’s like my……err……I passed it to you……”
“Somehow, recently, I’ve been coughing”
“Tha-, tha-, that doesn’t make it any better either though!? Err, someone with the flu, err……to somebody else……”
“Did you hate it?”
“Li-, like I said, it’s not whether I hate it or……err……I don’t hate it. I don’t hate it, but”
“But?”
“……uu! Enough, whatever”
Asch turns away defiantly
“Ah, the snow stopped”
Liana looked up at the night sky with a smile. Asch stared at that expression of hers the whole time.
A week after that, Liana vomited blood and collapsed.
