Lin Wan tilted her head and gave a smile.
“Mm! From now on, we’re neighbors~” Her fingers lightly twirled a strand of hair. “And since we’re teammates, living close by will make it easier to look out for each other.”
“Teammates?” Lu Yuan looked puzzled.
“Oh, I forgot to tell you—Su Li arranged for the two of us to form a new Magical Girl team.” Lin Wan smiled. “So from now on, we’re teammates. I’ll be right next door, so if you need anything, just come to me.”
“Oh…” Lu Yuan scratched her head. “Then I really am troubling you.”
“It’s no trouble.” Lin Wan’s voice was as light as a feather. “After all, Lu Yuan, you saved me. I don’t have much to repay you with…”
“It was Su Li who saved you, not me. I only delayed them for a bit,” Lu Yuan waved her hand. “Standing around at the door all the time isn’t a solution either. How about… you come in and sit down for a bit?”
“Eh? Sure!” Lin Wan was first surprised, then delighted.
She took off her small leather shoes at the entrance. Her white silk-clad feet pressed onto Lu Yuan’s wooden floor, making soft creaking sounds.
“You can sit in my room first. I’ll go get something to eat.” Lu Yuan turned and walked toward the kitchen, mumbling, “I remember there should still be some pudding in the fridge…”
***
Lin Wan cautiously sat on Lu Yuan’s bed, her gaze sweeping across the room—the only other girl’s room besides her own.
“There’s a strange smell…”
Lin Wan’s nose twitched. She felt there was an odd scent lingering in Lu Yuan’s room.
Like…
Suddenly, her hand touched something damp.
Lin Wan turned her head and saw a deeply stained spot on the bedsheet, right next to a pillow that had visible bite marks tossed casually aside.
“Ugh?!”
Lin Wan’s face instantly flushed red as a realization dawned on her.
Could it be… just as I suspected?
Though she tried to force herself not to look at the strange pillow, she couldn’t help but glance at it repeatedly.
No, no, no, there’s no way Lu Yuan would do something like that!
Lin Wan closed her eyes and recalled the scene where Lu Yuan stood up for her in front of Rose.
With that fierce and cold Lu Yuan Miss, how could she possibly do such a thing!
Ugh… but it really looks like it…
No! Impossible!
But…
Lin Wan shook her head, clearing away the chaotic thoughts from her mind.
Only firsthand experience would bring the truth.
She peeked her head out of the room to see Lu Yuan still bent over rummaging through the fridge for pudding, then quietly slipped back into the room.
She bent down cautiously, lifting her hair with one hand, and touched the discolored patch on the bedsheet with the tip of her tongue.
Mmm! It really is…
“Lin Wan…”
Lu Yuan was standing at the doorway holding a pudding.
“What are you doing…?”
“…”
Seeing Lin Wan sprawled on her bed like a gecko, Lu Yuan fell into thought.
***
Awkward.
So awkward.
The air in the room seemed to freeze as the two girls sat on the bed, both flushed red.
One embarrassed because what she did was discovered.
The other embarrassed because what she did half an hour ago was discovered.
Though both were adults, neither knew how to handle this situation.
But it couldn’t stay awkward like this!
Suddenly, Lin Wan’s eyes were drawn to a photo on the TV stand.
It was a family portrait. In the photo, a middle-aged couple smiled kindly. Between them stood two children—a little girl with blue hair beaming happily, while the other child’s face was crudely blacked out with a marker, leaving only a dark silhouette.
“This is…?”
Lin Wan got up and gently touched the photo. The black ink smudged on her fingertip.
“Oh… that’s my family portrait.”
“Eh? I see. By the way, I’ve never seen your parents before, Lu Yuan. You have a younger sister? How old is she? Is she in middle school now?”
Lin Wan was glad to find a topic to shift the conversation so they wouldn’t have to stay in silence.
“Um… they’re all dead.” Lu Yuan said calmly, as if talking about someone else’s family.
Lin Wan felt her heart drop. Honestly, silence might have been better.
“Eh… sorry, I…”
“It’s fine. It’s all in the past. I moved on a long time ago.”
***
Lu Yuan picked up the photo that had been blacked out and gently stroked the smiling face of the blue-haired girl.
“Five years ago, a Calamity hit the shopping center.” Her voice was frighteningly calm. “My little sister, Lu Qian… she was only twelve then.”
Lin Wan froze. Suddenly she recalled the name Lu Qian—uttered by Lu Yuan when she awakened her inside the Prison of Rose.
“Dad and Mom died protecting us as we evacuated.” Lu Yuan suddenly smiled, a smile that tightened Lin Wan’s chest. “They told me to take Qianqian and run to safety, but in the end, I couldn’t protect my sister.”
Outside, rain began to fall, tapping against the window.
“At first, I blamed the Magical Girls. I angrily asked why they were so slow, why they saved so many but couldn’t save my family.”
“But later, I realized it wasn’t their fault. The fault was mine. All the world’s misfortunes stem from one’s own lack of ability. I wasn’t strong enough to protect Qianqian.”
“So that day when you saved me…”
“To be honest, it’s partly because you reminded me of my sister.” Lu Yuan smiled and put the family photo back.
“I…” Lin Wan didn’t know what to say.
It was all because of her big mouth! Why did she have to say something so painful!
“It’s okay! I said I’ve already moved on!” Lu Yuan patted Lin Wan’s shoulder.
***
“Riiiing~” Suddenly the phone rang.
“Sorry, I have to take this!” Lu Yuan grabbed her phone and rushed out of the room.
“Hello, Captain Su Li?”
Lu Yuan lowered her voice, turning her back to the bedroom as she answered.
“Come to the Zuilu Café on Prosperous Street right now.” Su Li’s voice came firmly through the receiver. “Come alone.”
Lu Yuan instinctively glanced back at the bedroom. Lin Wan was pretending to focus on fiddling with her fingers, but anyone could tell she was very concerned.
“Uh… now?” Lu Yuan hesitated. “Lin Wan is still here…”
“I have something important to discuss with you. Don’t let Lin Wan find out.” Su Li said. “Hurry up! If you don’t come within thirty minutes, I’ll dock your pay!”
“Beep beep beep…”
Before Lu Yuan could reply, Su Li hung up.
Dock my pay…
Wow! That’s leadership authority!
After hanging up, Lu Yuan walked back into the bedroom. “Uh… Headquarters has some matters for me to attend to…”
Lin Wan immediately stood up. “I’ll go with you.”
“No need!” Lu Yuan’s voice involuntarily raised, then quickly softened. “It’s… just some paperwork. I’ll be back soon.”
Lin Wan’s expression darkened. “Was that Su Li’s call?”
“Huh? No! It was Logistics Department!” Lu Yuan frantically grabbed her coat. “They want me to come sign some insurance papers for the house…”
“You’re lying!” Lin Wan stepped closer.
“I…”
“…”
“Just kidding. You go ahead.” Lin Wan suddenly stepped back and smiled. “It’s just Magical Girl work. How could I not trust you?”
Lu Yuan felt like a great weight had been lifted. She hastily escaped, closing the door behind her.
After the door shut, Lin Wan looked around the now-empty Lu Yuan’s house and sighed.
She hadn’t expected there to be so many unknown sides to Miss Lu Yuan… in every sense.
After hesitating a moment, Lin Wan lay back on Lu Yuan’s bed, hugging her pillow.
***
Twenty minutes later, at the Zuilu Café.
Su Li sat in a corner booth with two cups of coffee in front of her. When Lu Yuan entered, she pushed a cup of black coffee toward her.
“Your favorite flavor from before.”
Lu Yuan blinked. She did come here often, but aside from herself, no one else should know her favorite drink.
Lu Yuan smiled bitterly. “You know that? Captain Su Li, what secrets don’t you know about me?”
Su Li raised an eyebrow.
“There are still some, like what’s under your bed…”
“Stop!” Lu Yuan made a halting gesture. “You saw that?”
“Mm…”
“Idiot! Pervert! Freak!!”
“There was no other way… I was a little worried Rose might do something to you while I wasn’t around…” Su Li blushed and turned her head away.
“Then why didn’t you tell me you set up surveillance in my house first?!”
“Now you know.”
“You!”
“Alright, enough teasing. Let’s get to business. Take a look at this.”
She pushed a phone toward Lu Yuan. The screen was playing a video.