Chapter 61

### Chapter 61: The Same Path, Different Dreams (5)

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#10

It was late at night, and if anyone were to see us in this state, it would be quite embarrassing.

“I told you, hic, not to, but you, did it again…”

Mostly, I’m the one who gets into trouble.

Very much so.

I looked down at Yuriko, who was sitting on the ground like a child, tears streaming down her face, and fell into a confused and troubled state.

I don’t know how to effectively console a sensitive girl like Yuriko when she’s crying.

I would have to have learned such things before. Or at least have had similar experiences…

…Experience. Experience, that is.

It was a long time ago.

When Ruby was young, she used to cry a lot.

Of course, she might have been a bit different from Yuriko, being a sensitive and emotional person, but the fact that she often cried in front of me hasn’t changed. Whenever that happened, what did I do?

What did I do? I cried with her.

…We were just kids back then.

It wasn’t always like that, of course. Sometimes I took the initiative to stop Ruby’s tears abruptly a few times.

But those methods won’t work in this situation. The reason Yuriko burst into tears is entirely my fault.

In the end, I sighed and slowly bent down.

I bent my legs and sat down in front of Yuriko, who was touching her eyes with her fingers.

“Hic, snif, hic…”

A weak, feeble sob could be heard. Her small shoulders trembled intermittently. I wanted to comfort her, but Yuriko was thoroughly rejecting me.

I didn’t say anything. I sat quietly in front of Yuriko, lowering my head to match her eye level. I kept waiting calmly, glancing around to see if anyone was coming.

What Yuriko needed now was to calm down.

She seemed to have been quite shocked and embarrassed. After a good cry, the intense emotions that had overwhelmed her would cool down, and she would be able to make a more rational judgment.

Still.

Even though we’re the same age, Yuriko always seemed like a younger sister to me, at least two years younger. Seeing her, who was always full of pride, crying like a child made me feel twice, three times more guilty.

I felt like I had to do everything she asked from now on. Objectively, I didn’t do anything that warranted such a reaction, but…

How much time had passed?

Yuriko’s shoulders, which had been trembling like a wounded animal, suddenly calmed down.

As I silently took out a new handkerchief from my pocket and fiddled with it, I noticed that the tears in Yuriko’s eyes had stopped.

“…Are you, okay?”

“…”

Yuriko’s face, flushed from the exercise, was still red. The cold night air had probably contributed to that.

The small face, with tear tracks running down from her eyes. The tears that had been dripping from her smooth chin left darker spots on the ground below.

The crying had stopped, but Yuriko still seemed upset, hiccupping and tightly pursing her lips. She wouldn’t even look at me, who was quietly watching her from up close.

At that moment, I handed her the handkerchief.

When she didn’t react, I spoke softly.

“It’s clean. It’s a new one.”

“…”

She didn’t take it. Her slightly bloodshot eyes glanced at the handkerchief for a moment before returning to their original position. She seemed to have a strong aversion to it. So I continued.

“I know you don’t like it when I wipe your face. But it’s awkward to go back to the dorm like this. Use this to wipe your face.”

“…”

Yuriko didn’t respond or react.

Was this her way of expressing that she didn’t want to talk to me at all, or was it a silent permission for me to wipe her tears with the handkerchief?

I didn’t think it was the latter.

Since we couldn’t keep this up forever, I thought if I made a move to wipe her face, she would either reject it herself or grab the handkerchief.

Suddenly,

I met Yuriko’s ruby-like eyes.

Before I could even think about what I saw in them, I found myself gently reaching out and wiping the tears from her eyes with the handkerchief.

Yuriko didn’t reject it.

Or rather, she raised her left hand as if to push mine away, but it was a very weak gesture.

Yuriko slightly squinted her eyes and closed them softly.

My hand, or rather the handkerchief, touched Yuriko’s left cheek. Her skin was soft and jelly-like, smooth and flawless. The handkerchief glided over the long tear tracks, slowly wiping them away from top to bottom.

…Why didn’t she reject it?

I thought she would be startled, come to her senses, and push my hand away.

It felt like I was gently petting a completely drenched stray cat. I even wondered if Yuriko, who had been crying and saying she hated me just a moment ago, had some ulterior motive.

It was a bit scary. I was worried she might suddenly slap me. I wouldn’t be able to react properly this time. To prevent such a situation, I carefully apologized.

“…I’m sorry for startling you. I didn’t do it on purpose. Really. I didn’t know you were coming back from exercise, and I just wanted to say a quick hello when I saw you on my way to exercise.”

Next, I wiped her right eye.

When I gently touched the area where her freckles were with the handkerchief, Yuriko’s delicate eyebrows furrowed for a moment before returning to their original state.

Seeing this, something inside me was stirred, and an unintentional smile escaped my lips.

“…If I had known you better, I would have asked you to look at me once and offered to buy you your favorite food. I still don’t know what you like.”

—At that moment.

Yuriko’s body twitched slightly.

“…What did you just say…”

“…?”

A small murmur escaped her lips.

Her eyes, which had been slightly opened, were filled with clear distrust. She seemed to be trying to say something, but her voice was hoarse from crying and didn’t come out clearly. I didn’t know what was going on, so I could only blink.

…Did I say something strange?

Was it wrong to offer to buy her food as an apology? Was this also treating her like a child?

No, that’s not it. What’s wrong with offering to buy someone food? Whether it’s someone I’m close to or not, buying food is a natural form of communication, isn’t it…

I couldn’t understand anything.

Something was welling up in Yuriko’s eyes again, but it didn’t spill over.

It remained pooled between her red eyelids. What could have been the problem if she had let it flow?

Yuriko’s tightly pursed lips seemed to be trying to say something, but she eventually swallowed it and suddenly snatched the handkerchief from my hand.

Snap. Swish, swish.

She wiped the moisture from her face. Her brows were still furrowed.

She stood up from her crouched position, patted her trembling legs, and started zipping up her windbreaker. The lingering sweat smell quickly dissipated in the cold air.

Standing up, Yuriko glared at me, who was still confused about what was happening. A snort escaped her nose.

“…I’m going.”

Is that so.

That’s how it looked.

I was relieved to see her returning to her normal state.

I also stood up to follow her. Yuriko, with her hands deep in her windbreaker pockets, walked past me proudly towards the 2nd dormitory building. Her pace was a bit faster than usual, and her tied-up hair swayed slightly as she walked.

“…I really hate you.”

Her voice and shadow faded away.

Her golden head, shining in the streetlight, disappeared into the darkness.

After a moment, she completely vanished from my sight.

I stood silently in the middle of the road until Yuriko returned to the dormitory. When I saw two senior students walking towards me, I started walking towards the 3rd dormitory. I had to do my exercise before bed, no matter how tired I was.

“…Ah.”

As I absentmindedly searched my pocket,

I realized something and subtly turned my head towards the 2nd dormitory building, where Yuriko had gone.

…

Will she return the handkerchief tomorrow…?

#11

Friday.

Morning magic class.

“Miss Ruby. Are you ready?”

“…Yes, Professor.”

In front of a few students and the professor, Ruby began to cast spatial magic as instructed. It’s more effective to demonstrate it directly than to explain it verbally.

Hum. With her eyes closed calmly, a bluish mist seemed to emanate from Ruby’s body.

What Ruby was about to demonstrate was the combination and harmony of two different types of magic.

By using two types of magic simultaneously—more precisely, by casting them with a very short interval to make it seem like they were cast simultaneously—she could achieve more unconventional applications.

“—.”

A whisper so soft it couldn’t be heard from a distance. Ruby quickly entered a state of no self, and as the incantation continued, a purple-tinged magical power began to form a circular shape at the tip of her staff.

—5th Tier Spatial Magic, Instant Portal.

Once Ruby had finished preparing, she just needed to set the coordinates. Two small rifts would tear through space, and objects sucked into one rift would be transported out of the other.

However, the duration of the portal was only about two seconds, so to smoothly link the next magic, extremely fast calculation and incantation were necessary.

For Ruby, it wasn’t a difficult task.

A cold mist slowly rose from her other hand, which wasn’t holding the staff.

The temperature in the classroom dropped sharply, causing even Stella, who was watching calmly from a distance, to unconsciously shiver.

—4th Tier Ice Magic, Ice Spear.

The Instant Portal was already activated.

She just needed to set the coordinates.

As I watched the ice spear rise, scattering cold air, I was looking at Ruby, not her magic.

At Ruby, who was quietly closing her eyes and reciting the incantation.

…Intuitively, I clenched my right hand.

Suddenly.

—Hum!

—Squeak!

As Ruby opened her eyes,

the space was torn with a sound like paper being ripped. A crack appeared nearby, and the ice spear Ruby had summoned pierced through the darkness inside.

A marvelously precise magic control. The professor briefly expressed admiration, and the students watching were amazed. The form and power were impeccable.

The long spear shaft was sucked into the rift. As soon as Ruby confirmed this, she quickly opened the next portal.

—Crack!

Another rift appeared in the space, and the first portal was already half-closed.

At that moment,

I spread my right hand.

“…Ugh!”

Ruby’s expression, which had been pretending to be fine all day, suddenly distorted, and her concentration wavered, causing her to miscalculate the coordinates.

The moment my uneasy concerns became reality.

According to the original plan, Ruby and the professor intended to:

After shooting the Ice Spear forward, open a portal on the ceiling and have it strike the floor below like a bolt of lightning.

“…Aaaah!”

Stella, who was next to me, let out a short scream.

—Squeak!

The Ice Spear, passing through the rift,

fell vertically from above Ruby, the caster, aiming to split her head in two with its sharp tip.

—Bang!

I pushed off the ground with my right foot.

My body, launched like a two-handed throw, reached Ruby just as she lifted her head.

Wrapping my right fist with the prepared magical power, I extended it and struck the Ice Spear’s shaft precisely.

—Crack!

A flash of light appeared in my head.

Although it was a low-level ice magic, it was Ruby’s magic. Given my current skills, it might have been a bit challenging.

Fortunately, due to the manifestation of my ability,

The Ice Spear broke into two pieces and shattered like glass, scattering ice fragments towards the classroom door.

…A deep silence fell over the classroom.

Before the professor could wave his hand to detect the danger, I had already rushed forward and destroyed Ruby’s magic. The professor seemed surprised, and a few students were frozen in shock, their mouths agape.

Ice fragments splattered on my shoulder. They were damp.

I clenched and unclenched my slightly numb hand and extended my other hand towards Ruby, who had collapsed into a daze.

Her face seemed a bit better than yesterday, but it was just a well-maintained surface. I knew this. I hadn’t been watching her with a worried heart for nothing.

Ruby was under a lot of pressure, both mentally and physically. I wasn’t sure exactly why, but it was clear.

“Take it, quickly.”

“…”

At my urging, Ruby carefully extended her hand.

Her delicate fingers, which I hadn’t held in a long time, wrapped around my palm, and I pulled her up with a strong tug.

Her long legs were trembling, indicating that she had been quite shocked.

The professor, who had been silent, spoke quietly.

“…That’s all for today’s class, everyone. As you’ve seen, when two different types of magic are applied simultaneously, unpredictable results can occur.”

This included the caster as well.

Someone almost died right in front of us.

The students, who had been holding their chests and trying to calm their hearts, soon regained their composure, gathered their bags, and started leaving the classroom one by one, leaving me, Ruby, and Stella behind.

In the quiet center of the classroom, Ruby bowed stiffly with a forced smile.

“T-thank you… Edgio. I, I keep… needing, help… Hehe… It’s a bit, embarrassing…”