Steam rose in thick waves, milky-white mist curling and refusing to disperse in the freezing winter night.
Mira, wrapped head to toe in bandages, couldn't get into the water—and she didn't want to go out front to watch those idiot boys act stupid either—so she sat in her wheelchair by the hot spring, bored out of her mind, letting the cold air hit her face.
"Ugh… so boring…"
She rested her mummy-wrapped hands on the armrests, leaned her head back, and tried to admire the moon.
But when her gaze drifted lazily to the roof, she suddenly froze.
"That's…"
The cool moonlight poured down like liquid silver, tracing the rooftop outlines in crisp clarity.
Up there, two figures were close together.
The angle didn't let her see exactly what they were doing, but their shadows swayed slightly, nearly overlapping—on a rooftop this late at night, it looked way too intimate.
Even a girl with no experience in that area could tell at a glance how close those two were.
"Woooow…"
Mira's eyes widened. Forgetting her injuries, she clutched the wheelchair arms and craned forward to get a better look.
"That's Shane, isn't it? It's definitely that bastard!"
"It's this late and instead of helping down here, he's hiding on the roof—having a secret rendezvous?!"
She said it like she was teasing, but deep inside, a restless irritation rose—one she didn't even notice.
It felt like finding out a limited-edition toy you'd been dying to get… had already been secretly taken out of the box and played with by someone else.
Just thinking about it made her mad.
She inhaled sharply, then whipped her head around to the red-haired girl in the spring, who had her eyes closed, relaxing.
Erza was leaning against the rocks at the edge of the pool. Her snow-white shoulders were above the water, flushed faintly pink from the heat. Wet crimson hair clung to her collarbones as she lazily flicked the surface with her fingers.
"Hey, Erza."
Mira jabbed a finger toward the roof, her tone carrying an inexplicable momentum.
"Do you even know who that is? I've never seen her in the guild."
"Hm?"
Erza's hand stilled. She followed Mira's finger.
When she saw the black-haired girl standing beside Shane—someone she hadn't seen in a long time—Erza's pupils tightened slightly.
Then her chest rose and fell as she let out a quiet, relieved breath.
"So she came back on her own…"
Just two days ago, she and Shane had been worrying that Ultear might have gotten into trouble in her dark guild.
Seeing her safe and whole lifted the weight that had been pressing on her heart.
"Erza?"
Mira's unease deepened when Erza didn't answer right away. She rolled her wheelchair closer until she was nearly pressed against the pool's edge.
"What? You know her?"
"Yeah."
Erza withdrew her gaze and leaned back against the pool wall again.
"That's Ultear. She's… a friend with a heavy personality. But she's very important to me and Shane."
When she said the word "friend," she stressed it—just slightly.
"Oh. A friend, huh…"
Mira arched a brow, clicked her tongue, and slouched back into her usual lazy posture.
Under the water, though, Erza quietly curled her fingers.
Logically, seeing Ultear return safely should've made her simply happy.
But when she looked up again—at those two silhouettes standing shoulder to shoulder in the moonlight—
A wave of irritation hit her, sharp and uninvited.
…
Up on the roof, the wind and snow picked up.
Shane had no idea anyone below was watching him.
His eyes stayed locked on the black-haired girl in front of him.
Under his stubborn, hardline insistence, Ultear finally gave in. She sighed, looking like she'd just lost a war to the world itself.
"Fine. I get it."
The tension in her posture eased a fraction. With a faintly self-destructive tone, she muttered:
"When the time comes… I'll ask you for help."
"Good." Shane patted her narrow shoulder, satisfied. "See? You can understand human language now. Progress."
He pulled his hand back, sat properly, and returned to the question he'd been trying to ask before all the interruptions.
"So. Tell me."
"The 'wish' you said you were going to share—what is it?"
Ultear's mental preparations had already been shredded by getting derailed over and over.
Now that he'd asked directly, the rarest thing appeared on her face: embarrassment.
Part of her didn't want to dig up her ugly past.
And part of her was absolutely certain Shane would mock her.
"My wish…"
She bit her lip, drew in several breaths, then blurted it out fast—like ripping off a bandage:
"I just… want to go back to the past."
"I want… to see my mother again."
The moment she said it, she snapped her head away toward the pitch-black sky, refusing to meet his eyes.
She could already hear the expected ridicule in her head.
But—
The laughter never came.
The air went quiet for a few seconds.
"I see."
Shane's voice was calm, like it was the most obvious thing in the world. He nodded.
"No wonder you've been throwing yourself into learning Time Arc—Lost Magic like that."
"…Huh?"
Ultear turned back in shock, staring at him. "You… you don't think it's ridiculous?"
"What's ridiculous about it?"
Shane rolled his eyes like she'd asked the dumbest question imaginable, then tugged her down to sit.
"I'm not an idiot. Does it really surprise you that I know you care about Ur?"
"Otherwise why were you secretly practicing the one thing she excelled at—Ice-Make—behind everyone's backs? For fun?"
"And—"
He reached out and lightly knocked her on the head.
"A kid wanting to see her mom is the most normal thing on earth."
"Do you really have to look like you're dying of shame just to say it?"
"…!"
Ultear's face flushed crimson.
"Don't lump me in with that idiot Gray!"
She gritted her teeth—and that was the strongest rebuttal she could manage.
Saying it out loud made her feel lighter.
But Shane's complete acceptance—his of course that's your wish attitude—left her oddly disoriented, like the obsession she'd tortured herself over for half her life was… somehow just a simple thing she'd overcomplicated.
"However."
Shane's tone shifted. He got serious.
"If your goal is really 'going back to the past'…"
"There isn't only one path. It's not just Time Arc, then forcing open some so-called 'Great Magic World.'"
"…Really?"
Ultear froze.
She grabbed Shane's sleeve, eyes blazing with shock—like she'd just been struck by lightning.
"You have no idea how big that is—"
"Yeah, yeah." Shane sighed, spreading his hands. "That's what you get for being a riddle-speaker who never explains anything."
Then, with a rare softness, he added:
"There's a method I know that's a lot more reliable than chasing a fantasy."
"Details involve other people, so I can't spill everything right now."
"But if you don't have another option besides Time Arc…"
"Put some of your hope in me."
"Maybe it won't even take that long before we can cross time."
To be honest, beyond wanting to help Ultear, he was also curious what the world four hundred years ago really looked like.
He wanted to see her reaction—shock, frantic questions, something.
He loved it when the always-cold Ultear cracked.
But Ultear's reaction was… weirdly restrained.
She only paused for a beat, then stood, patted the snow off her skirt, and said flatly:
"I see. Then I'll be counting on you."
"We're done here. I'm leaving."
"Huh?"
Shane's face stiffened.
Was she not believing him? Not trusting him? Or just being her usual maddening self?
He couldn't tell.
And just as her silhouette was about to vanish into the night—
"Thank you."
The words were so soft they nearly got swallowed by the wind and snow.
"What'd you say?" Shane blurted out automatically.
Ultear didn't turn back.
Her black figure slipped away like a bird dissolving into the dark.
…
Only after she'd put distance between them—reaching an empty clearing deep in the forest—did Ultear finally stop.
She leaned against a towering tree and slowly slid down until she was crouched on the ground, curled in on herself.
"Promises like that…"
"They sound like the kind you tell a child."
"Why… did I believe him?"
Wind tangled her black hair. Her shoulders trembled slightly.
"Can I really… see Ur again?"
~~~
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