Sumire scratched her head in embarrassment, then her eyes lit up as if she had just remembered something. "Oh, right! Since the special training is over, does that mean I can go play with Sakura?"
Hearing that name, Asuka's hand paused slightly.
Over the past three days, due to Kariya's insistence and a desire to curry favor with a powerful ally like Asuka, Zouken had temporarily halted Sakura Matou's Crest Worm training.
The poor little girl had been brought out of the foul-smelling underground Worm Space and settled into a clean guest room.
Although she still resembled a soulless puppet, at the very least, she no longer had to endure the agonizing pain of countless worms gnawing at her heart.
"Go ahead," Asuka said, withdrawing his hand, his tone softening a bit. "That child really does need some company."
Matou Manor, courtyard garden.
Despite being neglected, the vegetation here remained lush. The afternoon sunlight filtered through the gaps in the leaves, casting dappled shadows on the ground.
Sakura Matou sat quietly on a bench, her hands resting properly on her knees.
Her long purple hair hung down the sides of her face, concealing her hollow, lifeless eyes.
She looked like a delicate yet shattered porcelain doll. Even bathed in sunlight, her body still exuded a lingering, gloomy chill.
"Sakura!"
An energetic call broke the dead silence.
Sumire Kamado ran over like a gust of wind, holding two freshly washed apples in her hands.
"Sorry for the wait! Look, I asked Uncle Kariya for some apples! They're super red!"
Sumire plopped down right next to Sakura, completely ignoring the gloomy chill radiating from the other girl, and stuffed a bright red apple into Sakura's hands.
Sakura lowered her head rather sluggishly, looking at the apple in her hands.
"...An apple?" she muttered, her voice so faint it seemed like it could be blown away by the wind at any moment.
"Yeah, hurry up and eat it, it's really sweet!"
Sumire took a crisp bite out of her own apple and spoke with a muffled voice. "Teacher said eating lots of fruit is good for the body! Especially since you're so skinny, you need to get more vitamins!"
Sakura did not move.
She merely held the apple, feeling its texture against her fingertips.
In this house, other than Uncle Kariya, no one had ever given her anything to eat.
And certainly no one had ever sat beside her so casually, speaking to her in such a warm tone.
Other than those worms... no one kept Sakura company.
"Sakura?"
Seeing that she wasn't moving, Sumire leaned in closer, her ruby-like eyes filled with concern. "Do you not like apples? Should I ask Mom to bring back some oranges next time?"
"No..."
Sakura shook her head, slowly raised the apple, and took a small bite.
With a crisp crunch, she let the sweet and sour juice spread through her mouth.
It was as if she remembered, just a little bit, what it felt like to be alive.
"Is it good?" Sumire asked expectantly.
Sakura swallowed the fruit, hesitated for a moment, and gave a gentle nod. "...Yeah."
"That's great!"
Sumire laughed happily. Her smile was like the midday sun, so dazzling that it made Sakura instinctively want to squint.
"Oh, right, right! It's so boring just sitting here all the time."
Sumire finished her apple in a few bites, tossed the core into a trash can, and then grabbed Sakura's hand. "Let's exercise! Even though it's tiring, it'll make your body feel all warm and toasty!"
"Exercise...?" Sakura looked a bit bewildered.
"Yeah! If you stay cooped up indoors all the time, your mood will get moldy too!"
Without waiting for Sakura to agree, Sumire pulled her toward an open space in the garden. "Come on, come on, do some stretching exercises with me first! One, two, three, four; two, two, three, four..."
Watching Sumire clumsily wave her arms in the sunlight, a slight ripple formed in the originally dead lake of Sakura's heart.
Her hand was held tightly by Sumire.
That hand had calluses and scars; it hardly felt like the hand of a young girl.
But, it was very warm.
Just like Uncle Kariya's constantly trembling hands, it transmitted waves of warmth.
Sumire turned her head and flashed her a brilliant smile. "As long as you get your body moving, all those nasty things will be left behind and won't be able to catch up to you!"
'Will the nasty things really not be able to catch up?'
Sakura stared at Sumire's back, the emptiness in her eyes seeming to fill with the tiniest hint of color.
Tentatively, she raised her arms in a somewhat stiff manner, imitating Sumire's movements.
Although her form was far from perfect, and her limbs were weak from prolonged torment.
But in the moment she swung her arms, she truly seemed to feel the heavy, dark clouds pressing down on her heart part just a little.
Meanwhile, behind a second-floor window.
Kariya Matou hid in the shadows of the curtains, watching the two girls in the garden, his face already covered in tears.
"..."
He covered his mouth to keep himself from crying out loud.
How long had it been since he last saw Sakura act like a normal child?
"Thank you... Sumire..."
Kariya's fingers dug deeply into the window frame, his eyes burning with an unprecedented fighting spirit.
'To protect this hard-won smile, I must win.'
However, not everyone's situation was improving.
The open space behind the manor, originally an abandoned courtyard used for storing clutter, had now been cleared out to serve as a temporary training ground.
"Hah!"
A sharp shout rang out.
Haruri Kamado stood in the center of the grounds, her right eye glowing with intense silver light.
In front of her, a massive boulder weighing dozens of pounds hovered unsteadily in midair.
"Up... get up!"
Haruri clenched her teeth, the veins on her forehead bulging as sweat rained down.
She desperately tried to control the boulder, willing it to fly higher and steadier.
But the stone seemed to be fighting against her, trembling violently and bobbing up and down, completely out of her control.
Asuka stood to the side, his brows tightly furrowed.
"You've regressed."
"I know!"
Haruri shouted in frustration.
But in that split second of distraction.
—!
The hovering boulder suddenly lost the support of her controlling power and plummeted heavily toward the ground like a kite with a snapped string.
And it was crashing right toward Haruri's own feet!
"Watch out!"
Asuka's figure blurred, instantly appearing by Haruri's side. He wrapped an arm around her waist and leaped back several meters with her.
Boom!
The boulder smashed into the ground, kicking up a spray of dirt and gravel.
If Asuka had been even a step slower, Haruri's foot would likely have been crushed.
"Hah... hah..."
Haruri panted heavily, still reeling from the shock, her sweat falling uncontrollably.
Leaning on Asuka's arm, she steadied herself rather awkwardly with a hand on her knee. "Th-Thank you..."
"You're too impatient," Asuka said, looking at her with a stern tone. "Your condition has been very off these past few days."
"Your control has dropped significantly, and now you can't even form a Bounded Field."
"Furthermore..."
Asuka narrowed his eyes, his gaze falling on Haruri's neck.
There, several dark, bruised veins were slightly bulging, pulsing with her heartbeat in an unusually grotesque manner.
"Tell me, Haruri," Asuka said, taking a step forward and staring intently into her eyes. "Are you hiding something from me?"
Faced with Asuka's gaze, which seemed capable of seeing right through her, Haruri instinctively shrank her neck and pulled up her collar to cover the bizarre veins.
"..."
She avoided Asuka's eyes and forced a smile. "It's probably... menopause, right? Plus, I haven't been sleeping well these past few days, so I'm a bit out of it."
"You know how it is. I'm just an ordinary person. Suddenly getting superpowers like this, it's inevitable that I'd have some trouble mastering them..."
"You're lying."
Asuka cut her off coldly.
"This level of lost control absolutely cannot be explained away by a lack of sleep."