Not long after, she saw Hayato, already a lap behind, up ahead. "Did Trainer run ahead? Then I should too..."
She immediately increased her speed, quickly catching up to Hayato. Her speed carried her away.
Wait, what happened to running side by side?
Not long after starting, Hayato was already drenched in sweat. How did she think this would run side by side?
Silence Suzuka was completely immersed in the scene of Hayato receding, then approaching, and had completely forgotten about running side by side.
Half an hour later, Hayato's speed increased by 1 point. The cost was complete exhaustion.
His clothes were completely soaked, clinging to his body. He lay on the ground, panting continuously.
"Are you okay, Trainer?" Silence Suzuka asked with concern.
Hayato forced a smile. "I'm fine. You train first. I'll lie here for a bit. Working up a sweat feels really good."
"Mm, running really is wonderful, isn't it? I'll continue running then." After saying that, she ran off again, still savoring the running process from earlier.
This was the happiest run she'd ever had. She really hoped she could do this every day from now on.
Hayato lay on the ground for a long time before recovering.
Hayato decided that next time, no matter how Silence Suzuka ran, he'd just run his own pace.
"Ahhh... Finally, my happy time...."
After getting up, Hayato went straight back to the office and slept on the couch.
"Is the Trainer slacking off again?"
Having nothing better to do, at this time, Seiun Sky passed by the office and walked in. Seeing the sleeping Hayato, she was a bit curious. How did he get this exhausted?
"Did you run with others again, Trainer?"
A sad emotion crept onto Seiun Sky's young face. Her head drooped down as she sighed. "Sigh! Trainer! Don't you know Seiun isn't joking? I really want to go fishing with you!"
She thought for a moment, then picked up the marker pen for the blackboard. "Since you went fishing with me, I'll leave you a little souvenir."
"What should I draw?"
"A fish? No, no, no, they'd immediately know it was me. That's confessing right away."
She shook her head, then nodded. "Mm, I'll just draw two hearts. And Cupid's arrow. I love you!"
A capital I, then two hearts pierced by one arrow.
Of course.
Not broken, but connected like skewers, and finally a capital U.
Like that, Seiun Sky's masterpiece was complete.
After finishing, she carefully examined Hayato's face, tilting her head in thought. "Trainer looks so cute when he's sleeping. This is a rare opportunity. Should I leave something else?"
She looked left and right, and behind her. Her heart was pounding. This felt even more thrilling than drawing on his face.
Wait, what am I worried about? It's just a little kiss, not like he'll lose a piece of flesh.
I'll take him to catch big fish later to make up for it.
She looked around once more, and after confirming no one was there, she carefully brought her lips closer.
Smooch!
Her cherry blossom lips seamlessly connected, kissing Hayato's lips, then reluctantly separating, leaving a long thread of transparent liquid.
Honestly, didn't feel like much... She regrettably raised her head. She didn't dare savor the taste deeply because she was afraid of waking Hayato.
As she was about to leave just like that, she glanced at Hayato once more, then their eyes met, scaring her so badly she jumped. Even her tail fur stood on end.
Hayato was awake.
"Ahhh!!!" A scream rang out in the office.
"You didn't see anything, please forget about it quickly..."
"Ughhh... What's wrong, Seiun? Why did you wake me up?" Hayato still didn't know what was happening. Right now, he was unusually sensitive to external sounds and physical contact. When Seiun Sky touched it, Hayato felt like there was someone who wanted to wake him up.
"Nothing, Trainer, you're dreaming right now. Please wake up quickly." In her panic, Seiun Sky gave Hayato a hand chop.
"Ughh...."
Luckily, Hayato passed out from it.
"That was close!" Seeing Hayato continue sleeping, Seiun Sky fled the office in a panic.
----
After hours of unconsciousness due to exhaustion, Hayato finally woke up feeling a throbbing pain at the back of his head.
Why did the back of my head hurt so much?
Hayato touched the back of his head.
"Is the couch really that hard? Should I buy it another?"
Speaking of which, in the dream he seemed to have dreamed of Seiun.
Hayato checked the time. It was already noon. No wonder in the dream, Seiun woke me up. So it was already this time?
Hayato rubbed his eyes, pressed his forehead, then looked at the black ink on his hand. "It wasn't a dream?"
Hayato still vividly remembered that Seiun in the dream had been holding a pen.
"Is Seiun so bored she has nothing better to do?"
Since it wasn't quick-dry ink, he wiped it with a tissue and cleaned it off quickly, though his forehead was still a bit black.
Hayato immediately called Seiun Sky on the phone.
"Hei, Seiun, what are you doing?"
"Trainer! Wanna come around? I really caught a big fish today, a twenty-centimeter whopper."
Seiun Sky's tone was very calm, like she'd really been fishing all day.
"You didn't come to my office earlier, did you?"
"Hehehe! Trainer, you're joking. Kagami Lake is 13 kilometers from school! How would I run from Kagami Lake back to school, then fly back to Kagami Lake? If you don't believe me, we can video call to confirm."
She quickly sent a video call request.
In the video, Seiun Sky was indeed fishing, and in the bucket was a twenty-centimeter big fish.
Seeing that big fish, Hayato felt a bit moved and regretted not going.
So the question was, if it wasn't Seiun Sky, who could it be?
Kagami Lake really was thirteen kilometers from school. With frequent traffic jams, traffic lights, and waiting for transportation, a round trip would take over three hours.
"It's not Seiun?"
Did I wrongly accuse her?
Hayato was depressed. Someone randomly drew on his face, and he didn't even know who.
What was with that dream? Is it really Seiun?
Thinking this, he touched the back of his head, and the idea sprouted in his mind that there might be two Seiun.
"Unless she didn't fish at all and ran to Kagami Lake? Why does that possibility seem bigger?"
"Impossible, she won't go that far just to draw on my face, right?"
--
*As usual, the illustration is commented on.