"Want something to eat? Kajika is stewing a fish for you. Based on the time, it should be ready to come off the stove. If you head over now, you might catch it just as it's served."
Mumei could care less about Ikoma and Takumi's reactions. She pointed in a specific direction, glancing at Misono Mika's stomach with a playful tease. "That noise earlier was quite something. Go on, don't let yourself starve."
'She clearly could have stayed silent, yet Mumei went out of her way to mention it. Does she want to see me embarrassed? How mischievous. However, she might be disappointed; I am not that easy to fluster.'
"Eh? How... I am not that petty..."
Her intentions exposed, Mumei shifted her gaze guiltily. She would not admit to her little scheme.
'Why did it not work? Miss Ayame just turned red and fled with a random excuse a moment ago.'
"You really are not good at lying. It is transparent."
Mika reached out and lightly tapped Mumei's head. Seeing the girl cover her head with both hands while looking aggrieved, Mika remarked with surprise, "What actually surprises me is that Mumei would joke with me. I thought you would be like Ikoma and the others—too afraid to say anything reckless to my face."
"..."
Ikoma and Takumi traded glances, unable to find an excuse to argue. It seemed they truly lacked Mumei's boldness.
"Is... is that not okay?" Mumei suddenly grew tense.
"Quite the opposite. I am actually quite happy to share trivial jokes with Mumei, like friends messing around."
Mika shook her head slightly. She looked seriously at Mumei, then swept her gaze over Ikoma and Takumi, letting out a faint sigh. "Between me, you, and everyone on the Koutetsujou, there seems to be an invisible, thick barrier isolating us."
"Whenever I attempt to get closer and try to understand you, you all shrink back for some reason. You wrap yourselves in layers of armor, afraid to reveal your true thoughts."
Mika looked at the three stunned figures. As she began to walk away, she added, "I understand each of your personalities, but why do you not try to understand me in return? Is it fear? If so, why? Am I really as unapproachable as you imagine?"
Leaving those questions behind, Mika departed without lingering, leaving Mumei, Ikoma, and Takumi to stare at one another in silence.
Finally, Ikoma broke the quiet. "Lady Mika... might be disappointed in us."
"But it is not entirely our fault, right? Lady Mika is like the sun—too dazzling. For ordinary people like us, simply gazing from afar is enough. We would not dare have any other extravagant hopes..." Takumi spoke up, voicing his genuine feelings.
"I... think I understand a little now..."
Hearing this, Ikoma felt he grasped the core of the issue. He speculated, "This might be the thick barrier Lady Mika mentioned. Precisely because we feel too lowly, we feel we lack the qualification to get close to her... but those are just our thoughts. That is the problem."
"...In other words, Lady Mika herself does not mind having a few friends around her? And because of our overly self-deprecating thoughts, she felt disappointed?" Takumi's eyes widened at his own conclusion.
"Perhaps. But as Lady Mika said, she knows our personalities through and through, yet we know nothing about her."
Ikoma looked down at the Piercing Gun in his hand. He turned to the pensive Mumei and reminded her, "Mumei, do you know why Lady Mika suddenly told us this?"
Takumi also instinctively turned his gaze toward Mumei.
"Why? Why are you looking at me like that? What does it have to do with me? Did... did I do something wrong?" Mumei snapped back to reality, pointing at herself with a face full of shock.
"Because Mumei is no different from us; you are just a bit braver. Think carefully. When Lady Mika used us as a negative example, how did you answer?" Ikoma pressed.
"I, I obviously..."
The moment Mumei thought of her performance, she began to stammer, unable to find the words.
She remembered her nervous question: Is that not okay?
Because she hesitated, she assumed Mika did not want to be teased like a friend. She thought her recklessness caused Mika's displeasure. As Mumei reached this realization, she suddenly understood Ikoma's point.
Just as he said, she never truly understood Misono Mika.
From the very beginning, because of Mika's uniqueness and status, Mumei had not even initiated a conversation during their time together.
Why was that?
Perhaps, as Takumi said, Mika was too radiant. It made Mumei subconsciously believe that if she stepped too close, the brilliant light might melt her away.
Outside the Koutetsujou, the sky gradually darkened. Mika strolled through the night, unhurriedly walking toward Kajika's location.
"As Aizen said, admiration is the emotion furthest from understanding. If you truly want to be my friend, then try to understand me."
'Otherwise, your status in my heart will only be that of a toy—one of many tools for my amusement.'
Mika already saw through Mumei's little thoughts. While she did not mind becoming friends, if Mumei could not understand her in the end, then no matter how beautiful Mumei was or what tragic past she carried, it would not be a reason for Mika to agree.
Since they were destined to not walk the same path, she would not allow Mumei the chance to become an emotional tether that might bind her.
Mumei and Amatori Biba were a living example of this. Perhaps because he hid it too well, Mumei never truly understood the man known as Biba. And Biba, unknowingly, invested genuine brotherly affection into Mumei, which led to him not being completely heartless in the end.
'Mumei, I wonder if after experiencing this, you can see Biba's true colors on your own, without anyone's help?'
It was something to look forward.
Mika stopped in her tracks. She looked with some surprise at the woman walking toward her with a face full of trepidation.
The newcomer seemed to have a request for her.