The Unveiling Eyes

The small, tidy room was adorned with decorations that seemed utterly out of place. The deep-hued curtains had long been drawn open, allowing the morning sun to forcefully squeeze through the narrow gaps in the glass panes. Though slightly dulled by the dust motes dancing in the air, the nascent morning sun still cast a warm, comforting glow upon the cramped room. Bathed in sunlight from behind, I sat half-slumped on the edge of the bed, my face etched with a gloomy expression. Directly opposite me stood Tenshouin Youli, resplendent in her school uniform skirt, her eyes sparkling with vibrant cheer.

Youli cast a somewhat bewildered glance my way, then her hand gently came to rest upon my cheek.

“Cosplay?”

A remarkably smooth sensation spread across my skin. Youli’s neatly trimmed, delicate pink nails offered no hint of sharpness; instead, they merely tickled, sending a faint, almost imperceptible electric current through me with her touch.

“Hmm? Little Qi, isn’t this… makeup on your face?”

Youli’s words jolted me wide awake!

‘I had forgotten!’

‘How could I, having just woken up, possibly remember something as trivial as makeup? Not to mention my utterly troublesome hair, which faded almost daily, surely wouldn’t miss an opportunity to assert its vibrant presence!’

‘And then… my eyes…’

‘What was I to do?’

‘This was a full-blown crisis!’

A wave of panic immediately washed over me. If Youli were to discover my true appearance… this wasn’t some anime or game, after all. For “ordinary people,” it was different.

My eyes, above all else, could never be revealed without protection.

I wasn’t entirely sure why, but perhaps it was the absence of a colored iris to obscure them. My spirit, or perhaps my very will, would scatter outwards, radiating in all directions with my gaze. These invisible thoughts would flow out as if through an open door, transmitting the raw fear contained within them to anyone who stood before me.

Even at birth, I had inadvertently branded the thought of “fear” deep into Father’s psyche. Merely by gazing at someone with these eyes for an extended period, I would inevitably invite an inescapable misfortune upon them.

The only person I knew who remained unaffected by my eyes was Ye Sakaki.

‘If such a mark were to spread into Youli’s heart, wouldn’t she become just like my elementary school classmates? Wouldn’t she be enveloped by an unerasable, innate dread of “heresy,” a panic rooted in common sense, ultimately pushing her to become a complete stranger to me?’

‘No, that couldn’t happen!’

‘I absolutely refused to let that happen! How could such an outcome ever come to pass? I couldn’t bear for Youli to dislike me. I couldn’t bear to be detested by the very things I cherished.’

A tingling, slightly numb sensation spread across my cheek, where her fingertips still gently pinched.

“Little Qi? What’s wrong? You look utterly stunned.”

Youli appeared thoroughly perplexed by my reaction, which, to my astonishment, was entirely different from what I had anticipated.

“So this is what Little Qi looks like without makeup? You’re so cute!”

Youli’s features abruptly seemed to expand before my eyes, catching me completely off guard.

Reflected in my own eyes were Youli’s beautiful, luminous eyes, shimmering like the moon mirrored in a tranquil pool.

‘Damn it!’

I swiftly averted my gaze, but… at this point, wasn’t it already too late? Because… the power concealed within my body was, at the very least, that of a Level-5 esper!

“Huh? Little Qi, your eyes are so incredibly beautiful!”

“Oh, wow! They’re actually this color! How adorable! Let me see them up close!”

Youli, standing before me, seemed to let out a joyful squeal.

Before I could even process her words, Youli unexpectedly surged forward, leaning in. This sudden movement sent me, who had been perched precariously on the edge of the bed, tumbling backward without a moment’s warning.

Whoosh~ Rustle…

My baggy T-shirt, hastily pulled on earlier, was pressed down by Youli’s knee, causing the greater part of my shoulder to slip effortlessly out of the wide neckline. With my center of gravity suddenly unstable, my hand instinctively flailed out, grasping at empty air.

A tearing sound reached my ears, but the sensation it conveyed was remarkably faint. This flimsy point of resistance offered no purchase whatsoever, providing no support to help me regain my balance.

Whoosh!

The soft, fluffy sensation of air instantly rushed out from beneath the mattress, and then I was completely enveloped by the thick, yielding Simmons bed.