“We’re here. Time to get out.”
“Mmm…”
Bai Zhiqiu groggily awoke, roused from a deep slumber. Having been lost in a myriad of thoughts, she had inadvertently drifted off.
“You’ve been sleeping for days. Are you still that tired?”
Yan Qingzhu chuckled, gently pinching Bai Zhiqiu’s cheek.
“Where are we?”
Bai Zhiqiu rubbed her eyes. They were parked directly in front of a supermarket, which appeared to be of a modest size.
“A supermarket! Hurry and get out! Come help me buy some things!”
With that, Yan Qingzhu exited the car first, then walked around to open the door for Bai Zhiqiu.
Noticing Bai Zhiqiu’s still hazy expression, Yan Qingzhu let out a soft laugh and unbuckled her seatbelt.
“Aren’t you getting out yet? Do you want me to call out, ‘Princess, your carriage awaits’?”
“No! No need! I’ll do it myself!”
Upon hearing Yan Qingzhu’s words, a blush crept across Bai Zhiqiu’s delicate face. Being called ‘Princess, your carriage awaits’ was simply too mortifying! Especially since she was still a boy! Though that might soon change, the integrity of the man within her heart would remain unwavering.
Having declared that, Bai Zhiqiu leapt from the seat.
However, just as she was about to land, her foot caught on something unseen, sending her tumbling straight towards the ground.
“Oh!”
Bai Zhiqiu decisively closed her eyes, bracing herself for the impending impact. Yet, after a brief wait, no pain arrived. Instead, she felt a profound warmth enveloping her.
Opening her eyes, she discovered Yan Qingzhu had caught her. At this very moment, Bai Zhiqiu found herself wrapped around Yan Qingzhu’s waist, her head nestled snugly against Yan Qingzhu’s chest.
“You stumble even when walking? Or was that a deliberate attempt to find an excuse to fall into my arms? If it’s the latter, you could just say so, you know! I’d be more than happy to oblige!”
“Who… who would *want* to fall into your arms! Don’t flatter yourself! Something clearly tripped me!”
“Is that so? But we’re in the suburbs, and there’s no one else around here. Besides, there are no loose stones on an asphalt road, so tripping over a pebble sounds rather unbelievable!”
As she spoke, Yan Qingzhu gently brushed Bai Zhiqiu’s bangs aside, a smile playing on her lips. “So, little witch, could you perhaps explain why you ended up falling into my embrace?”
“I already told you, something tripped me! And don’t touch my hair!”
Bai Zhiqiu tried to step back, but Yan Qingzhu held her in an unyielding embrace, leaving no chance to retreat.
“I don’t believe you.”
“It just happened, alright! Believe it or not! Anyway, what exactly do you need to buy? Let’s just go!”
“Alright, alright! If you don’t want to talk about it, then don’t.”
With a hint of regret, Yan Qingzhu took Bai Zhiqiu’s hand and led her into the supermarket.
Unbeknownst to Bai Zhiqiu, a jelly-like creature quietly opened the car’s trunk and slipped inside.
****
“Seriously, you drove all this way just for snacks? Why didn’t you buy them closer to headquarters?”
Bai Zhiqiu tore open a bag of potato chips, picked one up, and popped it into her mouth. She then glanced at Yan Qingzhu, who was driving, and after a moment’s thought, offered a chip to her lips.
“Try it! This tomato flavor is really good!”
Yan Qingzhu opened her mouth to take the chip, her lips brushing ever so lightly against Bai Zhiqiu’s fair fingertips.
“It truly is delicious.”
“Right? So you like tomato flavor too?”
“No, I don’t care for tomatoes.”
“Huh?”
Hearing Yan Qingzhu’s response, Bai Zhiqiu was momentarily stunned. She didn’t like them, yet she claimed they were delicious…
“I just think anything you feed me tastes good,” Yan Qingzhu said with a smile, seemingly seeing through Bai Zhiqiu’s thoughts.
“That… that sentence… it’s just too strange…”
Upon hearing Yan Qingzhu’s words, Bai Zhiqiu’s face flushed. For some inexplicable reason, ever since she took on the appearance of a little witch, she found herself blushing without cause—a reaction entirely unfamiliar to her before.
After all, her famous motto used to be, ‘What’s the point of a face? You just have to wash it!’
Blushing was something that had always been far removed from her previous self.
“Strange? I don’t think so. I’m merely speaking the truth.”
Another direct hit landed squarely.
Hearing this, Bai Zhiqiu’s face deepened to an even darker shade of red. Seated in the passenger seat, she felt a sudden surge of bewilderment.
‘She… she’s really good at this…’
“Th-that… that… you don’t actually like me, do you?”
After much deliberation in her seat, Bai Zhiqiu finally managed to voice the question.
“I do! I like you! I liked you the very first moment I saw you! No, wait! I should say I became interested in you when I heard about a kind little witch in the Southern Capital, back when I was in the Imperial Capital!”
“No wonder you suddenly appeared there that day! It was all premeditated!”
Upon hearing Yan Qingzhu’s confession, Bai Zhiqiu frantically grabbed a large orange plushie from the car and used it to shield her face.
‘Hmph~ How can you call it premeditated? It was merely a spur-of-the-moment decision! If you hadn’t acted that day, or had been a bit more cautious, nothing would have happened! But alas, a certain little one didn’t even think twice and simply pounced. Who else was I supposed to catch?’
Seeing Bai Zhiqiu hiding her face with the plushie, Yan Qingzhu chuckled and gently pulled the toy away.
“Catching you is just as easy as catching this little plushie!”
“Well, that still sounds premeditated! Who would have thought that a dignified Brightmoon-tier magical girl would deliberately pretend to be a novice to trick me there! You big liar!”
With that, Bai Zhiqiu playfully stuck out her tongue at Yan Qingzhu.
“As if you haven’t tricked me! Don’t forget how you used coordinates to escape! If I hadn’t gotten hold of your phone, you probably would have really gotten away!”
“Ugh! Give me back my phone right now! You didn’t mess with anything inside, did you?”
At the thought of her phone, Bai Zhiqiu’s heart sank. After all, her phone contained many unspeakable things! All sorts of defeated magical girl CGs, and even a few of Jasmine’s own…
‘What if Yan Qingzhu saw them and told Jasmine…’
‘Little witch! Do you choose this glowing red rod, or do you choose…’
‘That kind of thing is absolutely not happening!’
“I don’t have a habit of rummaging through other people’s things, you know! Aside from using your phone’s SIM card information to locate you, I haven’t done anything else!”
“It better be that way…”
Hearing Yan Qingzhu’s assurance, Bai Zhiqiu pouted.
“If you don’t believe me, see for yourself, your phone is right here!”
With that, Yan Qingzhu pulled the phone from her pocket.
“I was just about to give it to you anyway!”
“Give it to me quickly!”
Bai Zhiqiu reached out eagerly.
“Alright! But I have one small request!”
“What kind of request?”
“It’s just…”
Yan Qingzhu didn’t speak, merely pointed to her own face and then to Bai Zhiqiu’s lips.