Chapter 18: Apology

"Really?" Kuki Shinobu looked excitedly at Beidou, who nodded happily in response.

"Yay!!"

She jumped up in joy, flashing Teiyu a victory sign, completely shedding her usual cool demeanor.

After battling Yae Miko for so long, she hadn't expected to finally savor the taste of victory today!

The surprise was so delightful that she couldn't help but be overjoyed.

Teiyu joined in their laughter, proud to be part of the Arataki Gang's second generation.

"What are you guys talking about that's making you so happy?"

As everyone was chatting, Yae Miko walked out of the door, lazily leaning against the doorframe.

Beidou stopped laughing, patted her back, and stood up, saying, "Yae-sama, since the matter is settled, we'll be on our way."

She didn't want to stay any longer. Although they had won this time, it didn't feel like a clean victory. She still had to pay a "small price."

In the end, she had been outsmarted by Yae Miko and fell into her trap.

Beidou didn't like being manipulated, but she couldn't just beat Yae Miko up either.

So, she decided to leave, seeking some peace and ease.

"Uh, I'll be going too..." Teiyu, seeing Beidou and the others leaving, also wanted to slip away.

"Little guy, haven't you forgotten something you promised me~~"

Yae Miko crossed her arms, her soft, snowy arms highlighting her ample and round chest.

"What did I forget?" Teiyu was a bit confused for a moment.

Could there be something he hadn't done?

"....."

"Idiot!"

Yae Miko sighed helplessly, rubbing her forehead: "This little guy still hasn't fulfilled what he owes me~~ I'll just borrow your leader for a while." Yae Miko let out a mischievous laugh, grabbed Teiyu, and shoved him into the room, closing the door behind them.

"Uh, Beidou-sis, should we... rescue the second-in-command?" Kuki Shinobu and Beidou looked at each other.

"No need. This is between them."

"I don't feel like dealing with it. Let's go drink! Shinobu, go gather Itto and the others."

Beidou crossed her arms and looked at the closed door: "Another rival added to the mix. Oh well, it seems what I fancy is quite popular. But it's still too early to talk about winning or losing."

"Hmph, Yae Miko, this time you won, but next time it won't be so easy."

Beidou waved her hand, signaling Kuki Shinobu to head back.

...

Inside the small room, Teiyu and Yae Miko sat facing each other.

It was evening, and the night outside the window poured like a dark curtain over the vast land.

"Crackle~~"

Yae Miko lit a candle, breaking the silence.

The wick inside the candle suddenly popped with a crack.

The air began to fill with a faint scent of oil as the shadows of the two stretched long in the candlelight. When the window was opened, a breeze blew in, causing the shadows to flicker, comically resembling mischievous ghosts.

"..."

Teiyu wasn't in the mood for jokes at the moment. He stared blankly at Yae Miko sitting across from him, lost in thought.

Yae Miko also remained silent, her glassy purple eyes fixed on Teiyu.

"Are you angry with me?" Yae Miko asked, noticing Teiyu staring at her blankly, feeling an unusual sense of unease.

She had been quite pleased and happy while outwitting Beidou today.

But after everything was said and done, she realized that Teiyu didn't seem to be very happy or joyful.

"Could it be that my overly calculating behavior while outwitting Beidou today made this little guy unhappy?"

"No, I'm not..." Teiyu said, his voice slightly hoarse, different from his usual clear tone, echoing lightly in the quiet room.

He wasn't angry with Yae Miko; he was just troubled by the chaotic relationship between the two of them.

"..." Yae Miko's heart couldn't help but tighten: "You say you're not? Is it that you think I was too calculating today?"

...

Yae Miko had never been in love.

She didn't know what it felt like to like someone.

Her life was long, far longer than many others, but she had never truly loved someone.

She was proud and aloof.

Yae Miko both liked and disliked humans.

The Hakushin fox clan, to which she belonged, had been the guardians of Narukami Island in Inazuma since ancient times.

But ever since that day, when a shocking event occurred, her most admired Lord Kitsune Saiguu left her forever...

The departure of Kitsune Saiguu was so sudden, so painful.

Yae Miko didn't even have time to mourn her.

As a young fox, she had no choice but to take up the responsibilities left by Kitsune Saiguu, inheriting the Hakushin fox bloodline and striving to revive the clan.

...

But reality is always cruel! Even though she gave her all, her young self's power was too weak to salvage the situation.

After Kitsune Saiguu's disappearance, the associated "Sky Fox" and "Earth Fox" of Narukami Island turned to stone, waiting for her return.

Meanwhile, the ordinary foxes, as the spiritual vein of the clan thinned, lost their ability to speak and their magical powers.

In the end, she was the only one left who could speak human language and wield magic.

So Yae Miko resented humans greatly!

Because of their greed and malice, she became the lone orphan of the fox spirit clan. Her white fox sister left her forever, and her former playmates lost their wits, becoming mere beasts.

...

Since then, she restrained her thoughts.

She began to indulge in the human world, cultivating many pleasures to slowly dissipate her pain.

Until one day, she met Teiyu.

Perhaps it was on that day that Yae Miko started to like humans again.

What kind of day was that?

Yae Miko remembered it as an exceptionally gloomy, rainy day.

The cold rain, mixed with piercing chill, cast a bleak atmosphere over the world.

That little ninja raised by the Shogunate brought a small boy to the shrine.

....

It was Yae Miko's first meeting with Teiyu.

The boy was covered in wounds, his clothes in tatters, and the cold, bitter rain had left him barely clinging to life.

The little ninja named Sayu, like a small whirlwind, rushed into the shrine.

Yae Miko peered through the curtain and saw a group of shrine maidens rushing over like protective mother foxes to save the boy who was barely alive.

...

But fate always likes to play tricks on people.

The happy ending that everyone hoped for did not come.

As days passed, the boy was close to death.

Even though the shrine maidens had called in a doctor from the mountain and tried their best to save him,

His life was like a candle flickering in the wind, growing weaker and weaker.

....

Yae Miko entered the room to see him.

This poor boy was deathly pale, devoid of any color.

His body was so emaciated, he looked like a skeleton, barely held together by the medicinal concoctions keeping him alive.

"Lady Guuji, please save this child!" Nanao, who had cried so much her eyes were swollen, held the weak Teiyu and begged Yae Miko for help.

"..."

"I understand." Seeing her shrine maiden in such distress, Yae Miko felt a pang of sadness herself.

She performed a secret technique to forcibly extend the boy's life.

"Ha... ha.."

The boy on the small bed began to breathe more steadily, and a slight flush appeared on his little face. For the first time, a peaceful smile appeared on his gaunt cheeks.

"Lady Guuji, did you save him?" Nanao asked excitedly, seeing Teiyu's brief moment of vitality.

"No, I didn't."

"I only used a secret technique to forcibly extend his life. He will still die in seven days."

"Still die?" Nanao couldn't believe it as she looked at the sickly Teiyu: "So even Lady Guuji can't save him..."

"Is fate really so cruel..." Nanao's eyes turned red again, and she began to sob softly. Her small, round face looked haggard, as if she had aged ten years in an instant.

"...."

"Bring him to my room. He cannot leave for the next seven days; he must stay in my room. His body is too fragile to take any risks."

Teiyu was moved into Yae Miko's room.

He woke up, and although his body was no longer in pain, the overwhelming emptiness of his frail body clearly told him that he only had seven days left to live.

Question: If you woke up in another world and had only seven days to live, what would you do?

Teiyu can tell you: "He could only draw."

He wanted to go out, but the little shrine maiden with the round face at the door stubbornly refused to let him leave. Unable to understand each other's language, they gestured back and forth.

Teiyu finally understood that the reason she wouldn't let him out was that he would die instantly if exposed to the outside environment.

"I see." Teiyu nodded helplessly at her, feeling that if he continued to argue, she would start tearing up again.

He didn't want to make this kind-hearted girl cry...

Teiyu met Yae Miko again.

What kind of person was she?

She had long pink hair, long fox ears, and a mysterious smile always played on her charming face—a very enigmatic woman!

Teiyu wanted to draw her. As the last person he would see in his life, giving her a portrait was the only way he could

repay her.

"A gift for me?" As soon as Yae Miko returned to the small room, Teiyu handed her the drawing.

"Hehe, what's this?"

Yae Miko chuckled as she looked at the drawing Teiyu handed her, unable to suppress a smile.

On the paper was a woman with pink fox ears, hands on her hips, addressing a few shrine maidens.

This was what Teiyu had seen through the window.

Yae Miko laughed because the style of the drawing was so comical.

She had never seen a drawing like this before. Her head was drawn comically large, while her body was tiny, making it look quite amusing.

"What is this?" Yae Miko asked Teiyu with a smile, waving the drawing.

"Oh... I forgot you don't understand the language." Yae Miko sighed as she watched the small Teiyu gesturing helplessly, trying to explain.

She walked over to Teiyu, lifted him into her arms, and said, "Now, you can understand me, right?"

"Huh? I can understand what you're saying?" A soft, lazy female voice suddenly echoed in Teiyu's mind.

"That's right, this is my Heart Fox Technique. As long as you completely open your heart, you can hear someone's inner voice."

"So, this is our minds communicating?" Teiyu found it incredible. This world was indeed fascinating, though he regretted that he wouldn't be able to experience it much longer.

Yae Miko told him he only had seven days left to live, and that her secret spell was merely delaying the inevitable. After seven days, he would still die.

"Aren't you afraid?" Teiyu, comfortably nestled in Yae Miko's chest, asked, "Since there's no more hope, why not make the most of the time left?"

"You're quite carefree." Yae Miko adjusted her position, making Teiyu more comfortable. "Many people spend their entire lives unable to come to terms with death, yet you, a child, can face it so calmly."

"Heh, it's not that I'm carefree, it's just that there's nothing I can do!" Teiyu gave a wry smile, continuing to sketch with the small charcoal pencil in his hand. As a manga artist, a brush was really unsuitable for drawing comics, so he had asked the "round-faced shrine maiden" to get him a charcoal pencil.

"Look, this is a vehicle from my world, this is a car... and this is a plane..."

"Oh, interesting. Another world without elemental powers, yet they found another way to progress."

Yae Miko marveled at his drawings.

In just a few short days, Yae Miko stayed by Teiyu's side, watching him draw non-stop.

He drew everything—the world and all its wonders appeared under his pencil.

They became tiny figures, playfully greeting her.

Teiyu talked with Yae Miko about everything—life, family.

Teiyu learned that Yae Miko was an orphaned fox spirit, with no family left, living alone in this world.

Yae Miko learned that Teiyu came from another world.

...

They shared everything with each other without holding back.

Yae Miko found Teiyu truly interesting. He was humorous and could chat with her about anything.

He was lecherous, yet timid; whenever she got close, his face would turn red and he couldn't speak.

He...

Yae Miko suddenly realized that Teiyu had already occupied a place in her heart.

"Is this love?"

Yae Miko didn't know; she only knew that she didn't want him to die, and perhaps there was still a way.

On the sixth day, she left Teiyu and went to Tenshukaku to find Raiden Ei.

The two reunited after a long time. Ei told her, "Recently, I've been studying the laws of moments. There might be a chance... to extend Teiyu's life..."

"That's such good news!"

Yae Miko was overjoyed. For the first time, she felt that the world was truly beautiful, that it hadn't treated her unfairly.

She rushed home, only to find Teiyu hanging from a rope.

His small body was suspended high, his face a ghastly blue, and his tiny hands and feet were stretched out in a desperate struggle.

"No!!! How could this happen!!" Yae Miko was devastated.

Why!! Why couldn't you wait just a little longer...??

A drawing lay on the small table.

In it, an adult Teiyu, dressed in a suit, was holding a smiling Yae Miko.

Between them, the little Teiyu was looking up at the two of them, his small face beaming with a bright smile.

"I'm sorry." The drawing had an apology written in Teyvat's language.

——

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