Sky Striker Princess, but the swan song of Valkyrie.

Taking a deep breath, she made up her mind and said this to Lingyi.

"..."

After he said that in the future, Lingyi's slightly stiff expression seemed to undergo a subtle change, down to the pixel level.

But then, this change, like an illusion, vanished in the face of the future, and if I hadn't been so focused on the future, I might have missed it.

"What do you want? Can you tell me?"

Before the future could even grasp what this change meant, Lingyi uttered new words.

His expression remained as still as ever, his words were calm and casual, as if it were just a casual question, but there was a barely perceptible hint of expectation in his eyes.

What I want is…

After Lingyi asked the question, Mirai subconsciously wanted to express her expectations.

However, the words that were already on the tip of his tongue stopped abruptly when he saw Lingyi's expression in the future, as if they were stuck in his throat.

"...No, that's not right."

Swallowing back what she wanted to say, Future shook her head, as if she were talking to herself.

"Zero, I won't tell you what I want you to become, I won't make that kind of demand of you."

Then, the intelligent young woman spoke with composure, concealing her true feelings.

"..."

The expectation in Lingyi's eyes vanished, replaced by a fleeting sense of disappointment.

"What kind of person you want to become is up to you, Rei."

“I understand. There are many things I don’t know. I don’t know what you’ve been through in the past, I don’t know what you’re thinking now, and I don’t know how to help you.”

“But even so, I will help you in my own way until I think you don’t need help anymore.”

"So, whatever you want to ask, Lingyi, this is my answer."

Future took Zero's hand and said these words with a smile.

Then, whether it was a misperception or not, I felt that after she said those words, the gloomy feeling that had been shrouding Lingyi faded a little.

"Little Hinata..."

"Well then, Lingyi, let's get up and have breakfast together. A good meal makes you feel better; that's what my friend taught me."

The future gave Lingyi no time for silence or reflection.

After saying that, he grabbed the hand of the girl he had previously taken and guided Lingyi to do what she planned to do, just as he had said.

Subsequently, things proceeded very smoothly.

The perfectly warm water flowed over the girl's soft cheeks, and the stimulation of patting and rubbing briefly buried all the troublesome memories under the stimulation of the senses.

Soft fingers and a stiff wooden comb passed through each other's hair in turn, initially bringing a slight pulling sensation, followed by an indescribable smoothness.

The crispy texture created by baking water and wheat flour with other ingredients reaches the tip of the tongue, while the perfectly timed bouncy and fragrant egg flavor satisfies the empty stomach after a night's rest.

After taking a somewhat forceful approach and doing the series of things with the girl, he eventually pulled her back to his room.

"Zero, let's play a game together."

He took out several game boxes that had been piled up at home and said with a smile.

"Huh, what game?"

Lingyi asked, looking somewhat dazed.

At this moment, under the continuous initiative from the future, Lingyi's thinking seemed to fall behind and temporarily went offline.

"Well, it depends on what you like, Lingyi. Since I often have friends over to play, I have a lot of board games here, like this one, this one, and that one."

Future spoke enthusiastically, introducing Lingyi to the several board games she had stored there.

"Or, if there's any board game you'd like to play, Zero, I can go out and buy it with you. I'd also like to know more interesting games."

With a smile on her face, Mirai asked.

"Ah, I... So, Hinata, you want to play these games with me, but don't you have to go to school today, Hinata?"

After a pause of more than ten seconds, Lingyi seemed to have caught up with the future's train of thought, as if the process had only just reached this point, and asked her own question.

"Don't worry, today is a day off. Of course, even if it weren't a day off, I would still take the day off to do what I want to do for you, Lingyi."

In the future, she gently answered Zero's questions and continued to convey her will to her.

"Is...that's how it is?"

Seemingly moved by the will of the future, Lingyi spoke while unconsciously taking a slight step back.

So, let's play together!

In the future, he took a step forward, grabbed Lingyi's hand, and said seriously.

"...Okay, I understand, but, um, just so you know, playing board games with me might not be a great experience."

The result of failing to capture the opponent with the woven net is that, in the current situation of losing the initiative, one gradually falls into the opponent's rhythm and cannot escape.

"How could that be? Playing games is a lot of fun. Let me explain the rules of this game to you, Lingyi. This game can be played by two people."

Ignoring Rei's seemingly dismissive words, Mirai took a paper game box and began explaining the rules of the board game to Rei.

P.S. Goodnight.

Chapter 119 Fall

Time always flies when playing games. A few hours passed in the blink of an eye, and it was already time for this side of the planet to be directly opposite the star.

However, this only describes Zero's feelings. For Kohinata Mirai, this short period of time felt like an extremely agonizing prison sentence.

"Alright, this is my final hand. This time it's my victory."

With the last few cards placed into the deck, Lingyi simply declared her victory.

"Haha, I lost."

Across from her, Kohinata Mirai tried to force a smile, but ultimately failed.

At this moment, she had lost her previous smile and enthusiasm, replaced by a numb sense of helplessness and a feeling of relief as if she had been released from prison.

"Kohinata, there's no need to keep going now. I've already said it before, playing this kind of game with me won't be a good experience."

Rei casually rearranged the playing cards scattered on the bed into a stack, then handed the stacked cards to the expressionless Kohinata Mirai, saying this.

"Ah, I understand now. I can no longer understand what you meant by what you said before, Zero."

With trembling hands, Kohinata Mirai took the stack of cards that Rei had prepared.

"I can't continue like this. If I do, my body will definitely not be able to take it."

Kohinata Mirai murmured the words to stop, and at that moment she even felt as if her vision was going black.

She had no idea what she had gone through that morning.

A simple game that only requires a deck of cards, or a complex game that requires half a bed.

A game that simply depends on luck for both sides can be a complex game that requires calculation of many factors.

Of all the games like these, the ones she and Lingyi played for an entire morning, she never managed to snatch the crown of victory from Lingyi's hands.

"call

Letting out a long sigh of relief, Kohinata Mirai leaned against the wall of the room, feeling a slight relief from her physical fatigue.

"Zero... How did you do that? In my mind, these games should be something that makes both parties feel happy and bring smiles."

"But why do I feel like I'm losing the smile on my face? Are these really the games I used to play with Hibiki?"

Overwhelmed with excitement, and leaning wearily against the wall, Kojima spoke to Rei with a hint of urgency.

"Well, I'm not entirely sure about the specifics, but I've always been really good at these kinds of two-player competitive games, though I don't know when it started."

"For me, unless there is a huge and insurmountable imbalance in the conditions from the very beginning, I will not lose in a competitive game."

Lingyi spoke slowly, glancing at the black and red blade she had placed beside the bed, her face showing an expression as if she were recalling something.

"Is that so? It seems I made the wrong choice. If I hadn't insisted on this type of game, I wouldn't have suffered this morning."

Listening to Zero's explanation, and seeing the look in her eyes that seemed to have died for the moment, Kohinata Mirai finally understood where she had gone wrong.

"Torture...?"

Seeing the way Kohinata Mirai's expression had turned sour because of her, Rei looked slightly embarrassed.

"I'm sorry, I did think about whether to add a little water, but it's probably a habit. I always unconsciously take things seriously and I've never been able to do it."

With a slightly apologetic tone, Rei said this to Kohinata Mirai.

"Lingyi...you'd better not say anything."

Kohinata Mirai said with a hint of helplessness. Although she understood that Rei did not mean it, Rei's words still made her feel a little uncomfortable.

"Oh, okay, then we shouldn't need to continue this kind of thing this afternoon, right?"

Seeing this, Lingyi stopped discussing the topic and instead asked this question.

After all, Kohinata Mirai had exhausted a lot of energy from losing countless times in a row, and in her opinion, not continuing was the best solution.

"Well... Zero, just wondering, are you happy?"

However, Kohinata Mirai did not answer immediately, but instead asked Rei the same question.

“Happiness… I’m sorry, I don’t have that feeling. It’s a luxury for me, so your plans, Kohinata, may fall through.”

Upon hearing Kohinata Mirai's question, Rei's expression shifted slightly, but she did not acknowledge it verbally.

"Oh, really? It's a disappointment..."

Kohinata Mirai stared at Rei for a while.

Is there something on my face?

Noticing the other person's gaze, Lingyi asked without realizing it.

"No, no... And, Zero, let's continue after lunch. I won't lose again."

As if she had been thinking about something, Kohinata Mirai gave a reply that seemed completely illogical to Rei.

"what?"

Lingyi looked slightly puzzled.

"No one says you can't continue playing a game if you keep losing, right?"

As Kohinata Mirai spoke, a slight smile appeared on her lips.

After all, just before, Zero, you didn't seem unhappy at all.

Recalling Zero's behavior in the game, Kohinata Mirai felt a slight surge of joy.

The powerful aura he exudes when drawing cards and rolling dice, the subtle gestures of using his fingers to assist in calculations, and the joy in his eyes even though his expression remains unchanged when he wins.

For Kohinata Mirai, winning the game was never what she cared about; what she needed was the pleasing change that Rei brought about.

"This... I really don't understand, Kohinata, do you have some kind of masochistic or prison fetish?" 27

On the other side, looking at Kohinata Mirai's smile, Rei seemed to think of something, shivered, and looked at her with a strange expression.

"Of course not. I certainly don't like constantly losing in games. I play games with the intention of winning."

Kohinata Mirai shook her head and denied it.

"Then why do you continue, Kohinata? I don't believe you have the ability to defeat me."

Lingyi bluntly pointed out the facts that puzzled her.

"While it is true... well, it's because I'm planning to go play this together next."

Clutching her heart, which felt inexplicably pierced, Kohinata Mirai pointed to a corner of the room where a game console with two controllers was placed.

"What do you mean, Kohinata? Do you think video games can beat me?"

Lingyi asked.

"No, I don't think I can beat you, Zero. The reason we're using the game console is... Zero, let's play a two-player cooperative game next."

Kohinata Mirai answered with a smile, then pulled out a box of game cartridges from somewhere.