<Lily>

 

 

 

“Have you seen Bright around?”

Surrounded by eager faces, Lily wilted in her seat.

It was the start of the new week, but the drama of last Saturday was still fresh in everyone’s minds.

She hesitantly shook her head.

A wave of disappointed groans flooded the room.

“Come on, guys! Don’t give up!”

“Yeah, let’s keep looking around!”

“She couldn’t have gone too far….”

And, in a moment, they were gone.

Left by herself, Lily breathed out a sigh of relief. As normal as it was for people to be searching for Bright, the current mania marking this particular search was unprecedented. All of a sudden, people became twice as bold, if not downright shameless, in their pursuit. In a bid to get Bright’s attention, they relentlessly approached her. Whether it be during break or even class, no place was off-time or place was off-limits.

It was easy to guess the cause of the abrupt change in behaviour.

The video.

The one featuring Bright’s rather unexpected reveal in public. It blew up so quickly that multiple news broadcasts were talking about it before end of day. Bright’s reveal caused an uproar for many reasons, but the main reason people were so fixated on it was… the face she made when caught. The perfect blend between embarrassment, surprise and regret created a monstrous expression.

Staring at the image on her phone, Lily fought to contain the squeal inside her.

Bright looked just so incredibly cute!

‘…What am I thinking?!’

Immense shame immediately washed over Lily as the thought came to mind.

She couldn’t be thinking like that when doing so was causing such a problem for Bright.

‘I… I need to do better’

People were not approaching Bright with pure intentions. Every single one of them were trying to make her form that same expression. The aura of scaredness that Bright held had taken a serious blow. That one single moment appeared to make everyone think it was okay to bother her.

It wasn’t.

Bright was a hero.

People shouldn’t be treating her like this. Even if the expression she made, made them want to scoop her up, embrace her in a tight hug and gently pet her head….

Turning invisible, Lily hid her shameful thoughts.

She really shouldn’t be thinking this… But she was really glad Bright happened in her family’s store. Seeing it in person was something else entirely. Not only that, but guiding Bright through the store was a great honour. Helping someone like her in any way was too good for someone like Lily.

Pulling out a package and book from her bag, Lily stood up.

Perhaps for the first in her life, she was thankful for her unsociable nature. If it weren’t for it, she wouldn’t be assigned to assist Bright who, even in her disguise, appeared inviting. Inviting enough that the floor manager pushed Lily to her.

Sneaking out of the classroom, Lily began a search of her own.

Almost instantly, she bumped into someone.

Her invisibility was still on… She was yet to kick that bad habit.

“O-Oh, I’m sorry!” (L)

The scathing look she received for that apology nearly made her legs give out. Before her stood Verin of the house of Baridreth, a child from a legacy family—the kind of individual no one in their right mind would trifle with. This was especially true now, with the chilling rumours spreading about him. It was clear he didn’t take his defeat from Bright well. His sunken eyes and constant scowl seemed to confirm everything they said. Many believed he was out on a mission, and in that moment, she was forced to believe it, too.

A revenge mission against Bright.

Would he beat Lily because she looked close to Bright…?

Bracing herself, Lily closed her eyes.

Contrary to expectations though, Verin merely grunted and pushed past her.

Two people trailed after him, muttering brief apologies to Lily.

…Right.

It was better to quickly finish her search.

 

 

It made sense why she was here.

The rooftops were the sole place free from attention.

Sitting on the bare ground, Bright quietly ate what looked like packed food. Her golden hair swayed gently in the wind, her scarlet eyes focused on the landscape before her, her graceful figure perfectly—

Lily shook her head.

She didn’t come here to ogle at Bright. Clutching the package and book in her hand, she readied herself for the conversation to come. She came with the express purpose of not only returning her book she lost, but to gift her on the behalf of Lily’s parents. Whether intentioned or not, Bright attending and subsequently getting exposed at their store had been really good for business.

The publicity was making a difference.

“I’m telling you, Steve. Life is not fair.” (B)

A sweet voice suddenly filled the silence.

Lily froze.

Was someone there? Peeking around outside the rooftop entrance, she surveyed the area. If someone was here with Bright, it would be better to do this another time. Gifting was already a hard thing to do by itself. Adding the stress of another person would only make things worse.

“You get worked like a dog in this capitalistic society. The wealthy extract all resources and hoard them away from the working class. Exploiting their labour, time, effort… everything really! They are a bunch of no-good pigs!!” (B)

…W-What was she saying?

Squinting hard at the odd scene, Lily failed to spot another person.

‘Invisibility?’

The possibility was there, but Lily quickly dismissed it when she saw what was sitting opposite Bright.

It was a plushie.

A dog plushie.

She was talking to it.

“Heed my warnings, Steve! If anyone, and I mean anyone, comes up to you with promises that sound too good to be true…. That’s because they are!” (B)

Bright’s eye shimmered as she picked up the plushie.

She stared at it for some time before somberly stating.

“You never know what they’re hiding….” (B)

With a heavy sigh, she placed it down before returning to her food.

Silence enclosing the area once more.

Lily stepped forward with leaping courage.

“I… I also have doll friends!” (L)

The declaration was met with a deafening silence.

 

 

“You again….” (B)

Awkwardly sitting beside Bright, Lily couldn’t help but twiddle her thumbs.

“Y-Yes. It’s me.” (L)

Entering Highschool, Lily promised to change her ways. To be no longer shy and make friends. It was why, despite being surrounded by strangers earlier, she did not run or disappear but faced them. It was also why she decided to greet Bright in such a manner. She didn’t want to run but face things head-on. A choice that made her current situation unbearable.

Bright wasn’t facing Lily.

And that was despite having invited her to sit down.

“What do you want?” (B)

The bluntness of Bright’s words cut Lily.

This was the second time she made her mad.

How does she keep messing this up?

“I’m sorry for bothering you… I just wanted to give you these—” (L)

As Lily went to hand the items, an abnormally strong gust of wind blew both the package and book right out of her hands. They took to the sky and soared with the graces of an eagle. A second passed before Lily’s reaction processed the event occurring before her. Standing up as fast as possible, she ran to catch the items, and catch them she did. Both items landed directly on her head, causing her to trip and fall.

Dazed, Lily sat on cold, hard ground clutching the items.

She sat there for a while. She sat there until a mesmerising sound pulled her straight out of her daze. Turning her head to the source of the sound, Lily found Bright lightly giggling. The light giggles steadily built until at last a joyful, hearty laugh was in full swing.

Bright shot up, walked up to Lily and pulled her to her feet. Her soft, smooth hands caressing Lily’s own in the process. The cheeky grin she wore enchanted Lily in a way she didn’t know was possible… This was an attack. A vicious one that was quickly disabling Lily’s ability to focus.

“Are you okay?” (B)

The soothing voice served as the final blow.

Completely out of it, Lily hadn’t even noticed that they had now arrived back to their sitting positions.

“…Yes. I am fine.” (L)

Looking down at her hands, Lily noted the package and book.

She was doing something, right?

“These are for you!” (L)

Pushing the items towards Bright, Lily avoided her gaze.

“It’s a gift from my parents a-and the book you dropped….” (L)

“A gift and a book—?” (B)

While handing over the items, Bright abruptly fell silent.

It was easy to guess why.

That book’s title wasn’t something even Lily wanted to walk around with while invisible. The tips of Bright’s ears slowly started turning red as her eyes darted back and forth. In what could be a bid to hide her shame, she quickly stuffed the book into her pockets and then stared at Lily with an odd, renewed confidence.

It was unexpectedly adorable.

“Uh, ah. D-Did you make your food today? I usually see you buy something.” (L)

In the end, Lily decided to change the topic of discussion.

She knew better than most how embarrassing such things were.

“No.” (B)

Bright answered the question candidly.

The conversation between them instantly died.

‘I’m so dumb…’

Of course, Bright wouldn’t make her own. Not when she had the type of backing she does now.

“Hero Yuki made it for me.” (B)

The unexpected statement caught Lily off guard. It was said with a bitterness so faint Lily nearly failed to detect it. The conversation died again as Bright stared down at her food.

“May I ask you a question?” (B)

“Y-Yes!” (L)

Lily nearly let out a sigh of relief.

She wasn’t that well versed in keeping a conversation alive.

“…What would you do if someone close to you, like your parents or whatever, kept a really big secret from you?” (B)

The moment Bright asked the question; Lily wished the conversation had stayed died. Being faced with such a difficult question out of nowhere made her want to run. Looking stupid in front of Bright wasn’t appealing no matter how one would slice it.

After a minute or two of serious contemplation, Lily settled on an answer.

Hopefully it won’t disappoint Bright.

“Nothing.” (L)

“Nothing?” (B)

She carried on with undue confidence.

“Well, if it’s someone close like my parents, I would believe that it’s for my own good. I trust them.” (L)

Bright frowned.

“Though, if I really got curious, I would just ask them. I believe they would tell me the truth, given how close we are.” (L)

“Is that so?” (B)

The conversation between Bright and Lily continued in such a fashion.

Bright would pose a weird question, and Lily would answer it.

It continued in this bizarre fashion until…

The bell signalling the end of break rang.

Bright got up, gathered her things and walked towards the entrance.

She paused right before slamming the door shut.

“See ya later then.” (B)

The door slammed shut.

A faint pleasant scent lingered from where she once was.