Shenhe sat up, looking at the wall that separated her room from the next.
Xia Zhi also sat up.
"Shenhe, what's wrong?"
"This wall."
"What about it?"
"Last time we..."
Shenhe recalled, then whispered.
"That night before last, Senior Sister was also at the shop. I snuck over that night, remember?"
"Yes, I do."
"Did we use the [Silence Orb]?"
"No, we didn't."
"I was thinking..."
At that time, could Senior Sister have been listening on the other side of the wall?
Shenhe thought for a moment, but decided that dreams couldn't be compared to reality.
Xia Zhi asked curiously, "So, what's the matter?"
Shenhe leaned over and whispered about the dream she had just had, "I dreamed about Senior Sister..."
After listening, Xia Zhi's expression became a bit strange.
"I was just talking about the dream. I don't know why I had such a dream, but Senior Sister would never do something like that..."
"With Miss Ganyu's personality, it's unlikely..."
Xia Zhi looked down at the [Dream Pillow] on the bed.
After evolving, the pillow had become soft and large. Last night, both he and Shenhe had slept on it.
Although he hadn't triggered any special dreams, that didn't mean Shenhe hadn't.
After all, the pillow's effect was [When sleeping on this item, there is a very small chance to enter a special dream]. According to this, Shenhe also qualified.
If Shenhe had indeed entered Miss Ganyu's dream, that meant Miss Ganyu had really had such a dream last night.
I thought of Miss Ganyu as a friend, but it seems she wants to...
Xia Zhi thought for a moment but decided not to tell Shenhe the possible truth, to avoid damaging their close sisterly relationship.
He would just have to pay more attention to Miss Ganyu in the future and see what was going on.
---
Several days passed.
February 5th, Friday, arrived once again.
In Ritou Port of Inazuma,
Kirara, who had been on a ship for over half a month, finally returned home.
She jumped off the Komaniya Express's merchant vessel, landing on solid ground, stretching her slender figure with the natural grace of a cat.
"Meow..."
Looking up, she could see the enormous sakura tree on the mountain.
Kirara immediately perked up.
"I still have to deliver a package to Lady Yae!"
Nimbly weaving through the crowd at the port, Kirara made her way towards the Grand Narukami Shrine.
Before long, she arrived at the shrine's entrance.
Today, as usual, many people had come to the shrine to draw fortunes.
Yae Miko stood beneath the sacred sakura tree, gazing upward.
A month ago, the sacred sakura tree had undergone some peculiar changes.
Suddenly, it shed many cherry blossoms, only for even more to bloom just as abruptly.
It felt like some kind of omen.
But after days of observation, Yae Miko still hadn't figured out what these changes were portending.
"Sigh..."
The fox-eared shrine maiden let out a soft sigh.
"Lately, there haven't been any decent light novels to read. It's been rather dull."
A shrine maiden approached from the corridor and said, "Lady Yae, Kirara is here to see you."
A glint of amusement flashed in Yae Miko's eyes. "Oh? That little kitten is here."
A moment later, Kirara, following the shrine maiden, arrived properly at the spot.
"Lady Yae."
"Why so nervous?"
Kirara smiled sheepishly.
"You're a great youkai, after all."
Yae Miko walked over and gently rubbed Kirara's cat ears.
"How's work at Komaniya Express?"
"It's great! I get to travel everywhere! Thank you so much, Lady Yae, for recommending such a wonderful job to me!"
"See? The fact that you haven't visited me in so long tells me you must be having a lot of fun."
"That's not it! I've been really busy! That's why I haven't had time to come by!"
"Heh... So where have you returned from this time?"
"Liyue! Oh! Right! I'm here to deliver a package to you!"
"A package?"
Yae Miko was momentarily stunned.
Just returned from Liyue, and she brought me a package.
But I don't really have many acquaintances in Liyue...
Could it be that Jifang from Wanwen Bookhouse ordered the latest novels from me?
As she spoke, Kirara raised her hand and retrieved a small parcel from her ring.
Yae Miko's gaze didn't rest on the package but instead lingered on the ring on Kirara's finger.
"You even have a spatial storage item now?"
"Yes!"
"Did you buy it yourself?"
"No! A friend gave it to me!"
"A friend, huh? Male or female?"
"Male!"
"Oh."
Yae Miko's expression instantly took on a meaningful edge, a sly smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
"Seems the little kitten has grown up."
Kirara was momentarily stunned before catching on, her face flushing as she protested, "It's not what you're thinking! I earned this ring with my own skills!"
"Earned it with skills?"
"Yes! I got it from eating dumpling!"
"How?"
"Well, we were eating together, and the dumpling had various things stuffed inside. Whoever was lucky enough to get the right one would win a prize!"
The kitty explained the situation in detail.
After listening, Yae Miko couldn't help but chuckle.
"Silly child, you don't actually think it was just your luck, do you? Clearly, someone intentionally gave it to you. They probably worried you wouldn't accept it directly, so they went about it in such a roundabout way."
"Huh? Really?"
"Didn't you reject it once before?"
"Y-yes!"
"So, there you go."
"Huh?"
"These social etiquettes, little youkai, are things you still need to learn."
Yae Miko casually picked up the small package and opened it.
A photograph slipped into her hand.
The woman in the photo was smiling radiantly.
Yae Miko's expression froze.
"Ei... No, this seems to be... Makoto?!"